Exodus 20:18 says, And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.  When the people of Israel saw and heard what was going on up on the mountain, they stood far away.  When we see God at work in the world today, we should not stand far off, but should come close to be a part of what He is doing.  Of course, the lost of the world are going to stand far off and attempt to discredit or explain away what God is doing.  Verse nineteen states, And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.  The people of Israel, God's chosen people, told Moses to speak to them and they would hear him, but if God spoke to them they would die.  We can never think that we need some other person to stand between us and God, except Jesus Christ, Who took our place before God.  We must go directly to God with our cares and concerns.  Verse twenty declares, And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.  Moses told the people that they were not to be afraid of God, because He had come to cause them to respect Him and to not be guided by sin.  We as followers of Christ should never be afraid of God simply because He is the all powerful God, but we should respect Him enough to not give in to sin.  Verse twenty-one says, And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.  The people of Israel still stood afar off, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.  For those who do not believe in God, and specifically in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God will always be hidden in the great darkness of sin, and they will be far off from Him.  When someone comes to God through faith in Christ, the darkness will begin to be lifted, though we will never know everything about God in this lifetime.  Verse twenty-two proclaims, And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.  God began to tell Moses what to say to the people.  The first thing was that they knew that God had spoken to Moses.  When we share the gospel today, we must make sure that people know that it is God's word that we share.  Verse twenty-three adds, Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.  God once again told Moses to tell the people not to make gods of silver or gold.  When we put anything on earth ahead of God, we are making a god of whatever it may be.  We must let nothing come between God and us, and if we do, then we are worshipping a false god.  Verse twenty-four continues, An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.  It is not enough to just not worship false God's, but we must worship God.  I don't believe that we should ever become complacent about God, but must worship Him always.  Verse twenty-five states, And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.  God said that they were not to hew out altars of stone, and if they did they would pollute it.  I believe this was so that the people would not begin to make altars so ornate that the altar itself became more important than God.  We should never allow church buildings to become more important than God.  Verse twenty-six concludes, Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.  I believe this refers to spiritual nakedness more than physical nakedness.  If we attempt to come to God on our own terms, we come before Him spiritually naked.