A WELCOME FIRE
Exodus 19.1-25
S: God’s Presence
C: Listening to God
Th: Choose the Fire
Pr: CHOOSE GOD!
Type: Inductive
Values:
I. DEPENDENCE (Holy Spirit and Prayer)
II. WORSHIP
III. THE BIBLE
IV. OUTREACH
V. DISCIPLESHIP
VI. COMMUNITY
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Welcome God!
• Choose God over all other competitors.
• Value what God values.
Version: ESV
RMBC 30 March 08 AM
INTRODUCTION:
1. What gets your attention?
When there is a thunderstorm at night, that can really get our attention, can’t it?
The rolling thunder…
The strikes of lightning…
It is all very exciting, as long as you are inside.
When Dondra and I were first married and living in Little Falls, we were awakened one morning by the house shaking.
Now, that will get your attention.
Our bed shook.
Plates rattled.
It was all very unsettling.
I thought the house was blowing up.
We lived in very old home and so I rushed down to the basement to see if the old furnace was acting up.
But when I got down there, it was as quiet as a mouse.
When I returned, we turned the radio on, and discovered what had gotten our attention – a very unexpected event – an earthquake!
There was another event that got our attention when we lived in Pennsylvania.
We lived in a townhouse complex, which was a lot of fun for the kids, as there was always people to play with.
But one night, at supper time, we looked out our front door and we saw one of the houses on fire.
Flames were shooting out the door and windows.
Eventually smoke was making its way through the roof and then flames finally burst their way through.
It was an event that we will never forget as it was less than 200 yards from our own home.
We are starting a new series today.
The theme is…
2. Theme: “Choose the Fire.”
We originally bumped into this theme when Dick Loizeaux, our consultant, spoke to us back in September.
And while we know that fire often speaks of judgment and sin, there are also positive ways it is portrayed in Scripture.
They are ways to get our attention, as we will see…
NARRATIVE:
We have been studying the story of the exodus for the last two months, and this will be our last study in the book of Exodus for a while.
The children of Israel have made it safely out of Egypt.
And they have been traveling for three months on the east side of the Red Sea.
They have now come to a massive, craggy range of mountains, made of solid granite.
There is one particular peak that is 8000’ high and sits there like a fist.
It has two names that we know of – Mt. Horeb and Mt. Sinai.
We are no strangers to this place for Moses has been here once before.
He met a talking burning bush here.
This is a place where God meets people.
Which shows us, that…
3. God, by nature, reveals Himself.
God does not quickly run into someone’s presence, nor must we barge thoughtlessly into His.
But the children of Israel should settle in, because they are going to be here for eleven months.
And during this next section of time, we will find Moses going up and down this mountain seven times, which shows how spry he was for 80 years old.
The children of Israel though are going to learn about God for these next months.
He is going to tell them what He is like.
He is going to tell then what He thinks.
He is going to tell them how He feels.
He is going to show them what to do.
And He is going to show them how much He loves them.
You see…
4. God considers us treasure (5-6).
Note how He describes it in the text…
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
When you think of a treasured possession, what do you think of?
It is probably something unique.
It may be a family heirloom or antique.
Perhaps a piece of jewelry that has been a family possession.
Those are the kind of pictures we are to draw when God says that we are His treasure.
We are special.
We are set apart from all the rest.
This being so…
5. It is wise to prepare for His Presence (10-15).
If you are going to meet royalty, would you put on your jeans, or would you look for something a little more special?
The protocol would demand something special, wouldn’t it?
Here is the catch in all of this.
We are not going to meet royalty.
He is coming to meet us.
This is what we are taught in this narrative.
God is coming down to the children of Israel.
They can’t get to Him.
He has to come to them.
One author, Bernard Ramm put it this way:
“The great quest for God is in reality the divine quest for man!”
So Moses, gives instructions for the preparations.
Be clean.
Be properly dressed.
Even suspend your sexual relations, so that you have time and energy for God.
You know, sometimes our view of God is pitiful and shallow.
It is like we are living in some cheap country song.
We speak of God as “The Big Man Upstairs” or the “Great Big Daddy on the next floor.”
It is glib and frivolous.
And I think there is a truth here that we need to recognize.
When we cheapen God, we cheapen life itself.
When we treat God superficially, we become superficial.
The children of Israel were going to meet God who was holy, highly exalted, wise, Creator, Maker, Sovereign.
They were not going to meet anyone else.
There was no alternative.
There was no multiple choice.
God was coming to reveal Himself.
And…
6. God reveals Himself as fire (16-20).
We have here what we call a “theophany.”
By definition, a theophany is a manifestation of God perceptible to man’s senses.
And in this passage, God reveals Himself as…
Thunder (storm)…
Lightning…
A thick, dense cloud…
A trumpet blast…
Smoke…
Fire…
Mountain quake.
And the people’s reaction?
The text tells us that the people trembled.
Their bodies shook.
It was an awesome, terrifying experience.
We are reminded well in this passage that we must strike a balance when it comes to our view of God.
We have a tendency to emphasize the love and grace of God, because they bring us comfort and hope.
ILL God (S)
But A. W. Tozer issues us this appropriate warning:
No one can know the true grace of God, who has not known the fear of God.
In other words, there must be balance to our approach to God.
We must come to Him as our Holy Father, who is literally awesome.
His being puts us on our knees.
We also come to Him as our loving dad, who is literally love and grace.
His actions bring us into His family, and we become a treasured member of the family of God.
CHALLENGE:
Let’s rejoice in who God is today.
And…
7. Welcome God!
Welcome God into your life.
Welcome Him with reverence.
Welcome Him with worship.
Welcome Him with your obedience to His Word.
Ill God (S)
When I was at Nyack College, I spent two summers on Paint Crew. And during those years, since I was the least afraid to climb ladders, I always ended up painting the peaks of some of the very old buildings on campus, some over 50 feet high.
You know, the higher I get off the ground the more I think about God. When you are up there only two things worry you, wind and gravity. You can’t see the wind. You can’t grasp the wind. But it will sure blow you off the ladder. That wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for gravity. You can’t see it either. You can’t grasp it. You really can’t feel it. But you know it is going to affect you, and gravity doesn’t respect anyone. We are all affected equally by it.
God is kind of like that. You can’t see Him. You can’t reach out and physically grasp Him. And we all are affected equally by Him. You are just not going to get away.
Not only that, He graciously comes to us.
This is why we must…
8. CHOOSE GOD over all other competitors.
Nothing compares to Him.
No one compares to Him.
And yet there are competitors.
Competitors who say they are more important than Him.
They demand our attention.
They demand our time.
But we don’t give in.
We choose God.
We even say “no” to ourselves when we foolishly compete with Him.
Choose the fire.
Choose to go after the positive changes that God wants to make in us…
…to give us right perspective…
…to purify and cleanse us…
…to test us.
Then we can fall in line with His priorities, and…
9. Value what God values.
As most of you know, the leadership (pastors and deacons) have been working on core values.
They are still a work in progress and the exact wordings are very close, but not quite there yet.
But they are coming, and I believe, will be out to all of us sometime this Spring.
The reason it is taking as long as it is, is that we really want to have them right.
So, they are making their way to other small groups, right now – the boards, for their input.
When they are finalized, we will be talking about them in detail, because it is important that they shape us.
They will be our guide to how we function in ministry.
Now, though I cannot give the exact details, I am free to share with you the big picture.
VALUES:
The first is…
10. We are dependent (John 14.26; Hebrews 4.16).
We are dependent on the Holy Spirit!
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
We are not to be functioning on our own.
We are to be vitally connected to God through the Holy Spirit.
And it begins with prayer…
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We are to be listening to God.
This is why we are to practice the disciplines – such as prayer, fasting, silence, study, meditation and solitude.
These are opportunities to get connected and stay connected to the direction of God in our lives.
Our leaders will once again be retreating in May with a focus on Spiritual Health.
The deacons, pastors, members of the Spiritual health team will be going.
But we know that we need to be utterly dependent on the Lord during these days and wrestle with the spiritual issues that are affecting us as a church family.
Please keep us in prayer.
Another significant value is…
11. We stand in awe of our Creator (Hebrews 12.28-29).
We are worshippers!
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
That verse really speaks to our theme of the day, doesn’t it?
We are worshippers.
We are worshippers that are to be passionate – loving God with all that we are and have.
We are worshippers that are to have a heart for God – in response to His being and His gracious love that is demonstrated to us.
We are worshippers that celebrate with singing and shouting.
We are worshippers that bow in reverence – silent and humbled before His awesome Presence.
Another value is that…
12. The Bible is relevant (II Timothy 3.16).
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…
Scripture is for today.
It has a context in which it was written, and it is important for us to study and understand that context.
But the beauty of Scripture is that it translates into application for you and me.
Since our God is eternal, what He communicates through His Word applies at anytime.
This is why we are so bent on communicating the truth of the Bible.
We want to do it clearly.
We want the proclamation of His Word to be understood.
We want the teaching of His Word to be an adequate explanation of the meaning of the text.
The next value is…
13. We are devoted followers of Jesus (Luke 9:23).
Jesus is very demanding of us as followers.
Note what He says:
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
We do not deserve the label of Christian if we are not going to follow Jesus.
We just don’t just pray a prayer and think every thing is going to be okay.
No, we take up our cross.
At the very least, this means that sometimes, it is going to be hard.
But our goal is Christlikeness.
Following Jesus means I become more like Him.
This is why I have been leading people to work on spiritual growth plans under the heading of “Operation Formation.”
I will be leading another group on Tuesday evening at 7 PM on April 8.
You are invited.
You are invited to participate in a mechanism that will help you to be deliberate in your walk with Christ.
A value we must get right is…
14. We are ambassadors (II Corinthians 5.20a).
We have fallen short in this value over the past thirty years.
It does not take a great mind to think this through.
We have a pattern of declining church attendance to prove it.
And we have blamed it on many things – economy, programs, the deacons, our pastors, other churches compromising the gospel…
But the truth is, we have forgotten our mission.
We are ambassadors…
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
We must get this right.
We must.
Each one of us is to be an active ambassador for our Lord Jesus Christ.
We don’t send money to have someone else do it.
We don’t pay professionals to do it.
We do it.
We are to make disciples.
We are to be witnesses.
We are to be salt and light in the world.
This is our responsibility.
And the final value I bring to you is…
15. Love and grace are to mark our community (Ephesians 5.2).
And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
We believe that we are to be a community that is marked by love.
We believe that we are to be a community that is marked by forgiveness.
We believe that we are to be a community that is marked by encouragement.
We are to be passionate for one another – always willing to extend a helping hand and a gracious heart.
After 10½ years of ministry here at Randall, I still have dreams for us as a church.
I dream of a church that will make our differences work for us, not against us.
I dream of a multi-generational church – where the older will invest in the younger and the younger will reach out for the help of their elders.
You know, I realize I have lived over half of my life.
It is a sobering thought.
I highly doubt that I will make it to 100 like Arlie.
So, this is where my heart beats…
I want to invest my mind and my heart into the younger generations.
For I know this, if my passion for Christ does not get translated into the next generation, I will be an utter failure.
I wonder if you share such a burden.
For the future of the church depends on it.
For Further Study: Isaiah 57.15; Daniel 9.4; John 14.8-9, 15.5; Romans 12.1-2; Hebrews 12.18-29; I Peter 2.5-10
BENEDICTION:
Bill Hynd
Membership
Available to pray with you after the service is completed. I will be returning…
Welcome God into your life today…He is a God that reveals Himself and He is coming to you, because He considers you a valued possession.
Choose God today…let go of the inadequate competitors in your life and receive the good news – that you (yes you) are treasure to Him.
Choose the fire…choose a life that spreads the good news to others, that this awesome God has met us in Jesus, our Savior and Lord; it is a fire that brings warmth to the coldest of souls.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral:
Fuller, Tom Who Do You Listen to?
Hamby, John Smoke on the Mountain
Strite, Jeff Forcing Ourselves on God
Thompson, David Prepared to Worship
Books:
Briscoe, Jill. "Here Am I -- Send Aaron!" Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1978.
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. ed. Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998.
Gispen, Willem H. Exodus. Translated by Ed M. van der Maas. Bible Student’s Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1982.
Pink, A. W. Gleanings in Exodus. Chicago: Moody Press, 1981.
Ramm, Bernard. His Way Out: A Fresh Look at Exodus. Glendale, CA: Regal Books, 1975.
Swindoll, Charles R. Moses: A Man of Selfless Dedication. Great Lives from God’s Word, vol. 4. Nashville: Word Publishing, 1999.
