Exodus 19:4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. 9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
Miracles.........everyone has witnessed a miracle at some point in their life. Most of us, it is a miracle that we are evn here! God had shown is glory and delivered His children out of Egypt in a most spectacular way....and they were all there to see it! In a courtroom, the best possible evidence you can have is an eyewitness. They were eyewitnesses to God’s miracles...saw it first hand! Then after witnessing this, God said (in vs 6) And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. That sounded pretty good to them, didn’t it? A royal priesthood, a chosen generation! Even sounds good today, doesn’t it? I like it! They did to....look at vs 8.....Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” We are a royal priesthood...chosen....of course we will do all that the Lord has spoken! Their hearts were certainly in the right place, right?
We were a witness to a miracle this week. It isn’t the first we’ve seen, nor will it be the last. Thank you for all the prayers for my friend Mike and his family. Nanci and I could have talked and talked about God to him, but this is the way God has chosen to show His glory....and by faith we believe that now not only Mike will see His glory, but Mike’s whole family is now a part of a miracle. His progress defies logic.....that’s so like God, isn’t it? But like I said, you all have seen or been a part of a miracle...and even probably said the same thing the Israelites said....."we will do all the Lord says." Let’s see what happened to them after witnessing these miracles and this marvelous proclaimation over them.....God was ready to talk to them on Mt Sinai
Exodus 19:16-18 16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly WOW! They were in Gods presence! What a priviledge, what an honor, what a...? Wait a minute...let’s see what they did. Exodus 20:18-19 18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
OK...we know God performed miracles for us...He delivered us....and we even agreed to do everything the Lord says....but....YOU talk to Him and then you can tell us.....we don’t really want to be in the presence of God, we just want to know He is there for us. I want to stress a point here....Every born-again christian should understand that tho it may be easier to be taught "about" God by someone else, it is not a substitute for your personal learning. God can and will speak to you...but not if you are afraid to go to the mountain! If your life is right with Him, you can stand confidently at the mountain and hear His Holy Spirit speak to you personally. As with the Israelites, sometimes we are afraid to get into Gods presence....afraid our innermost self will be exposed for Him to see...(He sees it anyway; you can’t hide!) ..afraid that if we spend time in His presence then our selfish desires and fleshly thoughts will fall away....actaully afraid of BECOMING the new creature God would have you to be!
We today actually have an advantage over the Israelites....we have the Holy Spirit to guide us! He gives us the strength we need to "crucify" ourselves daily!" We don’t have to sacrifice animals anymore, but death still must come before new life can begin. Too many of us still cling to our "old life" and want to let go just enough but not completely. Jesus is your sacrifice once and for all. He shed blood for YOU and I! He didn’t abolish the law as some think, but came to fulfill the law (Mat 5:17)
Every christian should be able to "go to the mountain" without fear...because you have released that "old man". Paul said he did it daily and today’s christians need to even more so than then! Look around you! The world is falling apart...people are more evil than ever before...and Jesus is coming! I want to show you something.....Hebrews 12:18-19 18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
Look on down at verses 22-26 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.
That’s coming....it’s ready to happen! Today, look all around and see the prophecy fulfilled. God is ready to come get His children....a royal priesthood...a HOLY nation. Church, God has really been emphasizing to me that we all have a call to be holy...to do "all that the Lord says." It’s not a request from God...it’s a commandment! Come out from the world!
Have you ever reached down to pick up a child or speak to him and he gets scared and runs away? Can you imagine how God must have felt whenever He saw His children, His prize posessions...afraid to come to Him? He didn’t want to hurt them, just to commune with them. God sent His son to die in your place...in my place...so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin that so desparetley holds us back from from the "mountain." He sent us a new covennant so we could be in His presence...yet we tend to hold on to the old things so much so that we are afraid to be in His presence. Want to know how? 1 John 3:18-24 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Today, are you able to go to the mountain with confidence? Are you ashamed? Or are you just"not sure?" Is there something in your life keeping you from Gods presence? If there is, you’re missing out....on all the blessings God has in store for you but also the sweet peace that God gives so freely to us. He desires to speak to you .....will you listen? Don’t run away from God. You yourselves have seen Gods miracles......in your lives and other lives. God is in the miracle business and He never disappoints. He is AMAZING! Turn your eyes upon Jesus!
