RULES FOR FREE PEOPLE
Exodus 19:16-25
INTRODUCTION
After God brought the
Nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt
. He gave them
His commandments.
A. God called Moses to the mount Sinai.
1. God selects
leaders for His people.
2. God called
Moses out of Midian to lead His people
out of slavery
into the desert around Mount Sinai .
3. We are sheep
and our pastors are God's shepherds.
B. God instructed
Moses to prepare the people to receive
His command.
1. He told Israel
who they will become.
a. Nation of priests.
b. A holy nation
2. The Church
should be the priesthood for the world.
3. The World
should see a role model of God's holiness through us.
C. They were prepared to meet God.
1.They were commanded to sanctify themselves
2. They were commanded to watch their clothes.
3. They had been
in the desert for three months.
4. It is God who
sanctifies (set us apart) us.
5. It is by
obedience to the Word of God that we are cleanse of our sins.
6. Anytime we
meet God in prayer or worship we set ourselves apart from
worldly
desires to focus completely on Him
GOD MEETS US WHERE WE ARE
V:16. " On the morning of the third day there was
thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud
trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled."
A. The number three is a divine number.
1. There are 3 in
the Holy Trinity;
God the Father, God The Son And God
the Holy Spirit
2. Jonah spent 3
days in the belly of a fish.
3. Jesus spent 3
days in belly of the earth before His
resurrection.
B. When we see lightning and hear thunder today it should be
reminder of
the power and the
Glory of the Lord.
1. It is the Lord
who created the our weather system.
2. It is the Lord
who is in control of our climate.
3. It is the same
today; we tremble at the sound of thunder
and the power
of lightening.
4. No man can
control the sound or thunder or the direction lightening
strikes.
5. God forces our
attention to Himself through His awesome display of
power.
GOD CHOSES HIS LEADERS
V:17-18. " Then Moses led the people out of the camp to
meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 Mount Sinai was covered with
smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it
like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,
19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then
Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. "
A. It typical in
Church services to have a worship leader.
1. We stand
before the altar lifting up our voices in the praises of the Lord.
2. Our minds
should be completely focused on the goodness of the Lord.
3. Where two or
three are gathered, the Lord stands in the mist.
B. The smoke represents the Lord presence and the atonement
of our sins.
1. The fire
represents His holiness and our redemption.
2. God presents
Himself in fearful elements so we want take Him for
granted.
3. We ought to
tremble before the presence of the Lord because by His
thoughts we
could be eliminated from the earth in a
second.
C. The trumpet was
used to call the nation to attention.
1. To get the
attention of a million plus people a loud sound was needed.
2. The trumpet
was used to call the nation to battle.
3. God reminds
us the battle is not our, but we need to pay attention
while He
does battle for us.
D. This whole scene is symbolic of the work Jesus did on the cross.
1. Moses was the
deliverer of Israel
from slavery.
a. Jesus is
our deliverer from the bondage of sin.
2. Moses was
the mediator between God and Israel .
a. Jesus is the
mediator between us and God the Father
3. The mountain
represents God's throne which we can only approach
through
the work of Jesus on the cross.
4. The mountain
also represent infinite highness of God above our sinful state.
CONSIDER GOD HOLY AT ALL TIMES
V:20-22. " The Lord descended to the top of Mount
Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went
up
21 and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the
people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them
perish.
22 Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate
themselves, or the Lord will break out against them."
A. The Lord comes down to our level through His Son Jesus
and through the
indwelling of the
Holy Spirit.
1. Jesus said that
where two or more are gathered in my name, He is in the mist.
2. It is easy to
forget as Christians, that we are the temple of the Lord.
3. God descended
to the mountain top to meet with Moses.
4. God
descends into our hearts to meet with
us.
B. God revealed His Word to those He chose as priest,
leaders and prophets.
1. Moses was
chosen by God to give His commands to Israel .
2. God gave some
as pastors to bring His Word to the Church
3. The pastors
being close to God has divine insight into the needs of
the Church.
C. God divine presence required that nation to come to the
mountain to receive
His Word but not
touch the mountain.
1. To touch the
mountain while God was presence was sudden death.
2. The hearts of
people of Israel
was still focused on their sinful habits of
slavery.
3. They had not
consecrated themselves to the obedience and authority of the Lord.
4. While it is
true that God loves us, He can only tolerate our sins through the
intercessory
prayer of the mediator.
5. Our sins are
covered by the intercessory blood of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus
Christ.
D. As ministers of
God, we fail when we approach the Word of God with impure hearts.
1. In studying the
Word, we must prepare ourselves to receive a Word of inspiration
from the Lord.
2. The phones, TV
and internet must be turned off so we can devote our time
completely to
the Lord.
3. God should not
have to share His time with the world.
TEACH THE WORD OF GOD
V:23. "Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot
come up Mount Sinai , because you yourself warned us,
'Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy."
A. Our pastors need some quite time with Lord.
1. Our pastors
need a quite place to meet with the Lord.
2. Our pastors
need to concentrate themselves before meeting with the Lord.
B. Pastors need to adhere to the commands of God in meeting
with the
people of God.
1. The pastor is
responsible to warn God people when they are straying away
from the Word.
2. It is the duty
of the pastor to warn the flock when they are putting themselves
above God.
3. The Word is the
authority, not the desires of the people.
PASTORS NEED AN INNER
CIRCLE
V:24 The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron up with
you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up
to the Lord, or he will break out against them."
A. Pastors ought to have a circle of ordained people that he
confides in.
1. There ought to
be at least one minister that he can trust with his innermost thoughts.
2. Moses had Aaron,
his brother.
3. Throughout his
ministry Aaron was the one who comforted Moses.
B. Pastors ought to have an outer circle who work with Him
in serving the
Lord.
1. Aaron become the
high priest of Israel .
2. The other Levite
priest took on supporting roles.
3. There are some
places the pastor can take his inner circle that he cannot take his
outer circle.
4. God is the
guiding light of the pastor.
COMMANDS TO LIVE BY
V:25. " So Moses went down to the people and told
them."
A. God gave Moses His
commands so that the people of Israel
operate as free
people.
1. Our freedom is
based on our obedience to God's commands.
2. Disobedience to
God commands results in a lost of freedom.
B. The ten commandment that God wrote with His finger is our
foundation
for freedom.
Exodus 20:3-17
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make to thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth:
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain:
for the LORD will not
hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
4. Remember the
sabbath-day to keep it holy.
5.
Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land
which the
LORD thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt not
kill.
7. Thou shalt not
commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt
not covet thy neighbor's wife,
nor his
man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that
is
thy neighbor's.
THANK GOD FOR HIS PASTORS
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lessons, follow me on facebook or visit my blogs
revmmitchell.com or
goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com
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