I'm going to lead us in prayer.
Lord Jesus, as we come to your word now,
we pray that you would speak to us by your spirit,
that you would make us attentive to you,
that you would grow us in Christ,
and that we would be men and women who worship you,
who give you the glory in every aspect of our life.
And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
We sell Christianity short
when we separate being rescued by Jesus
from worshipping Jesus,
and what I mean is that we preach,
come to Jesus, receive forgiveness for your every sin and failure.
We preach the rich generosity of God,
but we forget to say, or people don't hear,
join us in treasuring Jesus together.
So people will take a free ticket to heaven.
They want what Christ gives.
They want salvation.
They want his free gift.
And they don't want him.
God's grace is given so that we can know him
and participate in his glory.
And God's goal in saving people is that we would worship him,
that we would acknowledge him for who he is,
that we would give him his worth-ship,
that we would delight in him,
that we would rejoice to give him glory.
We are saved to worship.
And so my message to you this morning is,
come to Jesus,
be rescued,
start worshipping.
Now you use the word worship,
and it's quite a confused word.
A lot of people use the word
when what they are talking about is singing.
So for some,
singing in church is worship.
And others talk about the service or the liturgy,
and they describe that as worship.
And I think I want to say that they are both
very narrow uses of the word worship.
And they may or may not be worshipped
depending on what is going on in a person's heart.
So you can be sitting here this morning,
and you can be totally disengaged from God,
and you can be totally disengaged from one another,
and if that's the status of where we are,
then we can hardly claim to be worshipping.
Jesus quotes Isaiah 29 in Matthew 15
when he says,
These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
So it's possible to make all the right noises,
and at the same time to have a heart
which is far from God.
And that is a warning to all,
including me.
I want us to think this morning of worship
as a whole-of-life activity.
It's broad.
It's about giving God his due in our life.
Worship means responding to God on his terms,
not ours.
True worship will be expressed
in loving obedience to Christ.
True worshippers will not ask,
What's in it for me?
They know Christ,
and so they will ask,
What do you want from me?
Lord, I so treasure you.
I trust you with every circumstance of my life.
Lord, take my life
and use it to your glory.
Now I'm continuing our Kingdom of God series.
We're looking at the big picture movement of the Bible.
We've been working to the theme
which Sam's put up in front of us this morning.
There is a king.
There are subjects of the kingdom,
and there is a place where the king reigns.
There's a place where God reigns.
And what we're doing is
we're considering different places in the Bible,
and we were looking at the Bible
in those places over time,
and we're asking over time,
What does it look like to be God's people
in God's place under God's rule?
And today we turn our attention to Moses.
So Exodus 19, it would be great to have it open.
We'll be going to various places this morning.
But in Exodus 19, verse 4,
God says to the people of Israel,
You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt
and how I carried you on eagles' wings
and brought you to myself.
It summarises a big story.
700 years before,
God revealed the future to Abraham in Genesis 15.
We read it last week.
God said to Abraham,
He said,
Know for certain that your descendants
will be strangers in a country
not their own,
and they will be enslaved
and mistreated for 400 years,
but in the fourth generation,
they will come back here.
So in Exodus 19,
where we are this morning,
the future that Abraham spoke of
is now past.
And his descendants
had grown to be a great number in Egypt.
And they cried out to the Lord
because they were cruelly oppressed
by a racist government.
And God raises up Moses
to confront the king of Egypt.
And in a series of enormous miracles,
God destroyed the power of the Egyptian king
and all his gods.
And all through the contest
with the Egyptian king,
Moses was asking him
to allow Israel to go
and worship the Lord.
And the king continually refused.
God wouldn't be worshipped
in his kingdom.
No way he would allow them
to shoot through
and go and worship God.
Not going to happen.
It's a huge story.
And in the end,
everyone who trusts God's word
and protects themselves
with the blood of the lamb lives.
And everyone who ignores God's provision
loses their firstborn son.
And so God forces
the Egyptian king's hand.
The Egyptians beg the Israelites
to leave their land.
They send them away with riches.
They plunder the Egyptians.
They escape to the desert.
And God saves the nation
in a stupendous way.
He drives up the Red Sea.
The nation passes through.
And God drowns the armies of Egypt
when they try to follow.
And it's this massive story
in the Bible
of salvation
and of redemption.
God pulls all the levers
to deliver his people.
The entire nation of Israel,
all of Abraham's descendants,
experience this extraordinary rescue
from the most appalling circumstances.
And we see that God
is keeping his promises
to Abraham.
And so when God says
in verse 4, Exodus 19,
you yourselves have seen
what I did to Egypt
and how I carried you
on eagle's wings
and brought you to myself,
it has got a big story behind it.
So Exodus 19 begins
with the nation
just over eight weeks
out of Egypt.
And they're in the desert
in front of the mountain of God,
Mount Sinai.
And God reminds them
that he is the one
who saved them.
And he addresses
his rescued people
and he says to them,
this is verse 5,
And what God does
is he offers these people,
his people,
a privileged role
in his purposes for the world.
And God says,
I will treasure you,
you will be set apart
for my purposes,
you will be
my representatives
to the world.
And God names the terms.
He says,
Obey me fully
and keep my covenant.
And if you do,
you will be the nation
out of all the nations
of the earth
who represent me
to the world.
Now I haven't got time
this morning,
but if we read
the next 12 chapters,
you would read
the 10 commandments
being given
and the laws of God
and the provisions
for priesthood
and you would see
how God wants
to be worshipped
and you would see
that at the conclusion
of God giving
all his instructions,
the people with one voice
say,
everything that the Lord
has said,
we will do.
That's Exodus 24.
Everything that the Lord
has said,
we will do.
It's a great moment
of commitment.
And God invites
this nation of Israel
into this privileged
relationship with him.
They say,
we will do it
and they blow it
first base.
Because you get to
Exodus chapter 32
and 33
and you come across
a national disaster.
Moses is up on the mountain
meeting with God.
The people convince Aaron
to make them a golden calf
which they begin
to party around
and worship.
The holy people of God,
his treasured possession,
stepped away from privilege.
They went back to being
just like everyone else
and in a short period of time
they just went back
into the world.
And Moses and Joshua
come back down the mountain
to an orgy of worship
as the nation
dances and prances
around this stupid thing
that they have made.
Sometimes we behave
as though there's some kind
of safety in sin.
You know,
we get security
if everybody else
is doing the same thing
it'll be alright.
We drive like the road
rules are for everybody else.
We watch television shows
that a few years ago
wouldn't have even got
an R classification
at the movies.
We go back into the world
we gossip
we call it
informed conversation.
Moses says to Aaron
what on earth is going on?
What have you done?
And he gives this
idiotic explanation.
Oh don't be angry
we threw all the
jewellery into the fire
and look what popped out.
It's a miracle.
Heard the story recently
a 50 something
year old man
somebody my age
left his wife
went overseas
sleeping with a 25
year old woman
to do mission
in an orphanage.
And he justified
himself by calling it
ministry.
We are blind fools
when it comes
to sin.
Moses saw the people
running wild.
He's horrified
that the nation
has turned away
from God
in worship
and he takes
the most drastic
action.
He gets the Levites
to strap the sword
in and on
and go in amongst
the people
and bring it to a halt
and they slaughtered
3,000 of their own
people that day
and then God
topped it off
with a plague
that killed
a whole lot more.
And Moses
goes to the Lord
and he appeals
for mercy
and forgiveness
for the people
and he places
himself between
them and God
he acts
as a priestly
mediator
and he says
if you won't
forgive their sin
then blot me
out of your book.
And God
replies very firmly
whoever sinned
against me
I will blot
out of my book.
And again
it's a long story
but this is
opportunity lost
because Israel
has blown it
on the starting
blocks.
Right at the
beginning
they lose
the opportunity
to be the
privileged nation.
They will never
now be
the kingdom
of priests
and the holy
nation
the treasured
possession.
And in judgment
God says
go to the land
but I will not
go with you
because you
are a stiff
necked people
and I might
destroy you
on the way.
I was blown
away by this
God does not
change his mind.
they lose
an immense
opportunity
but God
still
shows grace
to the
nation
in allowing
Moses to
mediate
on their
behalf.
And so
Moses rather
than the
nation
becomes the
priest
or the
mediator
who stands
between God
and people.
He is the
man who
turns God's
anger away
from the
nation.
He is the
man to
whom God
says I
am pleased
with you
and I
know you
by name.
Exodus 33.
He is the
man who
knows and
sees the
glory of
God.
No one
else in
the nation
is privileged
to know
God in the
way that
Moses does.
God is
still king
and God's
people are
still invited
to God's
place.
That's for
next week
for Sam's
sake.
God is
king
but now
God rules
them through
a particular
mediator.
A priest
who stands
between God
and people
and they
are no
longer a
nation of
priests
mediating
God to
the world.
And what
is lost
is not
recaptured
in great
glory
until you
get to the
pages of
the New
Testament.
covenant.
So in
Hebrews
chapter 9
verse 15
it says
for Christ
is the
mediator
of a
new
covenant
that
those
who are
called
may
receive
the
promised
eternal
inheritance
now that
he has
died as a
ransom to
set them
free from
the sins
committed
under the
first
covenant.
Or in
Hebrews
chapter 14
verse 4
we have a
priest who
has gone
through the
heavens.
And so
the glory
of God
is seen
in the
Lord Jesus
in a
fuller way
than was
ever revealed
through
Moses.
Christ
is the
mediator
the priest
who dies
for the
sin of
God's
people.
He is a
propitiation
for our
sin.
He turns
God's
anger
away from
us.
He is
in heaven
he knows
God's
glory and
when Jesus
was here
God his
father declared
this is my
son whom
I love
listen to
him.
And it
gets even
better because
Jesus restores
what was lost
when God's
people faltered
at first
base and
worshipped the
golden calf.
Peter has
a clear
understanding
of what
Jesus has
restored
when he
writes
1 Peter.
He
effectively
writes to
us sitting
here this
morning and
he says to
us but you
are a chosen
people a
royal priesthood
a holy
nation a
people belonging
to God that
you may declare
the praises of
him who called
you out of
darkness into
his wonderful
light.
Once you
were not a
people but
now you are
the people of
God.
Once you had
not received
mercy but
now you have
received mercy.
mercy.
And so Peter
takes up the
language of
Exodus to
explain the
mission of
Christian believers
to the world
and it is
absolutely
glorious.
The privilege
and the
opportunity offered
in Exodus and
lost has been
recaptured.
Believers are
addressed as a
chosen people,
a royal
priesthood, a
holy nation, a
people who
belong to
God.
And we
are called
those things
because of the
work of
Christ.
So in 1
Peter chapter
1 Peter
says,
Praise be to
the God and
Father of our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
In his
great mercy he
has given us
new birth into
a living hope
through the
resurrection of
Jesus Christ
from the dead.
So salvation
has led to
the opportunity
for privileged
service of the
king.
and we are
able to enter
into a life of
worship.
And we are
now able to
do God's
works which he
prepared in
advance for us
to do.
And 1
Peter says that
we have been
called to a
very specific
role.
To declare
the praises of
him who called
you out of
darkness into
his wonderful
light.
1 Peter chapter
2 verse 9.
God has
saved us for
a purpose.
To declare
the praises,
to declare
his praises.
God has.
And Peter says
that to a
bunch of
believers who
don't seem
very significant
in terms of
power and
worldly influence.
He calls them
strangers in the
world, he says
they're scattered,
and yet he says
to them even
though everybody
might despise you
for what you
think and for
what you believe,
you go and live
such good lives
among the pagans
that though they
accuse you of
doing wrong,
they may see
your good deeds
on the day of
Christ Jesus.
Who we are
in the world
is not what
makes us
significant in
God's economy.
On the day of
Christ Jesus,
your ATAR,
your position in
the business
world, the
properties and
wealth that you
possess,
representing
Australia at
sport or
whatever it is,
will not matter.
God has saved
us to give
him the glory
and not to
take his glory
to ourselves.
We are saved
to worship.
And if you are
a Christian believer,
you have a story
to tell about God
who brought you
from darkness
to light.
And the journey
for all of us
might be a little
bit different.
Some of us have
been nurtured in
the faith in
Christian families
and maybe,
maybe not,
there have been
places along the
way where our
family's faith has
become our own.
And others of
us know very
clear moments of
conversion, a
moment in time
when you understood
Christ and trusted
him for the first
time.
You've got a story
to tell.
And even if you
aren't sure what
your story is,
we have his story.
We have the
gospel.
And God has
provided a perfect
mediator, a perfect
priest.
He has stood in
our place.
He has died for
our sins.
And we have God's
great news about
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
We have a
message that God
wants us to
declare to his
world.
And it's a
message which
people need even
if they don't
think they do.
What you see
here is that God
speaks to the
world through
chosen mediators,
his people.
people.
He does it through
the church.
And I don't
mean the church
as an institution.
I mean the
people of God
scattered throughout
the world who
meet in many
different places
and circumstances
around the word
of God.
The community
groups that I'm
in at the
moment are
reading a book
called A
Meal with
Jesus.
I've mentioned
it a few
times over the
last few
weeks.
It's a
delightful little
book that
looks at the
significance of
food and meals
in Luke's
gospel.
And it
describes Jesus
in a very
ordinary way as
the son of
man who came
eating and
drinking.
And the
religious people
called him a
drunkard and a
glutton.
But it's in
Luke's gospel,
it's during
meals that
Jesus does
some of his
most significant
teaching,
sometimes
offending,
sometimes
comforting.
But he does
it in the
ordinary.
And I think
much of
ministry happens
in the
ordinary moments
of life.
Opportunities
to declare
God's praise
come in very
ordinary settings
around a
meal.
At the
school gate,
while we're
watching our
kids play
sport, over
lunch in the
workplace, one
of you told me
a lovely story
the other day
of wanting to
be a friend
and to hold
out a helping
hand.
And it led
to a conversation
where the
person expressed
interest in
coming to
church.
Brian
Tung did
some great
things at the
end of last
year with the
NTE mission.
The whole
team surveyed
people down
at the
Mandarin
Centre down
in Chatswood
and their
purpose wasn't
to do a
dump and
declare every
purpose of
God in
every conversation.
I think
Brian described
it as a
date, a
point of
contact and
hoping maybe
to create an
opportunity for
a second
date and a
second opportunity.
I have a
friend who
describes these
sort of
conversations like
fishing.
He said you
need a well
presented bait
and you need
patience while
you wait for
the fish
themselves to
show interest
in what you've
got to offer.
I like to
talk about
having winsome
conversations with
people, not
being too
pushy, listening
well, sharing
yourself, being
real, not
looking to
dump your
truck on
top of
people.
Romans 12
1 says
therefore in
view of
God's mercy
present your
bodies as a
living sacrifice
to God
which is your
spiritual act
of worship.
Salvation
leads to
worship
and worship
is whole of
life service
of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
In
Exodus God
moved his
mighty arm to
save his
people in a
marvellous way.
They were
called to
worship him.
They blew it
at first base.
They lost the
privilege opportunity
to be God's
priests, God's
mediators to
the world.
And in
Jesus Christ we
have been offered
privilege again.
1 Peter
chapter 2 says
you are a
chosen people,
a royal
priesthood,
a holy
nation, a
people belonging
to God
that you may
declare the
praises of
him who
called you
out of
darkness
into his
wonderful
light.
So go into
the ordinary
and be the
extraordinary
people that we
have become in
Christ.
So my
message to you
this morning,
come to
Jesus, be
rescued, start
worshipping, open
our mouths, use
our resources, open
our homes, open
our hearts to
people living in
darkness that we
might declare the
praises of him who
called us out of
darkness into his
wonderful light.
Amen.