Seeking Peace, Finding Poverty

The title of this morning's sermon is Seeking Peace, Finding Poverty.

And we've just read the story of Exodus nineteen, pivotal in God's plan of rescuing us.

He leads the people of Israel out of Egypt, rescues them through the waters of the Red Sea, and brings them to his holy mountain where he meets them.

The question is: am I going to accept his rescue plan or not?

This summer, our youth are going downtown Toronto for a week of mission, just learning about ministries that deal with homelessness and poverty in Toronto.

And so this sermon is just coming out of thinking through what does God say about poverty and what should we do about it.

Thank you for your generous donations of non-perishable food.

The table is back there.

There's another week or so that you can donate to that, and we will be taking that downtown, and it will be part of our summer trip.

I also just wanted to show you this the Freedom Bangladesh partnership.

Pastor Tyler and Malachi and David and I went to the convention last year.

We heard about this.

You can go on FAIR's website as well as International Justice Ministry's website.

Baptist churches in Bangladesh who don't have a lot of resources are partnering with these two organizations to rescue people who are in the worst of poverty.

And it's hard to think about poverty in Canada when we are so wealthy.

And yet there are those who, through one circumstance or another, find themselves in terrible situations.

And so our youth are going to be going downtown to learn about that.

So please be praying for us.

When you're dealing with homelessness and addictions, you can be find yourself in unpredictable situations.

When you take young people down to that, you can find yourself in unpredictable situations.

And so please be praying for our leaders and our youth that we would be faithful in sharing the good news with others as we go down.

This morning's sermon from Exodus 19, just four points: his presence, his promise, his priests, and his peace.

And so the people have left Egypt and they have arrived at Mount Sinai.

And the nations around were watching.

Here comes this massive horde of people who have left Egypt, and they are different.

There is a presence amongst them, and they are fascinated with what is going on.

And we are that living example to our world of the presence of God in us.

God is here this morning.

We often don't think about that, but the God who made the universe is here in this room with us.

And so on the uh verse 1, the third new moon, after the people of Israel had gone out from the land of Egypt, they came into the wilderness.

And it says they set out from Rephedim and came into the wilderness of Sinai.

And they encamped in the wilderness, and there Israel encamped before the mountain.

This pivotal point in Israel's history, God is setting the timeline on at this moment, you are meeting me at the mountain, and you are going to remember this for the rest of your existence.

This is when you came and met me at the mountain, and we've begun this process of rescue, rescuing you from slavery.

And so, verse 3, what's the first thing that Moses does?

He runs up the mountain to meet God.

And so, what is our attitude this morning?

Are we seeking God in our lives?

In verse 11, God says to Moses, Be ready, for on the third day the Lord will come down from the mountain in the sight of all his people.

God has set the parameters for how we meet him.

Verse 12 says, You shall set limits for the people all around.

Take care.

Take care how you approach God.

We don't get to define how we worship God or how we think about God or who God is.

God has set the limits of who he is, and we discover that in his word.

And so, illustrated here, God says, Be careful, people.

Be careful, people, how you approach me.

Because I am a holy God, and you don't get to just do whatever you want.

God is rescuing his people, and this is part of the long plan leading to Calvary.

And we must follow what God has said.

His promise.

God called a man.

Verse 3, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel.

It's very important.

God is reminding Moses and the people.

Do you remember Jacob?

I made a promise to Jacob that I would rescue them and that they would be his people, and that they would dwell in the land that I would give them.

Way back in Genesis 35, verse 10, God said to Jacob, Your name is Jacob.

Genesis 35:10

No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but you, but Israel shall be your name.

And so he called his name Israel.

And God said to him, I am the God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply.

A nation and a company of nations shall come for you, come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.

The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and I will give you the land to your offspring after you.

Four hundred years plus have gone by, and God is reminding Moses, remember that?

Remember what I said to Jacob?

Remember I changed his name to Israel?

Remember I told him he would inherit the land?

Remember he would become a nation?

Look at it, Moses.

There's two million people standing in front of this mountain because I, your God, has kept my promise.

Must have been quite a sight for Moses.

And so Moses runs up the mountain to meet God.

Remember, Moses had met God on that mountain before he went back to Pharaoh in a burning bush.

I don't know what your story is of your encountering with God, but remember, God makes promises and he always keeps them.

We can trust him.

Whatever your circumstances in life are, you can trust God and His promises.

May not go in our timeline.

It took 400 plus years for the nation to show up at Mount Sinai as a nation, freed from slavery.

But God kept his promise.

Next, his priests, in 19, verse 5.

Now therefore, if you indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine.

Verse 6, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

Moses, these are the words that you shall speak to the people.

A royal priesthood, a holy nation.

Holy just means set apart, dedicated to something.

And so you as a nation are set apart from all the other peoples around you to be dedicated for the purpose of serving and worshiping the true God.

In fact, things in the tabernacle were holy.

The lampstand, a ladle, a bowl, set apart because they were specifically designed to be used by God to bring glory to God.

And that is what we are.

And so they became a nation of priests.

They had the Levitical system, but they were all to participate in that system.

The people around them wondered what is going on.

There were like two million people encamped around this tabernacle, and every day animals were brought and sacrificed and burned on the altar.

It must have smelled wonderful.

Barbecue in the desert every single day.

In fact, the whole nation was built around this communal sacrificial system, and it provided food for the nation as well.

Everybody participated.

We think of sometimes the priests were the ones that were doing all the work.

But when you look in Leviticus chapter 1, when God lays out this system of sacrifice, it says in verse 4, he shall lay his hand on the head of the offering.

Leviticus 1 · chapter mention

Now, this isn't the priest, this was you and me.

This was the local guy who lived in the tent three doors down.

And he would bring his offering, and he would lay his hand on the head of the animal that was about to be sacrificed.

And it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Each male would bring his offering, and he would identify with that offering by placing his hand on the head of that lamb and saying, That is here because of me and my sin.

In verse 5, and then he shall kill the bull before the Lord.

And Aaron's sons and priests would bring the blood and throw the blood against the side of the altar.

So you, if you were an Israelite, would bring your sacrifice, you would place your hand on it, and then you would kill that lamb.

It reminds us of Calvary.

My sin put Jesus on that cross, just as if my hand was nailing that Savior to that tree.

Moses came in Exodus 19, verse 7, and he called the elders and he set them before them the words that the Lord had commanded him.

Exodus 19:7

And all the people answered together in verse 8, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do.

How quickly they didn't do it.

It just took Moses to go up the mountain for a month and a bit.

And they completely rejected the plan.

Because I'm hungry.

Because that looks like fun.

Because I've got worries and I don't know what's going on.

All the reasons we use today, they're not less intelligent than we are.

There's always a reason why we will ignore what God has said.

And how quickly we turn our trust from what Jesus has done to something that we think will provide a better answer.

And so those sacrifices, millions of them, were just temporary.

Jesus was the one who came and was obedient.

John 14, verse 31.

John 14:31

Jesus says, I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

He perfectly obeyed, not just when it was good, but always.

He provided a way for us to become a holy nation.

God rescued Israel from slavery and death.

And then he gave them the law and said, This is how you should live when you are my holy nation.

And so it is our trust in what Jesus has done that brings us peace and freedom.

Philippians 2, verse 8, Jesus being found in human form, humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:8

I put him there.

A parallel passage to Exodus is in 1 Peter chapter 2, and we read in verse 9, you are a chosen race.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

God has chosen you, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.

We have been set aside to serve God.

We've heard of an example of how we can help those that God wants to rescue.

We are priests to God, all of us.

It is our job to come before God and offer a sacrifice and accept what Jesus has done for us.

Isaiah 66, verse 20.

Isaiah 66:20

And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations.

This was to Israel back when they were a nation, as an offering to the Lord.

They will come on horses and chariots and litters on mules and dromedaries to my holy mountain, Jerusalem, says the Lord.

And God says, Some of them also I will take for priests and Levites.

That's you.

And that's me.

Invited by God into his service as priests, to bring the truth of what Jesus did on the cross to those around the world.

And so pray for our youth as we go down to see what God is doing through ministries to homeless people.

But also pray for international justice mission as they seek to take on monstrous tasks.

How do you change a system like a country?

We need to be praying for them.

1 Peter 2 verse 9.

1 Peter 2:9

The purpose that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Let's continue to do that as a church.

And then His peace.

1 Peter 2, verse 10.

1 Peter 2:10

Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people.

Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

His perfect sacrifice.

His perfect sacrifice for us.

Down to Exodus 19, verse 9.

Exodus 19:9

The Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear and may also believe you forever.

Moses was a type of Jesus.

God wanted the people to believe Moses and follow him.

It lasted about a month.

But Jesus is the one that we follow.

And he is the perfect sacrifice for us.

And he will lead us through the wilderness.

He has defeated the enemy, that is death.

The problem is if we ignore this offer, it leads to poverty.

It leads to eternal poverty.

The ultimate in poverty is homelessness.

And if we reject what Christ has done on the cross, that leads to an eternal state of homelessness outside of God's family.

Some do.

And death is not eternal.

It is just a stepping stone into that promise that God has given us.

When I was a young boy at boarding school, we were playing field hockey, boys against girls.

And I always wanted to play in goal because I wasn't very fast.

And the girls were very good at it.

And a girl named Doa came running up and at point-blank range wound up and took a massive slap shot.

And it hit me right in the eye.

And it knocked me out cold.

I woke up in the bosom of Miss Hall, an elderly English matron teacher at our boarding school.

And I was horrified.

And I stepped through that.

Jesus is the cornerstone.

And when we pass through that, we will wake up in the bosom of God Himself.

We don't need to fear death.

We don't need to be embarrassed about what is coming or worried about what will happen to us.

There's no Miss Hall.

Well, Miss Hall is in heaven.

1 Peter 2, verse 9.

1 Peter 2:9

You're a chosen race.

That's us.

We are a royal priesthood.

That's us.

We are a holy nation.

That's us.

You have been set aside, consecrated, and dedicated to the proclamation of Jesus Christ and his salvation and the fact that he's coming back.

That's why we're here.

That is why we're here.

Pray for our youth as we go downtown Toronto and they learn there are people every day seeking to serve and witness to the poorest of the poor in our culture.

That is what God has asked us to do.

And so back to Exodus 19, verse 10.

Exodus 19:10

God says to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow.

Let them wash their garments.

That is our job today.

Let us confess our sin before God so we can be effective in this mission.

Let us consecrate ourselves that when we go from this place, we're on mission.

And be ready for the third day, God says.

Just a picture of Jesus rising from the dead on the third day.

And God came down from the mountain, and the people saw him.

Jesus rose from the dead, and today we see him.

Let us go with Jesus today and declare the greatness of what he has done for humanity.