Believers Are God's Treasured Possession

BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S TREASURED POSSESSION

Exodus 19:2-8 - June 27, 2004 - Pentecost 4

EXODUS 19:2-8

2After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.

3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4`You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.

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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:

What is your most-treasured possession? This might be a hard question--because in this land of opportunity and in this nation, the Lord has blessed us with many possessions. It may be hard to pick out one thing that is our most-treasured possession. As we think about treasured possessions, they may be treasured for a different number of reasons. They may be our treasured possessions, because they are worth lots of money. We may have a treasured possession, because it has sentimental value to us. Or we may have a treasured possession, because it is simply unique and one of a kind.

Today in our text the Lord speaks to the children of Israel, and he speaks to us to remind us as believers that we are his treasured possession. Every believer of us is a unique individual to the Lord. Now it is true that at times we might forget that. Sometimes we might forget that we belong to the Lord. Yet, in our entire life and even in our death, which brings us into eternal life, we are the Lord’s. Paul reminds us in the book of Romans: "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord" (ROMANS 14:8). That is our thought and theme today. We are going to look at that important message that we belong to the Lord.

Our theme is BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S TREASURED POSSESSION.

I. It is the Lord God Himself who draws us to himself.

II. We remain close to the Lord as we continue in His Word.

I. OUR LORD DRAWS US TO HIMSELF

Exodus, the second book in the Bible, has been given this title because it talks about the exodus or the exit of the children of Israel from Egypt as they travel into the Promised Land. In verse 2 of chapter 19 we are given a routine that the children of Israel are going to start day after day for an entire generation. Our text begins by saying: 2After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. The original tells us they broke camp. They left Rephidim. So they broke camp and traveled a distance, and they made camp again to stay there in front of the mountain. They did not know it yet, but this would become their routine for 40 years as they would wander in the wilderness--break camp, gather up all of the supplies, and march for a day. They would camp there a few days, one day, or a few months and do the same thing over and over again for 40 years. It sounds simple, but yet we want to remember that the group of Israelites numbered at least one million and maybe even close to two million people. That is quite a camp to break, lift up and move and set down again.

Today the Israelites come to a mount and camped in front of it. If you read chapter 19 and the rest of 20, we find out it is Mount Sinai where Moses is given the Ten Commandments. We will talk about Moses a bit here. 3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain. Moses is God’s leader for God’s people and he is also God’s spokesman to God’s people. Moses was the go-between. God would tell Moses what he wanted to tell the people. The people also speak to Moses, and Moses would tell what the people wanted God to hear. Moses faithfully carries out this duty, and we are thankful he did. The Lord has a message for Moses to take back to the people. God wanted his people to remember how much he loved them. The Lord wanted Moses to relay that to his people. The Lord said to Moses, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel. (In other words to all of the Israelites.) 4`You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings. The children of Israel had seen the plagues that the Lord raised against Pharaoh. They had seen as they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground that the waters came in and killed Pharaoh’s army, the greatest nation on the earth at that time. The Lord had carried them on eagle’s wings. In fact that is only three months ago. The purpose of that deliverance was that they would see God’s love and mercy and also understand the Lord was drawing them close to himself. The Lord says, I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.