Our Eternal Purpose—Lesson 10
Saved! For What Purpose?—Exodus 19:3-6
FOCUS: God brings the Israelites to Mt. Sinai where He reminds them of what He did to rescue them and
then calls them to relationship and responsibility in His Kingdom; emphasizing that what they are
facing is a process and will require maturation
FUNCTION: We will realize the work that comes after salvation so we commit ourselves to striving after
the depth of relationship and service He wants from us
I. GIVE BLESSING
A. The Lord bless you and keep you
B. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you
C. The Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace
II. Intro: Can I talk to those who are lukewarm in your faith this morning?
A. A great disservice is done to God’s Kingdom when we emphasize salvation as the goal
1. Where does He do this? Being born again is the beginning of something new, not the end or goal
2. Sanctification is a process—We are made holy & are being made holy
B. It is important to recognize that God works according to process
1. True in the creation process—Not instantaneous! 6 days to put order to the mess & make it good
2. True in the faith development & covenant process with Abraham—From unilateral to bilateral
3. True in the calling of David as King of Israel—Things to learn while waiting to be king
C. God teaches the same thing to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:3-6)
1. After a dramatic rescue and display of power in Egypt, God shared a message of purpose
2. Once again, the emphasis is on it being a process (V. 3)
a. God gives Moses what to say—Why mention both the “house of Jacob” & “sons of Israel”
i. A process of faith development & surrender to go from Jacob to Israel
ii. They already have a long history with God and how covenant works
b. What God says here calls Israel to a similar development process—Maturity & Relationship
c. This will then lead to greater responsibility!
D. God begins His message reminding them what has already been done for them (V. 4)—Salvation!
1. What did He do?
a. Showed Pharaoh & Egypt that their gods were not God—10 plagues to show this
b. Death of 1st born as punishment for having His 1st born sons killed (Ex. 4:22)
c. Drowned Pharaoh’s army as punishment for drowning His people
2. What He is emphasizing is that He has kept His promise! (Ex. 6:6-7)
a. He is now calling Israel to keep their own covenant promises (V. 5)
b. Being saved is not the end—It is the beginning!!! So now what?
c. With salvation comes responsibility and opportunity for deeper relationship!
3. God took Israel out of Egypt and the next step is to take Egypt out of Israel
a. This is what bearing them on eagles’ wings is about—Time to mature—Created to fly!
b. It is a process of growth—Leaving the nest—Accomplishing what God created us to do
c. Too many have bought into the lie that it is only about being saved
d. The devil lulls us into falling into this trap—(VIDEO—Balance Beam & Francis Chan)
E. When God led Israel away from Mt. Sinai, they were punished for trying to play it safe
1. God is trying to lead us to where we grow in relationship with Him—It takes faith & risk
2. That is what the rest of this speech is about here at Mt. Sinai (V. 4c-6a)
a. Brought you to Myself—Past tense—He brought them to Mt. Sinai for more
b. My treasured possession—Future tense—The depth of relationship He is calling them to
c. Kingdom of priests—Future tense—An honored place of worship and intimacy
i. This was forfeited by all but the Levites because of the golden calf
ii. It is restored by the work of Jesus
d. Holy nation—Standards that show we live like we belong to the LORD
F. From past tense (V. 4) to present (V. 5) to future tense (V. 5b-6) we see a process
1. His speech is about what to expect going forward
a. No stagnation or being lukewarm
b. Over the next 3 weeks we will look more in depth at what He is calling Israel to become
i. Depth of relationship that won’t allow one to be lukewarm—Keep working on it
ii. Responsibility of being a kingdom of priests
iii. The importance of holiness and living according to God’s nature
2. Where are you in your faith development?
3. You are saved!!! But for what purpose?
III. INVITATION