Remember 4

Remember 3

Exodus 13:3-10

       Please forgive me, but I am a Star Trek fan.  If you are not, bear with me!

       I’m reminded of the Star Trek movie, “The Wrath Of Khan.”  Khan was an old enemy of Captain Kirk’s, before he became Admiral Kirk.  In the movie, after Khan was defeated, Admiral Kirk, and his Enterprise crew, still had another problem.  The Enterprise needed to get their warp engines back on line, before the Genesis bomb exploded, but any one who would enter the containment field which housed the dilithium chamber would be killed by radiation poisoning.  With time running out, Captain Spock courageously walks into containment field and fixed the problem with his own hands.  This of course meant certain death for him.

       However, before he entered the radioactive chamber, he did a quick Vulcan mindmeld on Dr. McCoy (Bones) and uttered the word, “Remember!”  In so doing, Spock placed his own consciousness in the soul of Dr. McCoy, where it could later be retrieved under favorable circumstances.

       Today, I come as a representative of the Federation of Heaven.  I come to do a mindmeld on you and place the consciousness of Jesus, the Christ, in you—so that you can remember what God has done for you in this place, through your pastor and his wife.

       So, my message to you today is simply, “Remember!”  To elaborate this message, allow me to go into the Word of God for a few moments and point out a similar situation.

       About thirty-five-hundred years ago, God delivered Israel from the tyranny of Egypt with a mighty and outstretched hand.  Through 10 mighty plagues, Jehovah displayed the impotence of the idol gods of Egypt in stark contrast with His own omnipresence!  Through the

·        Turning of the waters of Egypt into blood;

·        Multiplying the frogs;

·        Multiplying gnats;

·        Multiplying insects;

·        Releasing disease against the cattle;

·        Releasing of boils;

·        Sending of hail;

·        Summoning of hoards of locusts;

·        Effecting of darkness;

·        Death of the first born

God devastated each idol god of Egypt and demonstrated that He was the real God.  With His own hand, he delivered His people from bondage!  And, like Captain Spock, Jehovah spoke the word, “Remember,” to the nation of Israel, His beloved people and wife!  In so doing, He placed His own consciousness in the soul of Israel, so that it could be retrieved in the right circumstances.

(We see this in the book of the Exodus.  Would you please notice with me Exodus 13:3-10?)

       As you celebrate God’s faithfulness and blessings, God is saying the same thing to you, “Remember!”  He has already placed His consciousness in you, at Salvation, so He can retrieve at certain pivotal times.  The major command is to remember, but there are two others that are closely connected to it.  Let’s explore the three major commands that God made to Israel and apply them to ourselves.

(The first command is:)

I.     Remember (vs. 3).

Moses commanded the Children of Israel to remember the day in which they went out from Egypt, from the house slavery.  They were to remember the day, because it was accomplished by the powerful hand of Jehovah.

       A primary application of this day of remembrance certainly has our salvation in view.  We should remember the day, when by the powerful hand of Jehovah and through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the true Passover Lamb, we were delivered from the Egypt of Sin and from the house of Satanic bondage.  (Elaborate)

       Another application of this principle of the day of remembrance is to the Church of Jesus Christ.  The Israelites certainly experienced individual deliverance from Egypt, but there was also the corporate deliverance of Israel as a people and nation.  This certainly envisions the Church of Jesus Christ, because on Calvary, Jesus wrought the salvation and deliverance of His body, i.e. the Church of Jesus Christ.  He paid the price for the deliverance of His Church.  This was a new entity, composed of Jews and Gentiles, i.e. literally all the nations of the world, into one new body of believers.  The Church was certainly born and entered into a new dispensation on the Great Day of Pentecost.  We should remember the birthday of the Church, i.e. the Great Day of Pentecost!  (Elaborate)

(I would like to suggest a third application.)

A third application is to you as a local assembly of believers.

·        Remember the miracles of the beginning of this church!

·        Remember where God has brought you from!

·        Remember how He’s kept you for another year!

·        Remember the idols that He’s destroyed around you!

·        Remember the enemies that He has delivered you from!

       Let me also point out that the word “remember,” is covenant language.  God not only wanted them to remember where He had brought them from, He wanted them to remember His covenant with them!  God has taken an oath to bless you and take you to heaven and He’s bent on keeping that oath!

(We come now to the second command in this passage of Scripture.  The command is:)

II.    Rejoice (vs. 5).

I have chosen the word “rejoice” to represent the second major command in this passage of Scripture, because of its alliterative value, but the word is verse 5 is “observe.”  Let’s look at verse five again.

Exodus 13:5 (NASB-U), “It shall be when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this rite in this month” (bold type added).

The phrase “observe this rite” is literally “serve this service.”  The two words “observe” and “rite” are from the same root, which is reflected in the literal translation.  The first word has the connotation of observe, worship, celebrate, or rejoice.  The second word has the connotation of service, work, or labor.  So, this phrase could also be translated, “Rejoice in this service, rite, ritual, or ceremonial act.”

       Apparently Moses was establishing a ritual, which would be celebrated again, only when they entered the Promised Land.

       While we might tend to think of serving, service, a ritual, or a ceremonial act as drudgery, “when the service is offered to God, it is not bondage, but rather a joyous and liberating experience (Theological Word Book Of The Old Testament).  This is actually very closely related to and embodies “worship.”

       So, this gathering should be a service, observance, or worship celebration that brings about rejoicing when you look back to your salvation, the birthday of the Universal Church, and the birthday of this local church, and the ministry of your pastor and his wife.  And you should observe this worship celebration with great rejoicing.

You ought to rejoice in the same way that Israel rejoiced, when God completed their salvation, by delivering them through the Red Sea.  The Bible says in

Exodus 15:1 (NASB-U), “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; the horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.”

You ought to sing today with all of our might, as a way of rejoicing in what God has done!

You ought to sing “How I Got Over.”

You ought to sing “Your grace and mercy.”

Your grace and mercy has brought me through

I’m living this moment, because of you

I want to thank you, and praise you too

Your grace and mercy has brought me through

You ought to sing, “My Tribute.”

My Tribute

How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me-

Things so undeserved, yet You give to prove Your love for Me?

The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude-

All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.

To God be the glory, to God be the glory,

To God be the glory for the things He has done!

With His blood He has saved Me, With His pow’r He has raised me-

To God be the glory for the things He has done!

Just let me live my life- Let it be pleasing, Lord, to Thee;

And should I gain any praise, Let it go to Calvary.

With His blood He has saved me, With His pow’r He has raised me-

To God be the glory of the things He has done!

We should sing these songs with all of our hearts!!!

       The Bible also reads in

Exodus 15:20 (NASB-U), “Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing.”

Somebody ought to rejoice with dancing today, because of what God initiated and continues to do for you!

You ought to remember, with praise and joy:

·        How He brought you out of the bondage of the enemy;

·        What He delivered you from;

·        How He made a way out of no way;

·        How God brought you together;

·        How far He has brought you from.

So, as the Jews were to observe this ritual of rejoicing, when they entered the Promised Land, you should be observing a ritual of celebration, with praise and joy, right now.

·        Celebration adds vibrancy to life!

·        Celebration adds meaning to life!

·        Celebration adds dignity to life!

(There is one more major command that I want to point out for us.)

III.   Rehearse (vs. 8).

Once again I am using this word because of its alliterative value, but the word in the text is “tell.”  We see this in

Exodus 13:8, “You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt’” (bold type added).

The word literally means to keep something conspicuous before someone, hence:  to tell, declare, or announce.  The fact that this was going to be done ritualistically, on an ongoing basis, brings the word “rehearse” to mind.  Once they entered the Promised Land, they were to remember the day of their deliverance, rejoice in a special celebration service, and rehearse for their children the reason for the celebration:  because of what the Lord did, when He brought them out of Egypt.

      Africans had tribal griots or storytellers who rehearsed the history of their tribes.

      We need church griots who rehearse for us the story of history!  It is in our stories that we plainly see the mighty hand of God.

       Today, you should rehearse the history and story of what God did for you when He saved you.

       Today, you should rehearse the history and story of what God did for you when this church was founded.

       Today, you should rehearse the history and story of what God has done through your pastor and his wife.

       Today, you should remember, rejoice, and rehearse!!!

The Backward Look

A shepherd who had been given a position of great honor by one of Scotland’s kings would often go alone to a certain room in the palace.  The king became suspicious and thought he was plotting a conspiracy.  So he asked to look inside this secret room.  To his surprise, all that was there was a chair, a shepherd’s crook, and an old plaid scarf.  “What does this mean?” asked the king.  The nobleman answered, “I was a humble shepherd when your Majesty promoted me.  I come to this room to look at the crook and the plaid.  They remind me of what I used to be—and that I am nothing but what the grace of the king has made me.”

Today, it is by God’s grace that we remember, rejoice, rehearse, and rest in His presence!!!

Remember!!!