0:00 Let's open up our Bibles to Exodus chapter three where we left off. But before anything, we're gonna pray again and ask the Lord to meet with us today in a special way. Why? Because we should believe that he comes every time we seek him. Let's do that.
0:26 Let's pray. Let's go straight to the throne of grace. We can do so boldly because of the blood of Jesus, and we can seek grace in time of need. If you need grace tonight, if you need grace to move on, if you need grace to to move forward, if you need grace in your situation, come to the throne of grace tonight. Oh, father, we need you desperately.
0:55 We ask god that you would pour out your grace upon each person in this place. Yes. Father, we look to you in faith, and we come in the name of Jesus because it is through his name we have any access to you. God in heaven, we tremble at your word. And Lord, we come, some in weakness, some in strength, and your word says, is any of you suffering?
1:19 Let him praise. Any among you cheerful? Let him sing praise. And Lord, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in tonight, it always demands a response. There is always a response.
1:29 Whether we're suffering, we do something. Whether we're cheerful, we do something. And so, Lord, we come in faith to you. And father, we ask that as we open your precious word, as we open up this treasure of revelation, we pray that you would speak to us. And we know that your holy spirit does not work apart from this word, so we pray that the holy spirit would minister to people through the word.
1:52 Through the word tonight, Lord. We pray as we're gonna find out that God is a fire, that you would consume us tonight as the fire that you are. We hunger for you, God. We hunger for you. And if we don't hunger for you, we pray for a deeper hunger for you, Lord.
2:09 Father, we pray by faith that tonight as you are consuming fire, you would consume things in our lives that are not of you. You would consume it. You would consume it once and for all. Mhmm. We come into your house by faith believing that this is your house.
2:23 Believing that your presence is here. So father, we just pray against every every distraction, Lord. Everything that might take away from the word of God. Every bird that would come and steal the word from the soil of our hearts. We pray against it, and we pray that your word would go with power, great power tonight, lord.
2:42 That every man would be hidden and the voice of Christ would be heard. Lift us up. Lord, take us on the road to Emmaus as you open up the scriptures and let our hearts burn like those two disciples. Let our hearts burn like those two disciples. And so, Father, we pray that you would permeate this place with your glory.
3:01 Absolutely take over this place, let time have no factor, let our flesh have no factor, let our distractions have no factor, but Lord we pray that you come in like a flood and do as you please. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Exodus chapter three.
3:24 Couple weeks ago, thank you. Couple weeks ago, we talked about the man Moses. The man Moses. And how he was raised up by godly parents and how Moses really was surrounded by godly people and how that affected his life. And one of the main points from Exodus chapter two was how Moses, though he had this sense of calling in his heart, he had this sense of calling in his heart from Acts seven twenty three-twenty five, he implemented too soon.
3:53 It wasn't God's timing, it wasn't God's will, it wasn't God's strength and we learned how God oftentimes, if not all the time, will take a man and enroll him in the school of God. Meaning what? God will take a man and do what he needs to do through the man and in the man in order to prepare him for a call. In order to prepare him to fulfill the will that he has for his life. And God does that how?
4:20 What is the school of God? Through trials, through circumstances, through events, through times of waiting. He takes a man and he brings that man to a place in his life in which he prepares his character, his faith, his disciplines in order to lift him up to the place where he needs to be and to be most effective at it. And so, we must yield to God's timing, we must yield to God's call in the seasons that we find ourselves, though our hearts might be burning with a passion for something, we glorify God. And we see here in chapter three that we're gonna see this man Moses who was enrolled in the school of God, now is about to receive that call.
5:05 And so we we talked about in Exodus chapter two the man of God, Moses, now we're going to talk about the call of God on Moses. Why are these stories here? So, we can just look at them and say, oh wow, this is so cool how God works through others. No, they're examples for us. The principles, though they're not exactly for us, the principles are universal, the principles are timeless.
5:27 So, let's read in verse one. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro the priest of Midian and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and behold the bush was burning yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight why the bush is not burned.
5:58 When the Lord saw that when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called him out of the bush, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. Then he said, do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.
6:26 What can we say about these first six packed filled verses in chapter three? Does anybody know the background? Does anybody know approximately what age Moses is at this point?
6:45 40 or 80? He's probably around 80 at this point. We see later on that we get his age. So, we're we're we don't know exactly what age he's at this point, but we know that he's old. And when he was first introduced here in Exodus chapter two.
7:05 So, years have passed by. What can we say about these first six verses here? Whatever you got.
7:13 Yeah. Considering that the time frame is like between chapter two and chapter three, like in his life, he may not he
7:19 not necessarily forgotten but me might god might not have been top of mind and his promise might not
7:24 have been top of mind. Okay. So that's one perspective. Maybe he's not necessarily feeling the call as he used to. Maybe he is.
7:32 Maybe not. What else can we say? Yeah. Yes. That's right.
7:46 We're gonna talk about that more. We think God always wants to speak to us. No. God waits for you to pay attention. We'll get to that in a moment.
7:55 Yeah. Yes. In the agenda.
7:57 Yeah. I think Egyptian. And to this time, I think he lost kind of the leverage of God. And this here kind of thought is kind of setting straight, like, this is the type of body and it's not just
8:15 Well, God is teaching Moses something about his holiness and this whole book is really dedicated to the holiness of God. His transcendence, how separate he is from humans. And so he's teaching something about Moses here in these first few years about worship, which is so significant. Yeah.
8:32 Let's add to that where he tells him to take off the scandalous and then sometimes it's not the fault of God casually. Mhmm.
8:40 So not to come to the lord casually, yet with reverence. Any other thoughts? Yeah. I believe.
8:48 one now, verse six when he said, I am the god of your father. I am the god of your father, the god of slaves. He was ashamed.
9:01 Yeah. Shame, maybe afraid. Says he was afraid to look at god. Sure. What else can we say?
9:10 Going back to his, I think that's here is basically telling him that I'm still the same God with three fathers. I did not change even though I've brought all these years, you know. So just a reminder that this company is here is real.
9:22 Absolutely. After how many years? It's a long time. Four hundred. Yeah.
9:29 Not most particularly, but with Israel. Yeah. Go ahead.
9:32 So it's, interesting that it says here that his father-in-law is the the priest of Midian
9:49 Yeah. Well, we know that it's not the right god because we know that his father-in-law later comes to faith in the wilderness. So, yeah, his father-in-law is a priest of Midian, of Midian to a different God. Excuse me. Any other thoughts for the first six verses?
10:08 Yeah. I believe when it's saying here, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him. And later on we see that it's not angel, it's God himself. Sure. So I believe here that the angel of the Lord means, messenger of the Lord.
10:26 And I believe it was Jesus. Sure. He's the son of the city. He was messenger of the Lord. And then he's saying that
10:35 I am God your father. Absolutely.
10:38 It wasn't like angel but was messenger of the Lord.
10:41 And we talked about that maybe like seventeen weeks ago or something about the angel of the Lord. How majority of the time it speaks of Jesus. That's debated but we hold to that. Yeah.
10:51 I mean, you come to think about it. In a scripture it says, no man has ever seen God. Mhmm. And here Moses said, he turned up because he was face to face. So what he was saying, we have to think about it.
11:07 Jesus was sound of God and he was God because his father was God. So representation of God the father was in Christ, and there was Jesus who was appearing to him. So when he was saying he was looking at God, I would say this was the God, son of God, that he was looking at. This is where it's making reference as a thing to hold.
11:30 Sure. Yeah. So we agree that this is a theophany. This is a pre incarnate Right. Christ.
11:38 Yes. And we see that many times throughout the Old Testament.
11:41 I was was just thinking also the contrast of when he was in Egypt, he was a somebody, but God took him out to the desert to teach him that he is a nobody
11:50 Great point. In order for God
11:51 to use him. Great point. To be a, you know, I shouldn't like Yes. The lonelier, the loneliest. Yes.
11:57 But there's lessons. You think you're a somebody, but God can't use you until you realize you're.
12:02 Absolutely. You've come a long way. You're a prince of Egypt. You get anything that can snap at your finger. And here you are.
12:06 You're a shepherd, and you're working for your father-in-law. And now you are in the wilderness with a bunch of sheep. You're in a palace filled with luxury and gold and chariots and education, But God can use them at that point. We're gonna find that out at the end of this verses. Go ahead.
12:28 I think I have to question about this. I'm not sure. When he told him to take his sandals off, is it about taking off anything that's stopping him from moving forward to enter that place that moving forward? Mhmm. That place, that moving place?
12:40 Absolutely. That's exactly what it is. We're gonna talk about this. God is not against open ended shoes, okay? He's not against it.
12:47 It's what the sandals symbolize. So, he's gonna be telling us here we see throughout scripture how he does ask us to remove something, to draw near to him. Let's look at verse one. Now, Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro the priest of Midian and he led his flock to the West side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. As our sister mentioned already, think about where God has brought this man already in verse one.
13:12 Look at the the look at the contrast of chapter two and chapter three right off the bat. God brought this man to this place in his life. God brought this man and humbled him to this position in his life. God is training this man by doing what he did here. How is he training him?
13:56 This was something that was deposited in his heart and God knew that was burning in his heart, but he was not prepared. So, he says, you know what? Before you deal with people, I'm gonna let you deal with some sheep. So, go and tend some flock. Go and be patient with them, name them, take care of them individually, walk them, feed them.
14:14 And this is amazing because God is about to encounter Moses at a specific, in a specific season of his life. What season? Humility? Yes. Humbleness?
14:25 Yes. But faithfulness, you need to think about this. I want you right now in your mind to think about every single time God has called a man in the scriptures. A lot of the times, not all the times, a lot of the times the scripture records that man is doing something when God calls him. That he's doing something.
14:45 He he's busy with something. He's doing work. He's getting his blood working. He's not he's not lazy. Think about it.
14:52 Samuel, a young boy, what was he doing? He was serving in the temple. Elisha, what was he doing? He's with the oxen. He was working in the fields.
15:01 The disciples, what were they doing? They were fishermen, tax collector. Saul of Tarsus, what was he doing? Persecuting the church. At least he was busy doing something and he was good at it too.
15:16 God does not call lazy people. He doesn't. In fact, he sets a standard for those that want to be disciples of him. He says if you put your hands to the plow and you look back, you're not worthy to be my disciple. Meaning, if you're not focused on this thing called the kingdom of God, you're going to be looking back at the world and looking back at what your family is doing, what your friends doing, when they don't want to follow God, you can't.
15:35 You can't even make the first step of being my disciple. God does not call slothful people, does it? And, here's Moses, though he has this burning passion in his heart. He wants to see a nation delivered and God has not allowed him to do that. So, what does he do?
15:52 He watches binging off of Netflix. What does he do? No. He's faithful to the capacity in which God has called him. Alright, God, you won't give me a nation?
16:02 I'll deal with these sheep. I'll take care of these sheep. Alright, God, you called me to be a preacher, I feel it, but you didn't give me a pulpit, so I'm going to be faithful in in my Walgreens job and use my cashier as a pulpit. If God has put something in your heart and you believe that God is taking you there, you don't just it's not going to come on a silver platter. Be faithful to the capacity in which he's called you.
16:26 And know that that is training and we have to yield to that. Here's Moses about to get called, what was he doing? Sitting in a tent, clothing his tongues? No, he was working, he was in the wilderness, he was in the desert, he was tending these sheep, and God says, here I can use somebody like that. Faithful with little, faithful with much.
16:44 Faithful in your Bible study, I can put you on a platform if it's my will. Whatever it is, we must be faithful to the capacity which god has placed us and that's exactly what Moses is doing here. What else can we say about verse one? Well, we can look at verse two, and the angel of the lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked and behold the bush was burning and it was not consumed.
17:11 What can we say about verse two? What's so special about a burning bush? Yes.
17:16 Well, I was just gonna say that it caught his eye
17:19 because there was a fire, but also because the bush didn't get burned and get consumed. Yes. Think about it. This is a go ahead, And you say It's okay. No problem.
17:35 Was were burning bushes uncommon in the wilderness? No. No. So you wanna go off of that? No.
17:41 say, like, verse one. Yeah. And came to where at
17:47 Do you know that it was the Mountain Of Cotton?
17:49 Nobody was about to find out. Yeah. Not necessarily. It's kinda like a commentary on the verse. This is the mountain of God because we're gonna find ourselves here in Exodus chapter 19.
17:59 So it's kinda giving us a heads up. Hey, this is the mountain of God. But that's a great question. Yes. I think that's
18:06 we just seem to compare also when Elijah leaves meeting with God on that same mountain. God uses all the forces of nature. Yeah. Talk to him and hearing as he's doing the same thing.
18:14 You said Elijah. Right? Yeah. Yes. That's a great point.
18:17 We're gonna talk about Elijah today actually. Were burning bushes uncommon in the wilderness? No. Burning bushes in the desert would combust in flames all the time, but the difference between those burning bushes and this burning bush is that this burning bush kept burning. And the bush was not consumed and guess what?
18:40 That caught his attention. That caught Moses' attention. If you want to really be a sign and wonder in this generation, don't burn for a season, keep burning for God. You want to really catch people's eyes, keep burning for God. It's a consistent flame.
19:03 The flame did not go out. Is that possible? Absolutely. How do you keep a fire burning? Well, the same way you do with the natural fire.
19:12 You just keep feeding it. You watch over it. You take over it. You You make sure that rain doesn't consume it. You make sure the wind doesn't blow over it.
19:19 You tend to it. They were supposed to keep the fire on the altar in the temple burning day and night. Was that just going to happen magically? No. It was the priest's job to take care of the fire.
19:29 Young people all the time ask me, how do I keep the fire? Well, how do you keep your campfire going? You keep feeding it. You keep your eye on it. You don't ignore it.
19:38 And, when you keep burning, that's when you get people's attention. You know what we have today? It was what? July 4, not too long ago. Right?
19:48 I don't know why I didn't realize it. It seemed like this year I paid more attention to it. It was like we were in a war zone all day. We're just driving around, boom boom boom boom boom boom. I was like, okay.
19:57 We get it. Let's go to sleep. It's one in the morning. But, you know, I enjoyed the show, sat in the back and saw the fireworks going around, but I thought to myself, you know, these fireworks are a lot like Christians. Once in a while, they go up, they get excited, bang, they make a lot of noise, they look pretty and then they die.
20:19 Their fire dies. And, just like July 4 weekend, whenever conference comes around, yeah, once a year, let's get on fire for God. Oh, make a lot of noise on Facebook. Oh, make a lot of noise at church. Oh, make a lot of noise in our family.
20:32 And then it just dies. The world doesn't want fireworks Christians. The world wants burning Christians that keep burning for God. That's what's going to get people's attention. My goodness, it's not hard to start a fire.
20:45 I see so many Christians get on fire. I see so many Christians start to pray. I see so many Christians that want to read. You know what it's hard to do? Keep doing it.
20:54 Find somebody that does that and then you get man's attention. People get excited for God all the time. Find a man that when nobody else is excited about God, they stay excited about God. That's a sign and a wonder. That's what caught Moses' attention.
21:11 Burning bushes here and there, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, but this one caught him. He says there's something about this one that's different. It keeps burning. But it's not just that, it's that the bush was not consumed by the fire. There's another element to it.
21:27 It's that the fire, in another perspective, did not consume the bush. That's another way to catch people's attention is when the fires of life come against you and you do not get consumed. Trials and tribulations and persecution, yet you still burn for God. You're not consumed by it. Think about the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel chapter three twenty three.
21:55 What happens? They don't bow to the idol, and and the punishment was going to throw you into a fiery furnace. So, what does he do? He says turn it up seven times hotter, turn the fire up and here are these three Hebrew boys, they're bound And it says that the fire was so hot that those that the servants that grabbed these boys to throw into the fire were killed by the fire. But what happened with those boys?
22:23 It says in verse 25 that they were in the fire and Nebuchadnezzar stood amazed because though they were in the fire, he says, didn't we throw them bound in the fire? He says, why do I see them unbound and another man walking in the midst? Think about it, the fire that killed other people did not kill the Hebrew boys and it made Nebuchadnezzar stand in amazement. See, when you go through hell in life, when disease hits your body, when this hits your life, when this circumstance, when this event comes crashing against you, what would make other people crumble into power, you don't crumble into powder, and it makes other people look at you and say, how can that be? What is it that you have that keeps you?
23:15 Why are you not consumed by the fires of life? Why are you not consumed by the trials that you're experiencing? Any fire that you go through that is not based on your own foolishness is by God and it's for a purpose. Those Hebrew boys went into the fire bound, they came out unbound And, they didn't smell like smoke. The only thing that was gone was the very things that were keeping them bound.
23:39 See, God puts you to the fire for a reason. Why? The thing that was binding you for so long can only come out through the circumstance that he allows in your life. There's some things that we are so stubborn about that God needs to put us through circumstances in order for us to be free from. Free from pride, I'm going to let you go through this circumstance.
24:00 The fire doesn't touch you, it touches the thing that was binding you. This jealousy, envy, all these ugly things, I'm gonna let you go through the fire so that you can be free. And you come out not smelling like smoke, but free from bondage. Burning bush. What else can we say about the burning bush?
24:26 I don't know why Nefer Dineroza said he sees like another man and use the term like Sarafat. I don't know if this is the original one or not, but he said he put it in three and there's a one more among them.
24:42 Yeah. He said, like, one that looks like a son of man. The son of man is a theme throughout the book of Daniel concerning Christ, and Christ uses the son of man in the New Testament to show the people that he was the fulfillment of all the things that they saw in the book of Daniel. It's a great point, Gino. Thank you.
24:59 But this is talking more than a burning well, why a burning bush? God could appear to to him in any other way. Why a burning bush? Yes.
25:08 Well, bush is kinda it's pretty common that it does just to, like, find a bush, but, like, to have this one that's set apart. So it's set apart from everything
25:19 else. Sure. I believe it's not the bush that we need to focus on, I believe it's the fire. The bush, God appears to himself as himself in different ways throughout the scriptures. But there's one thing consistent about this, that God is a fire.
25:36 We know this, God is love, don't we? We love that about God in one John. When is the last time you heard in Hebrews twelve twenty nine that God is not just love, God is a consuming fire? We don't have to quote that one, do we? Therefore, let us give him acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a what?
25:54 Consuming fire. What does that mean? What does it mean that God is a consuming fire? I'm telling you, it would change the way we worship if we know what it means. Give him acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consume so acceptable worship, so that means you can give him unacceptable worship.
26:13 What does it mean that God is a consuming fire? Yes, it means many things. One of it means his judgment, his wrath. Yes, His holiness. Absolutely.
26:33 What else can we say about God being a consuming fire? Yeah, like a fire. When you let a fire go, and you let it really go, it consumes everything. I thank God that he's a consuming fire. I praise God that he's a consuming fire.
26:50 Why? Because I need fire. Why? Because only consuming fire can consume the ugly things in my life. When is the last time you and I have called upon God to consume us with his fire?
27:02 God, consume this pride in my heart, it's only your fire that can burn it away. God, consume this lust in my heart, it's only your fire that can take it away. God, consume this jealousy in my heart, it's only your fire that can purge it. We need God to be a consuming fire. You know, this is the unique thing about the consuming fire.
27:19 Here's the revelation about it in Deuteronomy, if we can turn to it on the screen, Deuteronomy, I believe it's four twenty six or 24 rather, Deuteronomy four twenty four. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. The link about him being a fire to being a jealous God. And, as the sister already mentioned, that God is a consuming fire, you know what he wants to do? He wants to consume every area of your life, that might take away from you being completely his.
27:58 Because he's jealous. There's this, the most debated, one of the most debated verses in James chapter four verse five concerning God. He's talking to the people, the Christians, you adulterous people. You adulterous people, meaning spiritual adultery. You've committed adultery against God.
28:16 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? And then he says this amazing verse that people debate about what it really means. I believe it means exactly what it says. Do you not know that God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in you? Think about it.
28:33 God is a jealous God. He yearns jealously for the spirit. He yearns for our inner man to be part of Him. He yearns for the depth of who we are, to know the depths of who He is. And, He's a jealous God.
28:50 A jealous bridegroom for a jealous bride. He's a consuming fire. What does Moses do? He looks and be able to bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Verse three.
29:08 And Moses said, I will turn aside to see this great sight why the bush is not burned. What does it say about Moses, his posture? Now think about this in his physical posture, what is he doing here? He's tending his sheep, whether they're before him or whether they're around him, and here he is walking in the wilderness and he sees, in this peripheral vision, he sees this burning bush and he said what? What does it say at first?
29:32 He looked. Whether it was behind him, beside him, whatever, he looked at it. What does that say about Moses? Curious? Sure.
29:44 Attentive, yes! This man Moses is attentive. This Moses is not daydreaming. This Moses is not a guy that's letting his thoughts carry him away. This man is aware of his environment, this man is controlled within himself and because of it, he notices it.
30:04 He notices it. Why is that important for us to know? Because that is the same discipline you and I need to have in order to hear God. It says he looks and he sees the burning bush, but it doesn't say that God spoke to him when he looked at it. It says when he told himself, I will turn aside to see this great sight.
30:28 So he turns to see this great sight. And then when he did that, verse four tells us, when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called him. We talked about this before, but it's good to remember. That it wasn't until when? Moses gave God his full attention that he heard God speak to him.
30:59 What can we say about that? If we don't pay attention
31:08 to God, we're not in Jesus, we're
31:09 not gonna hear anything. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Liam?
31:15 Everything will be put in. What we what we read is what we solve the more we give to God, the more we allow him
31:23 to give us. Sure. Absolutely. So he was extending his sheet and then he just said forget that. Sure.
31:39 I always want to ask to speak correctly, speak to us. Sometimes we're so caught up with thinking that he's gonna say it as just a clear word into our head or something like that. Like, a lot of the times he'll just do things around us. Us. He wants us to see that first when he speaks to us directly.
31:57 Because with Molotov, so in this case, it's the fire you set already. This isn't uncommon. But what was uncommon was that it wasn't consumed, and that's what got his attention. So Moses was keeping an open mind about how God had to
32:09 speak with them. This man has a holy curiosity, a holy hunger, and he has something we all need. He sees this burning bush. He gives it its full attention. It's there when god speaks to him.
32:24 gonna say Moses was raised as Egyptian. Right? Mhmm. So, like, Polypaea is really strong and
32:37 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, there was something that caught his eye and God is about to make the distinction of he's the true and living God, not the gods that maybe he heard of. Yes. Let this be a lifelong lesson for you and me. That as Gil already mentioned, we think that God is gonna shout at us when he wants to speak to us, not all the time.
32:59 He wasn't tending his sheep and then what caused it? It wasn't, hey Moses, I have somebody to tell you. It's not how he spoke. It wasn't until he stopped, gave his full attention, and when you give God your full attention, you can expect God to give you revelation. Think about it.
33:19 If you have any self respect, and you're having a conversation with a person one on one, I don't know about you, but I'll tell you about me. If this person is not giving me the attention that I need in a normal conversation, how am I supposed to share them, choose about who I am? How am I supposed to open my heart to this person when they're not giving me their attention? It shows that they don't value what I have to say. And so, why would I throw my pearls to someone that won't respect those things?
33:47 And so, what's the difference between us and God? There is no difference. That God has something to say to us, but it's until we give Him our attention when we receive revelation. And so, in a meeting like this, I apologize, that when the meeting comes like, when it comes to meetings, corporate meetings like this, I'm your friend, I love you, but when it comes to God's house, I'm coming to hear from God. I'm not coming here to sit beside you and to, and to, no, no, no.
34:16 The moment that word opens, I don't know who's standing behind this pulpit, but I believe that that man has been praying for a certain amount of time to hear from God, and to to give the people of God a word from God. I've come to hear from God. We'll chat afterwards over lunch, but this is God's time. I wonder how much God would speak to us if we really believe that every time we came to church, no matter who was speaking. You say, well, this person is not speaking or that person.
34:40 God spoke through a burning bush. I come to give God my full attention. My cell phone, during church, you will not get a hold of me. Why? Because it's God time.
34:53 I've come to hear from God. I've come to give him my full attention. I need revelation. I need it to speak to me. I need a fresh word.
35:03 Not just corporately, privately. When it comes to me and God time, it's really me and God time. And, the devil will try everything to distract you. But, you open this word. We don't have burning bushes anymore.
35:16 You know what? We have a burning buck. You open this word and you believe that God will speak through you, to you, through this book. God, I've come to give you my full attention. There could be an earthquake outside, I could not care less.
35:29 I need to hear from you. I come, Speak, for your servant is listening. My heart is open. I'm not just going to look at it. You know you can read the bible and not really read the bible?
35:40 You know how they're right? You can read the bible and not really read the bible. You can pray and not really pray. How many times have you caught yourself doing that? You're praying, you're thinking about other things, you're woah, woah, woah, woah, God, you're on your throne right now.
35:55 I apologize, Father. Here I am, here's my full attention. I'm reading, I'm thinking about laundry, I'm thinking about things I gotta do, I'm thinking about homework, and I go, well, God's not gonna speak to me this way. Here's my full attention. God can speak many ways, but it's it's often that he speaks when we give him our full attention.
36:15 And as our sister mentioned in first Kings, here's an example, first Kings 19 with Elijah in verse 11. Elijah said it had a rough day. Oh, you you think prophets don't have discouraging days. This man just saw revival. This man just saw fire come down from heaven, and you know what?
36:38 He runs away when a woman says I'm gonna kill you. What was he missing? A prayer? What was he missing? Bible reading?
36:46 No. He was missing some food and rest. And so he goes into the wilderness and he's discouraged because he feels like nobody else gets it and he feels like he's the only man of God on earth and he's the only one that has a message on his heart. He feels like he's the only one that's compromising. And God says, so he goes into a cave and he complains and God appears to him.
37:04 And how does he appear to him? In verse 11. And he said, go out and stand on the mount before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And, after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And, after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
37:29 And, after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And, in verse 13 it says, and Elijah heard it. We want God to speak to us, and we want heaven to rip open. We want that. Speak to me God.
37:50 I need something miraculous. I need an earthquake. I need a fire. I need something miraculous. You know what God wants to do?
37:59 Whisper. Do you think he, he Why did he whisper? Because when somebody whispers, what do you need to do? Listen. Pay attention.
38:15 Whisper. And, it required Elijah to listen and give God his attention. It doesn't take much for a kaboom to happen and say, okay God's speaking to me. But, when you need a word from God, sure you can do it this way, but he will use those circumstances in your life in order for you to lean in so he can whisper. Give God your full attention.
38:44 Take Moses' surrounding into consideration too. Where is Moses at right now? In a wilderness. Who is Moses with? Nobody.
38:55 In a wilderness, by himself, that's when God wants to speak and where God wants to speak to you the most. When you're separated from the world, when you're separated from the people, when you're separated from the crowd, it wasn't until Moses was alone that God could speak to them. How many how many times do we see this throughout the Bible? We think in Genesis 32 that Jacob went out to go find God and wrestle with God. That's not what the Bible says.
39:16 It says that the angel of the Lord found Jacob and wrestled with Jacob. God waited for Jacob to be alone before he could wrestle Jacob. God waits for you and me to get alone, distracted from all these different things. He wants you to pull out from for a season in order for him to speak to you. That is the hardest thing about knowing God's will.
39:37 That is the hardest thing about knowing God, it's getting alone. We do not like to be alone. It it kills the flesh. The flesh hates to be alone. It wants attention.
39:48 It wants entertainment, it wants fellowship. Those things are good in their respective timing, but God wants you to get alone. Because he's trying to speak and you have too much noise going around. I believe every Christian should take a designated amount of time every year or every few months and just get alone with God. Just get alone, block out two or three days, lock yourself in your basement, go find somebody else's house, get alone with God because you want to hear what God is saying.
40:16 Not some mystical will take this Bible, open this Bible, open your heart and wait on God. Because nobody's willing to do that, they're missing out. Can you imagine if Moses did not give God his attention at this moment? Can you imagine if there's a burning bush in this generation? You know what would happen?
40:34 Most people would miss it. Why would people miss it? Because they'd be looking down on their iPhones. Here's a burning bush. Well, here's Facebook, and here's my Snapchat, here's Instagram.
40:45 And I wonder how many people in this generation are missing out on God's call because they're distracted. What a shame, what a tragedy it will be in eternity when people stand before God and they realize that Instagram stripped them of their calling. What a tragedy it would be because they were addicted to TV and this show and that show and entertainment that God said I had something to tell you, but you were too distracted. So I gave it to this person. I don't know about you, I'm not willing to miss out on what God has for me.
41:17 I'm keeping my eyes open, my ears open. If I need to get a loan, I'll get a loan because that's where God speaks. And God called him out of the bush. Moses Moses and he said, here I am. And this is amazing.
41:39 They said, do not come near, take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. Out of all the articles of clothing, why the sandals? Does anybody know Does anybody
41:55 know or can guess? No. It's because the bottom of the sandals when you're walking, it, like, picks up everything that you want to explain. It's like it represents picking up
42:05 and that's what's separating him from, like, the full presence of God's holiness. So picking all of this represent, putting aside everything he's bringing in with him from the world. Just being
42:17 Did everybody hear that? Does everybody agree with that? Yeah. No one. So I don't know how I'm just gonna
42:24 say it. So, when in the first one, they said that his father-in-law, the priest of
42:30 Midian, does that mean that he was against life from his father-in-law? It was his thing. It could be. There's a sense in which he is not there's it's there's a sense of, well, okay. What's the reason why he's telling him to take off his sandals?
42:45 It tells us we don't have to guess. Why? It's holding on his hand. He's saying so there's something about his sandals that are unholy.
42:53 I think you need to expect.
42:55 That's part of it. It's a respect and this time taking off your shoes before certain individuals is a sign of respect. Absolutely. There's reverence. Yeah.
43:04 Wasn't it that in that culture,
43:07 Yes. Absolutely. You're right. You're dead on. There's a king.
43:12 If there's somebody of great importance, you do take off your shoes as a sign of preference. But I would agree with Gil's interpretation of it as well. Is that the sandals carried something. Think about it, he was a shepherd, he was walking around in the wilderness. What's underneath your shoes?
43:33 Dirt, dung, filled. And so this is symbolic, that he could not come near God because of his sandals and the same reason why people cannot come near to God today is because of their sandals. Say what do you mean? Say this, is that if you and I want to come near to God, look, he says do not come near for you are about to stand on holy ground, take off your sandals. The sandals represent worldly things, unholy things, things about that he's picked up throughout his life, things that he has picked up throughout his day.
44:09 This isn't over interpreting it. Remember Jesus with his own disciples in John thirteen ten, says, your whole body is clean except your feet. I've come to wash your feet. What was he speaking of there? He was telling them, he was declaring to them except for one that they were made clean.
44:24 It was a foreshadowing. It was a foretelling of the gospel that through the gospel, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are made clean except our feet, meaning what? That we're not we're partially saved? No. It's that as we walk through this world, we carry dirt.
44:36 We got to come to God for confession. We have to come to Christ to be cleansed. We have to implement a certain discipline in order to walk in holiness. And so, the feet represent our walk in the world and here's this man coming to the presence of God, but he could not come near unless he took off his sandals. And you and I will be limited in our knowledge of the presence of God if we keep our sandals on.
45:00 If we're not willing to remove ourselves from filth and unholy things, there's no way we can grow in our nearness of God. Who shall ascend on the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, and does not swear to seek him to lift up his soul to what is false. God will come into your presence.
45:19 Well, you can't come. Why? Because you're carrying something on your sandals that cannot stand on holy ground. Remove it. So if I want to come near to God, I gotta be able to move my shoes and be able to leave those things behind me and walk forward.
45:36 So many people don't know the nearness of God. Why? Because they have filthy feet. God calls us to wash our feet, to remove our sandals, so to speak. And say, you know what?
45:44 It's not worth it because I want to come nearer to Him. So I removed the dirt. I removed the dung. I removed the filth. The things that would be an offense to God in His presence.
45:54 The things that can't dwell, dwell. It's a law. It's not a matter of preference, it's a law. God is too holy. He's holy.
46:01 This whole thing is about the holiness of God. We are being introduced for the first time in the Bible, the holiness of God, because it is the theme of the book of Exodus. Here, he couldn't come before him because of his feet. In chapter 19, the whole nation couldn't come before the mountain, because if they touched it, they would have died. It's all about God being holy, and about how we must be able to implement certain things in order to approach his holiness.
46:26 So, he says take off your sandals. And, you and I need to determine whether we are willing to do so in order to have the newness of God. It's uncomfortable to take off your shoes sometimes. To walk barefoot in the wilderness? But, is it worth it?
46:44 We have to determine that for ourselves. And, you can guarantee two things if you are willing to give God your full attention, and if you are willing to remove the sandals that are hindering you from coming to the presence of God in a greater way. Two things you can guarantee for yourself. That God will reveal himself to us and that God will reveal what he has for us. When you and I decide to give God our full attention and when you and I decide to take off our sandals and walk into his presence, you can guarantee two things, God revealing himself to you and God revealing what he has for you.
47:22 Isn't that what happens? What happens the moment he takes off his suit? Verse six, and he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He reveals himself. But he wasn't going to reveal himself until he took off his sandals.
47:38 Until he was willing to leave behind the filth of the world. The compromise, the dirt, the dung, all the things that he's picked up. God reveals himself. And then the next few verses God reveals his calling. Isn't that what Paul asked God?
47:55 The Christ, when he sees him under Damascus, what is he what was the first question he asked? Who are you, Lord? Right? I am Jesus Christ whom you are persecuting. And then what does he ask?
48:08 What do you want me to do? And this is what's happening with Moses. He's being revealed about who God is and he's about to be revealed about what he's going to do for him. And, when you and I come into the presence of God with full attention, when you and I come into the presence of God, removing the sandals off our feet, we can believe that God will speak to us about himself and what God will reveal to us in the next season of our life. It's worth it.
48:39 So what does he say in verse seven? Let's read verse seven and nine. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I've heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I've come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. To the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and all the otherites.
49:05 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.
49:13 will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. So, what's happening here? Well, we just saw that God reveals who he was, and now he's about to reveal what he has planned for him. Guess what? It makes all of it worth it.
49:28 The wilderness, the loneliness, the humbling, the attention that you give, willing to pull yourself out from the crowd, all of it is worth it when God speaks to you about himself in a way that you've never known. Have you ever I just want this to stop you for a second. Have you ever read this book? Have you ever read just in your daily devotion and you've read through that text so many times and a verse comes out to you like it's never come out to you and it's not just some new information. It's not something for insight in your sermon or your bible teaching.
49:57 No, it's for you. It's for you. I'm not saying it happens every time, but I'm saying when it does happen, it has lifelong impact. When you read this and you say that that's exactly what I need, that's that was for me. This is something about God that I've never seen before.
50:17 This is something about my life that I never knew I needed to know. That's available. So, what is it saying here from verse verse seven not to verse 10? Yes, ma'am.
50:30 It's crazy. To deliver them. Then the time he says, I will send food
50:36 to them. Absolutely. He says, I have come to deliver them, and he says, but I'm sending you to do it.
50:45 Absolutely. In Exodus two, he talks about how God put their earlies. It is once he heard their earlies that then he sent them.
50:53 That's it. That's a huge insight as well. Both great insights. Look at the heart of God in verse seven. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, I've heard their cry, and I know their sufferings.
51:07 He's seen, he's heard, and he's known the things that the people of God are going through. That's God. Do we really believe that about God? That when we're going through affliction, he sees, he hears, and he knows. He's nearer than we actually think.
51:27 And it's verses like this that we got to hold on to this and say, okay God, I might not feel like you're there, I might not see it, I might not know, but you do, you're there. You see it, you feel it, you know it, you're there, I believe it. But here's the bondage, here's the affliction that's been going on for hundreds of years and as our sister just said, it wasn't until they called upon God that he moves. Look at verse 10, verse nine, and now behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me. It wasn't until the cry reached God that he decided to move.
51:58 That's the glorious hope, is that when we pray, when we call upon God, God moves. That's the beauty of prayer. That's the beauty of intercession. Is that we can wallow up in pain. Thank you so much.
52:16 We can wallow up in pain, we can wallow up in suck, all these different things. But, until we muster up the strength to cry out to God, to hear us, is when he begins to move. What else can we say here? Verse nine, I have come down to deliver them out of Egypt. The hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of the land to a good and broad land.
52:38 But then in verse 10, he says, come. I will send you to Pharaoh. What can we say about that?
52:44 I just think it's crazy because, like, literally, like, what god's commanding, you know, most of us do, what's gonna happen is gonna slip everything upside down.
53:06 Absolutely. It gives us insight to how God works though. It gives us insight to how he does things in the earth. You know how he does it? Through men.
53:19 He does it through men. We know this. But God looks for men to be agents of his will. God looks for men that are so surrendered to him that he can use them as extensions of his deliverance to people. This isn't some hype, excitement, insight, this is true for today.
53:36 God is continually looking for men to recruit and as I just said earlier, you know what he's looking down upon? Today, I believe with all my heart a bunch of distracted kids. People that are not really believing this book. People that are not believing that God is really looking for a man to stand in the gap to do something for this generation. Firework Christianity.
54:00 Dead. Let's wait till next year, dead. God is looking for men that are surrendered and he found it in Moses. He says, I want to do something in the earth and I'm looking for somebody. He said, the eyes of the Lord look to and fro throughout the whole world to see whose hearts are completely blameless towards him that he may give them strong support.
54:21 What a glorious truth. I mean, just think about it, let's get, let's just for a second think about it. It. God is really looking for somebody to do something and whether we believe it or not, every single person here has a calling like Moses. Maybe not to its extent, maybe not to the extent of which Moses does it, but the principle and the task is the same for every single believer.
54:46 To do what? To bring people out of Egypt into the domain of God. That is the call of every individual. Doesn't matter if you work at this place, it doesn't matter if you do this, it does not matter what you do, every person is called to bring people out of the bondage of pharaoh. Whether it's two people or like Moses, 2,000,000 people, it does not matter, we all have the same job.
55:08 What did he tell Apostle Paul? He says, I'm sending you to do what? To open their eyes that they may come out of darkness into the light, out of the power of satan, into the power of God, that they may receive forgiveness in a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. So, all of us have the same calling. Go into Egypt, pull them out, bring them into my domain, bring them into my kingdom, bring them into my family, and he's just looking for people that are willing to do it.
55:42 So, well, that's old testament. It's not old testament, it's new testament. It's all over the new testament. How many people refuse to surrender their riches, refuse to answer the the cost of following Jesus and missed out on being disciples. The rich young ruler missed out on being a disciple.
56:00 I'm sure he regrets it now. All these different people that walked out on Christ and Jesus even told his disciples, I'm looking for laborers. Would you pray to the Lord of the harvest for laborers? He's looking still to this day. He's looking, he's recruiting, his eyes are to and fro.
56:19 I want to deliver some people, but I'm looking for a man and he finds it, come I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people and children of Israel out of Egypt. Verse 11. Look at this response. But Moses said to God, who am I? That I should go to pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?
56:45 Look like those thirty something years of shepherding work, didn't it? Why? Because we see different Moses than we did in Exodus chapter two. Don't we? Look back at verse 11 in Exodus chapter two and let's see the Moses that we saw a couple weeks ago.
57:03 One day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hit him in the sand. And we know from acts that the reason why he did this is because he had something in his heart concerning his people and he wanted to perform God's will, but he was doing it his own way. He wanted to perform God's will, but he was doing it in his own strength. He wanted to do God's will, but he was doing it with his own strategy.
57:35 And, God says, you're too strong, I can't use you right now. You have to be weak. Paul said, I boast in my weakness so that the power of Christ can rest on me. Do you feel unworthy? Do you feel weakness?
57:48 Good, you're a candidate for great things for God. The moment you begin to think that you're strong, the moment you can be dependent on your charisma, on your knowledge, on all these different things, God can't use you. You want to know what God's recruitment plan is? The foolish things of this world, the weak things of this world, the things that are not, so that they can make the things that are nothing. That's God's recruitment plan.
58:13 That is his criteria. Do you feel like you can't do it? Good, it's because I want to do it through you and you can't take the glory from it. Moses, I I know this is in my heart, but I can't do this. How how am I gonna do it?
58:29 A few years ago, he thought he could do it. He goes, alright. Yeah. You're gonna beat up my little brother. Alright.
58:34 Here we go. I'm gonna kill you. He goes into the wilderness. Now, he wants him and he has him exactly where he's planned to happen. In a place where he says, I can't do it.
58:52 There's no way. And, he kind of goes a little bit too much into it because God says, come on, I'm going to be with you. Okay, get Aaron. Extra There's nothing wrong with that. He says what?
59:10 Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? Exactly. You're nobody, You're dust and ashes. The way God can use you is the same way he can sit you down. The same way he can find you is the same way he can find somebody else.
59:29 And this is the turning point for Moses' life. Verse 12, he said, but I will be with you. That's the difference. But I will be with you. We just talked about it.
59:44 In Exodus chapter two, he thought he can do it in his own strength. He thought he can do it in his own mind. He thought he can do it based on his own strategy. And, God says you can only go so far with that kind of thinking. And so, he brings us to a place where he feels hopeless.
59:57 Have you ever prayed a prayer that you wanted God to use you so bad, but at the same time said there's no way? I don't understand how it can even work, I don't understand how it can even happen. You know, you can pray big prayers. God is a good God. If you ever feel like that, that's a good place to be.
1:00:16 Because when it does happen, once again, you can't put your name on it. Only God can. He says, I know you can't do it, that's why I will be with you. I'll be with you. So, what you try to do, I can do it what you and I think we can do.
1:00:38 What would take us a thousand years can take God one day. That's the whole purpose of this. Moses wanted to take out one Egyptian at a time. Here's one Egyptian. Okay, I'll bury you.
1:00:49 There's only so much sand to bury all those Egyptians, Moses. So, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to dump them in the sea for you. Let me do it my way. You know, all our failures, whether you're from this church or a different church, whether you're part of this ministry or a different ministry, if God is not with us, we'll fall on our face.
1:01:10 We will fall on our face, but when God is with us, who can be against us? When God is with us, there's nothing that is impossible. When God's hand is upon us, that's when we see things happen, that's why prayer is vital. Prayer is my declaration of dependency on God. God, I can't do it.
1:01:31 I look to you, I can't win a soul for my life. I can shove my head with all these apologetic knowledge. I can't win a soul apart from the spirit of God. It says that the hand of the Lord was upon the men of Cyrene and Cyprus and the Lord added to their number. God's hand was upon those disciples.
1:01:50 They moved in the power of God, unlearned, uneducated men making the Pharisees baffled. How is it you don't have this education, but this man is healed because it's the name of Jesus. But, I will be with you. That is the difference. That is the factor that we need in this day, God with us.
1:02:13 Look what he says here, I will be with you and this shall be a sign for you, that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. That was a sign. There was going to be a future sign, that when you come to this mountain again, you'll know that I was with you. Does it happen? Does does Moses come to this mountain again?
1:02:37 If you could turn with me to Exodus 19, please. Verse 17. Look what it says here. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. Let's just stop there.
1:03:00 If you're a leader, your job is to bring people to God. If you're a leader of any capacity, your job is to make sure that people meet with God, not to be impressed by you. I heard a preacher say this, I had to make up in my mind my preaching whether I wanted to impress people or bless people. You know what? People want the former.
1:03:23 Impress people. He says, no, God, I've determined to bless people, I don't want to impress them. Moses here is bringing the people to meet with God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. There's fire, more fire.
1:03:41 God is a consuming fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up. You want to see what happens when God is with you?
1:04:10 When the Lord assures your life and and your ministry and your calling that his hand is upon it, where was Moses in Exodus chapter three? Moses was leading sheep and was standing before a burning bush, but because God was with him, we see in Exodus 19, not leading sheep leading a nation, not standing before a burning bush, but before a burning mountain. See, when God is with us, we will be shocked of where he will take us. I don't know about you, we've seen burning bushes, I want to see a burning mountain. Isn't it amazing that he starts out to see this bush, maybe a few diameters and length, burning and it was amazing.
1:04:54 God says, you have no idea what I have to show you next. But God found him, first with sheep and then he gave him people. God showed him a burning bush, and I believe it stirred a hunger for most to see a burning mountain. You say, why? Because he says, show me your glory in Exodus 33.
1:05:16 This man did not cease to be hungry. Why? Because the mountain never stops. It only goes higher and higher and it's dependent upon my hunger and your hunger. You will stop at your knowledge of God based on how hungry you are.
1:05:30 If you're satisfied, then you're satisfied. But, the difference maker in Moses' ministry and his life was this one verse, verse 12, but I will be with you. And when God is with us, you will be amazed at where he will take us. If God is not with us, we'll stay at the same level, we'll only gradually increase. That's why we need God Almighty, we need the Holy Ghost.
1:05:55 We need the Holy Spirit. We've got to be unsatisfied with where we are in Christ. A holy dissatisfaction, a holy hunger for the things of God. That's what takes us to the next level. There is one thing that Moses had it's we all need.
1:06:13 If we can't relate to Moses because of his calling or because of the dispensation that he was in, that's fine. But, there's one thing we can all apply. Moses was hungry and Moses was humble. You have those characteristics, you will be more than okay in this life. But, I will be with you.
