Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Last Sunday evening, we were exploring the even by which God called Moses to serve Him.

That event is often known as the Burning Bush Event.

This evening I want to finish out that message.

If you recall, I stated that God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush produced 3 Essential Elements that are required to serve Him.

The first one I gave you last Sunday was this.

In order to effective serve the Lord, we must see Him for Who He is.

The great things is that God has already REVEALED Himself to us.

We hold in our hands the preserved Word of God.

It is sufficient of itself for showing us the nature of God and what He expects of us as His servants.

God did the same for Moses.

He revealed to Moses several important characteristics about Himself that is important to serving Him.

He revealed His power, holiness, grace, and eternal existence.

Again, all are pertinent to serving Him.

By revealing His power, He assured Moses that nothing was impossible.

God is quite capable of handling any situation or circumstance that may come our way as we serve Him.

As he revealed to Moses His holiness, he taught Moses the importance of living a clean and pure life in service to Him.

God desires to use us, but He must have clean vessel to use.

Then, as He revealed His grace, Moses understood just how much God loves His own.

Today, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are God’s adopted children and joint heirs with Christ.

Thus, we are His own.

He loves us and pours out the bounty of His grace upon us every day.

The last but not least, God revealed His external existence by stating His work in the past, present, and future.

What encouragement it is to know that God is eternal.

He transcends time.

He knows our past.

He is currently seeking to help grow right now in present time.

And, He is promised many wonderful blessings for us in the future.

Our job is do what Paul did.

We need move on from the past and not linger there.

The past is the past.

Look to it only when you need to see how God has always come through for you.

Instead, right now and right here, reach forth.

Get moving.

Be busy for Him.

We are reaching forth to those thing which lie ahead of us.

We are to press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

In other words, don’t be idle, be moving ahead for God as you serve Him.

Now, tonight, I want to give you the two remaining elements required to serve the Lord successfully.

Heres is the second element.

The first was a revelation of God.

Now, we have...

Reverence for God

The word “reverence” is pretty much lost in today’s society.

I will come back to Moses in just a moment.

But for now, I want to establish Scripture’s rendering of the word “reverence.”

Look with me at Hebrews 12:28

You will note that this verse speaks about serving God.

We serve God acceptably when we do it with “reverence” and “godly fear.”

In Greek, this word “reverence” means self-conscious modesty.

It has the idea of having a fear that you will act unworthy of someone or in representation of someone.

Basically, it is the fear of messing up so bad that it brings shame and reproach to yourself or someone you represent.

If you look up this word in Webster’s Dictionary of American English (the 1828 version), Noah Webster defines “reverence” this way.

1. Fear mingled with respect and esteem; veneration.

The fear acceptable to God, is a paternal fear, an awful reverence of the divine nature, proceeding from a just esteem of his perfections, which produces in us an inclination to his service and an unwillingness to offend him.

Going back to Exodus 3, note again verses 4 and 5 which we considered last Sunday evening.

You will note that God’s calls Moses by name.

He instructs Moses to remove his shoes for he is standing in God’s presence and on holy ground.

Then note Moses response in verse 6.

Moses refused to look upon God.

He recognized immediately that he was standing in the presence of the Mighty Creator of the Universe.

And, as such, Moses showed great reverence for God.

He knew that God was powerful, holy, full of grace, and transcended time.

For those reasons, Moses hid his face realizing that who God was as God revealed Himself to him.

I believe one of the biggest issues among many is how much men and women have lost their reverence for God.

I am not talking about society.

We are often quick to point out how much American society as gone down the toilet morally and spiritually.

Yet, we are also quick to forget that it was God’s grace that allowed America to be the nation it has become.

Our forefathers had a great reverence for God.

Their reverence for Him was born out of a great faith in Him and the principles of His Word.

If you recall, long before the Puritans, Baptists, and others landed upon these great shores, the reigning societies were without God living in darkness.

It was the missionary spirit of many in the early days before our nation was formed that sought to reach the native peoples with the Gospel.

Over time, as Christian believers were blessed of God and America was formed they develop a government based upon God’s Word.

Had that not been the case, our nation would have begun like so many others as a nation of darkness and not light.

Now, here we are and America is quickly descending into the same state so many other nations exist.

We are not longer a Christian nation.

We are now a heathen nation.

What happened?

What changed?

We stop reverencing God.

Even churches today no longer reverence God.

Remember that reverence of God is driven by the fear of bringing great shame to His name.

God instructed Moses to remove his shoes for he was standing on Holy ground.

Moses then hid his face understanding who was addressing Him.

Do we still have that same reverence?

Do we live each day praying and pleading with God that we don’t mess up so that we bring shame upon Him?

What would happen if more believers had that kind of reverence once again?

Is it possible that we see revival in America again?

Now, remember we are talking about reverence in conjunction with service to God.

I read for you Hebrews 12:28 which stated clearly that acceptable service to God is service born out of reverence.

As I was studying for this message, I looked up the word “reverence” and how it was used in Scripture.

My research revealed that the word “reverence” is only used 13 times throughout the entire Bible.

However, I noticed one particular act that seemed to reoccur with its use especially in the Old Testament.

I give you one example of that act.

Note that Mephibosheth “fell on his face, and did reverence.”

That thought led me to look up the Hebrew word for reverence and note how it is used in the Old Testament.

Here is what I discovered.

The Hebrew word for “reverence” is found 172 times in the Old Testament.

However, it is predominantly translated as “bowed” (the act of bowing before another) and has “worshipped.”

Here is my point!