Four Questions that Solidify Commitment
Lessons From The Exodus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Exodus 3:1-10
1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.
3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied.
5 “Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.
6 I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.
9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.
10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
INTRODUCTION:
A- Background
The Life of Moses presents one of the most pursuasive cases for total commitment to God.
Note Moses’ life and call:
God was at work from before his birth.
God worked through Moses’ childhood years.
At 40 years of age, he killed an Egyptian and had to flee Egypt.
For 40 years, he worked in the Midian desert , being a shepherd.
At 80 years old God called him to an awesome task.
B- Bewilderment
We have been blessed beyond measure and yet make little to no impact on the world.
Why?
We must get a handle on the answers to four basic questions.
I- WHO IS GOD? (Exodus 3:6, 13-15)
I- WHO IS GOD? (Exodus 3:6, 13-15)
6 I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
14 God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.
A- He is the God of the forefathers. (Exodus 3:6, 13)
A- He is the God of the forefathers. (Exodus 3:6, 13)
6 I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”
The Old Testament Forefathers.
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
The New Testament Forefathers.
The Apostles
B- He is the Great I Am. (Exodus 3:14)
B- He is the Great I Am. (Exodus 3:14)
14 God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.”
Ever-present, ever-living.
(Hebrews 7:25)
25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
(Psalm 23:4)
4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
(Hebrews 13:5,8)
5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
C- He is the Lord God Almighty.
C- He is the Lord God Almighty.
YHWH Elohim - “Lord, God of all power.” (Revelation 19:6)
6 Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder: “Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
(Psalm 147:5)
5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!
When you see “ Lord God” The Hebrew name is YHWH Elohim.
He is the one who creates. (Isa. 42:5)
5 God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth…
(Psalm 139:13-16)
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
II- WHO AM I? (Exodus 3:12)
II- WHO AM I? (Exodus 3:12)
12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”
A- You are somebody.
A- You are somebody.
Because God created you. (John 1:3)
3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
Because you were created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26)
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
Because you are accepted in Jesus. (Ephesians 1:6)
6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
Because he lives in you. (John 14:16-17)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
III- TO WHOM DO I BELONG? (Exodus 4:1-11)
III- TO WHOM DO I BELONG? (Exodus 4:1-11)
1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”
2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.
3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.
4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.
5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out again, his hand was white as snow with a severe skin disease.
7 “Now put your hand back into your cloak,” the Lord said. So Moses put his hand back in, and when he took it out again, it was as healthy as the rest of his body.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “If they do not believe you and are not convinced by the first miraculous sign, they will be convinced by the second sign.
9 And if they don’t believe you or listen to you even after these two signs, then take some water from the Nile River and pour it out on the dry ground. When you do, the water from the Nile will turn to blood on the ground.”
10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord?
A- You belong to God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
A- You belong to God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,
20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
By right of creation.
(Isa. 45:12)
12 I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command.
(Psalm 100:3)
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
By right of redemption. (Ephesians 1:7)
7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.
IV- WHY AM I HERE? (Exodus 3:10)
IV- WHY AM I HERE? (Exodus 3:10)
10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
A- To honor God. (1 Corinthians 6:20 b)
A- To honor God. (1 Corinthians 6:20 b)
20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
Our purpose is to bring honor to God with our entire being. (Colossians 3:17)
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
(Philippians 1:11)
11 May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
B- To lead others to glorify God. (Ephesians 1:12)
B- To lead others to glorify God. (Ephesians 1:12)
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.
By leading them to faith in Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20)
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
By teaching them to obey Christ.
CONCLUSION:
There are four questions that Moses had to answer that brought him to a solid commitment to follow God’s will for his life. These are the same questions that you and I must face in order to solidify our commitment to God.
Who is God?
Who am I?
To Whom do I belong?
Why am I here?
In light of the biblical answers, I urge you to commit yourself fully to finding and living out God’s will and call for your life.
