The Lord Speaks

EXODUS 006: THE LORD SPEAKS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2021 PASTOR JOSH MINGS; M.DIV.

TEXT

EXODUS 3:1-9; ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) 3 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. 2 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. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 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.

7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that 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. 9 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 oppress them.[1]

SERMON BRIEF

CENTRAL IDEA OF THE TEXT The Lord appears to Moses to explain that He sees, hears, and knows everything about the suffering of His people. This revelation is not intended to just be sympathy for the suffering people, but reality that The Lord sees the slavery and will act. The Lord will deliver His people out of slavery and bless His people.

CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERMON The Father is aware of the suffering of His people, and He has moved to deliver them out of that suffering into the full blessings of The Kingdom.

STICKY STATEMENT God has not been silent to you….

SERMON OUTLINE

001 / THE ANGEL OF THE LORD 3 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. 2 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. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 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.

BIBLE STUDY CANDY

· Why does the angel have this title? (verse 2)

COMMANDER OF THE LORD’S ARMY

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. [2]

Daniel 3 / Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego

· The bush was not consumed, why? (verse 2)

THE LORD SPEAKS IN A WAY MOSES CAN UNDERSTAND

· Moses, Moses? (verse4)

· Sandals off, Holy Ground (verse 5)

THE LORD IS HOLY

· The Lord is like nothing you know.

· “Otherly”

002 / GOD SEES, GOD HEARS, GOD KNOWS 7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings…

HOPE IN MISERY God has not been silent to you….

BUT WHY SO LONG? God has not been silent to you….

C.S. LEWIS’ THOUGHTS HIT HOME FOR ME “Meanwhile, where is God? You go to him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside; after that silence. You may well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. . . . What can this mean? Why is he so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble? …. It is not that I am in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about him. The conclusion I dread is not, ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but, ‘So this is what God’s really like.’[3]

God has not been silent to you….

SO WHY?

1. The World Is Broken Because of Sin

2. Romans 8

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. [4]

3. I Don’t Know Fully

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [5] God has not been silent to you….

003 / GOD CAME DOWN TO DELIVER

GOD COME DOWN TO DELIVER OUT 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians

GOD COME DOWN TO BRING THEM UP and to bring them up out of that 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.

God has not been silent to you He has given His Word.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.[6]

God has not been silent to you He has given His Word.

1 I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

let the humble hear and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

5 Those who look to him are radiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him

and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack! [7]

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ex 3:1–9). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jos 5:13–15). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [3] C.S. Lewis; A Grief Observed [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 8:18–30). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ro 8:31–39). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 1:1–14). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 34:1–9). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.