SERMON: “THE ALWAYS GOD: ALWAYS SPEAKING”

Scripture:

Exodus 3:1-15

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this mountain.”

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

Big Idea:

The objective of this message today is that God is still speaking to His people today. It might not be face to face, but it is certainly just as powerful.

Introduction:

- Here’s a quick question: What if God were on Facebook? What would His page look like? And what if he approached his profile the way most us do?

- The Deity (slide)

- What’s interesting is that God doesn’t need Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social media app to reach you…to speak with you

- Just as He spoke to Moses, David and the prophets of old

- He still desires to do the same today

- God has not changed over time

- Keep in mind that He revealed Himself as the Great “I AM”…the eternal, self-existent, infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing God

- He never ceased being “I AM”

- That’s what we’ll be talking about in this series

- It’s important for us to know and even remember that God is “Still Speaking”

- The Book of Genesis tells us that He spoke the world into existence

- 10 times we read, “And God said” and what was the result…

- It came into being or was obeyed/fulfilled

- Throughout the Old Testament, God speaks to His people Israel through the prophets, priests, judges and kings

- Yet, it’s not too many in the Old Testament that He refers to as His friend, Moses

Exodus 33:11” 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend…”

- Whereas the New Testament (Heb 1:1-2) mentions that “ God spoke through His Son,

(Heb 1:1-2) “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

- So Jesus is the emphasis of the New Testament and we have so many Old Testament saints that we can look at

- The purpose of today’s message is to acknowledge that God is still speaking today

- But, here’s a question: Do you believe God can…will…does speak?

- And if God is still speaking, how can we know it’s really him? What does his voice sound like?

- All incredibly important questions for all of us

- And let me bring it in and ask this in a more personal way: Is God speaking to you? When was the last time he did and how confident were you it was him?

- It’s important for us to discern His voice because He is still speaking today

- So, using Exodus 3 as a backdrop we’ll dive in and talk about:

1 – How God Speaks to Everyone: (Creation, Conscience and Circumstances)

2 – How God Specifically Speaks to those who Follow Him (Christ, Canon of Scripture, Counsel of the Spirit, Church)

Message:

1 – How God Speaks to Everyone: (Creation, Conscience and Circumstances

Psalm 19:1-2 1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”

a) Creation:

- So many times when I am riding through Palos Verdes, running in Long Beach and looking over at the Catalina Islands

- And, also at other places I am enamored and in awe of God

- You can look up at night at the stars and see the wonder of God

- It should prick us to, at the very least, to imagine a Master Designer, Someone greater

- In that very moment when we recognize the greatness of the works, I believe that God is speaking to all of us

- Paul expresses it so eloquently in Rom 1:18-20

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

- This is how God speaks to us through Creation

- He values His Creation so much that He shows it in diversity, order consistency and beauty

- We can talk about the landmarks that display His majesty

- But He extends it down to each and every person: gender, age, race, culture and ethnicity

- Think about it… whether we are taking our pulse or using our lungs to breathe in oxygen

- We can do neither of those on our own

- Which should tell us that we don’t rule this domain in which we live and operate

- Each of us from the youngest to the oldest have a Creator

- And, He is speaking to us

- He tries to get our attention through His creation

b) Conscience:

- The Apostle Paul even weighs in here,

Rom 2:14-15 “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them…”

- Listen, we are not to solely trust in our conscience

- Because of sin and other things operating in our world

- It is possible for our conscience to be deceived and it is limited to a certain degree

- Each of us have probably heard old adages such as “follow your gut” or just do what “feels right”

- But, what if following our gut or doing what feels right is outside of our man made laws and lands us in jail

- Even worse, what if it is outside of God’s Word and leads us down the path to Hell…

- There’s not that much “feeling right” in the world

- Listen to what the prophet Jeremiah had to say,

Jer 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

- I also believe that each of us should keep our conscience in check

- We need to be extremely careful in following our conscience

- The Bible goes so far as to alarm us that our conscience can be seared;

- Meaning when we give ourselves over to sin, wrongdoing and what’s demonic…

- We damage our conscience

- The truth is that God did not design for us to solely follow our conscience

- Yet, He gave it to us in coordination with His Spirit

- The idea is for us to be wise and exercise discernment when it comes to listening and obeying our conscience

- That takes sitting still long enough and being quiet long enough so that our conscience can bear witness

- What is it bearing witness to?

- For starters, the Truth; in…

- Knowing the difference between right and wrong…

- The desire for justice to take place and wrongs to be made right

- That comes as God speaking His Word to us and writing it on our heart

- Not simply because we were simply taught laws and the Bible as a child

Transition: Next, God speaks through circumstances

c) Circumstances:

- God can and does use our own circumstances as well as those of others to speak

- Just like our consciences, spiritual discernment is needed in this area as well

- There’s no question that He uses circumstances;

- Circumstances in our personal lives and in our world…God speaks

- Through natural disasters He can show us the brevity of life or that we are not in control

- I think of the many opportunities that only He can provide He alerts us that He alone can control any circumstance

- Listen to what C.S. Lewis wrote,

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

- I’m convinced that God wants to and can reach the world (i.e. the people) over

- For many years, before He found me

- There were many ways that He tried to get my attention

- In a way, it was as if He were saying, “Get ready! I’m preparing my return!”

- What would have been the saddest would have been if I didn’t freely submit to Him

- So we see that God speaks to everyone in creation, conscience and in circumstances

- Or what’s commonly known as general revelation

Transition: Still, God can speak specifically to us in what’s referred as special revelation

2 – How God Specifically Speaks to those who Follow Him (Christ, Canon of Scripture, Counsel of the Spirit, Church)

d) Christ:

John 1:1, 14 “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God… 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.”

- One thing we can grasp from God’s Word is this…

- Jesus is the final and full revelation of God

- Let me be clear…God is not into playing “hide and seek” with us

- He has made Himself fully known in His Son Jesus

- He let the Pharisees, Sadducees, Old Testament experts down to us know that He is right here

- Christ was fully God and fully man

- He wasn’t attempting to hide Himself

- Many didn’t want to accept Him then and it’s not necessarily a surprise now…

- That many don’t want to accept Him

- Or, hear God speak through His Son

- Today, how can we recognize the voice of God?

- It begins with coming to know the voice of Jesus

- Jesus put it this way in John 14,

v.9 “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”

- So, we would are not mistaken if we say that when we hear from Jesus that we are hearing from God

- Red letter Bibles make it easy as they point to the words of Christ

- Not that we should take anything out of context

- But God can speak to us specifically as we begin to open His word and hear from Jesus

- Again, when we hear from Jesus we are hearing from God

- Someone once said, that

“If you want to hear God speak, read the red!”

Transition: Further, God speaks through the canon or collective of Scripture

e) Canon of Scripture:

- What we can trust about Scripture is that God does not contradict Himself

- Those “contradictions” that confound and confuse us…

- Could just be our finite understanding and inability to see God’s complete picture

- Or, it could be that we haven’t taken the book, chapter, verse and weighed it against the whole canon of Scripture

- The canon simply means “standard” or “measuring stick”

- And, what we have today is “the measuring stick” of divine revelation that God is speaking to us

- We are blessed to have His word and heart to us in our hands

- I think of those patriarchs and matriarchs of the faith that would love to be in the position we are in

- We have a finished product that we can consult daily and regularly

- The canon has been closed

- No “post bible wisdom” will be added to God’s Word

- What is being added or growing is our wisdom and understanding as we seek Him

- I find it refreshing and sometimes challenging when I hear verses like this:

Is. 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Matt. 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Heb. 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

2 Tim. 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

- God is making it clear that He is speaking today

- And that He is speaking through His Word

- Our goal as we gather—as chaplains, minister of the Gospel—is to teach the Word of God

- The overarching need we have…is to hear from God

- Our time alone with God is important

- When we open up our Bible and spend time alone with the Lord,

- He WILL speak to you THRU His Word by His Holy Spirit

Transition: This leads me to the next way God communicates and speaks to us

f) Counsel of the Holy Spirit:

John 16:13-14 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

- It is the Holy Spirit’s role to glorify Jesus by taking what He has said and enable us to understand and obey it

- He is the “Spirit of truth”

- And, as we just mentioned…the Holy Spirit will NEVER contradict His Word

- Which is good for us in many ways

- Imagine if we ever sense God prompting us towards an action—to do something or say something to someone

- It will line up…the Holy Spirit and God’s Holy Word will act on one accord

- The Trinity is in perfect unity

- There is no discord among them

- That’s something that God purposely, intentionally set in place

- It help to bring clarity to our thoughts and hopefully our actions

- So that we can live our best God centered, directed life that we can live…this side of Heaven

- He wants us to represent Him and the Kingdom well

- There’s so many ways for us to make our lives about us

- But life is best suited and lived when it’s lived for Him

- There is one additional point as far as the special revelation is concerned…

- But we’ll continue that and a little more next week

Closing:

- As I close, we can look back to the ways of how God speaks

- We can see Moses in awe that God chose to speak to him of all people

- One thing we can take away is that God is not limited by the past

- He desires to speak to us today…through creation, conscience, circumstance, Christ, the canon of Scripture and the counsel of His Holy Spirit

- Let’s close out in prayer

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!