Moses' Faith, Part 5

The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, the 27th chapter, the 23rd verse, know the conditions of your flock, literally know the face of your flock, and pay close attention to your herds.

Solomon would know that for his son to be successful, he'd have to know the condition of those closest to him. And to understand their faces. In other words, know them for who they are. And you see, one of the things that we forget in the church is that there are so many people who go through difficult times. You know, we come to church on Sundays and we are dressed a certain way, we look a certain way, we act a certain way, trying to let everybody think that things are pretty good and okay with our lives and marriage, but in reality, we go home and there's so much turmoil, so much tragedy, so much pain, depression, dryness in our lives.

And it comes from all kinds of directions, but we have them. But yet, when we come to church, we put on a face that makes everybody think that things are fine, I'm walking with the Lord, the Lord's good, yada, yada, yada. But in reality, there is so much pain underneath. It's imperative to know the condition of your flock, to know the state of your herd. Where are they? What's happening in their lives? And so when I think of the people of our church and the things that they've gone through over this year, some of you are going through them even as we speak today, the difficulties and pains that you experience day in and day out, the loneliness, the heartache, as you go through a, lack of a better phrase, your desert, you begin to realize that God has a plan and a purpose.

And so we've taken a moment in the book of Hebrews, look at the life of Moses to explain to you something that the Jewish audience already knew because they're very familiar with their greatest leader, that we might understand what made Moses the man that he was.

137 chapters in the Pentateuch dealing with the life of Moses. Two of them before his desert, the rest after his desert. Because before the desert, he really didn't do anything that was worthwhile. But after the desert, he was used by God in a mighty way. And so we have the history of that in scripture. You see, before he could prefer the imperishable, he had to perceive that which was invisible. Before he could perform the impossible, he had to pass through that which was invaluable. And that which is invaluable is the desert.

And to move through that and understand what God is doing and how he works in the lives of people. To draw them close to him, intimate with him, that they might be used in a powerful way for the glory and honor of God. So we've tried to describe the desert for you in the last several weeks. And now we wanna give you the design of the desert. What is it designed to do? We told you last week, it was designed number one, to adore God's presence.

And that's what God said to Moses on the backside of the desert, after those 40 years. And God comes to Moses and speaks to him through a burning bush. And like I told you before, God's not gonna speak to you through a burning bush, but he will speak to you through a burning book. A book that burns. Because it is not my word like a fire, Jeremiah tells us. And it is. It refines, it purifies. And God's word is a fire. And God speaks to us through his word. And so as Moses is sitting there and the bush is burning and the text tells us in Exodus chapter three, these words, God tells Moses that certainly I will be with you.

And this should be a sign to you, that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship at this mountain. And the point for Moses to realize is that God would be present with him. And that he was to adore God's presence. And we saw in Exodus chapter 33 where he was not about to move unless God's presence went with them because he knew he needed the presence of God in his life. So we talked to you last week about what does it mean to adore his presence? Because we have to ask ourselves, do we truly live in adoration of the presence of God in our lives every single day?

So we gave you a little quiz, gave you seven words that you could look at and say, do I adore the presence of God?

Well, the second point, the second design that God has for you is not just to adore his presence, but he wants you to acknowledge his power.

Acknowledge his power. And that happens in the conversation with Moses and the Lord again. When it says in verse number 13, Moses said to God, behold, I am going to the sons of Israel and I will say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you. Now they may say to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus shall you shall, excuse me, you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you. God furthermore said to Moses, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, the Lord, 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. And this is my memorial name to all generations. God gives Moses his name, his memorial name, the name that he is to be remembered by from generation to generation. It's God's redeeming name. It's God's delivering name. It's the God that describes for us everything that pertains to his power. I am that I am. I was, I am, I forever will be. He is the God who was, the God who is and the God who is to come. It speaks of the eternal nature of the living God. It tells us that our God not only is present with us, but he's all powerful to accomplish whatever comes our way.

Because the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run to it and are safe. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18, verse number 10. Why are we safe? Because of the name of God. Well, what is his name? His name is I am that I am. It's that those four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God. It's called the Tetragrammaton that helps us understand who God is. The Greek Septuagint translates it, ego, a me, which says, I am. It speaks to the power of the living God. A power, by the way, that is absolutely unique to God.

Psalm 62, 11, power belongs to God. That's why he's called El Shaddai, God Almighty. That's why he's called El Gabor, the mighty God. That's why in Greek, he's called the Pantocrator, which means the almighty, used 10 times in the New Testament, nine times in the book of Revelation alone, because God is demonstrating his power to the world through all the things that are about to come upon this planet. He is the all-powerful God, where his power is absolutely unique. But that power not only is unique, that power in and of itself is unprecedented.

It's an unprecedented kind of power. Isaiah chapter 40, the Bible says these words in verse number 15.

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales. Behold, he lifts up the islands like fine dust. All the nations are as nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing and meaningless. The power of God is unprecedented. You can't even begin to imagine the power that comes from the name of God, from the breath of God. He's able to destroy his enemies with a breath. He was able to bring all things into creation with the word of his mouth.

He just speaks it into existence. It's a power that's absolutely unprecedented. It's unparalleled. Job 9, verse number 19, says it this way. Job says, if it is a matter of power, behold, he and he alone is the strong one. If it's a matter of power, God himself is the strong person. There is no one else who is strong because his power is unique. It's unprecedented. It's unparalleled. It's unlimited. Isaiah chapter 40 tells us in verse 28, these words, Isaiah 40, verse number 28. Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unscrutable. He gives strength to the weary. And to him who lacks might, he increases power. And though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly, those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weary. Moses needs to know that the name of God goes before him.

And the name of God is his memorial name. It's his redeeming name. And he redeems by the power of that name. He delivers by the power of that name. I've seen the affliction of my people. I am going to come down and I'm going to come down. I'm gonna tell them what my name is. And then the name is gonna distribute the power of almighty God to deliver them and redeem them from their bondage. A power that's absolutely unique to God. It's unprecedented. It's unparalleled. It's unlimited. And on top of all that, his power is unsurpassed.

The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 32, verse number 29, excuse me, verse number 17. Oh Lord, God behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched harm. Nothing is too difficult for you. Nothing's too difficult for the Lord God. He's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think because he is the all powerful God of the universe. That power is unending because he is eternal. And that power also is unpopular. The unending, unprecedented, unparalleled, unsurpassed, unlimited, unique power of God is the most unpopular power to have ever existed.

How do we know that? Book of Romans chapter one tells us, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven and against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. Because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature has been clearly seen. By who? By every man that's ever existed. His power has been clearly seen. Being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse.

But although they knew God, they did not honor God. You see, his power is unpopular with the world. Nobody wants a God like that. Look at the man, the demon possessed man in the land of the Gerasenes.

The Gerasene demoniac who was filled with legion, who came running at Christ, who called him son of the most high God, son of El Elyon, the most high God, the preeminent powerful God of the universe. What have I to do with you? What have we to do with you? And God heals the man. God cast out legion from the man, right? God comes up on shore, the man comes running down naked, having broken shackles hanging from his body because they could not contain him, having put a city in complete and total disarray and fear, where kids could not even go out and play during the day for fear of this demon possessed man who would come out and put fear in their lives.

So here comes this man running up to Jesus and his disciples in Luke's gospel in the eighth chapter. And in that gospel, Christ heals the man. And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. And the people went out to see what had happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed in his right mind, and they became frightened. And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon possessed had been made well and all the people of the country of the garrisons and the surrounding district asked Jesus to leave for they were gripped with great fear.

Here's Jesus, comes to their city, casts legion out of this man who had put fear in the hearts of the people of the city, who now was sitting in his right mind and clothed but because he wasn't clothed before, people see it. And they say, you need to leave, you gotta go. Because you see that power is unprecedented. That power is unsurpassed. That power is unlimited. That power is so unique, we can't even begin to understand it. That power is unsurpassed. That power is unending. You gotta go, Jesus, you can't stay.

Why? Like the people in Romans one, that power will expose their sin. And that power before them will cause them to come to a place where they have to repent and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. They don't wanna repent. It is unpopular power. Even in Israel, it was unpopular. You tell them I am sent you. And so Moses tells them, in God and his mighty power, it acts all these plagues upon Israel and then redeems and delivers them out of that bondage, separates the Red Sea that they might go forth on dry land.

And yet that power of God was even unpopular to the people of Israel. And the Psalm I read to you earlier, in Psalm 78, it says these words, Psalm 78, verse number 49. I'm sorry, 42. Let me begin with verse number 40.

How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert. Again and again, they tempted God and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power the day when he redeemed them from the adversary, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the field of Zoan. They did not remember his power. They had forgotten about the almighty power of God. Let me tell you something.

We so easily forget about God's power. When God redeemed you from the bondage of Satan, he unleashed the power to take you from the kingdom of darkness and place you into the kingdom of his dear son. God did that. That's a supernatural act of God where he takes you from Satan's bondage and makes you a child of his great kingdom. That's what God does. He does that in a very powerful way. He redeems our lives because the redemption of Israel in the physical realm was symbolic of what God does in the spiritual realm in the lives of his people.

But how quickly we forget his power. How quickly we forget all that God has done. So what does God do? God takes you to the backside of the desert. So you might learn to depend only on his power, not your power. Because Moses had power in and of himself, so he thought. He was talented, educated, well-groomed to be the next pharaoh in Egypt. He was ready to go, but his power was self-induced. His power was in his own talents and abilities. It wasn't in the almighty power of God. And so God takes him to the backside of the desert.

He drives him there, that place of isolation, that place of ruggedness, that place of desolation, that place that's been established from eternity past, that place where God will say, you know what? You need to learn about who I am and about what I'm going to do. And for 40 years, outside of having a wife and two kids and watching the sheep of Jethro, we know nothing about what took place in the life of Moses until he comes out of the desert and God speaks to him and everything about his life has changed.

His attitude, the way he sees himself, the way he sees Israel, the way he sees God, everything has been changed because if he's going to perform the impossible, leading Israel out of bondage, he has to pass through that which is invaluable. That is, he needs to depend upon the true and living God. And so the question comes to you and me, do we acknowledge the power of God in our lives? Do we adore his presence? We talked to you about that last week. Now do we acknowledge his power? This is the great I am, right?

And so when they come to get Jesus in the garden in John chapter 18, he asked them, whom do you seek? They said, Jesus, the Nazarene. He says, a go a me, I am. He says what God says to Moses in Exodus chapter three, I am, and they all fall over backwards, why?

Because inherent in the name of God is the power of God to accomplish all of his purposes. And they get back up again. Whom do you seek? Jesus, the Nazarene, I am, he says. He is the great I am. And all throughout scripture, he tells us how it is he exudes his power in your life and mine. He tells us that I am the bread of life. Remember that in John six? He who comes to me shall never hunger and never thirst. That's the power of God. I am, a go a me. Same words used, book of Exodus third chapter that talk about that great name of the living God.

I am, he says, the bread of life. What did he say in John 8 24? Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Unless you believe that I am, that is, I am the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, it proves the deity of the living God. Unless you believe that I am, you're gonna die in your sins. Unless you believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord God of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, you will die in your sins. So Christ says to them, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

And Christ says, I am the bread of life. And as the bread of life, what does he do? He eliminates all hunger and thirst. For he does. That's why he says in Matthew 5 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they and they alone shall be satisfied. The only people that are satisfied are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And Christ says, I'm the bread that's come down out of heaven.

And he uses the whole scenario of the wilderness on bread that came down and fed the children of Israel. And they were able to have their lives sustained because of that physical bread, but he says, I am the bread that's come down out of heaven and you need to have your spiritual life sustained. And the only way that happens is to eat of my flesh and to drink of my blood. And that was too difficult for them to digest, too difficult for them to understand. But he says, if you come after me, you'll never hunger nor will you ever thirst.

Because as the bread of life, he eliminates my hunger. And then he goes on and says, not only am I the bread of life, I am the light of the world, right? Talk about power. I am the light of the world. If the bread of life eliminates my hunger, follow this, the light of the world penetrates my darkness, penetrates my darkness, because I'm in darkness. I'm not in the light. God is light, 1 John 1, verse number five, right? God is light, in him is no darkness at all. John 1 tells us that when Christ came into the world, he enlightens every man in the world, not just some men, but every man in the world is enlightened by the trueness of the character and nature of God.

That's why man is without excuse. But because he is light, he penetrates my darkness. He lives in unapproachable light, 1 Timothy chapter six, right? He dwells in unapproachable light. That's why Moses could not see the fullness of God. As you go through the book of Exodus, Moses says, Lord, show me your glory. And God says, I'm sorry, I can't do that, Moses.

If I let you see my glory, you're gonna die. You're gonna be consumed. You're gonna be burned up. You're gonna be incinerated. I can't let you do that, but I'll put you in the cleft of the rock. I'll pass by you, let you see my afterglow. And once you see my afterglow, you begin to understand who I am and what I do. He dwells in unapproachable light, but that light, not only is it unapproachable, it's unblemished, right? It's a pure light. It's a clear light. It's a lucid light. And Christ is the light of the world.

And so Christ says, unless you believe that I am, I am what? I'm the bread of life. Let's come down out of heaven to eliminate all of your hunger and all of your thirst because you can only be satisfied with me. You will never be satisfied with anything or anyone else, only with me because you've been created for me. I created you to give me glory. I created you for my purposes. Unless you give your life to me, you will always be unsatisfied, never satisfied. So I'll eliminate your hunger and your thirst.

As the light of the world, I will penetrate your darkness and I will shine light there. And I will bring you into the light that you might experience the trueness of the God who is light. And then he says what in John 10? He says, I am the door. I'm the door. Same phrase, ego, Amy. I am the door of the sheep. Now, if I lived in Eastern times, you'd realize that the shepherd, as he would build the pen, would make himself the door. He would lay down in the opening so the sheep couldn't get out unless they went through him.

He was the way in, he was the way out. So as a door, he was their protector, right? To keep that which was on the outside from getting in, protecting those on the inside from getting out, he's the door. Christ says, I am the door.

Need to acknowledge that I am the powerful one that eliminates your hunger, that penetrates your darkness, and that initiates your walk. You can't go anywhere unless you go pass through the door. And I am that door. I am the door of the sheep. And then he goes on and says what? Later in John 10, I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, they know me. My sheep hear my voice, they follow me. But I am the good shepherd. Not only am I the bread of life, not only am I the light of the world, not only am I the door of the sheep, I am the shepherd of the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. And if I am the good shepherd, not only will I, as bread of life, eliminate your hunger and your thirst, not only will I, as light of the world, penetrate your darkness, and not only will I, as the door of the sheep, initiate your walk, but as a good shepherd, I will obliviate all your fears. Because my rod and my staff will comfort you. And even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you fear no evil. Why? Because I am with you. And my rod and staff will comfort you, but I am the good shepherd.

See, this is acknowledging the power of God. The power of God to satisfy my life and to help me understand how to follow him and to honor him and to glorify his name. Amen. That I might live for the glory and honor of Christ. And then he goes on to say in John 10 to 11, I am the resurrection and the life. I'm the resurrection and the life. He tells Mary and Martha, when he raises Lazarus from the dead, he who believes in me shall never die. Why? Because he lives. And he lives in me. And as the one who is the resurrection and the life, he dictates my destiny.

For he is the one who holds the keys to death and Hades, Revelation 118. He is the one who dictates my destiny, the all-powerful God. But listen, if he's the bread of life, you ever been to a restaurant that serves real good bread? Nothing like good bread at a restaurant, right? It's rewarm, the butter's not too hard, it's soft. So when you put it on, it just melts right in there. And when you eat it, the butter kind of just comes down the side of your mouth right there because it's so good. The bread's warm, it's tasty, it's good.

But if you go to the restaurant and the bread just sits there, and you look at it, you can admire it from a distance.

But until you taste it, you never experienced the satisfaction that the bread has for your soul, right? It feels so good going down. You know, I know it makes you a lot more rounder than you should be, but it feels good going down, right? And yet, same is true with Christ. Taste and see that the Lord is good, right? I mean, he's the bread of life that is available, but if you don't partake of the bread, you'll always be hungry and thirsting for that which will never satisfy. So as the bread of life, he eliminates my hunger.

As the light of the world, he penetrates my darkness. As the door of the sheep, he initiates my walk. As the good shepherd, he obliviates my fears. As the resurrection and life, he dictates my destiny. And then in John 14, verse number six, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. As the way, he delineates my path. As truth, he renovates my mind. As life, he liberates my soul. That's what he does. It's the power of God on display. Only God can do this. No one else can. And then he says, I am, John 15, verse number one, I am the true vine.

I am the true vine, and every vine that's in me, or every branch that's in me, I design it to produce fruit, but I want to produce more fruit, so I'll purge the vine, I'll prune the vine. Because as a true vine, he cultivates my growth. He cultivates my growth. Only God can do that. He does it through the pruning process. Hebrews calls it the discipline process. James calls it the trials. Moses said it's called the desert. But he wants to cultivate my growth. And then in Revelation 1.8, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

As alpha and omega, he mandates my submission. Mandates my submission. And then in John 8.58, he says, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. I am the great I am, right? Because as a great I am, he translates God to me. That's what he does. He translates God to me, and only he can do that. So how do I acknowledge God's power in my life? How do I come to a place where I am saying, Lord, you are the one who does exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ever ask or think. You are the one who will take me through life.

Lord, you are my God. You are the all-powerful God of the universe. How do I acknowledge that power? By partaking of the bread of life that eliminates all my hunger and all my thirst. That partakes of the light of the world who penetrates my darkness. Who looks at him as the door that I pass through every single day, the door of the sheep that initiates my walk with him every single day, all the way. That he is the good shepherd who obliviates all my fears. And only the good shepherd can do that because nothing else will.

And he is not just the good shepherd, but he's the resurrection and the life. He dictates my destiny. As resurrection of life, he truly is the true vine who cultivates my growth, who is the way, the truth, and the life, who liberates my soul because he's my life. He's the one who does that. He's the one who renovates and elevates my mind because he's the truth. And because he's the way, he is the one who delineates my path. Sorry, I forgot. But the point is this, Moses had to come to a place where he realized it's only by the power of God that I can lead these people out of bondage.

It's only by the power of God that I can do what God's designed me to do. And he came, but it took him 40 years to get there. Complete isolation, heat like you would not believe in what's called present day Saudi Arabia, just taking sheep from place to place, from place to place. Isolated, all alone, except for his wife and his two sons. And of course, Jethro and his other six daughters. But other than that, he would take out every day into the desert to watch over the sheep. And God was preparing him slowly, but surely to be able to perform the impossible.

But he couldn't do it until he passed through the invaluable, the desert experience. Today, today, there are some of you, there are probably many of you that are going through a very dry, desolate, desert experience. And you're all alone. And the heat is enormous. The pain is great. There's no one there with you, except the one who needs to be with you. The God who says, certainly, I will be with you. And you need to adore his presence. And that God who's with you is called the great I am. The one who is the deliverer, the redeemer, the savior of Israel and of man, who demonstrated his power all throughout Israel's history.

And even today, God for 4,000 years has continued to demonstrate his power because they're still here. They're still around because God's going to protect them until he saves them in the end, because that's always been the plan. We can't afford to be like Israel in Psalm 78, where we forget his power. I would trust that every one of us would live a life dependent upon the power of the living God. I made it very clear, without me, you can do nothing. You think you can, but you can't. But because we think we can, we have to learn the hard way.

We have to learn the difficult way so God can break us, burn out the shallowness of our lives, erase our independence from him to establish our dependence upon the all-powerful God of the universe. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. For without you, Lord, we can do nothing. Our prayer, Lord, is that we would live for the glory and honor of our King. We are grateful, Lord, that as we come together today, we are able to be reminded of the mighty power of God. We're gonna sing about that power.

We're gonna acknowledge, Lord, through song of the mighty power of God. Help us, Lord, not just to sing it, but to show it, because we so desperately want to live by the power of the spirit of the living God that resides within us. In Jesus' name, amen.