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[0:00] your Bibles. We're going to Exodus chapter 3. So we've been preaching our way through the book of Exodus and we have a long ways to go until the actual Exodus. But we've already seen some pretty good stuff, I think. I've enjoyed this so far. And we've just come off of chapter 2 and the last two messages kind of coupled together were about the making of a man. And what we saw was Moses' life. The scripture shows us that it's broken into three distinct increments of 40 years. And the first 40 were in Egypt, the second 40 were in Midian, and then the third 40 are about to kick off here where we are in chapter 3.

[1:05] And we notice that in those first two phases of his life, God was making that man. And he was unaware of it. He was unaware of the hand of God moving and directing in very, very particular ways in his life. But all of that, as we showed and studied and drew out from the text, has a place for what's about to come in this very near future in this book of Exodus.

[1:28] And so God was seeking to use Moses for a specific purpose. And he had those areas in Egypt, those areas in Midian. And I won't go back into it. We'd take too long rehearsing all of that for you. But God then made his man. He prepared that man a vessel to be used. And here in chapter 3, we're going to kick off to where God shows up and reveals what that purpose is that God has for Moses. And he's going to give him instructions, and he's going to show him exactly what he's been preparing him for. And so today I want to call this the calling of a man. And it's really, I've got to say it, God is calling an 80-year-old man to do something for him. Isn't that something?

[2:13] Just for the way we live, I mean, that's it. That's the end of the, you know, the line for us. Three score and ten or four score. If by reason of strength you get four score, you're done. And this guy's just getting started for the Lord. But no, it turns out that God was doing something the whole time, getting him ready. So today the calling of a man, and let me put a little disclaimer out there, before we get into this, that what we read is a special case. It is a very, very, very extremely unique situation of how God calls this man. And for that matter, what he's fitting him to do.

[2:51] And so when we study these things, we are not trying to duplicate what we read in this text today. Okay, we're going to extract some principles from this text to learn from, to understand some things as God's calling Moses. I don't want you to feel like you need to find some miraculous thing, some burning bush, and hearing a voice coming out of it for you to, if you don't, if you go walking up on these hills, I don't think you're going to find anything burning today. But if you do find a burning bush, you better put it out. Because it's going to take hills with it.

[3:33] We're not expecting to see God do miraculous things in our lives like we read here in the book of Exodus. We're just seeking to learn from this, get some insight from what God did do in Moses' life.

[3:46] And again, we're not attempting to reproduce this scene. We're not expecting to reproduce this experience in our life. So that's the disclaimer there.

[3:57] We're just trying to learn some helpful truths. So let's begin reading. And I think if you can bear with me, I'm going to read the chapter. And so as I read the chapter, follow along. If you're not real familiar with the story, then pay close attention so you understand it, so we don't have to reread too much of this. Verse number one, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.

[4:22] And he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

[4:34] And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

[4:45] And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither.

[4:57] Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

[5:10] And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry by the reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

[5:22] And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

[5:39] Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

[5:55] And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? And that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. And he said, Certainly I'll be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee, when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt.

[6:09] Ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name?

[6:21] What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you.

[6:33] And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you.

[6:45] This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt.

[7:03] And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. Verse number 18, And they shall hearken to thy voice, and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt.

[7:22] Ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us, and now let us go. We beseech thee three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.

[7:36] And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof. And after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall come to pass that when ye go, ye shall not go empty.

[7:49] But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. And ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters, and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

[8:02] And so we're not going to finish the entire conversation, but that's where we'll stop at the end of the chapter. Let's pray together. Lord, it is our desire to hear from you in this message, to hear from your word.

[8:13] And Lord, may it speak to every heart. May each person be confronted, and as well as be edified. And may the Spirit of God have complete access in this place.

[8:27] We submit this time to you, praying that you'll use it, and that you'll see fit to join with us, and to help us, and to minister to us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[8:37] Amen. So today, the calling of a man. All of this background, these 40s, these two phases of 40 years, was all preparation, and the making of the man.

[8:48] But now it's time for the calling, for God to show him, and to tell him exactly what all of that was for, and what he's commissioning him to do. This is just another day for Moses.

[9:01] In chapter 3, verse 1, he's keeping the flock. He's doing what he's been doing for 40 years, it seems, or give or take. It's just another day, just another trip, just another seeking food for the flock, seeking water for the flock, leading them to some safe place that they could rest, some form of shelter, maybe even building a makeshift fold out there in the wilderness.

[9:25] Moses is just doing what he does every day. It's a full-time job. He's a busy man. He's diligent to the state of this flock. He's engaged in what I'd say daily activities.

[9:39] He's not anticipating God. He's just going to work, going to church, doing what he's doing all the time. But the first thing I want to draw your attention to is there's an appearance of God.

[9:53] An unexpected one, nonetheless, but an appearance of God. In verse number 2, it says, And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire. Now, we know that this is God.

[10:05] If you're picturing in your mind some big, white, strong, like glowing man with big wings, you're not seeing it right. There's no image that Moses sees at all.

[10:18] He sees a bush. He sees a bush burning with fire. He doesn't know this is God. He doesn't know this is the angel of the Lord. Well, we know it's God because it says in verse 2 that the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in the flame of fire out of the midst of the bush.

[10:34] And in verse 4, the Lord saw that he turned aside to see it. God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. It was God in the bush calling him. Moreover, in verse 6, he said, I am the God of thy father.

[10:46] He identifies himself as God. It's holy ground. This is deity. This is divinity. This is not a messenger coming to talk to Moses like in other places of the Bible.

[10:58] And so this is an appearance of God. God makes an appearance, an unannounced and unexpected appearance. Moses wasn't praying and fasting and calling on God to show him something.

[11:11] Moses was just doing his everyday duties. Just understand that. The fact that God has not yet revealed himself.

[11:22] He sees a fire. That's all he sees. That's all that's obvious. It's no understanding. And so the first thing about this appearance of God I want us to consider is that the appearance of God got his attention.

[11:36] It got his attention. He saw in verse 2, he looked and behold the bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. That's something to see, you would imagine.

[11:48] That would be, if you just saw something burning with fire, it would get your attention. Doesn't it? You drive in these highways and what do you do? You see stuff and it gets your attention. It catches your, it distracts you.

[11:59] What this was, this appearance of God got Moses' attention. He didn't know it was God. He didn't know it was holy ground. He didn't know anything about the I am that I am. That's still not yet disclosed.

[12:10] But in this moment, he's oblivious to what's in front of him. He's oblivious to it. He's on the backside of the desert keeping sheep. Just another normal day.

[12:21] And yet there's something he couldn't explain and there's something that he can't just walk away from and just pass on by. He's forced to consider this. And so God is getting his attention.

[12:34] He never witnessed such a thing, a bush burning and being not consumed, just continue to burn and to burn and to burn. And let me just say this, we'll come back to this, that God will consistently use certain circumstances while you're doing your everyday normal stuff, certain things he'll use to get your attention, to cause you to consider something.

[13:00] We don't see God. We're not praying for God to show up and do something. But he just shows up when you don't anticipate it or plan for him. And I'll talk more about that in a moment.

[13:11] But just have that thought in your mind. The appearance of God got his attention. The appearance of God also prompted a decision. In verse 3, Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt.

[13:27] Moses is deciding to turn aside, to turn off of the path. He is leading the flock. He's leading them to some location, to some place of safety, food, water, whatever it was.

[13:37] He's doing his job. But now he decides, this thing over here has got my attention and I'm going to check it out. I will turn aside off of the path that I'm on, away from the place that I'm at.

[13:50] And in a sense, God made him, didn't force him, but God made him move from the direction he was going to consider what it was that God had put in his path or caused him to get his attention.

[14:04] God is drawing him away from the course he's on, shifting his attention from his daily routine. This is the working of God. He appeared in such a place that Moses had to turn aside.

[14:18] You remember Balaam when he's on that donkey going through and the angel of the Lord appeared and Balaam didn't see it. He was oblivious, but it was in a path, in the straight way of a path where he couldn't go left or right.

[14:29] He was sword drawn in his hand, you know, he was stopping, he was doing something different there. This is not the case. Moses had the choice to carry on and just say, I don't have time for that. But no, God appeared in such a way and place that it caused him to deviate from his norm.

[14:45] You know what some Christians will refuse to do? They will refuse to turn aside when God seeks to get their attention because they're too comfortable.

[14:56] I have no interest in whatever that is because I like my life just the way it is. I'm happy with things. Things are good. I'm content.

[15:08] Matter of fact, I'm going this way because I think down there is something that interests me. I'm going to keep on this path. There's nothing wrong with this. I'm doing what I've been doing all this time. God's never rebuked me for it.

[15:19] And so I have no interest in seeing what that is over there. I will not turn aside. And Christians can get that way. They can absolutely get that way.

[15:31] The appearance of God got his attention and it prompted his decision. And I want you to consider this morning Moses wasn't looking for an appearance of God that day. And you as a believer in Jesus Christ, you don't have to be looking for an appearance of God today either.

[15:48] You don't have to be just, when's God going to do something? How's it going to happen? I need to be ready. I need to be prayed up. But that's not your responsibility to be sure that God can get my attention when he calls in that still small voice so that I can hear it.

[16:01] Moses was just leading the flock. When God wanted to show up and get his attention, in other words, God has a way of getting your attention. He has a way of putting something in your life, causing something to pass that will make you consider and turn aside and ponder it and go toward it.

[16:24] The Lord has a way of doing that and he'll use things that you won't expect. It could be in a church service, just a normal Sunday morning. It could be a Wednesday night where the Lord says, boom, just put something on you, you didn't see it coming.

[16:39] He can speak to your heart from Exodus chapter 3 somewhere and you're not expecting it, you're just showing up, doing what you do. Being where you belong and there could be an appearance of God in your life.

[16:53] It can be not only in such a thing as a church service, it could be in something else where just things are not working out. I'm trying this, I'm trying this and it just causes you to consider the Lord.

[17:06] Just this week, I think it was Tuesday morning, I was in this passage and putting some thoughts down and some of this very thoughts right here about God getting our attention and I went out to eat with Brother Jared Pilkington and Brother Pastor Louis Pena.

[17:23] He wanted us to go eat pastrami with him. So we met him in Pasadena and had pastrami together and while we're there, Brother Jared's talking about something. He said, I know a preacher that he cuts wood for a living.

[17:34] He's been doing that for as long as he's alive and he cuts down trees and he mills them up at his place and he said, one day he was cutting a tree, done it so many times, he could never tell you how many times he's been cutting these trees and for whatever reason he just wasn't paying attention, wasn't thinking about something and the tree came down on him, not in a crushing way but in a way that he got pinned.

[17:59] And he says, he tells the story that the preacher immediately thought, oh God, what? Lord, what?

[18:09] He wasn't thinking, man, I'm so dumb. Man, why wasn't I paying? He was like, Lord, you trying to get my attention? That very day, we had service at night and there was a preacher that joined us from Castaic and he said, brother, I'm sorry I couldn't come Monday night.

[18:26] I wanted to be here but I got a call from a man in my church that his son was in a motorcycle accident up there in Santa Clarita and he said he's in bad shape.

[18:37] He's in the hospital. I had to go see him and he proceeded to tell me that when he went to the hospital to visit the family and see the boy that the father was there and he said, the father's been getting involved in some things that have just been distracting him and keeping him from coming to church and his faithfulness, his consistency was slipping.

[18:56] It was understood. It was noticeable. And the father in the hospital room said to the pastor in tears, he said, I got to get this thing right with God. This is tearing me up.

[19:07] The Lord's really got a hold of me. He's got my attention. I'm going to let that go. It's not good for me. I'm not saying that the Lord was punishing the man by wrecking the bike or that he was even doing that, but what happened, the Lord got his attention because something changed.

[19:24] Something happened. And he's all said, it could be a tree falling down on you. It could be a family member hurt or some tragedy or something bad going down.

[19:34] It could be showing up to work the next day and a co-worker that you've been there for the last 10 years is not there anymore. Or because they passed away over the weekend and what in the world? Something could just get a hold of you, open your eyes.

[19:48] Or it could be a bush burning with fire for that matter. Whatever it is, it could be a flat tire. It could be something that just breaks from your norm and the Lord shows you something.

[20:00] He's getting your attention. It's an appearance of the Lord. I want to make a note here to tell you something, church, that if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, that when the Lord wants to make an appearance and get your attention, it's not going to be as hard on you as it would be if you're not doing what you should be doing.

[20:21] The example I'll give you is Moses just leading the flock versus turn aside. Or the Apostle Paul that we know as the Apostle Paul who's wrecking havoc in the church and breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.

[20:35] He just wants to wipe them off the face of the earth and the Lord gets a hold of him and gets his attention. But that one hurt a little more and that one caused him to be blind and caused him to not eat any food or drink for many days.

[20:49] As a matter of fact, the company that he was with and the boys he was running with, now they wanted to kill him and for the rest of his life in ministry, he had those Jews seeking to kill him. Multiple times he had to deal with that and escape them.

[21:03] And so what I'm saying, if you just stay doing what you're supposed to do, the Lord can get your attention a whole lot easier and with a whole lot less perhaps stress or pain or trouble on you.

[21:15] Now, God can show up in your everyday life and seek to get your attention and seek to get it turned toward him, but why would he do that? Why would he do that at all?

[21:28] I'll tell you why. Because he wants to speak to you. That's why. And so first we see there's an appearance of God. Secondly, let's look at the voice of God that shows up here in the passage in verse number four.

[21:41] When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see. That was a good choice then of Moses. That was a good decision to turn aside from what he was doing. God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.

[21:57] Now let's learn some things about the voice of God. This is pretty important stuff. And I hope you'll receive this and understand it. I hope I'm clear enough in this.

[22:08] I want to make a few comments here and pull this from the passage. The voice of God is clearly discernible. It is clearly discernible. He said, Moses.

[22:20] Moses. And in this passage, Moses isn't like, did you guys hear something? He didn't look at the sheep.

[22:31] He didn't think, well, I've been out here too long. I've been out here by myself too long or under the sun too long. He didn't, none of that happened. There wasn't any confusion.

[22:45] There wasn't any second guessing. What did he do? Here am I. Moses, you're talking to a bush. But you know what? Yeah. He's talking to a bush.

[22:57] Because the voice of the Lord came out of that bush and it was so discernible and so clear that the instinct, the only right thing for him to do was to answer the bush.

[23:08] He didn't look around. He didn't say, this is nuts. I'm not losing it, Moses. You're not doing this. He didn't have no talks with himself. It was instinctive instinctive and unnatural to respond to the voice calling out of the flame of the bush.

[23:26] The voice of God is clearly discernible. Think about a man that's been learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians talking to a bush.

[23:39] He's not losing his mind. This is real. This is very real. And when the voice of God comes to you, it's real. It's discernible.

[23:50] You can sense it so clearly. It's not the wind. It's not too much caffeine. It's not enough sleep last night or just too much stress.

[24:01] No. When the voice of God, the voice of the Holy God speaks to you directly, you'll know it. It is absolutely unmistakable unmistakable and discernible.

[24:13] It is clear. And when God gets your attention and when you turn aside to see what he wants or what's going on, the voice of God is unmistakable.

[24:26] It's clearly discernible. Secondly, it's clearly identified. In verse number 6, this voice, this voice says, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[24:47] The voice, when it's the Lord's voice, it's clearly identified. He tells you who he is. You know who he is. Moses knew who this voice was.

[24:58] I'm not saying Moses had conversations with him in the past that, oh, yeah, yeah, but no, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Oh, I know who that is.

[25:09] And that's who you are, the God of my father. He identifies himself. Let me say in contrast, our adversary, the devil, is a deceiver and he's a liar.

[25:23] And he'll try to imitate this thing right here and appear as an angel of light. Or he'll try to show himself that he is God and he'll do it with a voice.

[25:34] But the voice is never clearly identified. The voice is vague. The voice is confusing. The voice is mysterious. And if I could give you an example of this, and I don't know how well this will just attach to you and your experiences, but have you ever felt like an uncertain moving that you just need to do more, that God's, he's not satisfied with you, you're never doing enough, you're never good enough, and you'll never live up to it.

[26:10] Just kind of a heavy feeling, a heavy voice that's in a church service, in preaching, Bible preaching, and you're sitting there feeling like, I just can't ever get right or can't live up to this thing.

[26:24] But with that feeling, what I'm talking about, there's no clear direction. There's no clear message in it. There's no solution. It's just, you are no good.

[26:37] That's not the voice of your father. The voice of your father doesn't show up telling you how wicked you, do you know that he didn't say, hey Moses, Moses, remember what you did to the Egyptian.

[26:48] I know where you buried him in the sand. He doesn't bring that stuff up. He started right with who he was. I am the God of thy father.

[27:00] Moses. Moses. He knew exactly who it was. When he spoke, there was a connection, a connection to what he already knew.

[27:12] He knew God would visit his people. He knew this would take place. He knew that the promises were made. He knew that there was a God that his father served. The story of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and their wanderings and their pilgrimage and how they ended up in Egypt.

[27:28] This was familiar to him. And this voice identified himself as that God. There was a connection when the Lord spoke. And this introduction here just set the stage, I want to say, in perfect clarity for Moses to listen.

[27:49] Because he knew who he was. He knew what was happening. And when you hear the voice of God, there will be an immediate connection.

[28:01] Not confusion. But a connection. It will be the same voice that drew you to Jesus Christ and showed you you're a sinner on your way to hell and you need to turn to him and by faith receive Christ as your Savior.

[28:14] The same voice that reassures you on a daily basis and as you have problems, as he speaks to you out of the scripture and moves you and strengthens you and grows you and encourages you. The same voice.

[28:26] And when he wants to speak to you, you'll know that voice. It's going to be the same peace. Not confusion. But peace. The voice is clearly identified.

[28:40] The voice is not going to be pushy. It's not going to be pressuring. I want to remind you in Matthew chapter 4 when Satan took Jesus Christ up on the pinnacle of the temple.

[28:55] Do you remember what he told him to do? To prove if you're the Son and if thou be the Son of God. Do you remember what he told him to do? Cast thyself down. Jump.

[29:07] Jump. You and I both know the scripture says he shall give his angels charge over thee. Nothing is going to happen to you. You are the dear Son of God, right?

[29:20] He'll take care of you. He'll fix it all. So go ahead. Do it. Cast thyself down. Pushing him to do something. Pushing him to do something that God never told him to do.

[29:33] Pushing him to take a step of faith. Trust God. Take a step of faith. But God never told him to do it. That's the devil. Push. Push. Do more. Do something else. But the voice of God comes in with peace.

[29:47] With clarity. With certainty. You've probably heard a different voice more often than you've heard the voice of God. And it probably confuses you more than you want to be.

[29:59] But when the voice of God, when he gets your attention, these aren't everyday moments. Understand that. But when he seeks to get your attention and when you turn aside toward him and his voice comes, it is clear.

[30:14] It is peaceful. It is very identifiable as the voice of God. I've been holding off from talking about this from the pulpit for about a couple months, but I can't help it today.

[30:26] I like to go gold panning. There I said it. I just found a hobby and I started doing it about four or five times. I've gone in a few places and found little tiny pieces of gold in the dirt.

[30:38] It's really cool. And I've been talking with Brother Jared Pilkington about it for months now, before I ever went. For months. We both kind of got watching over COVID. We got watching YouTube videos of people panning for gold.

[30:51] And when we talked on the phone, he's like, Brother, that is like bucket list for me. If I could come to California and say that I panned for gold in California, that's all I need.

[31:02] And so I said, let's make it happen. And so I pursued it and found out some things and figured out a place to go. And I took him on Thursday out to do this. And it happens to me.

[31:13] It happens to him. It happens to Pastor Steve Andrus, who's been doing it too. And I just found out from his treasurer that he's preaching about it too in the pulpit. So I don't feel so bad. But Jared Pilkington's like, he's like, Brother, I could get some material from this.

[31:29] I said, I know it. I know it. I see it too. I just, I try not to talk about it all the time. But today I'll just say one thing about it. One thing I've learned when I taught his boy Jack and Jared as they were trying to pan and trying to find if anything in their pan is gold, what I told them is something I learned was, if you think it's gold, it's not gold.

[31:53] If you're looking at it and you're looking at it but you think, you think it might be gold? No. It's not. But when it is gold, it will tell you it's gold.

[32:05] It will scream out of that pan that I am gold. It could be the smallest speck that you could put on your finger, you could hardly see it, but in that pan, in that background with that water, it just, the sun hits it and it screams to you that it's gold.

[32:22] And interestingly, the same thing applies here. If you think it might be the voice of God telling you to do something, if you're thinking, maybe I should, maybe, that's not the Lord.

[32:34] It's not his voice. Because when he speaks to you, when he has a word, when he turns you aside and has something to convey to you, you will know it. It will be clear.

[32:46] You'll see it clearly. You'll hear it clearly. Your spirit, the Bible says that his spirit, how does it say that, it bears witness with our spirit. The connection will just be instant.

[32:57] You'll know it's the voice of God. You wouldn't, if I told you, no, you didn't hear the Lord, you wouldn't listen to me for another minute because you'll know that the Lord spoke to you and told you something or revealed something or taught you something.

[33:14] Nobody could talk you out. Dr. Uckman used to say, you couldn't talk me out of it with a talking machine when you know something. And so the voice of God is clearly discernible.

[33:24] It's clearly identified. And thirdly, the voice of God gives clear instructions. In verse number seven, he carries through the passage really to the end of the chapter.

[33:35] The Lord is kind of unfolding and expounding to Moses, his intentions for him. And I'll just skim it. You don't have to really follow too closely here. But in verse seven, he says, I've surely seen the affliction of my people.

[33:48] I heard their cry. I know their sorrows. I've come down to deliver them, to bring them out of that land unto a good land. And Moses, come now, I'll send thee unto Pharaoh.

[34:00] And I'll be with you. And you're going to come all the way out here to this mountain. And he goes through telling them to go gather the elders. Tell them, I visited you. It's happening now, Moses.

[34:11] And all of this makes perfect, clear sense because he understands what God has said in the past. And I'm going to give you that land, the same one I promised Abraham. Yep, check, check, check.

[34:22] All of it is making perfect, clear sense to Moses. And he tells him that he's going to stretch out his hand and smite Egypt. Everything he's telling him, he's not giving every single detail, every single plague, all the back and forth.

[34:36] He doesn't need to give him all those details and bog them down. But what he's telling him is clear instructions, precise instructions. In other words, it's not murky. It's not uncertain language.

[34:48] Maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. I just want you to do your best. Just try, just go there and see what happens. None of that. The Lord gives him clear instructions, ones that he can follow.

[35:00] That's the point. Matter of fact, Moses asks a question in verse number 11. Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

[35:11] And the Lord takes time to answer his question. No, no, no, Moses. I'll be with you. It's not, yeah, no, no, no. I'll be with you. Moses has some concerns. God has an answer for him.

[35:23] And it's clear. And so briefly, we'll conclude here. But in Moses' part, from his standpoint, in this incident, Moses meets with God.

[35:33] There's an appearance of God. God got his attention. And Moses turned aside. And you can do that too. You can do that too.

[35:45] Moses heard the voice of God and responded. And you can do that too. Here am I. Here am I, Lord.

[35:55] What do you want to say to me? You can do that too. Moses feared God. He found out that he's on holy ground. And he, verse 6 says that he hid his face.

[36:06] He was afraid to look upon God. You can do that too. The closer you get to God, the more you can absolutely fear him. Moses removed his shoes.

[36:19] Moses stood in the presence of God. Moses received and heard the instruction from God. And you can do that too. Moses even showed a lack of faith.

[36:31] Even showed he has some doubts or some fears about that. And you know, most likely you'll probably do that too. You'll immediately have a flesh to contend with. That's going to offer up excuses.

[36:43] It's going to be right there. Because that's a battle. But God didn't rebuke him. Instead, he reassured him, I will be with thee.

[36:54] Now, I want to conclude here with the last thought with what God's speaking is. He left a promise. I'll just call it there's the promise of God in this situation or this passage.

[37:07] When Moses said, Who am I? Who am I to do this? Why are you calling me? Who am I? God responded in verse 12, Certainly I will be with thee.

[37:20] He said, No, Moses, Moses, no, no, no, no, no. You're not understanding here. I'm not telling you to just go to Egypt and just start doing these things that you can't do that.

[37:33] You can't go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh let these people go. I will be with you, Moses. Maybe you missed that part. Back in verse 8, I said, I am come down to deliver them.

[37:45] I'm going to do this, Moses. I'm not asking you to do all of this. So don't be afraid of that. Furthermore, look at verse 17 and see the I wills again.

[38:02] Verse 17, And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt. In verse number 20, And I will stretch out my hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof.

[38:21] Verse 21, And I will give this people favor. The Lord's prepared and planning to do the work. That was part, that was his intentions the entirety of the time.

[38:34] Moses misunderstood there. Well, who am I? How am I going to go do all of that stuff? No, Moses. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not asking you to go do all of that stuff. And so church, the Lord, as I showed you over the last few weeks, the Lord has already prepared him to be that guy that can lead a flock through the wilderness to the backside of the desert.

[39:00] A man that spent time with a priest and learned to not put his faith in the arm of flesh and soldiers and soldiers and armies but rather to trust in a spiritual power.

[39:14] A man that's been so educated that he could one day sit and receive all the commandments and judgments and precepts and write more scripture than anybody ever has and ever will.

[39:26] A man that has such instincts and experience and leadership skills that he's just showing it.

[39:37] It's coming out of him. A prince and a judge. God has already made him to be the man that he wants him to be. And he thinks, I can't do that.

[39:48] No, you can't. That's fine. But I'll do it. I'm calling you to go with me. Matter of fact, I think he says that in verse 10. Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh.

[40:06] And so church, when God speaks to you, he seeks to lead you or he seeks to use you, just understand you don't have anything to fear at all.

[40:21] God's not asking you to do something that's out of your ability because you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you. And as Paul said, it is God which worketh in me mightily.

[40:36] It's the working of God. It always has been. It always will be. And so understand if God seeks in one day to get your attention and he will and as he has something to say to you and you turn aside and consider, Lord, what?

[40:53] What is it that you want? What are you telling me? What do you want to say? And as he speaks to you and the voice of God and the Holy Spirit in your heart and the word of God come together and merge to be clear and inform you and maybe even call you to something.

[41:09] Maybe. Or maybe just to give you some instructions. You don't have to fear that voice. You don't have to make excuses of why you can't.

[41:20] The Lord's calling you. Does he not know what he's doing? Does he not know who he's working with? God's looking for a vessel, a prepared vessel that's surrendered to him.

[41:35] And so my advice to conclude here is just be that today. Today, be that vessel that God can call, that God can use. Be prepared.

[41:45] In 2 Timothy chapter 2, he's looking for a vessel that is meat meat for every good work. One that's sanctified and prepared.

[41:58] And so when he appears to you, this is maybe a little bit preemptive for you, but when he appears and gets your attention and calls your name, it's just your job to drop to your knees and say, here am I.

[42:12] Here am I. We're looking at the calling of this man. We're really just getting into a beginning of it because this discourse is going to go on for a while and we're going to find out that Moses really is scared.

[42:23] And I think we're going to be able to relate to him really well. I know I will. I have. I do. Because it's a fearful thing sometimes for God to ask you to get out of your comfort zone or God to ask you to do something that you're just not accustomed to doing.

[42:41] And the truth be told, you don't want to do it, but it'll bring him glory and it'll be a chance for him to use you and to speak to you. And what happens in that?

[42:52] You get a relationship with God that's closer and stronger. Your faith goes from here to here because now you've said yes and he's done the work and he's used you and it was wonderful.

[43:04] And so let's conclude with that thought and then pick it up probably next week moving forward with this call of the man. Let's close. Father, as we're dismissed, Lord, I pray that the things we covered this morning and the truths that were just extracted of the appearances, of your attention, seeking to get us to look and turn aside, of even the clarity of your voice, I pray, God, that that would stick, that you've helped somebody.

[43:34] We've probably all been confused at what we should be doing or what we should try harder on and Lord, I don't doubt it that our adversary, that liar, has been active in this church and active in these lives trying to deceive them.

[43:50] So Lord, give us discernment, give us wisdom, help us to surrender when we do hear your voice. I pray that you'll find us prepared and sanctified and ready to go, fully surrendered when you do call.

[44:07] So Lord, please take these thoughts and ingrain them into our beings and bury them into our new man so that we can use them and be prepared when the time comes.

[44:18]  We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. All right, we're going to conclude with that, so you are dismissed and Lord willing, we'll see you Wednesday night.