What a friend we have in jesus

[0:00] Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.! And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrance to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent.

[0:21] ! As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance. While the Lord spoke with Moses.

[0:34] Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped, each at the entrance to their tent.

[0:46] The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant, Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent.

[1:04] Amen. This is God's word. And we pray that he will bless the reading of his word to us this day. I'm going to sing again and the next hymn is How Great Is Our God?

[1:17] And we'll rise to sing after the introduction. Let's pray a short prayer. Lord Jesus, we thank you once again.

[1:29] We can't say it enough. For the great God you truly are. And for the friendship you offer. Continue to unpack your word to us today.

[1:43] And send us forth to live it. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

[2:05] Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Books that are ranked.

[2:22] As the best-selling books of all time. We all love these incredible books.

[2:35] That take us on a whirlwind of adventure. But we love stories in general. Stories of deceit.

[2:49] Mystery. Affairs. Wars. And all such things. And all over the world. People. Buy books.

[3:01] Of such stories. But the biggest. Most desired. Is stories of friendship.

[3:12] Friendship. And many of the books. In and around. Things like. Adventure.

[3:22] And mystery. Have friendship. Friendship. At the centre. Which is why we love them.

[3:36] Humans. Love friendship. And stories of friendship. Because as I said earlier.

[3:47] We were created. By an all loving. Friendly God. And his book. His book.

[3:58] Is something else. Written over. Fifteen hundred years. In three languages.

[4:12] Hebrew. Aramic. And Kion Greek. On three continents. Asia. Africa. Africa. Europe. Spanning.

[4:23] Forty. Generations. Sixty six books. One thousand. One hundred. And eighty nine. Chapters. The Holy Bible.

[4:39] Holds. The Guinness World Record. For truly. Being. The most. Successful. And bought. Book. Ever. The Holy Bible.

[4:53] God's. Very. Words. His words. To all of humanity. His story. And it's incredible.

[5:04] So exciting. It begins with the. Glorious. Events. Of creation. Which took place.

[5:17] Across. Six. Mind blowing days. Including the creation of humans. Followed by God's.

[5:27] Early. Early. Interactions. With humans. Specifically. Highlighting. Adam. Eve. Noah. Abraham. Jacob.

[5:38] Joseph. And the. Incredible. God loving. Events. That unraveled. Through these folk. Back. We then.

[5:50] Encounter. The. Electrifying. Incredible. Journey. Of the nation. Of Israel. The laws. The lives. The works. The teachings.

[6:00] Of the prophets. The judges. Folk like. Samson. The initiation. Of kings. Saul. David. The successes. The victories.

[6:12] The failures. All in there. And the great acts of God. Then we of course get the wondrous events of Jesus on earth.

[6:24] The launch of the Christian church. The Christian teachings. And in the future. The business plans. Of the final days.

[6:36] And beyond to eternity. Wow. What an incredible. Series. Of events. And of course.

[6:48] There is. There is all. The real. Hard. And gritty stuff. Humanities. Wars. Murders. Mysteries.

[7:00] Conspiracies. Affirmes. Deceit. Lust. Lies. Adventures. And so on. In fact. It is exactly. What we have just said.

[7:12] Everyone out. Goes to Wallerstones Dubai. And there is lots of folk. Out there. Who love to read stories of.

[7:22] Of mystery. Heroes. Adventures and whatnot. But they're not reading these. They're not reading these.

[7:33] Real. Life. Accounts. Books. And if. If. They only took. One minute. To actually. Look. At the amazing story.

[7:45] Of the Bible. They would quickly. Discover. All in there. Everything they love to read. Everything we love to read. It may be.

[7:58] It may be. But there is a lot of readers. Yet to read it. Because. Satan. The father of lies. Works.

[8:09] Hard. To keep. There is. Very little. In the Bible. For them. Of course. The reason. Is because. He knows.

[8:20] That within. Within. The very core. Of it all. Rests. The words. Of eternal life. Anyone.

[8:32] To find him. So. Quick recap. The Bible. Takes us through. A deeply.

[8:45] Moving. Electrifying. Exciting. Spiritual. Real life. Story. With.

[8:56] The God of creation. And at the very core. Of it all. Is the words. Of how to have eternal life. And let's just.

[9:08] Think a moment. About how those words. Of eternal life. Are written. And how those words. Of eternal life.

[9:19] Are presented. For one must. Take note. That they are indeed. Beautifully. Crafted.

[9:30] And designed. Within. An invitation. An invitation. To all people. To come into a personal.

[9:42] Friendship. With God himself. And every example. In the Bible. Of the ones. Who have eternal life. It is portrayed.

[9:53] Within the person. Having a deep. Personal. Friendship. With God. And that. And that alone.

[10:05] Is the entirety. Of everything. Everything. That the Bible. Is about. From beginning. To end. The whole Bible.

[10:17] Tells us. All about God. Developing. Friendships. With his most. Precious. Creation. People. It's a love story. Between God.

[10:30] And people. It's no wonder. It's the biggest. Selling book. We read it there. From the very start.

[10:41] When God. First creates. Adam and Eve. And he then. Enjoys. That wonderful. Friendship. With them. We read. Of how God. Literally. Walked.

[10:52] Through. The garden. In the cool. Of the day. And chatted. With them. As friends. And that. That was life. That. That was eternal life.

[11:03] God loved this. And in the beginning. That was simply the plan. That we. God's creation. Would continue.

[11:14] In that worshipping relationship. With him. Personal. And that he. Our amazing God. Would lead us. And care for us.

[11:26] And that was all. That God ever wanted. But we know. How the story goes. We know. That through Adam and Eve.

[11:36] All of humanity. Leaves the garden. Leaves the presence of God. And leaves the wonderful. Life giving. Friendship. With God. Leaves eternal life.

[11:51] And it breaks God's heart. It breaks his heart. So much. That from there on in. The whole story. Has only one single agenda. And that is to restore.

[12:03] This broken friendship. And enable us. Once again. To have eternal life. And as that plan of restoration.

[12:15] unfolds. We read of how God himself. Is the one. Who reaches out first. To make amends. And to understand this better.

[12:27] There is. There is. There is. Wonderful. Wonderful. Examples. There's a few. Pivotable ones. Friends. Which we must learn from. That really teach us.

[12:39] All about the precious friend. That God. Really is. And we're going to have a look at some of them. Over the next weeks. But throughout the whole Old Testament. The first half of the Bible.

[12:51] Perhaps one of the most marvelous. And greatest relationships. We read of. Is God and Moses. Moses. He's the guy. He split the Red Sea. All that sort of stuff.

[13:04] Now. There is a very. Special. Very deep. Very personal. Encounter.

[13:15] Between God and Moses. And let's just look back. At how it. How it all begins. Looking at how. Who Moses once was. Who Moses was. Before his friendship with God.

[13:26] Looking at Moses. The character. His personality. His ways. Some people. Can't stay out of trouble.

[13:38] When conflict breaks out. They always manage to be nearby. Reaction is their favorite action. I think that was Moses. Moses seemed drawn.

[13:51] To what needed. To be made right. Throughout his life. He was at his very finest. At his very worst.

[14:03] When he was responding. To conflicts. Around him. Whether jumping in. To a fight. To defend a Hebrew slave. Or trying to referee.

[14:15] A struggle between two. Relatives. When Moses. Saw. A serious situation. He reacted. He got involved. Even the burning bush.

[14:28] Was an illustration. Of his character. Having spotted. The fire. And seen. That the bush.

[14:39] Did not burn. He had to investigate. And of course. This is where. The great friendship. Begins. God. Taking an interest.

[14:51] In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. In Moses. Will simply not be able. To resist.

[15:02] Investigating. As God also does for us. By the way. With whatever. He can capture our attention with. And so when Moses does investigate.

[15:14] God. God simply says hello. When the Lord saw. That Moses had gone over. To Luke. God called to him.

[15:25] From within the bush. Moses. Moses. And Moses said. Here I am. And there and then. Begins a new. Friendship.

[15:38] And its beginnings are wonderful. The conversation begins. With God. Revealing to Moses. That he is the one true God. As God does for us also.

[15:52] God reveals to us all. Who he is. When he knows the time is right. And to give Moses his credit here. It doesn't take him long.

[16:03] To be convinced. First. And then we see. How the friendship unfolds. Right there. At the start. Without hesitation.

[16:15] Mighty God. Grants his new friend. The privilege of serving him. As he does for us. God doesn't call the equipped.

[16:28] He equips. Those he calls. Forward after the calling. So he gives him this role. Within the kingdom of heaven. Specifically.

[16:39] In the role of setting Israel free. And there and then. Things change a little. After such a bold. Hello. And introduction.

[16:51] Things get a little uncomfortable. Moses now backs down. He says. I can't. Not me. Send someone else. You see.

[17:03] For all his initial. Bold approach. Moses still had a touch of humility. A touch of humility about him. Or as he liked.

[17:13] To put it. He was the most. Humble. And so in the end. Standing there. In the presence of almighty God.

[17:26] He knew he was nothing. And he knew God was everything. And so to Moses. It was. It was enough. Of a privilege.

[17:36] Just talking. To the God of creation. But the very idea. That he could go forward. And serve the living God. Seemed an impossibility.

[17:50] He really did not believe. That he could serve God. But just look at how God. The friend. The father.

[18:01] Responds back. Out of love. Out of concern. He challenges Moses. He questions Moses. He encourages Moses. As he does.

[18:14] For us. As we journey with him. The friend. The father. Encourages. Questions. Pokes. Prods. Moles. Shapes.

[18:25] For our best. And pushing on. He arranges for Moses. To be helped by Aaron. And comforts Moses.

[18:36] In his humble position. But God knows. That his friend here. His son. Moses. Can be so much more. God knows. That Moses.

[18:47] Has so much more to give. And so God. The ultimate friend. The ultimate parent. Begins to mentor. He begins to mentor Moses.

[18:59] He mentors him to be. The person. That he knows. Moses truly can be. As he does. For us.

[19:11] God. The mentor. The friend. The father. The king. The father. The father. The father. And eventually. In Moses. We see. An outstanding.

[19:23] Personality. Shaped. By God. Let's look closely. This is how. This is how God. Does that. God took Moses on.

[19:37] As one. He would closely. Mentor. Deeply disciple. Wonderfully develop. But. And this is so very important. God did not.

[19:48] Change. Who Moses was. He changed. What Moses was. He changed. What he was. As he does.

[19:58] For us. I. God did not. Mentor Moses. To be someone. He simply. Could never be. God didn't. Give Moses. Abilities.

[20:09] And strengths. He could never. Handle. God. God didn't. Mentor Moses. To be a different person. From the one. He created. In the womb. Far from it.

[20:20] But he instead. Invited Moses. To come under. His wings. Of guidance. And when he did. So. God then. Took Moses. With all his.

[20:31] Same. And current. Characteristics. Personalities. And attributes. He took him. With it all. And molded. Shaped. And developed.

[20:41] Them. Until they could serve. God's purpose. And that describes. A very beautiful. Mentoring relationship.

[20:54] Flowing from true friendship. And in the pages that follow. We read continuously. Of how Moses and God. Meet and talk. As they spend time.

[21:05] With each other. As a very special. And personal. Friendship. Develops. And during those. Many chapters. God.

[21:17] Regularly. Calls Moses. To spend time. On the mount. With him. To give him wisdom. To give him teachings. To give him instructions.

[21:28] For Israel. And also. As much. To encourage. And express his love. And care for him. To the point. Where.

[21:39] We have. The account of the golden calf. This was a time. When God's nation. Got bored. Of waiting. And foolishly. Built. A false.

[21:49] God. It's perhaps a whole other story. But the point. For today. Is. By this time. In history. Moses. Had very much. Developed.

[22:00] So much. So. That he now. Talks to God. As one. Who now. Knows. He has been appointed. To lead. And he now. Knows. That by God's strength.

[22:11] He can do this work. And to this next part. Summarises. That everything. We've just said. Moses. On the mount. With God.

[22:21] As said. The people. Have lost patience. And in haste. They build. A false. God. A golden calf. And God says.

[22:34] To Moses. Leave me alone. So that my anger. May burn against them. And that I may destroy them. Then in verse 11.

[22:48] Moses responds to God. Why should your anger. Burn against your people. Whom you brought out. Of Egypt. With great power. And a mighty hand.

[22:58] Why should the Egyptians say. It was with evil intent. That he brought them out. Wow. Question.

[23:12] What's happened to Moses? What on the earth. Has happened. To the timid. Moses. At the burning bush. Who didn't have the ability.

[23:24] To talk. Who couldn't go anywhere near Egypt. Who couldn't get anything of the kind. Here he is. Talking directly to God. Telling God. Exactly what he thinks. What has happened.

[23:35] To the poor. Timid. Shy. Moses. Back at the burning bush. Let's not miss. The hidden agenda here. Moses has come. A long way. He is no longer.

[23:47] The. Not sure if I have the skills. Kind of guy. That's gone. That guy's gone. He is now. The strong. I have the skills. And I can speak.

[23:58] And it's all because of you God. And he is now able to have a very honest. And open chat with God. God the friend. Has mentored Moses very well.

[24:09] God has strengthened Moses very well. He has strengthened him with boldness and courage. And God has discipled him. To have a heart of love. And compassion for Israel.

[24:21] And there is a real hidden treasure here. A real hidden treasure in all of this. You see. The truth is. That God.

[24:35] Absolutely loves. This relationship with Moses. And he absolutely loves. The way Moses has learnt. To so passionately.

[24:47] Say what's on his heart. And he loves the way his friend. Moses. Can now talk. And chat with him. About anything. And everything. No matter how ridiculous.

[24:59] Or angry. Or whatever else it sounds. Why? Why? Because that's what friends do. That's what friends do. That's why. Remember the garden.

[25:12] Adam and Eve. Because it's exactly what God had a phantom leaf. This is what is at the core. Of the whole Bible.

[25:24] God created humanity. To be in worshipping. Personal relationships with him. And Moses at this point.

[25:35] Had fully displayed. This so much. So well. That Holy Spirit. Has to have it in scripture here. As a message to tell all of us.

[25:48] This is what it's all about. It's all about God. Being friends with people. And the big. Massive. Finale. Is where we read. John. Wait for us. Chapter 33.

[26:00] Verse. 11. When we read. Those incredible words. The Lord. Spoke. To Moses.

[26:11] Face. To face. As one speaks. To your. Friend. The Lord. Spoke. To Moses.

[26:22] Face. To face. As one. Speaks. To your friend. There we have it. God.

[26:33] And Moses. As friends. As he says. In scripture. Friends. Talking face to face. Jesus. By the end of Moses. Life.

[26:44] He had given us. The most beautiful example. Of just how close. We can get to God. And by reading through. Moses life. We can truly.

[26:56] Learn. Just how much. God desires. A personal. Friendship. With each. And every one of us. The Bible.

[27:08] Is a book of books. That unravels. And gives us. Many. Wonderful. True. Stories. Of the many.

[27:19] Folk. Times. And events. In the history. That God. Was up to good stuff. But at the core. Of all these stories. Is God. Being friends.

[27:29] With people. And Moses. Specifically. Shows us. Just how close. We humans. Really can be. With God. And Moses. Also shows us.

[27:41] That when we become. Friends of God. That God. The ultimate friend. Will mold. And shape us. To be the very best. We can be.

[27:52] And that's why the Bible. Truly is. The best. Book ever. Because it. Truly invites. One. Into a friendship. With the only. Living.

[28:04] God. And if. By any chance. You haven't got a Bible. At home. There's these ones. All over the church. Little. West Hills Baptist Church. Sticker in the back. Feel free. To take one. With you.

[28:14] And delve into that. Story. Of what God. Is up to. Let me pray. Lord God.

[28:28] May we never. May we never. Lose the focus. Of what you created. In the garden. May we never. Lose the focus. Of what you were doing.

[28:39] With the. The Old Testament. Characters. May we never. Lose the focus. Of what Jesus. You came. To do. And may we never. Lose the focus. Of what your. First century church. Was up to. Friendship.

[28:52] Friendship. Friendship. Thank you. That Moses. Gives us. This incredible. Example. Of just how close. One can be with you. And I pray. That all of us.

[29:03] Here today. Take our. Discipleship. Serious. And that we. As Christians. Get into your. Bible more. And get more. Friends. If you. Get better. Friends. If you. And if anyone.

[29:13] Here Lord. Is living. On the sideline. Of Christianity. May you. Convict them. But that's not. Why you saved them. You saved them. For more. Much. Much. More.

[29:24] And let them. Go stronger. In their faith. Of you today. And if anyone. Is yet to make the step. To have the friendship. May they do so. This very day. Your wonderful name.

[29:34] Jesus. Amen. Amen. Thank you. So much guys. If you're able to stand. Please do. And we'll sing. What a beautiful. May.

[29:47] Thank you.