and resist his lord stand against
the sovereign god i will bow before your throne seeking grace
in christ your son ? Through his blood and righteousness ?
Lord, I plead with you for grace ? If you will, you can, I know
? Grace and mercy to me show ? Will you, Lord, my soul forgive
? Grant this sinner grace to live I've no other hope. Now I'm conquered by your grace. In the dust, I hide my face. Give me Christ, or else I die. I, upon your grace, rely. Oh, for mercy, now I know. Grant me, Lord, the grace I need. Turn, oh, turn to me and say,
all your sins are washed away. And my son, your debt is paid. He for you the ransom made. Please be seated. In just a second,
we're going to have special music by Chris and Vicki. But before
then, hopefully, we have enough bulletins, ivory-colored bulletins
you'll have to share. I know they're around. There's
a hymn on the back of the bulletin. We're going to sing that together. Thy works not mine, O Christ,
speak gladness to this heart. They tell me all the work is
done, they bid my fear depart. Thy cross not mine, O Christ,
has borne the awful load of sins that no one else could bear but
our incarnate God. Thy death not mine, Has paid the ransom due Ten thousand,
thousand deaths like mine Would all have been too few Thy righteousness,
O Christ, alone can cover me. No righteousness can satisfy,
save that which is of Thee. Waiting for my body that will
never sin Looking for a city that will never end Waiting for
the one that's my hope within My Savior, my Lord The one that bought me with his
precious blood The only one that could ever be good The one that
in my place stood On Calvary's tree He's the Lydia He's all together lovely to me
now. He is the rose of Sheba. The dew of youth is on his brow. The one that found me when I
was lost The one that paid the terrible cost The one that hung
on Calvary's cross My sin debt to pay He loves me with an everlasting
love. Within the veil, he's my priest
above. The one who calls me undefiled,
his dove, my bridegroom, my love. He's the lily of the valley. He's altogether lovely to me
now. He is the rose of Sharon, the dew
of you is on his brow. The one who taught me how to
beg at his feet, at the table of grace he gave me a seat. And in him salvation so complete. My Redeemer, my Lord, And one of these days He's coming
for me And all of those bought on Calvary Then forever He will
be Heaven He will be Heaven for me I love to hear preaching that
lets me know I'm saved. That's really the only kind I
like to hear. And I know I'm saved hearing
that message. That was such a blessing. I love
what was said. I've also probably never had
a message where I got completely every point I was going to make
taken. So I'm fine with that. Evidently, we need to hear the
same message again this morning, and that's what it's going to
be. I love the way Paul said to write the same things to you.
To me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you, it is safe. I'm going to be speaking from
Exodus chapter three. I've enjoyed being with you all
so much and just. Thankful for you, all you do.
But I want to read a passage from Exodus chapter 5 first,
so you're going to be real close. In verse 1 and 2 of Exodus chapter
5, and afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh Thus
saith the Lord God of Israel. He's the God of gods and he's
the God of Israel. Let my people go, that they may
hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord? that I should
obey his voice to let Israel go. I can feel the arrogance in that
question. Who is the Lord that I should
let his people go? And I love to think of Moses
thinking, you're fixing to find out. There's not a more important
question that we could possibly consider than this. Who is the
Lord? Nothing more important than this.
Who is the Lord? You know, it's interesting, a
couple of weeks ago, I saw a TV program with Morgan Freeman. Maybe some of you all saw it,
and it was entitled, Who is God? Anybody see that? Who is God? And he went to the different
countries where different religions were, four or five different
religions, trying to do, I guess, a comparative religion to try
to get them all together to find out who God is. And he came up
with this conclusion. God's in all of us. He said,
God is the best version of me. I thought, we're in real trouble
if that's the case. Me, you, or anybody else. Who
is the Lord? No more important question. Who
is the Lord? Go back to Exodus chapter three. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro,
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the backside
of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb,
which is Mount Sinai. Horeb means desolation. Verse 2. and the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him. Now we don't read where he was
seeking God. He was tending the sheep of his
father-in-law. He didn't even have his own sheep.
He's on the back side of a desert, tending his sheep, and the Lord
appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush. And he looked, I guess perhaps
he'd seen it an hour beforehand, two hours beforehand, and maybe
he didn't think that much of it. Maybe a lightning bolt had
hit a bush and it caught on fire. But he looked and behold, the
bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. Now in this bush on fire that
is not consumed, we see a fire that is not in any way dependent
upon the energy of the wood to keep it burning. It's utterly independent. The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has no needs. He doesn't need me. He doesn't
need you. We need him. Amen? But he is
God. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills
is mine. He has no needs. Utterly independent. And we see wood that could not
be consumed by the fire. The holy, perfect humanity of
Jesus Christ. I think of the fire that came
down when Elijah put out his sacrifice. And the scripture
says the fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice.
The rocks licked up the water, the dust. After that fire fell,
nothing was left. All you saw there was nothing.
The fire consumed the sacrifice. But with the Lord Jesus Christ,
when the fire from heaven fell down, the sacrifice consumed
the fire. so that there is nothing left
now in this burning bush the angel of the lord appears and
this is a pre-incarnate appearance of the lord jesus christ this
is who is here the angel of the lord verse three and moses said
i will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush
is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, now hold on just a minute. The Lord knew what his reaction
would be, we know that. But still the language is, the
Lord was gonna see how he responded to this great sight. And I wonder
how I respond to this great sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. Utterly
independent, God over all, blessed forever, no needs. The perfect humanity of Christ
that could not be consumed. He consumed the wrath, now there
is none. When God looks into my heart,
does he see me turning aside to see this great sight? Is this a great sight to you? 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, most moses had some experience of
the lord forty years before when he tried to deliver the children
of israel and he thought that they'd understand that he's the
one god was going to use to do this but they didn't understand
you remember the story uh... he saw someone mistreating one
of the israelites, the egyptian, and he slew him hit his hand
or hit his body in the sand. And the next day he sees it happening
again. He says, why are you doing each
other wrong? He said, what are you, who are
you to say that to me? You're going to kill me like you did
to the other Egyptian yesterday. And he ran. He thought I'm in
trouble. He went from the wealth and privilege
of being Pharaoh's son to tending somebody else's sheep on the
backside of a desert. 40 years had passed. And I suppose that that was all
pretty much a distant memory. And then he hears God speak his
name. Moses. Moses. Now this is one of six times
in the scripture that somebody's name is repeated. Abraham lifts
up his knife to slay his son. Abraham. Abraham. The Lord calls Samuel, Samuel,
Samuel. This is when he first appeared
to him. Peter, Peter, Satan hath desired
to have you that he may sift you as wheat. And he did. Martha, Martha. Thou art careful
and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? It's hard for thee to kick against
the bricks. And I pray that each one of us
in this room will have our name called by him this morning. I want to hear him say, Todd,
Todd, I want him to say that to you too. Moses said, here am I. You see, if God speaks
to you, you will respond. Here am I. Verse 5, he said, draw not nigh
hither, don't come close, Moses. Don't come close. Put off thy
shoes from off thy feet for the place where in thou standest
is holy ground. I think of Joshua. The only other time we read of
something like this taking place, Joshua sees the man with the
drawn sword, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, are you for us or for
our adversaries? Neither. I don't take sides. I'm the captain of the Lord of
hosts. Don't come close, Moses. The place you stand is holy ground. The holiness, and here's one
of those It ought to be everything we speak about from the scriptures. But here's one of those things
when I'm speaking, I think, do I have any idea what I'm talking
about? The holiness, the otherness, the separateness, the uniqueness
of God. You see, there is nobody like
him. this bush that burned utterly
independent and could not be consumed. Men really do not have a concept
of sin until they have a revelation of the holiness of God. And it's got to be a revelation.
It's got to be a revelation. When holiness walked upon this
earth, men didn't get it. They called him a gluttonous
man and a winebibber, the friend of publicans and sinners. And
they didn't know this is holiness incarnate. And the only way you
and I will have any idea of the holiness of God is if he reveals
himself and discloses himself to you. What is the holiness of God?
It's expressed most clearly by our Lord from the cross, quoting
David in Psalm 22, verse one, my God. At this time, the Lord
Jesus Christ could not call him father. Do I understand that? No. But Christ couldn't call
him father at this time. My God, my God. Why has thou forsaken me? Now he wasn't asking this because
he didn't know, he knew. He gives the answer. Thou art
holy. I know this. Sin, even as fits in his son,
must be put to death. It must be. God is holy. And when Christ drank that cup,
those sins became his sins. He became guilty of the commission
of those very sins, though he never sinned in his own person. And God killed him. No mercy. No mercy. And until we see God in His holiness,
we're not going to have any concept of sin. Don't even know what
it is. I'll quote Angus. When Isaiah saw the Lord
high and lifted up, his train filling the temple, the seraphim's
crying, holy, holy, holy. What did he say? Woe is me. I am undone. I'm cut off. I'm reprobated. There's no hope for me. When Job saw the Lord, he said,
I've heard of you with the hearing of the ears, but now mine eye
seeth thee. Wherefore, I hate myself and
repent. in dust and ashes. Now, my dear
friend, if you don't see yourself in that light, it's because you've
never seen the Lord. That's it. That's it. The only way anybody
ever sees their own sinfulness is if they've seen the Lord.
Well, I did some really bad things. I'm sure you did. Probably worse
than you think, but that's not a view of your sinfulness. The only way you'll ever see
your sinfulness, and the only way I'll see my sinfulness, is
to see the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there I find
out what I really am. When God moves the restraints,
I become a God murderer. Is that language too strong?
No, it's not. No, it's not. Daniel, there's, if you read,
I've been preaching through Daniel in the 12th chapter now, and
if you read the life of this man, you don't find any fault
in him. I know it's there, but you don't
see it. But he said, when I saw him, My comeliness turned to
corruption. And I love probably what Peter
said more than anything else. When he saw the deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ for the first time, he said, depart from me,
Lord. You don't want to have anything
to do with me. I am a sinful man. Now, until I have seen the Lord, I'm going to be like the Pharisee
in the temple. Lord, I thank Thee. I'm giving
You the credit that I'm not like other men. You can always find
somebody you're better than. I pay tithes of all I possess. I fast twice a day. I'm not an
adulterer. I'm not unjust. I'm not an extortioner. I'm certainly not like this publican.
You know, all that was a lie. Wasn't in truth to it. Everything
he said he wasn't, he was. He just didn't know it because
he'd never seen the Lord. If I ever see the Lord, I'm going
to have some idea of my sin. Verse six, moreover, he said,
I am the God of thy father. the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The God of election, that's what
that is. The God of election. He identifies himself as the
God of election. Now understand this, all election
says is God is God. Somebody doesn't believe in election,
well, he might as well not believe in God at all. This is the God
of the Bible. The only God of the Bible. And
a God that's not the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob is a non-existent God, a figment of man's imagination. He identifies himself as the
covenant God. And Moses hid his face for he
was afraid to look upon God. He's terrified. He hits the dirt. And the Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. What can be said about that,
isn't there? I'm going to move on. He says, I've come down to
deliver them out of the hand The Egyptians, just like he promised
he would do 400 years before in Genesis 15, he prophesied
of this event to Abraham. Now's the time. I love that. Now's the time. You know, a phrase
I love in the scripture, it came to pass. God purposed it. It came to pass. I am come down to deliver them
out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the
land and to a good land and a large and to a land flowing with milk
and honey into the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and
the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is
coming to me. And I've also seen the oppression wherewith the
Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I'll
send thee unto Pharaoh. that thou mayest bring forth
my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said
unto God, who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? Now 40 years
earlier, he thought that they would understand that God by
his hand would deliver them. 40 years later, he doesn't want
the job anymore. Who am I? Utterly unfit. I have no business doing anything. like this. Verse 12 here's your credential
Moses and he said certainly I'll be with thee. Anything else needed? And this shall be a token unto
thee that I have sent thee When thou has brought forth thy people
out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, and
I think this is because he had some understanding of the children
of Israel. He was one of them. And he knew
what kind of response they'd have. And Moses said unto God,
behold, When I come unto the children of Israel and shall
say unto them, the God of your fathers has sent me unto you.
And they shall say to me, what's his name? What shall I say unto
them? And here's his name, the name
that the Lord used in John. I am that I am. Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I am, that sent me unto you. Now, what if I called your house
and somebody answered the phone and I asked them to get you and
they said, well, can I tell them who's calling? What if I said,
I am that I am? They'd hang up on me. They'd hang up on me, and well
they should. This is the name that only God can take to himself. I am that I am. This is God's name. Not I was,
not I want to be, not I will be, not I should be, not I could
be, I am. that I am. I am eternal. Nobody make me. I am independent. I have no needs. I am I can't change, I can't be diminished,
I can't be increased I am that I am Jesus Christ as we saw took
this name to himself and he said in John chapter 8 verse 24 if
you believe not that I am you'll die in your sins you see Faith
has everything to do with what you believe concerning Him. And He lets us know, if you believe
not that I am the eternal God, you'll die in your sins. Now, let me remind you something
about faith. Faith doesn't have anything to do with what you
believe about yourself. It has wholly to do with what you believe
concerning Him. I'm not asking you if you think
you're saved, or if you think you're a Christian, or if you
think you're one of the elect, forget it. What do you think
concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? When the Pharisees were interrogating
him, they said, you're not yet 50 years old, and you say you've
seen Abraham? Before Abraham was. I am. And they picked up stones
to throw at him. They knew exactly what he was
saying. And when they come to get him
in the garden, whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth, I am. And an irresistible force knocked
them backwards to the ground, the Lord's letting them know,
I'm no victim here. I'm in absolute sovereign control
over everything, everybody, You guys, I shouldn't say it that
way, but you're all under my thumb. I like to think about the way
when he let him get up and he said, whom seek ye? I like Jesus
of Nazareth. I imagine they're afraid at this
time. In Exodus 3, in our text, this
is spoken in the plural. I am the Father. I am the Son. I am the Spirit. In Hebrews 11,
verse 6, we read these words, He that cometh to God must believe
that He is. The is-ness of God. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is. Not believe in His existence.
Somebody says, I believe in God. Well, congratulations. You ought
to. It's plumb stupid not to. But that doesn't have anything
to do with faith. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. And who he is is not predicated
on what me and you think he is. Who he is is revealed in his
word, the Bible. Now the Bible, let me remind
you, I love to remind myself all the time, not that I forget,
I like to say this, the Bible is the word of God. And what
you think of God is seen by what you think of this word. It really
is. Somebody says, well, how do you
expect me to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of
God? Well, it claims to be. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And do you have a hard time believing
God created the universe? You say, no. I mean, that's the
only thing I believe that. God's all-powerful. He can create
the universe. Well, if he can create the universe, he has the
power to inspire men to write a book that he keeps preserved
over the centuries. Forty different men over a 1,500-year
period writing the Bible. And the Bible reveals to us His
isness. All of His glorious attributes. His name. You know, His name
doesn't simply mean, well, His name is Jehovah or his name is
Elohim or all the different names of the Lord in the Bible that
every time I use his name I feel like I'm taking it in vain because
I am. I am. Holy and reverend is his name.
His name is such that to take it in vain is a sin punishable
by death. That's how holy and reverend
his name is. And his name is a declaration
of who he is. All of his glorious attributes.
Let me show you this in Exodus 33. Verse 18, and Moses said, he
said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. He had seen the Red Sea part. He had been given the law. He
saw the 10 plagues. He saw the manna come down from
heaven. He saw the water come from the
rock. He'd seen some, he'd seen something
that day. But yea, he said, I haven't seen
your glory. Verse 19, and he said, I'll make all my goodness
pass before thee. The glory of the Lord is his
goodness. His capacity to save people like
me and you. You know, when somebody says,
how could a good God let that happen? I just think, take it
up with him. He's good, whatever he does. And you're going in the wrong
direction. I can assure you that he's good.
Lord's good. Everything about him is good.
Everything he does is good. His capacity to save people like
me and you. What goodness? I'll make all my goodness pass
before the and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before the
and will be gracious. To whom I will be gracious. And
will show mercy. on whom I will show mercy. Now
look down in chapter 34 verse 5. And the Lord descended in
the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name
of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed the Lord The Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no means clear the guilty. Now, the only way you
can understand that is the gospel, how he can forgive iniquity and
transgression and sin. and by no means under no circumstance
whatsoever will He clear somebody that's guilty. You see, if Christ
died for you, you're not guilty. You don't have anything to feel
guilty about. You're perfect in God's sight, a perfect salvation.
He never has to, He doesn't clear guilty. He's not going to do
His God. Everything He does is just, holy, right, and true. the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children and upon the children's children unto the third and into
the fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth and worshiped. That's the only response
there is to God if he ever reveals himself to you. Worship. Worship. You're in his hand. He can do
with you whatever he's pleased to do. Whatever he does is right.
Worship. And you've never worshiped. unless
you worshipped this God in His isness. Now we could spend so
much time talking about His isness, talking about His sovereignty,
His justice, His independence, His immutability, His eternality. He never began to be. Nobody
made Him. we could just go on and on talking
about his glorious attributes, that's who God is and that's
what the Bible reveals who God is, I am that I am but I read
somewhere and Jehovah is in the name I am that I am and Jehovah
is salvation and this could just as easily mean I save in the
manner which I save." And who God is is seen in the manner
in which He saves. And to deny, to not agree with
any aspect of the manner in which He saves is to deny the character
of God. This isn't we can agree to disagree,
not at all. To deny in any way his manner
of salvation is to deny, to reject the character of God himself. I don't know there, do you? Now the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ is how God saves sinners. And in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ every attribute of God is manifest. Every one of them. God's holiness, his hatred of
sin, God's justice, God's grace, God's love, God's wisdom God's
power. Oh, the power of God in the cross.
His power to die. God died. The God-man died. What power? The God-man raised
himself from the dead. The God-man actually made sin
to not be anymore. The God-man made me, as sinful
as I am, to be perfect in God's sight all through the cross.
The cross is a manifestation of all of God's attributes, who
He is. God made the universe for the
cross. Now, whosoever, whosoever, that's a great word. I'm in that group. Whosoever. shall call on the name of the
Lord. Now, here's the important word,
whosoever's a good word, but this is the all important word,
the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord, the name
of the Lord's who he is. When I'm calling upon the name
of the Lord, I'm saying, Lord, save me by who you are. Save
me because you give commandment as the sovereign of the universe
to command my salvation. Save me by your justice in a
way that honors your justice and makes me perfect in God's
sight. Save me by your grace. Save me
by your wisdom, that glorious wisdom that made a way for you
to be just and justify the ungodly. When I'm calling upon the name
of the Lord, I'm calling upon all of his attributes. Save me
by who you are. You know, that's not a one-time
thing. Here is a simple word. Whosoever shall call, Lord, save
me. Lord, help me. I can't call. You can, too, if
he enables you to do it. You call right now. And here's a sure word. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Saved in what the Bible means
by that. Saved from yourself. Saved from
your sins. Saved. If you call upon the name
of the Lord, you shall be saved. Amen. That's the truth. As a word from
God. So very thankful time. How do I know? If all this is
for me. Scripture says in Romans chapter
5. Verse 6 for yet when we. We're yet without strength. I have no strength to save myself.
In due time. in due time, in God's time, Christ
died for the ungodly. When we see his holiness, we
come to this conclusion, I'm not anything like him. That's
God, I'm ungodly. This word is the word worship. The word
ungodly is the word worship in the original language. with the
Greek alpha in front of it, which means that it reverses the meaning
of the word. I'm without strength to worship
God unless he enables me. The unbeliever thinks I can worship
God anytime I want. I'm a child of God. Lord, I can't
worship you. I can't come into your presence.
You're going to have to make me able. I'm without strength.
I'm without strength. What a blessing this weekend's
been. I want to ask the folks particularly
in the back to help out the ladies. I think we're going to serve
the food inside because it's too windy outside to try to do
that. So that area back there where
you are, Deb, needs to be cleared out as quickly as we can. And
don't stand back there so they can prepare the food. just gather
somewhere else and we'll enjoy our time together. Angus, thank
you. Todd, thank you, brother. And
Chris, what a blessing. All the messages have been. Let's ask the Lord's blessings. We're going to close with a hymn,
Tom. Number 352 in the hardback tenor. All right, let's do that. Let's stand together. And number
352 in the hard back ten. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, Hide me, O my Savior, hide, Till
the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven guide, O
receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Levi, leave me not alone, fill
support and comfort me. All my trust on thee. All my help from thee I bring,
Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. ? Just and holy is thy name ?
? I am all unrighteousness ? ? False and full of sin I am ? ? Thou
art full of truth and grace ? ? Plenteous grace with thee is found ? Grace
to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams abound. Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain art. ? Freely let me take of Thee
? ? Spring Thou up within my heart ? ? Rise to all eternity
? Would you bow with me in prayer, please? Our gracious and merciful Heavenly
Father, We thank you that you've. Been. Merciful to feed our souls
with the truth of the gospel this weekend. We're thankful
for the words that we've heard. We confess to you, Lord, that
there's. So much of it that we cannot comprehend or understand,
but we thank you for the faith that you've given us. To rest
our hope and our dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray Lord
that. You would help us in our unbelief.
That you would enable us in our inability. To believe and to
bow and to worship. Thy dear son. Thank you for his
accomplished work of redemption. Lord, we would not dare to try
to add to it. Or take away from it. Pray that
your Holy Spirit would cause us to. To meditate on the things
that you've spoken. And that you would. enable us
to rest our souls in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for this
time of fellowship. Thank you for the food. Bless
it to your glory. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Okay.