TITLE OF THE MESSAGE, THE BUSH
THAT WOULD NOT BURN. THE BUSH THAT WOULD NOT BURN.
FORTY YEARS HAS GONE BY. MOSES IS NOW EIGHTY YEARS OLD. EIGHTY YEARS OLD. THE DELIVERER
IS NOW READY FOR THE TASK GOD CREATED HIM FOR. It's like that scripture over
in the Galatians, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son. And here in the fullness of time,
Moses is 80 years old and now it's time for him to enter into
the ministry for which God has created him for and called him
to. We find Moses in God's seminary
school. He has been there for 40 years. You know, God's school is the
school we never graduate from. We don't ever graduate from God's
school. God knows how to train His leaders.
The proud are not teachable. And I know that Moses, being
learned in all the ways of Egypt, had some pride that needed to
be dealt with. And God did so for 40 years in
the backside of a desert. Our Lord has to teach us before
He can use us. THAT WITHOUT HIM WE CAN DO NOTHING. I CAN'T DO THIS THIS MORNING,
IT'S OVER MY HEAD. THIS IS BEYOND ME. TO HANDLE GOD'S GLORY, TO HANDLE
MATTERS, ETERNAL MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH, THAT'S BEYOND ME. AND SO MOSES LEARNS that He can't
speak. Remember it says He was mighty
in word and deed? Well here, I'm not going to touch on it
this morning, but here He says, I can't speak. I can't speak,
send somebody else. No, you're just the one God has
made for the hour. I know that secular education
can teach us necessary things, reading, writing, things that
are necessary, but they can NEVER TEACH US THE WAY AND PURPOSE
OF GOD. SECULAR EDUCATION CAN NEVER OPEN
THIS BOOK TO US. IT CANNOT REVEAL CHRIST TO US,
NO MATTER HOW EDUCATED ONE IS, THEY CAN NEVER COME TO KNOW CHRIST
UNLESS CHRIST REVEALS HIMSELF TO THEM. I like what my pastor
said once, he said, one of the reasons we have so many translations
of the Bible is to make it more understandable without having
to believe it. That's a good statement, trying
to make it understandable without having to believe it. I don't care how plain THEY MAKE THIS BIBLE. YOU WILL
NEVER UNDERSTAND IT UNLESS GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO YOU. HE'S
THE ONE, CHRIST IS THE KEY TO THIS BOOK. HE'S CALLED THE KEY
OF KNOWLEDGE. AND I'VE LEARNED IF I REALLY
WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING, I GO TO THE LORD AND ASK HIM TO TEACH
ME. BE MY TEACHER. BE MY TEACHER. SECULAR EDUCATION
CAN NEVER TEACH US THE WAY AND PURPOSE OF GOD, ONLY GOD CAN
DO THAT. And sometimes God teaches His
children in strange places. He taught John the Baptist in
the desert. He came from the desert. Where did Apostle Paul
go when the Lord taught him for three years? Where did he go?
The desert of Arabia. He got him out of the way from
the crowd, out of the way from secular education. He got him
out of the way from all of that and then taught him. That's where
he learned the gospel. He learned it straight from the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now the Lord, He's a God of means
and He uses me to preach the gospel. But now if you really
learn the gospel, He'll be your teacher. He'll be your instructor. When you can really say, I SEE!
I understand. He's the one who gave you eyes
to see. He's the one who gave you an understanding heart. He
did that. He did that. Now Moses in verse 1 was keeping
the sheep of his father-in-law. He was content. He was content
to continue with that way of life and stay there. He was now
a content person. And he was getting along with
his father-in-law. I think it's great when in-laws
never become outlaws. But he got along real well with
him, not like Jacob and Laban. They didn't get along well. And
now Moses, it says, comes to the mountain of God. This is
providence at work. God's bringing him to this place,
to this mountain. The Lord is directing His staff
just as He directed your steps. here this morning. God directed
your steps here. God did that. And here's something
we need to remember. God works all things together
at the same time. We work on things individually,
don't we? We work on one thing at a time,
but God works on all things at the same time to bring about
His eternal purpose. All things. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him, unto Moses, in a flame of fire out of the midst of a
bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses,
as I said, was content keeping the sheep of his father-in-law.
He wasn't looking for God. He wasn't looking for God at
this time. He was content. He was content to live and die
right there in that desert. He'd given up on being the deliverer
of Israel out of Egypt. And God waited till Moses was
an old man. And one of the reasons why is
this. God's going to get the glory. God's going to get the
glory out of this. He's 80 years old, so God waited
until he was an old man when he believed he was past the age
of usefulness. I'm not, I'm past the age of
usefulness. And that's when God used him.
When Moses had given up the idea of being the deliverer, then
God called him. God revealed himself to Moses. Now this angel that appeared
to Moses in this burning bush IS A PRE-INCARNATE APPEARANCE
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THIS IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
IN THIS BUSH. GOD HAS NEVER APPEARED OR SPOKEN
TO ANY MAN EXCEPT THROUGH THE MEDIATION. WE JUST LOOKED AT
THAT IN THE BIBLE CLASS. THROUGH THE MEDIATION OF HIS
SON JESUS CHRIST. NO MAN COMES TO THE FATHER, HE
SAID, EXCEPT BY ME. EXCEPT BY ME. SO THAT IS THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST SPEAKING TO MOSES. NOW WHAT CAUGHT MOSES
ATTENTION WAS THIS, A BUSH ON FIRE AND NOT BEING CONSUMED.
THAT WOULD BE AN INTERESTING SIGHT, WOULDN'T IT? I BELIEVE
IF I SAW A BUSH ON FIRE AND NOT BEING CONSUMED, I'D HAVE TO GO
OVER AND CHECK IT OUT. I THINK THAT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO
SEE. BUT YOU KNOW GOD'S GIVEN US A
GREATER SIGHT THAN THIS BURNING BUSH. SOME OF YOU SEE IT. Not all,
but some see it. He's given us a greater sight.
He's given us a man in whom God dwells and is not consumed. Jesus Christ was and is a real
man. Now listen to these scriptures. For in him, in that man, Jesus
Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 2 Corinthians 5 19 to wit that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself in first
timothy 3 16 and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness
god was manifest in the flesh we see in christ god who has
a consuming fire holy as i say it AS ISAIAH HEARD
AND SAW, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS. THE WHOLE
EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY, HE SAID IN ISAIAH 6. AND WE SEE IN CHRIST GOD WHO
IS A CONSUMING FIRE IN THIS MAN AND HE IS NOT BEING CONSUMED. HE IS NOT BEING CONSUMED. WE SEE JESUS CHRIST HANGING ON
CALVARY'S TREE UNDER THE WRATH OF GOD AND NOT BEING CONSUMED. He commended His life, He commanded
it to leave. No man takes My life from Me,
I lay it down of Myself. I lay it down of Myself and I
take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.
But there the wrath of God, darkness falls. THREE HOURS, DARKNESS
FALLS, PITCH BLACK! GOD ALMIGHTY HAS DESCENDED IN
WRATH UPON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, UPON THE SACRIFICE. AND THEN
THE SUN SHINES AGAIN, AND HE'S STILL ALIVE. And it wasn't until
he cried, it's finished, that he gave up the ghost. He gave
it up. I don't ever give it up. You
and I cannot command our life to leave. We cannot give up our
life. But he did. He had that kind
of control of it. He commanded it to leave and
he took it up again, he says. Those who listen, those who see
this can say with Moses, I have seen a great sight. Can you say
that? Can you say that concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ? Have you seen Him? The bush that
would not burn. IF YOU HAVE SEEN HIM, YOU CAN
SAY, I HAVE SEEN A GREAT SIGHT. WHEN GOD COMMANDS THE LIGHT OF
THE GOSPEL TO SHINE INTO YOUR HEART AND YOU SEE THE GLORY OF
GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST, YOU CAN SAY, AND YOU WILL SAY,
I HAVE SEEN A GREAT SIGHT. You know, God said, No man can
look upon Me and live, but we can look upon Jesus Christ and
live who is God. Can't we? We sure can. You'll notice something else
here, and this is interesting. God did not appear in a tall
cedar to Moses, some big stately tree. He appeared to Moses in
a bush. You know the translation of this
means this, a thorn bush. The translation of that means
a thorn bush. Something that represented the
curse. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
came in the likeness of sinful flesh. And yet that flesh didn't burn,
did it? No. No. And this bush burned with fire
symbolizing God's judgment. Our God, Scripture says in Hebrews
12, our God is a consuming fire. And you know what? He still is. THAT'S WHAT THE RELIGIOUS WORLD
HAS FORGOTTEN, THAT GOD ALMIGHTY IS STILL A CONSUMING FOUND. THE GOSPEL DID NOT WATER DOWN
GOD. THE GOSPEL DOES NOT MAKE HIM
A KINDER, GENTLER GOD. THE GOSPEL ENABLES HIM TO BE
A JUST GOD AND A SAVIOR. That's what it enables God to
be, a just God and a Savior. The gospel doesn't change God.
It doesn't take away the wrath and anger of God against sin
unless you're in Christ. Now it's gone. But outside of
Christ, I'm telling you what, outside of Christ, listen, and
I'm being honest with people, I am NOT going to walk up to
an unbelieving sinner and say, God loves you. I'm not going
to do that. I'll tell you what I am going
to do, I'm going to be honest with that sinner. He that believes not,
the wrath of God abides on him. It's no wonder people don't fear
God. There's not a God to fear being preached. He just loves
you and He's just dying to save you, if you just let Him. If you're not in Christ, you're
in trouble. If you're not in the Ark, you're in trouble. I'm
not going to lie to them. I'm not going to lie to them. Do you fear anybody that really
loves you? I tell you what, you break the
law, you fear the law? You fear the judge? You broke
the law. I say to any sinner, flee to
Christ. Flee to Christ while you still
have breath. Flee to Him while you still can breathe. And you're
on the top side of this earth. Because the moment you shut your
eyes, you're under God's wrath, you're not under God's love,
you're under God's wrath. We've got to tell sinners who
God is and what their condition is before God. And the only way
God can be just and justify them and save them is in Jesus Christ.
It says in Habakkuk 113, Thou art of pure eyes than to behold
evil, and canst not look upon iniquity. God burned Sodom and Gomorrah,
didn't He? He burned it to the ground as an example for those
who live ungodly. He burned the prophets of Baal
with fire. He burned them up. And He's going to burn this world
up by fire, it says. But this bush, this bush did
not burn up even though completely consumed by fire. You know why? No sin in it. No sin in it. It says concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, he knew no sin. He took my sin, made him his
and paid for it. But he himself personally knew
no sin, not of word, not of thought. That's incomprehensible, you
know. It's incomprehensible to live 33 years and not have one
sinful thought, not one, not even an inclination to it. The Lord Jesus Christ knew no
sin and that's why He was not consumed by the wrath of God. But listen to this, God's in every believer you know
God's in you this morning the Holy Spirit God the Holy Spirit
the Spirit of Christ is in you this morning who believe and
you're not consumed think about that you're not consumed and
here's why you're not consumed 2 Corinthians 5 17 therefore
If any man be in Christ, he's a NEW CREATURE, creation. Old things passed away, behold,
all things become new. There is no sin in that new man,
that new creation. There's no sin in it. And God
can dwell in that new man, in that new man in Christ, and not
be consumed. And God didn't have to change.
God didn't change, He's still the same, God's still holy, God's
still a consuming fire, but in Christ, God is satisfied, His
justice is satisfied, and He can dwell in everyone whom the
Lord saves, He can dwell in them, in that new nature. When you're
born of God, you're born of God, And note what happened when he
turned aside to see this great sight. And when the Lord saw
that he turned aside, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush. He said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. He's
ready to listen. Now he's ready to listen. The
Lord called him. But the Lord took notice of him.
The way this reads, the way it's written, it's as if the Lord
was watching to see what Moses would do. Now, we know the Lord
knew what He would do, we know that. But here's something that
stood out to me. The decrees of God do not do
away with human responsibility. They don't do away with it. If
He had turned away, He wouldn't be a Deliverer. IF HE HADN'T CIRCUMCISED HIS
SON, LIKE I SAID TO YOU THE OTHER DAY, OR A WEEK OR TWO AGO, WHEN
GOD TOLD HIM TO CIRCUMCISE HIS SON, GOD STOPPED HIM. ON THE
WAY, GOD WAS GOING TO KILL HIM. GOD WAS GOING TO KILL HIM IF
HE DIDN'T CIRCUMCISE. WOULD HE? ABSOLUTELY. ABSOLUTELY, HE WOULD
HAVE. EXPLAIN THAT. I CAN'T. I CAN'T. The divine sovereignty
does not do away with human responsibility. That's exactly why we have responsibility. God is the sovereign, and what
He says we are to do, and not to do it is when you're in trouble. When my dad told me to do something,
I didn't do it. I was in trouble. I was in trouble. He was God's minister in that
house. NOW WHEN MOSES TURNED ASIDE,
HE LEFT WHAT HE WAS DOING AND GOD SPOKE TO HIM. GOD IS NOT
GOING TO SPEAK TO YOU AND ME OUT THERE IN THE WOODS OR SOME
PLACE ELSE. GOD IS GOING TO SPEAK TO ME AND
YOU WHEN WE TURN TO CHRIST. YOU WANT TO HEAR FROM GOD? GO
TO CHRIST. YOU WANT TO KNOW GOD THE FATHER? GO TO CHRIST. HE'S
NOT GOING TO SPEAK TO US EXCEPT THROUGH HIS SON. HE'S NEVER SPOKEN
TO ANY MAN EXCEPT THROUGH HIS SON. NEVER EVER HAS GOD SPOKEN
TO ANY MAN EXCEPT THROUGH THE SON OF GOD. HE'S THE MEDIATOR. If you'll notice here how God
called to Moses TWICE. And I believe he did so because
of this, first to show his affection and knowledge of him, Moses,
Moses. He did that to Abraham when he was about to stab his
son, Isaac. Abraham, Abraham. Moses, Moses. You see, Abraham was about to
stab his son and God said, Abraham, Abraham, stop. Moses was about to step right
into the presence of God and God said, Moses, Moses, stop. Right where you are. Stop. God said it twice to get his
attention. He's about to draw nigh to God, and God's about
to speak to him. You see, this is to impress on
him the seriousness of this occasion. Curiosity must turn into holy
reverence. You see, he saw the bush that
burned, and he said, Well, that's interesting. So he went to check
it out. Curiosity took him to the bush,
but now God stopped him, and God is going to speak to him.
Curiosity has got to turn into holy reverence, just like this
morning. If we are going to worship God, there is going to have to
be some holy reverence in that, or we are not going to worship
Him, and God is not going to speak to us. And he said, PUT OFF THY SHOES FROM OFF THY
FEET, FOR THE PLACE WHEREON THOU STANDEST IS HOLY GROUND. You're
in the presence of God. Moses is in the presence of God. That bush is burning, he's standing
there, God's speaking to him out of it. See, this is so different from
this over-familiarity with God in our day. GOD CANNOT BE APPROACHED IN AN
IRREVERENT MANNER FLIPPANTLY. THERE'S GOT TO BE A SERIOUSNESS,
A REVERENCE OF GOD WHEN WE COME INTO HIS PRESENCE. WE ARE IN
HIS PRESENCE THIS MORNING. IF THIS IS A TRUE WORSHIP SERVICE,
WE ARE IN HIS PRESENCE THIS MORNING. THERE'S GOT TO BE A REAL REVERENCE
OF HEART we're going to truly worship Him. He KNOWS who's worshiping
Him and who's not. He knows that. There's a way to approach God
and He says, Put off thy shoes. I thought of the scriptures and
I wrote this down when I thought of this scripture. Our feet must
be shod with the preparation of the gospel. If we come to God, we've got
to come to God in Christ. We come to God with our feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel and understanding
of who God is and how God can be just and deal with me and
how I can come into God's presence and speak to God. And the ground, now listen, that
ground that he was standing on, the dirt he was standing on,
it wasn't any more holy than the dirt over a hundred yards
over. Here's the holiness, God's presence. It's God's presence. If people could find, if most
religious people, if they could find that same spot, they'd dig
that dirt up and worship it. Everybody have a little cup of
it. Just like they would the Jordan
River, or go over there where the Lord walked, but they don't
worship Him. They don't worship Him. Moreover, He said, I am the God
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of
Jacob. And Moses hid his face in reverence and fear. There's nothing flippant about
this, is there? Moses hid his face for he was
afraid to look upon God GOD IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS THE
COVENANT GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, AND MOSES, HE KNEW
THEM. HE KNEW, AND HE KNEW WHEN GOD
SAID I'M THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, HE KNEW EXACTLY
WHO HE WAS, THE GOD OF MY FATHERS, THE GOD
OF THE COVENANT. One writer wrote this, Not everything people write is
right. We have to remember that. One
writer wrote that he said, God identified Himself with the dead
patriarchs. You see anything wrong with that?
What did the Lord God say to those Pharisees? God is not the
God of the dead, but of the living. When I read that, it said the
dead patriarchs, I thought, buddy, you got these umpteen volumes
you've written, and you missed that. He's not the God of the
dead patriarchs. Moses didn't think of them as
the dead patriarchs. He's the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. They're alive. They are alive. God's not the God of the dead,
but of the living. But Christ, this picture, this
burning bush, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we have another
picture of Christ the Mediator speaking to Moses as He speaks
to us this morning. God speaks to us through His
Son, Jesus Christ. There's no coming to God. Apart
from that man, Jesus Christ. And he is that birdie bush. He's
the man in whom God dwells and is not consumed. Isn't that a
beautiful picture? All right.