Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, my God. You say that from your heart.
Oh, my God. Help us. Our help. That was taken from Psalm 90. We ought to read Psalm 90 once
a week. As the Lord said to Moses here,
The place whereon thou standest is holy ground. The place wherein
thou readest is holy ground. It really is. Something I want
you to consider. Everything He said to Moses in
chapter 3 and half of chapter 4, He said it from that burning
bush. That's important. Every single
thing that God had to say to Moses to save the people, who
he was, his name and all that, came out of that burning bush.
What's that mean? That means Jesus Christ and Him
crucified really is all the counsel, all the purpose, all the will,
all the mind, all the thoughts, all the covenant, all the will
of God is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You understand me? It was all
said out of this burning bush. God didn't have anything to say
to him to tell the people except through this burning bush. And
God will not have anything to do with mankind apart from a
sacrifice, and that one sacrifice is Christ in the crucifixion.
If I don't say anything else, I've said it. All the mind and heart and purpose
of God is Christ and Him crucified. All this Bible, the reason for
the existence of planet Earth is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The sky, he says, is a tabernacle for the sun. The Earth was a
place where Christ would come and walk on and do His mighty
work to glorify God. That's why God made planet Earth,
for His Son to walk on it, to come to it. to save the people
out of it. That's right. First of all, I want you to notice,
and I'm just sitting there saying, preach this with seriousness
and sincerity and sobriety, but preach it with compassion. I really want to. It's urgent,
it's serious, isn't it? Time is short. Today is the day
of salvation. But notice with me the Lord's
compassion on His people. Now God is full of compassion.
His tender mercy is over all His works. All mankind have seen
something of the tender mercies of God. He even said He takes
no pleasure in the death of the wicked. People that just don't deserve
to live, you know, wild dogs that murder and rape and kill
and ravish and just, you know, have no regard. God even says
He takes no pleasure in killing them. That's amazing, isn't it? It's amazing. Because our God
is infinite in compassion and mercy and kindness. A God full
of compassion. Full of compassion. Scripture
says. Verse 23 of chapter 2 begins
this way. It came to pass in the process of time that the
king of Egypt died. The children of Israel sighed
by reason of the bondage. They cried. And their cry came
up unto God. God heard them. He said, God
heard their groaning. They were sighing and groaning
under bondage and captivity and miserable in Egypt. Slime pets. They cried and God
heard them. You know, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord, God will hear them. The same God
is rich unto all that call on Him. Isn't that amazing? Why
would He answer anybody, brother? Why did He ever answer me? It
says in Proverbs 1, He said, I called and you refused. How
long did He call and I refused? A long time. But, but God. And notice who this was to. Notice
who it is he heard. Who did he hear? Egypt? Did he
say the children of Egypt? No, the children of Israel. See,
God has a people. Why does he keep saying, I'm
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Why does he keep saying
that? Because there's one God. God who chose Abraham, an idolater. Isaac, son of promise, kicked
out Israel. Kicked out Israel. Right, John? And Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated. That's the God of the Bible.
That's the God who is God. Jacob have I loved. Who loves that? Who likes that?
Who bows to that? I'll tell you one person on earth
that loves that. Jacob! He knew himself. He knew his
salvation was completely dependent on the one that chose him. The
one that made that covenant concerned him. Covenant God. There is but
one. He said this to the children
of Israel. He doesn't say this to all mankind. People cry unto God. They say
they do when they get in trouble, but as soon as the trouble is
over, they quit crying. People get religious when they
get in trouble. As soon as the trouble is over,
they quit being religious. They go back to what was really
in their hearts and minds. These people cried and sighed
by reason of this bondage. We've already looked at this.
But it's comforting to me. Look at chapter 11 with me. Exodus chapter 11. Exodus chapter
11. Look down at verse 7. They're leaving. They're leaving
just as God said they would. He's bringing them out, like
he said. And he said in verse 7, he said, against any of the
children of Israel, a dog won't move his tongue. A dog's not going to bark at
my people. Against man or beast, that you
may know that the Lord doth put a difference between Egypt and
Israel. Did you read that with me? The
Lord put a difference between these two people, Egypt and Israel. Israel, they were sinners, they
were sons of Adam. Egypt were sinners and sons of
Adam. What made the difference? It's not what, it's who. It's who chose them, who called
them, who justified them, who revealed Himself to them. Right? He said, that you may know. That
you may know. The Egyptian, and there's several
ways that we may know that when the Lord has put a difference.
Several ways you may know you're a child of God, son of Jacob,
one of these in the covenant, and not of the world. Not just
like the world. Several ways. Primarily, number
one is faith. You believe God. You believe
God. God the Bible. You believe God. Faith means
you believe Christ. Your only hope is Jesus Christ. That's faith. But the Egyptians
were fine in Egypt. They were fine there. In fact,
they liked it. They were very happy there. It was their life. They weren't
miserable. They weren't groaning. They weren't
sighing. They weren't calling. Who was? The ones that God had chosen
to make miserable. They started sighing. They started
crying. They started calling. There was
a time when they didn't. They were in the land of Goshen.
Then there was a time when they did. There was a time they did
not call on God. And John is a time they did.
Who did that? God did. He sent hard taskmen. He made them know we're in bondage. They started sighing and groaning. And we've already looked at this.
This is me. Is this you? Groaning. Do you
groan here? Do you sigh a reason of your
sin? Do you? Do you cry unto God?
Do you call on God all the time? Lord, save me. Get me out of
here. Get this out of me. Do you? This is how you know the difference.
That God has put a difference. Your family, they're fine in
this world, aren't they? They like this world just fine, don't
they? Don't they? They like it just fine. Do you?
Do you feel the bondage? The oppression? You wouldn't feel that if the
Lord hadn't chosen you. If you weren't His, you wouldn't
belong to Him. So He made a covenant. God made a covenant, ordered
in all things that are sure, before the world began, to choose
a people and give them to Jesus Christ. for Him to come and save
and for the Holy Spirit later to round them up and break their
hearts and give them faith in Christ. And none of them, not
one of them believed Christ. Not one of them were calling
on God. Not one of them had a broken heart. Not one of them. But God
went before the world to purpose it and determine this. This is
the determinate will of God. If He hadn't done this, you will
not come. You will not believe. But God
made a covenant If you believe and can't help it, if you repent
constantly, can't quit repenting, if you believe Christ, if you
trust Christ, if you see this world for what it is, and if
you're groan and sigh and call on the Lord, pray to the Lord,
want to know the Lord, God's chosen you. You're in the covenant. You're a son of Jacob. That's
amazing. Amazing. I was going to go over
with you to Romans 8. It talks about the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth together. He said, not the earth only,
but we also have the first fruit. We groan waiting for the redemption
of our bodies. Do you? Can you say right before
that Romans 7, O wretched man that I am, who's going to deliver
me? Help me! Do you see that? You're in the covenants. God
heard them, John. God heard every cry of every
person. I was reading this morning a
psalm. David says, You've got my tears, everyone, in your bottle
and in your book. Every tear I've ever cried, God
wrote it down. The world's not crying over anything
but themselves. Oh, that's the Lord's compassion
to His people. God looked down on the children
of Israel and God had respect unto them. God knew them. For
whom He did for, no, He did predestinate. Thank God for His predestinated
grace. Can you say that? You're one
in a million if you did. And whom He predestined, He called. Have you heard the gospel called? Whom He called, He justified.
How? Freely by the redemption of the
Son of Christ. By faith, not works. Do you know
that? Do you really know that? And whom He justified, He glorified. Past tense. We've grown, and that's whoever
God knows, they've grown. Well, Exodus 3 now. Let's pick
up down here in verse 12. No, verse 7. Look at Exodus 3, verse 7. The Lord said, I've surely seen
the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. I've heard
their cry by reason of their taskmaster. I know their sorrow. How does he know? How does he know? Look at the
next verse. I am calmed down. See, right there, God was in
that bush. Right there. God, whom the heavens
can't contain, was in that bush. Right there. The Lord God. Yes,
He created the heavens and the earth, and no man hath seen or
can see. Moses saw Him. Moses heard Him. He came to Moses. God was in
that burning bush talking to Moses on planet Earth. He said,
I am come down. Like he said to Abraham, or Moses
later on, he said, there's a place by me. There's a rock, and I'm
going to put you on it. He said, I'm going to come down.
I am come down. I am come down. You know what
Jesus Christ said over in the Gospel of John? He said, I am
come that they might have died. He said, I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. This
is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone that seeth
the Son believeth on Him, I will raise Him up. Out, up. I came down. Who came down? Who's he talking to? Who's talking
to him? Jesus Christ. The Lord. Says the angel of the Lord. What
does that mean? The messenger. What does Malachi 3 say? The Lord, whom you seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant. He keeps saying that, doesn't
he? The Lord said to Moses out of the bush. God said to Moses,
He said, I am. Who's in that wood? Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? God. He's
God. Anyone that doesn't believe that,
doesn't know God. He's lost. Our Lord said that
in John 8, 24. If you believe not that I am,
you'll die in your sin. You know how many sincere people
there are that go even door-to-door, compass sea and land to establish
a proselyte just for the purpose of denying the deity of Jesus
Christ? They call themselves Jehovah's
Witnesses. You know how many people there are like that? Millions.
You know how many like the Mormons go about in the name of Jesus
Christ, but they don't believe He's God Almighty? You know how
many? Millions of them. Who put a difference between
you and them? This is amazing grace, isn't
it? Amazing grace. He said, I am come down. Not
shall. Am. Come down. The Lord was in
that bush. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. A world that didn't deserve it.
He said, I came down. Christ came down to do the Father's
will. Alright, look at this. Now we see a man sent to tell
this message. A man sent. Now God chose Moses. And He raised up Moses, didn't
He? He raised up Moses. And He taught Moses. And He revealed
Himself first to Moses. And none of these people would
have known God apart from Moses. Is that not right? Is that right? Romans 10 says, How shall they
hear without a preacher? There was a man who came here
for a long time and something happened to him years ago, some
kind of experience. He got saved and he didn't hear
the gospel. He didn't believe the gospel
then. He didn't hear the gospel. But he claimed something happened
to him and he knew the Lord and he came here and he kept hearing
me say that, to please God by the foolishness of preaching. How shall they hear without a
preacher? And he didn't like that. And he left. He had the
doctrine. He believed all the doctrine.
I hope he hears this. He believed all the doctrines.
He was a Calvinist. He believed God was sovereign. He believed
in particular attempts. He believed all those things.
But he didn't believe you had to hear the gospel from a man
to be saved. That's the denial of God's Word.
And I contend he never heard the gospel. He never heard from
God. Am I exalting a man? No, I'm
exalting God who calls men. in great mercy. They rejected
Moses when he came. Didn't they? Moses came sent
by God in mercy and grace and they came to him and said, God
has sent me. I don't believe you. They don't
believe. Moses faithfully led them and
fed them for years and they all turned against him. And he'd say to them, I didn't
ask for this job. God sent me. Even his sister
rose up against him, Miriam. God used her for a while until
she thought she had something to say. Then God said, I'm going
to spit in your face. This is the man that I chose. And here's what Moses said, verse
11. God said, I'm going to send you.
And here's what Moses said. Who am I? See, Bonnie, he did not apply
for this job. He didn't ask for this job. He
said, I'm ready. You ought to send me. Who am
I? That I should lead your people.
I can't do it. Later on, he kept pleading with
the Lord, don't send me. I can't speak. Send my brother
Aaron. He's eloquent. He can speak.
Send him. He went to school. God said, I chose you. And all of God's true preachers
and people that he's chosen, they all say, without exception,
who am I? David said that, who am I? And
what is my house that you brought me here to? That Ethiopian eunuch
was a great man, a rich man, somebody in the world. Buddy,
when he was reading God's Word and God was bringing him down,
just a fellow walking along in the desert, he said, do you understand? He said, I can't. How can I? Except some man guided me. He
said, could you come up here? He didn't know who he was. Come
up here and tell me. I don't know. Philip did. Philip did. And all of God's
true preachers and people say, Who am I? Paul said, Who is sufficient
for these things? Notice he said, Who am I? Not
who I am. Here I am. You know that Joel
Osteen, that false prophet, that wretched, filthy piece of human
flesh? He wrote a book. It's called
I Am. And in that book, he actually said, you can say this about
yourself. I am. I am something. I am somebody. Billy Graham,
his book, Just As I Am, picture of him on the cover of it. The only time a child of God
ever says, I am, is in this way. I am less than the least of all
the saints. I'm not fit to be called a saint.
I am the chief of sinners. I am unworthy. That's what I
am, have been, am now, and probably will be all my days. That's what
I am. That's the only thing we can
say about us. That's absolute facts. I am not worthy of the
least of thy favors, Jacob said. All this mercy you've shown me
and all the truth, I'm not worthy to hear the truth. And here's what God said to him,
verse 12, Certainly I'll be with you. You're the man I've called. You see who God called. You see
who God uses. You see who God speaks through.
A man that says he's nothing. A man all he's got to say is
God is God. Bow to him. Christ is God. Moses didn't bow to anybody.
He bowed to God. Moses wasn't trying to please
anybody. If he was, he wasn't a servant of God. And so, This is who God will
use. Certainly God will use a man
or a woman, a person, not to preach, mind you, but to witness
for Him. The person who feels useless
is who God will use. The person He calls is the one
who calls himself unworthy. That's who He calls. Matthew Henry said that. He said,
God made everything out of nothing. Everything. If He's going to
use you, you've got to be a nothing. You've got to start with nothing. Not talent. Alright, here's the name of the
Lord. Moses said, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
verse 13, and say unto them, The God of your fathers, thee
God, has sent me. What should I say? What is his
name? What should I say? I tell them, I'm your preacher. And I've come to tell them about
God. What shall I say is your name?
What is your name? This is the difference that God
puts between Egypt and Israel. Right here. This right here. This name encompasses and sums
up all that God is and God does more than any other name. This
is the difference that God put between Egypt and Israel. Brother
John Chapman, Sister Ginger is here this morning from Brother
John's church, I heard him preach on that. And he quoted a verse
that's always been a favorite of mine ever since I first heard
it years ago. Psalm 9 verse 10. They that know
thy name shall put their trust in thee. They that know thy name
shall put their trust in thee. All God's people know His name.
You know what else? They fear His name. They reverence
His name. They exalt His name. They make
mention His name is exalted. Holy, holy, holy is His name. His name is who He is. His name
is what He does. His name is who He was, is, and
ever shall be. Okay? He said this. Here's what you tell them. I
am that I am. Tell them, I am. That's it. Say to the children of Israel,
I am. Say to my people, I am. That
I am. Oh, I love this. Oh, would you
give me 10 more minutes? 10 minutes to talk about I am. What he's saying here, in this
name I am, is talking about his eternality. He's eternal. No beginning, no end. Ever-present. Omnipresent. Same. Yesterday,
today, and forever. Who's speaking? Who's speaking? Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Which is it? Is God the Father
speaking? Is God the Son? Is God the Holy Spirit? Yes. These three have one thing to
say, I am that I am. I am. This is eternality. The
world doesn't believe in a person, God as a person. They just believe
some kind of spirit. They don't believe there was
a time, they don't believe that God was eternal. It doesn't make
sense what they believe. I think this world's billions
of years old and it all started with whatever, you know, maybe
billions of years ago. Where'd that start? Well, go
back a little further. Where'd that come from? Was there
a time when there was nothing? Then how can you get nothing
out of nothing? I mean, something out of nothing. How? How did
anything, didn't everything have a beginning? The world would
say, yes, it does. Well, how'd it begin? There ain't
nothing. Brother Don used to say, I'm
as dumb as a box of rock, but I'm smarter than that. You know
how? God said. God who has no beginning
or end. God said. Eternal God said, let
there be light. And that God is Jesus Christ.
Eternality. Unchanging. That's what this
name means. He's unchanged. He doesn't change. He doesn't change whatever He
said He won't change. Whatever He promises John is
yay and amen. To the glory of God, you see.
This is His name. I am. This is unchanging. Oh, what comfort there is in
this. I am the Lord. I change not. Why? Well, therefore,
you're a son to Jacob. I'm not going to consume you.
I'm not going to damn you. I'm not. Why? I made a covenant
concern. He won't change. He won't change
His covenant. He won't change His mind. What God has purposed
and God has ordered, He will never change. The truth won't
change because God doesn't change. His heart, His mind, His will,
His covenant never changes. David said, this is all my salvation. This is all my hope, that God
hath made concerning me an everlasting covenant, ordered, and all things
ensured. When did He order it? Before
the world began. Before David had any beginning. He said, this
is all my salvation. I change. We change. The world
changes. Everything changes. Change and
decay in all around I see. O thou who changest not abide
with me. What comfort that what He is,
He always will be. Is God loved? Does God love me?
Does God love you? If He does, He always has and
He always will be. He always will. Do you understand? If God loves you, there was never
a time He didn't and there's never a time He won't. Somebody say amen. Is God's mercy
unchanging? He said it. Endureth forever. How many times do you have to
write that, brother? His grace, the gift and calling
of God is without what? Repent. He won't take it back.
He won't take it back. I changed my mind. I'm not going
to. No. See, when he made up his
mind concerning us, his mind's made up. And he won't change. Isn't that wonderful? I am that
I am. When he said, listen to me, when
he said that, I am. All that I am, I am and ever
will be. You know, we can't say I am anything. Because as soon as we say it,
we're creatures of time. As soon as I say I'm 67, no,
you're a little older than that now. I ain't too late. You follow
me? We can never say, I am breathing. You might die right there. I am. We don't know what we are. All we can say is, I'm a sinner. I'm helpless. I'm hopeless. I'm
totally dependent on you. That's what I am. God is I am. He doesn't change. He doesn't
change. Listen, he says, I am that. Whatever I say I am is
what I am. That. I am that I am. He said, John, was it you that
read Isaiah 46 in a study back... John kept reading where it said,
chapter 45 and 46, I am the Lord. There is none else. He kept saying that, didn't he,
John? What's that mean? He's the Lord. Reigning, ruling,
controlling, sovereign over all things. That I am. I am the Lord. I'm so thankful. I'm so glad
that the Lord I believe, I didn't make Him Lord. I'm so glad because
if I did, I could unmake Him Lord. I am the Lord. He said this,
I am the Almighty. That's what he said. I am the
Almighty. What's that mean? All power Christ
has given unto me in heaven and earth. As thou hast given him
all power over all what? Flesh. And that other Jesus. Stephen, that other Jesus. He
doesn't have power over anybody. I am that I am. Almighty. He said this. I am the light
of the world. He that follows Me will not walk
in darkness. You believe Me, you trust Me,
and you do because He chose you. And you follow Me, you will not
stumble and you will not fall. You will not fall back into pit.
I won't let you. Aren't you glad? He said, I am.
What He is, what He has been, what He is, what He ever shall
be, our light. The whole world falls for things. Christ says, you won't, because
I am. He said this, I am the good shepherd. He giveth his life to the sheep.
The Lord is my shepherd, so what's that mean? I shall not want. He's the one that maketh me lie
down. He's the one that leadeth me. He's the one that provideth
me. Though I walk through the valley of the shadows of death,
I fear no evil. Why? I am is with me. When? Always. I am that I am. The Good Shepherd. I wander. You know what? He comes after
me. Why? Because I am the Good Shepherd. You're a sheep. That's what sheep
do. Wonder. He's the shepherd. What does shepherd do? Leave
the 99, go after the 1. I am. That I am. Is that good
news to you, John Sheasley, Jr.? John Sheasley, Sr.? John Davis? Oh, my. That's all my sellers.
I am and that I am. Go. His arm's not short. I am the resurrection and the
life, he said. I am the resurrection. People
are waiting on an event. We're waiting on a person. But
here's the fact of the matter. If you believe Christ, you've
already been raised. Already raised. He's going to
be raised again. You've been quickened together
with Christ. I don't feel it. Christ said it. I am the resurrection. Doesn't matter how you feel. I am your life. I am the resurrection
and your life. Like a child in his mother's
womb. What does a child know? Nothing. Is a child in turmoil? Maybe. What's the child's hope? His end, his mother. Christ said,
I am. Your life. He said, I am the
way. Nobody gets to the Father but
by Him. I am the truth. I am the life. I am the bread. You hungry? My
people never go hungry. He said, you call me Lord and
Master and you say well, for so I am. I am your Master. I owned you. I told you about a dog that I
chose and bought and brought home, old Abner, and to the day
he died, I was with him, never left him. Wouldn't have done
it. Oh well. Loved that dog, dug his grave.
I was the one that put him down. I decided the day he was to die.
I killed him. I buried him. I loved him. Had another dog, Annie. Chose
her to. Do you know what I did later
on? She was a nuisance, wasn't she, Minnie? I gave her away. I gave her away. Why? Because I am a man. Because
I am not completely faithful to my covenant. But you know
what God said? Are you with me? I am your master. I am your master. Are you His
dog? Are you? Can you say with a Canaanite
woman? The dogs eat the crown. I'll be your dog. Will you say
that? Do you know what He said? I'll never leave you. Go tell the children of Israel.
Go tell My people. for their comfort, for my glory,
for their comfort, for my praise. Tell them I am. That's all you
need to tell them. And one more thing, one more
thing. God chose them and saved them
and brought them out to do one thing. Come to that mountain. He said, I'm going to deliver
them out and they're going to come back to this mountain right
here where you heard who I was and you heard the message. They're
going to come right back to this mountain and this is where they're
going to worship Me. What's that? Christ crucified. That's the token that you're
one of His.