It's a very humbling thing for
me to stand in this pulpit knowing that the Lord has blessed you
with such faithful gospel preaching for so many years. And I say with the Apostle Paul who
is sufficient for these things, I'm thankful for your pastor.
And I just hope the Lord will be pleased to speak to our hearts
tonight. That hymn is so appropriate to
the message that I prepared for tonight. What a miracle of grace
that Brother Spafford, right after the Civil War, was able
to pen those words after losing all of his children. But that's what happens when
God speaks to the heart. He enables us to say with sincerity,
regardless of our circumstances, it is well. with my soul." Moses
encountered the living God at Mount Sinai in Exodus chapter
3. Will you turn there with me on
your Bibles? I have entitled this message, When God Speaks. When God Speaks. The one thing that I know you
and I need more than anything else is for the living God to
speak. To speak to our hearts. To speak
comfort to our hearts. To speak grace to our hearts.
To speak hope to our hearts. One verse that's quoted most
times out of the Old Testament in the New Testament is that
passage of scripture from Isaiah chapter 6. where the Lord said
to the prophet Isaiah, they will have ears, but they will not
hear. They will have eyes, but they will not see. That's a fearful
thought. To be able to hear some propositional
truths, some doctrine, but not to have God speak. To be able
to see some things, but not to be able to see. That the Lord
would give us the spirit of Samuel. Who said, Speak, Lord, for thy
servant heareth. Lord, I'm listening. Oh, would
you be merciful to speak. The outline for my message tonight
from Exodus chapter three has three points. Where does God
speak? What does God say when he speaks? And how do I know that God has
spoken to me? Where does God speak? What does
God say when he does speak? And how do I know if God has
spoken to me? Let's read our text together
from Exodus chapter three. Luke read the account that Stephen
gave of this event. just before his stoning there
in Acts chapter 7. But we read in Exodus 3, and
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,
the mountain of God. Even horrible. Where is it that
God speaks? Well, he speaks to his people
in the backside of the desert. The Lord always takes his children
to the backside of the desert. It's a solitary place. It's an isolated place. It's
a place that's dry and deserted. And it's a place where, first
and foremost, we see at the mountain of God the condition of our sin. This Mount Horeb is the same
as Mount Sinai. And here it is that the Lord
causes us to see our need. The law of God reveals to us
our sin. It is the schoolmaster that leads
us to Christ. It causes sin to be, as the Scripture
says, utterly sinful. The law of God is not given to
us as a rule for Christian living. It is given to us in order to
make us sinful. It is given to us in order to
cause us to see our need for a Savior. There's no salvation
in the law. There's no mercy in the law.
Nothing wrong with the law. The law is good. It's holy. The
problem is in the weakness of our flesh. And so the Lord takes
his children to Mount Horeb, or Mount Sinai, and he performs
there a miracle of grace. It's the same place that the
children of Israel came back to after being brought out of
Egypt. It's called Meribah. Temptation
or Mesa, chiding. Here is the place where we, by
nature, chide with God. It's the place where we're tempted.
And yet it's the place where God exposes us for what we are. It's also revealed later on in
the book of Exodus as Raphidim, which means a place of rest. It's only after we're confronted
with the law of God and forced to see our inability to keep
the law of God that the Lord gives us rest in Christ. I heard it again this past week.
Someone said to me, well, the Bible says God won't put more
on you than what you can bear. The Bible doesn't say that. You know that. If God doesn't
put it more on us than what we can bear, we have no need of
Him. People take that verse of Scripture that says, there hath
no temptation taken you, but such is common to man that God
is faithful, not suffer you to be tempted above that which you
are able, and they conclude God won't put more on you than you
can bear. But the rest of that verse says, but will provide
a way of escape that you might be able to bear it. The Lord
Jesus Christ is that way of escape. Only for those who are in trouble
do they have a time of need. Only for those who are being
pursued by the avenger of blood will they flee to that city of
refuge and find their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Where
is it that God speaks? He speaks in the backside of
the desert when he confronts us with his law and makes us
to be in trouble. Psalm 40 says, I am poor and
needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. That's what we're in need of.
We're in need of being delivered. We're in need of the Lord taking
from us that burden that's too great to carry. If the Lord ever
confronts us with His law, if He ever causes us to see that
we've never, ever one time been able to love Him with all of
our hearts, all of our minds and all of our souls, we've never
been able to maintain His requirement for the law. If He ever makes
us to be a sinner, I like what one preacher said, my prayer
is that someone will be made a sinner. You know, we pray for
men to be saved, but we need to pray for men to be lost too.
Truth is, we're not going to be saved until we are lost. We're
not going to flee to Christ until we see our need for Him. Psalm
72, verse 12 says, for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth. The poor also in him that hath
no helper. He's got no place else to turn. The Lord asked the disciples,
will you lead me also? Lord, where should we go? We've
got no place else to go. Lord, we've been shut up. Coming
to Christ is not a choice. You know that. No man has ever
come to Christ until he's been made to come to Christ. We're
shut up by the law of God. We're caused to be poor and needy. We have no helper, no man on
the right or the left. He shall spare the poor and needy
and shall save the soul of the needy. Where is it that God speaks? He speaks in the backside of
the desert at Mount Horeb. when he makes us to see ourselves
for what we are. And here's the good news, a faithful
saying, worthy of all acceptation, worthy of all men to accept it
and worthy in its totality to be accepted, Christ came to save
sinners, of whom I am chief. You see, when God takes you to
the backside of the desert and confronts you with the law and
reveals to you something of your sinfulness, Then you'll believe
yourself to be the chief of all sinners. You'll believe yourself
to be in need of grace more than anyone else. That's the beauty
of the church. That's why that's why there's
there's no pretentious spirit in the true church, because every
child of God esteems one another more highly than themselves.
Every believer sees themselves in need of grace more than anyone
else. That's where God speaks. He takes each one of us to that
dry, solitary place of the law. And he causes us to see ourselves
for what we are. The backside of the desert is
also a place of trial. It's a place of trouble. The Lord has mercifully ordained
those things in our lives in order to show us the vanity of
this world. in order to show us the weakness
of our own flesh. We say with the Apostle Paul,
to will as ever present with me, that how to perform that
which is good, Lord, I find not. And the Lord gives us these circumstances,
doesn't He? In order to bring us to that
place to where we cry out to Him. Paul said in 2 Corinthians
chapter 12, Lord, the Lord gave me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger
of Satan. that accuser of the brethren,
and he has buffeted me. And I besought the Lord three
times that it might depart from me, but what did the Lord say?
No, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made
known through your weakness." Paul said, when I'm weak, then
I'm strong. The backside of the desert is
a place of affliction. David said in Psalm 119, Before
I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept thy word. Many have been taken to the back
side of the desert in the affliction of sickness, a chronic illness
that has driven them to just count their days based on the
next time they have to take medication or the next time they have to
go to the physician. It's a difficult place. It's
a place of great affliction. And yet it's the very place where
God takes his sheep, just like Moses took the flock to the backside
of the desert in Horeb. The Lord takes his sheep to that
place, doesn't he? Just like he did for Brother
Stafford that we just sang that wonderful hymn. Many are taken to the backside
of the desert through financial troubles. Many are taken through
family problems, the agony of rebellious children. The problems
that we have in this world are many. Life is brief and full
of sorrows. And yet these things have been
ordained of God, have they not? And we know, we know that all
things work together for good for them that love God and those
that are called according to His purpose. It's where God takes
us. Job knew something of being on
the backside of the desert, didn't he? Job kept crying out to God,
Oh God, let me take my case before your throne of justice and I'll
prove myself to be innocent. Until finally, the Lord spoke,
didn't He? The Lord spoke to Job on the
backside of the desert. He said, Who is this that darkens
my counsel without knowledge? Job, brace yourself like a man.
I'll ask you a few questions. And then God begins to interrogate
Job, doesn't He? And He begins to ask Job questions.
Job, where were you when I did this? What is God doing? He's
revealing Himself to Job. And what's Job's conclusion?
Oh, Lord, I had heard of Thee by the hearing of my ear, but
now my eyes have seen You, and I repent in dust and ashes. Lord, You've spoken. You've made Yourself known through
troubles. Isaiah was taken to the backside of the desert. In
the year that Uzziah died, Israel was in trouble. All the things
seemed to be that God had taken his hands off of Israel. And
Isaiah went to seek the Lord in the temple that day, didn't
he? And what did he say? I saw the Lord. And when he saw him,
what did he say? He said, woe is me. I am undone. You see, God took Isaiah to the
backside of the desert, didn't he? To Mount Horeb. showed him
his sin, brought him to the end of himself. Saul of Tarsus was
brought to the backside of the desert. When God knocked him
off his high horse, put his face in the dirt, and caused him to
cry, Lord, what would you have me to do? Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
The woman with the issue of blood, after having spent all that she
had on physicians, See, one of the worst places to be is in
religion. That's where this woman was. She had spent all that she had
on preachers. She had given all that she had done in trying to
heal her problem, and she was worse off now than she was at
the beginning, wasn't she? She came crawling to the Lord
Jesus Christ in hopes that she could just touch the hem of His
garment. Who is it that touched me? Virtue has gone out from
me. That's where the Lord speaks. He keeps His children in trouble,
doesn't He? I like what one preacher said.
All of God's people are either going into trouble, they're in
trouble, or they're coming out of trouble. But that's where
we find help and grace. Only in the time of need. This
is the place where God's pleased to speak. The prodigal knew something of
that, didn't he? When he was eating the husk that
the swine did eat, God brought him to the back side of the desert.
He came to himself and realized that the servants at home were
better off than he was. Come unto me, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn
of me. My burden is light. See, we've
got to be burdened and heavy laden, don't we? And the one
thing that will burden you and heavy laden you beyond your ability
to carry the burden is the weight of the law of God. When you're
brought to Horeb, when you're brought to Sinai, and God shows
you that you've never been able to satisfy one time one of His
laws, you'll find yourself in the backside of the desert in
need of a Savior. Blind Bartimaeus was at the backside
of the desert, wasn't he? Poor, blind Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus, be of good cheer.
The Master called it. He threw down his robe and fled
to Christ, didn't he? Oh, and that man with the issue
of blood. Thirty-seven years he'd been there at the Pool of
Bethesda. No one to help him. A certain man, the Scripture
says. And the Lord was pleased to speak
to him in that place, wasn't He? Where is it that God speaks
to His children? In the backside of the desert
of affliction and at Mount Horeb, the mountain of the law, the
mountain of God. Turn with me back to our text
in Exodus chapter 3 and look at verse 2. When God speaks,
what does he say? What does he say? Verse 2, and
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him. Now we just read in
Acts chapter 7 that this angel of the Lord is none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's the one who speaks. All
that there is to be known about God is to be known in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, just show us the Father
and we'll be satisfied. Oh Philip. Have I been with you
so long that you don't know that if you've seen me, you've seen
the Father? I and the Father are one. He is the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, isn't He? So when God speaks, what does
He do? He reveals Himself to us in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's what this burning
bush is all about. Look. Look what He says, "...and the
angel of the Lord appeared unto him 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. A bush. A body thou hast prepared for
me, born of a woman, born under the law. The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and full of truth." This bush
is a picture of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
humanity of Christ, if you will. His body, which God had prepared
for Him. The one that the Scripture says,
though he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, he made
of himself no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of man. There's the Lord Jesus
Christ. And being found in the fashion
of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. That's what this bush is all
about. A common bush, a bramble bush. Men didn't see God in Christ. He had the outward appearance
of just any man. And yet, what do we find? This
bush is happening. The bush is on fire. It's on
fire. What is that a picture of? The
Scripture makes it clear that our God is a consuming fire.
We see the picture of God's wrath raining down from heaven, consuming
Sodom and Gomorrah, do we not? And we see the consuming wrath
of God's fire coming down on Mount Carmel and consuming that
sacrifice, do we not? We see that Paschal lamb that
the Jews were to slaughter in Egypt. for the Passover and the
Lord told them to consume every bit of it and what they did need,
what? They were to burn it with fire. None of it was to be left. Why? Because all these symbols
of the wrath of God in the Old Testament were pictures of what
would happen when the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed
the sacrifice on Calvary's cross. And yet he wasn't consumed. The
law was satisfied. Justice was met. God was pleased. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him, did it not? There's a lot of controversy
in the world about who killed Jesus. Well, God killed Him. God killed Him. And He killed
Him for His people. For the elect. For those whom
God had chosen the covenant of grace before the world began,
those are the ones that He bore their sin in His body on that
tree. And the sword of God's justice
was plunged into the heart of the Son of God, satisfying divine
justice once and for all. Here's the bush. It's on fire. It's on fire, and yet it's not
consumed. Why is it not consumed? Well, because my Holy One cannot
see corruption, though He bore our sins on that tree, and though
He received the full wrath of God to satisfy all justice once
and for all. He knew. He knew that God would
raise Him from the dead, did He not? You know, we often quote
the words of Christ on the cross, it is finished, but that's not
his last word. You know that. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And he gave up the ghost. He
gave his spirit permission to depart from his body, believing
that God the Father was pleased with everything he did and would
reward him by raising him from the dead. I will not allow my
Holy One to see corruption. Here's the bush. Here's the bush. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
53. The last time Brother Henry preached for us in Orlando, he
preached from Isaiah chapter 53. And I was so blessed. Our people were blessed by that.
that God would give us fresh eyes to see and fresh ears to
hear what's being said here. Look at verse 10 in Isaiah chapter
53. And it pleased the Lord. It pleased God the Father to
bruise Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath put Him to grief. God
Almighty put the Lord Jesus Christ to grief. When God saw our sin
on Christ, He had no choice but to put his
son to death, to rain the fire of his justice from heaven upon
that bush. Look at what he says in the rest
of this. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He, the Father, shall
see the travail of the Son's soul and be satisfied. God Almighty is completely satisfied. Sin has been put away. To the point where the Lord said,
I've separated your sin from you as far as the East is from
the West, and I remember them no more. No more. God gives us grace to forgive
one another, but rarely do we ever completely forget. But not
so with Him. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
is so effectual. The wrath of God is so quenched. The Lord Jesus Christ is our,
the scripture says, propitiation. That means that God has poured
out his wrath and there is no more wrath. There's no more anger. There's no more judgment. Sins
have been put away once and for all. And God says, I remember
them no more. What is it that God speaks when
he does speak? He tells us about what the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's cross. That's what
he speaks. Where does he speak? He speaks
on the backside of the desert at Mount Sinai. What does he
speak? He tells us about Christ. That's
why Paul said, I profess to know nothing among you save Christ
and him crucified. We preach Christ. He's the son
and substance of the gospel. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him against that day. The Lord Jesus Christ
and his accomplished work satisfying divine justice and establishing
our righteousness and quenching the fiery wrath of God's judgment
is the message of the Gospel. They did their, he was the doer
of it. He did it all. He did every bit of it, didn't
he? What does he, when the Lord speaks, what does he say? He
says this, for God hath made him sin for us, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. The one who had no
sin was made to be sin. How do we know? that God has
spoken to us. How do you know that God has
spoken to you? Well, let's read on in our text. And Moses, verse 3, said, I will
now turn aside and see this great thing Why the bush is not burnt. And we know that if we turn,
it's because God turned us. But I love that verse in Revelation
chapter 1, where John sees the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord
speaks to John. You remember in the first chapter,
in verse 12, and it says, And I turned to see the voice that
spoke to me, and when I was turned, He said, I turned, and when I
was turned, I saw, as it were, the Son of Man. And then he describes
Him in all of His splendor and glory. If we turn, it's because
He turned us. Nevertheless, there's no salvation
apart from turning. If we have faith, it's because
He gave us faith. Nevertheless, there's no salvation
apart from faith. If the Lord has given us the
spirit of repentance, our mind has been changed, but there's
no salvation apart from coming to Christ and and repenting. It's. You see, it's not. Moses turned, look at the next
verse, and when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see. The Lord told the children of
Israel in the wilderness, after being stung by those viper snakes,
the picture of our sin, told Moses, to make a serpent of brass
and put it upon a pole. And as the serpent was lifted
up in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And what did the Lord say to the children of Israel? Look,
and you'll live. Nah, if God wants me to look,
He'll make me look. What if old blind Bartimaeus,
when they told him, be of good cheer, Bartimaeus, the master
calleth thee? Well, if he really wants me, he can come get me. How do I know that God has spoken
to me? Because I've turned. And I've
looked. And I've given notice. And I
believe. And I've come. He gets all the glory for it,
but it's happened. It's a real thing. I turned and
took notice of this great thing. Listen to what David said in
Psalm 111. The works of the Lord are sought
out of all of those who take pleasure in them. You see, we
take pleasure in what the Lord Jesus Christ worked out for us.
And because we take pleasure in them, we seek them out. We
do what Moses did. We turn and we take notice of
these things. There's no salvation. Paul said
to the Thessalonians, he said, I rejoice that your testimony
is being spread all throughout Achaia. How that you turned to
God from your idols. How do I know God's spoken to
me? Because I've turned. I don't believe what I used to
believe. I don't go where I used to go with. God's done a work
of grace. How else do I know that God's
spoken to me? Because the message of salvation
is personal. It's personal. You know, it's
a good thing that we think sometimes, oh, I wish somebody else, I wish
a friend of mine or someone I've been praying for, a family member
could hear this message and I wish they were here. But oh, let's
not err in ever not applying the truth of the gospel first
and foremost to ourselves. Not for our children, not for
our wives, not for our husbands. It has to begin with ourselves. What did God say? Moses, Moses,
Moses, I'm speaking to you. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. This message
is very personal, isn't it? It's a personal salvation. I know He's spoken to me because
I've turned, and I know He's spoken to me because He's made
it personal. I know. I know whom I have believed.
I am persuaded that He is able. This is not just some theoretical
thing. This is not just doctrine. I've
been there. I've been in the backside of
that desert before. It's dry and dusty. This is the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ making himself known to me. My sheep hear my voice. I call them by name. They know me. How do I know? Look what he says. 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. Don't get
away from that. He gets the glory for us turning,
but we don't turn. There's no salvation apart from
turning. When the Lord saw that he turned
to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and
said, Moses, Moses. And he said, how do I know God's
spoken to me? Because I've said with Moses,
here am I, Lord. I've said with Isaiah, Lord,
here am I. I've said with Saul of Tarsus, Lord, what would you
have me to do? Lord, all I can do is fall at your feet and be
your servant and your subject. Lord, here am I. Submission to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Speak, Lord, for thy servant
listeneth, heareth, heareth. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your
God is one God. That's the word, that same word
there that's used in Deuteronomy chapter 6. You know that Deuteronomy
chapter 6 is called the Shema. That's the Hebrew word for to
listen. And it means to listen with an
attentive ear of obedience. Lord, speak to me, Lord. Speak to me. I'm not listening
with a critical ear, wanting to know what it is you want me
to do, and then somehow I would evaluate it and figure out if
I'm willing. Oh no, Lord, if you'll just please
speak, here am I. I'm listening with an ear of
obedience. That's how I know. That's how
I know that He's spoken to me. I've turned. I've heard his voice
personally, and I found myself at his feet, seeking that. As the Lord said to Mary, Martha,
Martha, many things come for you. But Mary, she's chosen that
one thing that is needful. Where was she? She was at the
feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Doing what? Listening. Here am I. How else do I know? And he said, not nigh hither,
but put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where
thy standeth is holy ground." Now we speak of men having feet
of clay. Feet in the picture in the scriptures
are a picture of our creatureness. We see the seraphim, do we not? With six wings in Isaiah chapter
6, and with two they covered their face, and with two they
did fly, and with two they covered their feet. They were created
beings, and they covered their feet before God, ashamed of their
creature-ness in front of the Creator. Nevertheless, God says to Moses,
uncover your feet. We see a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter one, whose feet are like fine
brass, which have been burned in a furnace. What is that a
picture of? That's a picture of the humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ being burned by the fire of God's wrath
and God's justice to satisfy God's law and comes out purified. But here. Why were the seraphim
to cover their feet and we're to uncover our feet? Well, the
seraphim don't have any sin. They don't have any sin. What you cover, I will uncover. What you uncover, I'll cover. Taking our shoes off as we come
into the presence of God is confessing our sin before God. It's exposing our humanity. It's saying to God, Lord, I'm
a man of clay feet. Here I am, Lord. And the Lord
says, if you confess your sins, I'm faithful and just to forgive
you of your sins and cleanse you of all of your unrighteousness. We don't justify our sin? How do I know God's spoken to
me? Because when I come into the presence of God, there's
no excuses. There's no justifying. Yes, Lord,
You desire truth in the inward parts that You might be justified
when Thou judgest. Lord, my sin is ever before me. I can't blame anybody else. I must take my shoes off. I must
uncover myself before you. When God speaks, He speaks at
the backside of the desert. He speaks of Christ. He brings
His people to that place to where they expose themselves willingly
before Him. They confess to Him their sin.
They turn and they hear the voice of God as a personal call. Look at verse 6. Moreover, he said unto me, I
am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. Oh, the Lord said of the Laodiceans,
you think that you're rich and creased in goods and in need
of nothing? Knowest thou not that thou art wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked? To be brought naked before God
and to have Him say to us, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. I'm the faithful covenant-keeping
God. who changes not. And the only
reason you sons of Jacob are not consumed is because I change
not." And what do we do in response
to that? We fall on our face in the fear of God. Worshipping Him. bowing before
Him, saying, Lord, whatever you do is right. Whatever you do
is right. You know, we have to make a lot
of decisions in life about right and wrong, don't we? We evaluate
things and we We have to figure out what's
the best course of action and what's the right thing to do.
You know, God never does that. When He does something, it's
right because He does it. It's just right because He does
it. He hath done whatsoever He wills. No man can stay His hand. No
man can say unto Him, What doest thou? He's God. He's God. I see in this text a pattern
that's consistent with my own experience. I hope it is with
yours. The Lord delights in showing
mercy toward his children. The Lord's pleased to speak.
John, when John saw him there in Revelation 1, when he said,
I turned to see and as I was turned, I saw candlesticks and
one walking among the candlesticks. He inhabits the praise of his
people, doesn't he? He delights in showing his mercy.
But he does it in the backside of the desert, in a difficult
place. But when he does, he tells us
about Christ. He causes us to turn, to bow, to believe, to
submit and to fear him. May God be pleased to keep speaking. Keep speaking, Lord. Don't let
me be guilty of those you spoke of that have ears but they will
not hear, eyes will not see. Lord, speak to me. Speak to me.