Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10204 - The Great I AM - Exodus 3:14

Transcript

#10204 - The Great I AM - Exodus 3:14 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

0:03
Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
0:07
Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
0:11
To learn more about the many resources available through a
0:13
bounding Grace media or to tune into our live stream services,
0:17
visit us online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free
0:22
Calvary Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
0:26
into our study. Amen.
0:29
Open your Bibles. Exodus chapter three.
0:31
One verse in our Bible study Exodus chapter 3.
0:34
When you get there, I draw your attention to verse 14.
0:39
Exodus chapter 3, verse 14. And I've entitled our Bible
0:43
Study the Great I Am and I was going to entitle title it
0:48
praying through the name of names of God.
0:51
But either one will work. We're studying the life of Moses
0:54
here in the book of Exodus. He's been in the desert now for
0:57
the last 40 years of his life. God is using this desert
1:01
experience, this challenging time in his life to teach him
1:04
and to train him. But most importantly, listen
1:08
even the desert experiences in your life, those times where you
1:11
feel like it's dry and you're all alone, maybe even suffering
1:15
the consequences of a few decisions where you just find
1:18
yourself, you and the Lord alone.
1:22
It's a time where the Lord is humbling.
1:24
You and Moses certainly needed to be humbled.
1:28
It worked. The desert did in Moses life.
1:31
It works so well that you can see in his life that like the
1:34
pendulum swung so far to the other end.
1:37
Where in the beginning he wanted to take things into his own
1:40
hands, he sensed the call to deliver the nation.
1:43
He looked to the left, He looked to the right.
1:46
He killed that Egyptian, never looked up, finds himself in a
1:49
place now where he doesn't want to do anything for the Lord, and
1:53
he wanted to do great things for the Lord.
1:54
A little early, but now he doesn't want to do anything.
1:58
God has supernaturally called him.
2:00
Imagine this. I don't know to many of us, if
2:03
any, experienced a burning Bush speaking to us in the backyard.
2:09
God talking to us. A Bush that's burning, but it's
2:12
not burning up. And God says, hey, Ed, this is
2:15
what I want you to do. What?
2:16
You know, take off your shoes. This is holy ground.
2:19
What do you mean it's Aurora? It's holy ground.
2:21
You know, take off your shoes. And it was a supernatural,
2:25
undeniable voice of God, something that we all would want
2:32
and in that direction, He What do we have from Moses?
2:36
He's resisting and refusing and offering up so many.
2:43
I mean, I don't know any other way to say it, but lame excuses.
2:47
The first one we learn in verse 11 and 12 was who am I?
2:52
And that question could be answered.
2:55
You're the man I've chosen. You're the woman I chose.
2:59
That's who you are. If you ever wonder Who am I,
3:02
that I could serve you. You're the one I chose.
3:04
Who am I that I could teach? You're the one that I chose.
3:07
Who am I that could serve those kids?
3:09
And you are the one that I chose.
3:11
God said. But Moses?
3:12
He offers it up. The second one is the one we'll
3:16
look at today. It begins in verse 13.
3:18
Moses said to God, indeed, when I come to the children of Israel
3:22
and say to them, the God of your father's has sent me to you, and
3:26
they say to me, what is his name?
3:28
What shall I say to them? And that's a valid question.
3:34
It's kind of an excuse, but also a valid question because Egypt
3:39
was filled with thousands of gods.
3:41
Little G and Moses wanted to be able to identify the one true
3:46
God. And in response to this question
3:50
we learn of the beautiful, wonderful character and nature
3:54
of God. He says in verse 14, God said to
3:57
Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Thus you shall say
4:03
to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you the name of
4:09
God. YHVH, what theologians call the
4:15
Tetragrammaton. These 4 letters without any
4:18
vows. We have filled the vows in in
4:21
the English language to help us remember what this name is.
4:25
Jehovah or Yahweh. But to the Hebrews remember the
4:30
name of God was unutterable. The Jewish people felt God's
4:35
name to be so holy that it should only be spoken by the
4:40
high priest once a year. They simply just refuse to say
4:44
his name. Even today they will just refer
4:47
to God as the name Hashem. Yet God reveals his name to us.
4:54
He's the becoming one. I am.
4:57
The word Jehovah or Yahweh comes from the verb to be simply
5:02
translated here in the English I am the Self Existent One, the
5:06
God Who exists, the Eternal One, the Perfect One, the Absolute 1,
5:11
the Uncaused One, from everlasting to everlasting
5:14
Moses. That's what you tell him.
5:16
You tell him I am sent you the Becoming one.
5:20
You tell them that the one that we would learn who was sent His
5:24
Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world.
5:28
As one commentator put it, and I quote, the idea expressed by the
5:31
name of God is that of a real, perfect, unconditional,
5:36
independent existence. Jehovah I am is the God who is
5:42
personal and who reveals himself to us.
5:45
Isn't that amazing? We would never know God unless
5:49
he chose to reveal himself to us.
5:51
We would never understand Him. We would never relate to Him.
5:55
It's his sovereign choice, his divine prerogative to reveal
5:59
himself to us. And he could have revealed part
6:02
portions of of himself to us. He could have given us little
6:06
hints. But instead, throughout the
6:08
Scripture he gives us the fullness of who He is.
6:11
Remember what Jesus said? They asked him.
6:13
You know we want to see the Father.
6:14
And what did Jesus say? Hey, if you see me, you've seen
6:18
the Father, You've seen me. The revelation of God and human
6:23
flesh. God has chosen to reveal himself
6:25
to us, the Creator of the universe, not hidden but
6:29
revealed. Why?
6:30
Because God is a person, and in his personhood he chose to let
6:36
us know who he was. He revealed himself to Abraham,
6:38
Adam and Eve, to Cain and Abel to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses.
6:43
And not only that, Jehovah I am the God who establishes a
6:48
personal relationship with man, caring and looking after every
6:53
need you might have. He's revealed himself to you and
6:58
to me. You often hear pastors, myself
7:01
included, Bible teachers talk about a distinct difference
7:05
between a relationship and religion.
7:08
And it can be confusing at times because we can use religion in a
7:12
very generic way, in a very good way, where we refer to our
7:16
commitment to God. Our lifestyle might be, you
7:20
know, if people don't aren't familiar with the Bible, they
7:22
might call you religious and they may mean it in a good way
7:26
or a bad way. But what they're trying to
7:27
describe is that you have a relationship with God, you live
7:31
for God, you go to church and read your Bible.
7:34
But there's a difference. There's a difference between
7:37
religion and relationship. And let me just say at the
7:41
outset, God's desire for you and me is to enter into a
7:44
relationship with him like any other person, not simply to
7:49
follow some religious system or some man made system or you know
7:54
the word religion. Some of the origins of that word
7:57
means to be bound up and religion binds up it's lays
8:02
barriers between man and God. So you got to follow all the
8:05
barriers in order to get to God. And God says no, no, no, you can
8:08
come directly to me. And we see the fullness of that
8:11
relationship through Jesus Christ where he is the way, the
8:15
truth and the life and no one can come to the Father except
8:17
through him. He wants you to have
8:20
relationship because he loves you.
8:22
He draws you to himself and not to a system.
8:25
Jehovah is the redemptive name of God.
8:29
It was Jehovah Elohim as we learn in Genesis chapter three,
8:34
that sought after man when he sinned in the garden wanting to
8:39
forgive and restore relationship.
8:41
Remember in Genesis 3 verse nine Then the Lord God called to Adam
8:45
and said to him, where are you? Redemption.
8:49
His name reminds us of salvation, deliverance,
8:54
restoration. God is the all sufficient one,
8:58
the great I am, He's the all becoming one.
9:02
He would say to you today, I am who you need and I love this
9:07
because throughout the Bible you will find God attaching his name
9:11
to an attribute to another Hebrew word.
9:14
God will attach his name to words that reveal a beautiful
9:18
picture of who God is. So if you have you're taking
9:20
notes, let me give you a few of them.
9:23
I have 12 written down here that will reveal to you the first one
9:28
we've already looked at. In Genesis chapter 3, verse 9,
9:31
Jehovah Elohim. Jehovah Elohim the Then the Lord
9:35
God called to Adam and said to him, where are you?
9:40
He He is the God who pursues our Creator.
9:43
The our God Creator who pursues. In Genesis #2, chapter 22,
9:49
Genesis 22, verse 14, he's known as Jehovah Jireh, the God who
9:55
provides. Do you have a need tonight?
9:58
Hello. Let me start over.
10:02
Do you have a need tonight? Well, you can meet God as
10:05
Jehovah Jireh Genesis 22. Abraham called the name of the
10:08
place the Lord will provide. As it's said this day in the
10:13
mount of the Lord. It shall be provided #3 He's
10:15
Jehovah Rapha. The Lord who heals.
10:18
Anyone need a healing touch from the Lord tonight.
10:20
Exodus chapter 15, verse 26. If you diligently heed the voice
10:25
of your God and do what's right in His sight and give ears to
10:28
His commandments and keep His statutes, I'll put none of the
10:32
diseases on you which I brought on the Egyptians.
10:34
For I am the Lord who heals you. Isn't that great?
10:40
Jehovah Rapha. The Lord who heals #4 Exodus,
10:44
chapter 17, verse 15. He's also Jehovah Nissi NISSI.
10:51
The Lord is my victory or my banner.
10:54
It's a banner of victory. Exodus 17, verse 15.
10:58
And Moses built an altar called its name.
11:00
The Lord is my banner #5 in Exodus chapter 20, verse two,
11:07
he's the Lord who delivers Jehovah Joseph.
11:10
I am the Lord God. I am the Lord your God who
11:13
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the House of
11:18
bondage. He's the Lord that delivers.
11:21
And I wonder how many listening to me today need a delivering
11:24
hand. You need to be rescued and
11:27
delivered. God is ready to deliver you.
11:30
Exodus chapter 31, verse 13. This is the 6th 1 Jehovah Caudos
11:35
QADAS. He's the Lord who sanctifies The
11:40
Lord who sanctifies Exodus 3113. Speak also to the children of
11:44
Israel, saying, surely my Sabbath you shall keep.
11:48
For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations
11:51
that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who
11:58
sets you apart, who makes you holy.
12:00
That's what the word sanctify means.
12:03
And I mean, come on. How many of you listening right
12:04
now need a little more of the holiness of God in your life?
12:08
God is ready to sanctify you. #7 in Judges chapter 6, verse 24.
12:13
He's Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is our peace.
12:18
Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The Lord
12:22
is peace to this day. It's still there, he says in
12:26
Ofra of the Abbey. Azrites #8 for Samuel chapter
12:31
one, verse 3. Jehovah Sabah.
12:33
He's the Lord of Hosts. Then the man went up from his
12:37
city, his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of
12:41
hosts in Shiloh. And also the two sons of Eli
12:46
Hoffney and Phineas, the priest of the Lord were there.
12:50
He went to worship the Lord of hosts #9 Psalm 7, verse 17.
12:56
He's Jehovah Al Yan, the Lord Most High.
13:01
I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness and will
13:04
sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
13:08
Can I just pause there for a second?
13:09
And #9 and just understand He's not the man upstairs.
13:12
You hear that? God is not the man upstairs.
13:15
He is the Lord Most High working in your life.
13:19
You know, it's amazing how we can just.
13:20
Well, he's the man, you know, I talked to the man upstairs.
13:23
Where do you live? In an apartment.
13:24
So who's talking to hell? You're like, who are you talking
13:26
about? Because my God is the God Most
13:28
High, not some man upstairs #10 Psalm 23 verse one.
13:34
I love this. He's Jehovah Elroy.
13:37
The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd and I
13:42
shall not want. And we need a shepherd to lead
13:47
us and guide us and take care of us.
13:49
How about Jeremiah 23 verse 6 Jehovah Sidkhanu.
13:54
Let me spell it for you. TSIDKENU.
13:59
Jehovah Sidkhanu, the Lord, our righteousness.
14:03
Aren't you grateful that God gives you His righteousness in
14:07
exchange for your unrighteousness?
14:10
He's my righteousness. The Bible says in his days Judah
14:13
will be saved and Israel will dwell safely.
14:17
Now this is his name by which he will be called the Lord, Our
14:22
righteousness. Jeremiah 23 six And finally #12
14:26
Ezekiel 48, verse 35. He's Jehovah Shama.
14:31
The Lord is there. Where is the Lord?
14:35
Right there, everywhere. All the way around shall be
14:40
18,000 cubits. In the name of the city From
14:42
that day shall be called. The Lord is there to me.
14:46
It's amazing to Plumb the depths.
14:49
Each one of these can be a Bible study in and of themselves.
14:51
But to me it's amazing, as we are told in Romans Chapter 11,
14:55
verse 33. Oh the depths and the riches,
14:59
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God.
15:02
How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past
15:06
finding out. But God wants you to find Him.
15:09
He wants you to know Him. He wants you to submit and
15:14
surrender to Him. He wants you to live for him and
15:18
live with him. These truths and these
15:21
scriptures in the Old covenant, you can pray through his
15:23
promises. No matter where you are in life,
15:27
if there's a need, you can pray to the God who provides.
15:30
If there's a sickness, you can pray to the God who heals.
15:33
If there's an area of your life that just out of control, you
15:36
can pray for the God who sanctifies.
15:39
If there's an area in your life where you need direction, you
15:42
can pray to the Lord who's your shepherd.
15:44
If you're looking at life and you're wondering where are you
15:47
God? You can pray to God who's there?
15:51
He's right there in the moment. But I want you to think of it
15:55
for a second now, because you want to Fast forward 1500 years.
15:59
You go back 15. You go forward fifteen, 1600
16:02
years from from then and you would arrive on the scene, God
16:06
in human flesh who came and dwelt among us.
16:10
And he would come saying in the Gospel of John, I'm the bread of
16:14
life. I'm the way, I'm the truth.
16:18
I'm the life. I'm the light of the world.
16:21
I'm the Good Shepherd. I'm the door, I'm the vine.
16:26
Jesus is the great, I am turn over to John Chapter 8.
16:31
John chapter 8. God in human Flesh comes on the
16:35
scene and what does he say? Over and over and over and over
16:39
I am. And by the time we come to John
16:42
Chapter 8, the religious leaders are stuck.
16:47
The timing of God is impeccable, perfect in every way.
16:51
And at the appointed time, Messiah comes to a group of
16:56
religious leaders that were misrepresenting Jehovah Yahweh,
17:02
taking advantage of the people, and they were stuck.
17:06
They were leading people also to be stuck.
17:10
They were stuck religiously, not open to God.
17:13
They were stuck physically, not open to the Spirit.
17:16
And they're stuck spiritually, not open to Jesus Christ.
17:20
Notice, notice with me in John chapter 8 in verse 48, John 8
17:28
verse 48. Then the Jews answered and said
17:32
to him, Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and
17:35
have a demon? And Jesus answered, I don't have
17:38
a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me.
17:44
I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and
17:47
judges most assuredly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word,
17:51
he'll never see death. And the Jews said to him, verse
17:54
52. Now we know you have a demon,
17:57
Abraham is dead. And the prophets And you say, if
18:01
anyone keeps my word, you shall never taste death.
18:04
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?
18:09
When the prophets are dead, whom do you make yourself out to be?
18:14
Jesus answered. If I honor myself, my Honor's
18:17
nothing. It's my father who honors me, of
18:20
whom you say that he's your God, yet you have not known him.
18:25
But I know him. And if I say, do not know him,
18:28
I'll be a liar like you. I do not, and but I do know him,
18:32
and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to
18:36
see my day and saw it and was glad.
18:41
And the Jews said to him, you're not even 50 years old and you've
18:45
seen Abraham. And notice in verse 58 Jesus
18:48
couldn't be more clear, and the translators made it clear for us
18:52
by their use of capitalization. Most assuredly I say to you,
18:56
before Abraham was I am. If you like to write in your
19:01
Bibles, you write, you mark this scripture.
19:03
Exodus chapter 3, verse 14. This is a direct claim of deity
19:10
from Jesus Christ. There'll be people that knock on
19:13
your door and say that Jesus never claimed to be Jesus or
19:16
Jesus never claimed to be God. You'll have people come and
19:19
maybe take up a cubicle next to you and they're just kind of
19:22
flow through man. They show up, try to rip you
19:24
off, and then they're off and they're gone.
19:26
And what will they say? Jesus never claimed to be God.
19:29
Every false teaching, every false religion, every cultic
19:33
groups. They made their mistake by Miss
19:37
Jesus misrepresenting Jesus. And they'll come here and you'll
19:41
show them. Hey, what do you mean?
19:42
What are you talking about? Jesus couldn't be more clear.
19:46
He couldn't be more clear of claiming to be eternal Jehovah
19:50
Yahweh Here, by nature, he says it.
19:53
Here. Before Abraham was ego am I,
19:56
which is the Greek taking us back to the great I am.
19:59
He said. No, he didn't mean that.
20:00
That's not what he said. Well, the people listening to
20:03
him knew what he was saying. Here we are separated by another
20:08
2000 plus years and everybody's debating with the people that
20:13
were standing in front of Jesus knew clearly, without any
20:18
hesitation before any false teacher came on the on the on
20:23
the way, before any false modern day cult arrived.
20:27
They knew and you go ahead what do you mean they knew?
20:29
Well notice in verse 59. In verse 59 in response to this
20:33
stunning claim, they took up stones to throw at him, but
20:39
Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple going through the
20:42
midst of them and so passed by. Why would they take up stones to
20:48
throw at him or to kill him? Because they claim he was
20:52
blaspheming God, claiming to be God.
20:54
They knew exactly what he was saying.
20:57
This phrase, ego IME is translated I am 18 times in the
21:02
New Testament. Not only that, you'll remember
21:05
that the claim is the teaching, and claim is made in Hebrews
21:09
chapter 3, verse three and four that Jesus himself made Moses
21:15
who God revealed himself in the Old Testament, the Father.
21:19
To him, Jesus is the eternal God.
21:23
Jesus stays true, and he claims what only he can claim to be the
21:30
great I am. If you meet anybody today that
21:32
claims to be the great I am, you reject them.
21:35
Don't stone them. Just reject them.
21:38
They're not telling you the truth.
21:40
Jesus has come. He died and rose again so that
21:44
your sins could be forgiven. There is no I am today.
21:47
He's the great. I am.
21:48
He's at the right hand of the Father, sent the Holy Spirit
21:51
into our lives. He came to set the captives
21:54
free. Jesus is revealing his deity.
21:56
Not only that, turn over now to John, chapter 14.
22:00
I love this. Moses is getting a dump of
22:03
theology in just one answer, and it's amazing.
22:06
You know, you might have some excuses today.
22:08
You might be resistant to the Lord.
22:09
You might be hesitant. You might not want to fulfill
22:12
what God's caused you to do. You might have all these reasons
22:14
and everything. And in answer, just take him to
22:16
the Lord. Because in the answer, God's
22:18
going to dump a lot of himself into you.
22:20
Is this OK? You don't want to go, Moses?
22:22
You don't know. Here, let me tell you.
22:23
You don't want to. You don't know who to tell him.
22:24
Let me tell you who I am. I'm the great I am.
22:28
I'm the becoming one. You're not going alone.
22:30
I'm going to be with you. Anything that you need, Moses,
22:33
I'm there for you. That's God.
22:36
It's like, amazing. And I know it gets twisted in
22:38
our culture today. It becomes very, very selfish.
22:40
This is not a selfless statement.
22:41
God is making himself available to you.
22:44
Oh, it's not, you know, you know, I need a Mercedes-Benz.
22:47
Be a Mercedes-Benz to me. God, bam.
22:51
This guy's not going to do that for you, you know.
22:54
I need $1,000,000. No, what you need is to repent
22:59
and surrender yourself to God. Don't you flip the nature of God
23:04
to somehow fulfill your every desire of selfishness and self.
23:10
Centeredness ain't going to happen.
23:13
You're going to keep fighting and resisting and fighting and
23:16
resisting until you finally come to the end of yourself.
23:20
You know the worst thing that you would want is somehow to
23:22
have some desire. You know?
23:23
Give me this. And then somehow God allows you,
23:27
and he gives it to you, like it says in the Psalms that God gave
23:31
them their desire, but he sent leanness to their souls.
23:37
And we'll see this in a minute. Minute.
23:39
What you want is not something you want someone.
23:43
That was the answer, Moses. I'm not sending you with armies.
23:48
I'm not sending you with a book. I'm not sending you with things.
23:53
When you go to the children of Israel and they ask you who sent
23:56
you, you just say I am, I'm with you.
24:00
You just tell him the great I am sent you the becoming One notice
24:05
in John chapter 14. Pick up in verse 5.
24:09
Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where we're where
24:12
you're going and how can we know the way.
24:15
And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
24:20
No one comes to the Father except through me.
24:23
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.
24:27
And from now on you know him and have seen him and Philip.
24:32
You got to love it. He goes, Lord, show us the
24:35
Father. That's all we need.
24:37
It's sufficient for us If you can just show us the Father,
24:41
that's all we need. And Jesus said, have I been with
24:44
you for so long and you haven't known me.
24:48
Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father.
24:53
So how can you say, show us the Father?
24:57
Don't you believe that I'm in the Father and the Father's in
25:00
me? The words that I speak to you?
25:03
I don't speak of my own authority, but the Father who
25:06
dwells in me does the works Believe me that I'm in the
25:09
Father and the Father in me, Or else believe me for the sake of
25:13
the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you,
25:17
verse 12, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he'll do
25:22
also in greater works than these he will do because I go to my
25:27
father. Philip's following along,
25:30
receiving these truths from Jesus, and he asks a question I
25:34
think any of us would ask. We just want to see the Father.
25:36
That's it. That's enough.
25:38
That would settle it for us. But the response to that request
25:42
is Philip. I am.
25:47
I am. Don't you believe by now I am
25:51
the true revelation of what you need, Philip, I am.
25:55
You know me, You know the Father.
25:58
And listen as we head out today, considering the greatness and
26:02
the goodness of God, the vastness and the faithfulness of
26:06
God, Jesus, as one commentator put it, is not the great I give.
26:14
He's the great I am. And what peace and safety and
26:20
security do you and I gain when we come to God?
26:26
Not for what he can give us, but for who he is.
26:30
Just for who he is. Reading through the life and
26:33
ministry of Jesus. Going through life with the
26:37
difficulties and the trials that we face.
26:39
Experiencing the hardships and the loneliness and the grief and
26:44
the anxieties and fears. And you can add to that list.
26:48
It's easy and natural to keep coming back to God for
26:51
something, for something, for something.
26:55
Filling up our prayer list with things and requests.
26:59
Lord, I need this God. I can't live without that Lord.
27:03
And certainly there is space for coming to God with our requests.
27:09
We're instructed to do so, to bring and cast our cares and
27:14
concerned, to keep seeking, to keep asking, keep knocking.
27:17
There's certainly a place, but what we're learning over time is
27:23
that we really don't need something.
27:26
We need someone to come back to that place of intimacy and
27:30
closeness in relationship. Imagine some of the
27:33
relationships you have in the human realm.
27:37
Friendships, parenting, kids, marriages, singleness.
27:44
Imagine what your relationship will become if you looked at the
27:48
other person only for what they could do for you.
27:51
You just keep wanting something from them.
27:52
It's always something. It's always something.
27:54
It's always something. Relationships like that don't
27:56
last. They don't grow.
27:58
You kind of know it's somebody's been looking for something.
28:01
Maybe, you know you're a business owner or something from
28:03
somebody finds out is I want this free, I want this free.
28:06
I want this free. And you're like I can, I can, I
28:08
can't. And you know, the month later,
28:10
you see them walking in the parking lot and you just avoid
28:13
them. There's no relationship when
28:15
that's all that someone, all that someone wants from you is
28:18
once. There's no relationship in that,
28:23
you know, it's the depth of our hearts that we want relationship
28:26
we want. Truly something that gives and
28:28
takes, gives and takes. And God showed us the pathway to
28:32
real deep abiding relationships. Is His agape love that we would
28:38
learn to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and mind.
28:41
Then we would be equipped to love each other and greater love
28:45
has no one than this. Then what?
28:47
To keep asking for everything from them all the time.
28:51
That's the greatest love. Of course not.
28:54
Jesus said that you might what? Lay down your life for a friend.
29:02
The greatest relationships come through self sacrifice and
29:07
service and commitment. Because through time and
29:10
testing, as relationships grow, those requests are really not,
29:14
hey, whatever you want and you don't even need to ask.
29:17
Imagine some of the closest, some of the closest
29:19
relationships you have. You don't even need to ask.
29:20
Don't even worry about it. Hey, I noticed you were worried
29:23
about something of you. How can I help you?
29:25
How can this is what I do? Can I help you?
29:28
Can I serve you? Can I take a burden off of you?
29:31
Those are real relationships. And I see that in our
29:35
relationship with God, we come to him and if we're not careful,
29:40
we'll forget he's the great I am, that he's already given us
29:45
his best. It's not something that he gives
29:48
us, but it's someone. Remember Jesus said in John 14,
29:53
he says here here's the key he said in John 15 verse four, I
29:58
should say in the NLT, he's he translate, they translate it.
30:02
Remain in me or we often are referred to or reminded of.
30:07
Abide in me. Just stay here.
30:12
That's the word of the Lord. Just stay here.
30:15
You remain in me. I'll remain in you.
30:19
Similar language as He describes in his relationship with the
30:22
Father. Even now, as we're gathering
30:24
together, receiving His word. You're here in the room.
30:28
You're downstairs, you're out on YouTube somewhere on the app or
30:32
listening on the radio live, or. I mean, so many people gather
30:36
together, hearing this particular word.
30:40
We have all these huge issues before us, and they're huge.
30:43
Some of them, They're bigger than any of us can handle.
30:46
If we pooled all of our resources, we wouldn't be able
30:48
to help you. It's beyond human ability.
30:51
You come in here with these massive marriage issues.
30:55
You come in with the wrestling of your singleness.
30:58
Some of you have got some deep, deep stuff going on with your
31:01
kids as parents. You got work issues, You have
31:05
finance issues. You're afraid of the future.
31:08
You're weighed in with grief. You're self absorbed.
31:12
You know you. You've experienced failure upon
31:14
failure and loss. I mean, the list can go on and
31:17
on because life is filled with challenges beyond our abilities.
31:21
We get a little lulled to sleep and we we're we're in a place
31:25
where you know these little things.
31:26
We kind of VVV. I mean, before you know it,
31:29
you're not giving God the credit for his faithfulness in your
31:31
life. So they grow bigger and they
31:34
grow bigger so that finally you throw up your hands.
31:36
And who do you come to? The great I give or the great I
31:39
am, the one who's ready to meet you, to receive.
31:44
You have fellowship with you. I find that in needs and all the
31:50
things that we go through, fellowship with God is not so
31:54
meaningful to us anymore. I'm not meaning church
31:57
attendance, I'm not meaning Bible study or any things that
32:01
we might have measured. I just mean intimacy with God's
32:03
not enough anymore. Because if God doesn't solve
32:07
your problem, then that's not the God you want.
32:10
And if God doesn't come through for you, then that's not the God
32:13
that you want. And the enemy is always very
32:16
careful there. You know, look at you, look, you
32:17
know, God. What did God really say?
32:20
Oh, that sounds familiar. Didn't God promise to provide?
32:23
And here you are, and he hasn't provided.
32:26
He's lying to you. The devil is.
32:29
God has provided for all your needs according to his riches in
32:32
Christ Jesus. Every single one of them.
32:36
And there's a little bit of a stretch in your life right now
32:39
where God has provided in the past, He's going to provide in
32:42
the future. He just has you in a place of
32:45
waiting. Why?
32:46
So you might come to him not for anything, but for him.
32:52
That's how it all started. Such a purity.
32:55
When you and I were born again, where our relationship, for a
32:59
very brief moment, wasn't about anything.
33:02
It was only about him. It wasn't about what he could
33:05
do. It was believing what he had
33:07
already done. Well, you love me, You'll
33:11
forgive me. My sins will be wiped away.
33:14
Here's my life, Lord. Daily life, weeks and months and
33:21
years are filled with challenges above our abilities and filled
33:26
with days when we try to solve our own problems.
33:30
Filled with days when we use our own resources, filled with days
33:35
that only complicate an already complicated situation because
33:42
God never blesses our flesh. Never.
33:47
So we wonder as we come to the Lord and we list them off 1 by
33:50
1, asking God, do this, God fix this, God change this, God take
33:57
this, God, do this God, and our relationship with him becomes
34:01
very one sided and very distant. Because we're no longer
34:07
satisfied with Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.
34:12
We're no longer satisfied with Jehovah Jireh, the God who
34:15
provides. We're no longer satisfied.
34:18
Even at this infancy of Moses life where he doesn't get the
34:22
kind of explanation that you and I get, we're not satisfied with
34:25
God's answer. You just tell them I am.
34:30
You tell them I am. You don't need to explain the
34:32
burning Bush to them. They wouldn't believe you
34:34
anyway. You don't need to talk to them
34:38
about 40 years in the desert. That's between me and you.
34:41
You know, I find now with social media like people are, you're
34:44
sharing stuff with people that's supposed to just be between you
34:47
and the Lord. It's just you and the Lord.
34:51
You don't need other people's sympathy.
34:54
We don't need every everybody stepping into our lives.
34:56
It's just you and the Lord. He's doing a work with you.
34:59
Come to him. Let him use you.
35:02
Let him speak to you. Let him comfort you.
35:05
Let him strengthen you. Let him provide.
35:11
I don't know where it is, what the line is for you.
35:13
Sometimes I don't even know what the line is for me.
35:15
But I do know this. There are many things that God
35:18
has for you and the secret place.
35:21
Just you and him. He calls you to himself.
35:27
You're looking for victory over your enemies.
35:29
Jehovah Nissi is ready. He's the great.
35:31
I am. You're looking for deliverance.
35:35
Hey, Jehovah Joseph. He's ready to deliver you.
35:38
You're looking for more sanctification and holiness in
35:41
your life. He's Jehovah Quatas.
35:43
He's ready. You need peace and a turbulent
35:46
life. Well, guess what?
35:48
The great I am Jehovah Shalom is ready to minister to you.
35:53
Look, Jesus is reminding us right now that He's the great I
35:57
am. He's the bread that satisfies.
36:02
The bread that strengthens you, gives you vitality.
36:04
He's the shepherd who leads you, gave his life for you.
36:10
He's the one that speaks loudly through his word.
36:14
He's the one that whispers in a still, small voice.
36:19
He reminds you of your name, writing his nature on your
36:23
heart, leading us in the way of everlasting.
36:26
It's not something that you need today.
36:29
You have enough things. It's someone that you long for
36:36
and desire and comfort. The Great Shepherd and I just
36:42
find if we're open to the Holy Spirit, that we'll come to the
36:47
same conclusion. It might be different in your
36:50
home and in your life because we have that uniqueness about us,
36:52
how God meets us, where we are. My walk with the Lord's
36:56
different than your walk with the Lord, but we intersect quite
36:58
a bit. You know, you're walking over
37:01
here and Oh yeah, we're experience the same thing and
37:03
then we keep moving, keep moving.
37:05
So there's a lot of shared experience, but there's also a
37:07
lot of uniqueness among us. And even in our uniqueness, the
37:13
big issue today is maybe won't isn't what it really seems.
37:17
What's really up in your face? All these things and all these
37:21
difficulties and all these issues and all the things that
37:24
have slowed us down, have gotten our attention and literally
37:28
brought us to our knees. But for what?
37:32
To get to him to be in a place of desperation?
37:38
He wants to reveal himself in a fresh way, reminding of his
37:43
everlasting presence. He will be all that you need.
37:47
He will make himself known to you personally, powerfully and
37:51
permanently, like it says in Hebrews chapter 4.
37:54
Remember in verse 16 I'll close with this.
37:57
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may
38:01
obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.
38:07
He's ready to help. Just come to the throne room.
38:11
Just let the Lord bring you cry out to him.
38:17
Cry out to him today, even during the song and during our
38:20
time. Maybe even praying with each
38:21
other. Cry out to him not for what he's
38:24
going to do or what he's going to give, but for who he is.
38:29
That you might have a peace in the storm until the storm lifts.
38:34
Father, we pray for your Holy Spirit to minister comfort among
38:39
us tonight as we we come with all of our we come with all of
38:43
our baggage and problems and challenges and admit to you,
38:50
Lord, that in our own context. Lord, I just look at my own life
38:55
many times. That is my prayer journal
38:57
things. It's always things that trouble
39:01
me and it's always situations that trouble me.
39:05
And it's always besetting sins and it's always warfare in the
39:09
mind. And there I am, writing it down,
39:13
typing it out, Lord. And you're using them all to get
39:19
my heart and attention to you. You just want me to worship you
39:24
in my situation. You want me to rejoice not for
39:30
the problem, but for the God of the problem.
39:33
You're so much greater, so much higher.
39:37
You're so, much, so faithful to us, Lord, And as we come, we
39:42
pray, Lord. Tonight we come to the God who
39:46
is long before He ever gives the great I am, who meets our needs
39:58
and ministers to our hearts, who made provision for our
40:05
shortcomings. You said in your word, Lord, in
40:10
Psalm one O 3 You said that you're like a Father.
40:13
Who's tender and compassionate toward us.
40:15
You know that we're just dust. So I pray that tenderness and
40:18
compassion over us tonight as we consider your names.
40:23
Moses didn't even get the full dump.
40:24
He didn't get the full understanding, but sufficient
40:28
for him. It was just you tell him I am
40:30
Moses. That's that's what you're going
40:31
to cling to through this whole thing, through all the doubts
40:35
and all the hardness. When Pharaoh hardens his heart.
40:38
You're going to come back to the great I am.
40:41
I'm with you. So I just pray God over your
40:45
church tonight, near and far, that we would get back to that
40:50
place of the burning Bush. Perhaps when you first spoke to
40:53
us, we would get back to that place of sweetness and intimacy.
40:57
Closeness where our walk with you didn't matter what things
41:00
happened, we didn't care about those things.
41:02
We, as a matter of fact, the things are what got us to you to
41:05
begin with. We just threw our hands up and
41:10
said here I am, Lord, I receive you.
41:16
Let it be such a great work that you do, or as we were, just
41:19
thinking about your promise, your goodness, Your grace, are
41:26
you here tonight? You need to give your life to
41:28
Jesus Christ. I want to invite you to do that
41:31
just right now where you are. You need your sins forgiven by
41:34
the blood of Jesus Christ, Not rededication.
41:37
But for the first time, for the first time you go.
41:40
You know what, pastor? What I need is I need to be in a
41:44
right relationship with God. Would you just stand to your
41:46
feet? I want to pray with you that
41:48
today would be the day that you would acknowledge that you've
41:52
sinned against a holy and a righteous God.
41:57
That that's the battle. Sin.
42:02
You know what the world might say is imperfection.
42:05
God says you've sinned, and the Bible says that we've all sinned
42:09
and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of sin is
42:14
death, but the gift of God. Imagine that the gift of God is
42:21
the forgiveness of your sins. The righteous like, I know these
42:25
are a lot of Bible words and you're like, I don't know, I
42:27
don't know. But look, the gift of God is
42:30
eternal life through Christ Jesus.
42:34
And if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
42:37
in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
42:40
saved. That's what God desires to do.
42:43
Would anyone here say? That's me, Ed.
42:45
And that includes you guys downstairs watching online or
42:50
listening on the radio. God knows where you are.
42:52
You're in a jail cell right now just thinking about your life.
42:56
You're laying in a hospital bed just wondering what the future
43:00
is going to hold. You can know the future.
43:04
You surrender your life to Jesus Christ today, ask for His
43:09
forgiveness, receive it. It's such a gift, so beautiful
43:22
and for the sake of anyone that we may not see, we don't want to
43:25
neglect to help you that in confessing with your mouth you
43:30
can ask God to forgive. You could say, God forgive me of
43:33
my sins. I believe you sent Jesus Christ
43:37
to live for me, die for me, and I believe he rose again from the
43:41
dead. And I know if you pray that
43:45
prayer, you just talk to God. That's what prayer is.
43:48
You turn away from your sins, God will keep His word and
43:54
forgive you. And look, even in the wrestling
43:56
of this room right now, even where you are, as you consider
44:00
your own walk with the Lord, could it be that God's calling
44:04
you back? The simplicity, Could it be that
44:07
God is calling you back to himself?
44:10
And it's not about all the things that we've made it.
44:17
There's an old song that just reminded me of an old song
44:21
getting back to the heart of worship.
44:23
I think it's the song and just it's not about the things that
44:26
we made it. God is not about the things we
44:28
made him. It's just pure and simple and
44:32
sweet. He loves you and we love God.
44:35
Why? Because he first loved us.
44:38
And God's calling you back to that.
44:40
The world's upside down. But the church.
44:42
Church is steadfast in the love of God.
44:46
Politics going sideways, but the church is steadfast in God.
44:51
You don't know what your future holds, but you're steadfast in
44:56
the Lord your God. He's come through in the past.
44:59
He's going to come through now. And so, Lord, we just pray for
45:03
anyone that would receive. You deny.
45:05
We pray for the stirring. There's just so much ministry
45:08
going on in your Holy Spirit in the hearts of your people.
45:11
So many thoughts, so many battles, so many doubts, so many
45:15
concerns, so much even resistance.
45:19
Lord, to the freedom that's available through humility and
45:22
repentance. Does it have to be 40 years in
45:25
the desert, Lord, no, it doesn't.
45:30
You're calling people to yourself, even right now a fresh
45:33
and anew beyond religion, beyond formalities to sweetness and
45:39
simplicity. Lord, pour out your spirit on
45:42
our church tonight. On these believers.
45:45
Minister to the deepest hearts, part of their hearts, by
45:49
revealing yourself to them. I am.
45:55
And Lord, give us faith to belief.
45:58
Increase our faith. Like the disciples said, we need
46:01
it. We want it and victory in Jesus
46:03
name. Amen.
46:05
We pray that you've been encouraged.
46:07
By this Bible study delivered live from the sanctuary of
46:10
Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
46:15
Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
46:21
To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
46:24
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
46:30
or download our free Calvary Church app.
46:33
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.