Exodus 3:1-11 1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight and why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
5 excuses of Moses and God’s response. Excuse #1 “Who Am I” Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Acts 7: 23 23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
God's Response: Exodus 3:12 “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who or what can be against us.
In the end, what matters is not who we are, but who is with us.
Excuse #2: “I Don’t Have All the Answers.” Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, `What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?"
God's Response: Exodus 3: 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you." 15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, `The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
God answered Moses by revealing His identity.
Exodus 3:16-18 16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, `The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-- appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land…flowing with milk and honey.’ 18 "The elders of Israel will listen to you.
Excuse #3: “They Won’t Listen to Me!” Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, `The LORD did not appear to you’?"
God's Response: Exodus 4: 2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you." 6, “Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. 7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8, “Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
Excuse #4: “I’m Not Gifted” Exodus 4: 10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
The fear of failure paralyzes your potential.
Acts 7:22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
God's Response: Exodus 4:11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
We have to realize that the power is not in our gifts and talents but in the God who gives them.
God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips those he calls.
Excuse #5: “I don’t want to get involved.” Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
Exodus 4: 14-17 14 “Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
“The Will of God will never lead you where the power of God can’t enable you.” -Warren Wiersbe.
2 Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind.
Revelation 12:11 (NIV) They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
The Inner Witness:
Reminder: The model we follow is the post-resurrection life filled with the Spirit of God.
Acts 4:7–21 (NIV) 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.
Provisions of the inner witnesses 1. Assurance Peter started believing what Jesus told him. Romans 8:16 (NIV) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit… Testifies: Provide confirming evidence by means of a testimony.
Romans 8:14–16 (TPT) 14 The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. 15 And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!” 16 For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”
When we sin... 1 John 2:1 (NLT) My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 1. Satan is accusing what we have done. 2. Jesus is declaringwhat he has done. 3. The Spirit is reminding us who we are.
The Holy Spirit gives us confidence in our beloved identity.
Proverbs 28:1 (NIV) …The righteous are as bold as a lion.
2. Boldness Courage: (Confidence/boldness) the trait of being willing to undertake activities that involve risk or danger; especially that involve being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech.
The Holy Spirit will take you from bashful to bold.
Acts 4:31 (NIV) After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Matthew 10:32–33 (NIV) 32 “Whoever acknowledges(confesses) me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
3. Power Acts 1:8 (NIV) You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Power- Dynamis is the "ability to perform" for the believer, power to achieve by applying the Lord's inherent abilities.
Acts 10:38 (NLT) God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Revelation 12:11 (NIV) They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
A Life that testifies. 2 Corinthians 3:1–5 (TPT) 1 Are we beginning to sound like those who speak highly of themselves? Do you really need letters of recommendation to validate our ministry, like others do? Do we really need your letter of endorsement? Of course not! 2 For your very lives are our “letters of recommendation,” permanently engraved on our hearts, recognized and read by everybody. 3 As a result of our ministry, you are living letters written by Christ, not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God—not carved onto stone tablets but on the tablets of tender hearts. 4 We carry this confidence in our hearts because of our union with Christ before God.
Our lifestyle adds weight to our words.
We have the evidence of a changed life.
Salt and light Matthew 5:13–16 (NLT) 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
A. Salt
Purifier.
Preserver.
Seasoning.
B. Light
“We don’t shine our light to be seen but to make him seen.”
Colossians 4:5–6 (NIV) 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
8 practices of a life that testifies. 1. Integrity/ Purity 2. Clarity in truth 3. In Charity. 4. Speaking graciously. 5. Living generously. 6. In humility honor others. 7. Being friendly. 8. Bringing Quality
Genesis 2:15–18 (NLT) 15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
“God’s method for the mandate is family.” “Family is God’s primary form of government.” “Only lost sheep travel alone!”
Jesus re-established family.
Matthew 12:46–50 (TPT) 46 While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside, asking for him to come out and speak with them. 47 Then someone said, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to have a word with you.” 48 But Jesus just looked at him and said, “Let me introduce you to my true mother and brothers.” 49 Then gesturing to the disciples gathered around him, he said, “Look closely, for this is my true family. 50 When you obey my heavenly Father, that makes you a part of my true family.”
John 6:28–29 (NIV) 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 1:12 (NLT) To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
1. We need one another Acts 2:42–47 (NLT) 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
Hebrews 10:23–25 (NIV) 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
“Fellowship is not just a shoulder to cry on but a stone to sharpen our edges.”
4. Forgiveness
“We are the most like Christ when we forgive those that have done us wrong.”
5. Generosity and resourcing Galatians 6:10(NIV)Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
2. We meet needs together. God blesses what we do together. Psalm 133:1–3 (NIV) 1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
He brought us into a family to reveal his goodness.
Ephesians 2:19–22 (NIV) 19 You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Less of Me 1. Knowing the love of Jesus 2. Looking like Jesus 3. Following Jesus.
1. Knowing the Love of Jesus John 3:16- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Micah 7:18 He does not retain His anger forever because He DELIGHTS in showing mercy. • He loves you as you are right now • Not just a more Christlike version of you…
Romans 5:8- But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2. Looking like Jesus • My job as a Christian is to look like Jesus • First TO Jesus… then to others. Ephesians 4:22-24 To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
1 John 2:6 Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Galatians 5:16-26 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. • Jesus wants you to look like Him AND LOOK TO HIM.
Psalm 23 "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want… for HIS name’s sake.”
3. Following Jesus • What must you do? • Deny yourself. Pick up your cross. Follow Jesus.
Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?
Mark 10:17-22 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But he [a]was deeply dismayed by these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
• Fear of leaving everything behind can stop us from following him well.
Matthew 9:16-17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Revelation: The unveiling of Jesus by Jesus to His Church.
The primary theme of revelation is not the plan but the man, Christ Jesus.
Revelation 1:1–3 (NIV) 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Revelation 1:4-20 (NIV) 4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits(Sevenfold) before his throne,
The Seven-Fold Spirit of God: 7 is God’s 💯 Isaiah 11:2 (NIV) The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Revelation 1:5-10 (NIV) 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” 9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Revelation 1:10-13(NIV) 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” 12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,”dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.
The Kingly-Priest: Hebrews 7:23–27 (NLT) 23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. 26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. 27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.
The Son of Man (Daniel 7) The incarnation was a permanent work. He chooses to identify as a human forever.
Revelation 1:14-18(NIV) 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades
John was “in the spirit.”
Don’t make Jesus so relatable that you lose your reverence.
Jesus is delightfully scary!
Physical appearance 1. Clothed as our Kingly Priest. 2. His Head & Hair: Like white wool. 3. His Eyes: Like blazing fire. 4. His Feet: Bronze from the fire. 5. His voice: Sound of rushing waters. 6. His Face: Like the sun, full of light.
Revelation 1:19-20 (NIV) 19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angles of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
