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The Great I AM | Exodus 3 | Blake

Spring Valley Baptist Church

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  1. Make disciples for his glory.

  2. You are listening to the Spring Valley Baptist Church podcast.

  3. Spring Valley Baptist Church exists to make disciples for the glory of God.

  4. For more information about Spring Valley, visit Spring ValleyBaptist.com.

  5. Thanks for listening.

  6. A lot of life is pretty ordinary.

  7. Just kind of the day in, the day out, the routine, the work, the family going and coming.

  8. But then there are some of those moments that really stick out in the story of your life.

  9. There are some of those moments that really grip you, that change the trajectory of your life as you know it.

  10. I say that, and immediately some situations, some instances, some conversations, phone calls, job interviews, family growth has completely changed your direction.

  11. Today we're going to continue in the life of Moses through the book of Exodus, and we're going to see his life had been pretty ordinary for a little while.

  12. He was becoming a shepherd.

  13. He was tending his father-in-law's flocks.

  14. And he had been doing this, the text would tell us, for about 40 years.

  15. A long time of just kind of normal work.

  16. But then one day, something would happen in his life that would completely change the trajectory and how God would call him and how God would use him.

  17. And so we'll be in Exodus chapter 3 this morning.

    Exodus 3 chapter mention

  18. As you make your way there and your copy of God's word, I would invite you to join me in prayer.

  19. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we come to your word this morning, I pray that you would give us eyes to see.

  20. God, that you would give us ears to hear.

  21. God, I pray that you would speak.

  22. For we your servants are listening.

  23. It's through Christ we pray.

  24. Amen.

  25. You'll see first on your outline this morning that after 400 years, God speaks and Moses hides.

  26. It's been 400 years.

  27. We've learned in our study of the book of Exodus, and if we were to go back, how it's connected to Genesis, that God told Abraham, the one that he would call Father Abraham, that he would have descendants more numerous than the stars, but that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land and would be sojourners there for 400 years before he brought them back into the land of promise.

  28. And so so far, the plan is checking out.

  29. So far, God had moved his people into the land of Egypt.

  30. They grew and they multiplied there.

  31. They were ultimately enslaved there, but they were calling and crying out to God, and God was about to deliver his people and bring them back into the land of promise.

  32. And though God works on time horizons that are a lot longer than what any one of us would want or desire, he is still active.

  33. And he is going to use, he's going to raise up a deliverer.

  34. He's going to raise up Moses.

  35. And now, Moses, he's far from perfect.

  36. He has some chapters of his life that he regrets.

  37. He killed a man.

  38. And he is now on exile.

  39. He is on the run, but even in his exile, even in his running, God is gracious in preserving his life, in blessing his life, and growing his life through his family.

  40. And he is now in Midian with his father-in-law's extended household.

  41. And we see in Exodus chapter 3, verse 1, now Moses, he was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

    Exodus 3:1

  42. And Moses, he is tending these flocks, and this is not arbitrary.

  43. This isn't just a fun little fact, or something like, I don't know if you remember in the days where you had to write essays before AI, right?

  44. And you had to like really try to reach a certain word count, and you really had to like reach a certain page limit on the essays that you had to write and stuff like that.

  45. Right?

  46. Moses, as he's writing this down, isn't just trying to throw other stuff in to get the word count or page count up.

  47. All of these things are intentional and purposeful.

  48. And so he is being trained, he is working as a shepherd.

  49. God is preparing his leader to be a shepherd.

  50. And it's at this point, I love it when in the study of God's word, if you were to say, oh, that makes me think about so-and-so.

  51. Or that makes me think about this.

  52. Why?

  53. Because who else was a shepherd?

  54. A leader that was raised up as a shepherd?

  55. Abraham.

  56. Moses, right here.

  57. Later on, King David.

  58. That it seems to be God's MO for certain points in redemptive history to raise up leaders who are shepherds.

  59. God needed a shepherd.

  60. Or let me rephrase that.

  61. God wanted to use a shepherd.

  62. We'll see a little bit later.

  63. God is in need of nothing.

  64. Psalm 77, verse 20.

    Psalms 77:20

  65. There the psalmist writes, God, you led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

  66. God needed to prepare Moses.

  67. And so God, he has been doing this in the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 7.

    Acts 7 chapter mention

  68. Remember Stephen's sermon there?

  69. He is again and again talking about and reflecting on the life of Moses.

  70. And there he talks about how Moses was in the wilderness for 40 years.

  71. So he was in Pharaoh's household and grew up, and then he was 40 when he went on the run.

  72. He was in the wilderness serving and learning how to be a shepherd another 40 years.

  73. And so right now, he is around 80 years old.

  74. And God has been preparing him through manual labor, creating muscle memory that would help him to lead the people of God.

  75. You know what it makes me think about a little bit?

  76. It makes me think some about the karate kid.

  77. You know the karate kid?

  78. You get a lot of knowing head nods right here.

  79. Danielson, right?

  80. You know, and we have the karate kid, and he is doing all of these manual labor tasks for Mr.

  81. Miyagi, right?

  82. And he's like, what on earth are you doing?

  83. And he said, Wax on, wax off, right?

  84. You can finish it.

  85. There's the wax on, the wax off, and he cannot understand why Mr.

  86. Miyagi is making him do all of this manual labor.

  87. And then it's at the very end, he kind of reaches a peak, and he's like, I just don't understand.

  88. Actually, I'm leaving.

  89. I am done with this.

  90. And Mr.

  91. Miyagi calls him over there.

  92. And what he did not realize at the time is he starts to strike him, wax on, wax off.

  93. That he is creating muscle memory, doing the menial tasks that he will then be able to use to accomplish his goals.

  94. So too for Moses, he is in the wilderness, learning how to be a shepherd, being prepared and shaped in ways that he could not even imagine.

  95. And now God is going to draw him out, and he's going to do it through something that looks a little strange.

  96. Look at verse 2.

  97. And the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

  98. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

  99. And Moses said, I will turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burned.

  100. Now, Moses, he's been in the wilderness for 40 years.

  101. He's been tending these flocks out here.

  102. And the thing about it is, in this particular climate, burning bushes were not that uncommon.

  103. There were a lot of reasons why bushes could be burning.

  104. But did you notice what the text says?

  105. The strange thing isn't that there's a bush that's burning.

  106. The strange thing is there is a bush that's burning that's not being burnt up.

  107. It's not being consumed.

  108. And so that's why he said, I'm going to turn aside, I'm going to take a little bit of a closer look.

  109. I'm going to investigate here.

  110. And Moses is about to get a little bit more than he bargained for.

  111. This is the angel, the messenger of the Lord, though Moses doesn't realize that yet.

  112. The angel of the Lord.

  113. Mentioned 67 times in the Old Testament.

  114. That this is mysterious.

  115. And the word right here could be angel.

  116. The Hebrew word is Maloch, but it could be, it's used of angels, it could be used of as messenger as well.

  117. And so this right here, the angel of the Lord, the messenger, may have been a member of the heavenly hosts, an angel, but we look next in verse 4, and we see that it is God that is calling to him out of the midst of the bush.

  118. So what we're able to see right here is that the messenger is so closely identified with God that this is considered what theologians call a theophany, a visible manifestation of the presence of God, a God appearance.

  119. God is showing up, and God is about to speak to Moses.

  120. Yo, this is the first time that we are hearing God's voice in the book of Exodus.

  121. I don't know if you felt it in the previous weeks as we've been going through this study, that we are able to see God's movement and God's unseen hand as he is shaping and directing and leading all throughout these events, but we are now about to hear his voice.

  122. We're about to hear from God Himself.

  123. And so what we're able to already see about this God who speaks is that he is a flame that needs no fuel.

  124. That's what's significant about this bush that's not being burned up.

  125. Have you ever thought about that?

  126. I mean, that for you to have a flame, you have to burn some sort of fuel.

  127. There is no true eternal flame.

  128. I know there's the eternal flame at the Kennedy Memorial, but it's burning gas.

  129. And it's at that point, if the gas stopped, the flame stops.

  130. Not so with God.

  131. He is self-sufficient, he is self-existent.

  132. He does not depend on anything outside of himself.

  133. God has no need or lack.

  134. This is the attribute, the characteristic, the description of God that theologians call the asseity of God.

  135. And if any of you want bonus points, I have about 20 copies of an article up here on this front pew that you can come grab after the service about this often neglected attribute of God called the asseity of God.

  136. Further reading, you can read it, come back to me, let me know what you think.

  137. But God is not in need of anyone or anything.

  138. We'll see this more and more as we go.

  139. But God, He is utterly unique.

  140. He is the only one like this.

  141. We all as creatures are dependent, but He alone is independent.

  142. We all rely on something or someone else.

  143. He relies on no one.

  144. And so Moses, he's about to learn more, and this is what we're able to see in verse 4.

  145. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush and said, Moses.

  146. Moses.

  147. And he said, Here I am.

  148. Then he said, Do not come near.

  149. Take your sandals off your feet.

  150. For the place that you are standing on is holy ground.

  151. And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

  152. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

  153. So the angel, the messenger of the Lord, God here, calling out of the bush, Moses, Moses.

  154. And then what does God say?

  155. Don't come any closer.

  156. And take off your sandals.

  157. Why?

  158. Because the place that you're standing on is holy ground.

  159. And this is so significant.

  160. If we were to start in Genesis and work our way through, this is the second time in the Bible that the word holy is used.

  161. We're able to see it refers to the Sabbath day in the creation account at the very beginning of Genesis.

  162. And that word is not picked up again until here with a direct reference to God as holy.

  163. The place that Moses is standing is holy ground.

  164. And what is holiness?

  165. You know, some words, some synonyms around it would be pure, clinging, and light.

  166. But it means in context like separate, transist, transcendent, set apart, exceeding the usual limits.

  167. It's in a class of all its own.

  168. It's a whole different category.

  169. And so the ground right here is holy.

  170. No, it's holy ground because God is there, making it a special place.

  171. God is the holy one.

  172. And wherever he is, and whatever he touches, then becomes holy set apart.

  173. And then God tells Moses to take off his sandals.

  174. And I wondered why.

  175. I work through this text and I write down questions, right?

  176. And you ever just slow down and start walking through the text?

  177. And I start asking the question, why sandals?

  178. Why did God ask Moses to take off his sandals?

  179. And you know, there are some commentators, there are some teachers who would give this reason or that reason.

  180. And after considering and looking at all these different things, I've concluded we don't really know.

  181. We don't exactly know why God asked Moses to take off his sandals, but that's not the point.

  182. But there is something that we can know from this: that we are to approach God on his terms.

  183. And we are to respond in obedience.

  184. So if he says, take off your shoes, we take off our shoes.

  185. We follow in obedience.

  186. And it says, Moses, he obeys, but he hides his face and is afraid.

  187. And so this is the expected response when you come face to face with a holy God.

  188. When you are encountered by the divine, when you get a glimpse of him, and the full picture of who you are in relation to him as a holy God.

  189. And so God, he calls out to Moses, and God is about to share his plan with Moses.

  190. Look at verse 7.

  191. Then the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters.

  192. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them, to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

  193. And these verbs of what God is talking about, it's connected back to Exodus 2 that we saw last week.

  194. That God saw, He heard, He remembered, He knew.

  195. And so He reiterates those to Moses here and now.

  196. I see, I hear, I know, and I am about to decisively act.

  197. I am faithful, I will deliver.

  198. Do you see all of the eyes right here?

  199. That I, I, I, and it is perfectly appropriate for God to use I, me, and mine as much as he wants.

  200. I will deliver them.

  201. Verse 8.

  202. The most important right here.

  203. God is taking the initiative.

  204. God is acting, God will do it, but he's gonna do it in a particular way.

  205. Look at verse 9.

  206. Just after he said, I will come down and deliver them.

  207. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.

  208. Come, Moses, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

  209. I have come down to deliver them.

  210. Moses, I'm sending you.

  211. Do you see that?

  212. That God says, I will do this, and the way that I have chosen to do this is through you.

  213. Come, I'm sending you to Pharaoh.

  214. So let's put together all of what we've learned through the first part of Exodus chapter 3, right here.

    Exodus 3 chapter mention

  215. Moses has been in a season of preparation without even knowing it.

  216. God is a fire that needs no fuel.

  217. In his assayity, he is entirely self-sufficient and self-existent.

  218. He does not have need of anything.

  219. God is holy.

  220. And wherever he is, whatever he touches becomes holy.

  221. He sees, he hears, he knows, and he will deliver.

  222. And he is going to deliver them by sending Moses.

  223. And so if we could summarize all of this together, you can write in this truth.

  224. God doesn't need anyone, but chooses to use us for his good pleasure.

  225. God can do whatever he wants.

  226. And he wants to use us.

  227. God doesn't have any need.

  228. But the thing about it is, only a God who doesn't have any need is the God that is worthy of your worship.

  229. He is not needy.

  230. He does not have any lack.

  231. And he, out of his good pleasure, has created everything and is now going to redeem his people.

  232. That this God, after 400 years, speaks to Moses.

  233. He says, I'm going to deliver my people, and I'm going to do it through you.

  234. And so let's see what happens next.

  235. We in verses 11 through 15, we see that after 40 years, Moses questions and God reveals.

  236. So there were 400 years of silence.

  237. Now we see 40 years of preparation in the wilderness, and Moses, he's got some questions.

  238. Verse 11, but Moses said to God, Who am I?

  239. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

  240. Verse 12, the Lord says, But I will be with you.

  241. And this shall be a sign for you that I have sent you.

  242. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

  243. So Moses, he hears this, and his world is being rocked right now.

  244. And the first question, the first thing that slips out of his mouth before the Lord, who am I?

  245. That's really interesting.

  246. Various Hebrew scholars, as they've looked at this phrase, this question.

  247. There are many ways that it could be constructed, written down.

  248. But the way that it's written down right here is a very close way to the same question in Exodus chapter 2.

    Exodus 2 chapter mention

  249. When Moses comes out that next day after he killed somebody, and he sees two Hebrews fighting, and he comes to break it up, and one of them says, Who are you?

  250. Who made you prince and ruler over us?

  251. It's led these Bible scholars to say that Moses has internalized this question for 40 years.

  252. That he is captive to his previous mistakes.

  253. That he cannot think or get past, like, yeah, I've messed up.

  254. I thought that I was somebody.

  255. I thought that I could do something, and then I was cut down to size, I was humbled, and now I'm just gonna stay over here in hiding and on my own.

  256. And even when God comes and says, I'm gonna send you, he is listening to the voices of people and the echoes that have been shared decades before, more than the word of God that is coming to him right then and there.

  257. Who am I?

  258. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?

  259. You see, Moses, he is not considering as much the God who is calling him here in this moment, but he is sizing himself up against the one that he is supposed to go and ask for deliverance from.

  260. Who am I to go to Pharaoh?

  261. And he's baffled in this moment.

  262. I'm just one man.

  263. There's no way.

  264. Moses, he's a man of shattered confidence in him, a realist.

  265. But I love how God responds to Moses.

  266. Notice what God does not do.

  267. God is not like a high school baseball coach right here.

  268. If you have a pitcher or a batter who's lacking confidence, you know, maybe you have a coach that comes up, hands on the shoulders.

  269. You got this, son.

  270. Go get him.

  271. That what God is doing right here is not being like, go get them, champ.

  272. You've got this.

  273. You're strong, you're wise, you're ready, you're prepared.

  274. No, but in this moment, God doesn't say any of that, but what does he say?

  275. But I will be with you.

  276. It shows us that God, often the way that he works, is not trying to instill self-confidence, but trying to instill God confidence.

  277. And this is the kind of God confidence that comes by the assurance of his presence with us.

  278. It's the same thing that God would say to Joshua.

  279. Spoiler alert, they are delivered from the land of Egypt.

  280. They come through the Red Sea, they're not perfect, they have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, a generation passes.

  281. Moses, he is not able to go into the promised land, but he has a successor, Joshua.

  282. And Joshua takes up the mantle of leadership, shepherding God's people into the promised land.

  283. And there at the very beginning of Joshua, Joshua chapter 1, we read this: a verse that I learned when I was in children's ministry all those years ago.

    Joshua 1 chapter mention

  284. Be strong and courageous.

  285. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed.

  286. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

  287. It's that assurance of God's presence with us.

  288. That's what drives out fear.

  289. That is ultimately what will give us confidence.

  290. Not, oh, you're so smart, so beautiful, so talented, so educated, so well placed, you have a great family and connections and a network.

  291. No, God is with you, and that's enough.

  292. God is with us.

  293. And so God assures Moses of his presence.

  294. And he tells him of a sign.

  295. He's like, okay, Moses, I'll give you a sign.

  296. But you know what's puzzling?

  297. He says, This shall be a sign for you that I have sent you.

  298. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

  299. It's like, God, that's not the kind of sign that I'm talking about.

  300. I'd love a sign on the front end, but you're telling me the only way that I'm gonna know that I'm gonna have a sign, that I'm gonna have assurance, is after I've walked in obedience and I have accomplished the task that you've called me to, and we come back in worship, that that's when I will have the sign.

  301. You see, confidence comes from God's abiding presence, and confirmation comes after faith-filled obedience.

  302. Like if Moses, if he needed to be reassured that he was the right man for the job and that God would be with him, he simply had to take God's word in faith.

  303. He had to move forward in faith.

  304. And so this is all starting to settle in Moses' heart and mind.

  305. But he's got some more questions, and boy, is he going to get an answer.

  306. Look at verse 13.

  307. Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name?

  308. What shall I tell them?

  309. And so Moses, he moves from, Who am I?

  310. to who are you?

  311. If I go to the people of Israel, and they ask me who it is that is sent me, what do I say?

  312. You see, God's people, the nation of Israel, had been in a foreign, polytheistic, theocratic, pagan nation for 400 years.

  313. All of these demonic gods surrounding them all the time.

  314. And they are forgetful.

  315. They do not know.

  316. They are not in this instance following.

  317. They're calling out to God, but they haven't heard anything in a long time.

  318. He has been silent to their ears.

  319. And so they might be wondering, well, who is this God that is sent to you, sent you to us?

  320. And so Moses, he's wanting some identification.

  321. And he's about to get more than he bargained for because look at verse 14.

  322. God said to Moses, I am who I am.

  323. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you.

  324. God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, 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.

  325. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

  326. This is God's name.

  327. I am, or in Hebrew, Yahweh.

  328. I am who I am, the covenant name of God, the personal name of God, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob of Israel, that he is the great I am.

  329. And this personal name, it covers all time possibilities.

  330. It shows that he is beyond definition, that he is transcendent, but also that he is personal and present.

  331. He was the one who was, the one who is, the one who will be.

  332. I am being itself.

  333. He is I am.

  334. And we we look for so many things in this life.

  335. We seek after all different kinds of things in this life.

  336. But underneath them all, we will only find rest or satisfaction, that thing which our souls are truly looking for.

  337. The search will only be complete when we are at home with God, with the I am.

  338. And so this name of God, Yahweh, I am, also called the Lord, in your copy of God's word.

  339. Whenever you see the Lord in small caps, that is the Hebrew Yahweh, the covenant name of God, the personal name of God, the I am.

  340. And so the I am, he heard his people's cries and he chose to act through Moses.

  341. And Yahweh, he heard his people's cries in their sin and oppression from the devil, and he chose to act through his son.

  342. The plan from eternity past, the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, and in the fullness of time he would come.

  343. Because there would be another 400-year period of perceived silence before another deliverer was raised up.

  344. You can write it in after 400 years, Jesus comes and we respond.

  345. Because you see the intertestamental period, the end of the Old Testament.

  346. I know in your copy of God's word, you just flip the page.

  347. And maybe there's a blank page in between.

  348. But that blank page signifies 400 years before John the Baptist would come and prepare the way for the Lord.

  349. Before Jesus would come born of Mary and Joseph.

  350. Then in the fullness of time, word made flesh.

  351. The I am coming to us.

  352. And this is the Bible is awesome.

  353. You look at John chapter 8, verse 58, and we will see right here, write it in, that Jesus is the I am.

    John 8:58

  354. There are seven I am statements in the Gospel of John.

  355. Maybe you've done a Bible study of looking at these before.

  356. It would be an incredible sermon series for us to walk through at some point.

  357. But it is very purposeful, very intentional.

  358. And we get to John chapter 8, verses 58 through 59, and Jesus is telling this group, he's like, Abraham looked upon my day and was glad.

    John 8:58–59

  359. And they're like, hold up, you're about 30 years old, look about.

  360. What do you mean Abraham saw you and saw your day?

  361. Jesus said in verse 58, Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

  362. Verse 59.

  363. So they picked up stones to throw at him.

  364. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

  365. You might come across some people at different points that would say that Jesus never claimed to be God.

  366. They are not serious people.

  367. They are twisting the scriptures.

  368. They are not honest readers.

  369. They're not coming to God's word on his own terms.

  370. They're dull in their thinking.

  371. They're intellectually dishonest.

  372. The crowd here knew what Jesus was saying.

  373. That's why they picked up rocks to throw at him and kill him.

  374. Because he was claiming to be equal with God.

  375. He was claiming to be God himself.

  376. He was claiming to be Yahweh, the I am.

  377. And that's why they said he is committing blasphemy.

  378. They could not compute that Jesus was actually who he said he was.

  379. That's why they wanted to kill him, and they eventually would.

  380. But even though they thought that by killing Jesus, that they were snuffing out this small flame of Jesus' ministry and teaching, eliminating the threat, they were actually attempting to mess with the inexhaustible flame of God that is not dependent upon anyone or anything.

  381. It's why Jesus would say, No one can take my life from me.

  382. I alone can lay it down, and I alone can take it up again.

  383. That Jesus, He did this willingly for us.

  384. He did it at the cross.

  385. And he took it up again there at the empty tomb.

  386. That he had the authority and the will and the joy to lay it down in sacrifice for our sins and to pick it up again for our victory over the grave.

  387. That Jesus, He is the great I Am.

  388. And now we have the great joy and privilege to share this with a lost and hurting world.

  389. And you might feel unworthy this morning.

  390. You might feel like I've got a past.

  391. There might be some of those questions that people have asked you.

  392. There are those statements that hurt you maybe decades earlier.

  393. And it's going to be hard for you to overcome those, but because Jesus rose again from the dead, anything is possible.

  394. And Jesus, as the great I am, can use you for his purposes.

  395. You might feel unworthy, but you need to remember to write it in.

  396. You might be asking, Who am I?

  397. But remember, he is I am.

  398. There will be moments of doubt.

  399. There will be moments of confusion.

  400. There will be moments of rejection.

  401. You might turn inward and start to question yourself, to question God, but remember in those moments when you don't feel blank enough, I'm not smart enough.

  402. I'm not educated enough.

  403. I'm not pure enough.

  404. I am not enough.

  405. He is I am.

  406. I am not.

  407. He is I am.

  408. Remember that.

  409. More than anything else in your life or what others are trying to speak over your life.

  410. What he says is what ultimately matters.

  411. Our sufficiency is not coming from us, but it's coming from God.

  412. Paul would say this in 2 Corinthians 3.

  413. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

  414. Not that we are sufficient in and of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, here it is.

  415. But our sufficiency is from God.

  416. He is self-sufficient.

  417. We are dependent on him.

  418. Because of what he has done, we are now sufficient.

  419. Remember, he is I am.

  420. And next, remember, God is with us.

  421. Just as God told Moses that he would be with him, just as God told Joshua that he would be with him, and with many others throughout the Bible, we now have Jesus as Emmanuel, which means God with us.

  422. And we have this promise from him that some of those last words that we have recorded from Jesus there in the Great Commission, Matthew chapter 28, after he tells his disciples to go and make disciples, he concludes with this and says, Teach them to observe all that I've commanded you, and what is the last thing that he says?

    Matthew 28 chapter mention

  423. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

  424. Remember that he is with us.

  425. I'm not up here trying to pump you full of sunshine and self-confidence this morning.

  426. But I'm praying to be used by God to grow your God confidence this morning and the assurance of his presence with you through whatever it is that you're walking through.

  427. He is with us.

  428. Next, we're able to see God doesn't need anyone, but chooses to use us for his good pleasure.

  429. And God's wisdom and his providence and his delight, he has seen fit to use us.

  430. He can do whatever he wants in whatever way that he wants, through whatever means he wants.

  431. God doesn't need you.

  432. God doesn't need me.

  433. He doesn't need me.

  434. He can use anybody.

  435. He alone is God.

  436. But he prepares good works for us to walk in.

  437. Look at Ephesians chapter 2.

    Ephesians 2 chapter mention

  438. For we, that's all of us.

  439. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

  440. He could have done it anyway, but this is the way that he chose.

  441. Following his son, our Savior, and serving, doing good works, not to earn our place in his family, but to express our standing in his family.

  442. That we now are used by God for his glory.

  443. And lastly, I just want you to reflect how might God be preparing and positioning you for his plan in ways that Moses could not even imagine.

  444. Makes me think about Paul in the New Testament.

  445. There in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he's reminding the Corinthian church about the gospel, about all the people that Jesus appeared to after he was raised from the dead.

    1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention

  446. And then he gets to verse 8 and he says, Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

  447. For I am the least of all the apostles.

  448. I'm unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

  449. I got a past.

  450. I've done some stuff.

  451. Verse 10.

  452. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.

  453. And his grace toward me was not in vain.

  454. By the grace of God, I am what I am today.

  455. Because of the I am.

  456. Not because of any good that I've done or brought to the table, but in spite of those things.

  457. God is able to use you.

  458. Are you open?

  459. Are you willing?

  460. Will you let Him use you?

  461. When we meet the Lord, it's often more than we could ever imagine.

  462. Ain't more than we could ever bargain for.

  463. And it might come out of nowhere.

  464. And nothing could prepare you for how much your life will change.

  465. But it will change for the better.

  466. Because he is the better.

  467. I just pray.

  468. So gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for speaking to us.

  469. We thank you that as you moved in Moses and through Moses, as you move through Joshua, as you move through your people, as you have shown us who you are through your Son more clearly, I pray now that you would draw us to greater levels of trust and confidence in you.

  470. Help us to forsake the dead end ways of the world.

  471. God, help us to listen to you more than we listen to any of the other voices surrounding us, or even the voices inside of our head.

  472. Would you speak a better word?

  473. And would you change us as we worship you?

  474. We love you, Lord.

  475. And it's in Christ's name that we pray.

  476. Thanks for listening to the Spring Valley Baptist Church podcast.

  477. Spring Valley Baptist Church is a growing, multi-generational, multicultural church located at 91 Polo Road in Northeast Columbia, South Carolina.

  478. And led by Pastor Blake Jenkins.

  479. We'd love for you to join us each Sunday morning for our worship service at 9.30 a.m.

  480. and our life groups at 11 a.m.

  481. If you want to learn more about our church, visit springvallybaptist.com.

  482. If you want to know more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, email us at communications at springvalleybaptist.com.

  483. Thanks for listening.