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[0:00] We're going to begin Exodus chapter 3 tonight, and as we do let me just remind you that Moses! Moses has left Egypt and is headed toward Midian.

[0:24] ! And the life of Jacob, his predecessor, and recognize that, you know, the similarities there, but the important aspect is it's the place.

[0:41] When we looked at Jacob's life, remember, he was running from his brother Esau because Esau was about to put him to death because of what he had done to him.

[0:52] And on the trip there, he has really two encounters with God. The first encounter was where God appears to him, you know, in that dream of the ladder ascending from earth to the heavens, the angels of God ascending, descending upon those, and God speaks to him and makes promises to him.

[1:16] And the essence of that promise is, I'll be with you everywhere you go. I'll watch over you. I'll take care of you, provide for you, and I will bring you back into the land of your father.

[1:29] And so Jacob responds by saying, if God does exactly what he says he would do, then I will claim him as my God.

[1:39] All right. And so that's Jacob's first encounter there. Second encounter is where he wrestles with God. And that's a picture of his dying to himself, being broken, having an experience of brokenness, where he learns that he cannot continue on and serve God and fulfill the will of God in the power of the flesh.

[2:04] He's got to be broken so that his will is surrendered to the will of God. And so that's what happens on that second occasion. Of course, he ends up with a wife through all of that and so forth in that sojourn.

[2:17] So we saw last week the parallel with Moses in that he then begins to come. He comes to the land of Midian after he leaves Egypt, comes to Midian, and there he ends up with a wife.

[2:34] And now he's about to have his first encounter with God. An encounter that is very personal, but involves a calling of God upon his life and promises that are made to him.

[2:48] Same as happened with Jacob. A calling of God upon his life and promises that were made to him.

[3:00] And so we come to chapter 3, if you will, and we begin to see more of that transpire in the life of Moses.

[3:12] Now, the children of Israel still groaning in Egypt because of the bondage and oppression that they find themselves in. But God has already begun the process of bringing about a deliverance for the people of Israel or the seed of Abraham, the Israelites, if you will, and making their deliverance a reality.

[3:35] And he's already begun the preparation for that. He's already chosen Moses as the instrument that he will do that deliverance through.

[3:45] And that deliverance will come to pass here before, well, it'll be a while, but it's going to come to pass. God has already begun the preparation.

[3:56] In reality, he's already prepared Moses for that task. Moses doesn't know that yet, but he does. Two-fold idea here of the preparation. In his life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, living no doubt in Pharaoh's court, Scripture tells us that he was educated in the ways of the Egyptians.

[4:21] And so God has educated him in the ways of the Egyptians, which will help him in the way that God is going to use him dealing with Pharaoh.

[4:34] All right? The second aspect of that preparation is what takes place with him in Midian. Moses recognizes, he has realized that he is in banishment here.

[4:48] You know, he comes to Midian, finds a wife. His father-in-law, Jethro, if you will, has welcomed him, has taken care of him, provided a means of living for him as a keeper of the sheep.

[5:03] But in reality, he still knows. Moses still recognizes that he is in banishment. All right? He's been banished. He's left Egypt, can't go back.

[5:15] So he thinks. All right? And so he learns a little bit of humility in that. All right? And what it is to really be able to more so relate to his Hebrew brothers that are still in Egypt.

[5:34] I mean, up to this point, he's not really been able to relate to them in that. He knows he's a Hebrew. There's that inward relationship there that we've talked about before, that brotherhood, if you will.

[5:49] But to really be able to recognize what it is to be in servitude like they were, he had not yet been able to experience that until he comes to Midian.

[6:01] Then, of course, he has named his first son in relation to that. The picture of the fact that he is a sojourner, he is being banished.

[6:14] All right? Now, come to chapter 3. We see that God now makes known to Moses what it is that he's going to do with him and through him.

[6:28] So verse 1 of chapter 3 tells us, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

[6:42] Now, recognize with me here. It simply says, Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law. The way it's written in the original gives us the idea that he's been doing this for a while.

[6:59] So he has been a shepherd for a good while now. He has settled in in Midian. This is now his life. He's a shepherd. Now, on this occasion, he takes, not for the first time, but he takes his father-in-law's sheep and takes them to the pasture land around Mount Horeb.

[7:21] To get to that pasture land, as he leaves Jethro's household, drives those sheep to that pasture land, he has to go through a desert area.

[7:33] I think this interesting. He goes through a desert region before he gets to the rich pasture lands of Horeb. What a picture that paints for us, because we realize what's going to happen at Horeb.

[7:47] Moses doesn't realize it yet, but it's just about to happen here. He's going to have that first encounter, that first personal encounter with God.

[8:00] Because, or as a result of that, Mount Horeb becomes the dwelling place or the place of God's presence, as far as Moses is concerned.

[8:12] So, to get from Jethro's home, that place of banishment, to the place where the presence of God is, you've got to go through a desert. You've got to go through a desert.

[8:25] And what a picture that is for us. Before we can really come to that experience with God, that he wants us to have with him, that brings to us a realization of what he really wants to do with us.

[8:43] He takes us through some desert land. Amen. How many have ever really been through a desert? How many have lived in a desert? Ah, I lived in a desert for 16 months.

[8:57] Yeah. Played with the groundhogs. Even opened the door one day and saw a camel almost in our backyard. And of all places, it was Las Vegas, Nevada.

[9:08] Yeah. Stationed out there with the Air Force. A desolate place. If you don't really, if you can't force yourself to find some beauty in that, and some humor in that, it's a desolate place.

[9:22] Now, that's, you know, the place, the desert that Moses went through wasn't like Las Vegas. Amen. There were no bright lights or anything else that you saw.

[9:34] It was just a desolate place. Realize that, you know, going back to Jacob and going back to the other experience of Moses, for God to bring that brokenness to us, we've got to see ourselves.

[9:48] Amen. Amen. For what we are without Christ. Even after being saved, we have to come to that realization that even being saved with the presence of the Spirit of God within us, we have to turn loose of ourself.

[10:05] All right. To do that, a lot of times God has to take us through the desert places. And we'll talk a little bit more about that after a bit. All right. So he comes to that pasture land of Horeb after he goes through the desert.

[10:22] Now, notice it calls Mount Horeb the Mount of God. And it does that in anticipation here of the fact that God is going to manifest himself to Moses.

[10:35] Now, look in verses 2 through 5. And the angel of the Lord, or notice that's really the angel of Jehovah, appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.

[10:50] And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

[11:04] And when the Lord saw, or when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses.

[11:15] And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither. Put up thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

[11:30] Now, what an amazing thing. He's brought those sheep, those sheep are grazing there in that gloriously rich pasture land. And then all of a sudden, something catches Moses' eye.

[11:44] It's an old thorn bush. But it's not any ordinary thorn bush. I like what Henry Blackaby used to say when he talks about experiencing God. He said, Any old bush will do.

[11:55] Amen. Any old bush will do. Doesn't have to be a thorn bush like Moses. But this was the thorn bush. But there was something about that thorn bush. It wasn't the only thorn bush in the area.

[12:06] But there's something about this one. And he said he noticed that thing was on fire. It was burning. You know, not too unusual, I'm sure, because it's probably dry in that area at times.

[12:21] But it was burning, but it was not consumed. What a marvelous thing. So he says to himself, Hmm, go figure. That's Lyon's translation here.

[12:35] Go figure. I think I'll go up here and see what this is all about. Okay. So that's what he does. He has no clue what's going to happen here. All of a sudden, he's going to have that personal encounter with God.

[12:50] Now, he knew who God was, no doubt. No doubt his mama, for that three months he had him, taught him some things about Jehovah God. And who else, who knows how else he knows.

[13:04] But anyway, he comes to that point where all of a sudden he's going to have the God manifest himself to him. So he goes up to that bush.

[13:15] And all of a sudden, as God sees him approach that bush, God speaks his name. Whoa. My sheep hear my voice and they know me and they follow me, Jesus says.

[13:30] All right. He says he knows his sheep by his name. Moses hears his name twice. Moses. That's to get his attention.

[13:41] Then Moses to get him to realize, hey, he's hauling me. You know. He said, in essence, stop where you're at. Don't come any further.

[13:53] You got to take off your shoes. Because the place wherein you stand is holy ground. It's holy ground. All right.

[14:05] What a picture we have here. You know, taking off the shoes is a customary thing because in the place of worship. Because you don't want to defile the place of worship with the dirt on your sandals or your shoes and so forth.

[14:21] But also, it pictures the reality for him here. It's not just a voice that's speaking to him. He is in the presence of the holy and righteous God.

[14:37] As a result, it's a place to be hallowed, if you will. Now, you're on holy ground here, Moses. All right. Yeah.

[14:52] What takes place? Notice it said, the angel of Jehovah appeared unto Moses. The picture we have, it doesn't seem to be a created angel, if you will.

[15:09] But in verse 4, when he talks about what his name is, we find that this angel of God that's speaking to Moses has all the attributes of the Godhead applied to him.

[15:25] He says there, I am the I am. All right. We'll look at that after a bit. Maybe. Maybe next week. But nonetheless, that's the case here.

[15:38] He has the most expressive attributes of the Godhead applied to him. Yet, it says he's an angel, literally the word, a messenger.

[15:49] In whom, in chapter 23, verse 21, we see the name of God expressed to him. So, who could this be?

[16:00] If you go to Malachi chapter 3, go there with me just a moment. Well, actually, go to Malachi chapter 2, the last part of Malachi chapter 2, and look at something with me here.

[16:20] Malachi chapter 2, look at verse 17. Of course, God has been speaking to Israel about how they have wearied him and so forth.

[16:32] And so he says in verse 17, you have wearied Jehovah with your words. Yet you say, where in have we wearied him? When you say, everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them.

[16:46] And that was their excuse, you know. It doesn't seem as if God's bringing any judgment. So, he must put approval on the evil deeds of the wicked.

[16:58] All right? So, they say, where is the judgment of God? Look at verse 1 of chapter 3. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.

[17:12] And the Lord, all right, the Lord whom you seek. That is, okay. The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come.

[17:23] That's unexpectedly. Shall suddenly come to what? To his temple. Even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in.

[17:35] Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Now, he speaks here of that angelic messenger, or the word angel being the word messenger. God, of course, we know the idea here.

[17:48] He's going to send John the Baptist to prepare the way for the coming of the Christ. He speaks of the Christ here as being his messenger. The angel, or the messenger of the covenant.

[18:03] Now, verse 2. Who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, like a fuller's soap.

[18:15] He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

[18:29] Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, as in the former years. That angel that will come as the messenger of the covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ.

[18:45] Amen? Yeah, that's who it is here in Malachi chapter 3. Got to believe in Exodus chapter 3, the one that he speaks of here is the same messenger, the Lord Jesus Christ that's speaking through that burning bush.

[19:05] All right? He's the Redeemer. He's the Savior of mankind. And the reason I say that is at this very same place where after a bit, God is going to establish his covenant with the seed of Abraham.

[19:25] All right? So, the messenger of the covenant, this no doubt has to be the Lord Jesus that has appeared in the burning bush to Moses.

[19:36] Now, there was a symbolic meaning to what takes place with that burning bush. A bush on fire, yet not consumed, that had God in the midst of it.

[19:52] So, when placed in contrast with the more noble and lofty trees, if you will, we see here a picture of the people of Israel or the Israelites at this point in their suffering in Egypt and the humiliation that they are suffering as God's people in that place.

[20:17] A people despised by the world. So, you see in the bush a picture of Israel in Egypt. In Isaiah chapter 10, verse 17, Scripture declares, So, recognize that fire is considered to be a burning and consuming figure of refining affliction and destroying punishment.

[20:55] So, it's a picture of the chasing of God upon the Israelites at this particular time.

[21:06] Now, so, they were, as you will, a burning fire in the affliction they had in Egypt. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 20, Scripture says, But the Lord hath taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance as you are this day.

[21:31] Now, remember, the bush was burning. It was on fire, but it was not consumed. All right? God will chasten his people as he does Israel or the Israelites here.

[21:46] He chastens his people, but he does not give them over to death. All right? He does that, of course. Why does he do that?

[21:56] I'm not going to give you the answer yet. Why does God do that? We've talked about that before. Why does God do that? Why does he let him burn in the fire but not consume him?

[22:13] What's his purpose? Discipline's part of it. What else? What else? Boy, you're close. You're close.

[22:24] The whole purpose of God in that, and in us as well, is to draw their heart to him.

[22:34] That's what he wants. God wants our heart. And that's what he endeavors to do through the things, circumstances he allows us to go through in life.

[22:47] And all of those things, like he did Israel in Egypt. To draw their heart, to draw our heart to him. Not just our mind.

[22:58] Not just our physical being in service to him. But in all that, the most important aspect of that is that he draw our heart to him.

[23:08] Amen? It's with the heart man believes under righteousness. All right? All right? Now, it's with the heart. And that's what he endeavors to do here.

[23:20] Now, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's now come to deliver his people out of the hand of the Egyptians. Now, although the affliction that they were undergoing was at the hand of Pharaoh, always recognize it was also, if you will, a fire that was kindled by the Lord.

[23:43] A fire of discipline. A purpose of purifying his people. Drawing their heart to him. And also to prepare it. To prepare the people who will become the covenant nation for the calling that God has upon their life.

[24:00] Now, again, the appearance here of God to Moses in this burning bush not only had a reference to the circumstances of Israel in Egypt, but it was a prelude to the manifestation of God on the mount, not only with Moses, but on Mount Sinai with the people of Israel and the establishment of the covenant with them, which we'll get to see one day.

[24:38] All right? Now, it's for that reason, really, that God chooses this spot to be the spot where he has the first encounter with Moses, first personal encounter with Moses, because this is the place where the covenant is going to be established.

[24:56] Now, again, draw not hither, put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place wherein thou standest is holy ground. All right?

[25:07] Now, verse 6. Moreover, he said, here's how he identifies himself. I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[25:22] And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Now, God now makes himself known to Moses, lets him know who it is that's talking to him.

[25:33] He said, I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But notice, if you will, the way it's rendered in the Scripture. I am the God of your father, singular.

[25:46] And then lists Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why? Why does he always do that? He doesn't always do it, but he does it a number of times in Scripture. Why?

[25:59] He calls him, I'm the God of your father, and then names three individuals, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What's the significance there? What's the significance of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

[26:19] Okay. Yeah. He made the covenant with Abraham, or Abram. Okay? Makes him Abraham. Passes that covenant on to Isaac, and then to Jacob as well.

[26:33] All right? What was the contents of the covenant? What did the covenant consist of?

[26:46] Ah, yeah. Promised to give them a land. Yeah. Canaan would be their land. And so, when he identifies himself as the God of his father, and then lumps the three together, and it's the idea, it's because of those covenants, the covenant that was passed on to all three, they are considered then as one.

[27:08] All right? Because of that covenant promise. And so, because of that, and because that covenant is there, full of promises, God identifies himself the way that he does.

[27:23] The father, God of your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to bring to his mind here a remembrance of the covenant that he had promised to them.

[27:38] Now, I've got to believe, you know, don't you wish at times God had given us more of the history here involving all of this? I've got to believe, because we've already recognized the idea here that Moses knew he was Hebrew.

[27:56] There was no question there. And then, even while he was in Egypt, you remember, he had a desire to go and walk amongst the Hebrews to see their plight.

[28:09] And that's where he kind of got in trouble by slaying the Egyptian that was giving a problem to a couple of his Hebrew brothers. So he had an idea here.

[28:21] He had to have an idea to some degree, some way, somehow, of the reality of the covenant promises that God had made from Abraham and then all the way through Jacob.

[28:36] Has to believe that. I've just got to believe that he knew somewhat of that. May not have known all the details of what the covenant was, but he knew that God had made a covenant with them as the people of God.

[28:52] Now, so, that's who Moses now knows is speaking to him. I am the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[29:05] All right? Now, in expressing that, he gives him the reality and the mind that, yeah, I'm the God of the covenant promise, but I also, I'm about to fulfill or put into motion the fulfillment of that covenant as far as the land is concerned.

[29:26] All right? Now, verses 7 through 10. The Lord said, I, well, yeah, the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

[30:11] A lot of sites there. Amen? I wonder what it was about the name sites. All right? Yeah. Now, therefore, so God says, this is what I'm going to do. I've come to deliver them.

[30:23] All right? And take them into the land of the covenant. Now, so now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them.

[30:41] Okay? I've seen that. It's not as if he didn't always know that. I think he did. But it's just the reality it's time. All right? It's on my timetable now to begin the process of deliverance for them.

[30:56] So, so here's what he says. That being the case, come now, therefore. There you go. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

[31:17] Wow. Here's the express purpose of his manifestation to Moses. I'm going to bring him out of Egypt into the land of Canaan, the land of their inheritance.

[31:35] And I also know how I'm going to do it. And here's where the problem arises for Moses. All right? Come now.

[31:47] I will send you unto Pharaoh. But before you get there, hang on a second. I'm going to send them to a good land and a large land. All right?

[31:58] It's a good land because it's a land that flows with milk and honey. It's a picture here of the idea of the fertility of the land that he's going to take them to. All right? It's a rich land, a fertile land, a good place.

[32:12] And it's large in comparison to the confines of Egypt. All right? So, it's a good picture of deliverance here. You're not just going to bring them out, but he's going to take them someplace that's really nice, really good, really rich.

[32:27] All right? So, for that to happen, you need to come on. Come, and I will send you to Pharaoh that thou might bring us forth, my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

[32:43] Now, what a pickle he's in. Amen? What a pickle. Everything sounded good until that point. Come on.

[32:54] Come now. Come here. I'm going to send you to Pharaoh. Now, if you were a staunch believer in Cecil B. DeMille, and the Ten Commandments, the movie, you would think, all right, he's going to send him to the Pharaoh that he used to live with.

[33:22] Remember, he's died. Remember that? This Pharaoh that Moses is going to be sent to, he doesn't know.

[33:34] Nor does that Pharaoh know him. Remember, we talked about that new administration that came on the scene that always does their own thing differently.

[33:50] He didn't even want anything to do with Moses. He didn't even know who he was. He knew nothing of his history. Nothing. He didn't want to. So this, you know, the reality is Moses Moses doesn't have any standing with this guy.

[34:08] You know, you would think, all right, if this was the same Pharaoh he lived with, you know, in spite of the fact that Pharaoh wanted to put him to death, you know. You know, that was a good while back.

[34:20] Things probably blew over. I could go try to reason with him. Yeah. But that's not the case. With this one, he has no standing with Pharaoh.

[34:33] Pharaoh. Hmm. Things have changed. They're different. Now he's supposed to go to him.

[34:46] But you realize something here? That's exactly the way God wanted it. Why do you think God waited until that Pharaoh was dead and off the scene for a long time?

[34:58] You know, when God calls us, he saves us, he calls us into his service. He doesn't use us in light of our standing in life and in society.

[35:16] Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Somebody tell me what it is that God blesses and God uses. What is it that God blesses and God uses?

[35:26] Humility. Humility. Pardon?

[35:37] Faith. Yeah. Moses is going to need that. He'll find that out. But what else? True.

[35:47] Everything you're saying is true, but it's not the right answer. Go to John chapter two. John chapter two. Jesus begins his earthly ministry here.

[36:07] John chapter two. Beginning verse one. The third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there.

[36:20] Both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, they have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, I love this, woman, what have I to do with thee?

[36:36] My hour has not yet come. All right. Hey, mom, what do you expect here? You know, again, lines translation. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

[36:50] Here's what he says. There were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

[37:04] Jesus said unto them, fill the water pots with water, and they fill them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it.

[37:17] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that had been made wine, he knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew. The governor of the feast called the bridegroom and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk then that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

[37:44] The picture here is this. The thing that God works through most of all is an empty vessel. An empty vessel like the empty water pots.

[37:59] Takes an empty water pot and fills it up with water and performs the miracle through that. That's what Jesus declares to us there.

[38:12] Now, over in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, turn there just a moment. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Look what Paul says in verse 1 and following.

[38:40] And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

[38:55] And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

[39:14] Now think about that just a moment. Paul's saying here, I didn't come to you with polished speech. I just laid it out plain and simple.

[39:26] If there's anyone of that day that could have spoken with eloquent words, it was Paul. I mean, he was it, man. He could have been the best lawyer of Judaism and won every case.

[39:40] He could have been a Judaistic Perry Mason. Amen? Where all you've got to do is present some evidence and cause all of the guilty people to stand up and say, I did it.

[39:51] Yeah. But he didn't do that. He lost all that. All the things that were gained to me, remember, those I counted loss for Christ, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, so that I could have the person of Christ at residence within me, at work within me, doing the things through me that he wants to do, so that I could know him by experience to the degree a human being can know Christ.

[40:23] That was his desire. That's what God uses. Amen? Empty vessels, humility, people that have emptied themselves of themselves.

[40:35] Quickly go over to Philippians chapter 2. Been here before, but let's remind ourselves of it. Philippians chapter 2. This is one of my favorite passages of scripture.

[40:50] Philippians 2, verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

[41:18] And as a result of that, God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name. The literal picture of that is this. Jesus, when he came and took on the body of flesh, he removed, if you will, what would be the garment of the outward expression of deity.

[41:42] In other words, we think, we have the thought, and I think rightfully so, when it comes to the time that we see God, or even when we see Christ in heaven, we'll know he's God because of the expression outwardly that that brings to him.

[42:00] When he came in his earthly sojourn, he removed that outer expression of deity. Now, he didn't remove deity, just the outward expression of it.

[42:14] He put on the outward expression of a servant in the form of a man and walked and sojourned this earth in the power of the Spirit of God in humanity, in his humanity.

[42:29] humanity. The idea there is he, in his taking on the humanity, he emptied himself of himself. Now, be careful of that.

[42:42] Again, he never did relinquish the fact of his deity. He was always God, God in the flesh. But as he puts on that humanity, he emptied himself of what he was and that expression of that.

[42:59] And everything he did in his earthly ministry, he did under the direction, leadership, and presence of the Spirit of God. That's what God requires of us.

[43:16] If any man follow after me, let him first deny himself. In other words, empty himself of himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

[43:29] Yeah. That's what he requires. That's what he's going to require of Moses, and that's what he's going to require and does require of us.

[43:42] But, Moses, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? God meets that lack of trust by promising something.

[43:56] I will be with you. Amen? Moses, I'll be with you. Now, new concept to him, no doubt, but he'll learn, all right, just like we do.

[44:10] And he'll confirm that with a sign, and that sign is that, and here's the promise, the sign given in a promise. Moses, you're going to go talk to Pharaoh, you're going to lead Israel out, and here's a sign of that success, the promise of that success.

[44:33] When you bring them out, you will meet with me again on this mountain. You and the people will come to this mountain and worship me. Yeah. Yeah.

[44:44]  Great picture there. Amen? So, we'll pick up there next time we sojourn together headed toward the promised land. Amen? Amen?