Exodus chapter 3 verses 2 and 3, And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn. By the time we come to chapter 3 in Exodus, Moses is well used to obscene obscurity. That day he ran like a scared rabbit into the desert of Midian. Since then he discovered he was on the fast track to nowhere. It's quite probable that many a long year has passed since Moses concluded God has definitely no plans for me. In fact, is it not just possible that by now, after 40 years in the desert of Midian, is it not just possible that Moses has forgotten all about the zeal he once had to deliver his people Israel out of Egypt. I feel sure that if you or I were able, if we said to Moses the day before what happened in Exodus chapter 3, I'm sure if we said to him, Moses, God has some really big plans for you, I'm quite sure that Moses would very, very probably reply something like, Talk sense man, talk sense. Tell me, can you tell me where I'll get some grass to feed this flock? It's 15 odd years since I was around the back of that hill. Been there lately. Has any grass grown? Look at the sheep, they're starving. Where will I get them fed? Say something edifying to me. Don't talk about dreams. I don't know what Moses had for breakfast that morning. But I'm quite sure as he took it, he hadn't got the slightest inkling that this was going to be a big, big day for him. Indeed, a big, big day in history. Tell me, can you find, those of you who read the Bible carefully, can you find any indication from Genesis chapter 1 to Revelation chapter 22, can you find any indication at all that God said one word to Moses for the 40 years he was in the desert of Midian? If you find it, let me know. It seems God didn't speak one word to Moses for these 40 years. Do you know what we're looking at tonight? Do you know what we're looking at? We're looking at tonight, the day God broke a 40 year silence. That seems to be what we've got tonight. When God breaks His silence, you know, it's historic stuff. It goes down in history. Remember we have noted so often before, God's 400 year silence between the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament, between the last prophet Malachi God from time to time sent prophets to his decadent people to remind them, I haven't forgotten you, I'm sending a saviour. But whenever Malachi said his last word, and you know what his last word was, we've looked at it, it's the word curse. The last word in the Old Testament is the word curse. And for 400 years there's not a single voice from God But oh, when he breaks his 400 year silence, it's historic stuff. What's the first word of the New Testament prophet, Christ? Blessed! That's what God does. He changes the curse into the blessing. But there might be a spell of silence in between. And there you are tonight. saying, I've prayed to God all these years for this person's conversion. I've prayed to God all these years about this issue, and he doesn't seem to be speaking. Hold on, hold on. If God is silent, he's got historic things in store. The miracle of the burning bush. God, you know, never performs miracles simply to entertain. God never performs miracles simply to prove a point. He doesn't need to. God never performs miracles to frighten anyone, although some of them can be frightening. God performs miracles to establish His Word, and to establish His work, and to establish existing faith in His people. Now, we've noted already, Moses was very, very highly educated in Egypt. But I tell you this, he learned more at the University of the Burning Bush And he learnt and all the colleges of Egypt put together. Oh what Moses learnt at the burning bush. What he learnt about God. He didn't learn much in the colleges of Egypt about God. But at the burning bush he learnt about God's nature. He learnt about God's power. He learnt about God's way. He learnt about God's greatness and God's differentness. Now, the burning bush burned and yet was not consumed. What was that an illustration of? What was that a picture of? What was that a symbol of? Could it have been, as it were, a microcosm of Israel, as it were, being consumed in Egypt, and yet, instead of being destroyed, they were expanding. Do you remember? Do you remember why Pharaoh gave them hard taskmasters to get rid of them? But the more he persecuted them, the faster they were expanding. that what was meant to consume them did the very opposite. And why? Why? With all that oppression, with all the slavery that Pharaoh could think of to put on the people of Israel, why weren't they consumed? Do you know why? The same reason that Bush was not consumed. And what's that? God was in the middle. God was in Israel. God was there. And anywhere where God is, you can't have death. You can only have blessing. Wasn't it the same in the fiery furnace? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are meant to be burned. Those who throw them in are consumed with the flames. But who's in the midst of the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The Son of God is with them in the midst. They are preserved in the fiery furnace. That God is the same today. God still keeps His church alive in times of oppression and persecution. Regardless, we think that the persecution of the church is something new. It was always so since the book of Acts. It was always so since the book of Genesis. The book of Exodus. God's people are persecuted but you can't destroy them because God's in the midst. Now, what was God's message to Moses in the bush? I like to call it as many another person has called it. It's one of God's second chances. God's great at giving people second chances. You know I read last week that apparently an old saying which says the bird with a broken wing never flies so high again. If you ever hear that proverb, old proverb, don't believe it. It's not true. God doesn't behave that way. And Moses is one example. The Bible is full of examples. That just is not true with God. You can go through the patriarchs. You can start with Abraham. Oh, how he let God down, twice. He lied about his wife, not once, twice. But oh, how he flew higher after it. You've got Jacob, haven't you? He twice double-crossed his brother, not once, twice. Supplanted him twice, as the Bible says. Did he fly higher again? Listen, he flew so high that God had to change his name because he couldn't contain his blessing. He had to change his name from Jacob to Israel, Prince of God. Jacob learned after all his double-crossing life, he learned how to have power with God. God doesn't work the way you and I work. He will re-up the harlot. We'll just leave her past, it's better. Not just to mention her past. But she is in Hebrews chapter 11. What about Jonah? Did he ever break his wing? He refused to go where God said him to go. But oh did he not fly higher when the word of the Lord came a second time to Jonah? And he went to Nineveh, and with an eight word sermon there's a revival! Did he ever fly higher? What about John Mark? A failed missionary. Paul says to him, we can't have him with us. A failed missionary. But he's got a book in the Bible, hasn't he? And Paul says in 2 Timothy 4.11 He's good for me. He's good. He's a good helper. He can minister well. But he was a failed missionary. Paul said he's no use in that condition to me. But boy, did he learn to fly high later on. What's the lesson? What's the message? Do you know what it is? I'm calling it this. Maybe I'll even call the sermon this. God specializes in broken wings. You've broken a wing trying to serve God. Things have gone pumpier shaped. And you say, I'm finished now. Not as long as Exodus chapter 3 is in the Bible. Not with God. He's great at making birds of broken wings fly higher. Look, for example, at the bush which God chose. Was there anything special about that bush? Well, apparently, those who study these things, those who have seen Photarchus and been to the desert and Midian, they say there's a million other bushes just the same. They're all the same. There's no difference between one. That bush, and you'll notice first of all it calls it a bush. Then of course it speaks about the bush. But it was just a bush among a million others that God chose to use it. Nothing special about it. So you see, this was not just an ordinary day. It was an ordinary bush. Just an ordinary bush. all dried up. The original word apparently literally means a thorny shrub. But God chose it. God chose it. What hope there is for you here tonight. If you're just like any other ordinary human being. If you are just like a million other people, what hope that should give you tonight, even if you're a bit thorny. There was nothing special, nothing different, but God just chose to use it. And God's the same tonight. He can choose you to be one of His people. And he can choose you, an ordinary Christian, to be very special in the work that he is going to call you to do. Even though you've been a failure. Even though you've been a failure. So what else can we learn? Here's a question. When exactly did God speak? out of the bush. I think it is very important. At what point in the narrative does God speak out of the bush? Verse 4, So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the bush, in the midst of the bush. when he turned aside. Tell me, how in this busy, busy age do you get people to turn aside? How do you get them just to stop and think of their souls, think of God, think of salvation, think of their latter end? How do you get them in this busy, busy age to turn aside? One of the words, one of the phrases that the original word is translated in the authorised version is, to leave things undone. And I find that very bloody puking. I've got to finish something before I start something else. I can't rest, I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't relax, If I've got one little thing to do, everything's got to be finished. But here the word of God says, when God saw that he left something unfinished and turned aside to look at this side, then God spoke. Maybe you're just too busy. Maybe our lives are too busy and we don't take time off to consider, what's God got for me in life? Would you ever think of taking a day off work, just to ask now, what has God got for me in life? Take a day of praying and fasting. Turn aside. Take it seriously. Take your religion seriously. What has God got for me? It's when Moses turned aside, God spoke what wonderful words. He spoke to him. We're so busy. We're even so gullible. I mean, it doesn't matter what the worry is in the 10 o'clock news, be it the danger of avian flu, be it suicide bombers coming to London, be it global warming, no one stops and asks, could God be in this? They just say, well, that's the age we're living in. Oh, let's learn a lesson from the burning bush tonight. Turn aside. Stop. Take time off and seriously consider your Christian life before God. And if you're not a Christian, take time off to consider your latter end. It's real. It's serious. Religion, Christianity isn't a hobby. It isn't an interest like photography or gardening. People say, oh he's into photography, he's into gardening, he's into computers, he's into the church. No, no. This is life or death. This is serious stuff. How seriously do we take it? Seriously enough to take a day off and turn a side? Well, what does God say? God said, Moses, Moses. And he says, here I am. Now remember at this point, Moses doesn't know it's God that's speaking. He just hears a voice at this point. Now, those who know their Hebrew an awful lot better than I do, tell us that the tone here The way in which Moses replied to that was similar to the way you and I would simply say, it's just me, only Moses, that's all. That's me, only Moses. What a difference the 40 years in the desert has made. Here's God calling him, calling him to do the thing he couldn't resist doing 40 years ago. But oh, the difference 40 years on the Midian desert make. He's a different man now, 40 years ago. He couldn't wait for God to call him. He had to take the law into his own hands, as we say. He had to get down and start it. He had to go and sort out these Egyptians himself. He had to do God's thing Moses way. As we noted, what a difference the 40 years in the wilderness made. If Moses, God had called him 40 years ago, he said, here I am, as my CV Lord, I'm the man you want. I've been through every college in Egypt. I know the Hebrew mindset. I know the Egyptian mindset. I'm your man! Send me! But now, after the 40 years in the desert, he doesn't consider himself a suitable candidate to put in an application for the job. Oh, what the 40 years have done. for Moses. I think probably the two most important words in these passages is, when God saw that he turned aside, he spoke. And when, when Moses replied in the way, it's only me Lord, well he didn't say Lord, it's only me, this is just, it's only me. Then, that's the next important word, then God said, do you notice that? Verse 5, then he said, whenever you see, God saw, Moses has been humbled. God then said, do not draw near this place, take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. Notice it's not the bush that's holy, it's the ground he's standing on. And literally the word holy could be translated, this is separate ground. It's as if God is saying to Moses, now Moses, separate yourself. Separate yourself from your past. Separate yourself from what is presently occupying your mind and concentrate very very carefully on what I am about to say. This is serious stuff Moses. I am giving you a call. Listen to every word carefully. Forget about your past. Forget about your present. I am going to talk about the future. And what does God say? I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And then you notice the Bible says, and Moses couldn't bear to look when he said that. I wonder what went through his mind. I wonder what went through his mind when he said the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Could it not have been? You're the God of failures. Abraham nearly blew it. Jacob nearly blew it. You're the God of failures. He got his attention. But it's very important to notice, and particularly it comes very clear in the New Testament account that we read of it. God says four things, four times. God says, I have. Will you notice the four of them? First of all he says, Moses, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt. What do you think was going through Moses mind in the desert? Does God not see what is happening to my people? He thought the time had come to deliver them 40 years ago. plus another 40 years before God acts. God says, you're thinking I'm not seen, aren't you? You're thinking I'm not seen, Moses. I have surely seen. You don't think I have, but I have. Maybe you're saying something the same tonight. God can't be in God can't be seeing what I've gone through. Then look at the next I have. I have heard their crying. I can't believe Moses in these 40 years wasn't crying to God for at least the first few. Alright God may not have been speaking to him verbally or orally. I think Jacob, I think Moses was crying out to God. And God says, I have heard the cry of the groaning of the children of Israel. I hear people when they cry to me. It's not my time to act. But I hear their cry. Do you not find sometimes in your Christian life, God, as it were, He doesn't seem to hear. He's been praying for years and God doesn't seem to be answering. It's not new. It's as old as the book of Genesis. I have surely seen their oppression. I have heard their cry thirdly. I have known their sorrows. And you think, God can't know what I'm going through. But He does. But His ways are not our ways. His ways are not our ways. But don't say God doesn't know. Don't say God doesn't hear. Don't say God doesn't see. But His ways are not our ways. I've surely seen. I have heard their cries. I do know what they're going through. Whatever you're going through tonight, God knows what you're going through. Just hang on for God's time. And what's the fourth I have? I have come down to deliver. I have come down to deliver. Isn't it good that God comes down to deliver. It's amazing, you know. Even Christ, the second person of the Godhead, could not save you or me unless He came down. I think that's amazing. Even the Son of God, with all His power, had to come down. That's the gospel message. He came down to deliver, to preach good news, to set the captives free, to save sinners. It's real, it's true, it's for you and it's for me. We're going to leave till next week God willing. What he then says, I'm now Moses, I'm sending you. We'll leave that just now, but we'll just look at, well, what's God saying to Moses? This surely is Moses call. His second chance. It is as if you know God is saying to Moses, 40 years ago you know, you were a fine looking bush. 40 years ago you were So talented, so confident, so self-assured, so self-assured in fact, that you couldn't understand when the Hebrews didn't know except you as ruler and leader. But Moses, 40 years ago, when your bush started to burn, you didn't last 48 hours, and you ran like a scared rabbit into the desert of Midian. That's your bush. Perhaps I wasn't in that. I wasn't there. Look at you now, Moses. You're a charred, dried out, thorny bush. Now I can use you. Now I can use you. I couldn't use you 40 years ago. You were self-sufficient. He'll know the answers. I mean, God just wasn't acting quick enough 40 years ago. Now that you're a dried out thorny bush, I can use y'all. I can use y'all. Do you know this? God can use any bush. If it's on fire for God. That's the key. Not your natural gifts and talents and abilities. The key is God burning in you. Has He set a fire, a light in you? You've got this burden to do something for God? If God's in it, you'll not be consumed. That's the message. That's what God is teaching Moses And so, I just close with three final points. Three things that you and I should never ever say, you know. We should never say, first of all, God only chooses the best. He wouldn't choose me. What's the lesson of this? God can only use us when we discover our insufficiency. When we discover our impotence, that's when God can use us. But as long as we have all the answers, God can't use us. Be a dried out thorny bush, that be a dried out thorny bush, depending on Not yourself. Not your gifts. Have the fire of God burning in you to depend on. There's a second thing we should never say. We should never say surely God's not hearing me. God's not seeing what I'm going through. It's not right. It's not true. We shouldn't say that. God surely sees. God definitely hears. And God will come down to deliver in His time. And what's the third thing we should never do? We should never say, I'm too old for God. You know don't you? Do I need to remind you how old Moses was? I find it very encouraging at my age. He was 80. He was 80. His life hasn't begun. His work hasn't started. He was 80. I find that tremendously encouraging. If you're a Christian, forget about retirement. He's 80. And look at the energy and the strength and the power that God gives him. But God himself can only give it to him when he's a dried out thorny bush that is on fire for God. God can light a fire in thorny bushes and it's the fire of God that will keep us from being consumed. Moses, Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I have surely seen the oppression of my people. I have heard their cry, and I do know their sorrows. I've come down to deliver them. May God, the Holy Spirit, make His word effectual to every one of us. Let's pray.