Alright, so yes, we're gonna be preaching in Exodus chapter 3 today. I'm gonna start reading verse 7 And 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 and 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. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.' And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. Let's pray. Father God, Lord, I thank you for this day, God, to worship you, Lord, and to preach your word, God. I pray that you would bless this message, God. Use me, Father, to deliver the message that you would have us to hear today, God. Help us to be attentive to your word, Lord. And God, I just pray that you would Bless the church, bless our congregation, God, and bless those around the country, Lord, that are similarly worshiping you and fellowshipping around your word, God. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Now Moses, as you may remember, was turning aside at Mount Horeb to see a great sight, a bush that was burning but was not consumed. He was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro and Midian, where he had spent the last 40 years, after fleeing Egypt because Pharaoh sought to kill him after he slew an Egyptian that had been beating one of the Hebrew slaves. We were told in Acts that Moses had thought that the children of Israel would understand that he would be the one that God would use to deliver them. In Acts 7 it said, And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. and seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not." Now God appears to have been largely silent for the past 400 years. Prior to this, the last time that the Bible records a personal interaction between the Lord and someone else was when Jacob was told by God to go into Egypt. In Genesis 46, it said, And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and I will also surely bring thee up again. and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes." Jacob, of course, must have known of the prophecy that God had given to Abraham, that his seed would be a stranger in a land that was not theirs, and they would be afflicted 400 years. And God is reassuring him that while this is going to be the fulfillment of that prophecy, the rest of this prophecy was also surely going to come to pass. In Genesis 15, and he said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And this saying must have been passed down to the Israelites from one generation to the next, so that they knew that the time should have been coming for God to deliver them. But it seems to me that God had been silent all that time, At least there is no record given us of God communicating with the children of Israel during that time. We are told that God was working in their lives and on their behalf, like when the Hebrew midwives were blessed by God when they defied Pharaoh's decree that all the male children be slain at birth. And it said that God made them houses. In Exodus 1 it said, but the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. God didn't tell them not to do this thing, but they believed that God would be angry with them, and that the wrath of God would be far worse than the wrath of Pharaoh. This is because they had faith in God based on what they knew of God, what had been passed down from the generation before them, that they received from their fathers before them. Even Moses, we were told, acted by faith. And Hebrews 11 said, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect under the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Moses' faith had to be based on the teaching that he received from his Hebrew mother. I don't know if they had anything written or if it was all oral tradition. They didn't have a Bible because Moses hadn't even started writing it yet. All these scriptures that we have today came after the events in Genesis and Exodus. So the faith of the children in Israel was essentially based on their family history and the promises made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob I think that it is a testament to the power of family tradition that they were able to preserve their faith so long, even in the midst of the suffering that they were going through in Egypt. Genesis 18, verse 17 said, And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." It was this determination of Abraham to teach his children the commands of God and the way of the Lord that kept his faith alive, the promise that God would make of his seed a great nation. When he had no seed to speak of, was taught and retaught over and over again. And the children of Israel knew this promise and had hope of being delivered from Egypt one day. But I have to think that after 400 years, some of the people were starting to doubt whether or not their faith was well-founded. Even Moses himself, perhaps, when he reasoned by faith that the Lord would use him to deliver the children of Israel, the Bible says it came into his heart to visit his brethren. And I think he probably expected to be received as one sent by God, but instead he was rejected and driven from Egypt. And 40 years later, he probably had no idea that God still had a design for him to bring the people out of Egypt and back into the land of Canaan that God had promised to Abraham all those years ago. It is always the tendency of man to doubt God. I know in my own life that when things are difficult, it can be hard to hold on to what I know is true by faith when I can't see it in my present circumstance. Having to wait on God to deliver us in situations that we have very little control over can become a great temptation for us to doubt the goodness of God, to doubt His promises. Proverbs 13, 12 says, Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life Praise God for the deliverance when it comes. It refreshes your soul when God finally shows the victory in the battle. But during the time of waiting, it is easy to grow heartsick and fall into despair. That's why it is important to remember the things that God has done, why it's important to know how God worked in days past and know that God didn't just wind up the world and then disappear, but that God is active in the lives of his people. and that even when they don't see him or hear him, he sees them and hears them. Exodus 3, verse 6 says, Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And 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." God is telling Moses that these people in Egypt are his people, affirming the covenant that he first made with Abraham. He is going to deliver them out of Egypt and bring them back to Canaan, which he says is a good land flowing with milk and honey. It sounds so good. God promised this land to Abraham and his seed. God has not forgotten this covenant, and he is faithful to keep it. In Deuteronomy 7, it says, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. A lot of people today want to say that God has not kept the nation of Israel, that God has replaced Israel and His covenant with the church. They say, look, Jesus called Israel the synagogue of Satan. And look, Jesus said that they did the works of their father, the devil. Paul explains in Romans 11 that God has not cast away His people, that He has always kept a remnant to Himself, and that we Gentiles were grafted into their promise through His grace. But he warns that just as the natural branches could be cut off, so could we. It says, boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off that I might be graft in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off. And thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity, but toward thee goodness, if thou continue in his goodness. Otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graft in. for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert graft contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graft into their own olive tree?" God has not forsaken Israel. They are the natural branches, but they are in unbelief. But when they come to faith in the Lord, God is going to graft them back in, along with Gentile Christians. It's foolishness to boast against Israel. God will not go back on His promise to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Jeremiah 31 says, Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth be searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. Israel is still God's chosen people. The church has not replaced them. So God tells Moses that he has surely seen the affliction of his people. He is not blind to their suffering, though they may think that God doesn't see. and He has heard their cries. He hasn't stopped His ears. He knows their sorrows. God knows what His people are going through. It was true then, and it's true today. God has not gone away and left us here with no thought for what happens to us, and we shouldn't think that He has. Our God is not like the idols of the heathen that have eyes but see not and have ears but hear not. Our God is the living God that sits in the heavens and has done whatsoever He pleased. Hebrews 13 verse 5 says, This was a promise that God made to Joshua after Moses' death. But Paul here is applying it to anyone who follows after Christ. We should have faith that God will see our own afflictions. He will hear our cries, and He knows our sorrows as well. And if He sees and hears, and knows our sorrows, would He not also deliver us? 2 Corinthians 1 verse 9 says, But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver us, in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us. He already has delivered us from the penalty of sin, when He sent His only begotten Son to the earth, to live a sinless life, and then to be crucified on a cross and die, bearing the sins of the world. And if we have been delivered from that eternal death, we also know that He can deliver us from the power of sin and lead us into the kingdom of God, the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. Back in Exodus 3, verse 9, it says, Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." So now we see that Moses was right. God was going to deliver Israel by Moses, which he had reasoned through faith was the case. He just didn't understand how God was going to accomplish this. I think that when Moses killed that Egyptian, maybe he imagined that God would cause the children of Israel to rise up and follow him into war. He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds, so he probably had some fine military training and knew about tactics and warfare. Possibly he thought that he had enough understanding of the Egyptians themselves to defeat them, especially seeing how the Israelites had grown so numerous. But God thought differently. Before God was ready to use Moses, He decided that Moses needed to spend some time outside Egypt in the desert He needed to marry and have some children and take care of some sheep. And then when God was ready to deliver Israel, He was going to have Moses go into Pharaoh's court and charge Pharaoh in the name of God to let them go. And Exodus 3, 11 says, And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? This seems to be a far different Moses than the young man who killed that Egyptian. Instead of saying, yes, Lord, let's go, he says, who am I that I should go into Pharaoh and bring forth the children of Israel? He seems to now think himself not worthy or capable of the task. If Moses had once thought that it might be by his strength that God would deliver Israel, he now knows that he isn't that strong. God doesn't challenge Moses on this, but He assures Moses that He will be with him when Moses goes into Pharaoh. And He said, Moses isn't going to have to do this on his own. God told him that he had come down to deliver the children of Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians, and he was going to bring them into that good land flowing with milk and honey. They would follow Moses, but Moses was going to be led by God. Moses will be more than adequate for the purpose that God has been preparing him for. I believe that when God commands us to do something, he makes sure that we have what we need to do the thing that he has commanded. He is going to fully equip Moses for the task at hand. Verse 13, And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. Moses may be concerned that the Israelites won't believe him if he doesn't know the name of God that has sent him to them. So he asked God to tell him what answer he should give them when they ask him for God's name. And he tells him that his name is I am that I am. Say that I am sent me unto you. I am that I am. This signifies the eternal being of God, that he never wasn't God. He was never created. John Wesley put it this way, a name that speaks what he is in himself. I am that I am. This explains His name, Jehovah, and signifies, first, that He is self-existent. He has His being of Himself and has no dependence upon any other. And being self-existent, He cannot be but self-sufficient, and therefore all-sufficient, and the inexhaustible fountain of being and bliss. Secondly, that He is eternal and unchangeable, always the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And He will be what He will be. and what he is. Thirdly, that he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature, and not a man that he should lie. Let Israel know this. I am hath sent me unto you, a name that speaks what he is to his people." That is what the name Jehovah means when you read it in your Bible. I am that I am. Then he gives Moses another name to tell the children of Israel. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Perhaps this was to eliminate any confusion, as the Israelites would not have known God by that name, Jehovah. In Exodus 6, he says, And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them." But of course now they know that God appeared to Moses and gave him his name, I Am That I Am, or Jehovah. God has many names in the Bible, but Jehovah seems to be his proper name. That's the way the name is given in the King James Bible. Other Bible versions might say Yahweh or Yahuwah or something else. The reason given for that is that in Hebrew they don't write vowels. Vowel sounds were supposed to be used, were passed down orally, so they don't always know how Hebrew words were pronounced. We believe that the King James Bible is perfect, so the King James Bible word Jehovah is correct. One particular religious sect that agrees with us is the infamous so-called Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses appear to those on the outside to be a Christian denomination. They teach that God's true name is Jehovah, and that they are the ones making God's name known, since other denominations often don't use the name. The King James Bible, in some places, uses the word LORD in all capitals instead of Jehovah. So the Jehovah's Witnesses have a different Bible translation, the New World Translation, that changes all these to say Jehovah, but they also have made other changes to support their numerous false doctrines. They teach that Jesus will rule in a literal kingdom on earth, also like we believe. This has led some people to assume that we are Jehovah's Witnesses when we discuss the kingdom of God with them. But they believe that the kingdom began in October 1914, and that Jesus reigns in heaven invisibly since that time, and after the Battle of Armageddon, the kingdom will extend to include earth, and there will be 144,000 anointed Jehovah's Witnesses that will reign with Him. Most of them have already died and resurrected to be in the heavenly kingdom of God now, but they may still have a few openings. They don't believe that the unbeliever will go to an eternal lake of fire. They say that those who are dead are just unconscious, and the only life after death is to be resurrected. They believe in works-based salvation, like all cults. If you aren't in the chosen class of 144,000 anointed spirits who will be reigning with Jesus, you'll have to be saved at the Battle of Armageddon by not dying, I guess, as well as having lived a good Jehovah's Witness life. Wikipedia says, The Watchtower Society publications state that salvation at Armageddon is also contingent on baptism, accurate knowledge of Bible truth, adherence to God's standards of conduct and morality, use of the divine name Jehovah in worship, membership of God's organization, and active support of anointed Christians. Then those who get destroyed at Armageddon, or other specific judgments, will just never be resurrected. They're just destroyed for all eternity. But their worst doctrine, I believe, is that they deny that Jesus Christ is God. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity, which is a fundamental doctrine of Christianity. They teach that Jesus is a created being, that actually Michael the Archangel is Jesus when he's not physically walking the earth. The Holy Spirit is also not a distinct person in the Trinity, but just the active force of God. Christians understand that Jesus is God. Jesus is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In John 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And then in verse 14 it says, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. When was the Word made flesh? Caleb, do you know? The Word was made flesh. When did that happen? When Jesus was born. Amen. Jesus is the Word that was made flesh. But the New World Translation says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. So they changed the Bible to change the deity of Christ, to make Him a created little g-God. In 1 John 5, verse 7 says, For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. But their New World Translation says, in verse 7, For there are three witness-bearers, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement. They just remove the Father and the Word and the Holy Ghost right out of the book. Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus never claimed to be God. But you know, in John 10, verse 30, he said, I and my Father are one. And in John 14, it says, Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? But in John 8, Jesus said this, he says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Jesus said, I am. But their New World Translation says, Jesus said to them, most truly I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, I have been. I have been. You know, those Jews understood what Jesus was saying when he said, I am. He was saying that he was, I am. When God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, that was Jesus speaking to Moses, because Jesus is God. The Trinity is a mystery that is hard to comprehend. That God could be one, but also be three separate distinct persons, the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. but it's a vital doctrine to our faith. Jesus, the man that died on the cross for our sins, was Jesus, the God of all creation. If Jesus were simply another created being, how could his death atone for the sins of all mankind once and for all? God's perfect lamb was sinless and spotless because he is God. And God saw our affliction. He heard our cries and he knew our sorrows. and he came down to deliver us. Father God, Lord, I thank you again, God, for this day to worship you, God, and to hear your word. I thank you so much for your son, Jesus, who died for us. The Lord God of all creation came down and lived a perfect, sinless life and died to save us, Lord, and we thank you that we have that free gift of salvation through faith in what you did God, I pray, Father, that you would just be with us today, God. Again, bless our fellowship, Lord, as we talk, Lord. Help us to speak of you, God. And Lord, just bless this church, God. Help us to grow. Help us to reach the lost, Lord. Thank you for our street witnessing, God. Help us to get our door-to-door ministry going, Lord. God, just help us to be busy doing your business, Lord. And I pray that you would Bless those who are not here, Father. Anybody who's traveling, God, just keep them safe and bring them back to us. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.