¡§manifestations¡¨ Series

Moses, Moses

Part III

¡§MANIFESTATIONS¡¨

Introduction:

On July 27th, I shared my vision for North Thurston Life Center. I spoke about Moses and the burning bush. And many of you were touched by the awesome power of God¡¦s Holy Spirit.

I spoke about the vision God has given me of a ministry of people helping each other ¡§Hand to hand¡¨ in their Christian walk as we all strive to achieve a likeness of Christ.

There were four promises that God made to Moses. One for each of Moses¡¦ denials to do what God had asked him to do.

„« The promise of HIS PRESENCE (Exodus 3:12)

¡§And God said, ¡§I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.¡¨

„« The promise of HIS MANIFESTATIONS (Exodus 4:2-9)

„« The promise of HIS ENABLEMENT (Exodus 4:11,12)

„« The promise of HIS DIRECTION AND INSTRUCTION (Exodus 4:14-16)

This morning I want to speak to you about the second promise given by God to Moses.

God said to Moses, ¡§If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second.¡¨

Exodus 4:8

Signs or manifestations of God are used to show the power of God and to increase our faith.

I. SIGNS ARE GIVEN TO CONFIRM FAITH

In Judges 6:38-40, Gideon asked God to deliver Israel.

¡§If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised¡X37look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.¡¨ 38And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew¡Xa bowlful of water.

39Then Gideon said to God, ¡§Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.¡¨ 40That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.¡¨

In 1 Kings 13:3-5, God promises destruction of the altar to King Jeroboam through a prophet.

¡§This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.¡¨ 4When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, ¡§Seize him!¡¨ But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.¡¨

In Isaiah 7:14, the promise of Immanuel.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.¡¨

God desires to manifest Himself through His faithful and obedient followers when they step out and do the things God has called them to do.

God said to Moses, ¡§What is that in your hand?¡¨ And Moses replied, ¡§a staff.¡¨

I find it very interesting that God asked Moses for his staff. God didn¡¦t ask Moses to go and make something out of gold or silver He just said, ¡§what is in your hand?¡¨

II. SIGNS ARE GIVEN THROUGH THE ORDINARY

A shepherd¡¦s staff was commonly a three to six foot wooden rod with a curved hook at the top. This particular staff was given to me at my ordination service.

The shepherd used it for walking, guiding his sheep, killing snakes, and many other tasks.

Yet it is still a stick. But God used a common shepherd¡¦s staff that Moses carried to teach him an important lesson.

God sometimes takes great joy in using ordinary things for extraordinary purposes.

What do you have that is ordinary in your life? Perhaps or your voice, tools, a broom or a musical instrument?

It is easy to believe that God can do the miraculous but what about using the ordinary?

This ordinary staff that Moses carried guiding sheep in the hills of Midian was going to be used to deliver God¡¦s people from slavery and torment!

God said to Moses, ¡§Take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it. 20So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.¡¨

Exodus 4:17

ƒæ Exodus 7:10-13. Sign of the rod. Magic was inextricably bound up with Egyptian religion, which was demon-controlled idolatry of the grossest sort. The miracles performed by the magicians were manifestations of evil supernaturalism, similar to demon powers operative in spiritism and occultism today. Ordinary¡K¡K.Moses¡¦ Staff