November 3, 2002 – Covington, IN
The Fire of God
Exodus 3:1-5
This is one of those passages that stir and provoke us in our pursuit of God. It’s one of the many God encounters we find in the Word, where God visits in a unique way – in a brief moment in time – that changes and transforms the life of Moses forever.
For Moses this was an ordinary day, He’d been in Midian 40 years faithfully tending the flock of Jethro. I’m sure he was expecting the day to be the same as any other day, but this day was different…
Ø The ordinary became the extraordinary
Ø The usual became the unusual
Ø The normality of life was replaced by the suddenlies by God
Ø And His direction in life, his attitude towards God, his purpose for living changed the moment God came down like an eternal flame.
The years of the life of Moses are remarkably divided into three forties: the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh’s court, the second a shepherd in Midian, the third as leader of the Israelites. He had now finished his second forty, when he received his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt. Note: Sometimes it is long before God calls his servants to that work which was ordained for them before the foundation of the world. Moses was born to be Israel’s deliverer, and yet not a word is said of it to him till he is eighty years of age.
Background:
Keeping the Flock (v. 1)
Ø God requires faithfulness – When God appeared to him, he found him tending sheep near Mt. Horeb (Sinai). This was a poor employment for a man of his education and yet he finds contentment with it. But just like Moses was faithful to his responsibilities, the Shepherd’s were keeping their flocks when they received the tidings of our Savior’s birth (Lk. 2:8). Satan loves to find us idle; God is well pleased when he finds us employed in His service.
Ø Spiritual Retirement – Moses is a good example to those who feel you’ve been on the back side of the desert and it has been a long time since you’ve felt anything or heard anything from the Lord. In God’s time, as long as you stay faithful to your responsibilities, He will fit you into His plan and purpose in His own time and in His own way. If you feel like you’ve been put in spiritual retirement, I have a word for you. Moses saw more in a desert than he ever saw in Pharaoh’s court. So, stay faithful where you are.
The Burning Bush (v. 2)
While Moses was busy about his task of tending the sheep, he looks over and sees a bush that is
burning. This was a theophany, a visible presence of God Himself. This was more than a phenomenon; it was an extraordinary manifestation of the divine presence of God.
It was the last place Moses expected to meet God, this was the middle of the desert, it was barren, it was lifeless, nothing happens in the backside of the desert until the creator of heaven and earth, the one who holds all things in the palm of his hands, the one who doesn’t know limitation. The one who has never known the word impossible – when he comes down, then
everything changes.
Moses’ Curiosity (v. 3)
“Amazing,” Moses said to himself, “I must go over to see this.” NLT
God Spoke (v. 4)
“When the Lord saw that he had caught Moses’ attention, God called to him from the bush, Moses, Moses” (NLT). There is an important principle here that we can’t afford to miss and that is, as we turn to see God, He will surely speak to us. If he had carelessly neglected this as a deceiving meteor, a thing not worth taking notice of, it is probable that God would have departed,
and said nothing to him; but when he turned aside, God spoke to him.
Holy Ground (v. 5)
“Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground” (NLT). The putting off the shoe was then what the putting off the hat is now, a token of respect and submission. The ground is holy ground, made so by this special manifestation of the divine presence of God. We ought to approach God with a solemn pause and preparation; and to express our inward reverence, by a reverent behavior in the worship of God, carefully avoiding everything that is connected with sin.
And for Moses everything changes at this point in time because his encounter with God is a revelation of God himself, the God that he sees and encounters for the first time can only be described as a God of fire.
This bush should have been destroyed in less than 10 seconds flat, but the miracle here is not the bush but the fire. The fire of God kept burning and burning. It was an inexhaustible fire.
This blazing fire, that sets the bush aflame and kept burning and consumed it, but didn’t destroy it and then shone through it and distinguished it from the thousands of bushes around is a sign and symbol for what God wants to do through us and his church today.
He wants to set his church on fire; he wants his spirit to blaze through every area of our lives.
Ø He wants to burn within us a fresh passion for Jesus
Ø He wants to consume us with his fiery presence so we shine with his glory so that the world may know there is one God and none other.
Our God is a God of fire and he wants his people to be set ablaze with his glory. Our God is a
God who reveals and acts and rests and remains within his people by way of supernatural fire.
That’s why when we look at the Word we can clearly see that the very person, character and nature of the Godhead, father, Son and Holy Spirit are represented and revealed to us by way of fire.
Ø Moses when speaking of Jehovah after the burning bush later in his life, Deut 4:24 says “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
Ø John in his vision on the isle of Patmos gives a beautiful description of the beauty of the Christ when he sees him in all his glory and he says beginning in Revelation 1:14, “His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength, His voice as the sound of many waters, his hair was as white as wool and His eyes like a flame of fire.”
Ø John the Baptist when spoke about Jesus and his sending of the Holy Spirit said, “One is
coming who’s mightier than me, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Fire is an aspect of Gods presence appearing to his people. In the Word it was a sign of his approval, a sign that he lived and dwelt with men and women, his chosen people who he had called his own.
Ø To the children of Israel, God lived above then as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night Exodus 13:21–22.
Ø In the tabernacle when the Glory came the fire of God came and consumed the peoples offerings by means of fire which showed Gods favor, Leviticus 9:23–24.
Ø With Elijah his cry to the people of Israel was let the God who answers by fire let him be God 1 Kings 18 v. 24.
Ø With Jeremiah Gods word was like a burning fire shut up in his bones Jeremiah 20:9.
Ø On the day of Pentecost when the Spirit came it was described as tongues of fire, that rested on each of them Acts 2:3.
OT or New, beginning or end, you’ll find traces of the fire of God burning brightly – not a flicker but a flame touching and transforming the lives of ordinary people just like you and me.
This is all good and right to know but how does this revelation of God as the God of fire effect our lives today. How can the God of the burning bush, the God who reveals and answers by fire change us by fire so we become more Christ like in everything we are and everything we do. We’ve got to know that because if we don’t this just remains a story I’ve read to you today, it’s just words on a page that remains in a book and has no effect or reality in your life.
Transition: I’d like to look at some characteristics of the fire of God, which reflect the way God will come and work in our lives.
I. Fire Consumes
Exodus 3:2 (NLT) Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a
bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn’t burn up.
I’ve already mentioned Deut 4:24 and the writer to the Hebrews says the same thing in the NT in Hebrews 12:29, For our God is a consuming fire. That means everything God touches, everything he has ownership of he wants to consume.
He doesn’t destroy he consumes, that why when Moses looked at the bush it was consumed by fire but was not destroyed and that’s the same thing God wants to do with our lives. He doesn’t want to destroy you, he wants to consume you.
And when he comes he wants your life and mine to be like a flame of fire whereby all we can do and say represents him. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 7 says, he makes his servants flames of fire. John Wesley put it like this, when the fire of God touches your life people will come and see you burn.
Questions: Are you burning brightly for Christ Jesus today? Has he got first place and first call upon your life? Are you consumed with the zeal of the Lord today?
Ø If you’re consumed you’ll be committed to all Gods doing in His church today.
Ø If you’re consumed, the job, the family, the interests in life will be second compared to seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness.
Ø If you’re consumed, you won’t be satisfied not growing in Him; you’ll be a man or woman
seeking to be in His presence, for in His presence we are changed.
Ø If you’re consumed, you’ll seize every opportunity you get to share your faith with the lost.
II. Fire refines
In Malachi 3:1–2, Malachi sees the Lord and he says the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple v. 1 and in v. 2 he describes what he’ll be like in his coming for he says, “He will come like a refiners fire.” A refiners fire is a fire that refines. The word refiner today is not a common word, a lot of people would not be able to describe it because that job is not as common today as it was in biblical times.
A refiner in biblical times was a person who basically took a piece of metal that was formless and impure and he’d put the metal in the furnace and he’d heat it up to an intense heat until all the dross and impurities came to the surface and he’d wipe them off. He’d do this again and again up to seven times he’d go through the same process until he knew the metal was clean and pure.
And the way he would know that the metal was pure was once he looked at it he’d see the reflection of his face in the metal.
And this is a beautiful picture of the refining that God wants to do in our lives. He won’t leave us the way we are, he’ll chase after us until we change. He wants our attitudes and our weaknesses, any hidden sins, any disillusionments that’s held us back, any fear or condemnation, he wants it all to go through the furnace of his presence so all the dross that’s in our hearts may come to the surface, for one reason and one reason alone and that’s so the reflection of Christ may be seen in everything we are and everything we do.
Ø Not the reflection of this world
Ø Not the reflection of self
Ø But the reflection of Christ.
III. Fire brings light
Psalm 78:14 (AMP) speaks about the way God dwelt with and guided his people Israel and it says, “In the daytime also he led them with a pillar of cloud all the night with a light of fire.”
Everything outside the camp was covered in darkness but when others looked at where the children of Israel were they saw fire which reflected light.
In Malachi 3:1–2, Malachi sees the Lord and he says the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple v. 1 and in v. 2 he describes what he’ll be like in his coming for he says, “He will come like a refiners fire.” A refiners fire is a fire that refines. The word refiner today is not a common word, a lot of people would not be able to describe it because that job is not as common today as it was in biblical times.
A refiner in biblical times was a person who basically took a piece of metal that was formless and impure and he’d put the metal in the furnace and he’d heat it up to an intense heat until all the dross and impurities came to the surface and he’d wipe them off. He’d do this again and again up to seven times he’d go through the same process until he knew the metal was clean and pure.
And the way he would know that the metal was pure was once he looked at it he’d see the reflection of his face in the metal.
And God wants this church – you and me – to be a church on fire so that we can be the light that shines into the dark regions of this community.
When the fire comes your light shines. When the fire comes people will be drawn to the light. In other words, what they see in your life and mine.
I. Fire Consumes
I. Fire Refines
II. Fire Brings Light
Conclusion:
I don’t believe this morning God wants this word to be a word that you just hear. I believe he wants it to be a word that you experience. He wants to give us FRESH FIRE. He wants to touch your life again with fresh fire so you and I will be the difference we need to be in the world in which we live.
Prayer:
Communion:
