Intro:
If There Ever Was A Man Who Went On The Journey Of A Lifetime It Was Moses
• From the bulrush to the palace
• From the palace to the backside of the wilderness into the presence of God
• From an intimate experience with God back to an unbearable Egyptian bondage
• From bondage to the edge of the Red Sea
• From the Sea into the wilderness
• From the wilderness to the edge of the promise land
• Back into the wilderness again
As Soon As We Breathe Our First Breathes In This World Our Journey Begins…
…and as soon as our minds are able to fathom and comprehend
• we are bombarded with false ideologies
• we are stimulated by a confused way of thinking
• we are encouraged to reach distorted goals
• we struggle to find our meaning
• with a sense of hopelessness comes a feeling of loneliness in the depths of our soul
• there must be more, this can’t be it
We Can Watch The Lives Of Famous People…
…like Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Ronald Reagan, Albert Einstein, Mozart, and so on. (their achievements fade away)
We As Christians Can Look At The Stars In The Sky On A Clear Night
• We can watch the sun go down in the early evening only to see it rise again the next morning.
• We do not wait in agony wandering if the sun will come back again.
• We do not sit in fear that the stars will plummet to the earth or that the earth will stop orbiting the sun.
As Christians We Have Accepted Romans 10:9-10
For us our eyes have been opened. We understand what it is that holds the universe in place…that keeps the seas from swallowing the shores and holds the clouds in the skies. We know who painted the sky blue and placed the stars in the sky. We have that peace that passes all understanding. We know that there is more in life than will ever meet our eyes.
We Are Waiting For That Promise Found In I Thessalonians 4:16-17
4:16
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
4:17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
It’s Ok…
There is nothing wrong with claiming the eternal promise of everlasting life
There is nothing wrong with looking forward to our being with the lion of Judah…the King of Kings
God promised it so that we could hold on to it
God promised it so that if there is any virtue any praise…think on these things
But There Is Something Between Here And There And It Is Called Life!
There Is A Call, No A Cry From The Heart Of God
“Why are you satisfied without my presence?”
Text:
Exodus 3:1-5
3:1
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.
3:2
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3:3
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
3:4
And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
3:5
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Body:
I. The Journey To The Promised Land
A. We are all born into sin
1. The children of Israel were enslaved by there taskmaster the Egyptians
2. We were enslaved by our taskmaster sin, Satan, and the Kingdom of Hell
B. We must realize we need a saviour
1. The children of Israel realized that they were in need of someone to save them from their pain
2. We realized that we needed Jesus to save us from death, from hell, from eternal damnation
C. God sees the need and supplies it
1. God heard the cry of His people and called a man by the name of Moses to deliver them
2. God knew the need of the people He created and by sending Himself He delivered us
D. There is a battle in the mind
1. Right after Moses stood at the burning bush and before He entered again into Egypt he had to fight a battle of the mind
2. Right after Jesus was approved by God and baptized by John the Baptist and before he started His three year ministry He was immediately driven into the wilderness for 40 days
E. God supply is always enough
1. When Moses commanded that Pharaoh let God’s people go he held the rod of power from God himself
2. When sin has taken hold of us and we are headed toward certain destruction the power paid for 2000 years ago…a rod from Jesse takes over…His name is Emmanuel…Jesus!
F. We can hold on to the promises of God
1. As Moses takes them through the Red Sea there eyes are on the prize of the promise land…that place that God had purposed for them through the Abrahamic covenant
2. As The Holy Spirit leads us through the barrier of death into the abundant life of peace that passes all understanding our eyes are on the prize of glory…Zion…Heaven…Life everlasting.
G. We must have faith
1. As the spies come back with the negative report they are stuck in the wilderness because of their disobedience
2. As we look at the price that we must pay in order to have the Gifts of God manifest in our lives
many of us give up and wonder in the wilderness of disobedience
H. There is always a remnant
1. When the new generation full of faith, vigor, vitality, and strength comes to the edge of their promise they take it
2. When we are obedient and walk in faith, love, patience, longsuffering, temperance, we can come to the edge of our destiny in God.
Points:
1. All of these things are true
2. All of these things are good for doctrine
3. All of these things give life to us and hope
4. It wasn’t just about the promised land
5. It wasn’t just about the Abrahamic covenant
6. It wasn’t even just about God getting glorified by and through His chosen people
Transition:
1. Abraham had to climb Mount Moriah
2. Noah had to collect wood when there was no rain
3. David had to be a King in a cave
4. Daniel Had to be a lion tamer
5. The three Hebrew boys had to be fireproof
6. Elijah had to run faster than a chariot without any physical training
7. Jeremiah had to preach to a people who he was told would never receive his message
8. Ezekiel had to prophesy life into dead dry bones and watch them turn into a great army
9. Moses had to travel through the wilderness to go back to Egypt
10. Jesus had to deny himself and face the enemy of the ages to start His ministry
James 4:8
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”
II. The Journey To The Promiser
1. Exodus 7:16 - “And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me
unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold,
hitherto thou wouldest not hear.”
a. Serve the Lord in the wilderness (means to worship Him)
b. Our desire must be for the promiser and not just the promise
2. When the bush started burning “Moses turned aside to see” – Exodus 3:3
a. turned aside – cuwr – to turn off
b. Moses turned off what he was doing
3. After feeding the 5000 Jesus went to mountain to be with the Father and then …
Mark 6:48 – “Jesus came to them, walking on the sea and would have passed them by.”
a. They cried out – He responded
b. He’d passed nearby – if they would not have cried out He would not have forced himself on them.
4. “I Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing” – Monologue or Dialogue?
a. Dialogue – I am willing to communicate with you without ceasing
b. God communicates to us in many ways
Conclusion:
You are on a journey of a lifetime the questions are:
Where are you destined to go?
Who has destined you to go to that place?
Your purpose is to find the Promiser and not just chase after the promise!
