The God that We Serve

(Message delivered by Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, Oct 16, 05)
Text: Exodus 3:6-15

Who is the God that we serve? How big is our God? Many a time we worry about mundane things in life like would I have enough to eat or what bad things will people do to me? When we start worrying about such things instead of trusting in the Lord and in His promises, we sin against Him. We sin the sin of doubt—doubting His promises, questioning His power. Such a sin not only hurts us spiritually, it might even hurt us mentally, emotionally and physically.

Moses had all kinds of doubts, questions, and uncertainties when the Lord called Him. Moses was too self-centred in his thoughts to be effective for the Lord. Moses had to be directed away from thinking about himself to thinking about God—to think of God’s presence and His power—that he should not be trusting in his own strength but in the strength of the Lord.

The Lord allayed all the doubts and worries of Moses by assuring him of these three truths about Himself. The Lord wanted Moses to know the God whom he serves is the:
(I) God Who Remembers (vv6-10)
We read in Exodus 3:6-8, “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.”

First, the Lord assured Moses that He is a God who remembers. Israel was God’s chosen nation, and still is. God remembers the promises He made to His servant Abraham about 400 years ago (Genesis 12). God has a perfect memory. He does not and cannot forget. He always remembers His people, and in His own good timing He will deliver them from bondage and destruction. God cannot but fulfil all His promises to Israel and to His Church. This God who remembers is a God we can trust fully, 100%. He does not fail. He cannot fail. He never forgets His words. He will do what He has promised to do. Jesus likewise assures us inMatthew 5:17-18, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

Verses 7-9 tell us these three things about our God:
(1) He hears our prayers and knows our sorrows (v7). “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:14-16).

(2) He is a God of action and will provide us with good things to enjoy (v8). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas 1:17). Jesus said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt 7:11).

(3) He is more powerful than any superpower, and none can stand against Him (v9). Even proud and mighty Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon was humbled to the dust by God, and after he gained his sanity, he blessed the Lord, “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan 4:34-35).

The God that we serve is all-powerful.

(II) God Who Appoints (vv11-12)
“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” (Exod 3:11-12).

God can act alone but He is often pleased to use His people to do His work. What a privilege it is if He were to appoint us to serve Him. Moses was such a privileged man when the Lord appointed him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. God always raises a man to stand in the gap, and Moses was that man. Other examples may be found in church history. In the 4th century, the Lord raised up Athanasius to defend the doctrine of Christ, that Jesus was not only 100% man, but also 100% God, against the heretic Arius who denied the deity of Christ. In the 16th century, the Lord raised up Martin Luther and John Calvin to defend the doctrine of salvation—100% grace and 100% faith and not by works at all—leading the Protestant Church out of the bondage of the Roman Catholic Church. In the 20th century, the Lord raised up J Gresham Machen and Carl McIntire to defend the 100% inspiration of the Holy Scriptures against the modernists and the neoevangelicals, and today the Lord has raised up men like Edward F Hills, David Otis Fuller, David Cloud, D A Waite, and our very own pastor—Timothy Tow—to battle for the 100% preservation of the Holy Scriptures in defence of the King James Bible against the corrupt Westcott and Hort text, and the modern versions.

As we earnestly contend for the faith according to God’s appointment, we are comforted to know that we are not alone. God fights the battle with us. The battle for the Bible today is very much His battle. As He told Moses “Certainly I will be with thee,” so He tells us today “I will be with thee.” The Lord guaranteed Moses success in verses 19-21, “And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty.” The Lord already knew what would happen, and how He would deliver Israel out of Egypt (against the open theists who deny that God knows the future).

The God that we serve is all-knowing.

(III) God Who is Eternal (vv13-14)
“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” (Exod 3:13-14).

The God we worship and serve is called the great “I AM.” His Name is above every name. Jesus is the great I AM. The I AM revealed Himself in the NT. Jesus told the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58). He revealed what that divine name means when He made these 7 declarations:
(1) “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35),
(2) “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12),
(3) “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7),
(4) “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11),
(5) “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25),
(6) “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6),
(7) “I am the true vine” (John 15:1).

Jesus Christ is seven times “I am.” Seven is the number of God, the number of perfection. Jesus is the Perfect God Himself who has come to be our Saviour. What a wonderful God we have—the almighty I AM who had become a lowly man—just to be Jesus our Saviour and yet God no less. Jesus is the Greater Moses who has come to deliver us from the bondage of sin and of Satan.

The greatness of our Lord is seen in His humility. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:5-11).

When we come before the Lord Jesus Christ, we can only say, “You are everything, we are nothing.” Like John the Baptist, “He must increase, I must decrease.” He is so big, we are so small. We are so weak, He is so strong. But the wonderful thing is this: when we say we are weak, then we are strong; we become strong in His strength not ours. That was why Paul could say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor 12:9-10). Knowing our weaknesses, He will help us all the way as we learn to trust and obey Him.

The God that we serve is all present.

Conclusion
Who is the God that we serve? The God that we serve is the God who remembers, who appoints, and who is eternal. The God that we serve is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present. Amen.