Pr Koay Kheng Hin
1 March 2020
Before I go into the sermon, I would like to ask all of us to pray along for the nation. The title of today’s message is: In God We Trust.
I believe everywhere you go these few days, everyone of us will be confronted with dialogues and conversations about the current political tension. We have all had a challenging week with the political uncertainty that is enveloping the country. Times have been hard but in this past week, we sense that times have become even harder, in a time of the economic downturn. Uncertainties have suddenly become the order of the day, as we do not know what to expect.
I believe some of us who are here today are experiencing this anxious spirit. There is a sense of concern for the direction to which the country is heading, or it could be the challenging business environment that all of us are now facing. All of these things can indeed bring upon us an anxious spirit. It can be part of a myriad of things that are happening in our life, added with the current political stress. In this time, the only certainty is God Himself.
It is in God that we trust – this is the focus on my sermon today. The path to assurance is in the Lord God Almighty. It is not about economic packages, our human options and planning – the path to assurance is faith in the Lord God Almighty. The needful antidote in the time of uncertainty is proven and evidenced throughout the history of the early churches, in times of turmoil and depression, in times of war, in times of famine and persecution – the needful antidote for the church is a fresh encounter with the Lord God Almighty.
The early church went through persecution after persecution, including that from the Roman empire. The Roman Empire today is no more, but the church today stands as a beacon to the community inside and outside of it. We as the people of God are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Through all the persecution, the people of God in the early church encountered God again and again. The church went though a dark period which coincided with a time of unrest in Europe, and it was the Irish monks that encountered God in the monastery through their constant search for Him.
Indeed, this brought the church through the dark period and through the Reformation. Today we under the Assemblies of God, as people who stand on the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God. The Word of God endures forever and empowers us through political turmoil, through all challenges and persecution – the power on high gives us an all-conquering victory, over anything life can throw against us as individuals and as a church of Jesus Christ.
I want to believe God is leading all of us to see Him afresh, for we are all thirsting for a fresh, new revelation from His Word. This is so that we can see afresh our place as a people of God. We can see afresh how God is in control. We do not need to be concerned or worried, the anxious Spirit need not overwhelm us. For Jesus said – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27
This is a time when the only certainty is God himself. The path to assurance is faith. The needful antidote is a fresh encounter with God. The text for today is Exodus 3:1-15, the burning bush experience of Moses:
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
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[b] will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[d] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.
Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. We see this man who 40 years ago, took upon himself to stand up for his people; the Israelites. He was the man who killed two Egyptians, who fled to the dessert, who stayed at the dessert for 40 years and here Moses was tending the flock and he came to Horeb,where the angel of God appeared to him.
First Insight: Our God is a Speaking God
I want to begin by saying that in verse 4, we have God calling to Moses, “Moses, Moses…!” – this was a burning bush experience and the first insight I want to give to you is that we serve a ‘Speaking God’. He is a God that wants to communicate with you. We serve a God who wants to daily converse and commune with you. God wants to commune and communicate with us. God wants to have a burning bush experience with us. But, it takes us to be like Moses, to turn and to see the strange sight.
When God speaks to us, when God wants to talk to us, there is only one needful thing we need to do, we need to be like Moses, we need to turn and hear. What is the problem with all of us most of the time, or even with the church? The problem is that we are too caught up with the things of the world. The din and the noise of contemporary life, with all its uncertainties and all that is happening, all the problems – they weigh down upon us.
When God wants to call us, we miss it. The first insight we can draw from this encounter is that we need to have our ears tuned to God when He speaks. Often in my dialogue with people, we often come to this question – that indeed we can’t hear from God! We wonder: “Where is God in our situation?” In our dialogues with people, we always come to a point, when we eventually realise that it is not God who is not speaking, it is us, we are not hearing!
I want to encourage all of you from the Word of God, that we would all want to hear from Him and attune ourselves to the signs He is giving is. That when God speaks, we will be like Moses, we will hear. And the most important thing is, God needs us to listen and to obey. Moses answered, in verse 4: “Here I am.”
Church, through whatever political uncertainty, through whatever economic downturns, financial difficulties – this day the Word of God encourages us to turn ourselves to the Word of God. If you look at Scripture, it does imply to us very strongly that God spoke to Moses in an audible voice – but I want all of us to know that this is not the only way God speaks to us. For Joseph it was through dreams. For Ezekiel it was through visions. Then we have the still small voice of God which He used to speak to Elijah. Through all these modes God primarily speaks to us through a prayerful, devotional reading of his Word. Through this, we want to affirm that whether it is thought an audible voice, dreams, visions or whether it is a still, small voice, God speaks through a devotional reading of His word
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Men and women of God have drawn sustenance through uncertain times in their encountering God through Scripture. We are all encouraged to look to God and to draw that much needed faith to find that assurance in Christ alone. If you want to be attuned to God speaking to you, you no longer can say you are too busy with your work to read the Bible, that you have got no time to pray or to sit down and seek God, you no longer can say: if God wants to speak to me, let him just talk to me. In Romans 10:17 – Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
In 1 Peter 2:25 – For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. It is the Word of God that endures forever; whatever circumstances you are in, the Word of God encourages us, that indeed if you set time on a daily basis to prayerfully seek God and worship Him with an open Bible, you will hear God speaking to you.
We draw this from history. Men and women of God have drawn sustenance from the Word through uncertain times, for men and women of God who have been thrown into prison, their daily sustenance was only their little Bible. It was this book which God used as a means to speak to men powerfully, it is through this eternal word through which the spirit speaks. I pray God will speak to all of us today, that we as an individual, as a church, the Word will cut us in the division of the bone and the marrow. It will, challenge us and change us and transform us!
The path to assurance is faith. With faith and the Holy Spirit, much can be seen – the manifestation of the power of God can be fully experienced. No wonder in so many instances, when Jesus healed – the woman with the issue of blood for example; Jesus said: “Your faith has healed you.” Faith is the key to an all-conquering life. They key is not only my words, if I tell you: “Have faith, believe!” – it will not change you one bit, but when you read the Word of God, then faith will arise, because the source of faith is God himself. Because wth that faith, we do not need to be afraid.
Second Insight: Our God is a Sanctifying God
Until now, the best example that I have heard and learned about the peace of God is from my mother. One day, she came back from church and this was on a Sunday afternoon. She told me that she had been very blessed by her pastor’s message. I asked her what was the message about, because my mom would often tell me how God blessed her through messages. So she told me what her pastor shared, okay this is someone else’s story yea:
There was a king, and the king was looking for an artist to depict peace. The king said: “I am looking for someone that could give me a good depiction of peace.” Two fellow artists came along; one painted a beautiful day – with the sun shining, birds chirping, it was all so nice. Then the other one painted a cloudy day – there was no sunny sky, and he painted a storm, it was even making some branches fall off! At the centre of the picture there was this mother bird, and the mother bird was covering these little baby birds. Now when the king saw this picture, the king said: “Look at those little birds – now this is peace!” That throughout the storm, the little birds were happily chirping and singing, this made the king drawn to the latter painting.
Though difficult times, the Lord God Almighty is our refuge and fortress. He will cover us, and so in God we will trust. The first picture is a circumstantial depiction of peace (where everything is well) – in times like these you don’t really need to seek God to have peace; whereas the second picture shows the peace of God that is beyond circumstances – it is the peace of Christ and it is only found in God himself. When you go down to verse 5 of Exodus 3 – God says: “Do not come any closer”. This is the second insight for Moses’ encounter with God: Our God is a sanctifying God, a God that makes things holy.
This is why God said wherever I have appeared at, that ground becomes holy. We approach God with holiness, even as God speaks to us, he is a speaking God who is a holy God. In this, we care to say that we are in a better position than the prophet Moses. Back in the day, Moses had to come to God through a sacrificial system. Moses knew that to come to God, there needed to be a blood sacrifice. I want to say this – Moses was able to approach God because of the blood of the lambs, goats and bulls – it was the blood of animals.
We are in a much better position today. We approaching God through the lamb of God – it is on the righteousness of God on which we stand. It is through Jesus! Do not tell yourself that you are worthy on the blood of the lamb. We all come the same way. Pastor no pastor, missionary or no missionary, young or old, immature or mature Christian – we all come the same way, which is through the righteousness of God. Through the glory of Jesus. If you are attuned to God, you will hear him. Every single one of you.
At the same time, when we approach God, I want to read to you form Scripture – you interpret this. At the same time in the book of Galatians, at the same time we come to God not by the works of men, so that all glory will be unto Jesus, now what does the Apostle Paul say?
In Galatians 5:16:
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
You must understand, this is not from me. We must live by the Spirit so as not to gratify our flesh. In verses 19-21 the Apostle Paul lists the desires of the flesh:
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul is so strong on this, and this is one of the most controversial verses in theology, why did Paul wrote – “I warned you, as I did before.” Why was it controversial? It was controversial because he was writing to Christians, the Galatians, and of course, what is meant by: “they will not inherit the kindomf of God?” It is controversial because ‘will they lose their salvation?” Now, I am not going to go into this because this is another topic altogether.
In verses 22-26, the Apostle Paul concludes, on the fruit of the Spirit:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
“Against such things there is no law” – as we look at it together, we can see that God is speaking to all of us, the path to faith is the Word of God. The Word of God must be empowered by the Spirit of God so that we can grow in holiness. That faith in Christ Jesus and being empowered by his Word will, produce in us the first three fruits of the Spirit: love, joy and peace.
Third Insight: Our God is a Sending God
The third insight you can draw form the encounter of Moses with God is this – we serve a ‘Sending God’: in verses 10 God instructs Moses to ‘go’.
You see, we serve a sending God, who has a purpose in calling us, a purpose in making us his children, and he is sending us into the World for a purpose. Moses was sent to the Israelites to see them out of Egypt. God used his as a vessel to rescue them. God sent his one and only begotten Son Jesus, to Calvary, in order to deliver men. So that we, who are in the darkness, can be delivered into the Kingdom of Light.
And so then, we can be sent by Him. Here is where we go into the Great Commission. At the end of all the talk about God speaking, about the life of Jesus, in all the description of discipleship, Matthew finally ends with the great Commission, the the great commission is wonderful. They are three wonderful verses of assurance. I find that there is a little negative perception whenever we talk about the Great Commission – that God wants us to do something, that God is expecting us to do something. As we look at it afresh, may God speak to us all today. Let’s look at
Matthew 28:18-20:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Today we have political turmoil, political uncertainty, so what is the Great Commission all about in our situation? As we read this verse, let God comfort us, that all authority is in Jesus! All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus! Why did he say on Heaven and on Earth? God wants you to know that He is a God that is not only in control on his home turf! Hello, God is in control on and over Earth as well, which is his creation! The power of men will not be able to stop the gospel. The power of Satan will not, because all authority has been given to Jesus. You need to remember that the authority for transformation is in the hands of God. All we need to do is to turn our eyes on him.
Jesus said: “Go and make disciples of all nations – teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Jesus already said: All authority is with him, God is in control. Jesus is not throwing you into a battlefield and running away, the Holy Spirit has already gone ahead into the battle!
Moses was smart, he understood this very well, he told God that he will not go, unless the Spirit of God goes with him. He asked God so many questions before he went out – he asked God for signs, etc. Finally, Moses came to God and said he was slow of speech, and for God, maybe this got too far, and God became angry with him. What was wrong with all of that? You see, Moses was looking at himself – how could I do this? He was looking at himself and was trying to tell God: “I cannot do it”. He was trying to get God’s confirmation about sending him as well.
For us, we have a year of expansion ahead of us, we have a year where God is letting us know that we are the army of the living God, we are being sent to preach the Gospel! I want to encourage all of you – don’t be like Moses. He was looking at himself. Don’t say, “Actually I cannot speak wan, actually later I’m afraid I will offend my friend, actually ah I cannot convert anyone one.” Well, you are not supposed to!
Jesus ends with this: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
You see, Jesus will always be with us, it was exactly like in Exodus Chapter 3:12. God told Moses: “I will be with you.” Here is where I want to hold all these together. The needful thing for all of us through a difficult time such as this is, is to not forget the Great Commission and that God is in control.
We have to quieten our soul, and to believe and be aware the God is speaking to us, to hear from Him. That God is sanctifying is, God wants us to be transformed in holiness. We are saved for a purpose, we serve a sending God. The church has a purpose to preach the Gospel. This is precisely what is meant in Matthew 6:33:
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, first and foremost we must seek the King. When we seek the King, we will grow to fulfil the purpose God has for us, and God says his provisions will be there for you. I believe as we look at this Scripture, you will look and see that the context of this Scripture can be expanded to deliverance, and as a church, it can be expanded to healing for the nation.
We must seek the King, his Kingdom and his righteousness. You will see the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, you will see him coming down in all his glory, you will see the armies of heaven coming down with him. I want to end with this prayer, let this be a prayer for Tabernalcof of Praise: we are sent. It is in this understanding that we serve a speaking god, a sanctifying god and a sending God that we must learn to be a hearing people, a holy priesthood and a purposeful church. The deliverance of God from the anxiety that we feel because of the uncertainties lies within the context of our encounter with God. And set within his speaking, sanctifying and sending work.
Psams 91:2 – I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Today, we as a church will say of Lord, he is our refuge and our fortress. In God we trust! Amen.
Many thanks to Josephine Phang for transcribing this sermon.
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