Prophet Elijah, one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.
The Bible says that after a great victory—do you remember
how he was depressed because Jezebel said
she was going to kill him.
And he ran away, ran for his life.
But where did he run to?
Where did he run to?
He ran all the way to Mount Sinai.
Or Mount Horeb.
It is the same mountain.
He went to Mount Sinai and at Mount Sinai,
the Bible says God came to him.
And this is what God asked him.
“There, he (Elijah) went into a cave there
in Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai.”
“He went into a cave, and spent the night in that place.”
“And behold, the word of the Lord came to him,”
“and He said to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’”
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He is not supposed to be back at Mount Sinai.
Friend, we are not under Mount Sinai.
We are under Mount Zion.
We are not under law. We are under grace.
We are not under demand. We are under supply.
Amen.
The law is always demand.
“You shall not. You shall not. You shall not.”
But because of his discouragement, he went back to Mount Sinai.
There's something for us to learn here.
Whenever we are discouraged, whenever we feel depressed,
the tendency to fall back into legalism,
to fall back into our own human effort is strong.
“What are you doing here?” What are you doing?”
“Trusting in your own efforts again?”
Amen.
“Seeing Me as a God who is demanding”
“instead of as a God who is supplying?”
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”
I believe the Lord is asking you this question as well.
“What are you doing here?”
“Why do you see me as a Father who is demanding?”
“Demanding from you and not lifting a finger to help?”
“Why is your vision of Me in that way?”
“What are you doing here, Robert?” “What are you doing here, Mary?”
“What are you doing here, bro?” “What are you doing here, my friend?”
I’m asking you this question because God is asking you this question.
“What are you doing here at Mount Sinai?”
The first time God appeared to Moses was in a burning bush.
You all know the story.
We talked about Elijah. Let’s look at Moses now.
And when God first called him, remember that Moses
represents the law. Amen.
And God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
“Moses was tending the flock of Jethro.”
Alright? And where was he?
“He led the flock to the back of the desert”
“and came to Horeb.”
Horeb is Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.
“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him”
“in a flame of fire.”
So the Angel appeared to him!
In other words, it was not hidden.
It wasn't that the Angel was there,
but refused to show Himself.
He appeared to Moses in a flame of fire.
From where? From the midst!
From the midst of a bush.
“He looked, and behold, the bush was burning,”
“but the bush was not consumed.”
“Then Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight,’”
“‘why the bush does not burn.’” Very interesting!
He's now turning aside from the Angel
in the midst of the fire, which I will show you
that this Angel is the Lord himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ. The Angel of the Lord.
Now he got distracted from seeing Jesus,
who appeared to him in the bush.
And he got distracted by the bush,
why the bush is not burning.
So when the Lord saw that he turned aside,
he was getting distracted from the main person,
“he turned aside to look, God called to him from”
“the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’”
“And he said: ‘Here I am.’”
Notice God called him from where?
From the midst of the bush.
Just now, we saw the Angel of the Lord appeared where?
From the midst of the bush.
And now God called him from the midst of the bush.
That tells me the Angel of the Lord here is divine.
It is one of the divine persons of the triune God head.
Praise God. It is Jesus Himself.
Because God called him from the midst of the bush. Amen.
“Then He said: ‘Do not draw near this place.’”
“God said: Do not draw near this place.”
There's the first thing you need to understand. Alright?
This story has amazing truths for us to see, from Moses.
The first time God spoke to him,
this is the first time God spoke to him.
Alright? And what did God say?
“Do not draw near this place.”
Now, when Jesus shared the parable of the prodigal son,
remember that?
The son went to his father, told his father:
“Give me my share of inheritance.”
“I can't wait for you to die.”— in other words. Alright?
“I want my share now.”
So the father divided his inheritance among his two sons
and the son, the youngest son went to a far journey
with his inheritance and then spent his time in riotous living.
And when his money ran out, his friends also ran out on him.
And then he was poor and he started looking for food
and someone hired him to feed the pigs.
Down there, he came to his senses and said:
“In my father's house, there's bread enough and to spare.”
Don't you forget, child of God.
“In your Father's house, there's bread enough and to spare.”
Out there, you are settling for morsels.
You're settling for handouts. Amen.
In the Father's house, there's bread enough and to spare.
Amen.
Don't neglect God's house. Praise the Lord.
Don't neglect tuning in every Sunday.
Praise the Lord. Amen.
Why? Because this is the Father's house?
Hallelujah. Amen.
We're all coming together to hear the word from the Father.
This is the bread that feeds you and there is bread enough
and to spare, as well as finances.
Amen. It's described today, in today’s vernacular,
as bread.
“You got some bread, bro?”
Bread. Amen.
Supply. Supply characterized by bread.
There is bread, enough and to spare. Hallelujah. Amen.
And he came to his senses and he said this.
He had a rehearsed speech.
“I'll go to my father and I'll say: ‘Father, I have”
“‘sinned against heaven and earth.’”
“‘I'm no more worthy to be called your son.’”
“‘Just make me one of your hired servants.’”
Okay? And with his rehearsed speech,
he went to his father.
He is quite smart because he knows that even the
hired servants have bread enough and to spare. Amen.
They eat well in the father's house.
So he wanted to be a hired servant
just to feed his stomach.
He (the son) never dreamed the father will welcome him back.
Right? But on his way back, the Bible says this, alright?
“He arose and came to his father.”
“But when he was still a great way off,”
“his father saw him and had compassion, and ran”
“and fell on his neck and kissed him.”
Now, who is sharing this story?
Our Lord Jesus.
So this father here is referring to is His Father.
It is God.
And this is His posture under grace.
Amen.
The son had sinned, no doubt about it.
He has broken more than 1 of the 10 Commandments.
Okay? No doubts about it.
Yet the father saw him.
Under grace, “had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck”
“and kissed him.”
But to Moses, under law, what did God say?
Now, the law wasn't given just yet,
but Moses represents the law. The idea is still the same here.
“Do not draw near this place.”
Amen.
But for the prodigal son, the father, who represents
our Father in heaven, would run to you
the moment you take one step towards Him.
Amen.
But under the law, it says: “Don't come near.”
“Don't come near Me.”
But under grace, God doesn't even wait for you.
Grace doesn’t say: “You come near to me now.”
“You can come.” It's not even that!
It supersedes that!
The father ran to be near the son!
That's grace!
Under the law, “Don't come near.”
Amen.
Under grace, the father ran to be near the son.
And how near?
He lavished kisses on him, embraced him and kissed him.
In the Greek there, he repeatedly kissed him.
Alright?
Back to Moses again, the first thing is:
“Do not draw near this place.”
Second thing: “Take your sandals off your feet.”
Now, in the prodigal son story, what happened when
he (the son) came back?
When he came back, the father said to his servants:
“Bring out the best robe and put it on him,”
“and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.”
So the law says: “Take off your shoes.”
In other words: “You have no right to stand.”
“You have no standing.” Amen.
Sandals represent possession in those days. Amen.
Like the story of Ruth, the house of the man
whose shoe was loosed, you lose your inheritance,
your sandals. Amen.
“You have no right to stand.” Amen.
“Take off your sandals.”
But under grace, the Father says: “Put sandals on his feet.”
“He has a right to stand in front of Me.”
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord.
Hey! Even the sandals were put on him!
He doesn't have to put on his own sandals.
Grace doesn't say:
“You get to have sandals now, but you've got to put it on.”
Amen.
No it's done for him!
Somebody put sandals on his feet!
“Put sandals on his feet!” Hallelujah. Amen.
Back to Moses again.
And the third thing God said to Moses.
Now, don't forget.
This is the first time God is speaking to Moses.
So the first words to hear is:
“Do not draw near, take your sandals off”
“for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
“The place where you stand is holy ground.”
Friend, the reason you don't draw near,
the reason you take the sandals off your feet
is because the place you are standing is
on holy ground.
But under grace, if the father said to
the son: “Don't come near me, the place you're standing,”
“we are standing now is holy ground.”
The son will never make it home.
He will never be brought home.
He cannot stand in front of the father,
let alone wear the sandals on his feet.
No way.
Do you know what ground we are standing on?
Grace.
God says: “I will, I will. I will.”
He will.
And what is left for us to do is believe that He will.
Now, will this cause us to be lazy and ineffective
in our assignment from God? Amen.
In our service to God?
No, no, no, no.
When God will, when God says:
“I will do it.” Man, when God works,
“He works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
When God's energy is released in you,
when God's dunamis power is released to you and through you,
and God channels that through you,
man, the things that you do, you are like the burning bush.
You are burning, burning, and burning. Amen.
You're on fire, man!
Yet you are not consumed. Amen.
You're not burnt out.
You keep on burning, shining for the glory of God.
Hallelujah.