Exodus — Chapter 3

Christians must be careful not to turn to God only when they are disturbed by an experience or to satisfy curiosity. This is what Moses did at the burning bush, but God arrested Moses’s cares and attention. In this sermon from Exodus 3:3 titled “It is God Who Acts,” Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones addresses this fatally casual approach to God. He states how often Christians address God out of exhaustion or need. He corrects this by saying that Christians must always begin with God as He is the root of all things. What a transformation would take place if Christians applied God to their experience rather than appealing their experiences to God. Indeed, Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows that the main business of Christianity is Christ’s death on the cross that brings His people face to face with God. God is so pure that He cannot look upon sin, but because of salvation the Christian can enter His presence. Not only this, but God’s plan for salvation is certain, as seen in this passage. He sees the Christian’s sorrows and acts as He did for the Israelites. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages turning to God in full attention as His purposes are good and He has cared for the greatest need so that His people might dwell in His presence rather than address Him only when they must.

Blaise Pascal once said, “God is not the God of the philosophers.” In this sermon on Exodus 3:6 titled “A Living God,” Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones expounds on how dangerous this statement is. The philosophers deal in the abstract, but Christians have a God that is real and can be known personally. When God described himself to Moses as I AM in Exodus 3:6, He was showing Himself as the familiar and intimate God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Dr. Lloyd-Jones shows in this sermon that this God is a God of compassion and faithfulness throughout the ages. This is the God who sees the sorrows and looks upon Christians as a father pities His children and then works His good purposes for them. He remains who He has always been: the God who was in covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and He acts out of compassion on the Christian’s behalf.