How do the twists and turns of our lives mirror those of ancient narratives? Journey with us through the concluding verses of Exodus 4 as we reflect on Moses' life-altering decisions and the profound intersections that shape our stories. Inspired by Alistair McIntyre's "After Virtue," we examine how our personal tales are interconnected, sharing how Moses' tranquil life in Midian was dramatically transformed by a divine encounter, revealing the depth of God's orchestration in our lives.
Moses faced internal struggles and fears, yet he demonstrated a remarkable obedience to God's command. We explore the significance of his request for Jethro's blessing to return to Egypt, underscoring the importance of honoring one's elders even amid daunting challenges. Moses's journey to confront Pharaoh, armed only with faith and divine promises, offers us lessons on overcoming the fear of man and trusting fully in God’s plan, a powerful teaching point for all ages.
Supporting family members called to missions often involves emotional and spiritual sacrifices. Reflecting on John Patton's poignant story, we discuss the themes of faith, family, and perseverance, paralleling Moses' challenging return to Egypt. Concluding with a heartfelt communal prayer, we seek strength for faith and obedience, asking for God's peace and faithfulness to guide us until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This episode is a powerful reminder that our obedience to God's calling, though often fraught with hardship, is always underscored by His unwavering faithfulness.
How do the twists and turns of our lives mirror those of ancient narratives? Journey with us through the concluding verses of Exodus 4 as we reflect on Moses' life-altering decisions and the profound intersections that shape our stories. Inspired by Alistair McIntyre's "After Virtue," we examine how our personal tales are interconnected, sharing how Moses' tranquil life in Midian was dramatically transformed by a divine encounter, revealing the depth of God's orchestration in our lives.
Moses faced internal struggles and fears, yet he demonstrated a remarkable obedience to God's command. We explore the significance of his request for Jethro's blessing to return to Egypt, underscoring the importance of honoring one's elders even amid daunting challenges. Moses's journey to confront Pharaoh, armed only with faith and divine promises, offers us lessons on overcoming the fear of man and trusting fully in God’s plan, a powerful teaching point for all ages.
Supporting family members called to missions often involves emotional and spiritual sacrifices. Reflecting on John Patton's poignant story, we discuss the themes of faith, family, and perseverance, paralleling Moses' challenging return to Egypt. Concluding with a heartfelt communal prayer, we seek strength for faith and obedience, asking for God's peace and faithfulness to guide us until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This episode is a powerful reminder that our obedience to God's calling, though often fraught with hardship, is always underscored by His unwavering faithfulness.
them. Well, if you'll join me in your Bibles Exodus, chapter 4. Exodus 4, we're going to finish this chapter this evening. It's been a few weeks since we've been in Exodus. We're going to begin this evening in verse 18, and we'll go to the end of the chapter.
Speaker 1:In his book After Virtue, a Study in Moral Theory, author Alistair McIntyre writes this Someone may discover, or not discover, that he or she is a character in a number of narratives at the same time, some of them embedded in others. Only in fantasy do we live what story we please. In life, we are always under certain constraints. We enter upon a stage which we did not design and we find ourselves part of an action that was not of our making. Each of us, being a main character in his own drama, plays subordinate parts in the dramas of others, and each drama constrains the others. In my drama, perhaps, I am Hamlet or Iago, or at least the swineherd who may yet become a prince, but to you I am only a gentleman or at best a second murderer, while you are my polonius or my gravedigger, but your own hero. Each of our dramas exerts constraints on each other, making the whole different from the parts, but still dramatic. Now, this is true, as you understand what he is saying. In our own minds, the world, in the words of Shakespeare, is our stage, and we are the main characters, while everyone else around us all of our friends, all of our family members, our co-workers, our neighbors they are all simply playing supporting roles. It makes sense, of course, because we can only see the world through our own eyes. And yet we make goals, we have plans, we have desires, but despite what we often think and despite what we are often told, our story is not really written by us. Our story intersects with the stories of others this is exactly what McIntyre's point is and the narrative is changed by those interactions and by those other stories. The plot shifts, sometimes it thickens, and every now and then a surprising new character or plot arises that we never anticipated. This was certainly the case for Moses.
Speaker 1:He left Egypt at 40 years old and went to Midian. His story then intersected in an unlikely way with Jethro and his family, and all of this was something that Moses certainly never planned for. From that time on, their stories ran on a parallel course. Moses was brought into Jethro's home and he married one of Jethro's daughters, zipporah. He spent 40 years working as a member of the family, tending to the land, caring for the animals and now raising two of his own sons. There was a mutual benefit for Moses and for Jethro. It was a bond and it worked. Benefit for Moses and for Jethro. It was a bond and it worked and, as we know from the Bible, it was relatively uneventful for those 40 years.
Speaker 1:But then there's an entirely new narrative that begins. Moses encounters the angel of the Lord in a burning bush and he was told burning bush. And he was told come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Now you will recall, as we have looked at that, moses brought up every excuse that he could think of. Who am I that they should listen to me? Who are you that they will believe that you sent me to them? They won't believe anything that I say. After all, I'm not eloquent, I can't speak. Well, please just send someone else.
Speaker 1:Moses was admitting that, while he was the hero in his own story, this was never part of the storyline that he had concocted in his mind, and the Lord grew angry with Moses. But yet, in his kindness, he ensured Moses that his story would intersect once again with someone else, someone from his past, someone from his blood. His brother, aaron and Moses would be as God to him. But surely in Moses's mind there's still another issue. His life had been woven together in a bond of mutual benefit with Jethro. He married his daughter, he had given him two grandsons, he had taken up the family business, and as old as Moses was family business, and as old as Moses was 80 years old at this point. Surely Jethro is older and relied on Moses. And so what is he going to tell his father-in-law? As a man with seven daughters, jethro might respond more like Laban did with Jacob. Then he would be willing to let Moses go without a fight. But what does he do? How does he respond? Well, let's read as this narrative continues, beginning in verse 18.
Speaker 1:Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses Go in peace. And the Lord said to Moses in Midian Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead. So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. And the Lord said to Moses when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I've put in your power, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh thus says the Lord Israel is my firstborn son. And I say to you let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son At a lodging place. On the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. So he let him alone. It was then that she said a bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision.
Speaker 1:The Lord said to Aaron go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped. Well, we have Moses here, finally taking his first step of faith. He's relented and he's obeying what God has commanded.
Speaker 1:But even at 80 years old, it's one thing to face Pharaoh. It's quite another thing to face your father-in-law. I imagine the conversation hey dad, jethro, I mean, we've been at this for 40 years. I'm just going to call you, dad. Listen, I'm going to go ahead and take your daughter, you know, my wife and, of course, our two boys, your grandsons. We're going to go to Egypt. We may never see you again. Maybe, then again, maybe. So Maybe you will, maybe you won't, but we're going to go. Do that if you're okay with it. Are you okay with that?
Speaker 1:It was a good and right thing that Moses spoke to Jethro. It would have been wrong for him to just go and tell Jethro that's what he's going to do, without asking for his blessing. But there's something we see as a pattern all throughout Moses's life in these first 80 years of life, and it's something we see even in his conversation here with Jethro. It's a good lesson for all of us and it may be a bit unexpected, and that is this that a fear of man can be crippling and will potentially lead to disobedience. Notice what Moses says to Jethro. We can laugh about him being a bit timid. It's a little funny to think about an 80-year-old man timidly asking his father-in-law if he can go. But there are cultural and economic factors at play here. It would have been expected that Jethro would give permission before they just up and leave town. And to give credit to Moses, this was good.
Speaker 1:It's a lesson for all of us on how we interact with our parents and our in-laws. This is one way we honor our parents and fulfill the fifth commandment, no matter how old we are, but especially as we enter into adulthood and start making decisions and if you are an older teenager and you're starting to think about college and you're starting to think about getting married and moving out of the house, honor your parents, take care how you leave because and I know how the feeling is to just be ready You're 18. I got to get out and do my own thing, live my own life. It is far more difficult on mom and dad than you think it is Far more difficult. So if Moses approaches his father-in-law and gives him the courtesy of approaching him at 80 years old to get his blessing, you can do the same thing when you're 18 or 20. However, with that being said, there's an easy thing to miss here if you're not paying attention. Notice what Moses says. Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive Now.
Speaker 1:We've looked very carefully at the narrative all throughout so far. We've spent several weeks considering Moses's interaction with the angel of the Lord, and my question is at what point did the Lord say Moses, I want you to go back to Egypt and check on your brothers? He never said anything remotely close to that, did he? Of course, he could have meant my Hebrew brethren, if we're really being generous here, but even still, that's not really the point. Moses said nothing to Jethro about the burning bush. He said nothing about the stick that he had, that the Lord turned into a serpent, about his hand being made leprous and then back to normal inside of his cloak. He said nothing about returning to Egypt at the Lord's command to confront Pharaoh so that he would let God's people go free into the wilderness. None of that came up and it seems consistent with Moses's pattern so far. In many ways he's identified in what we read in John, chapter 12. He loved the approval of men rather than, or at least more than, the approval of God.
Speaker 1:Now look, I can imagine how intimidating it would be to tell the truth when it seems so unbelievable. I think about Mary being pregnant as a virgin and all the scorn and all the sideways looks that her and Joseph would have gotten from others. Telling the truth isn't always easy and it's not always safe, but it's always right. We don't want people to think we're crazy. We don't want people to think we're out of step with the normal patterns of everyday people. Our natural desire is to fit in. Have you ever hesitated to tell someone that you're a Christian? Or have you been in a conversation with another person who's assuming you agree with them about something that is completely out of line with what we believe as Christians and you hesitate to say anything or to share your opinion because you're afraid of how they will respond. I'll admit there are times when it can be a little bit intimidating to tell people that I'm a pastor, because I actually like the person and I want to get to know them, but more often than not that is a very quick way to end an interaction.
Speaker 1:We all have that in us. We want to be liked, we want to be accepted, we want others to approve of us and yet we hesitate. It's difficult at times to say yes, I believe in Adam and Eve. Yes, I believe in a great flood that destroyed the earth. Yes, I believe in Jonah, who was swallowed by a giant fish. Yes, I believe Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life and was and is the Son of God. Yes, I believe Jesus was raised from the dead. I believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell. I believe these things and the world thinks we're crazy. They think we're simple-minded and ignorant crazy. They think we're simple-minded and ignorant. So if we aren't confident in the Lord, if we don't trust God in those moments and value his approval more than man's, we'll be more like Moses. We won't say anything about the burning bush, or about the stick, or about what the Lord has called us to do. We'll either be silent, we'll either tell only part of the story or we will concoct something new all together.
Speaker 1:When Moses was 40, he thought he was brave, he thought he was a hero, he thought he was a rescuer, and so he killed an Egyptian. What did he do when they found out? He ran. When God told Moses to return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, what did he say? I can't do that. Pharaoh is Pharaoh. There's no way. How did he respond when God told him to go to the Hebrew elders in Egypt and tell them everything? They won't believe me. Them everything. They won't believe me. And now here we are.
Speaker 1:Moses goes to Jethro and saying I need to go make sure that all my brethren are still alive. That's much easier of a pill to swallow. Then God spoke to me out of a burning bush. He showed me all of these supernatural signs. He told me that I'm going to confront Pharaoh and set the Israelites free from bondage.
Speaker 1:Brothers and sisters, if we are more concerned with pleasing man than we are with pleasing God, we will find ourselves in places we don't want to be agreeing with things we don't agree with and we'll be more prone to act in disobedience. Don't agree with and will be more prone to act in disobedience. The person whose reward of approval we desire most and whose curse of disapproval we most fear to receive is the person we will obey, that is, our functional God. That's why the Bible so often commands us to fear the Lord, us to fear the Lord. Fear the Lord, and thankfully we will see Moses make progress in this area as we continue to go along in the Exodus narrative. In many ways the old dog will learn some new tricks. But Jethro's response also teaches us something very important. So often our fear of man is unfounded. It only reveals our heart of pride.
Speaker 1:Jethro didn't argue with Moses. He didn't say, wow, you're going to abandon me after all that I've done for you. He didn't try to convince him to do otherwise. In fact, he said the very best thing that Moses could have heard go in peace. Jethro really puts on display a very important biblical principle here that we need to consider Verses 18 through 20. And he shows us that it's important that we consider others more highly than ourselves. This is what the apostle Paul teaches in Philippians, chapter two Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. What a gracious response from Jethro.
Speaker 1:I mentioned Laban earlier from the book of Genesis. Remember when Jacob wanted to leave? He had served his time with his father-in-law, laban, and he was told no, jacob, you need to stay here. Having you here is really good for me. You're making me rich. Is really what was going on. I know I tricked you. You married not one, but both of my daughters, leah and Rachel, even though you really just wanted to marry Rachel. Let's be honest, leah's a little ugly. No one was going to marry her, so you got them both, but you and my girls and my grandkids need to stay here. You can't take all of this away from me. So what happens, remember? Jacob flees, laban tracks him down and Laban says the daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks and all that you see is mine. Laban had one thing in mind. Laban had one thing in mind himself and his prosperity. There's no concern for Jacob, really no concern for his daughters or his grandchildren. This was all about himself and so, by comparison, it really is a beautiful thing to see Jethro's response.
Speaker 1:Now I've mentioned children respecting and honoring their parents, but it's also important for parents to support and encourage their children. What will you say if one day, your daughter comes to you and says my husband and I are being called to foreign missions and we want to go to an unreached people group. We don't know if we'll ever see you again. What do you say? I read missionary biographies sometimes and I'm fighting back tears when I read about their interactions with their parents. I think one of the best examples of this and I think Pastor Smith referenced this recently from John Patton's autobiography it's worth repeating he was on his way to Glasgow to attend seminary, to be a missionary in the city, before he eventually left to the New Hebrides to be a missionary amongst cannibals. It's a tough read, but here we go. Let me read this portion from his autobiography.
Speaker 1:He said my dear father walked with me the first six miles of the way. His counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are fresh in my heart as if it had been but yesterday, and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then whenever memory steals me away to the scene. For the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost unbroken silence. My father, as was often his custom, carrying hat in hand, while his long flowing yellow hair then yellow but in later years white as snow streamed like a girl's down his shoulders. His lips kept moving in silent prayer for me. His tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain. We halted on reaching the appointed parting place. He grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence and then solemnly and affectionately said God bless you, my son, your father's God. Prosper you and keep you from all evil. Unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer, in tears. We embraced and parted.
Speaker 1:I ran off as fast as I could and went about to turn a corner in the road where he would lose sight of me. I looked back and saw him still standing there with his head uncovered where I had left him, gazing after me, waving my hat in ado. I rounded the corner and out of sight in instant, but my heart was too full and sore to carry me further, so I darted into the side of the road and wept for a time. Then, rising up cautiously, I climbed the dike to see if he yet stood where I had left him, and just at that moment I caught a glimpse of him climbing the dike and looking out for me. He did not see me, of him climbing the dike and looking out for me. He did not see me. And after he gazed eagerly in my direction for a while, he got down. He set his face toward home and began to return, his head still uncovered and his heart, I felt sure, still rising in prayers for me. I watched through blinding tears till his form faded from my gaze and then, hastening on my way, vowed deeply.
Speaker 1:And it's not easy, it's not what our flesh wants, but Patton was off to do a great thing for the Lord, and his godly father knew that he couldn't keep him at home forever, and so he wished him well and sent him off with tears and prayers. This is the heart of Jethro. Go in peace, go in shalom. That's a gracious, loving response from a father. He thought more highly of his son-in-law and his daughter than he did for himself.
Speaker 1:And notice, the Lord also gives Moses an assurance here in verse 19. The Lord said to Moses and Midian go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead. The Lord is relieving his fears. I know you're scared, moses, I know you have a lot of anxiety about this, but rest assured they aren't going to try to kill you. All those men are long gone. And so verse 20, moses took his wife and his sons, he had them ride on a donkey, he went back to the land of Egypt and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
Speaker 1:But the Lord has something else to teach Moses and us, and we see that in verses 21 through 23. And that is that living in obedience to God and for his glory is not always comfortable. We're seeing a bit of a theme here, aren't we Remember? The Lord showed Moses all the signs that he would do and assured him that the elders would listen and they would believe him and they would be with him and Aaron would be the spokesman on his behalf.
Speaker 1:But once Moses is on the road with his wife and his boys on a donkey, he gets another word from the Lord in verse 21. When you go back to Egypt, see that you do, before Pharaoh, all the miracles that I've put in your power. So far, so good. He already told him all of this, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let my people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh thus says the Lord Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.
Speaker 1:Now, once again, try to put yourself in Moses's place. The Lord has assured him that this plan is going to work, that he is going to be with him, that he will guide him all along the way. But now that they've set their compass toward Egypt, he tells them by the way, your first chat with Pharaoh is not going to go very well. I'm going to harden his heart. I'm going to do that, and you're going to have to tell him that if he doesn't listen to what you say, that I'm going to kill his firstborn son. And we know, you know, on our end of things, we know the rest of the story, but Moses doesn't know the rest of the story, and it's not actually just going to be one chat with Pharaoh, it will be at least 10. So buckle up, moses. There's a bumpy ride ahead.
Speaker 1:Now we're introduced here for the first time to Pharaoh's hardened heart. We're going to see that at least 18 times throughout the book of Exodus, so I'm not going to camp out on this point this time. We'll come back to it later, when Moses finally gets to Pharaoh. But this is a significant theme. In these early chapters of Exodus, god is clearly revealing that he is sovereign over the heart of Pharaoh, just as he is sovereign over your heart. But that doesn't mean that Pharaoh is free from responsibility. We will see that he hardens his heart on his own. In other words, god leaves Pharaoh to his natural self-willed, self-serving pride and arrogance and wickedness, and it's his undoing in the end. But we will leave that for the future.
Speaker 1:For now, notice, the Lord is sending Moses into a really difficult situation. I'm reminded here of the prophet Isaiah. Remember he had a very different response from Moses when God said in Isaiah 6, whom shall I send? What did Isaiah say Immediately? He said send me, I'll go. And the Lord told him okay, these people that I'm sending you to, they won't listen to you, they won't like you, they won't want anything to do with you. They're terrible, awful people and your preaching will only harden their hearts, all the more I thought about that. As a pastor, you know I've been wonderfully blessed in ministry that these are not the kinds of people that God has sent me to serve.
Speaker 1:Some pastors are in those unfortunate situations. I thank God that hasn't been my experience, but oftentimes when God calls us to do something, it's not accompanied with immediate success or acceptance. Think of all the missionaries who have labored for years and years and years without seeing much if any success at all. It's easy to get discouraged and to think what am I doing here? Did the Lord send me here just so that I would fail? Think of pastors who pour their hearts into faithful ministry and they pray and they preach and they counsel and they visit and they meet with people, and yet their churches continue to shrink each and every year. They haven't been able to baptize anyone for a while. They can't get people to show up for prayer meetings or Bible studies, and it's really discouraging and it's really easy to think what is the Lord doing with me?
Speaker 1:But the Lord's purposes are greater than ours. The Lord's ways are higher than our ways and he doesn't do anything haphazardly or without reason. The difficult circumstances, the uncomfortable circumstances, are just as much about teaching us and molding us and shaping us to be more like Christ as they are about what God is doing through us. We often see it. Excuse me, we don't often see it right away. Sometimes we may never see it in this lifetime, but we can trust that the Lord is doing what is good and what is right.
Speaker 1:The ultimate end of all things is not our comfort, it's not our personal success. The ultimate end of all things is the glory of God, and the Exodus proves that for us. God hates injustice and it will not go unpunished. And the Exodus is ultimately about God making his glory known to the nations, motivated by his hatred for injustice and his love for his people. Motivated by his hatred for injustice and his love for his people. I can promise you this If you are a Christian, god loves you more than you will ever know. The Lord will be with you, he will take care of you, but it's not always going to be comfortable and it's not always going to be easy. We have to trust the promises of God and know that in the end, his glory will be revealed, and that is what matters most.
Speaker 1:Fourth thing we see in the text verses 24 through 26, is that the cost of discipleship is not negotiable. Let's read that again, beginning in verse 24. At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. So he let him alone. It was then that she said a bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision.
Speaker 1:Now you have probably read this before and thought what in the world is going on here, and you're really excited that we're on this passage because you want an answer. And so I will tell you what every Bible scholar and commentary agrees on with this passage it is really strange and nobody knows what's going on. So there is your really well-reasoned, super sophisticated answer. Everyone has a guess. There are some that seem a little bit better than others, but nobody knows. However, that doesn't mean that it's so strange and so mysterious that we can't draw something from it.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to go through all the various ideas and interpretations. It really is some entertaining reading seeing some of the different ideas. There are dozens of different interpretations. Some make Zipporah out to be a villain. Others make her out to be the hero, some blame it on her being a Midianite and Moses being an Israelite, others thinking that feet is a reference to reproductive organs. There are many different ideas, so I'm not going to try and sort through all of them because in the end I don't have a good answer for you about all the specifics here, and anyone who tells you that they do, I believe, is far too confident in their conclusions. Who tells you that they do, I believe, is far too confident in their conclusions.
Speaker 1:But here's the point that I think is clear Moses had not been faithful to keep his covenant obligation as an Israelite. Genesis 17 teaches us that a failure to uphold covenant obligations comes with a curse, and as far as this covenant obligation is concerned, if you do not receive the sign of circumcision, you will be cut off from the people of God. So what we can say with certainty is that God's anger is kindled against Moses because the job that God gave to Moses to do in Egypt it could be fulfilled with a lot of Moses's shortcomings in place, but what God could not tolerate was Moses's disobedience. The Lord was angry with Moses for not circumcising his son. That seems clear from the text. He sought to put him to death before Zipporah intervened and I believe as a sort of heroine in the story and saved his life by circumcising their boy with flint.
Speaker 1:We can say that Moses is learning an important lesson that all of us need to learn, namely that when the Lord calls us to serve him and his people, he claims everything about us. It is he, and he alone, who determines what he will require of us. The only right option that we have in service to God is obedience. As I said, the cost of discipleship is not negotiable. Sometimes obedience doesn't look so sweet. In the moment it truly is like picking up a cross and following after him. But the longer we walk with the Lord, the more we learn. It may be painful now, it may be difficult, it may seem like outright suffering, but the Lord's ways are better than my own and they are for my ultimate good and for his glory. He loves me, he takes care of me, he is 100% reliable and he keeps all of his promises.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we are tempted to cut corners. Sometimes we like to weigh everything in a scale of our own making and saying I'm doing really well with all of these things over here. I'm regularly attending church, I'm reading my Bible, I'm praying, I'm doing acts of service, I'm giving financially to the work of ministry. I have things going really well. So this area of disobedience it's small, it's not that big of a deal. Look how much my good outweighs my bad. We like to try and reason through this and justify it and convince ourselves that a little bit of leaven really doesn't leaven the whole lump. The rest of the lump is excellent, so this isn't going to matter. But what does James teach us? For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. God will call us to all sorts of different things, brothers and sisters, but a calling from God is never an excuse for compromise.
Speaker 1:Moses had a mission, but along with that mission comes a responsibility to submit to God's commands. It is not optional, and this is applicable to all of us in every area of life. Are you a parent? Your family needs your personal holiness and your obedience to the Lord. Are you a parent? Your family needs your personal holiness and your obedience to the Lord. Are you an employer? Your employees need your personal holiness and your obedience to the Lord. Are you an employee? Your employer needs your personal holiness and your obedience to the Lord. Being a disciple of Christ is the greatest gift that you can possess in this life, but it also comes with this non-negotiable reality you don't get to do what you want, however you want, whenever you want, and assume that it's just going to be okay. The cost of discipleship is not negotiable, and Moses had to learn that difficult lesson in a difficult way. Difficult lesson in a difficult way. Finally, we see in verses 27 through 31 that the Lord will always fulfill his promises. Look again at verse 27.
Speaker 1:The Lord said to Aaron go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And so he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, and the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, and the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Speaker 1:Now once again. Isn't this just so telling of Moses. Remember all of his arguments before the Lord. Who am I? Who are you? What am I going to tell them? They're not going to believe me. Everyone's going to laugh at me. What are they going to think? And here we are. He shows up, meets up with Aaron. Aaron hears it all. Wonderful, praise God. Let's go tell the elders I'll tell all of them, by the way. Do the thing with the stick, show them like the Lord said for you to do. And he does it. And what happens? The people believed all that he had told them and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Speaker 1:There's a very simple reality here. The Lord promised Moses this would happen, despite all of his fears and all of his objections, back in verses 14 through 17,. We saw last time. Look at what he told Moses. Is there not Aaron, your brother the Levite? I know that he can speak. Well, behold, he's coming out to meet you and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. He shall speak for you to the people and he shall be your mouth and you shall be as God to him and take in your hand this staff with which you shall do the signs. And then, at the end of the chapter, we see all of this come to fruition. And then, at the end of the chapter, we see all of this come to fruition Moses fretted, moses feared, moses was unsure, moses was reluctant, moses nearly refused, but God kept his word.
Speaker 1:Think about how often we don't actually believe the Lord. Yes, I know we say we believe the Lord and praise God that we do. We trust the Lord and his promises and his word, but we still have unbelief in our hearts. We still think some things are just too great, too far beyond reality, that they won't actually happen. Think about your hardened friend or family member who hates God and says and does everything they can just to prove it to you. You may pray for them, you may wish they would die to themselves and live upon Christ, but do you really believe it's possible for God to save them.
Speaker 1:When you think about the overwhelming number of people in this world who do not know Christ and the relatively few missionaries that are sent out to the unreached people groups of the world, do you think there's no way we're ever going to fulfill the Great Commission? We pray for revival. We look at revivals of the past and we're amazed. Revival we look at revivals of the past and we're amazed. But do we really believe that God can or will do that in our lifetime Through our prayers, through our ministry, through our preaching, through our faithfulness? Do you look around at everyone at Emmanuel Baptist Church and think, wow, we have a lot of people coming here and joining our church and we're out of space. And the pastors keep talking to us about needing more space and building a new building so we can all fit. But that's just so much money. It's just unrealistic. We could never do that.
Speaker 1:Brothers and sisters, doesn't our God own a cattle on a thousand hills and hills? Haven't we sung since childhood some of us that he has the whole world in his hands? So why do we disbelieve when confronted with the challenge? This is one of the great sins that dwells deep in our hearts brethren unbelief, and we need to pray regularly. Lord, help my unbelief, help me to trust you, help me to believe all the things you've promised. I know your promises are true. I know you always do what you say you will do. I know you can do far more and abundantly than anything I could ever hope or imagine. And apart from the spirit, brothers and sisters, we will be hopeless and we will be filled with unbelief. We need to pray that the Lord would help us every day to trust him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Moses was filled with unbelief, but, as is so often the case and all of us can attest to it, if you've been a Christian for even a day we worry for no reason, we fret for no reason. It may be that we see everything the Lord is calling us to be and to do and all we see is a dark alley ahead of us and we don't know why he's telling us to walk down a dark alley in the middle of the night. But when we get there, we realize that it opens up to a world that we never thought possible.
Speaker 1:You may be struggling with a wayward child right now and wondering could anything ever change? I don't see a way forward. Perhaps you think you've hit a dead end in your career or you're worried about your future and your business and you think what would I ever do without this? How will I survive? Maybe you have a broken relationship and you think there's no way that it could ever be healed because there's so much hurt. Lord, help my unbelief and friends. Some of you here may think I've done too many things, I've sinned in too many ways, I've gone too far for God to ever love me. But I want to tell you something. It's the greatest news you will ever hear. God loves to save sinners and he would love to welcome you into his family as his child. The good news of the gospel is that you're never too far gone for God to save you. The Lord has saved all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds and all sorts of lives of sin and brokenness, and he can save you.
Speaker 1:Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Have you lied, have you lusted? Have you cheated or stolen or had unrighteous anger in your heart? Have you loved the world and all that is in it? Have you obeyed your flesh instead of obeying God? Here's the truth instead of obeying God. Here's the truth All of us have all of us, every single one of us. But God's response is not that he wants nothing to do with us or that we shouldn't even bother. God's response is this come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I life because you cannot. And he did that because it's what God requires. He fulfilled the whole law on behalf of those who trust in him. He died a sinner's death on a cross. We deserved it. We are the ones for whom this everlasting debt for rebellion was paid to our creator. Jesus took the wrath of God upon himself so that we need not do the same. Jesus took on frail flesh and died a sinner's death and was buried in a grave for three days so that we, with him, could be raised victoriously over sin and death once and for all.
Speaker 1:Friend, if you're not a Christian, this is not the end of your story. It doesn't have to be. Look to Jesus and live. Put your faith and your hope and your trust in Christ. Jesus Repent of your sin, and know that when you abide in Christ, you will be saved once and for all time.
Speaker 1:Stop trying to live by your own good deeds. Stop trying to earn God's favor. Stop trying to prove your worth, because God's standard is clear Perfection, perfection. And you're not perfect and I'm not perfect, and nobody you know or will ever meet is perfect. We must trust in the one who is perfect and trust that, when we do, the Holy Spirit enters into our lives and changes our hearts and makes us to be new creations and sets us on a path of faithfulness and obedience that is far greater than anything we could ever think possible. And so, friends, stop living for the world. It will never satisfy the longings of your heart. Stop living for the desires of your flesh. All of the disappointments that you've experienced thus far are not going to change as you keep doing the same thing. Stop thinking you just need the next opportunity or the next big break and then you're going to solve your problem, because your biggest problem is that the wrath of God is upon you and if you die tonight, you have no hope.
Speaker 1:Jesus said I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life. And no one comes to the father but through me. And your greatest need is to come to the father and to say I bring nothing of my own works, I bring nothing of my own flesh, I have nothing good within me. I have nothing good within me that I've done. I have only the blood of Jesus Christ that commends me to you, father and friend. The best news in the world is that the blood of Jesus Christ is enough. We are saved by faith alone.
Speaker 1:Put your faith in Jesus, and my prayer is that you will be just like these people who heard the words of the Lord from Moses through Aaron, and the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, what did they do? They bowed their heads and worshiped. Friend, my prayer for you, if you do not know Christ, is that today would be the day of your salvation, that you would bow your head and worship. And, brothers and sisters, may we be faithful to pray to our great God. Help me, lord, to trust you. Help me to not fear man. Help me to not live in my own strength, in my own way. Help me to love you and to believe that all that you have promised is true and will come to pass. Help me to trust. Help me to trust. Help me to trust that as your disciple, even when it's difficult, even when my flesh wants. Otherwise, obeying your word is for my good and will turn out for the best in the end. Help me, lord, help my unbelief. May that be our prayer. Brothers and sisters, lord, help us. Let's pray together.
Speaker 1:Lord, help our unbelief. We'd be liars to say that no unbelief exists in our hearts. We all have traces of a fear of man within us. We all have temptations to disobey and things that we consider small. We all have a desire to write our own stories and to live in our own narrative and to subordinate everyone and everything else around us to supporting roles in our great show.
Speaker 1:Lord, help us to always remember that our life is lived as your children, in obedience to you, because it is all yours and it is all for your glory alone. And so, lord, help us to trust you. Help us to trust that what you say you will do, that what you have promised, is as good as done. Lord, help us to trust that you can do far more abundantly than anything we could ever even think possible, because you have truly the whole world in your hands and you sustain it all, because you've created it all and, out of your great love for us, you have made a way that we might live and dwell with you forever.
Speaker 1:Lord, help not only the unbelief of your children, but, lord, break through the unbelief of those who do not know you. May it be that today would be the day of their salvation, that they would know true life in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's receive a benediction. God of peace himself. Make you holy through and through. May your whole being, spirit, soul and body, be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will accomplish it. Amen.