Examine the excuses that Moses made in his attempt to get out of
taking the children of God out of Egypt
and see if we sometimes make those same
excuses today. Text: Exodus
3 & 4.
Introduction.
- Give a brief history of the Jews going into
Egyptian captivity.
- Moses was a great man of God but we are going
to see that he is a lot like us in many respects.
- Like us, Moses liked to make excuses in order
to get out of something that he didn’t want to do.
- Lets examine some of the excuses that Moses
made because, in a sense, we are all called by God to be His spokesmen
today.
Body.
- "Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?" (Exodus
3:11).
- Moses does not feel worthy to be chosen as God’s
representative.
- How often do we see in the Bible that God takes
little, seemingly insignificant men and uses them for great things.
- Paul is a great example of such a man (1
Tim. 1:15-16).
I realize that sometimes we feel unworthy also.
We must realize, though, that we are called just
as surely as Moses was called (2
Thess. 2:14).
We must also come to the understanding that we
are working for the Great I AM!
As a servant of the Most High, why should we feel
unworthy?
Our Master is the King of kings.
It is through us that God is glorified (Eph.
3:21).
We don’t have to be perfect, sinless people to
be a spokesman for God.
We simply can not let this feeling of low
confidence keep us from obeying God.
"They will not believe me, nor hearken unto my
voice." (Exodus
4:1).
- Moses feared that the people would not believe that
the Lord had sent him and would, therefore, not listen to him.
- God remedied this problem by giving Moses the
ability to do miracles to convince the people.
- Do we sometimes use the excuse that "the
people will not believe me" to get out of talking to others?
Unlike Moses, we can not do miracles today.
However, we have something that is much more
impressive and convincing than miracles. God’s Word.
- In order for a miracle to convince someone,
they had to be present, trust the individual performing the
miracle, and know that there were no tricks being used.
- Remember what Abraham said to Lazarus? (Lk.
16:29-31).
- Hebrews
4:12. God’s Word is powerful!
- James
1:21. Miracles never saved
anyone’s soul.
- God’s Word can be examined and scrutinized
by everyone; unlike miracles.
We must also realize that it doesn’t matter if
the people will believe us or not. We still must put forth the effort.
Ezekiel
3:18-21.
Acts
20:26-27.
This does not mean that we need not feel concern
for the lost.
"I am not eloquent...I am slow of speech, and of a
slow tongue." (Exodus
4:10).
- Moses was afraid that the people would reject him
because he was not an eloquent speaker. Maybe he feared being embarrassed
himself or embarrassing God.
- To remedy this problem, God promised to give Moses
the words and that Moses could use Aaron has his spokesman.
- Should being slow of speech be a problem with us
today? Some can’t talk publicly. Some (like myself) think of the right
thing to say about two days later.
Again, God is not going to miraculously give us
the words we need today.
He has already done that by giving us His word.
- John
16:13.
- 2
Timothy 3:16-17.
- By a diligent study of His Word, we can learn
and remember enough to talk to others (2
Tim. 2:15).
I believe that sometimes, being slow of speech is a
good thing.
Paul was not a powerful preacher (1
Cor. 2:1-5).
I feel that we have a sound congregation here.
That is not because Don or I are strong and powerful preachers.
The ones who come aren’t coming to hear a great
preacher; they are coming to hear the Word.
We need to stop following the preacher, and
follow Christ and His Word.
Conclusion.
- It is only human to try and make excuses.
- However, there are no reasons as to why we shouldn’t
spread God’s Word to the world.
- God has taken all of those reasons away.
- There is also no reason not to obey the gospel.
Please See Plan of
Salvation.
-- Ralph Price, May 2000 --
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