R452 When Actually There is Nothing Else to Say

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message from Exodus chapter 4. In today's Bible study, we'll be opening God's word and discovering really one of the most unusual topics that Dr. Don has ever brought to the light.

It's when there's nothing else to say. Well, as you can imagine, there's a lot to say about when there's nothing else to say, and you're going to hear it, more importantly, not just from Dr. Wilton, but from God's word as we study together. Now that we're here for you, we're connecting online at tewonline.org. If you haven't been lately, it's a brand new website. That's tewonline.org, a great place to follow Dr. Wilton and all of our social media, but also to sign up for the daily encouraging word email.

That's online at tewonline.org. Now today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. Our subject this morning is going to be one of the most unusual subjects, and I want to give you the title of my message.

Here it is. When actually there is nothing else to say. That's the title of our message from God's word today. When actually there is nothing else to say. It's going to sound a little bit of a contradiction, especially for a preacher.

When actually there is nothing else to say. I believe that there are people here today, others worshiping with us by way of television, that you come to this point in your life, and actually there's nothing else to say. I want to ask you and invite you this morning to open your hearts.

God has placed something very special in my heart this morning, in the hearts of many, many of our people. Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 4. The book of Exodus chapter 4.

If everyone could turn there with me. The book of Exodus in the Old Testament in chapter 4. I'm going to read to you a remarkable passage about a remarkable person who had a remarkable encounter with God our Heavenly Father. Exodus chapter 4, and I'm going to begin at verse 1. Let me remind you that Moses here finds himself right at the point at which God has told him that he needs to go back to Egypt.

And he's got a specific purpose in mind. God has said to him, I want you to go back and I want you to be my instrument in delivering Israel from their bondage. Now this was no menial task that God was giving to him. In fact, I'm going to submit to you today, it was probably rather overwhelming to say the least, when one considers all the things that went into this particular set of instructions that God was giving to Moses. And here in chapter 4 of the book of Exodus, we find ourselves at the point at which Moses is about to respond to what God is saying.

And I'm going to show to you how he eventually gets to the point when actually there is nothing else left to say. Moses answered, But, Lord, what if they do not believe me, or listen to me, and say, The Lord did not appear to you? Then the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand, Moses?

A staff, he replied. The Lord said, Throw it down on the ground. Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

This, said the Lord, is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. Then the Lord said, Put your hand inside your cloak. So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous like snow. Now put it back in your cloak, he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, If they do not believe you, or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs, or listen to you, take some water from them now, and pour it on the dry ground.

The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground. Moses said to the Lord, Lord, I've never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. In fact, I'm slow of speech and of tongue. The Lord said to him, Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute?

Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say. But Moses said, Lord, please send someone else to do it.

And the Lord's anger burned against Moses, and he said, What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

But take the staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it. May the Lord write His word upon our hearts this morning when actually there is nothing else left to say. I came that close to just entitling the message this morning speechless, but I realized I would be in trouble if I did that. Have you ever been speechless? I know none of you ever believe I've ever been speechless.

Have you ever got to the point at which there's just nothing else you can say? It happens all the time. It happens in athletics up there in St. Louis and everything going well. People came to see this man break a record or hit some new home runs and add to what he's already done.

People traveled hundreds of miles, but apparently what happened was that he was struck out. Now, I've come to learn that in major leagues, and I even consulted with my good friend Wayne this morning, in major leagues, if you are struck out, you do not have the right to debate with the umpire. Now, that's a rule, and it doesn't matter whether you are about to break the home run record. It doesn't matter whether you are royalty. It doesn't matter who has traveled to come and see you play ball.

The rule says that you may not debate or argue with the umpire over that decision. It happens sometimes you and I become speechless when people are kind to us. People do things for us. And sometimes, you know, when someone buys you something or does something for you, is there for you in a time of need, or maybe you've suffered a loss in your home and people have been so kind as they've rallied around you, and you just wish that there was something that you could do, there was something that you could say, there was something that you could give them, and yet in the face of such kindness, kind people basically turn around and say, actually, there's really nothing else to say.

Just accept what's happened. I think it happens during wartime, don't you? Some of the greatest victories known to man have rendered some of the greatest generals speechless. I think we are rendered speechless when we fall in love. Just watch our young people.

It's one time when they get awfully quiet. I've stood here at many a wedding, seeing a beautiful bride coming down the aisle, and it's spectacular, and being who I am, I want to turn to the groom who looks like he's about to die when we're standing outside there, and just turn to him and say to him when we're here, and she's coming down the aisle, and I want to say something nice and kind and uplifting, and there's written all over his face, Pastor, be quiet. There's actually nothing else to say. I want you to consider Moses with me for a moment. Three things about Moses. First of all, Moses had a background.

He had a most distinct background. When we understand Moses and we get back into the details of who he was, we discover that Moses went all the way from royalty to a man who was on the run. We're going to discover about Moses that he went from the bull rushes right into the heartbeat of Pharaoh's court and then found himself drifting perhaps somewhat aimlessly across the Sinai Peninsula, starving for death and perhaps reminiscing about the plentiful plates from which he fed in Pharaoh's court. I think if we understand his background, we're going to know that he came from a little Jewish family, that his heritage was rich. I think we're going to understand that Moses carried with him baggage such of which all of us, at some point in time, can identify. Every one of us today can identify with the baggage of our background, can we not? There are some who can talk about this and some who can talk about that. Moses perhaps could have written a novel just on his background.

It's important to understand that. We're looking at a man in the context of his life. But there is another thing that I want you to notice that Moses not only had a background, but he faced current and future circumstances and they revolved around some very salient and important issues. Number one, they revolved around Israel. He was an Israelite. He was a Jew.

And his current issue and his future circumstances all had to deal with a major issue. Israel was in bondage. God was speaking. God seemingly was saying to him, Moses, I want you to be the man.

You are my disciple and I am going to commission you to do the impossible. But there was another circumstance that he was contemplating and dealing with. It wasn't just Israel, it was Egypt. You didn't have to go to Moses and try and persuade him about the content of Pharaoh's court. You didn't have to go to Moses and say to him, Moses, I want you to calculate every move because you know that Pharaoh is the most powerful man in the universe. May I submit to you today that in all likelihood, it was Moses was one of the very few people who perhaps saw Pharaoh drifting around his courts in his bathrobe. Moses perhaps knew exactly what it was that Pharaoh liked and disliked. Moses had a deep, definitive understanding of the power of Pharaoh, so powerful that he could order the death of any person he so chose to do without any fear of recrimination. It was Moses who had to try and deal not only with Israel but with Egypt. But he had to go further than that. He had to deal with God.

Uh-oh, what a roadblock. I think we find this accentuated from Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 right through to the last verse of Revelation where we will complete our study tonight. God, He is the center of the universe and God had spoken. I don't think for one moment, do you, that you had to sit down and preach a sermon to Moses. I believe with all my heart, Moses understood the height of God's love and the depth of God's grace and the extent of God's glory. I believe if ever there was a man upon the face of the earth who had come to grips with all the future, past and current circumstances related to who God was and is, Moses had a handle on that, don't you think? Moses at this juncture seems to me was an ultimate disciple. He understood what it meant to be in small groups. He understood the value of accountability.

He understood the importance of spiritual growth. But Moses was bringing his background to bear upon this particular moment in time coupled together with these circumstances both past, present and future. He not only had to look after the things relating to Israel and Egypt and God just to mess up everything but Moses had to deal with himself.

Isn't that amazing? And so I ask you to consider Moses. Yes, he had a background and he had current and future circumstances but I think thirdly Moses had a response and his response lay in five areas.

First of all, his own personal significance. Moses grappled with this. We read about it in chapter 3 and verse 11.

You can see it there with me. But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Isn't it remarkable that Moses would have grappled with his own significance? As far as Moses was concerned, you had to put a little prefix on there because he never saw any significance.

Insignificant. Moses struggled to believe that God would have chosen him. That was his first response. His second response had to do with the sovereignty of God. It wasn't just his significance. It was related to who God is. He couldn't move God out of the way because everything that happened to Moses found its direct root and its ultimate consequence in the heart of a God who loved him. And who created him. And who gave him everything that he had. Well, in chapter 3 and verse 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, what is his name?

What am I going to tell them? Moses was grappling with the sovereignty of God. And it's here at this juncture that God comes tumbling back down off the mountain and he says to him, listen, you don't need any definitive definition. You don't have to have a special word. You don't need to be astute.

You don't even have to be learned. All I'm going to say to you is that I am who I am. Go and tell them that. Actually, there's nothing else to say about me. But there was a third response and it had to do with his skepticism. Did you notice he moved from his own significance to the sovereignty of God to his personal skepticism?

You can read about it in chapter 4, verses 1 through 9. Skepticism, what is a skeptic? A skeptic is someone who maintains a doubting attitude. That's a skeptic. Someone who says, listen, I know that I have this and I know that I'm doing this and I know that I've been invited to go here, but it can't be done. The skeptic was Moses.

God came to him and said to him, I want you to go to Israel and I want you to go to Egypt and I want you to go to Pharaoh and I'm going to give you everything that you possibly need to have. A skeptic's the one who says, I know God. I know that you love me. I know that you gave me the life that I live.

I know that you bear me up every day. I know that you gift me, but God, even though you're God, it can't be done. Well, suffice to say, it seems to me that at this juncture, having been satisfied in terms of the things that he was grappling with, he moved from his own significance to the sovereignty of God, to his own skepticism, and decided, well, I better get onto my speech. Now, here in verses 10 through 12, I don't think he's just talking about his speech.

That's the manifestation. I think what he's talking about is personal giftedness. Moses resorted to his apparent weakness. He said, Lord, you've asked me to do something and I'm not equipped to do it.

And God came tumbling back down off the mountain and said to him, Moses, you don't seem to understand something. It's not your ability that I'm interested in. It's your availability. I don't mind if you can talk or you can't talk or if you stutter or you stammer or you can sing or you can't sing or you can write or you can't write. All I want is I want you.

When actually there is nothing else to say. Forgive the interruption. We'll be back in just a moment with the rest of today's message, but Dr. Don Walsmeer reminds you that if you'd like a copy, a hard copy, of our daily encouraging word, it's a Bible guide and it's available in quarterly fashion. Just call us and ask for your copy. That's 866-899-9673. 866-899-WORD is an easy way to remember it, but if you'll call, we would love to put that in your hands.

That's 866-899-9673, and if you'd rather just get an email, give us your email when you call us and we'll have you signed up right away. Now let's get back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. Then he moved into the final area of his dilemma. He moved from his own significance to the sovereignty of God, to his own skepticism, to his manner of speech and finally culminated with trying to beg God for a substitute. He said, Lord, listen, I know that you've commissioned me, but let someone else do it. Lord, I know that you've satisfied every point of controversy here, but could we turn it over to my neighbor? Lord, listen, you've got to understand here that I don't know what it was that was in Moses' heart, but he desperately wanted a substitute.

He said, I'll let somebody else do it. Would you consider Moses with me for a moment when actually there's nothing left to say? But then perhaps, beloved friends, could we consider ourselves for just a moment?

Our own significance. Could we just simply for a moment this morning consider the sovereignty of God? Could I ask you, could God ask you today to consider your own elements or levels of skepticism, doubt, something that is so real to all of our hearts, when we recoil into the pity of our own human inadequacy, when we discover that actually even though we want to do something, we're afraid because of our ability and when we come to a fresh understanding of God's demand for our availability, perhaps what it is relates to our giftedness.

Perhaps somebody today might feel that you are useless. Perhaps the day has come in America today that as believers we need to understand, we need to take a fresh look at God's Word and understand that all people have intrinsic value as far as God is concerned. We need to have a fresh understanding, beloved friends, that as far as God is concerned, there are no nobodies in this world. Everybody is a somebody. God is not determined by how large or how small you are or what your manner of speech is or whether you're good at this or whether you make the varsity team or whether you don't make the varsity team, whether you can play the trumpet or whether you cannot play the trumpet, whether you're a straight-A student or whether you're not a straight-A student, whether you own your own business or whether you work for somebody else, whether you have the capacity to sing or whether you don't sing. God is not interested.

God says, I want you, and actually there's nothing else to say. I want you to consider ourselves for a moment. Think of our background. Every one of us has a background. We all have baggage.

I should imagine today that everyone could stand up and talk about hurt, pain. Is there anyone here this morning who has pain from your background? Is there anyone here today who's carrying stuff from the past with you?

Is there anyone here today who once walked in the royal courts and today you're wandering aimlessly around the sands of the Sinai Peninsula? I wonder if it's true to say that in our backgrounds there are some who have inherited great wealth and who have nothing to do with it and don't know what to do with it. There are others who would give anything to be able to have a plate of food on their table. Could we consider ourselves?

Could we consider perhaps our current and future circumstances? Perhaps our marriages that haven't gone too well. They haven't fared too sturdy. They're creaking at the limbs.

They're beginning to sink. Perhaps there's a whole background involved in that. Perhaps it was bankruptcy.

Perhaps it was a hurt and a pain such of which we cannot even begin to imagine from the family to finances to work to play. Would you consider Moses with me? Would you consider yourself? Would you consider with me our church today? Would you consider the blessings of God? Would you consider the marvelous heritage upon which we stand? Would you consider with me where we're going? Would you consider with me the miracle of changed lives?

Would you consider with me the fact that God is moving from youngest to oldest and we come together with our backgrounds and with our personalities, with our personal convictions and our personal preferences, and we come together with absolute truth and we say, Lord, what do you want me? What do you want us to do? And God says, throw it down. Throw it down. Throw it down. Throw your family down. Throw your work down. Throw your circumstances down. Throw your church down. Throw your ministries down. Throw everything down. Throw every hurt and pain that is in your heart down. Throw it down and I will guarantee you, you will pick up the rod of God. Rarely do you hear a guarantee like that, but it's not Dr. Wilson's guarantee.

It's God's guarantee. As we lay down, as we throw down that hurt in our life, then and only then can we pick up the joy that we need to replace it. And again, the joy may not be happiness, but it is a peace that comes in knowing you're right where God wants you to be. Oh, we'd love to pray with you and for you. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. We'd love to pray about anything.

866-899-9673 will connect you with one of us. Happy to talk, listen, and pray and connect you with great resources, but it also might be the place you need to call and talk about what Dr. Don's going to say next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin, and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name, my friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If God has touched your life and you prayed to accept Christ in these last few moments, let us talk with you, let us pray with you, let us rejoice with you. You can call us at 866-899-WORD. I hope you'll jot that number down. Know that we're available 24 hours a day at 866-899-9673. Or if you'd like, meet us online at tewonline.org.

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What a glorious day. If studying God's word together tomorrow, we'll do the same together with Dr. Don Wilton. Between now and then, we can stay connected at tewonline.org. It's a great place to visit and get a little more information about who Dr. Don Wilton is. Perhaps follow us on our socials. Again, that's online at tewonline.org, but I hope you'll join us tomorrow and maybe bring a friend. Until then, take care and God bless. The encouraging word