R252 The Rod of Moses

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and today's message on the Rod of Moses. I'm so excited about today's message. I must say I've heard it already and I cannot wait to share it with you.

It's taking us to the book of Exodus and as we open God's word and remind ourselves about Moses and his walk with God, it'll challenge you and I and how we find our need to obey when God leads us. While we're doing this, know that we're available for you. Dr. Don would want me to remind you our phone number. It's 866-899-WORD.

Jot it down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673. We'd love to pray with you and for you and connect you with resources. You'll find many of those resources on our website as well at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. Would you take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to the book of Exodus and the Old Testament, Exodus chapter 3 and Exodus chapter 4. And I'm going to invite you to turn there with me to Exodus chapter 3 and then Exodus chapter 4.

Our subject this morning is the Rod of Moses, the Rod of Moses. May I begin today by asking two of the most important and most critical questions that I believe Christian men and women ask in today's day and age. Number one, what in the world is happening in our world? What is becoming of the world today? What is becoming of the world materially? What is becoming of the world morally? What is becoming of the world ethically? What is becoming of the world internationally?

What is becoming of the world interracially? And what is becoming of the world more importantly than any of these spiritually? It's a question which all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ ought to be asking because of our personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. But then there's a second most important question.

What difference can I make in this world today? I wonder if there's anyone here this morning who has kind of felt sort of lost in the shuffle a little bit. You know I'm just kind of a little bit lost in the shuffle and I look at this magnificent choir whom I love so very dearly and so very much. I think of all the people who sing and I think of just how precious and how important every single voice is. And when you hear every voice you get the kind of beautiful sound that comes forth.

The orchestra brother Carl with the different instruments, everybody playing their part. There are two very important questions as we begin to look at the rod of Moses this morning. Number one, what about the world in which I live?

Number two, what difference can I as an individual make in this world in which I find myself? Let's consider for a moment the Israelites and God's servant Moses. I want you to turn with me to Exodus chapter 3 and I'm going to read the first eight verses.

Then we're going to turn over to chapter 4 and I'm going to read just the first three verses. Here's what the Bible says. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in the flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that even though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight, why the bush does not burn up. And when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses. And Moses said, here am I Lord. I wonder how many times we read about that in Scripture. I wonder how many times throughout history God has called Moses, Moses, from within the fabric of his holiness. And what God requires of us is to lay the rod down. This was the beginning of that journey for God's servant Moses.

Here I am. Verse five, do not come any closer, God said. Take off your sandals for the place where your standing is holy ground. Then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. At this Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have seen, in other words, their moral, their ethical, their physical, their interracial, their cultural, their international, their spiritual dilemma. I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers. And I am concerned about their suffering, so as a result, in verse eight, I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians. And to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus chapter four, verse one, Moses answered, But 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, Moses, what is that in your hand?

A rod, he replied. And the Lord said to him, Throw it down on the ground, Moses, throw it down on the ground. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts.

The Bible tells us that God said and did three things with regard to the predicament that Israel found themselves in. It's all right there in verse seven if you look at it with me. Number one, I have seen your predicament. I have seen your predicament. And as Moses began to beg for the people of Israel who were in bondage in Egypt, who had been mistreated, who had been beaten down into submission, God reminds him in verse seven, I have seen their predicament. I have not only seen their predicament, I have heard their cry. I have not only seen and heard their cry, but I know about their trouble. And in verse seven, that word know my friend, it means in the Hebrew Old Testament, I literally understand the very depth and the fabric of every single part of man's makeup, of the depth of his misery, of every petition that he has, of everything that man ever thought about.

I know and I understand all about you. Isn't that great? Can you imagine? Here was the children of Israel in such bondage for so many years and yet God, the God Jehovah, reached down from heaven and he said, I not only see you, but I hear you and I know you. And on that basis and because of who I am, I, in verse eight, I am going to deliver you.

And I'm not only going to deliver you from the bondage, but I'm going to deliver you up to that freedom in the land which flows with milk and with honey. And so the question becomes, how in the world did God deliver the children of Israel? Remember the first question that I asked today, my beloved friends, what about the world? And what about me?

How do I fit into the world's predicament? How did God deliver the children of Israel from bondage? How did God do it? Well, we might say that God decree as the king, as the king of the universe, of course, he decreed, he decrees throughout history. Did God order them out of there? Did God order Pharaoh to let them go as the commander in chief, as the general of the armed forces? Of course, God ordered them to be set free. Did God dictate his wishes to the children of Israel as the ruler, as the one who was in charge? Of course, God dictated, he decreed and he ordered and he dictated that God come to earth in order to make a difference. Of course, he did. The Bible says he was born in a manger and he grew up upon this earth. And then he suffered and he bled and he died and he rose again and he was exalted to be seated at the right hand of the father. Did God die in order to set them free?

Of course, he did. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but should have eternal life. But there was one thing that God did, my friends, that stands in this account and begins in Genesis and is recorded right throughout the annals of antiquity. God reached down from heaven and he chose a man and he chose a woman and he chose a you and he chose a me. And he said, throw the rod down, throw the rod down. And when you put the rod down and you pick it up again, you're going to pick up the rod of Almighty God. And when you pick up the rod of God, I want you to know based upon who I am.

You will never be able to even imagine what I, who I am, am able going to be able to do in and through your life because I'm in control. Oh yes, my friend, God still uses people. In Luke chapter 15, the Bible says two men died, one went to heaven, the other man went to hell. The man in hell, realizing his predicament, begged God to send someone back from the dead so as to tell those who were still alive that they needed to repent of their sin. Abraham said from heaven itself, I can't send anybody back from the dead because that is not God's chosen method of evangelism. So what is God's chosen method of evangelism? In Luke chapter 15 the Bible says that Abraham said to this man, rather than sending someone back from the dead, you have got Moses and you've got the prophets, let them hear them. Moses referring to the law of Moses where he found and it was written upon his heart because of the rod of God in the presence of God as a result of his encounter with a burning bush and the presence of the holiness of God.

The prophets are you and me, those of us who are given the opportunity by the grace of God to tell others about the delivery that every person, every man, woman, boy and girl upon the face of the earth can enjoy because of the cross of Christ. Yes friends, I'm here to announce to you today that what began in Exodus chapter 3 has continued throughout history. God still uses people. It is biblical, it is historical, it is factual, it is unmistakable and it is mind bogglingly joyful.

If there is such a word, do you know why? Because people touch our lives. Forgive the interruption, but we have people ready to touch your lives at the other end of our phone line and website right now. Dr. Don's entire message, The Rod of Moses will complete that in just a moment so don't go away.

But Dr. Don wants you to know whether you go to our website www.tewonline.org or give us a call on the phone. It's our goal to encourage you at The Encouraging Word. Our phone number is 866-899-9673. Many folks are calling and asking for the free hard copy of our daily encouraging word. It's a wonderful devotional.

It comes out every quarter. We'd love to send it to you for free if you call and ask for it at 866-899-WORD. Again, that's 866-899-9673, but you can also sign up for an immediate delivery, so to speak, every morning. Dr. Don sends this out. You can sign up for the daily encouraging word devotional on our website as well at www.tewonline.org.

Yes, of course it's free and it's available right now online at www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton on The Encouraging Word. God has used men and women and boys and girls, young and old, rich and poor from every walk of life, who have laid the rod of their lives down to be picked up again as the rod of God.

Lay it down, my brother. Lay it down, my sister, and pick it up again as the rod of God. And so it was that God came to His servant Moses. I think that you would agree with me that Moses had great difficulty in accepting this challenge. Oh, the Bible says he was scared. The Bible says his bones began to rattle within him. The Bible says he began to stutter and to stammer. I don't know what it was that bothered him, but the Bible teaches us that he had four major difficulties with the call and the challenge of God.

Perhaps part of his difficulty in the first place lay in accepting who he was. Number one, his difficulty, Moses' difficulty, according to chapter 3 and verse 11, lay in accepting who he was. Look with me at verse 11.

Here's what the Bible says. But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? Who am I, Lord? Who am I, Lord? The prophet Isaiah came into the presence of the throne room, and he beheld the unmatched, surpassed glory and the radiance of Almighty God. And he said, Woe is me, for I am undone.

I am a man of unclean lips. Perhaps his greatest difficulty, my friend, lies at the heartbeat of exactly what God tells us about ourselves, that we are sinners saved by the grace of God. This confident, this impulsive Moses had learned great lessons in humility, but now he had to learn the greatest lessons of all, that the just shall live and walk by faith. I don't understand how that God could reach down from heaven and save a wretched sinner like me.

You see what Moses was saying, my friends? He was saying it is biblically and spiritually impossible, God, that you could call me and say, Come, come, I'm going to use you. I'm going to use you. I'm going to use you. I'm going to use you.

How can you use me, God? I'm a sinner. I'm condemned to die. I'm useless. I'm hopeless.

I'm unclean. How can I come into the presence of the burning bush? How can I come into the presence of the holiness of God? His greatest difficulty in laying the rod down was the difficulty of accepting who he was. But Denny's greatest difficulty, perhaps in the second place, lay in knowing what he had to say. His difficulty, if he got past the first hurdle, which was knowing who he was in the presence of the holiness of God, his second difficulty in verse 13 was knowing what to say. Look at verse 13 with me.

The other Bible says, 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 me, What is his name? Lord, what in the world am I going to say? I don't know what to say. How do I describe you to them? You know what God said? He said, Thank you. You won't be able to describe me to them.

You just tell them I am sent you. Do you know that in the Hebrew language, the word Jehovah has got no vowels? You cannot pronounce the name of God any more than Exodus chapter 3 tells us that we can stand in the presence of God any more than in Exodus chapter 15 and onward that you can go into the mountain and you can see the radiant glory of Almighty God. Moses later on up on the mountain said, Lord, just let me see your face. Can you imagine what that would do for me? And God said to him, Moses, you cannot look upon the face of God and live.

I am, that's why. You cannot even pronounce my name, let alone look at my face. You cannot tolerate the holy radiance and the majestic nature of an awesome God. You cannot do it but I'll tell you I'll place you in that cleft of a rock and I'll just pass you by and God passed him by placing his hand over his eyes and the Bible says the radiance and the glory of God permeated the life of God's servant Moses so that when he came down from the mountain, his face shone with the radiant glory of a man who had been in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. What was God trying to say to him?

Lord, I don't even know what to say. God was saying to him, Moses, more than words, I am undefined. I will be what I will be. Here he designates himself as the absolute God acting with unfettered ability and self-dependence. This is the God who needs nobody because he is everybody. This is the God who is upon his throne. This is the God who right here institutes himself and inaugurates himself as the God of the history of salvation.

What was he saying? He was saying to Moses, of course, you don't know what to say Moses. All that I am shall be manifested throughout the ages to come, culminating in the in-him passages that light up every page of the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation and right throughout the annals of history. God, the God of grace, I am what I am, but Lord, but Lord, but Lord, who am I? But Lord, my great difficulty is knowing what to say.

But there was a third great difficulty. Lord, Lord, perhaps it lay in his own inadequacy. Look with me at chapter 4 and verse 10.

Chapter 4 and verse 10. His great difficulty lay in his own inadequacy. Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past, nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech, Lord.

I'm slow of tongue. I cannot do these things. I wonder if there's someone here this morning who would say to me, Pastor, I feel so inadequate. How could God ever take a person like me? I'm not a public speaker. I don't sing like a bird or an angel. I don't have a lot of money to give. I'm just a nobody. I want you to know what God was telling to Moses is that he can take any person who's a nobody and make them somebody. Not because of the amount, but because of what they do. Not because of the amount they give, but because of the principle with which they give. God said to his servant, Moses, lay the rod down, lay the rod down.

And when you pick it up, I'll hand you the rod of Almighty God. Perhaps his difficulty lay in accepting who he was. Perhaps his great difficulty lay in knowing what exactly it was he had to say. Perhaps his great difficulty lay in his own inadequacy. But perhaps his greatest difficulty, my friends, lay in being believed.

It lay in being believed. Look with me at chapter 4 and verse 1, Moses answered, what if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, Lord, the Lord did not appear to you. Then the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand, Moses? A rod, he said. Well, throw it down, Moses. What is that in your hand, Moses? A rod, he said. My life, my possessions, who I am, my inadequacies.

Everything that I am, my family, my children, my bank balance, my home, my job, my status, my privilege, my struggles, my ups and my downs. Lay it down, Moses. Lay it down, Moses. Put it down, Moses. There have been so many times in my life, my friends, as a young person, when God said to me, Don Wilton, throw the rod down, throw the rod down. I remember getting out of the army and being so miserable. And God said, Don Wilton, throw the rod down, throw the rod down.

I remember chasing around after that beautiful girl who today has been my wife for the past 18 years. And God was saying to me, throw the rod down, throw the rod down. But surely, Lord, being vice president of a college, having a beautiful home, having motor cars, having athletics, having children, throw the rod down, throw the rod down. But surely, Lord, surely, Lord, I'm a seminary professor.

Surely, Lord, I'm preaching in faraway places. Surely, Lord, you don't want me to go to Spartanburg, Lord. Throw the rod down, son. Throw the rod down.

Throw the rod down. But Lord, commitments, Lord, Lord, integrity, commitments, Lord. What about my family? Lord, moving. How am I going to do this? I can't pack up. Lord, how am I going to handle this? Throw the rod down. Throw the rod down. Throw the rod down, son. Throw the rod down. And so the rod was thrown down. And God came by and he said, Okay, son, now I believe, now I believe that you mean business with me.

Pick it up again, son. Pick up the rod. And I stooped in fear and trepidation and I picked up the rod and the rod became the rod of God. It became the rod of God. You see, when Moses rod became the rod of God, he led the children of Israel from bondage into freedom. He parted the Red Sea. He destroyed the armies of the Pharaoh. He struck the rock for people dying of thirst and water came gushing forth. He held up his rod supported by Aaron and he conquered the marauding tribes and the enemies.

With the rod of God, he led the people from the land of bondage into the land that flowed with milk and honey. And God says, Throw the rod down. Throw the rod down. Throw the rod down.

What rod are you holding in your hand, my friend? What a powerful teaching. And sometimes we forget how God's living word is not just a history lesson.

It's a lesson in following God, obeying him and perhaps letting go of something in our hand now that we need to let go and let God. Again, you're listening to Dr. Don Wilton's teaching. And as we do so, it's our goal to let you know that we're available for you. If some of these teachings have brought questions and you'd like to have someone pray with you, call us right now. Our number's 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. We'd love to speak with you, to pray with you and go to God's book, the Bible itself, God's encouraging word for those answers. But you know, the first step of understanding God's will for our life is to say yes.

You've heard Dr. Wilton teach and now as he comes into the studio, open your hearts to what Dr. Don is going to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you prayed with Dr. Wilton moments ago, welcome to the family of God. Welcome back if you've rededicated your life. We have wonderful resources Dr. Wilton wants you to have. If you'll call us and let us know, 866-899, word is our phone number, jot it down, store it in your cell, 866-899-9673. Or you can meet us online as well at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. And while you're there, discover more of who we are. Perhaps the Lord's leading you to prayerfully and financially support our ministry. And if you do that, you become what we call encouragers. The most important thing we can do with our life is to give our life to Jesus, to accept his gift of salvation.

It is easy for us to receive this gift, but it cost him everything. We want to share this gift of salvation with as many people as possible in the new year. Will you join us? Will you help us bring this gift of salvation to our world? We need your support. Become an encourager today. Call us at 866-899-word. That's 866-899-9673 to request information on how you can help support the work of the encouraging word. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. Our time's gone for today, but tomorrow's message from Dr. Wilton, the real meaning of forgiveness is going to be a glorious one. Join us again then.