Scott Wiley here, the Executive Director of Wisdom International. We're celebrating our 25th anniversary this year. What began as a radio programme in a single city has grown into a global ministry now in sixteen languages. We're hosting a banquet to celebrate all that the Lord has done and you're invited. Please visit wisdomonline.org slash twenty five.
That's wisdomonline.org slash 25. There's a link in the show notes. And now here's Stephen with today's message from Wisdom for the Heart. As I read this story and reread it, I could see Moses playing the part of me. And as God says, check.
Moses says, Well, I got another move up my sleeve. Perhaps it'll accept this one. And God says, Check again.
So Moses comes up with a third. Let's call this one the excuse or the attitude of inability. I may go in there, I may tell them that I have met with God and His name for us is Yahweh, the existent one. And what if they look at me and say, well, so what? We're still not gonna follow you.
And let's face it, for 40 years I've been tending sheep. I haven't even been around people. It's interesting, I believe it was D. L. Moody who originated the thought that for 40 years Moses thought that he was somebody.
For the next 40 years in the desert of Midian, he would discover that he was nobody. And then, in the next 40 years, the final 40 years of his life, he would learn that God could make.
Somebody. out of nobody.
Well, he is about to receive a call. Let's pick it up at chapter 3, verse 1. Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush.
And Moses looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
So Moses said, I kind of chuckle when I hear his response because it leaves out perhaps how he was feeling, his eyes popping wide, his mouth dropping open. I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight. Why the bush is not burned up. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here I am.
God said, Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. The LORD said, I have seen the affliction of my people, who are in Egypt.
and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their suffering. The Israelites didn't know that. They thought God had abandoned them, but he said, I was watching all the while.
So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite, the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebuzzite. And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me.
Furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. And let me stop right here before we get any further. If you have notes, I suggest you pull them out, because we're about to enter the call of Moses and the excuses that he will give to God in telling God that he isn't the one for the job. They are the same excuses, ladies and gentlemen, that you and I use as well. I believe the church is filled with people who have heard the call of God, that imperceptible, that inaudible voice ministering to their spirit and saying, I want you to do this.
I want you to minister here. I want you to serve there. I want you to speak my name there in that corporation or there in the neighborhood. I want you to become my representative. And we all give one of five, perhaps several, Reasons.
Why we say no to God? And Moses becomes a classic illustration of an individual who had received a call from God. but yet refused or tried. I want to give you the first excuse before we even read any further. It is the excuse or the attitude.
of insignificance. Look at verse 10. Therefore, God says to Moses, Come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. And here's the point where we would think that Moses would jump as if he had been waiting for 40 years. I knew 40 years ago that I was the man for the job.
And finally, you come to me. I'm ready. What does he say? Moses said to God, Who am I? Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?
That I should bring the sons of Israel. out of Egypt. And you ought to mark in the margin of your mind whenever you read this passage: I believe that God probably spoke under his breath. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. That's wonderful.
I think if Moses had responded, Well, Lord, it's about time you called me. I am the man for the job. God would have probably said forty more years. In the desert. No, because Moses responded with this thought.
I think God was pleased, but yet God would not let him be excused. He says, who am I?
Now, after 40 years, I realize my insignificance. I realize the fact that I am perhaps not to appoint myself, but I am to be appointed by God for this task. Who am I? that I should go to Pharaoh. Have you ever had the opportunity of having someone come to you and ask you?
perhaps to serve in some way, and the first thought that goes through your mind is, I wonder why they asked me. Perhaps you have been in that corporation, and God has placed you in the hallway of a man who needs Christ. And you send God's Spirit saying, I want you to be the one to witness for me on the job. Have you ever thought? Who am I?
I want you to notice what God says in response. His response is basically: I am with you. His response is Certainly, verse 12, I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain. God didn't say, Shame on you, Moses.
What a poor self-image. Why, I don't want you to ever say anything like that again. Pull yourself up. You're somebody.
Well We are significant in Jesus Christ and who He is, but in terms of ministry, our efforts in our flesh are totally insignificant unless God is with us. God says I know who you are. And I'm not necessarily looking for a dynamo to go to Egypt. I'm looking for a dependent disciple. to approach Pharaoh.
So Moses, knowing that he can't get around that one, comes back with a second one. We'll call this the excuse of ignorance. Perhaps you've used this one as well. Verse 13. Then Moses said to God, I'm going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you.
Now they may say to me, What is his name? What shall I say? In other words, Moses is saying, I don't have all the answers. I don't know what to say. And what, Lord, should I say if they come back and ask me this or that?
I haven't been scolded. I don't know all that I'm supposed to say. I don't have all the answers. Have you ever thought when God impressed you to get involved in something or speak something? The first thing that runs through your mind, uh-oh, I could get boxed in not knowing what to say.
So I'd better just keep quiet. I think Moses thought this one would would uh make sense. And perhaps get got off his back. In effect, But I want you to notice what God said. Verse 14.
God said to Moses, Let me summarize it. I'll give you the answers. as you learn to know me. God said to Moses, verse 14, I am who I am. Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent you.
I am. The word Yahweh, or the name Yahweh, comes from the verb hava, which means to be. He is saying, I am simply the existent God. That is a characteristic or an attribute of himself that he is revealing, in a sense, for the very first time to anyone on planet Earth. He is, in effect, telling Moses, I don't want you to necessarily know all the answers.
I want you to know me. You see, the basis for Moses' ministry is not knowing all the answers. But knowing God. The basis for any ministry that you or I may have is not based on the fact that we've got it all mapped out, we've got all the answers. No, it is that you and I know God.
And how do I get to know God? It's interesting. That Jesus Christ, in fact, turned to John chapter 8. Verse 24 refers to himself with exactly the same Greek word that's translated in the Old Testament Septuagint. John chapter 8.
Verse 24. Start with verse 20. 2. Therefore, the Jews were saying, Surely he will not kill himself, will he? Since he says, Where am I going?
Where I am going, you cannot come? Jesus was saying to them, You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world. I said therefore to you that you shall die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am. The word he should be italicized in your translation.
It's implied. He says, unless you believe that I am, that I am the existent one, it's the same word that God used. It could be translated back into the Old Testament. I am Yahweh. You want to know how you get to know God?
By spending life or spending time studying and getting to know the life of Jesus Christ. You know, wouldn't it be interesting if we had candidates for ministry and instead of giving them all of the answers and all of the methods and all of the programs, we gave them a plan that would enable them on a deeper level to get to know Jesus Christ. You know, why I believe there is so much failure in ministry? I believe it's because you and I know very little about Him. And we know so much.
How about what we are about? God told Moses out there when Moses said, God, I don't know all the answers. God said, I want to reveal myself to you because I want you to get to know that I am the existent God. I am eternal. And as you get to know me, I will give you the answers.
I will direct your path. In Ministry Note what he says furthermore, verse 15. Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial name to all generations. Go, gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, Exactly what I've told you.
Verse 17: So I said, I will bring you up. And out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite, and all of the otherites, to a land flowing with milk and honey. And they will pay heed to what you say. Why? Because you come in with all authority?
No, because you come in with the authority of my name. Then they will heed. You say to them, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us, so now please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Verse 19. But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except under compulsion.
So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles which I shall do in the midst of it. And after that. He will let you go. By this time I think Moses is getting rather nervous. I think perhaps to him sheep have never looked better.
He's probably dancing about on his bare feet. The sand is getting hot, and he's thinking: now, wait a second, I can't get out of this. I've told him I'm ignorant, I've told him I'm insignificant, and yet he has come back with exactly the solution so that I will still be the individual to minister for him. What can I say next? I have mentioned to you on past occasions one of the most delightful ladies in my life, my grandmother, and I am hoping she is planning to be with us on her anniversary Sunday.
Perhaps I have mentioned in the past one of the things that she taught my three brothers and I as we were growing up in the Service Center, where my parents ministered. She taught us all how to play the game of chess. We had a name for her called, it was called Granny. I don't know if you have ever called your grandmother Granny. It's kind of a term of affection.
Uh but don't let her name fool you. She was really vicious. when it came to the game of chess. It wouldn't be long before the game turned into a chase. I was running with my king, and she was chasing me with all of her pieces still intact.
And sooner or later, I would hear her little voice as she looked over at me through her glasses, as she would say. Check. And do you know how you can take your king and exchange it for the castle? You know that little move? Any chess players here?
You know how you can you can change them? When the heat's on, you're only supposed to do that once. We'd bargain for six or seven times, you know, keep switching the thing back and forth. After a while, we'd hear her say again, check. Finally, after all of the finaling and all of the moving and doing all those little moves, we thought we could get out of Checkmate sooner or later.
We'd see her grin. And she'd say checkmate. I learned to love and hate that woman all at the same time. As I read this story and reread it, I could see Moses playing the part of me. He's dancing about, trying to avoid God saying, checkmate.
And as God says, check. Moses says, Well, I got another move up my sleeve. Perhaps he'll accept this one. And God says, Check again.
So Moses comes up with a third. Let's call this one the excuse or the attitude of inability. Let's just tell him downright, I'm unable. I'm not only unqualified. I'm not only ignorant, I'm unable.
Look at chapter 4, verse 1. Then Moses answered and said, Well What if they will not believe me? Or listen to what I say. For they may say the Lord has not appeared to you. In other words, what Moses is saying is, they may deny my leadership.
I may go in there, I may tell them that I have met with God, and His name for us is Yahweh, the existent one. And what if they look at me and say, well, so what? We're still not going to follow you. And let's face it, for 40 years I've been tending sheep. I haven't even been around people.
I'm totally Unable for this job. But I love God's response. In fact, his response is lengthy at this point. Because I really believe, ladies and gentlemen, like Moses, you and I come back with this. We are unable.
I can't do that. Me? There's no chance, no possibility. It's not in me. God will come back and instruct Moses.
And a very profound way. Look at verse 2. And the Lord said to him. What is that in your hand? And Moses looks at it and he says uh It's a staff.
And God said, throw it on the ground.
So he threw it on the ground. And it became a serpent. And Moses fled from it.
Now, implied in this, this was evidently a poisonous viper, otherwise, Moses, who knew animals well, would not flee.
So here his staff, perhaps six feet in length or in height, he throws it down and it becomes a poisonous viper. And you see Moses barefoot, taking off across the desert, running. And God says, in effect, stop. Come back. Verse four Stretch out your hand and grasp it by the tail.
I think Moses is probably wondering if God knows much about animals. Because I would imagine if you grab a snake, you grab it by the head.
So it can't bite. Not the tail.
so that it can turn around and strike. See, that was part of the act of faith. That was part of God revealing to Moses his power over nature. Moses, I want you to grab that snake by the tail. Put yourself there.
I have tried to picture this in my mind, and I think Moses spent an hour trying to work his way around that snake. Till finally, He lunges for the tail and he grabs it and he closes his eyes, perhaps shrieking with fear, and all of a sudden it feels hard. The text tells us that it had turned back into a staff. Verse five. You see, Moses, this has been done that they may believe that the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.
This is undeniable. You throw your rod down if any of them get wise. I'll let it turn into a viper and you just casually walk over and bend down and pick it up by the tail. That'll impress them. Moses still isn't convinced.
So God says in verse 6, Put your hand into your bosom. Right inside your cloak. And he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was white or lepros like snow. Moses perhaps was horrified. And God, not taking too much time, lest he have a heart attack, says, Well, just put it back in your bosom again.
And when he took it out, behold, verse 7, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. And it shall come about, verse 8, if they don't believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, that they may believe the witness of the last sign.
Well, Moses is thinking, this is wonderful. I've got authority and I have power, but. Is it really enough? And I want you to note the third sign. This is significant.
It shall be, verse 9: if they won't believe these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile. and pour it on the dry ground, and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood. On the dry ground.
Now, this really isn't any more amazing than the first two. When you think about it, it takes about the same amount of power, I imagine, if we could calibrate the amount of power to turn a serpent into a rod and a rod into a serpent as it would to turn water into blood. What's the point? The point is that the chief god of the Egyptian was what? The Nile god.
This was the most powerful god in Egypt's pantheon. And God was in effect showing Moses that I have authority over the most powerful God in Egypt. You take water from the Nile God, and I'll turn it into blood. But I think there's something else here. Perhaps it's because the children of Israel had been in Egypt for over 400 years and had been impressed by the magnificence of Egypt.
Perhaps they were beginning to wonder: is this God more powerful than the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Can He really pull this Exodus off? I think this sign was not for Moses. I think this sign was for the people of Israel. to recognize that Yahweh was the most powerful God.
in all the land. Moses said, Lord, I'm unable of pulling this off, and God says, in effect, I will empower you. Let's take a look at the fourth. We'll call this the excuse of inadequacy. Chapter 4, verse 10.
We need to hurry. Then Moses said to the Lord, Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent. neither recently nor in time past. Nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant, for I am slow, or literally heavy of speech and heavy of tongue. It's a possibility, and some commentators think that Moses stuttered, that Moses had difficulty getting his words out.
And so Moses pulls this one out. This is the big one. You know, God wants me to go and speak to Pharaoh. Lord, do you remember? That I stutter.
Do you recognize the fact that I am slow of speech? I have never been eloquent.
Now you'll have to find somebody else. And God says in verse 11, Look at what he says. The Lord said to him, verse 11, who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
Now then go. And I, even I, will be with your mouth. And teach you what you are to say. In other words, I'm not going to correct perhaps the speech problem, but I will overshadow your efforts. I'll overshadow that bumbling, that thought of you standing before the Pharaoh and not being able to get those words out.
I'll overshadow that. You just go. And I'll be glorified in your availability. Not your ability. See, ladies and gentlemen, we have the idea that God is looking for people with the impressive resume spiritually, with all of the qualifications.
A, B, C, D. We have that mentality because we're so used to this in society. And we would think that if God is seeking out people to serve Him, He wants a resume. See, in Acts chapter 6, that little church that had just exploded into existence had a problem. It had all kinds of money because they were selling land as need be, and they were to give that money to widows, and yet some of the widows were being overlooked.
And so the Holy Spirit impressed the apostles. Let's choose out men to make sure the widows get the money. Who would you choose?
Well, where are the accountants in the church? What are people who who work with money know? Choose out from among you men full. of the Holy Spirit. The implication is men who are empty of themselves.
and filled with the presence of Of the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ comes to planet Earth, and He's to choose 12 people to introduce His kingdom program to planet Earth. Where would you go?
Well, I'd go choose 12 of the most brilliant graduates of the rabbinical school. And yet he overlooks it. He bypasses it and he goes and chooses twelve unlearned men. Why? He doesn't need eloquence.
He doesn't need the impressive qualifications. He needs men and women who are dependent. who are available. who are filled. with the Spirit of God's control.
So God says Moses, in effect, did you forget I made your mouth that way? Did you forget that I created that particular impediment? Did you forget that in my design you were wired that way?
So What will you say now, Moses? This is what I'll call an attitude of irreverence. But he said, Please, Lord. Send the message by whomever thou wilt. We could translate it, please, Lord, send it by somebody else.
In other words, Moses is saying, I'm through playing. I don't want to hear checkmate. I'm going to knock the pieces over and I'm going to get up and leave. And God, I want you to choose somebody else because I'm simply saying to you, no. God in effect responded after encouraging him with the presence of Aaron who would turn out to be a problem later.
God basically said, Moses, I didn't call anybody else. I didn't ask someone else. I asked you. Ladies and gentlemen, the truth of the matter is that when you hear the Spirit of God. witnessing to your spirit that you are to be involved.
You are to serve, you are to speak. You're the one he's calling. Nobody else. In that particular courtroom where you have been placed, that residence, that occupation? That ministry?
You're his plan. You say, Have I really been issued a call? Would you turn to Matthew, please, with me? Matthew chapter 28. And I want to show you how this call fits perfectly with all of the excuses that Moses used.
in trying to deny the ministry God wanted for him, You say, well, I'm insignificant, Lord. He says, all authority has been given to me. And in effect, in Acts, he will say, I give you that authority. I transfer the authority of myself to you. Insignificant of yourself, yes.
But I have given you a dose, all you need of my authority for ministry. You say I don't have the credentials. Right, you don't. Verse 19. So go in the name of the Father.
And the sun and the Holy Spirit. He said, I don't know what to say. All you need to do, verse 20, is to teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. Tip. Lord, would you send somebody else?
Lo, I am with You. Always. Let me apply this quickly, two ways. From the life of Moses, we can discern at least two wonderful things about the call of God. Number one, your past doesn't handicap God's power.
Moses perhaps could have made reference to the fact that he was a fugitive. It didn't handicap the power of God in his life. No matter what kind of past you have come from, In the body of Christ and by the cleansing of his blood, You can be an ambassador. Number two, your inadequacy doesn't hinder God's performance. We have far too much of the charisma today in the church.
We have far too much personality. We have far too much energy in the flesh. Impressive things, impressive people. I wonder if God is searching today in our fellowship for those who will understand: apart from Him, I am nothing. The abilities, well, they're not all there, but I will be available.
I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that the church is filled with people who have heard the call to ministry, a call to purity. A call to a life of faith. A call to a life of distinction, But who in effective said Not May. I would suggest that, ladies and gentlemen, before you play any further, that you simply, as we would do in the game of chess, Take your king and just lay him over. as a symbol of surrender.
It is by that surrender that you and I can hope. and pray to impact our generation for Jesus Christ. people who are not being impacted. Because we are denying the call. With one of these excuses, I'm unable.
not qualify. I'm insignificant. I'm not eloquent. You somebody else. What a wonderful thing to know that God would use Moses.
as Moses finally. Surrender. But the plan of God. That was Stephen Davey, and this is Wisdom for the Heart, a production of Wisdom International. Learn more at wisdomonline dot org.
