Moses' Faith, Part 9

Today we're going to bring to a close, he was 11, 24 to 29 with the life of Moses and the faith that he lived, a man who preferred the imperishable because he perceived the invisible He was able to perform the impossible because he passed through the invaluable

We spend a lot of time looking at the desert experience in Exodus chapter 3 and Exodus chapter 4 of Moses, of Exodus about Moses because it's so pertinent to our lives today as we go through difficulties and hardship and what God is trying to teach us and we've told you that what God designed was for Moses is that he would learn to adore the person and presence of the living God and that was all seen in the fact that God would certainly be with him as he unveiled himself to him and that through that Moses would learn to acknowledge the power of God, that he was the great I am and it would be the power of God that would deliver Israel from their bondage and he had to acknowledge all the power came from God and not from himself because everything about the desert experience is learning to erase all of our independence from God to establish all of our dependence upon God

God wants us dependent upon him and him alone, but we are so independent, we're going to live our own lives, doing our own thing, making our own decisions and God says you need me and Moses needed God So as he began to adore the person and presence of God and began to understand how to acknowledge the power of God, we saw number three where he learned to appreciate and appropriate the promises of God

God had given so many promises to him, so many promises that would be unveiled as he would trust and believe in him and then we saw last week where Moses had to accept the provisions of God, that God would provide for him, provided Aaron, a staff, provided shoes or sandals and gold and silver for the Israelites, he provided everything for them, but he had to accept that provision and realize that what God was giving to him was of extreme value and when you go through a desert, whatever God provides, you accept and you take it Because it's from him, it's a gift from him

Today I'm going to cover the last three with you in the time that we have left, so we're going to rapidly run through them and number five is this, Moses had to learn to apply the precepts of God, to apply the precepts of God. I would like to stand before you today and say, thus saith the Lord and everybody in the room say amen and go do it, but we don't do it We don't

Most things that God says we just don't do or don't want to do and Moses would be in a similar situation and so we have to learn to apply everything that God says to our lives and live what he says and so the Lord says in Exodus chapter 4, these words to Moses, verse number 15, you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth, that is Aaron, and I, even I will be with your mouth and his mouth and I will teach you what you are to do We can easily miss that. I'm going to teach you what you need to do Moses

You need to do everything I tell you to do, but I'm going to teach you what you need to do So Moses would learn to apply everything, every command that God gave to his life God wasn't going to give him suggestions, he was going to give him commands and he had to learn to apply all those commands to his life and like you and like me, what does that the best is the desert

How do we know that? Well it happened in the life of Moses, it happened in the life of a psalmist, Psalm 119, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word, verse 67, the psalmist knew before I was afflicted, I did my own thing, I went where I wanted to go, said what I wanted to say, it was, it was, it was great, but now I keep your word There's something about affliction and persecution and tribulation that drive me to keep the word of God unlike anything else It drives me to my knees, it drives me to the word of God to keep all that God says

And as Moses would go through his desert experience and anyone in the scriptures who went through that time of isolation, that time of desperation, that time of affliction, that time of depression, all those things would drive them to the word of God to keep the truth of God's holy word That's why he went on to say in verse number 71, it was good for me to have been afflicted Why? Because he says, I learned your statutes. I would have never learned your statutes had I not been afflicted

There's something about affliction that drives me to not only keep the word of God, but to want to learn the word of God You need to understand that in your desert, in your time of pain, in your time of isolation, in your time of difficulty, God's driving you to the word of God And if you kick against the goads, if you kick against what God's trying to do, you're going to remain in that desert for long periods of time because God's driving you to your knees He's driving you to the truth He wants you to learn his statutes He wants you to keep his word

And he knows the only way to do that is to keep the pressure down upon you, that you might follow what he says Instead of the Lord in John 13, and this is so important, because during times of hardship, the last thing we want to do so many times is to do what God says, but this is the best time to do what God says. I've told you this story so many times over the years, but you all know the very familiar story of John 13 when Christ took a slave's apron and began to wash the disciples' feet

Remember what he says in John 13, verse number 15, for I gave you an example that you should also do as I did to you. I want you to do this And then he says this, if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them So we come with the conclusion, we're blessed if we wash somebody else's feet, but that's not the point of John 13 The point of John 13 is this, Christ was at a point of desperation He was completely isolated He was going to be totally rejected, fully persecuted, afflicted to the point of death, but nobody cared Those closest to him didn't care

They were arguing about who was the greatest in the kingdom And so Christ just quietly got up, took a slave's apron, began to wash the disciples' feet He says, look, if you do this, you are blessed beyond measure Do what? When you are at your breaking point, when you're at a point where no one cares for you and everybody rejects you, when you are totally depressed, you know the way out of your depression? It's always this, serve, serve, you want to remain depressed, don't serve, be consumed with self But if you want out of your depression, serve

Christ knew that all those men in the room did not care one bit that he was going to die for them tomorrow Or they wouldn't be arguing about who was the greatest in the kingdom They were so consumed with self And so what does he do? He just quietly gets up and begins to wash their feet Why? Because at the time of his greatest pain, he ministered to them, he served them So he says very simply these words, if you know this and you do this, you are blessed You will be blessed

In the midst of your desert, instead of saying, why doesn't someone call me? Why doesn't someone visit me? Why doesn't someone care about me? Why doesn't somebody love me? The common denominator is what? Me, me, me, me, me, right? Instead of doing that, say, who can I serve? Who can I minister to? Because in that context, Jesus said, a new commandment I give unto you. A new commandment, another one? We don't need another commandment Oh, here's the commandment It's a new commandment And that is this, no longer is loving one another as you love yourself any good That's a selfish kind of love

Now you got to love one another as I have loved you This is what true love is What is true love? True love is ministering to those who are rejecting you, who are isolating you, who don't care about you, and you serve them That's true love

We all say we're great lovers, but are you really? That's the kind of person you are? We get so consumed with ourselves, and Jesus gave us the perfect example of sacrifice on behalf of those who needed him, and even though they could care less about what he was going through emotionally, what he would go through physically, mentally, they couldn't even stay awake with him for one hour to pray with him in the garden We served them Healed them He died for them And Christ says, that's the commandment Love as I love

And so here is the Lord saying to Moses, Lord, Moses, I'm going to teach you all that you need to do, and you got to go do it, because if you do it, you're blessed You'll be honored Things will go well for you, and you see, he is going to feel with all the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, which he does not know is going to happen yet, but it's going to happen They're going to want to kill him, but yet he's got to serve them They're going to reject him as their leader, but yet he's got to serve them

His sister and brother are going to come against him and speak against him, but yet he needs to minister to them You see, that's the point of ministry Anybody can serve when things are good Who cares about that? But when things are bad, do you serve? When things are bad and you don't serve, you're going to stay bad. I hate to say it, be the bearer of bad news That's just the way it's going to be If things are bad and you refuse to serve, things are going to remain bad for you But if you want to be blessed, Jesus says, I'll give you an example, that's what you do

You serve, and through the serving comes the blessing, because you're ministering to those who are in need You say, well, what about my needs? Let God meet those needs Demonstrate to them how God does that, and ministers through you to them So important So here is Moses having to learn the precepts of God and apply it to his life Let's look at what the psalmist said in Psalm 119 verses 30 and 31 and 32 He says, I have chosen the faithful way. I have placed your ordinances before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord

Do not put me to shame. I shall run the way of your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart When was the last time you ran the way of God's commandments? Not walk the way of God's commandments, but run the way of God's commandments. I've run the way of God's commandments. I have chosen the faithful way Why? Because I've placed your ordinances always before me So the ordinances of God are always before him

What does God say about this? What does God say about that? Now, I'm going to run that direction, and as I run that direction, I'm going to choose always the faithful way. I know the faithful way because God told me what the faithful way was, because he manifested to me in his word Question is, do you choose the faithful way? A.W Toews has written a book, a devotional to leaders, and in that devotional, he uses Psalm 119 verses 30 and 31 And listen to what he says

He says, the important thing about a man is not where he goes when he is compelled to go, but where he goes when he is free to go wherever he will Is that not true? What tells us most about a man? Not where he's compelled to go, right? Got to go to school, got to go to work, got to do this, right? But what a man chooses to do when he's free to choose what it is he wants to do That's the character of the man So he says this This is very convicting, so hold on. A man is absent from church Sunday morning Now, that's not you Of course, you're here, right? So this doesn't apply to you

But a man is absent from church on Sunday morning Where is he? Where did he go? If he's in the hospital having his appendage removed, his absence tells us nothing about him except that he is sick But if he is out on the golf course, that tells us everything To go to the hospital is compulsory To go to the golf course is voluntary The man is free to choose He chooses to play instead of to pray His choice reveals what kind of man he is Choices always do Isn't that good? I didn't get one amen out of that That is so good You choose

When you're not compelled to do something, what you're choosing to do reveals who you really are That's convicting So Tozer goes on. I think it might be well for us to check our spiritual condition occasionally by the simple test of compatibility

When we are free to go, where do we go? In what company do we feel most at home? Where do our thoughts turn when they are free to turn where they will? When the pressure of work or business or school has temporarily lifted and we are able to think of what we will instead of what we must, what do we think? The answer to these questions may tell us more about ourselves than we can comfortably accept

How convicting is that? When you're not compelled to do something, what's your choice? Do you run the way of God's commandments? That's what the psalmist said. I am running. I'm not walking the way of God's commandments. I'm not jogging the ways of God's commandments. I am running the ways of God's commandments Why? Because I've placed them before me and because they're placed before me, now I choose the faithful way Why is it we don't choose the faithful way? Because the commandments of God are not before us We're not running the way of His commandments

We're running away from His commandments We're running to do what we want to do When you're free to make a choice, to do whatever it is you want to do, what's your choice? That tells us who you are When you're alone and you can choose to watch whatever you want to watch, what do you watch? That tells us who you are When you are all alone and you can choose to say whatever you want to say, be whatever you want to be, that tells us who you are That right there reveals to us who you are And although we may not see it, God sees it God knows

And we need to take some self-examination, some self-reflection, ask ourselves, am I applying the truth of God's Word to my life? Am I doing what God says? For Moses to be an effective leader, this had to happen And listen, this is going to be so good, it's going to rock your socks this morning Because you see, no one is perfectly obedient, are we? None of us are Not until we die You want to be perfectly obedient? You can die and go to heaven, you'll be perfectly obedient

Until that time, your obedience is going to wane from time to time, right? But how do you become perfectly obedient? By putting God's commands before you and following what He says So God tells Moses, I'm going to teach you what to do God tells Moses, moves him on, we'll talk about the next two principles here in a second So Moses is on his way back to Egypt He's going back Man, the burning bush is spoken, God has spoken to him from the burning bush He's on fire He's going back to Egypt because he wants to see if his people are still alive, because he's going to lead them out of there

He's going to lead them to a place where they can worship the king, right? So off he goes And as soon as he gets on his journey, does anybody know what happens next? God is going to kill him Exodus chapter 4, turn there with me if you would God's going to kill him Wait a minute, you can't kill Moses He's the emancipator He's Israel's greatest leader You just spoke to him through a burning bush You just compelled him to go You just got angry at him because he refused to go Now he's going to go Now you're going to kill him? What is that? Look what it says

Verse 24, Exodus 4, now it came about at the lodging place on the way, that the Lord met him, that is Moses, and sought to put him to death Whoa! How can that possibly be? Read on Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet and said, you are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me So he, that is God, let Moses alone At that time, she said, you are a bridegroom of blood because of the circumcision Three verses tucked away in Exodus chapter 4 tell us everything we need to know about applying God's precepts to our lives

God in essence is telling Moses, you want to lead my people Israel and then not fulfill the covenant of Abraham that I've given to you? Can't do it Because in Genesis chapter 17, God made a covenant with Abraham and the sign of that covenant was circumcision That every male child on the eighth day must be circumcised And so when we read Exodus chapter 4, we realize that firstborn son, Gershom, had more than likely been circumcised, but Eleazar, the second son, had not been circumcised That's why Zipporah responded the way she did Remember, Zipporah is not an Israelite She's a Midianite

Moses met her in Midian This is the daughter of Jethro He marries a Midianite She's not well-versed in the ways of covenant theology with Abraham and all those kinds of things, right? And so when Gershom was born, what does Abraham, what does Moses do? He circumcised his son and Zipporah probably thought that was barbaric And so when it came time to circumcise the second son, guess who didn't lead his family? Moses So God says, Moses, if you can't lead your family, how can you lead two million disgruntled Jews? Answer, you can't

Better yet, if you can't lead your wife, you cannot lead my people Israel Because Moses succumbed to the pressure If my wife doesn't like it, well, you know what, we can just get around it It's okay God says, no, no, no, no, no And God's hand was heavy upon him, and God was going to kill him because he did not fulfill the promise of Abrahamic covenant or the mark of the Abrahamic covenant You see, circumcision was not a means of salvation It was a mark of separation It separated all of Israel from the other nations

Why did God choose circumcision? That's a great question, right? Why would God do that? You know the answer You're like, I don't know the answer, why did he do that? Of course you do Sin is passed from generation to generation Death came upon all men because Adam sinned, and all men are Adam And therefore, because of the male organ, sin is passed from generation to generation And so God said, you're going to circumcise all the males, why? Because this is my grace to show you that in spite of your sinfulness, I, as a loving God, have chosen you Not because of what you've done

Not because you're better than anybody else It's a sign that I have chosen you in spite of your sinfulness That was the mark of separation. I have separated you out from everybody else It's not a means of their salvation, it was a mark of their separation And God would use that time and time again We have a mark We have a circumcision Yeah Philippians 3, verse number 3, we are the circumcision We are the marked ones who worship God in spirit, who take no confidence in the flesh, and glory in Christ Jesus That's our mark That's our mark

We take no confidence in the flesh, we worship God in spirit, and we glory in Christ Jesus That is our circumcision It's a circumcision of the heart Now listen carefully Deuteronomy 10 says that Israel had to have a heart's circumcision It was a heart behind the circumcision that made the circumcision what it was Not just the act of circumcision Later in life, the Jews required it as a means of their eternal destiny that they had to be circumcised, and they referred to everyone else as uncircumcised Philistines, uncircumcised Jebusites They're the uncircumcised ones They're the unchosen

They're not among us They're the others See? So here's Moses He doesn't circumcise Eliezer, because the poor knows he's going to die So he circumcises the oldest son, throws the foreskin on his feet, and as soon as he does, God's hand is removed, because Moses needed to know that if you want to lead my people to Israel, you can't hide anything In your effort to hide your sin, I'm going to keep you from doing what I've called you to do until it's right with me, and that's what happens with Moses He had to apply everything God said God says, I'm going to teach you what to do

Okay, but there's something over here you're not going to do No, no, no, no You've got to do that too, Moses, because you didn't do it We want to apply some of what God says We're just not too eager to apply all that God says, right? He says it's too demanding It's too hard We don't want to do all that, but you have to Why? Because you love the Lord, and when you love the Lord, it's not a compulsion It's a volition You choose to do it You want to do it, and that's what the desert does to you

It brings you to a point where you apply the precepts of God, not because you have to, but because you absolutely want to You want to, and listen, if you're in your desert today, and you are unwilling to apply those principles and precepts to your life, you will remain in that desert until that changes in your life God's going to keep you there, because he wants to move you out of there, but he can't move you out until you are moving on

If you're dragging your feet in terms of your obedience to God, you're going to stand right there until you say, yes, Lord, which leads us to point number six, and that is this, to affirm his plans Not just to apply his precepts, but to affirm his plans He says in Exodus chapter four, verse number 18, then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, please let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see if they are still alive And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace

And here was Moses, he's ready to go now. I'm affirming the fact that, God, you have a plan. I'm affirming the fact that you're going to deliver your people to Israel. I'm affirming the fact that, yes, Lord, you have heard the cry of your people to Israel Yes, Lord, I'm affirming the fact that you've chosen me to be their deliverer Jethro, I got to go back. I need to go back and do what God's called me to do, to affirm the plans of God And that's where God brings us to a place We're in the midst of where we're at We say, yes, Lord, I understand what you're doing. I understand where we're going

Job said it Job 23 Now remember, Job had lost everything, right? Upon losing everything, he's been sitting through these counting sessions that are worthless But this is what he says He knows the way that I take When he's tried me, I succumb forth his goal God knows my ways How does he know that? Because God's sovereign He rules over all My foot is held fast to his path. I have kept his way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food

But he is unique and who can turn him and what his soul desires that he does For he performs was appointed for me and many such decrees to that he affirmed the plans of God Having affirmed the plans of God, he was still in his desperate condition It wasn't till the end, right? Having affirmed the plans of God And by the way, having began to pray for his miserable friends, remember? After he prayed for his friends, God gave him twice as much as what he had before

Why? Because in the midst of his misery, John chapter 13, in the midst of his pain, in the midst of his isolation, in the midst of his depression, what do you have to do? Serve What was the best way for him to serve? To pray for his friends When that happened, he was blessed with twice as much as what he had before See Job had to learn the same thing Moses had to learn Same thing Joseph had to learn Same thing Abraham had to learn They all learned the same thing

Do I really adore God, his presence and purpose in my life? Do I really acknowledge his power in my life to accomplish all that he has designed for me? Am I truly, truly committed to following his purposes, to applying his precepts, to affirming his plans? Am I? Job did Moses would He had to affirm them over and over again Because as he wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, I mean 40 years is the back side of the desert, right? Now he's got to have wandered 40 years in the wilderness with disgruntled Jews He's going from one desert to the next desert

But God's using him to accomplish his purposes But he had to constantly affirm the fact that God had a plan for his people in Israel And God was going to use him to lead them to accomplish that plan So important for us as believers to realize that God is doing so much in our lives Remember in Jeremiah chapter 29 when Israel went off into Babylonian captivity? God told them in verse number 4, it's me who sent you there Why did he tell them that? So they would make no mistake when all the false prophets came and said, you know what, God's not really doing this

You know, we do that today, right? We're in the midst of a desert, right? The devil put me here No, he didn't The devil didn't put you there You put yourself there God puts you there God's in charge Stop blaming Satan for the things that God himself is doing Give God the glory where the glory is due, right? God says, I am putting you into captivity God said this to Satan, you want Job? Take Job But he couldn't do it without God's permission God is sovereign Satan can't take a step without permission He receives permission from God to do what he does

He's not going to touch you unless God allows him to So you affirm God's plans in your life, that God's completely in charge of everything So God says, make no mistake about it, it's me who's put you into 70 years of captivity. 70 Moses is in the desert for 40 He wandered for another 40 Now Israel's in captivity for 70 years Why? Because when it's all said and done, you must seek me When you seek me, you'll find me And when you find me, you'll be blessed by me But you are not seeking me So here's my plan. I'm going to drive you to captivity So you come to a place where you cry out to me

You long for me See, that's what God's doing in your life That's what God wants to do in your life He wants you to cry out to him and to long for him, say, Lord, whatever you want, whatever you have commanded, I will do, Lord, I will just do whatever you say. I want to follow you, Lord Not because I have to, but because, Lord, I love you. I want to serve you. I want to honor you That's what I want to do. I affirm the fact that, Lord, you have put me in this situation, that you are sovereign You rule over all As Job said, his way is unique Talk about uniqueness Look at Job's life

His way is unique He's going to accomplish, listen, what has been appointed for me That's what Job says This was a divine appointment God appointed this suffering God appointed my pain God appointed my hardship God appointed my loss He will accomplish what's been appointed for me And I accept that. I affirm that And this began the whole turning process in Job's life, as God would then begin to speak to him just a few chapters later and open up to him the whole realm of the beauty and power of God

That's why he said, I have heard of you with the healing of my ear, but now for once, I have seen you That's the point of the desert It's not good enough just to hear about God You got to see God Until you see him for who he is, your desert remains You must see him for all of his glory, all of his beauty, all of his splendor And when you see him for who he is, everything changes You love him because of who he is And lastly, number seven, achieve his purposes God has a purpose for your life It's all coming to this To achieve his purposes

Chapter four of Exodus says in verse 22, then you should say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn So I said to you, let my son go, that he may serve me But you have refused to let him go Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn He became the spokesperson for God to Pharaoh God had a purpose That purpose was not just to emancipate Israel It was to put himself, God, on display through that emancipation He would do that through the power of the plagues And Moses was the key, that person, to move them through those plagues, to be the spokesperson for God

But you see, the whole purpose behind God is to conform us to his image, that we might communicate all that he is to those we come in contact with And the closer we walk with God, the better our communication about God to others Because they see no duplicity, they see no hypocrisy But they see integrity, truthfulness, honesty So Moses goes and leads his people to Israel And he goes and performs the impossible through the 10 plagues, through the wilderness wanderings, through the division of the Red Sea, through all the Passover experience But he had to pass through the invaluable

That was first Because God was molding him, shaping him, making him to the man he wanted him to be The next time you go through your downtime, your depression, your pain, your affliction, call it whatever you want to call it, just ask yourself, God is at work What is he doing in me? What is he to purge from my life that's hindering my walk with him? What is it he wants to purge from my life that's hindering my communication with him? What is it God is doing? It could be the fact that you've sinned and God's disciplining you That could very well be the fact

But it could be the fact that you have not sinned, like Job, most blameless man on the earth, feared God, upright man But God would take him through a dark, desolate desert so that he would learn that hearing about God was really good, but seeing God was the best ever God wants you to see him in his beauty and splendor So when the Greeks came to Philip, they said, sir, we wish to see Jesus That's it Our whole life is built around that

Do you see Jesus? One day you're gonna see him face to face, right? But do you see him today? Do you see him in his word? Do you understand his plans and purposes for your life? That's where God is taking you As you submit to his lordship, as you submit to his rulership, as you submit to his kingship, as you begin to realize that you're not alone, to relinquish all your independence, say, Lord, I need you. I can't, my marriage is nothing without you My marriage is gonna fail without you My family will fail without you My job, I'll fail at my job without you Lord, I need you

See, the problem is in the area we don't think we need God is where you need him the most Is that not true? Just bear with me one second Remember Luke 5, Peter's out in the boat, they come back in from fishing all morning, they caught nothing, right? And Jesus says, cast out into the deep You're not a fisherman, Jesus, we're fishermen What do you know about getting fish? We're not gonna do that Jesus says, cast out into the deep Peter says, nevertheless, we'll humiliate you, Lord, and show you there's nothing out there to get So they cast out into the deep He says, throw your nets on the side

They threw them on the side, and there was so many fish in the middle of the day, they couldn't even bring them to the boat What was Peter's response? Depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man Why? Because in the area he did not think he needed God, he needed God the most He was an expert fisherman He knew the Sea of Galilee like the back of his hand He had a name for every ripple in the Sea of Galilee He knew everything He was a fisherman in the best, but he needed God He didn't think he needed Him That's why he says, depart from me, I'm a sinful man

Because in the area, I don't think I need you Oh, Lord, I was wrong. I need you in every single area of my life So important, I pray with you Lord, thank you for today You are a great God My prayer, Father, is for all of us today that we would submit to you and follow you You only have our best interest at heart You only wanna do what's right for your people We are your children You're the guy who loves us and cares for us, provides for us and protects us And so, Lord, you don't let anything happen to us that you have not designed, permitted to happen for our good and for your glory

We are asking that you be glorified in and through our lives as individuals, as a church, that we would be seen as people totally committed to our God Yet to be one person today who's among us, who's not saved, Lord, convict them of their sin, bring them to a place of salvation, that they might humbly submit to your authority and repent of their sins We give you all the praise and glory until you come again, as you most surely will In Jesus' name, amen.