Moses’ Calling; “Who Am I?”

God calls all of His people to serve in some way. Paul tells the Corinthians as he teaches them about spiritual gifts, ” But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:11) and “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.” (1 Corinthians 12:18) God calls, gifts and employs the members of His Church as He wills. The question is, How has He called, gifted and employed you as a member of His Church?
Who Am I? – SERMON AUDIO
As we read Exodus, chapters three and four, we see God’s preparation and calling of Moses to be the leader and redeemer of His people from the slavery of Egypt. God created Him for that very purpose, bringing him through the decree of Pharaoh to kill the male babies of the Israelites, making him a prince of Egypt and putting in he heart to look upon the affliction of his brothers. Yet Moses failed the first time he set out to redeem his people (See previous post, The Birth of Moses and the Providence of God). As we enter the third chapter of Exodus, we see that God has not given up, but was waiting for the appropriate time to call Moses to the task for which He had created him.

Exodus 3:7-10  And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.  8  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.  9  Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  10  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Even though God had done everything to prepare him for the task, Moses was too focused on himself and his own failures to see that it was God’s power and authority that would be used through him to accomplish God’s purpose.

Exodus 3:11  But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Exodus 3:13  Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
Exodus 4:1  Then Moses answered and said, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’ ”
Exodus 4:10  Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Exodus 4:13  But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

In a sense, it is good to acknowledge our own weakness and our need for God to do the work through us. Moses takes it a little too far and tries to get God to call someone else. But to each of Moses’ doubts, God answers with His own sufficiency.

• When Moses asked, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh…? God said, “ So He said, “I will certainly be with you.” (Exodus 3: 12)
• When he needed assurance that they would receive him asking, Whom shall I say sent me? (vs. 13) God says, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “  (Exodus 3: 14)
• When he says, They won’t believe me!” God answers by giving him miraculous signs to perform (Exodus 4:2-10)
• When Moses complains that he isn’t good with words, God says to him, “Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” (Exodus 4:12)
• Only when Moses suggest that God send someone else does God get angry. Yet God supplies him with the help of Aaron, his brother to get the job done. (Exodus 4:14-16)

Likewise, God gifts and prepares all of His servants. Feeling inadequate is good for us, but it is not an excuse to refuse to serve God. We must remember that we are not able or even worthy to serve the living God. But He enables us and works through us to accomplish His purpose through us.

1 Corinthians 1:25-27  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  26  For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  27  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

This does not mean that we should try to things that we are not called to do, but to trust God that as He puts it in our hearts to serve in a particular place in the Church, that He will gift us and prepare us to do the work that He has called us to do. We all have the call to evangelize and disciple, to live godly lives in the world. We cannot even do these basic things without God working in us and through us.  We need to count on the I AM do work with the power that we could never produce. There is a lot more to this. I hope that you will listen to the audio of the sermon and search your own heart to see what God is calling on you to do. It will likely seem to big a task for you to do in your own strength so then, once it is done, He alone will get the glory!
Who Am I? – SERMON AUDIO
In Christ!
Kevin

The Birth of Moses and the Providence of God

What do you think about when things are at their worst? Do you doubt God and His goodness? At times it can be very difficult to keep the faith. However, God never promised that life would always be good and things would always be easy. We live in a world that is cursed by our own rebellion, yet we live in the midst of God’s plan to redeem. As we await the completion of that plan we experience sin, sorrow, suffering and death. Not because God is not good or powerful enough to do otherwise, but because He is just we are all sinners.

God Remembered His Covenant – SERMON AUDIO

As we approach the second chapter of the Book of Exodus, we see God’s plan being worked out in its early stages. He has made a promise to Abraham to use his family to bring about the redemption of those who would believe (See Genesis 12-15). Moses begins the history of Exodus by telling us that it is Abraham’s family that is the object it all. Everything that is done from here on out is a result of God’s promise to redeem in spite of man’s sin and rebellion against Him.

Genesis 15:13-14  Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.  14  And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

The Pharaoh is set against the plan of God and persecutes Israel to the point of killing their newborn sons in order to try and limit their numbers and their power. When things are at their worst, God begins to work (See post, What is the Fear of the Lord?) Here we enter Exodus 2;

Exodus 2:1-4  And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.  2  So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.  3  But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.  4  And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

The writer to the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that this was not done in fear of the Pharaoh’s edict and power. “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. “ (Hebrews 11:23) There are a lot of details that fill in this story when we begin to read and understand it.

• Pharaoh’s Daughter, probably the sister of the reigning Pharaoh seemingly had no son of her own. Her firstborn son had the right to inherit the throne.
• Moses was a “beautiful child.” I believe that this means he was really a good looking kid.
• Amram and Jochebed (Moses’ parents) acted in faith as they put their child in the Nile near where she would be bathing.

God brought all the right things together at the right time, yet this was just the beginning of God working His plan. It would be another 40 years before Moses felt compelled to deliver his brothers (Exodus 2:11-15). Then he would spend another 40 years learning to be a husband, a father and a shepherd in the land of Midian. God was in no hurry, but His timing was perfect. After all of this we read toward the end of the chapter;

Exodus 2:23-25  Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.  24  So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.  25  And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.

It was never that God had forgotten that covenant. He was preparing His deliverer all the time. The people of Israel were not ready to be delivered yet as we see in Exodus 2:14 as they react to Moses’ first attempt to save them. God had governed all things as the appointed day was approaching. We read that “God remembered His covenant…” because that was the basis of His actions and they became evident at that time. Now God is ready to move on their behalf and He will do it in a might way. This begins to take shape in the next chapter.

God not only governs those specific events like the birth and ministry of Moses. Romans 8:28 tells us,  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God governs all things for His good purposes. His goal was not just to redeem the people of Israel, but though them to bring the Messiah, Jesus Christ into the world so that He could redeem all who would follow Him by faith. Just like Amram and Jochebed acted on faith when things seemed hopeless, we cannot assess God’s goodness of faithfulness by our circumstances all of the time. But as we know that He is faithful, we will endure those difficult times looking to His final redemption at the end of the age. He has proved His power in overtaking the most powerful earthly king as His people never lifted more than a staff. He is faithful. He can do what He has promised. The dark times are often the times that faith is the most important.

There is a lot more in the sermon. I encourage you to listen to the audio by clicking on the link below!

God Remembered His Covenant – SERMON AUDIO
In Christ!
Kevin

What is the Fear of the Lord?

Have you ever asked yourself whether you would be able to stand in the face of persecution? Every week we pray for Christians around the world who are suffering for their faith. This week in our Voice of the Martyrs prayer update we read of a pastor who lost an eye when Islamic extremists threw acid in his face for his evangelism efforts. We also read of a church in China that meets outside because the police discourage those who would rent them a space from  doing do. Yet they continue to meet outside, year around, facing persecution and inclement weather.

What is the Fear of the Lord? – SERMON AUDIO

For the people of God, facing persecution is nothing new! Since 64 AD and even before it has been going on. Peter tells his readers in Asia Minor exactly this as he writes to them at that time;

1 Peter 4:12-13  Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;  13  but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

Yet even before this, the people of God were persecuted and threatened with extinction. All the way back in Exodus, about 1,500 years bef0re Peter’s time, we see that Pharaoh had very strong ideas about what he would like to see happen to them;

Exodus 1:8-14  Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  9  And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;  10  come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”  11  Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.  12  But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.  13  So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.  14  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage–in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

Despite his greatest efforts, the children of Israel grew stronger and increased their number. That is when he stepped things up to the most despicable of actions against them.

Exodus 1:15-16  Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;  16  and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”

Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the known world at this time. He was regarded as a god among his people and was king over the mightiest empire in the land.  He simply told the midwives what to do and I am certain that he was not used to being ignored. Yet.

Exodus 1:17-18  17  But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.  18  So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

These women stood against the most fearsome king in the world and refused to do his bidding. But we read, “But the midwives feared God….” They did not respect the power of the great king when it was compared to the power of their God. They had seen Him multiply His people in the midst of their enslavement. I believe that they knew the promise of God to Abraham, to multiply his descendents. They had been faithful to protect and care for his offspring, faithful to their people and to their God. Fear really comes down to respect of power. We can fear men or we can fear God. With the fear of God also comes honor of His Person.
I believe that these ladies were faithful and feared God (respected His power and His Person) in the small things from day to day. When the day came for them to be tested, by the grace of God, they passed! Their faithfulness to His faithfulness allowed the covenant people of God to continue until the one who would redeem those people was born (See Exodus 3). God’s timing impeccable! So, to answer that question about standing in the face of persecution. If I was the pastor who’s eye was burned out by acid would I continue to preach the Gospel? If I had to go to church outside because the local government refused to allow me a place to worship, would I show up? If the government ordered me to perform an immoral act, could I refuse like Shiphrah and Puah? The Grace of God is at the heart of it, yet, our own faithfulness our “fear of God” will also play a part. If we are not faithful in the little things that we encounter day by day, I do not believe we have much to hope for on that day.
There is much more to be said on the subject. I encourage you to listen to the sermon audio by clicking the link below to hear it. Before I stop typing this out, I need to ask you, how are you doing in the little things? Are you faithful when the world tries to impose itself on you? Do you fear men and their opinions or do you fear the Lord?

What is the Fear of the Lord? – SERMON AUDIO

In Christ!
Kevin

The Faithful Redeemer [Exodus Pt.1]

What does a story about a bunch of cranky slaves being freed from bondage in Egypt have to do with me, a Christian living in the 21st century? Well it has as much to do with the God who delivered them as it does with our own need for redemption. Remember last time when we noticed that the Apostle Paul pointed to Ancient Israel as a type for us to consider in 1 Corinthians 10:11.

The Faithful Redeemer – SERMON AUDIO

As Exodus begins, we are introduced to the family of a man named Israel and we are told that they all arrived safely in the land of Egypt. This are the subject of God’s blessing and His promise to a man named Abraham who lived a couple of generations before them. We need to begin with these men and their names in order to be assured that what follows is in line with God’s covenant. It is a demonstration if His Word being good and it work among the sons of men.

Exodus 1:1-5  Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob:  2  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;  3  Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;  4  Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.  5  All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).

However, the very next words seem a bit strange. Time passes and those people are no longer around, yet the promise to the posterity of Abraham and through him Jacob, are still being accomplished.

Exodus 1:6-7  And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.  7  But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

This should come as not surprise because it is just how the Lord said it would happen.

Genesis 15:13-16  Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.  14  And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  15  Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.  16  But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

God brought His people through a lot. He formed them and kept them and freed them and prospered them. He did it through the events of their lives even while they were unaware it was happening. One of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his brothers and through God’s intervention was the source of their provision when they arrived. (You probably know the story in Genesis 39-50) We see this idea come from his own lips as he says to his brothers once they come to realize that he is the governor of Egypt; “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)
The question may occur to you, Why did God do it that way? Couldn’t He have just gone “ZAP” and made His people, quick and clean? Sure, He could have, but that was not His purpose. If they are a type or example to us, what comfort could we draw from their lives and relationship to God, they need to live lives that are like ours in some way. We live in a world where we are in bondage to sin and where we struggle with sin and disobedience. Because of our place in the world, we need to see God at work in people’s lives who are like us, who struggle and have to deal with the depravity of the world.
I think God also did it this way to show a temporal illustration of the eternal truth of our ultimate Redemption from sin.

Hebrews 2:14-15  Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,  15  and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

It is all there for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10:11), it needs to correspond to our reality. From it we see that God is powerful and prepared, that He is able and intends to redeem His people, that as He did to the most powerful king in the days of ancient Israel, He has also done to the most powerful of our spiritual enemies, the devil. He has illustrated the reality of our eternal redemption in His ancient people. He has given us something we can see to hold on to as we await the final redemption of our bodies and the renewal of all things.
There is a lot more here but if you want to understand it all, I encourage you to listen to the sermon. I pray that as you read and listen that you would see God, more and more, as a God who has the power, plan and purpose to redeem and that is doing so, you would be inclined to give Him the glory!

The Faithful Redeemer – SERMON AUDIO
In Christ!
Kevin