Grace Awakening

WHEN GOD CALLS YOU THERE IS NO EXECUSE NOT TO SERVE HIM Our text for today is Exodus 4:1-17.  Moses is still in front of the burning bush arguing with God about going back to Egypt.  So far the conversation has gone like this: God tells Moses to take off his shoes.  Then God tells Moses, "I have seen the suffering of my people and heard their cries, and I am going to save them."  So far so good.  No argument here.  MOSES PROTEST But then God tells Moses, "I am sending you to Pharaoh to lead my people out of Egypt.  Go!"  Moses protests, "Who am I to do this job?"  God answers, "It is not who you are, but who I am.  I will be with you!"  Moses protests again, "But who are you?  What is your name compared to Pharaoh's name, especially in Egypt?"  God answers, "I am who I am, and I will strike Pharaoh and he will let you go!  I am and Pharaoh is soon to be not! WHAT IF THE PEOPLE DON’T RECEIVE ME? This brings us to 4:1 where Moses offers yet another protest, "What if the Israelites don't believe that you have appeared to me?"  As persistent as Moses is in his reluctance, God is even more persistent in the call of Moses.  God responds to Moses by giving him three signs to demonstrate that the LORD has indeed appeared to him. WHAT IS IN YOUR HAND? First, God asks Moses what is in his hand.  It is his staff, a wooden stick which Moses used in his care of the sheep as well as to give himself greater stability as he walked the desert terrain.  Moses literally leaned upon his staff for support and survival.  It was his tool, his technology, which enabled him to do his job of sheep herding.  Yahweh proceeds to tell Moses to throw it down, to release it.  Yahweh wants Moses' staff.  The LORD wants what is in Moses' hand, no matter how important it is to Moses.  This is typical of the LORD.  God wants what is in our hands, no matter how important it is to us. WE ARE LIKE MOSES. DEPEND ON OUR FINANCE. DEPEND ON OUR INTELLIGENCE. DEPEND ON OUR ABILITY. (UNABLE TO SPEAK WELL) DEPEND ON MEN. NOT DEPENDING ON GOD. THERE IS A SNAKE IN OUR OWN SELF EFFORT. Moses throws down his staff and when it hits the ground it turns into a snake.  One thing you can be sure of: being a shepherd in the desert, Moses knew snakes.  Moses starts to run from it – he no longer has his staff to protect him from it.  But the LORD tells Moses to pick up the snake – by the tail.  Moses the desert shepherd would know that the last way to pick up a snake is by the tail; it could curl up and bite you.  The way to pick up a snake, should you have occasion to do so, would be to use your staff to pin it to the ground by the back of the neck and pick it up there, so that it cannot twist and curl and bite.  2ND SIGN THAT GOD GAVE MOSES. God then gives Moses a second sign.  He tells Moses to put his hand inside his clothing next to his chest.  Moses does so, and then pulls out his hand only to discover that he now has a leprous skin disease.  Leprous skin diseases were considered social diseases.  Not only were they thought to be contagious, but also defiling.  A person with leprosy was isolated from the group, even family.  To have leprosy was to be a social outcast.  Moreover, leprosy was considered a sign of divine judgment.  Not only was the leper rejected by society, but also was deemed to be cursed by God.  Thus, Yahweh demanded not only what was in Moses' hand, but Moses' hand as well, and thereby his social life.  God’s skin claim amounted to a social claim. TOTAL OBEDIENCE. Yahweh then told Moses to put his hand back next to his chest.  If I were Moses I would be holding that hand as far away from myself as possible.  But Yahweh told him to put it on his chest, next to his heart.  Again, Moses fearfully obeyed.  When he pulled it back out of his garment he discovered that his flesh had been restored.  Now Yahweh not only had Moses' staff, hand, and social life, but also Moses' whole body and being.  Again, this is typical of Yahweh.  When the LORD calls, the demand is for our tools, hands, and heart, our total existence. THE 3RD SIGN The third sign is not yet acted out.  Moses will have to wait till he gets to Egypt to perform this one.  He is to take some of the water from the Nile and pour it on the ground.  It will turn to blood.  This sign enables us to see another dimension present in the first two signs.  The purpose of these three signs is to create faith in the Israelites that Yahweh has appeared to Moses and that the message of deliverance is true.  WAIT FOR THE POWER ABOVE. Luke 24:49 New King James Version (NKJV) 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem[a] until you are endued with power from on high.” WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU CAN DO NOTHING. WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU CANNOT MINISTER. (THERE WILL BE SELF EFFORT IN YOU) WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT NO MIRACLE CAN BE MANIFESTED. WHAT ARE THE 3 SIGNS THAT FOLLOWS BELIEVERS? These Signs Follow Believers After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus declared that signs would follow those who believed in Him. MARK 16:17-18 NKJ 17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 "they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on CAST OUT DEMONS ACTS 16:16,18 NKJ 16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour. Speak With Tongues ACTS 2:4 NKJ 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ACTS 10:46 NKJ 46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, ACTS 19:6 NKJ 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied Remove Snakes The word translated take up in Mark 16:18, referring to serpents, is the same Greek word translated be removed in Mark 11:23. The meaning is not to play with snakes, but rather to remove them. We find an example of this in the life of the Apostle Paul in Acts 28:5. ACTS 28:3-6 NKJ 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead; but after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. GOD CALLED MOSES :THE SAME WAY HE IS CALLING YOU. DO NOT SAY I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH. DO NOT SAY SEND SOMEONE ELSE. DO NOT SAY I CANNOT. DO NOT SAY I AM NOT CLEVER ENOUGH. JUST SAY LORD IF YOU CALL ME EQIUP ME WITH YOUR POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. YOU WILL BE EQUIPED AND DO GREAT THINGS FOR THE LORD.