A Chance to Believe
Moses The Evangelist • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsPastor Bill Sizemore delves into the signs God performed through Moses to establish belief among the unbelievers. At first, Moses permits his apprehensions to guide the decisions of others, fearful that they would not believe his divine encounter. To assuage these doubts, God performs three signs: his staff morphing into a serpent and back, his hand becoming leprous and then healing, and the transformation of water from the Nile into blood. These miracles symbolize God's power, the divine sin cleanse offered by Christ, and the necessity of Christ's blood. The sermon reveals Moses's enduring insecurities despite God's assurances and evidence of divine guidance. Fearing his own eloquence and linguistic skills, Moses hesitates to confront Pharaoh, prompting God to propose partnering him with his brother Aaron. Conceding to God's plan, Moses sets out for Egypt but experiences a near-death incident on the way due to divine intervention. His wife, Zipporah, saves him by performing a circumcision on their son, symbolizing the covenant with God. Once in Egypt, Moses and Aaron relayed God's messages and signs to the people who believed and worshipped God. The sermon encourages listeners to overcome personal apprehensions and unashamedly spread the Gospel. Believers should not fear but expect God's miracles to transform lives. It ends with a prayer for boldness and courage in spreading the gospel and an invitation for collective worship of God, acknowledging his observance of human suffering.
Notes
Transcript
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Signs For the Unbelieving
Signs For the Unbelieving
Moses allowed his fear to dictate the decision of others.
1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”
The Rod of God
The Rod of God
2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
Jesus is the “Rod.” the strength of the Lord.
Jesus is the “Rod.” the strength of the Lord.
1 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
The Rod became a serpent.
The Rod became a serpent.
The serpent embodies the sinful nature in Scripture. Examples: The serpent in the garden, The firey serpents in numbers. The sepent that would be lifted up. Jesus became sin for us so that we might be set free.
13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
The Rod was taken up again.
The Rod was taken up again.
The Leprous Hand
The Leprous Hand
6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.
A Picture of the Christ
A Picture of the Christ
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
A Picture of humanity
A Picture of humanity
The Sign of Blood
The Sign of Blood
9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
Shedding of blood is always a sign of judgment.
Shedding of blood is always a sign of judgment.
The sign of blood was only to be given to the unbeliever. If you don’t receive the first and the second sign the only sign left is the shedding of blood.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Judgement is coming for those who reject God and will not believe.
Judgement is coming for those who reject God and will not believe.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The Stubbornness of Moses
The Stubbornness of Moses
Moses let his insecurities dictate his worth in the eyes of God.
I don’t know what or how to speak.
I don’t know what or how to speak.
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”
God is still filling the mouths of his servants.
God is still filling the mouths of his servants.
19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Let the Spirit guide you and He will speak through you.
Let the Spirit guide you and He will speak through you.
I don’t want to go.
I don’t want to go.
13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”
The anger of the Lord
The anger of the Lord
14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
The substitute of Aaron
The substitute of Aaron
15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.
I am not ready to go.
I am not ready to go.
18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
Moses’ fear determined the fate of those that needed salvation.
Moses’ fear determined the fate of those that needed salvation.
God had predetermined the way.
God had predetermined the way.
Go in peace.
Go in peace.
Go in power.
Go in power.
Go in Prophecy.
Go in Prophecy.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
Moses had to prepare his house.
Moses had to prepare his house.
24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
Circumcision is the sign of the covenant.
Circumcision is the sign of the covenant.
We have a circumcision as a sign of our covenant with Christ.
We have a circumcision as a sign of our covenant with Christ.
11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Christ is our circumcision on the cross.
We are raised in power to do the work of God.
We remember this through the ordinance of communion.
The Confession of the People
The Confession of the People
The faithfulness of the messenger.
The faithfulness of the messenger.
Moses was faithful to share the words of the Lord with Aaron.
Moses was faithful to share the words of the Lord with Aaron.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.
Aaron was faithful to share the words of the Lord and the signs with Israel
Aaron was faithful to share the words of the Lord and the signs with Israel
30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.
The faithful response to the gospel.
The faithful response to the gospel.
31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
People believed.
People believed.
People were heard and seen.
People were heard and seen.
People worshiped.
People worshiped.
Next Steps:
Don’t let your fear and insecurities keep people from hearing the gospel.
Take up the Rod of God and go in peace and power to the lost.
Go with anticipation that God is going to do miracles in the hearts and lives of people.
Let us Pray:
Pray for boldness of overcome your fears and insecurities
Bow your heads and worship God who visits His people and sees our afflictions.