After the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake,
but an angel of the Lord came down from heaven
and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow.
The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became
like dead men.
The angel said to the woman,
Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here, he has risen.
Just as he said, come and see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.
There you will see him, now I have told you.
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy,
and ran to tell his disciples.
Suddenly Jesus said to them,
Greetings, he said.
They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.
Then Jesus said to them,
Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee,
and there you will see me.
I am now going to sing a song.
While the women were on their way,
some of the guards went into the city
and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan,
they gave the soldiers a large sum of money,
telling them,
You are to say his disciples came during the night
and stole him away while we were asleep.
If this report gets to the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.
So the soldiers took the money
and did as they were instructed.
And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews
to this very day.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him,
they worshipped him,
but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go
and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always
to the very end
of the age.
Amen.
May the Lord add his blessing
to this reading from his word.
Now, can you turn with me in your Bible
this time to the book of Exodus?
And we're going to continue
in our study in this wonderful book.
We are going to be reading Exodus chapter 5
from verse 22
to the end of chapter 6.
So let's hear God's word once again.
Moses returned to the Lord and said,
Why, Lord?
Why have you brought trouble on this people?
Is this why you sent me?
Ever since I went to Pharaoh
to speak in your name,
he has brought trouble on this people
and you have not rescued your people at all.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh.
Because of my mighty hand,
he will let them go.
Because of my mighty hand,
he will drive them out of this country.
God also said to Moses,
I am the Lord.
I appeared to Abraham,
to Isaac,
and to Jacob as God Almighty,
but by my name,
the Lord,
I did not make myself known to them.
I also established my covenant with them
to give them the land of Canaan
where they resided as foreigners.
Moreover,
I have heard the groaning of the Israelites
whom the Egyptians are enslaving,
and I have remembered my covenant.
Therefore say to the Israelites,
I am the Lord,
and I will bring you out
from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
I will free you from being slaves to them,
and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm
and with mighty acts of judgment.
I will take you as my own people,
and I will be your God.
Then you will know that I am the Lord your God
who brought you out
from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
And I will bring you to the land
I swore with uplifted hands
to give to Abraham,
to Isaac,
and to Jacob.
I will give it to you as a possession.
I am the Lord.
Moses reported this to the Israelites,
but they did not listen to him
because of their discouragement
and harsh labor.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
Go tell Pharaoh,
king of Egypt,
to let the Israelites go out of his country.
But Moses said to the Lord,
if the Israelites will not listen to me,
why would Pharaoh listen to me,
since I speak with faltering lips?
Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron
about the Israelites
and Pharaoh,
king of Egypt,
and he commanded them
to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
These were the heads of their families.
The son of Reuben,
the firstborn son of Israel,
were Hanok and Palu,
Hezron and Carmi.
These were the clans of Reuben.
The sons of Simeon were
Jemuel,
Jamin,
Ohad,
Jachin,
Zohar,
and Shaul,
the son of a Canaanite woman.
These were the clans of Simeon.
These were the names of the sons of Levi,
according to their records,
Gershon,
Kohath,
and Merari.
Levi lived 137 years.
The sons of Gershon,
by clans,
were Libni and Shimei.
The sons of Kohath were
Amram,
Ishar,
Hebron,
and Uziel.
Kohath lived 133 years.
The sons of Merari were
Machli and Mushi.
These were the clans of Levi,
according to their records.
Amram married his father's sister,
Jochebed,
who bore him Aaron and Moses.
Amram lived 137 years.
The sons of Ishar were
Korah,
Nepheg,
and Zichri.
The sons of Uziel were
Mishael,
Elzavan,
and Sithri.
Aaron married
Elisheba,
the daughter of Amminadab,
and sister of Nashon,
and she bore him
Nadab,
and Abihu,
Eleazar,
and Ithamar.
The sons of Korah
were Aser,
Elkanah,
and Abiasath.
These were the
Korahite clans.
Eliezer,
son of Aaron,
married one of the
daughters of Putiel,
and she bore him
Phinehas.
These were the heads of the
Levite families,
clan by clan.
It was this Aaron and
Moses to whom the Lord
said,
bring the Israelites out of
Egypt by their divisions.
They were the ones who
spoke to Pharaoh,
king of Egypt,
about bringing the
Israelites out of Egypt,
this same Moses and Aaron.
Now when the Lord spoke to
Moses in Egypt,
he said to him,
I am the Lord.
Tell Pharaoh,
king of Egypt,
everything I tell you.
But Moses said to the
Lord,
since I speak with
faltering lips,
why would Pharaoh
listen to me?
Amen.
So today,
what we're going to think
about,
what we're going to see
from our text,
is that our
remarkable God,
the one who declares
himself to be,
I am the Lord,
uses unremarkable people
for his purposes.
We've said it before,
and I'm sure we will
say it again,
that the Bible is
history's most honest
book.
That cover to cover,
we are invited to
recognize that God's
people are not
very impressive.
So often,
rather than trust,
we see doubt.
So often,
rather than love,
we see hate.
Rather than obedience,
we see sinful
disobedience.
And we are being
reminded in so many
ways that God
saves
by grace.
And that's something
we celebrate in the
gospel.
This comes to us as
good news,
that Jesus,
the God-man,
entered into
human history.
And that it's through
his sinless obedience,
and through his
sacrificial death,
and through his
resurrection life,
that we can be
saved and enter into
relationship with God.
That's good news
for unremarkable,
unimpressive,
sinful people like
us.
The question for
today is this,
do we believe that
this same remarkable
God who saves by
grace can use those
unremarkable people
on his mission,
in building his
kingdom for his
glory?
The text that we
just read
shows God,
by his spirit,
leading Moses
to highlight
this point,
to highlight
Moses' own
weakness,
to highlight the
glory of God
as the next part
of the drama
in Egypt
is about to
take place.
What's interesting
about this text
is that there are
different frames
that we can find
here?
How do we
think about
frames?
Think about
an art gallery,
think about the
walls of our
houses and
family photos,
or framed
portraits that
hang in a
gallery.
What's the point
of a frame?
It's to draw
attention to
what is inside.
Well,
there are two
frames in
this section,
and one,
inside that frame,
is a reminder
of just how
unremarkable
and how weak
the people of
God often are,
and one frame
that shows this
wonderful portrait
of who our
God really,
truly is.
One frame,
we're going to
see Moses,
the discouraged
believer.
One frame is
going to show
us Moses,
the unimpressive
believer,
but inside we're
going to see
a wonderful
portrait of
God.
I am the
Lord,
and it's this
Lord who is
able for his
glory and to
build his
kingdom,
he is able to
use people
like Moses,
with doubts
and fears,
people like us,
with our doubts
and fears too.
Remember,
this is Moses
telling his
story.
This is Moses
telling his
story to a
generation of
Israelites in
the wilderness,
and if we use
our imagination,
perhaps we can
see Moses,
in effect,
telling the
people,
I am just
like you,
I experienced
doubts,
I am someone
who lacked
patience in
God's timing,
hard times
made me
question God,
I often felt
too weak for
the task that
God had given
me to do.
And as we've
already noticed,
God doesn't
correct Moses,
God doesn't
massage Moses'
ego and says,
no of course
Moses,
you're wonderful,
rather,
what Moses is
going to tell
the Israelites
is that God
revealed himself
time and time
again,
in patience and
a mercy,
here revealing
more of what
it means that
God is the
I am Lord.
And bear in
mind that Moses
tells this story
once they've been
released from
slavery.
It's this Lord
who has kept
his promise to
save us.
It's this Lord
who's kept his
promise to be
with us.
It's this Lord
who's keeping
his promise to
bring us home.
So Moses could
stand before
the nation of
Israel and say,
our success is
not about me,
it's not my
wonderful leadership,
it's all about
the Lord and
his faithfulness
and his saving
grace.
And by God's
design that's
how this text
is supposed to
fall on our
ears.
So let's think
about this first
frame.
So boys and
girls on your
sheet, this is
the first point
that we're
thinking about.
There is a
frame that we
can see that
shows us Moses
as the
discouraged
believer.
So you'll
see one side
of the frame,
chapter 5,
verse 22 and
23, and the
other side of
it in chapter 6,
verse 9 to
12.
So chapter 5,
verse 22,
we read,
Moses returned
to the Lord
and said,
why Lord,
why have you
brought trouble
on this people?
So he returned
to the Lord.
So he's coming
to God in
prayer and he's
bringing lament.
Why, Lord?
You made
promises.
Within the
covenant we have
expectations that
life will work
itself out in a
certain way.
Things are not
getting better.
Why do we not
see what we are
hoping for and
what you have
promised?
Instead, what are
they seeing?
They're seeing more
trouble.
Pharaoh has
brought more
trouble.
And Moses says,
Pharaoh has
brought trouble
because of the
Lord's words.
In response to
the Lord's plan,
Pharaoh has
only made things
more difficult
for the people.
And so Moses
and Israel,
they're discouraged.
Why have things
got harder?
Moses is
discouraged.
You have not
rescued your
people at all,
he says.
So that's one
side of the
frame.
And we're
going to come
back to verses
1 to 8 and
we're going to
see the Lord
revealing more
of himself and
his character and
more of his
glorious plans.
But let's leave
that to one side
and let's move
to the other
side of the
frame to verse
9 to 12.
So Moses came
and reports to
the Israelites
what God has
said about
himself, but the
people don't
listen because of
their discouragement,
because of their
circumstances, their
hard labor.
And in verse
12 we see
Moses'
discouragement
coming out.
If the
Israelites won't
listen, why in
the world would
Pharaoh listen?
So he feels
discouraged about
the task that
God has given
him to do.
No one's going
to listen.
There is no
use in my
being there.
So the
circumstances
facing Moses
are ones where
all he sees is
apparent failure.
failure.
And so he has
these questions
about his own
ability.
This is the
frame through
which Moses is
viewing his life
and his mission.
And again, it would
be very easy for us
to point the
finger of blame
at Moses and
say, well, you
should know better.
You should have
more faith.
God has been
speaking to you,
but doesn't he
remind us of
ourselves when we're
being honest?
We hear God say
to us in his
word, do not
fear, for I am
with you.
But there are
circumstances and
there are people
and there are
times where we
are fearful,
where we are
anxious and
where we are
paralyzed and we
fail to respond
in faith.
You know, we
believe that
Jesus says to
us, as he did
in Matthew 28,
go and make
disciples and
surely I am
with you to the
end of the age.
But when we
get no response
or we face
rejection, we
become discouraged.
Perhaps we
decide to even
stop bothering
because we
don't see any
point.
How could we
make any
difference?
God leads
Moses to
write down
his story,
to make sure
that God's
people would
always understand
that when it
comes to our
salvation and
when it comes
to our
mission, we
would recognize
that all glory
belongs to
God and
that we
would place
our hope in
God and
not in
ourselves.
We would
place our
hope in
the one who
says, I
am the
Lord.
So we've
said that
there's this
frame and
we've seen
Moses as a
discouraged
believer, but
in the middle
we have a
beautiful
portrait where
God reveals,
I am the
Lord.
So boys and
girls, this is
the second thing
on your sheet,
chapter 6
verses 1
to 8.
Look at how
chapter 6
begins,
Then the
Lord said to
Moses,
Now you'll
see what I
will do to
Pharaoh, because
of my mighty
hand he will
let them go.
Moses in his
discouragement
stands in need
of reassurance,
and the Lord
again is very
patient and
merciful and
makes a fresh
promise to
Moses.
Now you'll
see what I
will do.
Pharaoh has
brought trouble,
he has brought
difficulty, but
my power, my
mighty hand will
bring freedom.
In fact, so
great is God's
strength that he
will turn the
mind of Pharaoh
so that Pharaoh
himself will
drive the
people of God
out of his
country.
Moses needs to
be reassured.
It's not on
you, Moses.
It's all about
the I am
God.
And Moses
too is given
a gracious
reminder, a
reminder of the
God who never
changes.
Verse 4, I
also established
my covenant
with them, with
Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, to
give them the
land of Canaan.
Moreover, I
have heard the
groaning of the
Israelites whom
the Egyptians
are enslaving, and
I have remembered
my covenant.
When God
remembers something,
it's not like it
was previously
forgotten, it
means he's
about to act.
So the
Lord graciously
and patiently
makes himself
known to
Moses, reminding
him of his
power, reminding
him of his
promises, saying
to Moses, at
every point, you
can trust me.
And then we
get that
fascinating
statement in
verses 2 and
3.
Perhaps you
noticed it as
we read.
God also
said to
Moses, I
am the
Lord.
I
appeared to
Abraham, to
Isaac, and to
Jacob as God
Almighty, but
by my name, the
Lord, I did
not make myself
known to
them.
So here's
another gift
from God to
Moses.
Moses is
given a new
revelation, an
ongoing revelation
of who God
is and what
God is going
to do, of
what it means
for God to
be the Lord,
the personal
covenant-making
God.
So God
says to
Moses that
the story of
Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob was
one of them
knowingly as
God Almighty.
And that's a
wonderful thing.
In Genesis
17, we
discover that
this Almighty
God can come
to Abraham at
the age of
99 and can
call him the
father of
nations and
can promise
him that he
will bring his
family into
the land.
In Genesis
28, we
hear this
wonderful word
that God
Almighty can
make Jacob
into a
community and
bring them to
the land of
Canaan.
But now
what's going to
happen with
Moses and
this generation
is that they
are going to
see those
covenant promises
come to
life.
Promise is
about to
become reality.
They're going
to see I
am the
Lord in a
whole new
way as
he begins
to work
out these
promises.
And we
see that
and we're
going to
focus on
verses 6
to 8.
And notice
as well,
so we're
thinking about
frames,
notice that
verses 6
to 8 when
God speaks,
he begins
with,
I am the
Lord,
and he
closes with,
I am the
Lord,
and everything
in between
is intended
to help us
to know more
about who
is the
Lord,
what is
his character
like.
And there
are three
truths in
these verses.
First
truth,
I am the
Lord,
and I
will redeem
you.
Verse 6,
I will free
you from
being slaves
to them,
and I
will redeem
you with
an outstretched
arm and
with mighty
acts of
judgment.
Who is
the Lord?
The Lord
is the
Redeemer.
the present
reality of
the people
of Israel,
they are
under the
yoke of
slavery.
That is
their experience,
the misery
of being
slaves.
But God
is going
to act.
He says,
I will
bring you
out,
I will
free you,
I will
redeem
you.
Here is
God saying,
I will
act as
your
kinsman
Redeemer.
That
close
family
relative who
would pay
the price
to relieve
a debt,
to buy
a person
out of
slavery.
God says,
I will
do that
for you.
God is
in covenant
relationship
with his
people.
He is
going to
pay the
price.
He is
going to
bear the
debt to
secure the
freedom for
his own.
That's the
promise that
they receive
as slaves.
And it's
the promise
of the
gospel that
we receive.
as
Fergus was
praying.
Jesus
says,
anyone who
sins is
a slave
to sin.
Well,
what's the
good news
of the
gospel?
That God
has sent
his son
Jesus to
free us
from that
greater
slavery than
political
slavery.
That Jesus
comes as
the one
declaring,
I am
the Lord.
And he
comes because
he loves
his bride.
And he's
going to
bear the
debt and
pay the
price to
remove the
chains from
his bride,
to make
his bride
righteous and
holy so
that we,
the people
of God,
by faith in
him,
would know
freedom in
Christ.
So the
Lord is
the great
redeemer of
his people.
A discouraged
believer like
Moses needs to
be reminded of
that.
Discouraged
believers in
21st century
Edinburgh need
to be reminded
of that.
The second
truth in this
portrait of
what it means
that God
is the
Lord,
I am the
Lord and
I will
take you
as my
own.
Verse 7,
I will
take you
as my
own people
and I
will be
your God.
Then you
will know
that I
am the
Lord your
God who
brought you
out from
under the
yoke of
the Egyptians.
I am
the Lord,
I am
the Lord
your God,
I will
be your
God.
What is
this?
This is an
invitation for
the people of
God to say
this is my
God, I
belong to
him, I
know him
personally, I
am the Lord
might seem
distant, I
am your
Lord and
your God
reminds us
of just how
personal God's
love becomes.
God will
save his
people for
relationship
as Moses
and Israel
will soon
enough discover
God's people
are redeemed,
not so they
can enjoy
political freedom
but they can
have freedom
for relationship
with the
God who
made them
and who
acts in
grace to
save them.
And that's
why the
journey doesn't
go from
Egypt straight
to the
promised land,
rather it
goes from
Egypt to
Mount Sinai
because there
God will
meet with
his people
as he
promised,
there he
will renew
a covenant
with them
and they
will enjoy
the Lord's
presence there
at Mount
Sinai.
They will
become the
Lord's own
people.
Remember the
promise of
Jesus at the
end of Matthew
28, that he
would always be
with his people
to the very
end of the
age.
It's a
wonderful gospel
reality.
What's the joy
of the new
heaven and the
new earth?
for the
believer in
the Lord
Jesus, that
Christ and
his bride,
the church,
will be
together
forever,
having been
made righteous
and washed,
and there'll
be a wedding
feast, and
there will be
joy when
Jesus and
his church
are together
forever.
There is
wonderful hope
for discouraged
believers when
we remember
that the
Lord loves
his own
and seeks
relationship
and fellowship
and sent
his son
Jesus to
pay the
price that
we might
enjoy that.
Truth number
three in
this portrait
of what it
means that
God says,
I am a
Lord, I
am a
Lord,
verse 8,
and I
will bring
you to
the land
I swore
with uplifted
hand to
give to
Abraham,
to Isaac,
and to
Jacob.
I will
give it to
you as a
possession.
Now think
about the
people of
God's
experience in
Egypt.
They had
no land of
their own
by this
stage,
no rights,
no freedom,
no freedom
to worship.
If that's
your reality,
imagine how
amazing this
promise sounds.
It's the
promise of
home.
It's a
promise of
freedom and
security.
It's a
promise of
being with
God in
God's place
as God's
people and
enjoying his
blessing.
poor,
discouraged
Israelites.
It sounds
too good to
be true for
them, but
they will
discover it
is good
and it
is true.
And the
Lord offers
certainty.
Notice in
verse 8,
I swore with
uplifted
hand.
I swear to
tell the
truth, the
whole truth,
and nothing
but the
truth.
God is
offering
certainty
to his
people.
I will
save you
and I
will bring
you home.
It's the
certainty of
Jesus'
promise to
the thief
on the
cross.
As that
thief turned
in faith
to Jesus,
today you
will be
with me
in paradise.
And it's
the same
promise that
leads us to
have hope,
that our
ultimate
hope,
home for
the people
of God.
Revelation 21
verse 3,
God's dwelling
place is now
among the
people.
He will
dwell with
them.
God's
love for
him.
The Lord
saves us
for relationship
and he
saves us
so that we
might enjoy
an eternal
home with
him.
It's good
news for
discouraged
believers.
We need
this
portrait.
When people
go to see a
famous painting,
you go to
see the
Mona
Lisa,
and you
go to
see any
famous
painting,
you're not
about the
frame,
are you?
You want
to see the
beautiful
picture inside.
Moses and
Israel,
in their
discouragement,
they need to
learn to
look away
from themselves
and to
fix their
eyes on
the great
I am and
to trust
his covenant
promise.
That they
will come to
recognize that
every step of
the journey
out of
Egypt to
Mount Sinai
to the
promised land,
it is the
Lord who
will be with
them.
He is with
them and
he is for
them.
And the
same is
true for
us.
Jesus is
our Lord.
He is
the great
I am.
The new
covenant
promise is
kept in
him,
that in
him we
have
redemption,
in him we
have relationship
with the
living God,
in him we
have the
promise of
an eternal
home.
Robert
Murray
McShane,
the famous
preacher from
Dundee,
reminded his
congregation more
than once,
for every one
look itself,
take ten
looks to
Christ.
Moses and
Israel needed
to stop
looking at
themselves and
their inability
to look to
the God of
all ability.
And the
same is true
for us,
we need to
learn to
look to
Christ.
That's not
the only
frame in
our story,
there is a
second one we
need to see,
boys and
girls,
this is the
third point
in your
worksheet.
Frame
two draws
attention to
Moses the
unimpressive
believer.
Let's read
again verse
28 to
30.
Now when
the Lord
spoke to
Moses in
Egypt,
he said to
him,
I am a
lord,
tell Pharaoh
king of
Egypt everything
I tell you.
But Moses
said to the
Lord,
since I
speak with
faltering
lips,
why would
Pharaoh
listen to
me?
I don't
know how
many of
you enjoy
superhero
movies,
TV,
comic books,
I quite
like them.
We just
started watching
recently Superman
and Lois on
TV.
Superman's an
interesting
character,
Clark Kent's
an interesting
character,
mild-mannered,
regular guy,
they're always
selling it,
he's just this
normal,
slightly clumsy
sort of a
guy,
until he's
really not.
He's a
regular guy,
until he's
using his
super strength,
or his
laser eyes,
or his
super hearing,
and then we
are reminded
actually he's
totally a
superhero.
When we
read the
Bible,
and remember
how honest
the Bible
is,
we recognize
that the
Bible is not
presenting us
with biblical
superheroes.
Moses is no
biblical
superhero.
He seems
an awful lot
like us,
with his
doubts,
with his
fears.
In chapter
6,
verses 10
to 12,
and then
those verses
in 28
to 30,
we have
the same
event
recorded
twice.
For
emphasis,
they frame
what comes
in the
middle.
The Lord
says,
go,
I've told
you to
go,
I've told
you what's
going to
happen,
and Moses
says,
I have a
speech
problem,
I'm not
a public
speaker,
the plan
just won't
work.
Again,
at no
point does
God
correct him
instead.
And this
is really
interesting,
so God
who directs
the writing
of Scripture
directs
Moses at
this stage
to write
down his
family tree.
Seems
quite an
unusual
thing to
place at
this stage
of the
story,
but it's
here,
and we
need to
ask ourselves,
why here
and why
now?
And as
we start
to think
about some
of these
characters,
we don't
have time
to think
about a
lot of
them,
but what
we discover
we are
getting here
in this
family tree,
in a sense,
is one of
those,
they talk
about warts
and all
portraits,
don't they?
It's not
like the
airbrushed,
everything looks
all glossy
and wonderful,
it's a
warts and all
picture of
Moses and
his family,
and it's
there by
God's
design.
Again,
he's not
sort of looking
to puff up
Moses'
pride,
this
emphasizes
how
unimpressive,
unremarkable
Moses and
his family
are to
highlight that
other portrait
of God's
glory and
God's
grace.
Where does
Moses,
led by the
Spirit,
begin in
this
selected
family
history?
It begins
with Reuben,
and Reuben
brought open
shame on his
family through
sexual sin,
Genesis 35.
We have a
mention of
verse 15,
Shaul,
the son of
a Canaanite
woman,
an outsider.
We have in
verse 21,
we have
Korah.
Korah leads
an open
rebellion against
Moses,
God's appointed
leader.
And of course
we have
Moses'
brother Aaron,
who by this
stage,
in the
retelling of
the story,
has helped
Israel to
make the
golden cat.
And there's
Moses himself.
And we saw
a couple of
weeks ago,
Moses who
killed an
Egyptian and
had to
flee for
his life.
Perhaps it's
no surprise
that it says
to us in
verse 26,
it was this
Aaron and
Moses.
Verse 27,
it was this
same Moses
and Aaron
from this
family background,
with this
list of
sin in
their past,
with all
their doubts
and all
their failures.
What becomes
absolutely clear
to the people
of Israel is
Moses,
although he
grew up in
the palace,
he's absolutely
one of them,
one of them
in terms of
his genealogy,
but also one
of them in
terms of his
own sin and
disobedience.
The attention
is not on
Moses,
and it
shouldn't be.
He's a
regular,
unremarkable
believer.
He's living
by faith,
but the
attention
goes to
the other
portrait,
the wonderful
portrait of
God.
But here's
the remarkable
thing,
despite Moses'
failures,
despite Moses'
doubts and
fears and
questions about
his own
ability,
God has
used him,
will use
him to
deliver Israel
and to
redeem them
from slavery.
The God
who says,
I am the
Lord,
who is
all-glorious
and all-powerful,
is able to
use weak
people like
Moses and
like us
for his
own
glory.
And so
this text
gives us
two frames
and two
portraits,
and we
need both
of them
as the
people of
God.
We need
the honest
portrait of
us as
believers
to recognize
our own
weakness
so that we
might look to
Christ for
strength,
to be
honest about
our sin
so that we
would look to
the Christ
who pardons
sin.
And we
really need that
glorious portrait
of the God of
grace.
We need to be
reminded about the
God who says,
I am,
and I will
save you,
and I am
present with
you,
and I will
bring you
home.
So that we
understand that
when God
calls us
to be
disciples of
Jesus,
when God
says to
us,
now that
you're in
my kingdom,
I'm asking
you to be
my ambassadors,
when he
calls on us
as the
church to
seek justice
and to
care for
others and
to tell
lost people
about Jesus,
we don't
trust in
ourselves.
Rather,
we trust
that he
will provide.
We look
to the
Lord,
trusting that
he will
work despite
our
inability,
recognizing
that in
Christ,
our success
rests entirely
on his
faithfulness.
Let's
pray.
Lord,
our God,
we thank
you for
the honesty
of the
Bible,
that you
in your
kindness
to us
would strip
us of
all pride
and self-reliance.
Rather,
you would
constantly show
us our own
weakness
and our
sin,
and you
would show
us such a
wonderful picture
of your love
and your grace
and your
all-sufficient
power
to recognize
that just as
you save
people by
grace,
so you
empower people
by grace
to serve
you in
your kingdom
as weak
as we
are,
as full of
doubts and
fears as
we are,
so that you
would constantly
be glorified.
And so,
Lord,
we pray
that we would
keep these
portraits in
view,
that we
wouldn't
focus
only on
ourselves,
only on our
weakness and
fears and
failures,
others,
but that you
would keep
drawing our
eyes to
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
the great
I Am,
the one who
saved us,
the one who
says,
I will be
with you,
and the one
who has
promised that
in the fullness
of his timing
he will call
his people
home to
himself.
Give us
confidence in
Christ when
we feel
discouraged.
Give us
hope in
our remarkable
God and
your amazing
grace when
we feel
ourselves to
be so
unremarkable.
Lord, may
you be
glorified among
us, we
pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, we
will close
our time
together this
evening,
singing the
hymn,
When Peace
Like a
River
attendeth my
way.
Let's
stand together
to sing.
Amen.