Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Start with an evangelical hero: Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones
• Before this was Sandfields in Port Talbot
• Before this was resignation from his medical career
• Before that God called Him
• Would God call you?
• Sometimes God's call is non-disruptive and sometimes it is disruptive
• As Christian people we are totally under His authority
• If a church is healthy then there seems to be lots of calls
• God's selection of Moses
• God's preparation of Moses
• God's persuasion of Moses
• The call of a Christian to know wonderful possibilities and fruitfulness is a wonderful prospect
• God's blessings (in its own way) will go with you
• We will achieve what God purposes for us to achieve
• God is sovereign

The Call

• Recap of first 7 verses
• 'Oh how the mighty have fallen' (2 Sam 1)
• Moses was a prince and would have known palace life in his formative life
• Where is he now?
• He is the aged shepherd
• He has borrowed sheep (his father-in-law owns the flock)
• He is residing in the 'nowhere'
• Spurgeon - Sermon 2282: When God wants to make a man great, He makes him low first
• A man must have a clear view of his own weakness and a clear dependence on God
• Before God raises up a man, He first sets him down
• What changed Moses: the burning bush
• A supernatural event
• When God calls: the supernatural flame is not in a bush but in our heart
• Example of James Fraiser
• It is as inexplicable as it is inextinguishable
• It starts as a natural event (v3) then God speaks to Moses (v4)
• Natural fire/enthusiasm can appear as supernatural fire/enthusiasm
• To help find out which it is, talk to people in the church who have known the clear leading of God
• Listen to their advice
• Removal of defilement
• It is holy ground
• A whole nation is groaning in slavery and yet God says to Moses 'shoes off'
• There had to be the eradication of sin
• There is a new sensitivity to sin
• The cleaner you are as you go into the call, the more effective you will be
• The centre of the call
1. Me - a self orientated call - this is a sinful attitude
2. Them - (Moses had a real heart for the people) this would have been forgivable but not the best
3. God - should be the centre of the call (v7)
• God sees and God hears (v7)
• God will act
• How to understand our call
• Personal example: God saw and God heard and God came down to use me
• The same is true for your calling

The Crafting

• Moses said 'no' (v11)
• Do you (really) know what God wants you to do - but you have said 'no'
• God persists - He works it through with us, He is kind and gracious to us
• God is going to win
• God has a perfect answer for every question Moses has
• God has a perfect answer for every question we have
• Personal example
• 4 reasons for saying 'no'

Felt Personal Inadequacy (v11)

• Who am I?
• This is a real question - not feigned humility
• Moses inadequacy was real
• He was old
• He was nothing - Pharaoh was a king
• I am yesterday's man
• The facts of the situation
• These are not everything
• Moses is not going alone - God is going with him
• Alec Mortier - we do not step out alone
• The question is not 'am I weak', but 'am I called'?

Spiritual Immaturity (v13)

• I don't know quite my theological issues - it is a bit absurd given the task Moses had
• Josephus said that only a few people knew the intimate name of God
• The name was a description of the person
• What do you know about God?
• Example of preachers corner
• What do you know about the ways of God?
• Example of David and Bathsheba
• You won't just hear My name but see My name
• In our call we may go from just hearing the name of God to seeing the name of God
• This is a very persuasive reason

Fear of Failure (4:1)

• The 'what if' zone - the fear of things going wrong
• Moses asks 'what if' twice
• How many times do we ask this?
• What if they won't believe or listen to me?
• This happened - Ex 6:9
• They did not believe him because of the pain they were suffering
• What if you have made this up?
• What if they say you are a false prophet?
• Stare it down
• If the people didn't believe, would Moses be wrong to go?
• The mindset that says unless you see great fruits or results you obviously weren't called is wrong!
• Such people don't know anything about the truth of the New Testament
• Jesus came to His own but they did not receive Him
• God's sends signs:
• The miracles were exact to Egypt
• The Cobra
• Leprosy
• Water into blood
• The miracles were signs to Moses as well as to Pharaoh
• Ask the Lord for signs if you are fearful

The Presence of a Specific Weakness (4:10)

• A weakness right in the middle of the call
• Example
• God says to Moses that He can make all the difference
• Do we really believe that?
• As Moses went so the Lord helped him
• The Lord made him strong
• This takes real faith

Closing Remarks

1. Some of us need to get ready for a call
• We need to hold loose to the things of the world
2. Some of us need to be starting out on a call
3. Some of us need to hear God's call again