Introduction:
Often times, when the Lord ask us to do something, we give excuses why we cannot do it. We sometimes forget that whenever He gives us an assignment, he always provide the enablement. The purpose of this message is to see the excuses Moses gave for not wanting to do God’s work, how God enabled him and to remind us of the one assignment our Lord Jesus Christ gave us to do and how we can do it without excuses.
Moses’s Assignment and his excuses:
In the book of Exodus chapter 3 and 4, the Lord told Moses he was going to send him to Pharaoh to release the Israelites to go and worship Him in the Promised Land. We see Moses making excuses why he could not do the work.
Exodus 3: 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
Moses felt he was not qualified or too small to go to Pharaoh.
12 And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
Apart from feeling not able to talk to Pharaoh, Moses also felt he would not be able to convince his people.
14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " 15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
Exodus 4: 1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?" 2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.
Exodus 4: 3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so 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."
6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. 7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."
Even, in spite of the signs God used him to demonstrate to convince him that God’s presence would go with him, Moses still tried to excuse himself.
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." 11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." 14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
From the passage above we see that:
Five times Moses gave excuses to God why he would not be able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land and five times God assured and proved to him He will help him,
Must Moses wait until God’s anger burned against him before obeying God? Even though he was not allowed to get to the Promised Land along with the people, he however successfully carried out the assignment with God’s help. All his fears and excuses were allayed.
Believers’ assignment today and excuses:
The same way God gave Moses an assignment to perform, our Lord Jesus Christ asked the disciples and we believers of today to go about carrying out the great commission until his second coming.
Matthew 28: 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
The disciples and other apostles went about to perform the work successfully before their death. The remaining portion of the work which they could not complete as a result of dead is the responsibility of today’s believers. As Moses gave excuses to God, some of us also give excuses of why we cannot do this.
Now let us see the excuses we give and how we can overcome them.
• Excuse of inability to: Go! - To where?
He requires us to His witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria and to the outermost part of the earth. For us to be able to do this He not only promised us the power to do this, He also gave us our legs and feet, so we can start from our Jerusalem, before all Judea, Samaria and then the outermost part of the earth. Our Jerusalem is our immediate family members and neighbourhood which requires no transportation. By the time we are finishing from our Jerusalem, He will give us grace and all that we need to be able to go to our Samaria, all Judea and then the outermost part of the earth
• Excuse of not knowing how to: Make disciples of all nations –
Before we surrendered our live to Him and became believers, He used someone to minister to us. The same way the person ministered to us we should minister to the lost. Share our testimony of conversion and experience of salvation with them.
• Excuse of not qualify to: Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost –
You do not have to be a Pastor, a Bishop or an Overseer before you can baptize your prospect. Phillip, one of the chosen leaders of the early church, single handily baptized the Eunuch of Ethiopia.
Acts 8: 34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
The disciples of Jesus baptized their prospects,
John 4: 1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
• Excuse of not knowing what and how to: Teach them to obey all that Christ taught them.
He gave us the Scripture inside which is the Book of the Law to enable us know what and how to teach them. All we need is to not allow it depart from our mouth, but meditate on it day and night and do all that is written in it so that we can be successful in our teaching,
Joshua 1: 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Besides He gave us the Scripture to be used for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3: 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Let us therefore continue to use it to teach them.
• Our Lord Jesus promised to be with us always to the end of the age
Matthew 28: 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
• He was with the Apostles as they carried out their assignment.
Mark 16: 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
He will surely be with us as we do His work.
Remedy for our Excuses
Apart the Scripture to be used, He gave each one of us the ability we can use to effectively do the work. How then do we go about doing the work?
• Start with our Jerusalem with the gift He has given us and do the little we can do.
Romans 12: 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
1 Corinthians 12: 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
• Do it diligently to His glory
1 Peter 4: 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
• Ask God to help you deal with and remove all your excuses and to help you do whatever you cannot do,
John 14: 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
• Continue to encourage yourself that you can do all things through Christ that strengthen you,
Philippians 4: 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Conclusion:
If He has given us the mandate, the necessary tools and promised to be with us till the end of the age as we carry out this assignment for Him. What are we then waiting for? Let us stop making excuses and GO and do the work. The Lord helps us as we obey Him!
