MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco and request #161.)
A. Have you ever seen any counterfeit money? A few years ago some counterfeiters were producing $50 & $100 bills of such superior quality that most banks accepted them at first as genuine.
Even though that counterfeiting ring was broken up, authorities don't know how many fake bills were produced. But they assumed that there was at least a million dollars worth still in circulation. And it was about that time, if you remember, that they came out with a new design for those bills.
What is a counterfeit? Webster's dictionary says that a counterfeit is "something not genuine, but made to resemble & pass for something valuable."
ILL. There are all kinds of counterfeits. One TV program featured an expose of a doctor who had impressive diplomas on his walls, & a large medical practice. But he had never attended any medical school & the diplomas were fakes.
He was a quack, dispensing useless & dangerous drugs, preying on his victims, concerned only about the profit that he could make.
But it is not just in the medical world. There are counterfeits in almost all professions even the ministry. Some magazines contain ads stating that it is easy to become an ordained minister. Just fill out a form, send in the money, & by return mail you will receive a beautiful Ordination Certificate from the Universal Life Church.
Diploma mills offer college degrees in almost the same way. Enroll by mail, pay the fees, & depending upon how much you pay, you can receive an impressive -looking diploma conferring a Bachelor's or Master's degree, or even a Doctorate. But it is a worthless piece of paper, designed simply to fool & impress the gullible.
B. Now then, a natural question for us would be, "Are there any counterfeit Christians? And how do we recognize them?"
Jesus answers that in Matthew 7:20 21, "Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven."
"Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
SUM. Now think about it. If a counterfeit is something that is not genuine, but that deliberately tries to resemble or pass for something valuable, then Jesus is saying that there will be counterfeit Christians.
And Jesus clearly tells us that no counterfeit Christian will ever hear God say, "Well done, good & faithful servant… Come & share your Master's happiness." (Matthew 25:21)
C. Now, I don't want to be a counterfeit Christian, & I trust that you don't want to be one either.
In fact, I would really rather be able to approach the end of my life with the confidence of the Apostle Paul who wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)
In other words, I want to be found a good & faithful servant of my God. Don't you?
D. That is exactly what God called Moses over & over again back in the O.T. And today, Moses stands out as one of the greatest leaders in all of recorded history.
But you & I both know that Moses didn't start out that way. In fact, when it comes to making excuses to God, Moses sounded a whole lot like most of us.
Yet, God was finally able to count on Moses. And I believe that the outstanding characteristic of Moses' life was his spirit of service.
And once Moses was committed to serving God, it didn't take him long to discover that God specializes in the impossible. The more he was willing to do, the more God made it possible for him to do.
PROP. God helped Moses overcome obstacles that he would never have been able to conquer alone. And I am convinced that God will do the same for us too, if we will just let Him.
I. GOD HELPED MOSES OVERCOME TREMENDOUS OBSTACLES
When God first called Moses, Moses faced 3 tremendous obstacles.
A. The first one was his feeling of inferiority. When God said, "Moses, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt," the first thought that came to Moses was, "Who am I? I'm a nobody. They won't listen to me. Besides, I'm not very eloquent. I wouldn't make a good spokesman at all. Send somebody else."
APPL. I wonder how many times Satan has used our feelings of inferiority or inadequacy to try to keep us from doing what God would have us do?
Most of us really don't enjoy visiting hospitals or Nursing Homes, do we? It's not very pleasant seeing people wasting away. It would be much easier just to forget about them & a lot of people do.
As a young preacher, preparing for funerals really bothered me. I felt so helpless. But today I can think of nothing that ministers more to the needs of people than ministering to them in a time of grief.
I am convinced that if we will let Him, God will help us & equip us for our service to others, whatever it might be.
SUM. Moses said, "I can't speak & I can't lead." Yet, when he let God lead the way & Moses followed His commands, it wasn't long until Pharaoh let his people go.
B. The second obstacle he faced was about 3 million grumbling Israelites. They weren't two days out of Egypt until they started complaining.
"Moses, what is your plan for getting us across this Sea?" Moses answered, "I don't have a plan. God told me to follow the pillar of cloud by day & the pillar of fire by night, & that is what I am doing."
"You mean you have led us all out of Egypt & you don't even have a map showing you the way?"
Then again, "Moses, what's on the menu for today? What are we going to eat? We had melons & cucumbers & meat in Egypt. Moses, it's hot out here. Our throats are parched & the water tastes terrible."
SUM. They were constantly grumbling. Moses spent a lot of time talking to God about them & I imagine he became discouraged many times over.
ILL. As a Bible College president, one of the hardest things I had to deal with was the discouragement felt by young preachers who had answered the call of God to the ministry, only to find that they are out there preaching to some grumbling church members who have never really experienced the joy of serving the Lord.
They didn't know how to pay a compliment or overlook a fault. All they knew was how to crush a spirit & maybe even destroy a ministry.
Now I really think that on the judgment day God is going to deal harshly with people who have been a source of discouragement to other Christians.
SUM. Moses had to deal with that, & yet God sustained him through it all.
C. The third thing that Moses had to deal with was his own stubborn will. One day Moses talked to God & said, "The people are complaining because there is not enough water." God said, "All right, Moses, go over to that rock & speak to it & I will provide plenty of water."
So Moses went over to the rock, but in the midst of it all he lost his temper. He let the Israelites know what he thought of them & instead of speaking to the rock he struck it. The water came all right, but Moses had disobeyed God. He had done it his way instead of God's way.
APPL. I wonder how many in the church do the same thing? God gives us His plan & His program & He says, "Now this is my will in the situation." But we say, "God, we don't want to do it that way. This is the way we think it ought to be done." And our will gets in the way of God's will.
SUM. Moses faced three great obstacles. Inferiority, difficult people, & his own stubborn will. And yet God helped him through it all.
II. OUR SERVICE WILL BE REMEMBERED & REWARDED BY GOD
A. Finally, we are told that our service will be remembered & rewarded by God.
Moses must have wondered about that. Moses started out at age 80 to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He went through all the struggles in the wilderness for 40 years. He saw the hardships & the pain. He loved the people. He prayed for them. He talked to God numerous times.
Finally he stands on the border of the Promised Land. High on a mountain, he looks across at the land flowing with milk & honey. God shows it to him.
Then God says, "But Moses, remember, you're not going to lead them in." It is Joshua who leads them into the Promised Land.
APPL. How often it seems to happen that way! David made all the preparations for building the temple, but it was Solomon who built it. Oftentimes God uses one person to plow the ground & get it ready, & someone else to harvest the crop & see the fruit of all the labor.
B. I imagine that as Moses turned over to Joshua the responsibility of leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land, that Moses must have thought, "It should be me. I'm the one who paid the price. I'm the one who encouraged them when they were discouraged.
“I'm the one who prayed for them. I'm the one who sacrificed for them. And now Joshua gets all the glory. Joshua gets to lead them into the Promised Land. Joshua gets to enjoy all the benefits of that land flowing with milk & honey."
C. It would only have been human for Moses to wonder if his service would ever be rewarded. Then one day, in a different century, on another mountain Jesus was transfigured. And Moses looked around & realized that he was there too.
He saw Elijah & he saw Jesus in all His glory. He looked down & saw the worshipful gazes of Peter & James & John as they looked at that holy scene. Moses must have thought, "It really was worth all the sacrifice & all the pain. It was worth it all."
But the glory of the Mount of Transfiguration will be as nothing compared to the glory when we see Jesus again. When we see Him on His throne & we gather there with Moses & Elijah & Peter & James & John & all the others, then we, too, will know that it was worth it all.
APPL. Those evenings we went home so tired that we didn't feel like doing any more, & then the telephone rang & there was something else to be done.
All the times that we felt discouraged & wanted to quit. All the times that we wondered if the pathway that God calls us to walk is really worth walking.
You see, Jesus calls us not to a life of ease, but to a life of service. He calls us not to a life of pleasure but to a life of sacrifice. Maybe that doesn’t seem very appealing. But one day we will know that it was worth it all.
An old hymn expresses it this way,
“It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.
Life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ.
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrows will erase.
So bravely run the race - ‘till we see Christ.”
So as His followers we keep on serving. We keep on working. We keep on giving. You see, there are still mission fields that need faithful workers. There are still pulpits that need to be filled. There are still classrooms that cry out for teachers.
And Jesus is still tenderly calling you, calling you home. Will you come as we stand & as we sing?
