We were in Exodus a week or two
ago, let my people go, but this morning we look more particularly
at the call of Moses and of his response to the great call that
God had given unto him. Who am I? Exodus 3, 7 through
11. And the Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard
their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their
sorrows. And I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that
land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and with honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites,
and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold the cry
of the children of Israel is come up unto me, and I have also
seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them.
Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that
thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of
Egypt. And look at verse 11. There's
our text. Moses said unto God, Who am I
that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth
the children of Israel out of Egypt? Or if you'll turn to Acts
chapter 11, we have a similar passage. Acts 11 verse 15 through
17. This time, the speaker is the
Apostle Peter, Acts 11, 15 through 17. He is rehearsing God's dealing
with him at Cornelius' house and the Gentile. And as I began
to speak, he said, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the
beginning. Then remembered I the word of
the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water, but
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Far as much then
as God gave them the like guilt as he did unto us, who believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ, watch, what or who was I that I could
withstand God? Two questions for our consideration. Who am I that I might go and
release the people from Pharaoh? And who am I that I might withstand
God when He is about His wonderful and mighty works? In both of
the questions, therefore, we have that question, Who am I? First from Moses, and then from
the Apostle Peter. And it indicates that there is
some great Herculean task that is before them. There is some
daunting great work that is to be done. There is a difficult
assignment that is to be engaged in. There is a giant undertaking. There is something out of and
beyond the ordinary, much above and beyond the natural ability
of any servant of God to perform. And in both cases, it is an imminent
or a distinguished servant of God that puts forth the question. One especially called, minorly
used by God in His purpose and in His work. And I'll say that
there are other cases of a like nature scattered throughout the
scripture. We might have time to look at
some of them this morning. Now, we will take up the two
men and their question individually. Starting with the protest of
Moses. concerning his assignment from
God. Who am I, says the good man,
that I should accomplish this thing that you have ordained? First, we notice the calling
and the commission of Moses. When he was called at the burning
bush, he was on the backside of the desert. Exodus chapter
3 and verse 1. What was he doing? He was there
tending sheep when the angel of the Lord appeared to him out
of a mighty burning bush in Exodus 3 and 2 and Acts 7 and verse
30. And the angel of the Lord said
unto him, Moses' curiosity was stirred. He said, let me go see
why this bush burns and is not consumed. And as he arrived,
the angel of the Lord said unto him, Put your shoes off of your
feet, for you stand upon holy ground." Moses is told that God
will use him to deliver the seed of Abraham out of their Egyptian
bondage into the country that He had promised them. And what's
more, Moses would go down into the land of Egypt and he would
bring out, he would lead out, he would deliver the people of
God out of Egypt. He would march right into the
house and presence of Pharaoh and say unto him, let the people
go, that they may go and worship. Thus saith the Lord God. And
when Moses hears all of this, It is then that he says, Lord,
who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and bring such a great
people up out of the land of Egypt? Now, rather, Matthew Henry
pointed out the fact, and it's true, that Abraham realizes his
insufficiency for this great calling. Thus, who am I to do
it? What have I? Who am I that I
should go and do this great thing? What is it that makes me fit
or qualified for such a thing? How shall I do such a thing indeed? Now let's make an application
here for better that Moses be sensible of his inadequacy in
the flesh than to be puffed up with a false sense of his own
ability, skill, and wisdom. Better that he realize or recognize
the impossibility of the thing except God bring it to pass by
his great power. Better that he see himself unable
in his own strength and ability than to boast that he is well
fitted and shall be back in no time with the people." How glad
to hear Moses doubt his ability of the thing. Then if he should
boast how great a deliverer he was, that he would deliver them
before Pharaoh, because he knew Pharaoh, and Pharaoh knew him. Better than hearing Moses boast,
I'm a learned man, I am skilled in all the ways of Egypt, Acts
7 and verse 22, that he was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter,
and might brag about that, Exodus chapter 2 and verse 10, for indeed
he had been raised up in the house of Pharaoh's daughter,
and maybe think himself well able to negotiate the deliverance
of the people out of the land. The proud and boastful God resists. We remember the hardy God must
humble before they are fit, vesseled under His work and under His
service. Moses has the right spirit. Who am I, O Lord, that I might
do this thing? And why does he ask, Who am I
that I should do such a thing? Why not just jump at the chance? to be used of God in this great
way, and hurry off to the land of Egypt. Confined by the wonder
of the burning bush, why the reluctance on the part of Moses? He had seen a great witness and
evidence of God in the bush, because for forty years Moses
had been an obscure man. Perhaps we don't realize that,
but it had been some 40 years that Moses had been out of the
limelight. He had been an obscure herder
of sheep for his father-in-law in the backside of the desert. In fact, it was there that he
received the vision of God at the burning bush. What was he
doing? Working for his father-in-law,
keeping sheep totally out of the limelight, as we might say. Yes, this adopted son of Pharaoh's
daughter had taken one of the most common jobs of that day
and time, that of a shepherd, once he had sought by his own
to break the Egyptian stronghold on the seed of Abraham. It resulted in failure, and even
his Jewish brethren reviled him for that attempt. in Exodus 2.14,
and he fled the land of Egypt because he had killed an Egyptian. Now he is told, years later,
go bring my people out of the land of Egypt. And that's what
evokes The astonishing reply from Moses, Who am I? Before we consider this question,
let our attention fall upon the little word, am, here. There is a study here that it
will take us just a couple of minutes to pursue it, but it
is so important and prominent in the Scripture. Here is the
perfect place, I think, to consider this little word, am, in both
the Old and the New Testament. Now, two things please notice. A. We notice that in Exodus 3.11,
the word am is in italic. Literally, who I, to go deliver
Israel. That word italicized there. The second thing to notice is
in Exodus 3 and verse 14, and this is why this is the proper
place to consider this word. God answers the question of Moses,
which He asks in verse 13. When I say unto them, God hath
sent me, and they demand of me, what is his name? How will I
answer them? Then look at verse 14. Tell them I AM hath sent me, because I
AM that I AM. Now, AM, I AM, has sent me. Because I AM that I AM, the words
of God. Which John Gill wrote this, God
is declaring that He is the Being of all beings, and includes both
his eternality and his immutability. I am that I am. John Gill understood the name
I am to signify, quote, I am what I have been and what I shall
be and shall be what I am, unquote. And of course, we remember all
of the great I am's of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. I am the truth and the way. I
am the bread of life and such like. The point being, Moses
does not use for himself the word Am to refer to himself. In Genesis chapter 22, twice
you see an example of this again in the dealing with Abraham. God called Abraham and he said,
Here am I. But the word Am is italicized
again So it is here I. Now in verse 11, when the angel
of the Lord called unto Abraham again, he answered the same way. Not here am I, but here I. And you see this often in the
Scripture. You see it even in the New Testament. The point is, I Am is one of
the great names of our Almighty God. Now, let's go back to the
question of Moses. Who am I to deliver the children
of Israel? Let's consider some things which
Moses might have viewed an obstacle to their deliverance by or at
his hand, such as, number one, he had to face and overcome the
power and resistance of Pharaoh. The evil king of Egypt held them
enslaved, for people were in servitude in bondage. They were in slavery unto Pharaoh. And he had a mighty, numerous
army to enforce his will over them. The deliverance of the
people would therefore require the overthrow and the defeat
of Pharaoh. And the people were in no position
to rise up against him. They could not leave unless Pharaoh
be overcome by some means or power or other. And Moses therefore
asked, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people
out? Besides, remember that Moses
had killed that Egyptian. when he saw him mistreating one
of his Israelite brethren. Chapter 2 of Exodus, verse 11
and 12, whereby in Exodus 2.15, when Pharaoh ordered Moses to
be put to death for that murder, in other words, Moses would not
be welcomed by Pharaoh again. Secondly, we notice something
else that might cause Moses to ask, who am I? And that is that earlier on that
attempt that I was telling you about, the people had chided
Moses, their own brother. He had come up on a dispute between
two Jews. He says to the one that was wrong,
why are you doing that in Exodus 2, 13 and 14? And the one asked,
who made you a prince or a judge over us? Will you do with us
as you did with that Egyptian? Bury him in the sand. And that
put fear in the heart of Moses. Stephen alludes to this in his
great speech before the council as written in Acts chapter 7,
verse 24 through verse 28. For there in verse 25, Stephen
refers to a time when, verse 24, Moses felt it come into his
heart to visit his brethren. And Stephen said in Acts 7 and
verse 25, That is, Moses supposed his brethren would have understood
how that God by His hand would deliver them, but they understood
not. It's hard to lead people who
do not want to be led and have no inclination in that direction. Thus, as one writer put it, he
might remember how they had repulsed and rejected by them forty years
ago, which might be discouraging to the good man, Moses. Who am
I? What credit do I have with either
Pharaoh or my own people? And then thirdly, we might remember
that Moses doubts the people would believe him when he came
with such a story. Exodus chapter 4 and verse 1,
the people, he said, are not going to believe me. So the Lord
endued Moses with the ability to work great and mighty works,
Exodus 4. 2-9. Fourthly, we notice that
Moses pleads his inadequate verbal skills. Moses pleads before God
in Exodus 4 and verse 10. He was not a good speaker. He
was slow of speech and also he complained, I guess we could
call it, of a lack of revelation from God. Not before nor since
have you made known unto me these things." Hence his response,
Who am I? For I am not eloquent. The margin
said, I am not a man of words. They are in exodus. I am slow
of speech, I have a slow tongue, Moses complains unto God. And then he declares, God had
not enhanced his lack of eloquence in any way. And yet God delivered
the children of Israel by the hand of Moses. Paul once declared that his speech
was contemptible. in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse
10. Yes, his letters were weighty,
but his speech was contemptible. And see what God accomplished
by the Apostle Paul. Now, let's switch our focus from
Moses to that text in Acts 11, and the Apostle Peter, who asks
the question like Moses, what or who am I that I could withstand
God, he is asking. Now the issue concerns the Apostle's
recent experience with the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius in
Caesarea. Having received a revelation
while in Joppa, you remember in Acts chapter 10, he goes to
preach to those assembled at the house of Carnetius. His words
are in Acts chapter 10, verse 34 through verse 43, as he preaches
to them. And as he was speaking, while
he was preaching, Christ and the things of Christ unto them
The Spirit of God all of a sudden and without warning fell on those
that were hearing Peter in much the same way as had occurred
on the Jews on the day of Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts,
including the Gentiles speaking with tongues and magnifying God
under that experience. Now the apostle, when he returned
to Jerusalem, he was met with severe criticism by, the Bible
said, those that were of the circumcision. That is, Jews who
heard what occurred down in Caesarea. Whether they were believing Jews
who lacked knowledge, or whether they were unconverted, I could
not say. But in Acts 11 and 2, for his
recent behavior, they chided and criticized the apostle Peter. They took him to task because,
Acts 11 and verse 3, you went in unto men uncircumcised and
did eat with them. Indeed, the apostle himself made
mention of this upon his arrival. at the house of Cornelius. In
Acts 10 and 28, Peter tells Cornelius and those Gentiles that are gathered
there in that particular place, he says this to them, You know
how that it is an unlawful thing for one that is a Jew to accompany
or to enter in to the house of a stranger or a foreigner? You know how this is not allowed
to enter in with men of other nations, the one uncircumcised? Now, the words are simple. You
know how unlawful it is that such a thing is unlawful for
a Jew to do. He would have them to understand,
as a Jew, he would not have done this thing at all upon his own
without a divine leadership and inducement. And then he adds
in Cornelius' house, God has shown me that I should not call
anything common or unclean And he repeats the vision that he
had had in Acts 10 and verse 9 through 16. Though at the time
of the vision, Peter himself doubted what it all meant. In
Acts 10 and verse 17, it became clear to him, however, at the
house of Cornelius, and he acted with a clear conscience, preaching
Christ to the Gentiles, believing on the Lord as many of them did. Still, some Jews took exception
to Peter's action and forced him to defend his manner of conduct. This he does in Acts 11, 4 through
16. His vision, he said. The voice
from heaven. The man from Carnelius. The corresponding
vision given unto Carnelius. The coming and outpouring of
the Holy Spirit of God. His remembering the words of
John, you shall be baptized with the Spirit. Not many days hence. Then in Acts 11 and 17, The apostle
draws his conclusion based upon his factual account of the event. For as much, he said, or since,
or therefore, he frames his defense in a question for his critics
based upon the facts as he knew them and had experienced them. God gave to the Gentiles the
equal gift that He had given unto us. He gave to them the
same, the equal gift that He had given unto us in the beginning. To the believing ones, He poured
out His blessed Holy Spirit upon them. And the question in verse
17, the last part of Acts 11, Peter finally says this, as his
closing argument or summation. What or who was I? That is, I, who am I? Who am I that I could withstand
God in this great matter? How is it that you expect me
to hinder God in the great work that has been done? Not that
He wanted to, or not that He tried. But consider the word
withstand. We have it in the King James
Version, but the same word is about 20 more times scattered
throughout the New Testament. And only this one time in Acts
11, And verse 17 is the word translated withstand. Most of the time it is rendered
forbid or hinder in the other places where the Greek word is
used. Once it is rendered even by the
word kept in Acts 27 and 43, was let in Romans 1.13, that
is, I was kept or hindered from coming unto you." Now, Peter's reasoning
is this. It was a sovereign work of Almighty
God. It was God that did it. Peter
did not resist preaching to the Gentiles up or after Acts chapter
10, but he did up to then when God enlightened him. And besides,
the shedding of the Spirit on the Gentiles was not accomplished
by any will or ability of Simon Peter the Apostle or of the people
themselves. He had no idea, nor did they,
that it was about to occur. In fact, Peter was speaking to
them when, in the middle of his speaking, it happened. And yet,
having been a witness at the Jewish Pentecost, he must have
recognized both the nature and the thing itself. And the significance
and the importance of it, he immediately remembered something
that Jesus had preached. That I will baptize you with
the Holy Ghost and with fire, not many days' head. You'll find
that In Matthew 3.11, Acts 1.5, before our Lord ascended. Acts
11.16 also makes mention of it. Now while on this subject, it
is the perfect and happy opportunity to set the record straight about
the two pourings out of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament in
the book of Acts. Chapter 2 at Pentecost, chapter
10, at Caesarea and the house of Cornelius. I prefer to call
the latter the Gentile Pentecost. Acts chapter 10, the Gentile
Pentecost. Now, I take a counter-notice
of this because there are those who have been taught and are
being taught to this very hour, that Pentecost was the result
of the unity of the disciples, of the sanctification and deep
prayer of the disciples, that they prayed down the Spirit of
God on Pentecost, and what's more, some of these same misguided
zealots have insisted that Pentecost can and should be repeated down
through history in this day or that. And they seek a repetition
of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. They teach that it could
happen again, that it ought to happen again, that the reason
that it does not is that the children of God have not paid
the price and have not gotten right with God. I must tell you
that Pentecost was a once for all unrepeatable event. It came but those times. And when it came, he came unasked
for, he came unexpectedly, he came without any influence from
the disciples or the apostles at all. There is not the slightest
hint in later Scripture, that it needs repeating, or that a
repetition is to be sought of this phenomenon on the Jew and
on the Gentile. I would like to tell you a story.
It will only take a minute. It happened really to me years
ago. I worked with a Pentecost man.
Every night I listened to him. And one night he told me that
he and his friend went down to the altar to pray. And his friend
was deeply, sincerely seeking the Holy Ghost. And as they got
in the altar, my friend said to me, he said, I told my friend,
you know why you haven't received the Holy Ghost? And his friend
said, no, why? And my workman friend said, the
muscles in your back are too tight. Relax. Relax. Now that's some of the stuff
that goes on around the country. But let's go back to the question
of the apostle. Who am I that I could hinder
God? The reason that Peter did rehearse
the matter is so that he can emphasize the fact, as Calvin
said, that it was a work of God. That God initiated, God led,
in the whole affair, and Peter only followed and obeyed the
Lord's lead for him. It was not his plan, not his
idea. Yes, he went in to uncircumcise
Gentiles. Yes, he must have eaten with
them, for they asked him to tarry certain days. He even led the
way in suggesting that they submit unto baptism in Acts chapter
10. And verse 48, who was a mortal, frail man to hinder God's work
toward the Gentiles? How could he forbid or hinder
the mighty work of God? Did his critics think that he
had the power over the matter? Then Peter's answer is this,
it was an irresistible work of an Almighty God. Now he's expanding
a bit quickly upon our broadening focus and theme to show that
man is powerless and insignificant without the guidance of God.
That he cannot cause what God opposes. He cannot perform what
God is not the author of. and we feel an inadequate inability,
our unworthiness to do so. Moses felt a keen sense of his
inadequacy to deliver Israel. Paul makes mention of something
in 2 Corinthians 3, 5, and 6, the apostle discussing the exercise
of his ministry, and he asks the question, who is sufficient
for these things? Who is sufficient to proclaim
and exercise the gospel ministry? Who has made us competent ministers? Yes! But who is sufficient apart
from that divine competency? Who of himself is sufficient
to preach the gospel? What is a man that he might take
to himself? Divine things. Let's always bear
in mind our unworthiness and inability, while remembering
that God's sovereign power to make frail men His instruments. When Moses said, Who am I? God said, I will be with you,
and you shall have the evidence. In other places, 1 Samuel 18
and 18, when David promised his elder daughter, when Saul, rather,
promised his elder daughter, unto David. David's response
was, Who am I? That I should be the son-in-law
of the King. Again, in 2 Samuel, the Lord
made great and exceeding promises to David and conveyed to him
by the prophet Nathan. But in verse 18, Who am I, O
Lord, and what is my house? that you have brought me this
far. Who am I that you have blessed
me so abundantly? We have no merit in our family,
David is saying. No talents that God would bestow
His grace upon us. Let us commit our commits and
commit the same thing. And that is that we have nothing
special that God sees in us to covet for His work or for His
kingdom. Yes, what is it? Who am I? Who are we to be? Not a son-in-law
of a king, but a son and a daughter of Almighty God. Who are we? We have been adopted into the
royal family. Who are we to have anything to
offer by way of recompense unto God? The psalmist wrote, and
I close with it, Psalm 8 and 4, What is man that thou art
mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visit him? He makes a contrast.