A Reluctant Servant Embraces Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about Moses' calling?

Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, representing God's commitment to His people. The Bible presents Moses as the first man specifically called by God for a mission of significant importance. In Exodus 4, Moses is commissioned to be the spokesman of God, tasked with leading the Israelites, who symbolize the beloved people of God, out of Egypt—an emblem of the world devoid of God—into the promised land, which foreshadows the eternal kingdom of God. This narrative illustrates God's eternal purpose and plan for salvation, underscoring His sovereignty and grace in choosing and equipping His servants to convey His message.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty in our calling?

God's assurance and equipping of Moses demonstrate His sovereignty in calling individuals to serve Him. God's sovereignty is vividly illustrated in His interaction with Moses, who, despite human fear and self-doubt, is used by God for His divine purpose. In Exodus 4, God responds to Moses' reluctance by providing him with miraculous signs and the assurance of His presence: 'I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say' (Exodus 4:12). This encapsulates the reality that God's purposes are not hindered by our weaknesses; rather, He sovereignly overcomes them, ensuring that those He calls will fulfill His will as He empowers them to do so.

Q: Why is Moses' reluctance significant for Christians?

Moses' reluctance highlights the struggle of believers with doubts and fears when answering God's call. Moses' reluctance to accept God's call serves as a powerful example of the imperfect faith shared among believers. His hesitations reflect common human emotions—fear of inadequacy and self-doubt—when faced with divine assignments. Despite witnessing miracles and hearing God's voice, Moses' fleshly limitations caused him to shrink back, saying, 'Send anyone but me' (Exodus 4:13). This truth resonates with Christians today, reminding us that God's grace is sufficient for our inadequacies, and He works through our weaknesses to accomplish His divine purposes. Additionally, it emphasizes that God's patience with our struggles does not negate our calling.

Q: What does circumcision represent in Moses' story?

Circumcision symbolizes the removal of sin and the necessity of being set apart for God. In the context of Moses' life, circumcision takes on profound significance, representing both physical obedience and spiritual purity. It was commanded by God as a sign of His covenant, symbolizing the removal of sin and the necessity for His people to be set apart for His purposes. When God sought to kill Moses for failing to circumcise his son, it illustrated the urgency of adhering to God's covenant requirements. This act not only reflected an outward obedience but also pointed to the deeper spiritual reality of being dead to sin, an essential element for those who are called to serve God. Understanding circumcision's deeper symbolism helps believers appreciate the relationship between obedience and faith in God's covenantal promises.

Q: How does God comfort His people during trials?

God assures His presence and guidance to comfort His people through their trials. Throughout the narrative of Moses, we see God’s unwavering promise to be with His people in times of trial and uncertainty. In Exodus 4, Moses wrestles with fear and doubt about his calling, yet God reassures him, 'I will be with thy mouth' (Exodus 4:12), affirming that he is not alone in this undertaking. This theme of divine assurance is pivotal for Christians, who often face their own trials. God's promise to guide and support His people reflects His compassionate nature, showing that He understands their weaknesses and provides the necessary grace. The assurance of His faithful presence serves as a reminder that, regardless of our circumstances, God is actively working all things for good for those who love Him.

Well, we're continuing in Exodus chapter 4 this morning, and I've called this message, A Reluctant Servant Embraces Christ. A Reluctant Servant Embraces Christ. Moses, more than 3,500 years ago, was the first man who was called of God into the service of God.

I know others met God, but he is specifically called with a mission to go. as the Lord's spokesman, and go and call his people. He's commissioned to proclaim God's call to the people, the Hebrews, the Israelites, who were the symbolical people of God. They contained the actual, true, some of them, the true people of God. But they're not all Israel, which are of Israel. They were symbolical of the people of God. And he was to call them to come out of Egypt, which is a picture of the world, the world around without God, to come out of Egypt and to head for the promised land, which is a picture of the eternal kingdom of God. And likewise, he uses men that he equips right now, today, to proclaim the gospel to the multitude that he eternally loved, to follow him out of the world on the narrow way to the celestial city, and He gives this assurance.

He says in Exodus 3 verse 18, when he sent Moses to go and speak to these people and to call them, he says, they shall hearken to thy voice. They shall hearken to the voice of God. And he sends his preachers today because out there somewhere he has his people whom he will call. They shall hear your voice. Why? Because God will make them willing to hear in the day of his power.

Has he made you willing to hear in the day of his power. Has he given you ears to hear this glorious message of eternal peace with God in the bliss of his kingdom? If he has, what a blessed state to be in. As David said in the Psalms, how blessed is that man that knows his sins are forgiven, that man who knows he has a place in the eternal kingdom of God.

But all of God's servants, bar one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the servant, behold my servant, he says, he was sinless, but all others are weak in sinful flesh. And we saw that last week, that Moses was called, commissioned, he stood on holy ground, he heard God speak to him, there was no question about it, he knew who was calling him, he knew the covenant God that was calling him, because he'd learned it as a young child in his own mother's home before he went to the palace of Pharaoh. And yet, he was doubting, because he was weak in sinful flesh. And in verses 1 to 9 of chapter 4, as we saw last week, The Lord equipped Moses with miracles, so that when he said, the people won't believe me, they won't listen to me.

Right, go and perform these miracles. Put your rod on the ground, it will become a snake. Pick it up by the tail, it will become the rod of God. Put your hand in next to your heart and take it out. It will be leprous from the infection of the sin of your heart and all people's. But put it back in and God will cure it and it will come out white as snow. And if they won't believe those two, take water from the river Nile, the source of their life in this world, and pour it on the ground and show them that that life in this world leads to nothing other than death, to eternal condemnation.

So Moses was equipped with those miracles to go, powerfully equipped. God was still speaking to him all this time from the burning bush, you know, where he met that bush, that thorn bush that was burning, but wasn't consumed. The Shekinah glory of God was shining from that bush, but it wasn't consumed. He was still there. These two chapters are still there. God is still speaking from the burning bush.

Moses is on holy ground, hearing the Word of God Almighty, hearing the One who is the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the manifestation of God to people in this world. He's hearing Him speaking. This is how God, the unapproachable Spirit, the unknowable Spirit who dwells in unapproachable light, this is how He makes Himself known to those in this world, who are sinners, yet his people. He calls them by his word, by our Lord Jesus Christ.

How could Moses not immediately obey God, trusting him? Nothing could prevent his success. If God be for us, who can be against us? Nothing could be against him. He was disabled by unbelief. He was disabled by the weakness of human flesh. Although he was in that most holy place, hearing the voice of God, and he had no doubt it was the voice of God. He knew it was the voice of God. The miracles testified that it was the voice of God, yet, in his flesh, he was disabled by unbelief. Verse 10 of chapter 4, Moses said unto the Lord, right, all of these proofs, and Moses says unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, and since thou hast spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. It's as if, if I can paraphrase, it's as if Moses is replying to God.

He's saying, you want me to go? Nice idea, but you've overlooked something. You've overlooked my speech impediment. I can't speak well. People don't like listening to me. I haven't got a good speaking voice. As if God would let that hinder his purpose. He's called a man to go and call his people out of Egyptian bondage to the promised land. And the man sees miracles and knows that the almighty power of God is with him. Ah, but you've forgotten something. As if God would forget. As if God would let that hinder. I can't speak well. I haven't got a good speaking voice. God had spoken of his holiness, take off your shoes, you're on holy ground.

He'd spoken of who he was, I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and you know in that was the God whose purpose is covenant grace, to save his people and take them to eternal glory. A covenant that cannot be thwarted, for it's made by the persons of the Trinity. It cannot be thwarted.

And he is a God who has compassion on the Hebrews. Don't forget that the Hebrew people, this is 40 years after Moses had fled from Egypt, He brought up in the palace, trained in all of its culture, and then he killed an Egyptian and he fled. And this is 40 years later, and the suffering has gone on and on and on. And God has compassion on his suffering people.

And he's promised his strength and his presence to go with Moses. And he's endowed Moses with divine power, with the rod of God, and with the leprous hand But Moses could only see the obstacles. He could only see his disability. He could only see his fear. You would say, why should he be frightened?

He's been told to go back to Egypt, to the palace, to Pharaoh, and go in that place and tell them to let these people that they're keeping and using as slaves, let them go. Who am I to go? You're the one that was brought up in that palace. You were taught all of the culture and all of the learning of that Egyptian culture. You knew it, you've learned it inside out. You had the best education that Egypt could provide. For all of those years he was weaned by his mother but then adopted into the family of Pharaoh's palace.

Surely nobody would be better equipped than him according to the world's reckoning of what it is that qualifies a man to take the message of God. Yes, Moses had been there, but he was totally unable to go. He felt totally unable to go. Oh, well, hadn't another 40 years in the Midian Desert, the very poor desert, the backside of the desert, as it says, 40 years there, as that which was an abomination to the Egyptians. He was a shepherd. A shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians, it says in the scriptures. Surely that brought him down and taught him humility. Wouldn't humility be good for him?

No, no earthly training of a natural man avails anything in God's work. You know, there are theological seminaries all over the world. There are still plenty in this country. But you know, no earthly training, no theological college training of a natural man does anything regarding the work of God.

If God is to send somebody He chooses them and equips them himself and gives them his own message. You know the Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, the Apostle Paul had the best theological training that Jerusalem and the Jewish system could offer. He sat at the feet of Gamaliel, that great theologian of that time. He had the best theological training and yet, in Philippians chapter 3, Paul tells us how he now as an apostle and a believer of the gospel of Christ, how he views it. He regards it all as dung. What? It's the very best. No, it's dung. Compared with the pearl of greatest price, it's dung. It's of no value.

You see, Paul too. Moses said, I've got a speech impediment. I'm slow of speech. I've got a poor... I can't speak. Paul had a speech impediment, it would seem. He tells the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 1, that when he came to them preaching the gospel, it wasn't with excellency of speech. In 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 10, he testifies that those who opposed him said that he, Paul, his speech was contemptible.

Oh, I can't stand listening to him. I just don't. He writes mighty words in his letters, but I can't stand listening to him. I really, really don't want to do that. He says in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 6 that they called him rude in speech. Rude in speech. Look what it says in verse 11 of chapter 4. And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord God made man's mouth fit to speak, and he made it impeded to speak?

God did it all. God did it all. Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. I will be with you. I will teach you what you should say. You see, God had made man's mouth, the fit mouth without impediment, but also the impediment, the dumb, the blind, the deaf. He'd made all of those things. God is sovereign over all things. But he says, when I send you, whether you've got your speech impediment or not, Moses, I will be with you.

I will teach you what you shall say. Even with your impeded mouth, I will teach you. Because you see, it's what, not how you should say it, that's important. Be in no doubt, down the ages and in modern times especially, There have been some impressive orators with silky smooth voices, with lovely turns of phrase that captivate audiences.

You see these big evangelical meetings and there's thousands of people there and he's got them eating out of his hand as it were because he's speaking so convincingly. But what is he speaking? He's speaking a false gospel that doesn't tell the truth of scripture. Impressive orators have deceived millions with a false gospel. Those with impeded speech have proclaimed the truth of God.

There are lessons for us here. When I or when any other preacher preaching today is unable to preach further, because it happens to us all with increasing age, with ill health, with death coming on, if there is still a people to call and to feed, God will enable. God will give the gifts that are necessary. God will be with the mouth of the one whom he sends to tell them what to say. But still, there are fleshly hindrances.

Look in verse 13. You would have thought by now that Moses was convinced. Is Moses convinced? He said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. You might wonder, what's that saying? But you can paraphrase it like this. Despite everything, the miracles and the assurance of God's presence, and don't worry, your disability will be overcome and I will use you. And he still says, oh, please, Lord, Send anybody but not me. Don't send me. Send, I pray thee, by the hand of whom thou wilt send. Send anybody but me. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. And he said, is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?

He hadn't seen him for 40 years. I know that he can speak well. And also behold, he's coming forth to meet you. And when he sees you, he will be glad in heart. You see, despite God's immediate presence and despite his powerful reasoning and promise of divine support, Moses says, send anyone but me.

And God is angry. That's the understandable response. God is angry. But God is patient with his people. And another thing, I find so much comfort in this. that our God tells us that he's touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Because our Lord Jesus, our God became man, a real man, who was born as a helpless baby, who grew as a child, who experienced hard work, who experienced sorrow, who wept at the tomb of Lazarus, who was tired and weary. He's touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He did it all without sin, but nevertheless, Our God knows what it's like to inhabit this human flesh.

And he's merciful. He's merciful to Moses. He doesn't strike him dead there and then, as you might have thought. He says, there's Aaron. Aaron, your brother. Aaron was three years older than Moses, and he was still in Egypt, and he hadn't seen him for 40 years. But he says, Aaron can speak well. So you're still going, but I'll use Aaron as your mouthpiece. You tell Aaron, and Aaron will speak to the people. You tell him, and he'll do it.

And that's in verses 14 to 17. And he says, take this rod of God with you, and you'll do the signs that I've given you. And Moses went, it says. Verse 18, and Moses went. So now, the encounter at the burning bush is over, and Moses is saying, right, good, I'm going.

I'll go now. What was it that assured Moses of the fact that he could go? It was that God assured him of Aaron's presence. Aaron will go with you. Oh, okay, I'll go now. God had said he would be with him, but he didn't want to go. Send anybody but me. Oh, your brother Aaron will be with you. Oh, okay, I'll go now. I'll go. When assured of Aaron's presence, Moses was willing to go.

Do we see ourselves in this? In the trials of flesh, and of sickness, and of prosperity, and of family issues, God assures his people that through all these trials of life on this earth, that his people will arrive in paradise. He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. The end outcome is certain. God will take us to be there with him. It was the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 17. I pray that they might be with me where I am and behold my glory. But we look to our worldly errands to encourage us. We look to the things of flesh around about us to encourage us.

So Moses goes back to Jethro, his father-in-law. He was courteous. That was the right thing to do. I'm going back to Egypt. Can I have your blessing on me? Are you okay with the fact that I'm going back? But it doesn't seem as though Moses told Jethro that he'd met God and that God had commissioned him to go. But anyway, Jethro agreed.

The Lord, in verse 19, you see Moses was frightened to go back to Egypt because there was a price on his head. He'd killed an Egyptian. The old pharaoh who he seems as though he was heir to, the old pharaoh, sought to kill him, it tells us earlier on, for killing that Egyptian. Even though he'd been brought up in the palace, he sought to kill him. But anyway, now, in verse 19, God says to him, go and return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought thy life. So he confirmed that all those who sought to kill him were dead.

So Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass and returned to the land of Egypt. He went in the direction of Egypt and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. And God told him, go and do all these signs. So he took his sons. Where did he get his wife from?

Turn back a page to Exodus chapter 2 and verse 21. You know, Moses had fled, and he comes to the desert of Midian, and he comes to a well, and there are some girls trying to water their father's flock, but there are other rough shepherds who are trying to stop them, and Moses intervenes and enables the girls to get water for their sheep.

He helps them in it. And they go home and the father, he's both called Rul and Jethro, the father says, how come you're home so early? And they said, well, this Egyptian helped us. And he said, well, where is he? Why haven't you brought him back? Let's do some good for him.

And Moses went back and he was content to dwell there. And the man Jethro, rule, gave Moses one of his daughters to be his wife. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter, to be his wife. And she bare him a son and called his name Gershom. For he said, I've been a stranger in a strange land. And then another son was born. Zipporah was one of the descendants of Ishmael. You know, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac. Zipporah was one of the descendants of Ishmael.

She had no knowledge. She and her relatives, from that line from Ishmael, the son of Abraham, who wasn't of the promised seed, she had no knowledge of the promised seed. What does that mean? It means that she had no knowledge. of gospel grace that was shown to Israel. She had no knowledge of it. She had no knowledge of it, of the promise of redemption from sin's curse, of the way to the tree of life, you know, that guard that was put on the Garden of Eden when people were expelled from the Garden of Eden. She had no knowledge of that, which is Sacrifice, which is the sacrifice of a lamb, looking to the seed of the woman, who is the lamb of God, who would come and shed his blood for the sins of his people.

Zipporah, Jethro and Zipporah, they were of that line that had no knowledge of these things in the purposes of God. And Moses was, as it says in 2 Corinthians and chapter six, 2 Corinthians chapter six and verse 14, The children of God are instructed by God to be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness? Moses was yoked together with someone who knew nothing of the gospel of grace, yet she was his wife, lawfully. He loved her. He had two sons by her.

It seems that Moses had circumcised one of them, but Zipporah had stopped, had prevented him from circumcising the other. She saw circumcision as a brutal, unnecessary thing. She hated what circumcision represented. She saw nothing in it. You see, Moses knew what circumcision meant. He knew what it was for. He knew it was given to Abraham, as we'll see in a moment, as a sign. But as far as she was concerned, this isn't necessary for life in this world. Why are you doing this? It's just a horrible mess of blood and pain and discomfort. No, no, no, no, no. It's a painful thing.

Moses had pleased her rather than God. She was an idol to Moses who was taking the place of Christ in his heart, taking the place of God. You know what Jesus said about anything? Taking his place, taking the place of God in the hearts and affections of his people.

In Luke 14 and verse 26, he says this, he says this, the crowds of people listening, He said, if any man come to me, listen to these words. You world out there that knows nothing of the truth of the Christian gospel, listen to this, and it'll either harden you or soften you.

If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. What? I thought your Christianity was supposed to be a religion of love. Jesus said, if any man come to me and doesn't hate his father, and his mother, and his wife, and his children, and his brethren, and his sisters, and his own life also, cannot be my disciple.

What's he saying? Is he telling us to hate our relatives? No, of course not. What he's telling us is that he must be first. He must be above all other. Is that not the first commandment? I am the Lord, you shall have no other gods, no other idols in place of me.

If you're a true believer, wanting or needing a life partner, ask God to guide your steps and give you patience to wait for his clear direction. The unbelieving zipperer and an uncircumcised son was going to stop Moses fulfilling the service that God had called him to. We're going to skip verses 21 to 23, where God tells Moses what he should tell Pharaoh when he meets him, and we'll look at that next time. But then I want you to see the sentence of death. pronounced on Moses and that sentence of death removed. Look at verse 24. So they're traveling. Moses with his wife Zipporah and his two sons and they're going back down to Egypt in fulfilling the Lord's commission to him.

And it came to pass by the way in the inn that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. The Lord met him and sought to kill him. Moses was finally heading to Egypt as a called and sent agent of God. And they stop at the inn, and God met him and sought to kill him. Hasn't God just commissioned him? Why would God stand in his way and threaten to kill him, and intend to kill him? Why would he do that?

Remember that as sinners, all of us, whatever we are, 2 Corinthians 1 verse 9, we all had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves. Do you know, as sinners in the flesh, we all have a sentence of death on us. People live this life as if they're going to live forever, as if there's no end to it. But we've all, as sinners, got the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves.

What was the sin that was going to cause God to seek to kill Moses. What was it that was going to cause God to seek to kill him? Had he not, this is what it is, he had not, as head of his family, there he was in Midian, married to this wife, Zipporah, content to dwell there, He hadn't led his family clearly and insisted that his son was circumcised, this son. It seems as though the older one had been circumcised, but this one, he only talks about one here. Why does it matter so much to God? Why is this so important?

Because you see, look, the Lord met him and sought to kill him. And then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at his feet and said, surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go. So God let Moses go. God didn't kill him. Why? Because Zipporah had circumcised the son. And she said, a bloody husband to Moses thou art because of the circumcision. Because that's why God let him go, because Zipporah had circumcised this son with a sharp stone, nothing better than a sharp stone.

It's clearly of profound importance. Why is it of profound importance? It's because it's the heart of the gospel of grace, the gospel of eternal life, the gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel of the fellowship of God. It's the means of eternal life for the people God loved eternally, the means of eternal life.

Not the actual act of the circumcision itself, but what it symbolized. Circumcision symbolized the removal of the sins of flesh in this fallen world. You see, we cannot go into eternal glory with the sins of our flesh. Now, of course, that was symbolical, and it's stressed in the New Testament again and again. It's symbolical. Circumcision avails nothing. Uncircumcision avails nothing. But in that order then, in that time, God had told these symbolical people that that was what they were to do, to symbolize the removal of the sins of the flesh in this fallen world.

Look at Colossians 3, Colossians chapter 3. Where's it gone? There it is. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 5. where Paul writes, mortify therefore, or thereby, mortify your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil consupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry.

We're to put to death the sins of the flesh. Put it to death, put to death the sins of the flesh. Circumcision pictured Christ putting off the sins of the flesh of his people in his crucifixion. The circumcision of Christ, yes he was circumcised as a baby to fulfill all righteousness, but what it's talking about here, the circumcision that was pictured there in the Old Testament, pictured Christ putting off the sins of the flesh of his people. And how did he put them off? In his crucifixion, when he died for their sin.

It was a sign that was given to Abraham when that covenant was given, as I said, Romans chapter 4. Sorry, I'll get there eventually. Romans chapter 4 and verse 11. He received, he, Abraham, received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also. It was a sign given to Abraham of the righteousness that he would have in Christ. But now... Now, the Holy Spirit in the heart is the seal of the righteousness of faith, which was, as it said there, imputed to them also. Look, he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the right.

Circumcision was like the stamp or the mark or the badge of the righteousness of the faith which he had, even when he wasn't circumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, that have faith. Though they be not circumcised, as Gentiles not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also. It's the righteousness of faith imputed to them also. This is the spiritual circumcision of all true believers.

You can see it in Romans again, Romans chapter 2, Romans chapter 2 and verses 28 and 29. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, which was what Zipporah had to do to that son for God not to kill Moses, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit. Again and again, the Old Testament says, be circumcised in your hearts. Put off that desire for the sins of the flesh. In the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. It is Christ's death that all believers, including Moses, must be conformable to. We must be conformed to the death of Christ. Zipporah reluctantly obeyed Moses and circumcised this son.

And she hated what she did, and she disliked the blood. We saw what she said. We saw what she said back there. She said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. A bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision. Because it was painful and there was blood. Zipporah reluctantly obeyed Moses and circumcised this son. And when she did, God let Moses go and didn't kill him. If she hadn't, God would have killed Moses. It's quite clear.

The relationship with God in Christ of all true believers on the road to God's kingdom is founded upon blood. It is founded upon blood. It is by his crucifixion and his shedding of his blood for our sins that we are dead to our fleshly nature that bars us from the kingdom of God. Did you get that? Our fleshly nature and its sin bars us from entry to the kingdom of God, but it is by the crucifixion of Christ for our sins, which is the circumcision of the hearts of his people by faith, the righteousness of faith. It's by that that we are dead.

I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the Lord Jesus Christ, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at Colossians chapter 2 that we read right at the very start. Colossians chapter 2, verse 10 says this, ye are complete in him, complete in Christ, which is the head of all principality and power.

Now look, in whom, if you're a believer, you are circumcised, even if you're physically uncircumcised, a Gentile in the flesh, but in the heart, by what he has done, in whom, in him, you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. This little boy was circumcised with the hands of Zipporah, his mother. But you're circumcised in Christ without hands in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, by the death of Christ on the cross, buried with him in baptism, et cetera. This is what circumcision represented to Moses, Zipporah didn't get it, but it's what it represented to Moses, and it's why God let him go. It's why it was essential to the mission of Moses, because it's the core of the gospel that takes his people captive out of the world to the promised land.

This is what makes God's people, as it says, you are complete in him. You are complete in Christ. You're lacking nothing in Christ. In Christ, if you're in him and he is in you, you lack nothing for entry to that kingdom of God. Our union with him from eternity and to eternity, because it's before time began that God chose his people in Christ. It is that that is the guarantee. It's that union with him so that what he did puts off the sins of the flesh. and brings his people into his kingdom. He says in Hebrews chapter two, verse 11, for both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified, Christ sanctifies his people, and they who are sanctified, his people are sanctified in him.

They are all of one. They're in union. For which cause? He's not ashamed to call them brethren. He's not ashamed to call them brethren. If they were not sanctified in him, they wouldn't be allowed into his eternal kingdom. But we are. We're not sanctified by our own works progressively in the flesh. We're sanctified by him. And in union with him, he's not ashamed to call us brethren. And he takes us to his eternal kingdom.

So being let go by God, being approved, back in Exodus 4 now, being let go by God, verse 26, God let him go, being let go by God and approved for his mission, Zipporah mustn't go with him. And she's sent back to her father. How do we know that? If you look at Exodus chapter 18, it says there, verse 1, When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done, he's brought them out by chapter 18, he's brought them out, they're in their wilderness wanderings, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, and her two sons, of which the name of one was Gershom, and the other was Eliezer, and he went back to meet him. You see, she'd been sent back.

She had to go back, she couldn't go with him with that frame of mind. She's still his wife and they're to be reunited later, but instead Moses is to meet his older brother Aaron. who is to become the Lord's high priest on earth, and all be flawed with sin, yet picturing Christ to his people as we journey with him on through this earthly life and fleshly trials to the celestial city.

But it's only after the sentence of death was removed. Moses had to have that sentence of death removed The Jews greatly revered Moses and must have thought that if anybody would not have the sentence of death on them in this life, it would be someone like Moses. But we see clearly from this chapter four, the Lord sought to kill him. Without the gospel, without what circumcision represented, without that, without that clear thing, Moses would be killed because he couldn't enter the kingdom of God with the sins of the flesh on him. It's only after that sentence of death was removed that he went on to accomplish the purpose of leading the people to the border of the promised land, which pictures the celestial city. I'll end with this. Do you know that that sentence of death has been removed for you? As I said, we're all under the sentence of death in this body, in this flesh, for our sin. Do you know that that sentence of death has been removed for you? If you don't, you need to seek it. And you're promised that if you seek it, you shall find. Amen.

A Reluctant Servant Embraces Christ

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Moses' calling?

How do we know God's sovereignty in our calling?

Why is Moses' reluctance significant for Christians?

What does circumcision represent in Moses' story?

How does God comfort His people during trials?

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A Reluctant Servant Embraces Christ

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Moses' calling?

How do we know God's sovereignty in our calling?

Why is Moses' reluctance significant for Christians?

What does circumcision represent in Moses' story?

How does God comfort His people during trials?

Sermon Transcript

About Allan Jellett

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