The Apostle Paul writes, for
as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of
Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit
of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables
of the heart. This is a reference to the a
comparison or contrast rather, to the Old Testament where the
law of God was written on the tables of stone, the commandments. And Paul here now says, since
Christ has come, died, risen, and ascended, since the day of
Pentecost, since the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, he says
the law of God is written in our hearts. not on tables of
stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. And such trust
have we through Christ to Godward. Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New
Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit, For the letter
killeth, but the spirit giveth life. How often we are guilty of saying,
Lord, I can't. And that's the title of our message
this morning. Lord, I can't. I'd like to, but I just can't. I've never done anything like
this before. This is just not me. I don't know how. I'm just not
able. Lord, I can't. We failed to consider
this very clear statement in verse five, divinely inspired,
pinned down by Paul, the apostle, Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. I think we all with any new assignment
or any unexpected or especially unpleasant change in our lives. Any change of the familiar agenda,
whether it be great or small, the first response seems to just
come automatically. I can't do that. Lord, I can't. And if it's some senseless concoction of man,
we ought to say that. There are many times we must
say, I'm sorry, I cannot do that. I won't do that. Or if it's a voice that is of
Satan from our adversary, contrary to the will and word of God,
we had better say, I can't do that. I won't do that. But when the voice is from heaven.
When it's the clear teaching of God's word, when it is the
spirit of God speaking to your heart and making his will clear
and his direction for your life clear, then I want you to understand
it is so dishonoring to him. It is so detrimental to your
spiritual health and it is so dangerous to your future. for
you to say, Lord, I can't. We forget and we forget daily. We forget hourly. Seems like
we even forget every two minutes that the Lord has never commanded
us to go anywhere or do anything in our own strength. Matter of fact, anything we could
do in our own strength would be of no value to him. because our adversary, the devil,
is stronger than we are. And he'll see to it that you
do nothing in your strength, in your power, to the glory of
God. He will encourage religion that
dishonors Christ. He will encourage religion that
distorts truth, denies truth, He will encourage religion that
exalts flesh and dishonors God, belittles God. He is very busy
doing that by the way. And building, uh, I would call
them fleshly fun houses. Some call them mega churches.
It's not to say they're all bad, but I'm telling you the devil.
will not allow you or anyone in our own strength to do anything
for the glory of God. How then, we ask, can we ever
accomplish anything of any value for God's glory? Paul tells us
the secret. Our sufficiency is of God. And to really realize that, to
really get a hold of that, changes everything. But now here's another question
you need to ask yourself. Are we really ready for that? Are we willing for God to change
anything? Are we? We gotta hum. Kill the volume on that. That didn't do it, I'm wrong.
First time I've been wrong in the last two minutes. What is
it? Just unplug it? That did it. Yeah, I guess we
could have, yeah. Are we ready for change? We're in a changing world. We're
in changing situations. The Elliotts are talking about
change, big change in their lives. Her life is moving so fast. It's
constant change. We can't keep up with her one
month to the next. And so it is with all of us.
But are we interested in any change? The Lord making change
for his glory. Are we so in love with the familiar
rut that we're in? You know, I've always done it
like this. I'm not going to do anything else. You know, Lord, I can't another place. Paul said, when
I am weak, then am I strong? It's when I see myself to be
nothing that I see the Lord to be everything. When I see myself
weak and insufficient. Then and only then do I realize
this statement of scripture that our sufficiency is of God. And only then are we able to
quit saying, Lord, I can't, Lord, I can't. Now I want to talk to
you about a fellow like you and like me back in Exodus chapter
three. He's been in the same rut for
40 years. Some of us have been there about
that long. And every morning, he puts on his breeches the same
way, ties his shoes the same way, and he says, don't anybody
tell me to do anything different. This is just the way I am. This
is the way I've done it for years, and I don't intend to change.
Well, he's going through his daily routine, tending a flock
of sheep, and he looks up and he sees a bush on fire and it don't burn up. And this
really gets his attention. The miraculous is supposed to
get your attention. I'll repeat that. The miraculous
is supposed to get your attention. We live today in such an, I would
call it an environmental coma. Would that be a good term? We
live in such an environmental coma. We'd prefer to ignore even the
miraculous. Leave me alone in my little world
of ignorance and vain existence. Don't interrupt me. I have no
idea. what life's about, why I'm here,
what I'm supposed to be doing, and I don't want to know, leave
me alone. That's what sin has done to us. That's commonly known in theology
as depravity, human depravity. That's what sin has done to our
minds, our hearts, our wills, And all humanity is in a war
of rebellion against the almighty. But he knows how to get our attention. And I want to say blessed, blessed
day, when and if he does get your attention, he don't have
to. I can't do it. I said, he don't
have to get your attention. And I can't get your attention.
But if he don't, everything that I say and everything that any
preacher says will go in one ear and out the other until you
perish in your sins. Now that's the bottom line. God's
not on the short end of this thing. We are. The sad, sad message. that multitudes will hear today
is how desperate God is and oh, how much he needs you on his
team. It says almost, he's just about
ready to throw in the towel if we don't bail him out. No, I'd
repeat, God's not on the short end of this thing. We are. We're at his mercy. every moment of every day so
the lord says to moses he said take your shoes off well now if it had been anybody
but the lord said that moses would have said no i don't normally
take my shoes off this time of day and that's what any of us
would say But it was the Lord speaking,
take your shoes off for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground. And that day, there in Exodus
three, it begins a new chapter in the life of Moses. And the
Lord says to him, it's time. I'm gonna bring my people out
of Egypt. And I've chosen you, Moses, not
this recently. I didn't decide yesterday or
last week that you'd be the perfect guy for this. Oh, no. I have
chosen you Moses from eternity. And that's why Pharaoh was killing
babies when you were born. I'm the one that put it in your
parents' heart to hide you and protect you. I'm the one that
put it in the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to fall in love with
you and adopt you and raise you. I'm the one that put it in your
heart when you were come to years to refuse to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. Here was a young man raised in
royalty in the palace He was in line to ascend the throne
of Egypt. Wow. Who would want to mess that
up? He did. He did. God put something in
here. And Hebrews 11 said, he refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God. That is the Israelites,
his own people, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches,
than the treasures of Egypt. He'd rather be identified with
a beaten down bunch of Hebrew slaves that he knew God had his
eye on than the wealth of Egypt, the treasures of Egypt. God said,
I did that for you, boy. And I put you out of Egypt at
just the right time out here in this desert. I enrolled you
in this 40 year school. You don't want to go to school
that long, do you, Natalie? The Lord said, Moses, I enrolled
you in this 40 year desert seminary. And it hadn't been a lot of change
in the curriculum, just taking care of sheep, taking care of
sheep, taking care of sheep. Main thing it did, it disciplined
Moses. It humbled Moses. At times and
in ways, and I'm sure in his thoughts of what others would
think, it humiliated Moses. It brought him down, down, down.
But it was also bringing him up, up, up. God was preparing
him, preparing him. And this is graduation day. 40 years he's been out there. And the Lord says, I did all
that for you. I did all that. And it was my
timing that sent you out here at just the right time. Timing is very important. God's
timing. Good things can be bad at the
wrong time. We all need to quit looking at
ourself and get a hold and understand this morning that God in his
mercy and grace has kept us, every one of us to this very
present moment. His timing for where we are,
from where we are. And understand that he hadn't
just kept you to this present hour. He's kept you for this
present hour. The Lord has a purpose for his
glory right today and every day that we live wherever we are. Especially you younger folks,
Larry, Scott, Natalie, Monica, TJ, Bevan. I guess you're young. You don't
look bad as the rest of us. You young folks, especially.
I want you to get this. The Lord has not just kept you
to this present hour. He's kept you for this present
hour. You're not in neutral. You're
going somewhere. We need to be sincere in crying
to the Lord. Make sure, Lord, help me, help
me to go in your way. in your will. It's our business to pursue his
purpose. It's more important than anything
else in your life. And so the Lord says, Moses,
I've chosen you as my instrument to go back down to Egypt and
confront Pharaoh and say, let my people go. The Lord says,
let my people go. Well, Moses' first response was
pretty much like what all ours would be. It was these three famous words,
Lord, I can't, Lord, I can't. He says, I'm honored that you'd
consider me after all these years, a gracious refusal. I appreciate
the offer, but I'm just not able to do it. And you know what the
Lord said to him? Moses, you're mistaken. It's not an offer. And I never asked you if you
were able. I'm not here to suggest you do
it in your strength. I'm here to summon you to do
it in my strength. You're going. This is not something for your
consideration. This is my command. You're going. My command comes not as an offer
you can reject. My command carries with it a
power you can't reject and a responsibility to which you must respond. We've
been studying in our Bible class in the Book of Jonah. Those of you that here this morning
will relate this. And it took him a while to consent
that he was not in charge of his life. Blessed is the man
that learns that. That'll be my coined beatitude. Blessed is the man that learns
you're not really in charge of your life. If you can sit here
this morning and ignore the message of God's
word, and you can ignore it with no
conviction about it, I wouldn't swap places with you
for $10 million. You see, this is a spiritual
work. A spiritual work. The Lord changing
the heart. The Lord never had a ball bat
to beat Moses over the head and say, you're going. No. We that
preach God's sovereign grace, we're accused of teaching and
preaching that. That God just knocks people over
the head with a ball bat and drags them into heaven. No, that's
not it. His word is a word of power.
And when he speaks it effectually, it changes the heart. That's
what somebody said about the hornets back in Canaan. The Lord
said, I'll drive those Canaanites out. I'll send the hornets to
drive them out. And this poet said, the Lord
didn't make them go. He just made them willing to
go. Hornets will do that to you, you know. Yellow jackets will
do it too, by the way. I learned that last summer. They
don't make you go, but they sure make you willing to go. So the Lord don't use a ball
bat. He uses something a lot bigger than that. His spirit,
his power in the heart to make you willing to go. A word of power, he makes Moses
willing. Psalm 110 verse three, the father
speaking to the son, Thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. That's the only time you or I
or anyone else is willing to listen to what God says. That's
the only time we can affectually hear what God says is in the
day of his power, the day of his power. That is the appointed
hour for you as an individual, every single one of us. to hear,
to hear. Hear his call, a personal, powerful,
effectual call and respond. John 10, 27, my sheep hear my
voice. Goats don't hear. They never
do. But my sheep hear my voice and
I know them. And they follow me in the day
of his power. When is that day? Any day he
chooses to speak. And if he chooses to speak to
your heart and if he don't, you perish. And quite frankly, you
wouldn't have it any other way. You're content to party all the
way from here to hell. Unless God speaks affectionately
to your heart. Jesus told the woman at the well, Samaria, John
chapter four, he told her, lady, if you knew who I am, who I was,
you would ask me for a drink instead of me asking you for
a drink. And you know what she said? She said, I don't think
so. You don't even have a bucket. You don't even have a rope. The
scripture says that she said, thou hast nothing to draw with.
I don't want to ask you for a drink of water. Oh, she just didn't know. She
just didn't know. He gave her a drink. He put the
whole well in her heart, springing up into everlasting life. She thought he came without a
bucket. She left without a bucket. The Bible says she left her bucket
sitting there. She got satisfied with something besides the water
in that well. So Moses put up a good fight
with these three familiar and famous words, Lord, I can't. And he, he continues presenting
his case. He's pacing back and forth in
front of that burning bush, barefooted, by the way. Pacing back and forth
like a defense attorney. I mean, he's really putting it
together. And he says, who am I that I
should go? What makes you think I'm qualified? You're forgetting, Lord, I left
Egypt running for my life. You expect me to walk back in
there is if I had any power, any authority. God says, no, not at all. I expect
you to walk back in there in my power and my authority, big
difference. And that's what you're going
to do. Lord, I can't. is the wrong answer. And I want to say to everyone
up here this morning, this is for you. Lord, I can't is the
wrong answer. And Lord, I won't is a worse
answer. Always the wrong answer. Lord,
I can't because he's never suggested you can. He knows you can't,
you don't have to tell him you can't. But when he calls you
to active duty, use that term in the military, active duty,
well, the Christian life, when he calls you to active duty,
which ought to be continually all the time, when he does that,
it's not with the implication that you can, but it's with the absolute certainty
that he can. Now, three things quickly. I
don't spend a lot of time here, and we're just now fixing to
get started, huh? How about that? And y'all ready for lunch? Three
things quickly. I'll try to hurry. If you don't die saying, Lord,
I can't, here's three things that'll have to come into the
picture. First, Faith is the issue. We know that
God can, and he can today. Get a hold of that. Believe that.
Circumstances, change, greatly affect us. They do not affect
our God. Something happened one day and
your world is turned around. Not God. We need to understand, you need
to understand if he ever could do for you, he still can. If he ever did do for you, he
still does. Moses thought he was in neutral
those 40 years. God wasn't in neutral. You may think you're in neutral
in your life. God's not. If he ever could do for you,
he still can. If he ever did do for you, he
still does. And if he ever would do for you,
he still will. All your foolishness hadn't handicapped
him. All your mistakes, all your faults
and failures haven't handicapped him. What does that do? That puts all the handicaps on
your end, not God's end. These preachers, as old Dr. Caldwell used to say, telling
folks, well, God can't use you because of this or because of
that. Who are they to tell anybody what God can or cannot do with
anybody he pleases, as he pleases, when he pleases. The Lord can't, those words are
ignorance out of any mouth. Lord I can't is unbelief out
of any mouth. however your little is, whatever
your little is, little faith, little strength, little time,
little talent, little education, little patience, little personality,
little money, whatever your little is, and however your little is,
it's no excuse for you or I to respond to the Lord with these
three words, Lord, I can't. That's just out of order. Faith
is the issue. Number two, fortitude is the essential fiber
commonly known as backbone. Being sissified is not being
spiritual. I've met a few people that thought
that, I reckon. Fortitude. God has to make you
believe he can do it. And God has to make you believe
that you must do it. He went to Moses not to take
no for an answer. And if he's got something for
you and he has something for you, he'll not take no for an
answer. Fortitude. I looked it up in
five dictionaries. I'm telling you five different
ones. It's amazing how much more I use the dictionary than I used
to. I used to be like some of you,
I had no need for it. I knew just about all there was
to know about everything, but I've got over that. I'm finally
learning just how, you know, how bad off I was.
I need help. Fortitude. Listen to this. Patient
courage under affliction, strength of mind and heart to endure.
Firmness of courage to endure. Resolute endurance of which giving
up is not an option. Grit that refuses to succumb
under any circumstance. Backbone that moves forward without
flinching. And now listen to this one. The
stamina that permits one to stomach the most disagreeable or frightening
experience. That's where we get the term
intestinal fortitude, commonly known as guts. If you're not
from around here, you may have never heard that. Fortitude is the essential fiber to act. Faith is a gift of God
to believe he can. Fortitude is the gift of God
to believe you must. It's not optional. Both of the gifts of God. And
the third thing, finishing well is the goal. And this mindset
too is the gift of God. Finishing well is the goal. The atmosphere of this world,
especially in our generation, has mesmerized us. It's hypnotized
us. Like a squirrel in a cage running
on a wheel, run 90 miles an hour and go nowhere till you die. Well, this is not the order of
God for his people in this world. And to compare yourself with
others is not the order of God. The order of God for his children
individually is to live day by day with the heart cry, Lord,
is there anything else for me? Do you have anything else for
me? Where are you going with me? Would you please to do Would
you be pleased to do one more thing, any little thing in my
life for your glory? That's not how the world thinks.
That's not how worldly believers think. Young people are busy
getting educated. Then they're busy getting a career.
Then they're busy getting a home. Then they're busy getting wealthy.
And then they're so wore out, they got to get busy trying to
retire and not starve to death. It's just, it's just busy, busy,
busy. But where is the Lord at? He's
got to be first in all these things. Oh my. And we ought to confess,
Lord, help me. Thy will be done. Help me to
live to your glory. I've done my very best. To live
to my glory and waste my life and destroy
my life and live it ignoring you. But with only a few days
left and Lord, only you know how few. Please, you take it
from here on in. Paul, the apostle lived with
a vibrant consciousness of the value of finishing well. He instructed
Timothy in his last letter. He said, listen, son, you be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He didn't tell
him, make all the money you can, eat, drink, and be merry, do
as you please. And by the way, when you get old like me, you
need to kind of think about the Lord. No, no. He told him endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. That don't mean
everybody has to be a preacher. That don't mean everybody has
to be a missionary. Oh, no. God has his people and he appoints
his people and he sets his people in the factories and in the law
offices and in the court and in the grocery store and in the
bank. And in the school and the God
has his people everywhere. But your life is to be about
him, not about you. That's the thing. Be strong,
endure hardness, a good soldier. He's telling him, Timothy, get
your head screwed on right and stay right. Understand that the
whole world is in our God's hands. It don't matter who's against
you or what they say. You stay with God and you'll
be on the winning side. Don't let the devil beat you
up over anything. And he tells him, Timothy, the
foundation of God standeth sure. Having this seal, ain't nobody
gonna break his seal. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. And let everyone that nameth
the name of Christ depart from iniquity. He's telling him, this
is not a game, Timothy. It's a war. Get in it with all
your heart. And don't ever say, Lord, I can't. Paul told Timothy, perilous times
shall come. Everybody won't think like you
think. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemous, spitting in God's face, disobedient to
parents, unthankful. Do y'all know a generation that
describes, I think we do. unholy, without natural affection. You know what that means, don't
you? Without natural affection. Timothy,
you continue in the things which thou hast learned and has been
assured of. From a child thou hast known
the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. You say, wasn't Timothy
already saved? Yes, but Paul is talking to him
about finishing well. That's the goal. Paul said in
Philippians, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I don't claim to have arrived. I'm not on top of the world.
I hadn't conquered everything. But I tell you this much, This
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind. I can't
fix yesterday and neither can you. Reaching forth under those things
which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I'm striving for the finish
line and I'm not trying to beat anybody else around me. I'm trying to beat this quitter
in me. I'm trying to beat me. I'm my biggest threat. I'm trying to survive the constant
negativity from hell every day that I live. You can't do it. You can't make it. You may as
well give up. You've messed up too much. You're not like everybody else.
There's no hope for you. That's what you're racing against.
But the prize is well worth it. Keep on running. Keep on running. And to have been chosen for this
race in the first place, what an honor. Paul calls it the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. That's every believer. Don't
ever say, Lord, I can't. Don't dishonor him with those
three words. The goal is to finish well. Don't you want to finish well?
I want to give you this and I'll
be through. I'll wake some of you up with this. I don't watch
many movies, but some years ago I did watch one about these Jamaican boys. entitled
Cool Runnings, and they formed a bobsled team. They didn't even
know what a bobsled was. Formed a bobsled team and practiced
and practiced and entered the Olympics to represent their country,
Jamaica. Well, when they got there, They
didn't have all the expensive equipment. Somebody gave them
one of their used bobsleds to use in the race. They didn't have all the training
experience and expensive equipment and uniforms and everything.
They didn't have all that. But they had heart. They had
heart. And they worked at it, and they
worked at it, and they worked at it, and they practiced, and
they practiced. And they got to where in the
competition, They started doing better and better and better.
And finally on the last day, they were really in there. They
were a contender to win. And in that very last race, they
were doing so well. And the wheel came off their
sled and they were finished. They couldn't win. It was done. Well, when the winning team crossed
the finish line, of course, the crowd cheered for the winning
team. But that wasn't the biggest cheering. The biggest cheering was when
the heart came out in those boys. And the four of them picked up
that heavy bobsled, one on each corner, on their shoulders. And rather than sit back there
broke down, They carried it on their shoulders across the finish
line. And oh, did the crowd cheer.
They cheered more than they did for the one that won the race.
Why? They all knew in their hearts
that these guys were the real winners. You may lose a wheel
or two along life's way, and you may break down a lot of times,
but don't quit. Don't say, Lord, I can't. Move
on. Move on. Keep on plugging. Finish well. Finish well. Let's stand together.