In Exodus chapter 3, God had
revealed his intentions to Moses and informed him of the work
that he was calling him to do. He let him know. No ifs, ands,
or buts about it. Where he was going to go, what
he was going to say, all of these things. God made it perfectly
clear to him. And he assured him of two things
that should have put his mind to ease. First of all, he tells
Moses, he said, I'm going to go with you. Now, that ought
to put an end to all worry, he said. When God says, and that's
what he says to us who believe, he said, I'll never leave you.
But what about, there ain't no what about. I'll never leave
you. That ought to be it. He shouldn't
have to give us anything else. That ought to be it. God's going
to go with us. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I'm going with you. That's what
he told Moses. And that alone ought to be sufficient
to overcome any and all arguments to the contrary. God has a people
that he chose in Christ before the world began. and predestinated
them unto the adoption of sons and by virtue of this union they
will always be his people. These children had done so many
things to cause God to leave them it wasn't even funny. Now
we went through all that coming through the book of Genesis.
I've showed you all the crimes and things that they've done
and just ungodly things that they've done toward God and yet
God still calls them his people. And he calls them his people,
which are in Israel. And he said, you go down to Pharaoh,
my sons. My sons. Let my sons go. And we're going to journey a
few days and worship God. They'll always be his people.
And he'll always be their God. And God will not leave or forsake
his people. I go with you. And then secondly, it tells him
everything that's going to come to pass when he gets there. And
God didn't hide anything from him. He told him, he said, I'm
telling you right now, the king ain't going to let them go. The king ain't going to hearken
to your voice. Now the children, I'm going to
cause to hearken to your voice. The Pharaoh ain't going to hearken
to your voice. He's not going to let the people go until I,
with outstretched arm, make him let the people go. You know,
we need not to be shocked when we're kicked out of mainstream
religion. We don't need to be shocked.
God tells us this is going to happen. He said, they'll kick
you out of their synagogues and think that they do. Actually,
they will kill you. And let me tell you how they
kill you. They don't talk to you anymore. That's the same
as murder. That's right. Same thing. They
treat you as a dead man. Got nothing to say. I preached a funeral down at
Spring Hill the other day and the casket was here and I stood
here and one of her son's preachers was over here. And the people
came around in front of the casket after I preached and when they
past the casket, they'd walk way out that way, back to where
that first pew is. And they'd come all the way around,
and they'd come back and shake hands with this preacher over
here in Lee. They wouldn't look at me. They wouldn't shake my
hand. And the Lord said, they'll think they do God a service when
they do that. They'll kill you. And when they
do, they think they'll do God a service. And in John 16, too,
He said, they'll put you out of their synagogues. They'll
kick you out. They'll take your name off the
roll. Excommunicate you, some of them. We need not be shocked
when men treat us as though we're dead men. He actually tells us this. He
said, if you were of the world, the world would love his own.
You'd fit right in. Now, you're looking at somebody
tonight that grew up in religion. I know what I'm talking about.
A man off the street can come in, come down to the front and
pray, and within a week, they'll have that man teaching Sunday
school. Within six months, he'll be a deacon. And within a year, he may be
preaching. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. They'd love their own. But because
you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. But he don't only tell us of
the reaction of unbelieving Israel and of this ungodly world, but
he tells us, tells Moses of the power of his outstretched arm. He said, they're not going to
listen to you. I'm going to make them listen. I'm going to make
them listen. I stretch out my arms and do
my wonders. He said, they're going to let
these people go. And this is stated so clearly.
I'm drawing a line tonight between these things and the ministry
of which this church is all about. And this thing to me is so clearly
stated over in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 where he tells us first
about those who would not receive the love of the truth that they
might be saved, but were deceived by all these lying wonders of
the religious antichrist. But Paul said, I thank God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because He hath from the
beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what's going on in Aetolia.
That's what's about to take place. God tells him everything. He
tells him other. Our God declares the end from
the beginning. He don't wait till it's all over
and say, now, you know, maybe I knew what was going on, but
I didn't know. He said he declares the end from
the beginning and from ancient times of things that are not
yet done, saying my counsel stand and I'll do all my pleasure.
That's God. That's how he's God and beside
him there is none other. And that's how we know that he's
God. Now having given to Moses the
promise of his presence and the assurance of his presence and
power in his ministry, Moses tries every way under the sun
to get out of going. Now I've read the old writers
and they talk about Moses' timidity. He was a very timid man. I don't
find that anywhere in Scripture. That's not what's going on. Moses
wasn't timid. Moses was meek, but he wasn't
timid. He saw that Hebrew down there
in Egypt mistreating, I mean that Egyptian mistreating that
Hebrew and he slayed him. He wasn't timid. He ran up and
grabbed that guy and wrung his neck. He was dead. Drug him off
and put him in the buses. When he wandered into this land
and met up with his wife-to-be, There was herdsmen there. They
didn't say how many, but there were more than one. And they
were there forcing her not to get any water and stealing this
water out of her father-in-law's well. And Moses run the whole
outfit off. That don't sound timid to me,
does it to you? No, he wasn't timid. I'll tell
you what this is, is doubt. That's what that is. It's doubt. And I just think we need to call
it what it is. And there's doubt in the most
glorious of men that God has used over the ages and exalted
their name. I'm telling you, there's doubt
and sin and unbelief in every one of them. Even the apostles
said, Lord, we believe. Help thou our what? Unbelief. That's what he said. That's what
it is. So let's don't call it anything else. Moses was kicking
and scratching and trying his best to get out of going down
there. That's what he's doing. He's not timid. This is nothing
in the world but doubt. And what's going on here is God's
servant looking too much to himself and not enough at his God. He's
not listening to God. He's looking at himself. He's looking at what God told
him to do. And then he's saying, I can't
do that. They're not going to do that.
They're not going to say that. In Exodus chapter 3 verse 18,
God told Moses, they shall hearken to thy voice. In Exodus chapter
4 verse 1, Moses answered and said, behold, they will not believe
me nor hearken to my voice. They're going to say the Lord
hasn't appeared to you. And I'm a preacher and an ambassador
of God, and what he called me to do is no less difficult than
what he called his servant Moses to do. The primary difference
is that what Moses was sent to do was visible and recorded to
teach us some things in figure. And what I'm sent to do is visible
only to those who believe. That's the only ones who understand
what you're up against. The powers I'm sent to confront
are overwhelmingly greater than me and most angels. The people
I'm sent to declare God's deliverance to are in greater bondage than
the bondage in which those children of Israel were being held. This
bondage is so secure of these people that I'm sent to preach
deliverance to, these captives, that sin reigns unto death. When did it start doing that? When did it end? It didn't. It's
still going on. I tell you, that's a greater
bondage, but nobody sees it who don't believe. You'd be surprised
how many people say, their sinners until they find out what that
means. Now, wait a minute. Let's back up a little bit now.
I ain't all that. You're worse than that. You're
worse than that. I assure you of this. There's
nothing that I wrestle with more than my own inability and weakness. I know exactly where Moses is
coming from. I don't have any degrees. I've
got no natural talents. I have no influence or reputation. I'm a man at best. I'm a man. With all man's weakness. But what does any of that have
to do with God accomplishing what He said He's going to do?
Nothing. Not one thing. You reckon God
sat back and said, who in the world am I going to send down
there? I guess I'll take my best shot.
I'll just get old Moses. No. No. God didn't even consider Moses
when he said them things. God wasn't dependent on Moses.
God included Moses. God doesn't depend on us. Our
Lord told those folks, he said, God could raise up children of
these stones. He don't need you. But it pleased
Him to do it this way. It pleased God to include Him.
Listen to what God tells His servant. I love this. I read
this today and this just opened up for me. Listen to what He
tells His servant. Exodus 4 verse 2. The Lord said
unto him, there's Moses standing there with his shepherd's staff
in his hand, talking to God. God said, what you got in your
hand? What is that? That's a rod. It's a rod. Oh, I tell you, let every preacher
struggling with his inability and unbelief, let every member
of this church who questions his or tries to evaluate him
based on this outward ability of man, this outward appearance
and habits of man, let all who look within And doubt as to the
success of that which God has given us to do, answer this question,
what's in your hand? And who put it there? What's in your hand? A rod. Who put it there? He said, cast
it on the ground. And Moses cast it on the ground,
and it turned into a serpent. And he fled from it. One fellow
was arguing one time about whether or not that thing was venomous.
If it wasn't venomous, he wouldn't have ran. He ran. That thing
was a big old cobra or something laying there on the ground. Whatever
it was, it was big enough to eat all the other snakes them
magicians produced, wasn't it? It was a viper. Throw it on the
ground. This rod is the rod of the shepherd. This rod is the rod of God's
authority and rule. This rod is that which God has
put into our hands to evidence our calling and manifest His
presence and establish His rule. What's in your hand, He said.
Cast it on the ground. This rod is a symbol of the power
and presence of God in the hand of His servant to make known
the will of God to all the powers that be concerning the deliverance
of His people by the commandment of their God. And I put this
question to myself and to all those who might be struggling
with this thing of preaching the gospel and those who may
be seeking to preach these things. And even those of you to whom
I preach, what's in my hand? That's what God asked him, what's
in your hand? Moses said, a rod. By this rod,
miracles would be wrought. A sea would be divided. He said,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And he stretched
out that rod, then waved, peeled back. I hope the Lord lets us
see that in eternity. I mean, see it as it was. What
would it be to sit down with Moses tonight and talk about
that sea? Don't you look forward to that,
to be able to sit and talk Talk to them about these wonders and
what they knew about those wonders when they took place. I know
that he knew something. I don't know how much he knew.
But he knew something about that rod because that rod was significant
in everything Moses did. From that point on. Miracles
would be wrought. A sea divided. Water brought
forth out of a smitten rock. Enemies defeated. Aaron and Hur
had to come up and hold his arms up so he could hold up that staff.
As long as that staff was up, they was victorious. When that
rod came down, the enemy prevailed. This rod is the rod of God's
authority and power, and this rod is the rod of the shepherd.
It's the rod of love and compassion. and the shepherd who holds it
loves them for whom it's given." Moses loved these people. Even
those whose carcasses eventually fell in the wilderness, he loved
these people. He knew something about love
and compassion. He told God one time, he said,
if you blot their name out, blot mine out too. God sobered him
up real quick. He said, I'll blot out whom I
will. Now you stand over here. That's love. That's love. This rod is the rod of the shepherd.
And this rod is the rod of God's authority and rule. And this
rod is that which God has put into our hands to evidence our
calling and manifest His presence and establish His rule. And it's
the rod of love and compassion. God shows to Moses two things
concerning this rod that are very significant to his ministry.
And in these two things, He shows him the twofold work of deliverance,
submission and cleansing. He shows Moses these two things.
Now, let's look together at these two things. Let me see if I can
give you some connection between these things and the gospel ministry
to which we've all been called. In Exodus 4, verse 3, God said,
cast it on the ground. And He cast it on the ground,
and it became a serpent. and Moses fled from before it.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take
it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and
caught it, and it become a rod in his hand. Now let's look first
of all at the casting of this rod on the ground. God first
put this rod into the hand of Adam. He gave him authority over
all the works of his hand. And Adam, so to speak, cast the
rod on the ground, did he not? In his fall, he let go that blessing
of authority. He let go that rod that God had
entrusted him with and threw it on the ground. He threw off
the mantle of God's delegated authority and proceeded to do
what he wanted to do and to do what the desire of his heart
was to do and not what God commanded him to do. and the rod cast away
on the ground took upon it a satanic form. You see what's happening
here? You see what's happening in the
garden? I've got nothing to preach apart from that, do you? Moses
didn't even have a ministry apart from that. It's what God's showing
him what this ministry is all about and why these people would
reject him and why he's right in fearing those things, all
his inabilities and weaknesses. That rod cast on the ground took
upon it a satanic form, the form of a serpent. Casting the rod
away, he no longer had God's authority with him. And he became
subject to the serpent. And his heart was filled with
fear. And he had good reason. Had good reason. Adam said to
the Lord when he spoke to him in the garden, he said, I heard
thy voice in the garden and I was afraid. Why? Why? In these early chapters of Genesis,
one man was given dominion, the rod of God placed in his hand,
but he cast it away to the ground, and that once wise and loving
rule took to itself the form of a serpent. He said, Paul said, I've taught
it to you in Sunday school class now two or three weeks in a row,
what he says in those first several verses there in Ephesians chapter
2, He said, and you had the quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin, wherein you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, that spirit
who now worketh in the children of disobedience. And he said,
your whole conversation of life was in the fulfilling of the
lust and desires of your heart, and you were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, all of them under this authority
of the serpent. Every one of them deceived, kings
and princes and wise men and all these men all taken in with
his lies. And even in the most devout of
religion, it's Satan himself, Paul said, that's transformed
into an angel of light and his ministers as ministers of righteousness. He rules the ship. It is the
power of the rod cast away that Satan takes advantage of and
blinds the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ should shine under them. Now
notice this. God tells Moses, he said, pick
it up by the tail. Now I've hunted a little bit
and I've been around poisonous snakes most of my life. And I'm
going to tell you something, you don't pick a snake up by
its tail. Dude, it bites you. I was going to pick up just a
black snake one time, because they're fairly docile, and I
went to pick that thing up. Boy, he nailed me before I got
him a half inch. He just turned around and pow. I'm glad it wasn't an old rattlesnake.
God says pick it up by the tail, he tells Moses. Now what I want
you to see here is that the taking up of this rod is an act of faith. It's an act of faith. You don't
pick up snakes by the tail. And these wildlife experts and
serpentologists, they handle all these dangerous snakes. When
I see them on TV, they hold them down, get them right behind the
head. But you're not going to, as a man, pick up Satan's head.
You're not going to hold him behind his head. You're not going
to pick him up at all, except as God commands him to be taken
up. No man is a match for that old
serpent, the devil, and none can take him by his head. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ who takes up the rod cast down, taking
up all the consequences of man's sin and Satan's power and restoring that rod of authority
once again in his own hand. He takes up the serpent. So when
Moses took up the serpent, he was taking up the restored rod. He was taking that thing up by
faith in Christ, not by his own power. He took this thing up
according to the Word of God. He believed God. God said, take
it by the tail. Everything in Moses said, don't
take that snake by the tail. Take it by the head. But he believed
God. He believed God. And seeing that
restored rod in the hands of the God-man, we by faith can
take up the rod cashed down without fear. We need the power of this restored
rod all the way until we enter into Canaan's rest. God used
that rod in the hands of that man to lead his people. The authority
of Christ our Lord and the power of His kingdom is in His hands. All power. Isn't that what he
said over there? This is a very significant point. I don't know
if I'm making it clear or not. But he told his disciples, he
said, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. That's
the rod. That's the restored rod. He said,
now you go preach the gospel. Preach it to every creature.
Preach it with authority. They come back rejoicing. They
said, even the devils are subject to us. Even the devils, even
the demons. Moses took up the rod, cast it
down, and it was restored to its former shape. Exodus chapter
4 verse 6, and the Lord said furthermore unto him, He said,
Now take your hand and stick it into your bosom. And he did
that. Now he said, Pull it out. And
that hand was as white as snow with leprosy. God said, now stick it back in
your bosom one more time. He put it in there, and he pulled
it back out, and there wasn't a sign of leprosy on it. Clean
as it was when he put it in there. This is the second sign which
God gives to Moses to help him concerning his ministry to Israel,
and it has to do with an internal work of grace. Paul writes in
Titus chapter 3 concerning this work, and here's what he says.
He said, now you remember this. You remember this. We ourselves
also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers' lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. But after that the kindness and
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He
saved us. How did He do that? Listen to
this. By the washing of regeneration
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. What set forth in this
leper's hand coming forth from his bosom is the evil dictated
by the nature of sin. That's what's being set forth
here. Where's this stuff come from?
Where did the Lord say it come from? Out of the heart. Isn't
that what He said? Out of the heart. Out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies. All these evil things
come forth from within and defile the man. What's required in our
deliverance from sin is a new heart. Everything that I preach
to men is dependent on this one thing, a new heart. A new heart. That's a confidence to me. If
this thing depends on me to generate righteousness in you, I'm going
to go buy a bullwhip because you ain't just going to listen
to me and obey. But if this thing depends on
a new heart and God's the one with me, And God's the one who
turns that heart, then I can have some confidence. That's
what he's telling Moses. I know where your doubts are.
But that rod in your hand, I put that rod in your hand. Don't
you remember? You was next in line to be Pharaoh down in Egypt.
That's where you was at. You was fixing to be as ungodly
as the man that's down there on the throne right now. But
I took you out, and I put that staff in your hand. And that's
my rod. That's my rod. And I'll establish
my rule in whom I will establish my rule. Only a new heart. Now I want
you to hear me. I'm going to give you, maybe Sunday, the Lord
willing, I'm working on a message right now. Four things that a
believer can do. Supernatural things that only
a believer can do. The rest of this world cannot
do it. Cannot perform. It is a sure
evidence of the Spirit of God in your heart. These four things.
But basically, what this thing is, is a new heart. It's a new
heart. Only a new heart will submit
to God's rod. Listen to what Paul says. Obey
them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. Who's
going to do that? Huh? Who's going to do that?
Now, come on. Huh? I won't cross them hands,
lower them eyes down, look up over them glasses. What did you
say to me, preacher? We've all thought it. Maybe we
didn't say it, but we thought it. Who's going to cause you
to submit? God will. God will. Brother Henry Mayhem, I've got
some pictures of him back here Dorothy brought over Sunday. But he only stood about this
tall, a little short. But I tell you, the first time
I heard that man preach and went up to his church, I swear he
looked six feet tall to me. And I scared death of it. And
it ain't nothing in the world but this rod that God puts in
their hands. And believers understand that.
And they see that. They see that power. God gives
them through this washing of regeneration to understand there's
nothing special about that man except the hand of God who chose
him and put him in the place where he's at. And I tell you,
you better be careful. You better be careful coming
at God's servants over foolishness. over foolishness. There was a
bunch of kids ran out one day, and who was it? One of the old prophets, he was
going up on the mountain to pray, and they came out there and said,
go you up, you old bald head, and making fun of. God caused
a she-bear to come out of the woods and gobble them boys up.
Right. Right. Only a new heart will
submit to God's rod. And Paul told those Thessalonians,
he said, I know your election of God because our gospel came
in power and in the Holy Ghost, and you became followers of us
and the Lord. That's the only way that's going
to happen. It requires the power and washing of regeneration for
a man to submit himself under the rod of God. And I warn you
by example. But there's only one rod established
over an assembly, and to reject that rod is to put yourself against
God. I've seen this so many times
up in Danville and up at 13th Street where men get upset at
the pastor over some foolishness and walk out the back door and
go join another church somewhere. That might be all well and good
for you, and I know the pastor's happy that he's over here in
another grace church somewhere, but I'm going to tell you something.
You put yourself against this rod of God, and you set yourself
against God, and you better go get it straightened up. Now,
that's just a fact. Don't let that happen. Just don't
do it. God put him there for your good,
and he's put him there because he loves you, and he's put him
there to teach you and be a blessing to you. And it's just sitting
into the face of God. That's all in the world it is. But it requires the power of
God. Cora, Nathan, and Abiram, they
tried it. They tried it. They didn't have
any complaints about the way Moses was doing or anything that
he did. They just questioned his authority.
And they said, he's got too much on him. And they went around
and said, we're going to divide this thing up into little groups.
And I'm going to take one, and Cora's going to take one, and
the Byron's going to take one. Moses got his rod. He went over
there and stood up that rod. He said, everybody that's on
the Lord's side, line up. A bunch of them come over here. In coordination with the barons,
you go stand over there. Everybody's on their side. Go
over there and line up. I don't know how many went over
there, but I'll tell you this. God opened the earth up and took
every one of them to hell with their shoes on. Every last one
of them. That's God's rod. God's rod. This new heart is a clean heart.
It's submissive. You can't bow. The flesh ain't
going to bow. The natural mind is enmity against
God. It ain't going to bow. It might
bow for a little while. It might bow like you were talking
about before service to be known or seen or for recognition. But
it's not going to bow all the way to glory. But a true heart
will. A true heart will. The basis
of all true gospel ministers is the restored rod of God in
the hand of Christ. Jesus Christ is Lord, Paul said,
to the glory of God the Father, and to this end, he said, ever
and he's going to bow things in heaven, earth, and hell. They're
all going to bow to it. If this rod is not the rod in
the hand of the preacher, he's not God's preacher. He just ain't. And then secondly, all that he
has to say is dependent on the presence and power of God to
create a new heart. and cleanse us from the leprosy
within. And I can tell you by my own
experience and the testimony of this book, that apart from
divine intervention of God through the preaching of the gospel,
nothing is going to happen in here. Nothing is going to happen
in here. Nothing is going to happen. And I tell you, if nothing in
here changes, nothing out here is going to change either. To change out here, you've got
to change in here. Let me show you one more thing.
Exodus chapter 4, verse 9. And it shall come to pass, if
they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto
thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and
pour it upon dry land. And the water which thou takest
out of the river shall become blood upon the dry ground. That which is said to be the
life of the flesh will be poured out before them as a testimony
against them. This is not a sign that Moses
used to encourage them to believe. This is the sign of judgment. One writer said this, he said,
once hath God spoken, yea, twice. And I'm going to speak again.
I'm going to speak again. He said, if they don't believe
these first two signs, these first two evidences, he said,
you're going to go down there and get the water, and you're
going to pour it out up here on the dry land. It's going to
be a testimony against them. That same blood which justifies
and atones for sin is to them that believe, and it stands as
a sure declaration to them of God's mercy. But that same blood
poured out on dry ground is a sure declaration of the condemnation
of them who do not. In John chapter 3, he says it
this way. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life. Not going to see it, but the
wrath of God abideth on him. I want to read something. I'm
going to read these verses to you and I'm just going to let
this reading be the close of the message. Over in Matthew
chapter 23. The Lord is addressing here these
scribes and Pharisees. These pretenders. These religious
pretenders. Matthew chapter 23 verse 29. He said, Woe unto you scribes
and Pharisees! hypocrites, because you build
the tombs of the prophets, and you garnish the sepulchers of
the righteous." That is, they pretended to honor these men. They held these men of days gone
by in high esteem. And you say, if we had been in
the days of our fathers, we had not been partakers with them
in the blood of the prophets. They denied that sinful nature
within. Wherefore, verse 31, ye be witnesses
unto yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed
the prophets. Fill ye up the measure of your
fathers, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can you escape
the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto
you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you
shall kill and crucify, and some of them you discouraging your
synagogues and persecute them from city to city. Now listen. Listen to this. Verse 35. That upon you may come all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth. What a statement. All the righteous blood shed
upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel, the first
man to die at the hands of an unbeliever. Unto the blood of
Zacharias, the son of Barthias, whom you slew between the temple
and the altar. The pouring out of the blood
on the ground is not an evidence that is unaffectual, but it stands
as a witness to their unbelief." Their unbelief. May God be pleased
to convince us with the first two, his first two things that
he tells us. that he don't have to use the
third as a witness against us. The rod of God, the leprous hand
in the bosom. That's the very foundation of
what we preach. The very foundation. The power
and presence of God and the blood of Christ.