Exodus 18.24 records one of the
most lamentable acts recorded in the book of God concerning
the life and ministry of God's servant Moses. We are told Moses hearkened to
the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he said. And
I want to show you how lamentable that act is. He hearkened to
the counsel of Jethro and thereby eased himself of the great heavy
burden that the Lord God had put upon him. But when he eased
himself of this great heavy, heavy burden, and it was a great
heavy burden We read that Moses went out in the morning and sat
in the camp until the evening, ministering to, teaching, instructing,
and guiding the people. But when he eased himself of
that burden, he robbed himself of the great, distinct blessing
of doing it. I want to talk to you today about
the blessing of the burden. Every privilege has a price. Every opportunity demands responsibility. Every blessing carries with it
a burden. A man takes a wife, he has some
responsibilities. A woman takes a husband, she
has some responsibilities. Easier to live by yourself. I
had a fellow tell me one time just recently, he said, I like
the way I live. Well, every man to his own poison, but it's easier
to live by yourself, there's no question about that. Nobody
to care for, nobody to think of, nobody to think about when
you do anything. But when you take a companion, your life no
longer revolves around you, and that's the way it ought to be.
Your life ought not to revolve around you, me, my, and mine. You have a home? A man's got
a responsibility in a home to provide for his home, to nurture
and cherish his children and his wife, to raise and discipline
his family, to guide his family in the ways of God. You take
a job, you have a responsibility. Try not showing up for a couple
of weeks. Just give it a shot. Or try not
showing up one day every week for a couple of weeks. See what
happens. God gives you a ministry. A place of service in his kingdom. And that's what God's given us.
Me and you. I happen to be the preacher,
but we're all servants. And we are servants together
in a tremendous ministry. For some reason, the Lord God
has been pleased to give this congregation a place of significant
influence in his kingdom in this generation. We're privileged
to support missionaries, missionary causes. We're privileged to Preach
to a lot of folks, our tapes, bulletins go to well over 10,000
a year mail now. And they're just all over the
world, books distributed around the world. The Lord's given us tremendous
opportunities. We have the privilege of maintaining a gospel witness
in this place that much as the world around us would like to,
nobody can ignore. The Lord has graciously given
us the opportunity to have the conference we want to have. Who
knows what lies and effects. So what do you see as a result
of it? If I saw a lot, I wouldn't tell
you. It's best that we not know what God does with us. It's best
that we not know, but rather that we serve Him faithfully. What a blessing, that woman who
came with an alabaster box. She brought all her life, Merle,
everything she had saved all her life. It was worth a year's
wages. And she came and knelt behind the Master as she listened
to Him in this forgiven center. And she broke the alabaster box
and anointed Him, and the spikenard of Roma filled the room where
they were. She washed his feet with her
tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head and picked
up his feet and kissed them. And Judas said, what a waste.
And so did all the disciples. And our master said, you be careful
what you say. Leave her alone. She anointed
him for his burial. And he said something he never
said concerning anybody else. You know what he said? She hath
wrought a good work on me. What a privilege. A privilege. If God allows you and me. If it cost everything we are
and have. If God would allow us to do something
for Him. But now that's going to cost. You're not going to do something
for Him for nothing. He's not going to receive any sacrifice
that cost you nothing. It ain't going to happen. David
said, shall I offer to God that which doth cost me nothing? Oh,
no. Oh, no. Now, be sure you understand what
I'm saying. The Lord God does not need us for anything. He
doesn't need you and He doesn't need me. I haven't seen one in a little
while, but it will show up again soon. Put signs out on the church. We can't spell church without
you. God was spelling church a long
time before you or I, either one, came around. And He'll be
spelling it when we're gone. God doesn't need you. He doesn't
need me. He doesn't need for us to give
anything to Him. What are you going to give to
God? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the silver and gold
of the deep mines of the earth, he says, are mine. There's no
lack on God's part that His creatures can supply. People say, well,
there's a great vacuum in God. He needed someone to love. God
Almighty being the perfect, infinite being He is in His holy triune
persons was complete without us. There's no vacuum in God
that we supply. We add nothing to his happiness.
We add nothing to his glory. We add nothing to his majesty.
God Almighty is totally independent, totally self-sufficient. He does
not need Bob Pontzer or Don Fortner or anybody else. He doesn't need
us. His solitariness, that which
makes him alone God. is His majesty. He created us
without our assistance. He redeemed us without our aid.
He wrought righteousness for us by His own hand. He made atonement
for us by His own sacrifice. He saved us without our cooperation. He chose us, we didn't choose
Him. He called us, we didn't call Him. He keeps us, we don't
keep Him. God doesn't need us. Salvation is of the Lord, indeed
all things are of God. He doesn't need us for anything,
but in great condescension, in condescension that baffles thought,
God Almighty bends over and bows down and stoops to use such things
as we are to accomplish His work. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? He uses such things as we are
to accomplish His purpose. Oh, what a privilege if He should
use me. What a privilege if He should
use you. What a privilege if He should
use us together. When God allows a man or a woman
to do something for Him, it is a great privilege. It places
that person in the position of highest privilege and honor and
favor. But it is a great burden. Now,
hold your Bibles open here to Exodus 18. And I want to show
you some things about Moses. God's servant Moses. How God
used this man. How God used this man. The only person in all the camp
of Israel that did anything for the deliverance of Israel was
Moses. He's the only one, and he didn't
do anything except speak for God. And by this man speaking
for God, just delivering God's word, God destroyed an Egyptian
army, brought Israel out of Egypt, out of the land of bondage, and
led them along the way to the land of promise. What a remarkable
privilege. Here in Exodus 18, let me say
this first. Moses was indeed a man of remarkable
faith and faithfulness. Exodus 18 begins with Moses'
father-in-law, Jethro, bringing his wife, Zipporah, and their
two sons, Gershom and Eleazar, back to Moses. In verses 1 and
2, when Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law,
heard of all that God had done for Moses 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, after Moses, had sent her back. Now it had been a long,
long time since Moses had seen Zipporah. It had been a long
time since he had seen either of his two sons, at least a year,
maybe more, since he had seen them. And they didn't have cell
phones in those days. He didn't talk to them either.
He hadn't seen Zipporah, he hadn't seen Gershom, he hadn't seen
Eleazar in well over a year. You remember the last time he
saw them? You can go back and look at it later in Exodus 4.
God met Moses in an inn. And he said, now Moses, you haven't
circumcised your son. And you're either going to circumcise
him, or I'm going to kill you. And we're told in Exodus 4 that
the Lord sought to kill him. And finally, when she was about
to lose her husband and be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere,
a long ways away from home, Zipporah said, all right, I'll do it.
She took a stone, a sharp stone, and circumcised her son. And
she took the foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet, and she cussed
him. She said, you're a bloody man
to me. Moses said, honey, pack your
bags and go back home. Pack your bags and go back home.
I've got some work to do. And if you stand in my way, I
can't do it. I can't do it. Oh, you young
people, marry someone who won't worship God with you and you
marry trouble. Understand this, children of God, God demands
of us obedience. He demands of us obedience. We come to him bowing to Christ
as Lord. That means he's master, we're
servants. And the master-servant relationship
is a relationship of one who rules and one who obeys. And
there is no such thing as faith in Christ where there is no obedience
to Christ. The Lord said to Moses, either
you're going to do what I say or you're dead right now. You're
dead right now. Zephora took the boys and went
home to daddy. Moses sent her home because she
would have been a hindrance to him in the work of God, and now
he realized it. And Moses went on to Egypt to
do what God had called him to do. And now, a full year later,
Jethro heard what God had done with Moses, and he brought Zipporah
and the boys back, and Moses was tickled to death's seal.
Look at verse 8. On the day that Jethro and Zipporah
and Moses' sons came to meet him, This man of God faithfully
told his family all that the Lord had done for him. Look at
verse 8. And Moses told his father-in-law
all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians
for Israel's sake, and all the travail, all the trouble that
had come upon them by the way, and how the Lord had delivered
them. Moses recited to Jethro that which is recorded in chapters
12, 13, 14. how that God, by the blood of a paschal lamb appointed
by God, brought Israel out of Egypt. He said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you, and the blood shall be to me for
a token. And I will, when I see the blood, remember your sins
no more. I will bring you out of bondage. And then God called the Egyptians. to look upon the Israelites whom
they had despised for 400 years with such favor that they brought
them pots of gold and silver and brass and provided for them
everything they would need in their journey. And Pharaoh, who
had said, no, you can't go, said, Moses, get this crowd out of
the land and take with them all this stuff. We don't want you
anymore. And then Pharaoh pursued hotly
after them. And Moses, standing at the Red
Sea, said to the children of Israel as they murmured and complained,
Stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord. Stand still! Quit
murmuring! Quit griping! Quit looking at
yourselves! Quit looking at your enemies! Stand still! Be quiet! Listen! Watch! And see the salvation
of the Lord. And he stretched out his rod
upon the waters in the Red Sea. And they walked through dry shod.
And then the Red Sea engulfed the Egyptian armies who pursued
after them. They went along their way, and
they looked back upon that, and Moses sang that wonderful song
of redemption you read so often, Bobby. Miriam and Aaron joined
the song, and they sang and danced before God because He visited
and redeemed His people. And then they came to a place
in the wilderness of sin, right after the deliverance. First
thing recorded, they got thirsty, and they come to a place called
Marah, where the waters were bitter. And the people started
murmuring, and Moses spotted a dead tree, and cast it into
the waters, and made the bitter water sweet. So the cross of
Christ, the sacrifice of God's darling Son upon that cursed
tree, cast into the bitter waters of our lives, sweetens our lives
along the way. In chapter 16, they got hungry
and cried for manna from heaven. And God said, all right. They
cried for food. They cried for the leeks and
the garlics and the onions and the cucumbers back in Egypt.
And God said, I'll give you manna from heaven. I'll give you something
better than that. I'll give you bread from heaven.
Christ, the bread of life." And then they murmured again. And
God said, Moses, take your rod, the rod of the law, and smite
this rock that's been following you. We're told in 1 Corinthians
10, that rock is Christ. And Christ was smitten by the
rod of God's holy law. But when the rock was smitten,
waters gushed. waters gushed out of the rock,
a rock from which nothing could come except God do it. Waters gushed out and the nation
lived. And so through the smitten Christ,
the water of life, the Spirit of God gushes out to His people
and His chosen nation lives. And then they came to Amalek.
And Amalek fought against Israel and God delivered them. And Moses
named the place Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner. And when
Jethro heard all these things, this report of God's great glory
and his wondrous works, he was just ecstatic. Look at verses
9, 10, 11, and 12. Jethro rejoiced. Oh, he rejoiced. Jethro, Moses' father-in-law,
in verse 11, he said, Now I know that the Lord God is greater
than all gods. For the thing wherein they dealt
proudly, he was above them. And he offered a burnt offering
and sacrifices to God. Now, that looks pretty good.
As we'll see in a little bit, Jethro was ecstatic at the report,
but his heart was unchanged. We're told specifically he came
to Moses, not to God. A lot of folks come to a preacher
or to a religious leader, never get to Christ. Not only that. While he heard what the Lord
had done for Israel, and he was curious about God's wondrous
works, he had never experienced them. He came and he said, now
I know that God is greater than all gods. Well, that's tremendous. He made sacrifice to God. What
he didn't acknowledge is that God alone is God. He rejoiced
in God's goodness, extolled the Lord God as the greatest of all
gods, and even made sacrifices according to the law of God.
Now here's another remarkable thing about Moses. The arrival of his family after
not seeing them for a year. Probably just try this over.
He hadn't seen them in a year. Those two boys. His wife, he
hadn't seen him in a year. They'd been there less than 24
hours. He greeted them, rejoiced with them, had a good visit.
You know where he was next morning? Out doing what God called him
to do. The arrival of his family did not deter him from the worship
and service of God. Verse 13, it came to pass on
the morrow, the day after Jethro got there, the day after Zipporah
got there, the day after Gershom and Eliezer got there, It came
to pass on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people, and
the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. You see, God had called him to
do something, and he had to do it. Oh, Moses, couldn't you give
that to somebody else? Yeah, I could. Couldn't you take
a vacation for one day? I sure could. But it's my responsibility,
not somebody else's. His family arrived. Next morning,
he went out to serve God, went to the house of God, went to
worship God. John Gill wrote, though his father-in-law
was come to visit him, yet he did not neglect the care of God's
people and the business that lay upon his hands for their
good. Now hear me, my brothers and sisters. Hear me. Are you
listening? If you want to do your family
good, don't allow your family to keep you from worshiping God
and serving Him. But I haven't seen them in so
long. Would you rather take an opportunity
that God gives you to lead them to hell, or lead them to faith?
You're going to do one of the two. You're going to take the
opportunity that God gives you, take them by the hand and lead
them to Christ, or take them by the hand and wrap them up
a little more in the world? And don't you do anything that
will keep your family from worshiping and serving God. Nothing. Nothing. And you can stick all
the butts you want to in there, but Ron, there ain't any that
will justify it. Well, the Lord knows my heart. You can bank
on that. He dead sure does. You can bank on that. Secondly,
Moses was a man of great honor. how God had honored him. Do you
remember in 1 Samuel 2, when the Lord told Eli he was going
to take the priesthood away from his family because he had dishonored
him? The Lord God said, them that
honor me, I will honor. Well, this man of great faith
and great faithfulness to God, by his honoring God, was himself
honored of God. God made Moses. Now listen to
this. I've known it for years, but every time I think about
it, it's just dumbfounding to me. Moses was made by God's hand,
the judge, the ruler, the leader, the pastor, the teacher of a
congregation of more than 4 million people. More than 4 million people. Pastor,
where did you get that figure? The Scripture tells us that there
were 600,000 footmen. 600,000 fellows who went to war. 600,000 fellows. That doesn't
include the old men and old women. That doesn't include wives or
children. Moses was the pastor, the leader, the teacher, God's
mouthpiece for over 4 million people. Oh, what a great work. Moses knew his own inabilities. He said, God, I'm a man of a
stammering tongue. I've got a thick tongue, and
it won't hardly move. I can't speak for You. God said,
I'll be Your mouthpiece. He was angry. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh! would use this man, this people,
to proclaim his word. A demanding work took his work
from the time he got up in the morning to the time he laid himself
on his bed at night, get up the next morning from the time he
got up to the time he laid his head on his bed at night, next
day, all day, every day, no later. Demanding work. And Moses was
a workaholic. No, he was called of God. There's
a difference. There's a difference. Are Moses
devoted to his job? No, no, no, no. He's devoted
to God. There's a difference. It was
a work involving great honor. Look at verse 15. Moses said to his father-in-law,
because the people come to me, to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they
come to me. Their souls are disturbed, they
come sit down and listen to me. They have a decision to make,
they come expecting me to have a word from God. They come with
troubled hearts, they come expecting me to have a word from God. They
come to me and I judge between one and another. And I do make
them to know the statutes of God and his laws." This was a work for which God
had called Moses, and for which God had equipped Moses, and for
which he constantly equipped him. Jethro says to him, we'll
see in a minute, this is too much for you. And Moses often
said, you think I don't know that? Who's sufficient for these
things? But our sufficiency is of God.
We as a congregation take on tasks. There's no way under the
sun we can do that. No way we can look out here and
say, all right, now there, there, we've got the means to do this.
No way. If God put it in our hands to
do it, we've got the means to do it. Our sufficiencies of God. But when Jethro saw what Moses
was doing, look at verses 18 through 23. Let me give you the
highlights. You just follow along. He said, Moses, now remember,
this old boy Jethro had been in the camp of Israel for almost
a whole 24 hours. That ought to give you a clue.
That ought to give you a clue. Don't pay too much attention.
This fellow never worshipped God in his life. He didn't know
anything about the worship of God, didn't know anything about
the ways of God, but he presumed he did. And he didn't hesitate
to tell Moses, I'll take care of business. He said, now Moses,
you're going to wear out. You're going to burn out. Somebody
sent me a tape a while back, been a while back, it was a friend,
and they meant well. It's a sermon, a preacher preached
in a conference of preachers, just the kind of thing you'd
expect, conference of preachers. When preachers burn out. Giving
you some direction how not to burn out. Burn out. Burn out. You burn out working
in the railroad. You burn out selling insurance.
You burn out teaching school. Preachers don't burn out. Not
God's preachers. They don't burn out. He said,
Moses, you will surely wear away both thou and this people that
is with thee. For this thing is too heavy for
thee. Thou art not able to perform
it thyself alone. Hearken unto my voice. I'll give
you some good counsel. He said, Moses, appoint some
elders to help you. Pick out men who are faithful,
men who are true, men who hate covetousness, men who love God. Pick out some good men. And God
will be with you. Wasn't he already with you? Wasn't
he already helping you? He named his son Eliezer. God is my help. So shall it be
easier for thyself. Uh-oh. Those are the words that
got him, Lindsay. I don't have any question. That's
what got him. It'll be easier. It'll be easier.
Let me tell you something. I don't care whether you're talking
about spiritual things or whether you're talking about material
things. I don't care whether you're talking about building a doghouse or building
a palace. Easy street is always wrong way boulevard. Always. Always. And Jethro says, they shall bear
the burden with thee. Thou shalt be able to endure.
Follow my counsel and you'll make a better preacher last longer. But thirdly, Moses failed miserably. Oh, what a horrible mistake. He followed the counsel of carnal
reason. Verse 24, Moses hearkened to
the voice of his father-in-law. And I don't doubt that Jethro's
counsel arose from some real concern, loving concern for Moses'
health. After all, he and Moses were
good friends before they had a relationship as father-in-law
and son-in-law. In a fleshly sense, it was wise,
prudent counsel. That which he gave to Moses to
do, if Moses had been head of Chrysler Corporation, if he had
been head of the state government, wise counsel. Good way to do
things. But Moses wasn't building cars,
and he wasn't a politician. He was leading many women in
the worship and service of God. Jethro, you see, was an unbeliever. He was an unbeliever. He was
a priest of Midian, but he was an unbeliever. He was rich, but
he was an unbeliever. He was a mighty man, but he was
an unbeliever. He was as no question as well
educated, as well thought of, as highly regarded as any man
in all of Midian. But he was an unbeliever. And
that means one thing, Rex. That means he had absolutely
no spiritual discernment. None. The natural man understandeth
not things of the Spirit of God. He discerns them not, neither
can he know them. They're spiritually discerned. And the servant of
God must never allow himself to be guided by carnal principles
or by natural affections. Paul said, when God revealed
his son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. I didn't
go home and ask my mom and daddy what I ought to do. I didn't
go ask my wife what I ought to do. I didn't go ask my sons and
daughters what I ought to do. Immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood. In this business of serving God, it is indescribably a greater burden
for me, in some respects, as your pastor, than for you. But
what I'm about to say, just as true of Judy Estes as it is of
her pastor, just as true of Shelby Fortner as it is of Don Fortner.
In this business of serving God, these questions ought never even
come up. What's best for me? If I were going out negotiating
a salary for a job, I'd negotiate and I'd get the best I could.
You call me to be your pastor? The men who came up to see me
spoke to me. I didn't even talk to you about
it. Is God in this thing? That's all that matters. Is God
in it? What's best for me is irrelevant. Totally irrelevant. What's best for my family? I
can go here. I can go, oh, that'd be a good
place to live. That's a good place to raise
her. Oh, now my daughter, she'd like to live down there. My wife,
she'd like that place. I ask a lot about that. What would my family and my friends
had me to do? I can't tell you the number of
preachers that I have seen who brought themselves into utter,
utter uselessness because they chose to make a move on the basis
of those three things. I can't tell you the number of
folks sitting right where you're sitting, Bob Duff, who no longer
worship God, no longer make any pretense of
doing so. Oh, they're convinced they do,
but they don't worship Him, have no interest in Him, because they
made a move based on those three things. What's best for me? What's best for my family? What
would my family and friends have me to do? Oh, God, give me grace like Abraham,
who hears God say, bring your son, your only son Isaac, whom
you dearly love, and take him to a mountain I'm going to show
you in three days. Offer him as a sacrifice. And
Abraham said, saddle the ass, boys. We're going to go worship
God. Well, what's Sarah going to say?
This is her only son? I didn't ask Sarah. God said,
go worship God. Well, what's Eliezer going to
say? Your servant who knows that you look on Isaac as that one
in whom God's promise seed shall come, in whom is redemption.
I didn't ask Eliezer. God said, go to the mount, but
I'll show you. And he went. If we would obey God, If we would
worship God, if we would serve Him in any area of life, our
actions must be determined by what God says right here, by the revelation of His will, by that which we know is for
His glory. And Lindsey, if we consider what God says right
here, and we want to know his will, we know it. Folks, I want
to know God's will in this matter. You know God's will in this matter.
There ain't no question about that. You know what God's will
is. I don't have any question about that. There's not one of
you sitting here, not one of God's children sitting here,
not one of you who've ever had any question about what God's
will was in any decision. The only struggle you have is
whether or not you're going to do it. That's all. That's all. You know what
God's will is? Well, what's for the glory of
God? You know what's for the glory of God. The issue is you're interested
in God's will and God's glory or your way and your pleasure. Moses was a man certainly who
was heavenly burdened. That's the fourth thing. That
which was once Moses' highest honor and greatest privilege
became a great, great burden to him once he began to consider
himself. Look in Numbers chapter 11. Hold
your hands here in Exodus, but look in Numbers 11. While you're turning, listen. You see a son or a daughter in
a young family. Oh, they're nothing but a delight
to a loving mother. The cries of that child, they
might annoy everybody else but not her. The dirty diapers, may
turn the father's stomach, but not the mama. The aching breast
from nursing that child never make her resentful. What are you doing? Doesn't that
hurt? No, it doesn't hurt. That's my
baby. But let that mother start to
think about herself. Oh. Let that mother start to
be concerned about herself, her beauty, her comfort, her ease, and all that the child is costing
her. Can't do, can't go, can't be. I want, I want, I want. And that
newborn baby will wind up dead at his mother's own hands. So it was with Moses. When he
began to think about himself, rather than the will of God,
the glory of God, the people of God, he began to look on his
service and he said, oh, this is a terrible thing. Look at
verse 11, Numbers 11. Moses said unto the Lord what
he never said before. This had never come up until
after he listened to Jethro. Wherefore hast thou afflicted
thy servant? This is the man, Bob, who brought
Israel out of Egypt. This is the man who said to Pharaoh,
you just watch what God's going to do. This is the man who never
quivered when he walked in there and said, Pharaoh, God's going
to kill your boy tonight. This is the man who said to Israel,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. This is the man
who put the tree in the bitter waters of Moron and said, the
Lord God is the Lord God that healeth thee. This is the man
who said, the Lord is our banner. Let Amalek come on. And now he
says, Lord, why have you afflicted your servant? Wherefore have
I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest this burden
of all this people upon me? Have I conceived this people?
Have I begotten them that thou shouldest say unto me, carry
them in thy bosom as a nursing father, beareth the sucking child
under the land which thou swearest to their fathers? Whence should
I have flesh to give all this people? For they weep unto me,
saying, Give us flesh that we may eat. I'm not able to bear
all this people alone because it's too heavy for me. And if
thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand,
if I have found favour in thy sight, and let me not see my
wretchedness." He was willing to give up everything God had
given him. Willing to give up all the past
honour. All the past blessings. Faith, in the face of great immense
burden, doesn't cry, what can I do, but God's grace is sufficient. Instead of that, Moses' heart
failed him, we're told in verse 14. God never called him to bear
the burden of the people alone. God never left him alone. Moses
was only the instrument. The Lord God was carrying the
load. God was doing the work. God was providing the food. Moses relinquishing of his burden
as the appearance of humility. Oh, I can't do it. We can't do
it. But it wasn't anything like humility. With his lips he was saying,
I'm not sufficient. But he was really saying, God,
you're not sufficient. We must never thrust ourselves
into any work, but to shrink from any work, to shrink from
any responsibility, to shrink from anything we know God would
have us to do, to shrink from that which God has put in our
hands, is both cowardice and unbelief. Is anything too hard
for the Lord? No work's too great for Him.
No burden too heavy for Him. Someone made this statement.
With God, the weight of a mountain is nothing. Without Him, the weight of a
feather is overwhelming. It's never an act of humility
or faith to depart from any divinely appointed post or any divinely
appointed work for any reason. Difficulties are nothing with
God, look at the red sea. Needs are nothing to God. The
Egyptians' gold, the manna, the quails from heaven. Proud men
are nothing to God. Look at Pharaoh. Our frailties
and inabilities are nothing to God. Indeed, when we are weak,
then his strength is made perfect in our weakness. God can draw
a straight line with a crooked stick. He can conquer a nation
by an old man. He can speak to the hearts of
sinners by the stuttering, stammering tongue. He can speak just as
easily by a jackass as he can by a man. The power by which
we do his work is not ours, but his. Now hurry and listen to
this. When Moses complained of the
burden that God had imposed on him, God took it away. He said, you don't have to have
it now. for Moses. It's too heavy for
you? In Numbers 11, 16, and 17, let
me just give you what is said to Moses in verse 17. God said,
all right, I will take the Spirit, which is upon thee, and put it
upon them. And He did. God will never force us to serve
him. If I don't want to speak for him, I don't have to, but
that's no trouble to him. He can raise up stones to declare
his name. If I don't want to wash and kiss the master's feet,
I don't have to, but somebody will. If I don't want to break
up my alabaster box of ointment that I've been cherishing all
my life and anoint him, I don't have to. You can keep it. You
can keep it. You can keep it. Somebody will
anoint him. Somebody will break down a bastard
box. Somebody will kiss his feet. If I want to be bothered by serving
Christ, oh, what a worry. I don't have to. Somebody will, but I don't have
to. And his purpose won't be hindered. If the honor and privilege
God has given us in His service becomes a burden to us and we
want to lay it down, we can lay it down. Dead sure can. I was
sitting here thinking about preaching this message, and I thought,
those long days. I've seen Shelby over here at
2 o'clock in the morning, been over here all day long, and is
that way most every day? In hard, constant pain. I said,
well, you don't have to do that. We don't have to do that. No,
you don't have to. You don't have to. And God's
cause won't suffer if you don't. You can lay it down anytime you
want to. Anytime you want to. Go ahead
and lay it down if that's what you want.