of His grace. My gracious Master and my God
assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad
the honors of Thy name. Jesus, a man that charms our
fears, that bids our sorrows cease. His music in the sinner's
ears gives life and health and peace. He breaks the power of
cancelled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the valleys
clean, His blood a lamp for me. He breaks the power of canceled
sin. He sets the prisoner free. I like that verse. I really do. Number five. Hear him, ye dead.
His grace be done. Your loose untie him, say, boy. Blimely behold your Savior come,
and heal a lame for joy. Glory to God, and praise and
love be ever, ever given, by saints below and saints above,
the church in earth and heaven. Exodus chapter 4. I'm going to read the first 17 verses. It says, And Moses answered the
Lord, and the Lord told him to go to the elders of the people,
and they would hear him and hearken unto him. Moses answered and
said, Behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice,
for they will say, The Lord is not pure unto thee. The Lord
said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he set a rod, and he cast
it on the ground, and he cast it on the ground, and there came
a serpent, and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail. And
he put forth his hand, and he caught it, and there came a rod
in his hand. That they may believe that the
Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob, appeared unto thee. The Lord said furthermore
unto him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom, and he put his hand
into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was
as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again, and
he put his hand into his bosom again, and plucked it out of
his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if
they will not believe thee, nor hearken thou to thy voice of
the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter
sign. And it shall come to pass, if they shall not believe also
these two signs, neither hearken thou to thy voice that shall
take the water of the river and pour it on dry ground. and pour
it upon the dry ground, and the water which thou takest out of
the river shall become blood upon the dry ground. And Moses
said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither therefore
nor since have I spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of
speech and slow of tongue. And the Lord said unto him, Who
hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb that for
death see, or the blind, have I not the Lord? Now therefore
go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt
say. And he said, O my Lord, send I pray thee by the hand
of him whom thou wilt send. and the anger of the Lord was
against Moses, and he said, Is not he right thy brother? I know
that he can speak well, and also, behold, he cometh forth to meet
thee, and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
Now shall speak unto him, and put words in his mouth, and I
will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you
what ye shall do. And he shall be a spokesman unto the people,
even as he shall be unto thee instead of a mouth, and thou
shalt be unto him instead of God. And thou shalt take this
rod in thy hand wherewith thou shalt do signs. Let us pray. Our Father, bless you and thank
you for the mercy, sweet and precious, ever new, every morning. We thank you. in your grand plan of election
and salvation. We thank you, Father, that you
chose your people before the war began, not counting that
anything that could ever be should please thee, but doing all that
was necessary for their salvation, what you required, you accomplished,
and we marvel at the thought of it. We thank you for the shed
blood of Jesus Christ, that perfect death, offered in the name of
Jesus, that satisfies your justice and your law, which propitiated
you and caused these wretched sinners to be your sons, not
servants, to be welcomed into your family, adopted and born
again. We think of these things, and they are too wonderful for
us. We bless you and thank you. We pray for those who are sick,
those who are going through great afflictions and sorrow and anguish
of heart. I know it's every case. Help,
Lord. We know that there's nothing
too hard for you. You can heal, you can speak,
and everything is done. You can purpose it, and it shall
come to pass, and none can turn it back. We ask in the name of
Jesus Christ, we glorify your name to heal these sick folk. And Father, we ask in the name
of Jesus Christ that you might tonight be with us in the presence
of your Holy Spirit to take those blessed things of Christ and
build them unto us. Show us what we are. Show us
our great need. Show us our weakness and our
frailty. We might fall upon thee and trust
thee as our only hope in this world. Help us, Lord, we pray
in Christ's name. Amen. And when our Lord was about to
heal a man, a man's son actually, who had suffered convulsions,
deaths, and mutes since he was a child, our Lord said to the
man who asked the Lord for help, He said, If you can believe,
all things are possible to him that believes. And to this statement the man
replied, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. In another place, after our Lord
told his disciples to forgive an arrogant brother always, the
disciples said, Increase our faith. To that he said, If your
faith is a mustard seed, you can move mountains. I know some
people who've tried to gain that kind of faith all their life,
but that's not what our Lord is setting an example that you
ought to try to achieve. He said, you'll never have that
faith. These come from much prayer and
fasting. He told the disciples, we should
increase our faith. We don't have that kind of faith.
Only one man ever had that kind of faith, and that was the Lord
Jesus Christ as he walked upon this earth. But these were examples
of the ever-present nature within us. the plague of our soul and
the bane of our spirit, and that is our unbelief, which is the
title of our message tonight. Unbelief is the mother of all
sin, and is not only found in the heart of the infidel, but
is a thing that is always contrary to the spirit of the believer. The flesh is the old man that
troubles the new man. It is always with us, so that
we cannot do what we would, Paul said to the church, the flesh,
the flesh, the spirit, the spirit, the flesh, the flesh, so we cannot
do what we would. These are always contrary to
one another. Unbelief, he said to the Corinthians,
is that high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
or the acknowledgement of God. It must be brought to the obedience
of Christ, the only man who ever believed only. Unbelief is the
first thing that the Spirit reproves men of. Look over to John chapter
16. John chapter 16 is our Lord preparing
His disciples for His departure from this world after the crucifixion
and ascension. They are troubled. And so he
says in John 14, let not your heart be troubled. You believe
in God, believe also in me. I go to prepare a place for you.
If I go, I'll come back and I'll bring you to that place I prepared
for you. But in John chapter 16, he says,
I'm going away, but I'm going to leave the Holy Spirit with
you, my spirit. He says in John chapter 16, verse
7, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient that for
me, for you, that I go away. Why is it expedient that the
Lord didn't stay here as a visible human being on this earth? It
was expedient so that we would understand that we walked by
faith and not by sight. That was necessary. He said,
For if I go away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if
I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He
will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Religion would come up with all
kinds of things to define those three elements. Sin they would call
drinking, smoking, drinking, smoking, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies,
going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies,
going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to
the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to
the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to
the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies,
going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to
the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies,
going to the movies, going to the movies, going to the movies, going to that you are not living holy. The Holy Spirit is going to teach
you how to live holy and be a good person and a righteous person
in this world. Then they look in there and say
there is a judgment coming and people do not believe in Jesus
are going to hell and they are going to nail it down. But our
Lord knows that and so He defines what these things are. He says
it is going to reprove the world of sin. What is sin? Because
they believe not on Yes. Unbelievable. The very first
thing of righteousness because I go to my Father. What does
that mean? That Christ has been made to
be with us in righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
of judgment, because I'm going to judge Satan, the prince of
this world is going to be cast out. He said, I have many things
to say to you, but you cannot bear them yet. When he, the Spirit
of truth has come, he will guide you in all the truth, for he
shall not speak of himself. So if he speaks of himself, he
wouldn't be speaking the truth, would he? For whatsoever he shall
hear, That shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine, and he shall show it unto you. All things
that the Father hath of mine, therefore said unto us, he will
take of mine, and he will show it unto you. That's what the
Holy Spirit is. And the first thing he reproves
men of, all men, is that they don't believe on Jesus Christ.
The flesh and flesh and residing in the bosom of every believer
proves a mysterious thing. There is no dotted line drawn
down the middle of our mind and our bodies and our hearts that
enables us to know which is which most of the time. What is flesh
and what is spirit? Sin that is clearly defined and
prohibited in Scripture is easily attributed to the flesh. We know
that's a sin. We know that's adultery. We know
that's a sin. But unbelief is a subtle thing. As subtle as the serpent may
be, it may take the form of humility, it may take the form of meekness,
it may take the form of pride, and even boldness is courage. Unbelief may manifest when a
thing is so amazing and wondrous that it seems too good to be
true. One time the disciples said to the Lord, they believe
not for joy. Too good, too good. It was overwhelming. Sooner or later, the believer
is going to say with Paul, With my mind I serve the law of God,
and with my flesh I serve the law of sin and death. That's
not going to change, isn't it? As it were from the fire, hating
the garment spotted with the flesh. And the spots that dot
the garment are the forensic blood spatter of unbelief. And
the passage I've read to you for tonight's consideration is
a very interesting one. It talks about throwing down
a rod and turning it into a snake, putting it inside your shirt,
putting it on as a leprosy. Those things are very interesting,
and I'll look at them more in depth at our next meeting. But
as I read this passage, I was struck with three responses that
Moses uttered in reply to the Lord's command, and the Lord's
promise, and even the miracles that were performed before Moses'
eyes. The Lord had commanded Moses to gather the elders of
Israel, and everything he said in this passage is about that
incident of gathering the elders of Israel. It's not talking about
going to Pharaoh yet. It's talking about getting all
the elders of Israel together. These are God's people. These
are the ones who are supposed to be worshipping God. The Lord
commanded them to gather the elders of Israel and tell them
that the Lord had visited them and seen their affliction and
was going to deliver them from the slavery of Egypt. That's
what Moses was to tell the people. The Lord had promised that the
elders would hear Moses. The Lord said, They will hear
you. They will listen. They will hear you and they will
hearken. That means they will not act upon what they hear.
They will hearken unto you. And He said, and they would come
with Him to face Pharaoh. Now that's a promise of God. And the first verse of chapter
4 is Moses' response to that. And it's an example of unbelief. The Lord said, they will hearken.
He said that in chapter 3, verse 18. He said, and they shall hearken
unto thy voice. And thou shalt come, thou and
thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, saying,
Enter the Lord God of the Hebrews, has met with us, now let us go,
beseech the journey of the willers, and we may sacrifice unto the
Lord our God. They will hearken, the Lord said. What does Moses say? Moses answered,
Behold, they will not believe me, they will not hearken unto
my voice, for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto
thee. Moses said they would not believe or hearken, after the
Lord said they will believe and hearken. What entered into the
mind of Moses is not known, but every believer and every preacher
can relate to his response as they consider when they have
had an opportunity to say the gospel and knew that those they
spoke to would not believe them. it's not that you've talked to
people about Christ. You just see it in their eyes.
They roll their eyes on what you're talking about. You know
they won't believe. You know that. Moses knew. That's what he knew. I'm going
to tell them. They won't believe. They won't
believe. And the truth is this. They will
not believe you. And they will not believe me.
And they will not believe Moses. They will not believe them. If
they believe, it will be a miracle of God's grace. It will be a
gift of grace, and they will believe God if they really believe. But the heart of this response
is not born of an understanding of grace. It's born of an unbelief,
and the unbelief is that the result is somehow up to the one
who speaks. That's what he's really saying.
He won't hear me. I'm going to fail because they
won't hear me. God said they're going to hear
you, and they're going to hearken to you. We often take it to heart
as if we failed with failure. This was never in our court to
begin with. We could never get that out of
our minds and start believing what a world this would be. Results
are not in our hands. They have never been in our hands,
and they never will be in our hands. Scripture says the Lord's
sheep will hear His voice, and His voice is not our voice. We're saying words. We're forth
tellers. We tell things out. His voice
is His word, which He says in John 6, 63, is spirit and life. My words, they are spirit. He said, the flesh profiteth
nothing. My words, they are spirit and
they are life. I've commissioned us to tell
to the Lord belongs the increase and it is He who adds to the
church daily that should be saved. That's how it works. It's the
Lord that does this. What unbelief really is, is somehow
in our minds, we feel like when we obey the Lord's commands,
somehow, somewhere in that picture, there is the element that we
must accomplish something. We must see some result. That's
unbelief. That's what Moses said. They
won't hear me. They won't hearken unto me. And
after the Lord had performed those two miracles with the rod
and the hand and leprosy, and promised the third, to cause
the elders to believe. Moses replied again in verse
10. He said, Lord, I am not eloquent,
nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant. I was not before
you spoke to me, and I am not eloquent now. Now what that means
is I am not a great speaker. I do not do well with words.
He said, I am slow of speech. and slow of tongue. And here Moses takes humility,
or unbelief, and it takes the form of humility. But it is,
if not false, it is ill-formed humility. His unbelief is manifesting
in believing that somehow the result of the Hebrew elders heeding
and hearkening and hearing him has to do with his ability to
speak. His eloquence or lack thereof
usually thinks that it actually plays into the effectualness
of God's promise. God's promise that the elders
would hear and hearken is entirely up to God's performance. And
Abraham believed God and believed He was able to perform that which
He has promised in Romans chapter 4. That's where it comes from.
We trust God to do these things. God has told us to preach the
gospel. God has told us to tell folks about Christ. God has told
us to tell folks what He's done for us. What He's done for His
people. We're to sit for the glories
of Jesus Christ and that perfect sacrifice. We're to do that.
But we're to stop there. That's the hardest thing for
us poor old human beings is that we just don't believe enough
to believe that God's going to take whatever that is and do
something with it. But He will. Because He has promised
He will. God promised that the elder would
hear and hearken, and it is entirely up to God to perform it. That
does not mean you do not do what God has told you to do, but it
simply means that you take yourself out of the equation as to any
result of it taking place. Our Lord says, How His gospel
comes to me. Remember Moses' complaint was,
I am not eloquent. How does our Lord say His gospel
comes to me? Stammering lips. With stammering
lips and another tongue. Fear and trembling is what Paul
said. I come fear and trembling, not
with the eloquent words of men's wisdom. That's what God uses. Not words of man's wisdom. He
uses his gospel to set forth the truth. So that there can
be no doubt that the performance of the promise and the obedience
and the command belong solely to God. How do I know that? Because
he does it in stammering lips. Our stammering lips. Our slow
tongue. Our lack of eloquence. That's how he does it. So no
man can ever look at us and say, we caused that to happen. Now
men do have eloquence. Some men are eloquent speakers.
Some men have power of personality and character. And because of
that, men actually attribute their salvation to the man. And
they follow the man. But it's not the man that saves.
It's the man that tells. I remember one time Jerry He couldn't wait to get to heaven
and find all those people who'd come up and shake his hand and
say, thank you for saving me, Jerry. And that's what they'd
say, because Jerry saved them. God didn't save them, but Jerry
did. Us poor creatures, wretched,
weak, timid, frail, fearful, with trembling lips, stammering
lips, we tell folks. And then we back away. Because
God's promise, my word, shall not return to be void. But let
go where I send it, and accomplish what I purpose. God said He'd
do that. And that's the truth. God uses his men to preach the
gospel so that there can be no doubt that the performance of
the promise and the obedience to the command belong solely
to God Almighty. Why will these Hebrews hear?
Because God is going to make them hear. Moses is going to
tell them. But Moses is going to make them
hear. He is going to make them hear.
And after the Lord rebukes Moses and promises to speak with his
mouth and teach him, what does he say? He says, O my Lord, send I pray
thee by the hand of him whom thou wilt sin or should sin. What's he saying? Well, he's
responding in unbelief. Moses is basically saying, please
send someone else to do the task. And many say he was referring,
please send the Messiah. Well, he's coming. He's coming,
but not yet. Again, this is the form of humanitarian
unbelief. Moses is still believing that
the results belong to man. Send somebody else to do it.
In this case, he believes that a better man can do it. A man
with different and better abilities can do it. The message of Isaiah
reads loud and clear, when he said, Seek ye from man whose
breath is in his nostrils, for where is he to be accounted of? Hear the word of the Lord. He
said, I have purposed it. I will also do it. I have spoken
it, and it shall come to pass. Moses, go gather the children
of Israel, the elders, and tell them that God has appeared to
you. they'll hear you, and they'll
hearken. And all Moses could come up with
was excuses, because Moses believed God. He believed God, just like
all true believers believe the gospel. That doesn't take away
this thing in us, this flesh in us. It makes us want to say,
somehow, I have to make this work. We can't make it work. We can't make it work. But God
will. Because He has promised. Oh,
to trust Him. Only trust Him. Oh, to only believe
God. And remove ourselves from the
equation except what God has told us to do. Father, bless
us to understand and pray in Christ's name. Amen.