The Excuses Of Moses

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The Excuses Of Moses
Lessons About Personal Evangelism
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During those many days the king of Egypt died,
and the people of Israel groaned because of their
slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for
rescue from slavery came up to God. And God
heard their groaning, and God remembered His
covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob. God saw the people of Israel - and God
knew. (Ex. 223-25)
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Excuse One Who Am I?

• Moses initial response to a great calling
• Exodus 37-11 - Humility or an excuse?
• Moses had some things maybe working against him!
• 80 yrs old, burned bridges, lowly shepherd in
  no-mans land
• He just had as many things at his advantage!
• Raised in Pharaohs house, a strong upbringing,
  physically strong, a shepherds training
• A promise of presence (Exodus 312)

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Excuse One Who Am I?

• Feelings of unworthiness can be handicapping!
• Maybe we feel too hypocritical to teach (2 Tim
  18-9)
• When going to a brother who is in sin (Mt 1816,
  20)
• When we are hesitant to teach others because of
  who we are, we are focused on the wrong thing!
• Consider the men God has used to carry out His
  message - Its the message that saves!

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Excuse Two What Do I Say?

• More excuses to God (Exodus 313)
• Who sent you? Who is this God? Where are we
  going? What will we do? - Legitimate!
• Didnt Moses already know enough? Ignorance was
  keeping him from obeying God!
• Who sent you? THE GREAT I AM! (vs. 14)
• More information is given (vs. 15ff)

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Excuse Two What Do I Say?

• Does a lack of knowledge hinder you?
• Many fears may run through our minds as we
  consider talking to others about the Lord
• We have a responsibility (1 Pet. 315 2 Tim
  215)
• We dont have to be experts in Gods law to
  teach others! (Acts 237 Rom. 116 Eph 25ff)
• Not having all the answers is okay! Admitting
  we dont know everything is not wrong!

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Excuse Three What If They Dont Believe?

• Moses fears the unknown possibilities
• He fears the possibility of rejection (Exodus
  41)
• Was this Moses responsibility? He was worrying
  about Gods end of the stick!
• Special gifts are given (Exodus 42-9)
• Fear of rejection is one of the biggest
  barriers!
• Keeps us from seeing potential doors of
  opportunity
• Keeps many from stepping out in doing Gods will
• Paul Baranabas experiences (Acts 1345,
  48-50)
• Our responsibility is to teach others, that
  makes us successful! (I Cor. 36 Mark 1615-16)

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Excuse Three I Am Slow of Speech

• Moses expresses inadequacy to do the job
• I just cant talk very well! (Exodus 410)
• God would not have given Moses the job unless he
  could handle it! (Exodus 411-12)
• God allows Aaron to speak for Moses (vs. 14-16)
• Some are hindered by not feeling very skillful
• Paul had slow speech and was weak (1 Cor 21-4)
• It in fact worked for the positive (2 Cor
  133-4 128-9)
• Maybe you cant teach very well you can still
  bring people to one who can! (John 140-42)

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Moses Real Reluctance Is Seen

• Moses simply did not want to go!
• Please send someone else! (Exodus 413)
• The opposite of Isaiahs attitude (Isaiah 68)
• Why would he not want to go? Fear? Comfort
  zone? Responsibility? Challenges? (Ex. 215)
• God becomes angry when he finally is totally
  honest!

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Moses Real Reluctance Is Seen

• Moses simply did not want to go!
• The reality may be that we just want someone
  else, anyone else, to do the Lords will!
• Our excuses tell the story of our hearts! We
  just dont want to do it! (Luke 1418-24)
• Maybe we dont want to get involved in the
  problems and lives of other people!
• This is a problem of the heart! (Rom. 113-15)

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Conclusion

• When it comes to talking to others about the
  Lord and His word do we hesitate saying
• Who am I? What shall I say? What if they dont
  believe? I dont talk well?
• Is our real problem a lack of desire?
• How many lost people will you talk to this
  week? How many will you try to plant the
  seed into?

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For while we were still weak, at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly. For one will
scarcely die for a righteous person - thought
perhaps for a good person one would dare even to
die - but God shows his love for us in that while
we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom.
56-8)
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to
be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 520-21)