Participants: Pr. Dwight K. Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP052408
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00:27 Sing with me How great is our God
00:33 And all will see how great How great is our God 00:49 Psalms 92:1-2 says, "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, 00:54 and praise Your name, O Most High. 00:58 To declare Your love and kindness in the morning 01:00 and Your faithfulness by night." 01:02 Please join us as we sing here "I'm the Worship." 01:20 Light of the world You step down into darkness 01:27 Opened my eyes let me see 01:34 Beauty that made this heart adore You 01:40 Hope of a life spent with You 01:49 Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down 01:56 Here I am to say that You're my God 02:03 You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy 02:09 Altogether wonderful to me 02:22 King of all days oh so highly exalted 02:29 Glorious in heaven above 02:35 Humbly You came to the earth You created 02:42 All for love's sake became poor 02:50 Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down 02:58 Here I am to say that You're my God 03:04 You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy 03:11 Altogether wonderful to me 03:19 I'll never know how much it cost 03:26 To see my sin upon that cross 03:33 I'll never know how much it cost 03:39 To see my sin upon that cross 03:46 And I'll never know how much it cost 03:53 To see my sin upon that cross 04:00 I'll never know how much it cost 04:06 To see my sin upon that cross 04:16 Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down 04:23 Here I am to say that You're my God 04:29 You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy 04:37 Altogether wonderful to me 05:08 I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice 05:21 To worship You, O my soul, rejoice 05:37 Take joy, my King, in what You hear 05:50 May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear 06:09 In the calm of Your presence I am listening, Lord 06:19 I am still, I am quiet, I am Yours 06:30 In the calm of Your presence I am listening, Lord 06:40 I am still, I am quiet, I am Yours 06:50 Let Your word speak to me 06:55 Let Your spirit draw near 07:00 I will obey the truth that I hear 07:11 In the calm of Your presence I am listening, Lord 07:21 I am still, I am quiet, I am Yours 07:31 There's a thirst in my soul 07:36 For Your wisdom divine 07:41 I long for the peace and life that I find 07:54 In the calm of Your presence I am listening, Lord 08:06 I am still, I am quiet, I am Yours 08:16 I am still, I am quiet, I am Yours 08:26 I am still, I am quiet 08:35 I am Yours, I am Yours 08:52 Let's be honest with each other. 08:55 There are some things in life that are difficult to swallow. 09:03 Egg shells in your potato salad, 09:08 spinach 09:12 and pride. 09:16 Swallowing your pride is enough to gag you, isn't it? 09:24 Eating humble pie makes you wonder, doesn't it? 09:30 Could be that, that is the one culinary skill 09:33 that God would have all of us master 09:36 eating humble pie? 09:43 Because of that we have begun, you and I 09:46 a new mini series here in the Pioneer pulpit entitled 09:49 "Not I but Christ- 09:53 Tales of Humility." 09:59 Six biographies, 10:01 in fact we're gonna throw a seventh one in, 10:03 next time you and I are together. 10:06 Seven biographies, 10:09 tales of humility and you and me. 10:15 Today's story, "Humility's Best Fried." 10:20 Let's pray. 10:24 O, God, in the calm of Your presence 10:26 as the Girls of Mercy here have just sung. 10:29 In the calm of Your presence, 10:32 teach us we need to get this one right, 10:40 if indeed heaven is our home. 10:43 We pray in Jesus name, amen. 10:48 It's one of the greatest rags to riches, 10:51 back to rags again stories in all the history. 10:55 Born a slave, adopted, 10:59 a prince turned fugitive killer on the lamb, on the run. 11:06 The whole world loves the story 11:08 of the Prince of Egypt. 11:10 Just to kind of give us a flavor for the story 11:14 before we plunge into couple of scenes from the story 11:17 I want you to take a look at the screen right now, 11:18 the Prince of Egypt. 11:20 This is a summary of that life we all know so well. 11:33 In the world of power and mystery... 11:38 River O river flew gentle for me 11:45 A child is discovered by a queen. 11:48 Come, Ramses, we will show Pharaoh 11:50 your new baby brother, Moses. 11:53 And raised in the family of a mighty dynasty. 12:00 Second born, second place up for long. 12:03 They were the sons of a king. One was born to rule. 12:08 I bear the weight of my father's crown. 12:12 The other was chosen to lead. 12:14 And you are not a Price of Egypt. 12:16 What did you say? 12:17 Ask the man that you call father. 12:20 I can't stay here any longer. Moses. 12:21 No! 12:23 All I've ever known to be true is a lie. 12:27 The gold you contempt for life 12:28 before it destroys everything you hold dear. 12:31 I'll not be either weak link. 12:33 Soldiers! They are coming. 12:35 There shall be a great cry in all of Egypt 12:38 such as never has been or ever will be again! 12:42 Rameses, let my people go. 12:49 Discover the mystery. 12:53 Experience the majesty. 12:56 Believe in miracles. 13:01 Feel the power of the greatest adventure of all time. 13:10 "The Prince of Egypt." 13:17 Oh, that's enough to take your breathe away, isn't it? 13:18 Get that all the adrenaline pump in? 13:21 I want to take two scenes, just two scenes. 13:24 The life, the unforgettable life of Moses 13:27 and you and me if this is truly a tale of humility. 13:30 Let's go to that opening scene. 13:32 A little Book of Exodus, the second book in your Bible. 13:34 Grab your Bible right now. 13:36 If you didn't your Bible there's a pew Bible in the rack 13:38 right in front of you. 13:41 Exodus Chapter 2, let's plunge into the story together. 13:45 Just a couple of scenes, maybe three. 13:47 Exodus 2, this will be page 38 in your Pew Bible. 13:52 Follow along, 13:53 if you didn't bring your Bible you got to follow the story. 13:54 There is a secret clue 13:57 tugged into the heart of one of the records, 13:59 we're gonna know it in just a moment. 14:00 So you need to see it. 14:01 Exodus 2:1, I'll be in the New King James Version. 14:06 Whatever translation you have is fine. 14:08 "And a man," here we go. 14:10 "And a man of the house of Levi 14:12 went and took as wife a daughter of Levi." 14:14 These are the 12 sons of Jacob. 14:16 They are in Egypt, all right. 14:19 Boy falls in love with a girl, here we go. 14:21 And she conceived, verse 2. 14:22 "So the woman conceived and bore a son. 14:25 And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, 14:27 she hid him three months." 14:31 Now the clue to subplot to this narrative 14:34 is actually tugged away in Chapter 1 14:35 where another Horatio Alger, rags to richest story 14:39 is immediately brought to mind when we see the one name, 14:43 it is the name of another Hebrew slave 14:45 who also was accelerated, elevated to heady prominence, 14:50 we're talking about Prime Minister of Egypt 14:52 and in the name we all know, 14:53 another fascinating tale, Joseph, all right. 14:56 So Joseph is clued to in Chapter 1, 15:00 because then we all remember, 15:01 Oh, that's right Joseph brought his nomadic tribe family 15:05 from the north brought them down into Egypt, 15:10 settle them in the-- 15:12 Pharaoh said, you take the best land, 15:14 settle them in the land of Goshen. 15:16 We don't live that far from Goshen ourselves, do we? 15:18 Settle them in the land of Goshen 15:21 and that little band of 70, oh, they were a fertile bunch 15:27 and they immediately began to grow and grow and grow 15:30 and they became just like the United States. 15:34 They became a nation within a nation, 15:37 speaking another language. 15:43 Then Pharaoh dies. 15:45 Well, how many Pharaoh's go by? 15:46 I have no idea, but the record says, 15:49 and then arose a Pharaoh who did not know 15:53 the former Prime Minister of Egypt the Hebrew Joseph. 15:57 It's not rocket science, just do the arithmetic. 15:59 If this fertility explosion continues 16:03 they will eventually outnumber us 16:05 and so he declares them all illegal aliens, 16:08 sound familiar? 16:10 Declares them all illegal aliens 16:12 and then shackles them 16:15 to begin building over decades, 16:17 the mighty cities of the Pharaoh. 16:19 Yep, that's the story. 16:20 Oh, and by the way, 16:22 even though you shackled the Hebrew women, 16:24 you can't stop their fertility and the babies just kept coming 16:28 until finally an imperial edict is, 16:31 edict is issued by the Pharaoh, every Hebrew boy you find, 16:34 every baby Hebrew, gone, kill him. 16:38 No boys, no more boys, we got enough. 16:42 So that's why the mother is hiding her new born son. 16:47 Now we happened to know that the mother's name is Jochebed. 16:51 Three months you can keep a little baby boy 16:52 'cause baby boys are awfully noisy, I know. 16:56 You can keep him quiet for three months, 16:57 but after that it's over. 16:59 So I pick the story up now. 17:01 "But when she could no longer hide him," verse 3. 17:04 Exodus 2:3. 17:05 "But when she could no longer hide him, 17:06 she took an ark of bulrushes for him," 17:08 oh, my daddy used to tell us the stories 17:10 as kids all the time. 17:12 "She took an, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, 17:14 she daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, 17:17 and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 17:19 And his sister stood afar off" 17:20 that would be Marian we learned later. 17:22 "His sister stood afar off," 12 years older, 17:24 "to know what would be done to the little baby." 17:26 Then verse 5. 17:28 "The daughter of Pharaoh" just happened. 17:32 There's no such thing as just happened 17:33 in the economy of God, ladies and gentlemen. 17:35 If your life is going through a horrible patch 17:38 and stretch right now. 17:40 You need to know that there's a God in this universe 17:44 who just happens to be tracking your story 17:48 in the moment of your greatest extremity. 17:51 He can rewrite what is happening around you 17:54 so that it just happens that you can get there 18:00 from the here you are stuck in today. 18:04 It just happened that "The daughter of Pharaoh," 18:08 verse 5, "came down to bathe at the river. 18:10 And her maidens walked along the riverside, 18:11 and when she saw the ark among the reeds" 18:14 girls, get me that basket. 18:16 Watch up. 18:19 And they did. 18:20 "And when she opened it," verse 6 18:21 "she saw the child and behold the baby wept." 18:28 Now I got to tell you. 18:29 This is just a little teaching moment. 18:32 I love animation and I love cartoons and all the rest, 18:35 but when a cartoon attempts to portray sacred history, 18:38 you got to understand they don't always get it right. 18:40 And in the cartoon when she opens the lid, 18:43 the baby begins to coo and laugh, a little giggle. 18:48 But the one who wrote the story, 18:52 said, oh, no, no, no, 18:54 there's something happening in here. 18:55 The baby wails. 18:58 It's a literary device, the chapter will end 19:00 with a mighty wail ascending 19:02 from the enslaved children of Israel to heaven 19:04 and it says, God heard to set us up for the God 19:07 who hears the wailing of our broken hearts. 19:10 The princess hears the wails wail 19:14 and it smites her. 19:18 "And behold, the baby wept. 19:19 So she had compassion on him, and she said," 19:22 Hey girls, "This is one of the Hebrews kids." 19:29 And all the sudden-- 19:31 somebody materializes at her side. 19:34 Hey, where did you come from? 19:38 Now the princess is very bright. 19:40 She wasn't born yesterday. This is not rocket science. 19:44 When the little girl standing beside of the 12-year-old says, 19:47 oh, by the way I see you found the baby. 19:48 Would you like a mother who was able to nurse this baby 19:51 still nursing-- the princess does two and two, 19:57 this is the older sister, she knows where the mother is 20:00 and the princess feigns like she doesn't know. 20:03 Well, imagine that. 20:04 You know somebody who could feed this baby? 20:07 Well, I'll tell you what girl, get me that woman 20:09 and bring her to me, that's exactly what happens. 20:11 And so verse 9, 20:13 "Pharaoh's daughter says to the mother," 20:15 this would be Jochebed now. 20:17 "Take this child away and nurse him for me." 20:21 Hey, moms, how would you like this deal? 20:23 "Take this child away and nurse him for me, 20:25 and I will pay you" 20:26 for being the mother that you're supposed to be. 20:29 Is their a mother who would turn down that offer? 20:31 I'll pay you for being a mother to this child. 20:35 Paid to rear up that little baby. 20:38 Oh, my. 20:40 "So the woman took the child and nursed him." 20:42 And notice this, "And the child grew, 20:45 and she, the mother brought him to Pharaoh's daughter" one day 20:49 "and he," the baby now grown, "became her the princess' son. 20:54 So she the princess called his named Moses 20:59 'Because I drew him out of the water.'" 21:01 Now the Hebrew name is Mosea, it means drawn out. 21:05 And it probable that the Hebrew name 21:08 is meant to match the Egyptian name 21:10 that Moses was given because Ttuthmos 21:13 that Pharaohs ended OSE Moses, 21:19 Moshe, I drew him out, he's my boy. 21:25 Scholars are not sure exactly how old the baby was 21:28 when Jacob had delivered little Moses to the princess, 21:31 the adoptive mother. 21:32 Some scholars suggest maybe two or three years old, 21:35 that will make sense to me, but other scholars come along 21:37 and say, hey, wait a minute. 21:38 He was not to be delivered until childhood was through 21:41 and that transition time would be about the age of 12. 21:45 Patriarchs and Prophets agrees with those scholars 21:49 that at the age of 12 21:50 Jochebed took little Moses to his new home. 21:54 I can't let this moment slip by without reading a word to you. 21:59 It's not in your study guide, I put it on the screen for you 22:01 from the book "Patriarchs and Prophets." 22:03 Listen to this, make this stunning point. 22:05 Significant, if there's a mother here 22:07 or a mother to be within the sound of this voice 22:10 listen up, all right. 22:12 Here we go. 22:13 I'll put it on the screen for you. 22:14 "How far-reaching in its results 22:16 was the influence of that one Hebrew woman, 22:19 and she an exile and a slave! 22:21 The whole future life of Moses, 22:23 the great mission which he fulfilled as a leader of Israel 22:25 testifies to the importance 22:27 of the work of the Christian mother. 22:28 There is no other work that can equal this." 22:34 Some of you, I've talked to mothers, 22:36 I've talked to mothers, some of you are stone away 22:39 in an academic community like this 22:41 because everybody else is getting a degree, 22:43 everybody else is working for the university 22:46 and I'm stuck at home with these snotty nose brats. 22:53 You don't feel that way often, 22:54 but you do feel that way, be honest. 22:56 I've talked to mothers. 23:01 Listen, momma, there is no task on the planet 23:05 equal to the high calling of being a mother, 23:07 so don't you go down, 23:09 don't you go pooping on your own prey. 23:14 No task equal to this. 23:16 Read on, put it on the screen there. 23:17 "To a very extent the mother holds in her own hands 23:19 the destiny of her children. 23:21 Let every mother feel that her moments are priceless, 23:24 her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts. 23:28 Then it will be found that many who have blessed, 23:30 that many who have blessed the world 23:31 with the light of genius and truth and holiness, 23:35 owe the principles that were 23:37 the mainspring of their influence 23:38 and success to a praying, Christian mother." 23:41 You keep praying, momma. 23:44 Hey, listen, papa, I've heard enough amen's from you, 23:46 I want to hear from the women now. 23:52 Listen, momma, I want you praying. 23:55 You keep praying until that child, 23:57 till you or the child dies, whichever comes first. 24:00 You pray. 24:02 I have mothers who are heartbroken 24:04 they say, listen, it's all over, 24:05 I couldn't do it, I just, I failed. 24:06 You didn't fail, you're succeeding right now, 24:09 you just keep praying. 24:11 You do not know the impact 24:13 of an accumulated treasure chest 24:15 of your prayers in heaven one day. 24:18 You never stop praying, you pray, 24:21 you pray and you pray. 24:24 Another sacred story of Exodus 24:25 just fast-forward's over 30 years, gone. 24:29 We would not know what happened during those 30 years, 24:31 weren't for a man who was on trial for his life. 24:34 In fact, his defense will be aliquant, 24:36 but it will not work, 24:37 they will still murder him at the end of that trial. 24:41 Because of Stephen we now know a detail 24:44 that would never have been known. 24:46 And I want to take you to Stephen 24:48 the defense of his life. 24:49 Acts Chapter 7. Acts Chapter 7. 24:52 Find Acts, so you got-- 24:54 here is where something slips in 24:56 that we never would have known. 24:57 Watch this, Acts Chapter 7, fascinating. 25:00 Acts Chapter 7, Stephen is on defense, 25:04 he will be stoned at the end of the chapter. 25:06 Pick it up in verse 20. 25:07 So in the middle of his defense he's kind of-- 25:09 he's recounting sacred history and then he comes to Moses. 25:12 Verse 20, and at this time-- this is Acts-- 25:14 Oh, by the way I didn't give you the page number, 738. 25:17 Now let me rush you here, 738. 25:20 All right, verse 20. 25:21 "And at this time Moses was born, 25:26 and was well pleasing to God, 25:28 and he was brought up in his father's house 25:30 for three months," so far the account agrees. 25:33 "But when he was set out," in that little bulrushes ark, 25:37 "Pharaoh's daughter took him away 25:39 and brought him up as her own son." 25:42 Now notice verse 22. 25:43 "And Moses was learned" it's how we say that word, 25:46 "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, 25:50 and was mighty in words and deeds." 25:55 I may hit the pause button right there. 25:59 Now Stephen is summarizing the nearly 30 years 26:05 that Moses has lived in the guild 26:07 as it were palaces of Pharaoh. 26:11 No record anywhere else. 26:13 And then Stephen comes along and says, oh, by the way, 26:15 Moses was learned 26:16 in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, 26:18 and was mighty in words and deeds. 26:20 And that not to surprise any of us because guess what? 26:23 He was adopted by the Princess of Egypt. 26:25 Wouldn't it make sense that the Princess of Egypt 26:28 would train him in the highest 26:31 and greatest institutions of the entire world? 26:35 Would it make sense to conclude 26:37 that indeed Moses set at the feet 26:39 of the world's brightest intellects? 26:40 That Moses in fact was trained as an officer 26:42 in the world's mightiest army. 26:44 Of course he's the boy of the king, 26:45 he is gonna be trained as a warrior. 26:47 Wouldn't it make sense that he studied in the classrooms 26:49 of the world's most brilliant jurists? 26:55 Come on, when you adopt a child, 26:58 trust me, you will invest every penny you have 27:04 to ensure the success of that child. 27:06 And when you're the Princess of Egypt 27:08 and you have it all, you get it all 27:10 as the boy of the queen, of the princess. 27:16 By the way Patriarchs and Prophets, 27:17 take a look at this, put on the screen for you. 27:19 Patriarchs and Prophets. 27:20 "At the court of Pharaoh, 27:22 Moses received the highest civil and military training. 27:26 The monarch had determined 27:27 to make his adopted grandson his successor." 27:30 He's inline. He's inline. 27:33 "He's successor on the throne, 27:35 and the youth was educated for his high station. 27:36 His ability as military leader made him a favorite, 27:39 a favorite with the armies of Egypt," 27:41 the Prince of Egypt 27:42 "and he was generally regarded as a remarkable character." 27:46 And 30 years fly by, 27:49 30 years of the best that the world has to offer 27:52 and through all of them as Stephen's defense 27:55 is now about to make clear. 27:56 Moses never forgets that he is a Hebrew 28:01 and a child of the Almighty Creator God. 28:05 He's one with the slave race and he's one with their God. 28:11 He never forgets. 28:19 Let me read to you verse 23 now. 28:23 Okay, the 30 years went by, skipped in Exodus, 28:26 verse 23 of Acts 7. 28:27 "Now when he" Moses "was 40 years old, 28:31 it came into his heart to visit his brothers, 28:35 the children of Israel." 28:38 Something mysterious happened one day, 28:40 we're not told the occasion. 28:42 Something dawns in the mind of this young prince. 28:46 He knows who he is and it came into his heart. 28:55 If we didn't have the Bible Hall of Fame 28:58 we wouldn't know what came into his heart, 28:59 but I want to share this with you. 29:00 We just do it after, stay right there in Acts 7 29:02 we will do it off the screen. 29:03 This is Hebrews 11, 29:04 "By faith Moses, when he became of age" 29:06 all right, around the age of 40. 29:08 "When he became of age, refused" 29:10 something clicked inside 29:11 and he "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 29:15 choosing rather to suffer affliction 29:17 with the people of God 29:18 than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 29:21 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches 29:25 than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward." 29:30 The die was cast. 29:31 We don't know what it took, but the die was cast, 29:33 his decision has made. 29:35 Now I got to share this with you, this is fascinating. 29:38 A little bit of intriguing detail 29:39 from Patriarchs and Prophets. 29:41 Look at this, "Angels instructed Moses 29:45 that Jehovah had chosen him 29:48 to break the bondage of His people. 29:51 He, supposing that they were to obtain 29:52 their freedom by force of arms, 29:54 expected to lead the Hebrew host 29:56 against the armies of Egypt." 29:59 We're gonna do this militarily and I'm the one 30:01 and so one Sunday afternoon he steps off of his chariot 30:07 and he sees an Egyptian taskmaster without mercy, 30:13 flogging the life out of one of his countryman, 30:16 a fellow Hebrew. 30:21 Go back to Acts 7. 30:24 I want to pick up again in verse 23. 30:25 "Now when he was forty years old, 30:26 it came into his heart" 30:28 Stephen's defense is going on here. 30:29 "It came into his heart 30:30 to visit his brothers and children of Israel." 30:32 Now verse 24. 30:33 "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, 30:36 he defended and avenged him who was oppressed." 30:40 Exodus 2 says, he looks this way 30:41 and he looks that way. 30:43 He make sure that there is no eye witness 30:45 to what he is about to do as prince of Egypt. 30:48 "And then he struck down the Egyptian." 30:50 When you've been trained as a warrior, 30:53 a general with the Egyptian armies, 30:55 it's a piece of cake, gone. 30:58 And then Exodus 2 tells us that with sand he covers up 31:03 the murdered Egyptian, he's buried, 31:07 it's over, trying on my new calling. 31:11 How's it feel, Moses? I'm a leader. 31:15 I've been called to deliver these people. 31:18 The next day, the next day, where is this? 31:25 Verse 24, "He buries the Egyptian for he". 31:29 I want you to catch 25. 31:30 Now this is clue that Stephen gives 31:32 that you won't find anywhere else. 31:33 Look at verse 25 of Acts 7. 31:35 "For," why did he do it? 31:36 "He supposed that his brothers would have understood 31:40 that God would deliver them by his hand, 31:44 but they did not understand." 31:46 He said well they know. They did know who he was. 31:48 Trust me, they knew who he was. He knows who they are. 31:51 Everybody knows that man is a Hebrew, 31:56 next to the throne of Egypt. 31:58 The next day. So the next day, verse 26. 32:02 Moses "Appeared to two of them as they were fighting, 32:04 trying to reconcile them, saying," 32:06 hey, listen guys, come on, come on you're brothers. 32:07 Why do you wrong one another? 32:10 Now watch this. 32:12 Only in Stephen's account 32:13 these are two Hebrew slaves going at. 32:17 One is-- but just getting 32:18 ready to go again and Moses is trying to break it up 32:21 and the one who's about to slug. 32:23 Look at this. 32:24 "But he who did his neighbor wrong" 32:26 verse 27, "pushed him away." 32:30 You have a little bit of physical here. 32:32 You have that slave coming up to Moses, get out of here. 32:36 Who made you to be a ruler and judge over us? 32:41 You know 32:43 that's the embarrassing question, isn't it? 32:45 To ask Moses, hey, Moses, who made you the ruler? 32:48 The answer is Moses did. I'm doing it my way. 32:54 And in that instant, when the slave 32:58 looks into the princess face and says, 33:00 hey, I suppose you're gonna kill me now 33:03 like you slaughtered the Egyptian yesterday. 33:08 Moses knows it's over. 33:12 Destinies plan A crashes and burns 33:18 because of Moses. 33:22 And the record reads and then at this saying, Moses fled. 33:29 Moses fled a colossal failure 33:34 to the death warrant now on his head. 33:39 Failure. Failure. 33:44 Who among us today does not know 33:46 the meaning of that word failure in life, 33:50 failure in love, failure in business, 33:56 failure in career, failure in marriage, 34:01 failure in school, failure in private, failure in public. 34:08 Who of us here today 34:10 does not know the meaning of that awful word, 34:16 the terrible dreaded letter grade that life gives us, 34:20 the letter "F" because you're failed? 34:26 George Bernard Shaw intoned 34:28 "My reputation grows with every failure." 34:34 Failure, its the alkaline taste on your tongue. 34:37 I'll tell you what. 34:38 When you fail you can taste it, trust me, 34:40 you can taste it in your mouth, failure. 34:43 It's the nodded pit in your gut when you know you were failed. 34:49 When you have dreams 34:50 so hard to win and then you lose, failure. 34:58 Who here does not know the meaning of crashing 35:02 and burning as the whole world stares? 35:08 Failure. 35:11 And those of us 35:13 who have been condemned to live our lives in public, 35:17 perhaps especially and most painfully know well 35:21 the civic taste of failure as a preacher 35:29 who's calling in livelihood necessity, 35:31 the standing up behind a microphone 35:33 and attempting to transmit 35:36 the sometimes jumbled symbols on a scribbled page. 35:41 I know, I know the feel of failure 35:48 and the ruthless, 35:50 the ruthless postmortems that come from a wounded mind. 35:58 Play it again, Sam, and so you do 36:01 again and again and again. 36:06 That moment when I humiliated myself 36:13 and that's it, 36:16 the pain is because of self, pride, ego. 36:24 Last Sabbath we learned it was hubris. 36:29 That's the rut of a hurt and the wound, 36:35 that's why they call it a wounded pride, wounded. 36:40 It hurts, failure, failure hurts. 36:46 When you get that dreaded letter grade "F" it's awful. 36:52 And I suppose those of us 36:53 who have failed would have given up long ago, 36:56 had it not been for the story of Moses. 37:01 Forty long years drag by. 37:06 All those dreams of leadership, 37:09 all that pride of his divine calling, 37:10 it's gone, it's gone, it's over, finished. 37:15 All he's got now is an incorrigible flock 37:17 a sheep bang behind him all over a barren desert. 37:23 Oh, he's got a loving wife, two precious sons, 37:25 but in a world where accomplishments 37:27 are never measured by the success 37:28 of your own life, what are they? 37:32 Moses has failed. 37:34 And the strangely now, hold on, hold on, 37:36 strangely enough in a most counter intuitive sort of way 37:41 it turns out to be a successful failure. 37:48 I want you to see this in your study guide, 37:50 Patriarchs and Prophets again. 37:52 You gonna need to fill it in. Put it on the screen for you. 37:55 "Shut in now" he's fled. 37:58 "Shut in by the bulwarks of the mountains, 38:00 Moses was alone with God. 38:02 The magnificent temples of Egypt 38:04 no longer impressed his mind 38:06 with their superstition and falsehood. 38:08 In the solemn grandeur of the everlasting hills 38:11 he beheld the majesty of the Most High, 38:13 and in contrast realized how powerless 38:15 and insignificant were the gods of Egypt. 38:18 Everywhere the Creator's name was written. 38:21 Moses seemed to stand in His presence 38:22 and to be over-shadowed by His power." 38:24 Now watch this. 38:25 "Here his pride and self-sufficiency" 38:29 write that down. 38:30 "Here his pride and self-sufficiency 38:32 were swept away. 38:34 In the stern simplicity of his wilderness life, 38:37 the results of the ease 38:38 and luxury of Egypt disappeared. 38:40 Moses became patient, reverent, and humble." 38:44 Write it down, humble. 38:47 And then he quotes Numbers 12:3. 38:50 That declares Moses was "'Very meek above all men 38:54 which were upon the face of the earth,' yet," 38:56 Patriarchs and Prophets concludes 38:58 "yet strong in faith in the mighty God of Jacob." 39:01 Ladies and gentlemen, write it down. 39:02 "Apparently failure is humility's best friend." 39:14 Apparently God allows us to fail 39:18 with the counter intuitive hope 39:20 that we might through Him successfully failed. 39:25 You think about, come on think about it. 39:26 What is it? 39:28 What is there that stuns our ego 39:30 and wounds our pride more quickly 39:32 and deeply than failure be in public or private? 39:37 When you know you failed 39:41 which surely then would make failure 39:43 a very good friend of humility. 39:47 Does it not? 39:48 I mean, come on, when are we more teachable 39:51 than in the crucible of failure? 39:54 When are we more kind of accounted word here? 39:55 When are we more humble of all than when we fail? 40:02 You're never more vulnerable, 40:04 you have been sliced open and it feels 40:06 like the whole world is gaping. 40:11 Failure, failure, humility's best friend. 40:20 Maybe that reason alone is-- 40:24 Why we ought to embrace our failures? 40:27 Give him a good hug. 40:29 Few years ago somebody came to me and gave me a book. 40:36 I love getting books. 40:38 But did you have to get this personal? 40:41 They gave me Andrew Murray's great classic "Humility." 40:44 They handed it to me and said, you need to read this, Dwight. 40:48 Oh, well, thanks. I did. 40:51 I bruited through that book three times and my soul, 40:55 if I could give you a book. 40:57 Fellow wounded traveler, I get to that book, Humility. 41:04 Andrew Murray taught me something 41:07 and I'm still wrestling with it, 41:09 but I got to pass it on to you. 41:11 We must come to the place in life 41:15 where we learn to embrace that which humbles us. 41:23 You say, come on Dwight, 41:24 you are talking about my failure in marriage, 41:27 I'm supposed to embrace that? 41:29 Yeah. 41:31 My failure in school, I'm supposed to embrace that? 41:33 Yep. 41:34 My failure in my business, I'm supposed to embrace that? 41:37 Yep. 41:38 Whatever it is that is humbles you, embrace it. 41:45 That is some thought. 41:47 I'm gonna give you the words 41:48 from Andrew Murray, jot them down. 41:51 Because you know, what, Murray-- 41:52 You're gonna need to hold on to your pew for this one. 41:54 Murray says the great-- 41:56 Murray says the great goal of the spiritual journey 42:00 is to be humbled over and over again. 42:04 Ouch. 42:06 Watch this guys, it's your study guide, fill it in. 42:08 Murray writes, accept the grace South African divine. 42:12 "Accept with gratitude everything 42:14 that God allows from within or without." 42:17 Inside of you, outside of you it doesn't matter 42:18 accept with gratitude, 42:19 "from friend or enemy, in nature or in grace, 42:22 to remind you of your need of humbling" write it in, 42:26 "and to help you do it." 42:28 Believe humility, "Believe humility to indeed be 42:32 the mother virtue, your first duty before God, 42:35 and the one perpetual safeguard of the soul. 42:37 Set your heart upon it as the source of all blessing. 42:40 I.e., we must come to the place 42:42 where we embrace what humbles us, we embrace it. 42:48 That's not, that's not, hey, hey, that's not new 42:50 with Andrew Murray, he got it from Jesus. 42:53 Take a look at the screen, he got it from Jesus. 42:55 Matthew 11:29, Jesus says, "Come to Me and learn from Me, 42:59 for I am gentle and humble in heart." 43:03 He got it from Jesus look at this. 43:05 Matthew 23:12, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, 43:08 but whoever humbles herself will be exalted." 43:14 He got it from Jesus. 43:15 Look at this John 13:4, 5. 43:17 "And so taking a towel, he washed their feet." 43:22 You know what's happening there? 43:23 Christ is embracing what humbles Him. 43:25 This is humbling. 43:26 You're the Master, these are the disciplines, 43:28 one of them should be doing this, 43:30 but He embraces it. 43:31 He says, no, I'll do it. 43:34 And then in an ultimate demonstration 43:37 that Christ practiced what He preached. 43:39 He dies a despicable criminal forsaken by God Himself 43:45 on that center cross. 43:47 And Philippians 2:8 declares, 43:49 "He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, 43:54 even the death of the cross." 43:59 Apparently, "We need to come to the place in life 44:03 where we can embrace what humbles us." 44:11 Then you're saying, oh, brother-- 44:14 what are you saying, Dwight, thank God for it? 44:16 Yeah. 44:17 We got another one coming up here second time 44:20 from now that you and I'll be together. 44:22 Listen to that tale of humility. 44:24 Yeah, thank God for it. Painful as it is. 44:29 Embrace your failure as humility's best friend. 44:35 I know people, not you of course. 44:37 I know people who don't even want to go back out 44:39 into public, not in the public where they failed. 44:41 It maybe at the office, 44:42 they don't want to go back, I'm not even going back. 44:43 They don't want to go back to the public where they serve. 44:45 They don't want to go back 44:46 because everybody they are convinced 44:48 knows they are failed 44:49 and everybody is starring at them 44:51 and I know people who keep themselves away 44:52 from church for that reason. 44:54 I'm not going back to church, 44:55 I have failed and I don't want to reminded 44:57 of that failure every time I see 44:58 one of my brothers or sisters in Christ. 45:01 My friend, get over it. 45:05 The issue is not about what do other people think. 45:09 The issue is what does God think. 45:12 Embrace, embrace. 45:15 Embrace what has humbles you. 45:20 You know why you're wounded? 45:22 You know why you feel that pain, Dwight? 45:24 Because you got an ego, it still alive 45:27 and God is letting you know, it's still there. 45:31 We got more work to do, boy. 45:34 You know, I just wonder, 45:40 maybe that's why Jesus-- 45:42 Have you ever thought about this? 45:43 Maybe that's why Jesus was so calm, always. 45:50 I mean, you spit on My face, okay, I hug you. 45:54 You curse Me, I embrace you. 45:57 You say what about me, I embrace that saying. 46:02 Maybe that's why under provocation 46:04 Christ is so quiet in at peace. 46:08 I mean, you got to think this through with me. 46:11 If we embraced everything, everyone-- 46:14 hey, let me tell about-- 46:15 now that we brought it up everyone, 46:17 there are some people 46:18 who seem to major in life humiliating us. 46:21 You know what's that? 46:22 Did always once in a conversation, 46:23 oh, no, it's not quite like that, 46:24 I actually did a little more research 46:25 and I found out it was this way. 46:27 Every time you open your mouth, there they are saying, 46:29 no, it's not quite like-- No, no, wrong again. 46:33 It's just like God appointed them to be permanent humbler. 46:40 Embrace the person. Embrace the person. 46:43 Hey, thank you. Hey, I needed that one. 46:47 It's hard to do, but you know 46:49 we would look at people differently. 46:51 We would look at things differently. 46:52 We would look at pain differently. 46:53 We would look at suffering differently. 46:54 We would look at everything differently. 46:56 We would have Christ peace in our hearts, 46:57 we would just say hey, God still working in my life, 47:01 please be patient with me. 47:02 He just showed me, I stepped, oh, 47:04 I still have some ego in there. 47:08 That's why He wounds it, so I see it. 47:12 One day, one day 47:15 you're gonna be just like Jesus. 47:18 One day, no, no, no, no, no, 47:20 one day you're gonna be just like Moses. 47:25 Forty years gone, Moses. 47:33 The 40 years looks like an absolute and utter failure, 47:37 a total wash, but somewhere in this book, 47:41 somewhere in that book there is a line that reads, 47:43 "Man looketh on the outward appearance, 47:45 but God looketh on the heart." 47:50 Forty years go by 47:52 and then it's graduation day all over again. 47:55 They are just about to hand out the diplomas. 47:57 In fact, 48:01 when the hand goes up no, 48:03 I have one final examination to give. 48:06 The examination has only one question on it and it is this. 48:09 Have you learned the lesson of humility yet? 48:16 And so our voice, 48:18 out of a roaring orange bush 48:23 stops Moses, one more exam. 48:28 Now if that exam had been given 40 years earlier, 48:31 40 years earlier have you-- hey, 48:33 have you learned the lessons of life yet? 48:35 Here's what Moses would have said. 48:37 Acts 7:22. 48:38 Hey, come on I'm learned 48:40 in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, 48:41 I'm mighty in word, I'm mighty in deed, I'm ready. 48:44 Do you need a leader? I'm here take me. 48:49 Forty years ago he failed the exam. 48:55 Forty long wearing years later 49:01 the question returns. 49:04 And I want you to see this, before I sit down. 49:07 Look at this. 49:09 Go back to Exodus, we'll end right where we begin. 49:11 Exodus Chapter 3 now, 49:12 the crackling roaring orange bush is speaking. 49:17 Exodus Chapter 3, take a look at this. 49:20 Take a look at this. 49:26 Exodus Chapter 3, Moses is down on his face. 49:28 "I am who I am." He's down on his face. 49:33 He's not looking into the bush now. 49:34 He's answering all his questions 49:36 with his head bowed, 49:37 a good way to answer God by the way. 49:40 His head is bowed and the voice 49:43 from the crackling fire speaks, verse 10 Exodus 3. 49:46 "Come now, therefore, and I will send you" 49:55 I'll send you "to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, 49:58 the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 50:00 Face still in the dust. 50:02 "But Moses said to God, 50:04 "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, 50:07 and that I should bring 50:08 the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 50:10 And the voice in the orange bush cried out, 50:14 "I will certainly be with you. 50:16 And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you 50:18 when you have brought the people out of Egypt, 50:20 you shall serve God on this mountain." 50:24 Sinai towering overhead and Moses answers, 50:28 now go to chapter 4. 50:29 Moses answers again in verse 10. 50:31 "Then Moses said to the Lord, 'O my Lord, I am not eloquent, 50:36 neither before nor since 50:38 You have spoken to Your servant, 50:39 but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.'" 50:44 Oh, time out, hold it right here. 50:46 Is this the Prince of Egypt? 50:49 Is this the man mighty in words and mighty in deeds? 50:53 Something has happened in 40 years. 50:56 Oh, God, you can't. I got a slow tongue. 51:01 I got a slow mouth, You got the wrong man. 51:09 And the voice in the orange still speaks. 51:13 Verse 11, "So the Lord said to him, 51:16 'Who has made man's mouth? 51:17 Or who makes the mute, 51:19 the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? 51:20 Have not I the Lord? 51:21 Now therefore,'" verse 12, 51:23 "'go Moses and I will be with your mouth 51:26 and I'll teach you what you shall say.' 51:29 But Moses said, 'O my Lord, please send by the hand 51:34 of whomever else You may send.'" 51:37 I can not do it. 51:43 And lo the records reads, 51:45 the God of the universe raised His hands 51:49 to those who bowed Him. 51:51 And He said amen and amen. 51:57 Moses is now ready to lead because it last. 52:03 He knows he is nothing. 52:09 And so it was, ladies and gentlemen, 52:13 that Moses became the greatest and humblest man 52:19 who ever has lived. 52:23 Proving true that humility's best friend is failure. 52:28 If only we will embrace what humbles us 52:34 just like Moses, just like Jesus. 52:42 I want to pray with you. 52:44 I want to pray with you right now. 52:47 In fact, I'd like you to do the praying. 52:50 Take out that hymn number 570. 52:52 The hymn, now you pray these words. 52:53 We're gonna sing just the first and the last stanza's 52:56 of that great confession, 52:58 "Not I, but Christ, be honored, love, exalted." 53:03 Not I, but Christ. 53:06 Hymn 570, let us pray this hymn together, 53:11 first and last stanzas. 53:49 Not I, but Christ, 53:54 be honored, loved, exalted 54:00 Not I, but Christ, be seen, 54:05 be known, be heard 54:10 Not I, but Christ, 54:14 in every look and action 54:20 Not I, but Christ, 54:25 In every thought and word 54:33 Not I, but Christ, 54:37 my every need supplying 54:43 Not I, but Christ, 54:48 my strength and health to be 54:54 Christ, only Christ, 54:59 for body, soul, and spirit 55:05 Christ, only Christ, 55:10 here and eternally 55:19 And so far that we pray Christ only Christ please. 55:24 We have failed so many times, 55:27 we have lost count but in Your mercy, 55:33 You have stepped up, 55:39 You have stepped up to our wounded hearts. 55:45 And You who whispered embrace it, 55:50 embrace it, that it draw You to me, 55:56 draw You to me. 56:02 And so Holy Father, we pray not I please, 56:06 but Christ, Christ only Christ. 56:10 How much pain is left between now and heaven 56:12 I do not know, but just take us 56:16 there the whole way so that there will nothing left 56:21 in the end to wound just 56:24 like Moses, just like Jesus. 56:31 And now unto Him, 56:33 it was able to keep us from falling 56:37 and to present us spotless 56:40 before His throne with great joy. 56:44 To the only wise God our Savior, 56:47 be dominion and Majesty, glory and power, 56:54 both now and forever more, amen. |
Revised 2015-07-19