"THE FRUITS OF OBEDIENCE"
EXODUS 4:18-31
INTRO: God had just met Moses at the burning bush. The great call of Moses
had just taken place. God wanted Moses to be His messenger, to go
and to delivery His people from slavery. But Moses did not want to
go. He did not want to live a life of service and witness, a life obligated
to God. He wanted to be free to live life like he wanted, to do his own
thing. Standing there before God, Moses made up excuse after
excuse, arguing against God’s call. Many times we do the same thing
when we don't want to obey God. Moses argued so long and so much
that he angered God. In righteous anger, God insisted that Moses go.
Moses was to be God's messenger. No excuse, no argument was valid.
Moses was to surrender to God's call. What would he do? We know
from the Scripture that Moses did finally surrender and follow God's
will for Him.
God has much He wants to do in and through His people, but He
can't do those things in and through us until we surrender to Him
and obey Him! There are many blessings connected with obedience
which can only be realized by obedience. Moses found out that God's
blessings come to those who obey. May we find out the same! I want
to speak on this subject, "The Fruit Of Obedience."
(1) OBEDIENCE, THEN GOD'S ASSURANCE
EXODUS 4:18-19—“And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in
law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my
brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they yet be alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life"
A. MOSES’ OBEDIENCE WAS FOCUSED. Moses obeyed God, surrendered to
God's call (v18). He left the desert and went home to take care of business
matters. He began to lay plans to return to Egypt. He had worked for
Jethro for forty years and there were loose ends that needed to be tied
before he left. He just could not leave Jethro hanging without making
arrangements for a replacement. The point is this Moses showed respect to
his wife's family. He asked Jethro 's permission; he made arrangements
before he left.
God's call demands first loyalty, even before family (Matthew 10:37-38;
Luke 9:23). But we must always show love, kindness, and respect to those
we are called away from. And we must try to help them to understand
God's call as well as we can.
"Jethro had taken him in while a fugitive from Egypt, had given him his
daughter to wife, and had provided him a home for forty years. Moreover
Moses had charge of his flock. It would have been grossly discourteous
and the height of ingratitude had Moses gone down to Egypt without first
notifying his father-in-law. This request of Moses manifested his
thoughtfulness of others, and his appreciation of favors received. To be a
Christian is to practice Christliness, and Christ ever thought of
others."[A.W. Pink](Joseph G. Butler. Moses: Emancipator of Israel. p. 148).
B. MOSES’ OBEDIENCE WAS FRUITFUL. Once Moses obeyed God, after he
had made arrangements to go to Egypt, God gave Moses great assurance.
God gave Moses the assurances of safety, security, and protection (v19).
God told Moses the men who had sought to kill him were now dead. There
was now no reason to fear. Moses had been a wanted man in Egypt for
killing an Egyptian official forty years earlier. Pharaoh had put the order
out: arrest and execute Moses. I'm sure like any of us, as Moses made
preparation to go back to Egypt; he was afraid what might befall him there.
But God is faithful! Despite the execution order hanging over his head,
Moses was obeying God. He had surrendered to God's call and going forth
as God commanded. Thus, God met Moses to give him assurance: his
enemies were all dead. There was no need to fear!
The FIRST FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE IS: ASSURANCE! When we surrender to
God's call, surrender to do His will, it is then that God's Assurance sweeps
over our souls. God assures us that He will take care of us when we obey
Him!
There are FOUR ASSURANCES we have when we obey God:
Ø The Assurance of God's Presence (Hebrews 13:5-6; John 14:21; Isaiah 43:2).
Ø The Assurance of God's Power (Psalm 29:11).
Ø The Assurance of God's Pleasure (Exodus 19:5; James 1:25).
Ø The Assurance of Answered Prayer (John 15:16).
(2) OBEDIENCE, THEN GOD'S GUIDANCE
EXODUS 4:20-23—“ And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them
upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took
the rod of God in his hand. And the LORD said unto Moses, When
thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders
before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his
heart, that he shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto
Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou
refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”
A. MOSES’ OBEDIENCE WAS FULL. Moses was obedient to God, fully
obedient (v20). He had set out to make a permanent move to Egypt: he
took his family with him which included his wife and two sons. When we
obey God's will many times it includes great sacrifices. We must be willing
to forsake all for Christ (Luke 14:33). "When you follow Christ it must be a
total burning of all your bridges behind you." Billy Graham (Albert M.
Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. p. 195).
The reason for the lack of commitment we see today among God's people is
that we are unwilling to make that sacrifice! We want God, but we want to
hang onto the things of the world too! "If Jesus be God and died for me,
then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." --C.T. Studd
(Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. p. 179)
B. MOSES’ OBEDIENCE WAS FAR-REACHING. Moses' obedience bore fruit
again. As Moses continued to obey God, God continued to meet his need.
God this time met a very special need in Moses' life: the need for guidance
and direction (vv. 21-23). Moses needed to know exactly what to do when
he reached Egypt and appeared before Pharaoh. And he needed to know
before he reached Egypt so that he might have time to meditate and plan
the meeting. This need God now met, and how God's heart must have
flooded with joy. For His servant was now obeying Him, obeying Him
despite all the excuses. And so God was able to meet with His servant and
give him clear guidance and direction on what he must do.
God told Moses to do three things:
1. He was to go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles God had given him
power to do (v21).
2. He was to be aware that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened so that he
would not let the people go (v21).
In the book of Exodus, Pharaoh's heart is said to be hardened.
Sometimes God hardened, sometimes the Bible says Pharaoh hardened
it. Three different Hebrew words are used for "hardened". These words
speak of a heart that is firmly set against surrender to God's way; of a
heart that is so evil it cannot make sense of good sense such as good
counsel or Divine revelation; and of a heart that is cruel, harsh,
obstinate, and unfeeling. The "hard" heart is an awful condition for the
heart to be in, but many souls through their rejection of God and His
Word end up with a heart like that (Joseph G. Butler. Moses:
Emancipator of Israel. p. 156).
Maxie Dunnam gives an excellent application of this:
"This is serious business. It is soul business with eternal
consequences. To refuse the gospel call upon our lives at any level is to
lay another brick in our wall of resistance to God's grace. That’s the
reason little decisions-responses to what appear to be minor calls-are
important. Our obedience to everyday calls of God is the discipline that
equips us to respond faithfully when the big calls come." What are
those everyday calls?:
Ø "to repent; as soon as you sense some sin in your life, repent, come to Christ, be genuinely sorry, beg His forgiveness."
Ø "to give a cup of cold water in Jesus' name."
Ø "to speak up for that friend or neighbor who is being maligned by gossip."
Ø "to tithe your income as God has called each of us to do."
Ø "to witness for Christ every time the opportunity arises.
Ø "to live holy lives; to be recognized as set apart, refusing to participate in the immorality that is rampant in our time-cheating, infidelity, deceit, fornication, lying."
"God's call comes to us in some form everyday. Every day we have the
opportunity to respond to Him. Though it may not be noticeable to us,
refusing these calls will gradually harden our hearts!"
3. He was to proclaim that Word of God to Pharaoh. His message was to
include three points:
Ø Israel was "God's Son, even His firstborn" (v22). The eldest son was given a special place of honor and respect. He received a double portion of the family inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17). The law of redemption applied to him in a special way (Exodus 13:11-15). He was looked upon one who would succeed his father as head of the family. He was given preferential status (Genesis 43:33), authority (Genesis 27:37), and responsibility (Genesis 37:22).
Ø Pharaoh was to free Israel so that she could serve and live for God (v23).
Ø If Pharaoh refused, God would slay the first-son of Pharaoh (v23).
Moses was faithful in obeying God's voice and went as He was called.
There is a strong lesson for us here: If we do not obey and surrender to
God's call, then God cannot guide and direct in our lives. Why?
Because He would be indulging and giving license to disobedience,
rebellion and sin. But when we obey, then God can guide and direct in
our lives! This He promises in His Word!
PSALM 25:5, 9—“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the
God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. The meek will he guide
in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.”
PSALM 143:10—“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit
is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.”
John 16:13—“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”
OBEDIENCE, THEN GOD’S ASSURANCE, OBEDIENCE, THEN GOD’S GUIDANCE and thirdly…
(3) OBEDIENCE, THEN GOD’S HAND OF CHASTISEMENT WAS REMOVED
EXODUS 4:24-26—“And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the
LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp
stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and
said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then
she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.”
A. THE REASON FOR THE CHASTISEMENT. When we surrender ourselves
to God and His will, God desires our all! God doesn't want us to hold
anything back in our service to Him! What now happens to Moses stands
as a warning to all believers and servants of God. Moses was obeying God
and was on his way to Egypt when God's hand of chastisement fell upon
him (v24). Why? Because he was deliberately disobeying God in a
particular area of his life, a critical area. Look at what happened: Moses
and his family had stopped and set up camp for the night. Then Moses
suddenly became very sick and was about to die. The Scripture says God
had met with Moses and was about to slay him (v24). This means God was
chastising and correcting Moses, and the chastisement was severe: Moses
was about to die. Moses had surrendered to God's will and was on his way
to obey God's call. What could Moses be doing that was so bad? What was
Moses doing that God was so displeased with that God was willing to stop
using him and take him on home to heaven? The Scripture tells us:
Moses' wife had apparently objected to circumcision, bitterly objected to it.
She gave Moses so much strife that he gave in to her. He put his wife and
her objections before God. In order to keep peace at home, he gave in to his
wife. Thus he disobeyed God and did not circumcise his son (v25).
Remember three critical facts about circumcision:
1) It was a sign of the covenant between God and man. It was given to
teach man to have no confidence in the flesh. The true believer, by