Those who Followed 3. Moses

Those who Followed 3. Moses

Key text: Exodus 33:11 Number 12:3 Intro: We are in week 3 of our series on those who followed. Tonight we are looking at Moses, a truly remarkable man, with a remarkable birth, childhood, life and ministry. The problem with remarkable people is that we make them bigger than they are and in this miss the lessons of their lives. Moses was simply a man who followed God. and it was in his following God that he became great for God. Many of us want to do great things for God and want to be used in mighty ways for God, but how are we daily, moment by moment being people who just follow God! This doesn’t mean that we are perfect; I mean Moses killed a guy (well get to that). But it means that we seek Him! So let’s ask the question: Who was Moses: Moses a Type of Christ Moses a powerful leader Moses a Prophet Moses a Messenger of God Moses a flawed man Lessons to learn The most humble man who ever lived A friend of God Relationship matters Humility matters When we look at Moses we see many different things. We will just touch base on these… So firstly When we look at the life of Moses we see something come through that Moses shows us a picture of who Christ will be. Theologians call this a type from the Greek word typos. What we mean by this is that there are characteristics and lessons to be learned from Moses because he is setting up for us a picture of the messiah; by his life. Moses came to save his people; like Jesus saves. Moses led the people of God; Jesus is the good shepherd. Moses gave the Law, Jesus fulfilled the law Just to name a few. However we see in the life of Moses a type of Christ being displayed. Not only that but Moses was entrusted with God to lead the entire nation of Israel, Moses did this through seeking God and being obedient to Him. Also; In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses says that God will raise up a prophet like himself (talking about Jesus the coming Messiah). But Moses is declared to be a prophet of God speaking His words to the people of God. But in this God used Him to predict the future, and used Him to guide the people of God directly. Which leads to the fact that… The first five books of the Bible are ascribed to Moses, because Moses was known as a messenger of God. and rightfully so. He penned the 10 commandments, he wrote the law and constantly communicated the messages of God to the people of God. And yet in spite of all this… There are many instances in Moses’ life where he failed. Early on when he murdered the Egyptian, later when he didn’t obey God and struck the rock. Moses was far from perfect; and yet the Bible mentions that he spoke to God face to face and was declared the most humble man who ever lived. And it is here that we learn our lessons tonight; If you have your Bible please turn with me to Numbers 12:3. This passage is situated when Aaron and Miriam murmur against Moses and ask why He alone should lead Israel. In the middle of this disagreement and before God passes judgment upon Aaron and Miriam we find this passage of Numbers 12:3 3(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) What I find interesting about this verse is that it is commonly agreed that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, and if you haven’t notices; Numbers falls into that first five… So Moses wrote of himself saying that He is the most humble man on the face of the earth. Okay looking past the humour, there is something to be said about this reference; Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth. Most people think that being humble is about belittling yourself. You know someone compliments you and your reply is; “you are lying.” This simply is not humility in fact it is rooted in the complete opposite of humility. Humility is not weakness, nor becoming invisible; true humility lies in a self-forgetfulness (to use a Lewis phrase). What do I mean by this; it is an obsession with Him in such a way that we truly become second, and in this we forget ourselves. We take a back seat to Him who we were made for. I guess it comes from being so secure in Him that our best is for him and our praise goes to Him. I want to say that most of the errors I find myself in life, is because I am not being humble, rather I am trying to win favour or trying to prove myself, or I am overly focused in on myself. It is when I let go and truly say God whatever you want; then I am released. Imagine all your work and all that you achieve meaning nothing to you in the best way; in other words being able to celebrate your victories without it going to your head; because it is all about Jesus anyway; or learning from your failures because He is using them. Imagine taking all that self doubt and pride out of the picture; you know what I see; freedom! Moses was called the most humble man who walked on the face of the earth; because his life and his ministry and his calling and greatness were never about him. He knew that they were about God and in this God rewarded Him. In Exodus 33:11 it says;

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

Moses in humility spoke with God as a friend and was known as a friend of God.

Jesus in the New Testament reaffirms this reality to His disciples when He calls them no longer servants but friends in John 15:15.

The application is profound; you and I are invited through humility and grace to be friends with the God of heaven and earth!

What an opportunity! Moses sought God and was allowed friendship with God!

Tonight I want to reiterate that if we seek God in humility we too can be called friends of God.

In fact that; I believe, is what God wants of everyone of us.

God doesn’t want religious dedication, He wants relationship; friendship!

We with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and through the grace poured out upon the cross are more than every welcomed into the very heart of God to share in Him and become His friends.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:11

11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

Through the Spirit church we can know God deeply as a friend we can communicate and relate and share our lives.

Talk to Him as one does a friend.

And I think this has to be one of the most deeply profound and yet comforting realities of the Christian experience; we can know God and He knows us, an in this we share life.

I can’t tell you how sweet it is to in moments of pain and stress be able to cry out to God; not as some distant thought or idea; but as a real present reality in my life.

And the more I walk with Him the more I know Him (through His Word), the more I know that He is not out there but with me and sharing in my pain! This is a great comfort to me!

But also more so in my joy to be grateful to him not as a mechanism of religion but as a friend would be of a gift! To actually be able to share life with God is an incredible gift to those who follow Him!

And I guess this all leads us into the lesson or application for tonight;

Application:

I know most of us have been in church for long enough that this doesn’t need to be droned on about. But I just need to highlight that we are not here to fulfil a code. Or to win favour.

We are not in church because we are expected to be; we are engaging ourselves as best as we can in a dynamic and real relationship with the living God.

This means that God wants to communicate with you. He wants you to know Him (primarily through His word) and He wants you to be known by Him.

This means that we need to learn to relate to God! We need to put ourselves often in a place where we are developing our relationship with Him.

Why because that is what truly matters. Be like Moses who foster His relationship with God who spent time face to face with God.

Can I ask you when last did you have a quiet time and it was a face to face time, when last did you seek to study scripture to know God? When last have you come to church to experience the love and power of the Holy Spirit.

So seek God to actually be a friend of God but in this;

Church are we seeking in Him in a way that we are becoming second. Are we becoming more self-forgetful in our pursuit of a relationship with God.

I said more, because I truly believe that this is a process. It will take time to accomplish. It goes hand in hand with our pursuit of God.

But as we pursue him I believe we are humbled by Him. But the task for us is to still be aware of our tendency to make life about us and our own pride.

So seek Him and watch your heart.

The powerful reality is that if we commit ourselves to pursuing Him we too can be friends of God!

[PRAY]