So What's Your Excuse?

Okay, I have used the preacher's outline and sermon Bible commentary for the preparation of the sermon today. You know, I talked about in the Operatory about how the Day of Atonement pictures a time when the work of Satan is shut down. Shut down for a full thousand years. This is going to be a time, it's a watershed event in the history of mankind. Mankind going through 6,000 years of human experience has always had Satan playing a part in his life.

For one thousand years, mankind will experience a utopian atmosphere. This whole world, in that one thousand years, will be restored to a Garden of Eden-like atmosphere. And it needs to be, because after that one thousand years, God is going to have a resurrection of all those people who never understood the truth. And by the billions, they'll be resurrected to be on this planet. And this whole planet better be one big breadbasket. No more will we hear when Satan is bound and the demons are bound, will we hear various new stories like we've heard in the last month or so. Stories that are so tragic.

The story of Delbert Belton. Remember that story? An 88-year-old man died at the end of August. World War II vet was shot in the battle for Okinawa. Here's a World War II vet who goes through the Second World War, gets shot, comes back home to his home in Spokane, Washington. He's 88 years old, he's waiting for a friend in a parking lot, and two 16-year-old thugs decide to beat him to death. Survive World War II to be beaten to death in a parking lot in Spokane, Washington.

Or you've got an Australian, Christopher Lane. I believe he was going to school at Oklahoma State University. And a couple of teens decided, well, every you know, they just made a random choice. We're going to kill somebody today. It's going to be a third person we see or a four. I forget what the deal was exactly, but they in their minds said it's going to be a third or fifth person we see today.

We're going to gun down. Christopher Lane was gunned down dead. The Australian government said maybe we shouldn't maybe we should put out a bulletin for people not to come to America. Sadly, these things are taking place right now in our society. And they're taking place because Satan is not bound right now. Satan's work is not shut down right now. But, brethren, as you're so very well aware, our adversary is a tremendous adversary. For us to be victorious, we need to know all we can know about that adversary.

Let's take a look at something over here in Revelation chapter 20. Over the years of the Feast, I've given a number of sermons on this on the seventh day of the Feast. It's a natural thing to discuss on the seventh day of the Feast. Not the last great day, but the seventh day of the Feast. To me, it's always mind-boggling that when we can read a verse, a set of verses like this, Revelation chapter 20.

Now, of course, at this point, let's drop you into the setting here. Jesus Christ and you as the resurrected saints, as spirit beings, we have been ruling for 1,000 years. The earth is nothing but a big breadbasket. So many of the sins that we hear about today didn't even hear for all those many years. It's a utopian atmosphere, a government-eaten atmosphere. But the thousand years come, they end.

Satan is released. Chapter 20 of Revelation verse 7. Now, when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. In other words, his work starts up again. It's no longer shut down. He will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. Now, the church has always taken the phrase here, Gog and Magog, just to be representative of mankind in general.

Not that specific group that we target as the Asians in prophecy, but basically talking about mankind in general. And notice that after one thousand years of Christ ruling, the saints ruling, you've got an army gathering together whose numbers are as the sand of the sea.

We're not talking about an army of a couple thousand people. We're talking about a vast army. That because Satan's work is now alive and well again, a vast army, maybe millions of people, gathered to fight against God. Now, to me, that is an astounding statement showing the power of our adversary. The power that he has. Now, we go to verse nine, and they went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints, the beloved sea, and talking about Jerusalem, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

So, God's going to protect his own. You've got this vast army surrounding Jerusalem. They've got conquest in their hearts and minds. Where did that thought come from? It came from Satan. Brethren, the work of Satan must be shut down. It must be shut down. That's why this is a part of the plan of God, to shut down the work of Satan the devil. We saw in Revelation 20, when we quoted the first three verses here, how the price is going to do this at the beginning of the millennium.

This will also be true during what we call the wife-rown judgment period of time, when Satan will be shut down, his demons will be shut down. But once again, as I brought out in the offertory, I want to bring out again today for the message. And my point, if you're taking notes, my point is very simple. It's not about the work of Satan. It's about the work of Satan. It's about the work of Satan in your life.

And we need to do that, each and every one of us, because Satan is alive and well. He's broadcasting 24-7-365. In every sin you've committed, Satan has had his grimy hands, spiritually speaking, all over your sin. Now, the sin is ours. We did it. We acted it out. We thought it. But Satan is very much a part of that, and he has responsibility for a part of that. But we don't want to just say, well, it's all Satan. No. We have a part. We have to shut him down.

And that's what I want to talk about today, on this day that talks about the shutting down of the work of Satan. Now, let's understand our adversary. Let's take a look at 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. You know, it's fun when you're a creature of habit, as I. I felt like reaching down for that nice, cold drink of water that's not here. No one even made a mistake. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. A roaring lion.

I'm curious, how many of you either read the book or seen the movie The Ghost in the Darkness? A number of you have seen that movie or read the book. Story about a, and I don't know how well, I didn't read the book, I saw the movie. Story about a man, an engineer, was wanting to build a railroad in Africa, a certain portion of Africa. Things are going away, was it India? Kenya. Was wanting to build this railroad, and of course things are going well.

Then all of a sudden workers started disappearing. And then a lot of workers started disappearing, and they found out that a lion was doing this. And so they built their fortifications all around and so forth, and they thought they were safe behind their fortifications until one day they saw a lion come inside, jump over the fortifications, grab a worker, and as powerful as it was, was able to go back over the fortifications. Extremely powerful being, animal. And of course they really, you know, people wanted to quit by the drove, the works of the railroad shut down for a bit.

Then they found it wasn't one lion, one male lion, it was two. And the workers called them the ghost in the darkness. And I forget if it was 90 or 100 or how many workers were killed by these two lions acting in tandem. Something male lions never do in that way. But when you saw the movie, you read the book, you see just how powerful those animals are. They can grab a full grown man in their jaws and move like the wind.

Satan is a being to be reckoned with. He's got 6,000 years of human experience. He knows how every human being, he knows everybody's hot buttons, he knows how to push at you, he knows how to get at you, and of course he was able to take one third of the holy righteous angels and turn them to go his way. He is a being to be reckoned with. Luke 22. Luke 22 and verse 31. Satan is giving his men some words of caution about what they're going to be facing in their ministry here in verse 31, Luke 22. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.

He has asked. Now notice that's a very important thing. Satan can't do just whatever he pleases. God must allow him to do the various things he does. And of course, God will allow things, like with the case of Job, for our betterment, for our growth. But nothing can be done unless God gives the approval. But Satan wants to sift us all. Like a mad dog would grab a toy or ragdoll or something. You've seen dogs grab those things and they'll give things a good shake.

But Satan not only has a power game, he's got a finesse game. Genesis 3 and verse 1. Satan doesn't always come at you like a freight train. Sometimes, especially with some of our personalities, he comes at us that way and we find him more easily to deflect his advances. But he also has a finesse game, not just a power game. Genesis 3 and verse 1. Now the servant was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. And he said to the woman, "'Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" But notice what it says here.

He was more cunning. Let me read this to you in the Amplified Bible, which is a good Bible. It does just what it says it does. It amplifies the scripture. Let me read Genesis 3.1 in the Amplified. Now the servant was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he, Satan, said to the woman, "'Can it really be that God has said you shall not eat from every tree of the garden?'" But notice the phrase.

He is subtle. He is crafty. He is cunning. So yes, he's got a power game. He's got a finesse game. And he's very adroit. He can use either one of those strategies, both strategies, or some combination of the strategies to try to shut you down, to try to shipwreck your salvation. Now I want to narrow the focus of this message down to one fine point.

There are many ways that Satan comes at us, and we've talked about various ways in the past. I don't think I've ever given a sermon in the many years I've been your pastor, the 16 years I've been the pastor for Detroit, the 13 years for you and here in Ann Arbor.

I don't think I've ever given a sermon on this topic before. We want to shut the work of Satan down in our life by not making excuses. And there's probably not a person in this room who can say, hey, that sermon doesn't apply to me. I've never made an excuse. When I was growing up, there were some kids in a block.

We called them Excuse Maker. You can say, hey, it's daylight. You've got to have daylight sometimes. It makes an excuse for almost anything. One of the greatest calls God ever gave to anybody was the call to Moses. God himself tapped Moses on his shoulder, just like he did you, and said, I've got something that I want you to do. And, of course, the rest is history.

Moses gave a series of excuses why he couldn't do what God wanted him to do. We're going to take a look at those excuses today. Have you made excuses for not dealing with the issues in your life? Have I? What issues are in your life that were in your life one year ago or ten years ago? What issues do you have? What issues do I have? Again, we're all need to be listening to this. What areas aren't we overcoming because we've made excuses for ourselves?

Well, I don't have enough knowledge, or I don't have enough of that. And we give ourselves an out. We give ourselves an excuse. Well, if I was younger, or if we're young, well, when I get older and more mature, or if you're a guy, well, it's easier for the ladies. They don't have to look at all the billboards. Or if it's the ladies, well, you know, those guys, they've got it so easy. They don't go through all the things we women have got. There's all sorts of ways people have excuses. Let's take a look at Moses, because I think God wanted us to take a look at what he used.

As we come to the end of his excuses, God just says, you know, enough is enough. And God gets red-hot angry. And of course, when I was thinking about this and meditating on this and getting the sermon ready, I was thinking, how many times have I made excuses before and I was thinking, how many times has God just been white-hot angry with Randy Delosandro for his excuse making? Well, I can't do this because...

I can just see our Father, you know, tapping his foot on the ground, because what, Delosandro? Because what? Okay, so God calls Moses, chapter 3 of Exodus. Let's go over there.

Exodus, chapter 3, starting here in verse 7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people, Exodus 3 to 7, seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, and I know their sorrows. So I've come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land of good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey, and so forth.

Verse 10, Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Now here we see excuse number 1. And there's going to be a number of them here. You can label this excuse number 1. Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? So I guess you can label this any number of ways, the way I've labeled excuse number 1. Moses felt personally unqualified. Moses felt personally unqualified. You ever felt personally unqualified for something and God wants you to do it? And you begin making excuses, I just can't do that, God! It's just not in me to be able to do that.

So that's the excuse. I just simply can't handle it. Moses didn't feel he was qualified to do what God had called him to do. All Moses was looking at was Moses. And, brother, many times when you and I make excuses, all we see in the picture is us. Moses filled the whole picture. God wasn't anywhere to be seen in God's picture. Let's take a look now at God's response, verse 12. So he said, God said, I will certainly be with you and this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve other gods on this mountain. So the mountain were the burning bush. God's giving him a commission. And God is saying two things. Number one, I'm going to be with you. Secondly, you're going to be successful, so successful that you're going to bring all those millions of people right to this very mountain. Right to this very mountain. You know, brethren, to God, there's no good excuse for Nathal Philan the call he's given you. All of us in this room, all of us in this room, have been given a call by God. That's why we're here. Some of us are baptized members. Some of us are not baptized members. Some of us are relatively new. But we're all here. We're all hearing these words. And as a result, there is responsibility on each of our shoulders. When God calls us, we can't say, I'm not ready.

I'm not worthy. I can't do it. Those excuses don't matter to God. When God gives us a calling, He already has success for us in mind. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. 2 Timothy 1-9. At the end of verse 8, it's talking about the power of God or God. Verse 9, God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. A holy calling. Doesn't mean we're going to be perfect. That's not what the word means. It means God has given us a special calling, a special use for our lives. And each and every one of us in this room has been given a special calling by God. Notice, not according to our works, not according to our qualifications, not according to our IQ, not according to our personality, not according to our social understanding, not according to our economic standing, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose. And God doesn't call anybody to failure. So if God is calling you, and sure seems that way because we're in this room today, if God is calling us, He's called us for His own purpose, and it says here, and grace. We are going to overcome by the very grace of God, not by our own power. So when Moses was going on and on about, back there in Exodus, it might well have been a Reader's Digest shortened version, he may have gone on and on about how he couldn't do things, but God wouldn't have any of that. God wouldn't listen to any of that. 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12, verses 1, and 1, and 3, verses 9 and 10 6. 2 Corinthians 12, verses 9 and 10, and he said to me, my grace is sufficient I've lost track the number of times we've quoted this scripture. My Bible's getting worn out here. Part of this is in red letter, and my red lettering is becoming pink. I've quoted this so much. 2 Corinthians 12 verses 9 and 10. And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. So, do we have weaknesses? Do we feel unqualified? That's why God says He gives us His grace, His tremendous grace. And Paul says, Therefore, most glad I had boast in My infirmities. He boasts in the weakness because He knows, well, because I know I've got that weakness, God's going to make up the difference. I will rather boast in My infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon Me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions. In the stress of the Christ, say, For when I am weak, then I am strong. So here's a God who says all these things. He wants us to realize the only thing holding us back is us. The only thing holding us back is our excuse making. The who am I that Moses used was perhaps the worst excuse anybody can give God. It's not the I that does the calling. It's not the I that does the fulfilling of the calling. It is God who is behind us, who gives us the strength, gives us the power. Now, remember, I said, God, there's two things God promised Moses. One is that He would be with Him. He would be with Him. Want to read Ephesians 3 and verse 20. I'm going to take a page out of Larry Walker's book here and read this out of the New Living Translation. This is his favorite translation. It's a very good one.

Ephesians 3, 20. So what I read may sound a little different than what you've got in the Bible on your lap.

Ephesians 3, 20 says, Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power that works within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Through the mighty power that works within us, to accomplish infinitely more than what we might ask or think. So this whole idea is, who am I that I should go, or who am I that I should do this? That doesn't fly with God. God is a patient God. But there are some things He loses His patience with, and that excuse is one of them. God's going to help us with whatever strength and ability is needed, if He's called us. He's going to help us with the confidence and the assurance and the faith. We have that untapped with Him if we ask for that. We study about that. God will lead us. He'll guide us. He'll help work things out. The second thing, not only God being there with us, but He promised success. God promises you success to shut down the work of Satan in your life. Oh, we're not going to be perfect. Make no mistake about that. This sermon is not trying to animate that at all. But we can, if you've got a problem with anger, that problem may never go away. I had a tremendous problem with anger as a young person growing up and into my 20s. But thankfully, with God's help, that is now in the background. I can still get really angry about things where, to me, it gets ugly. But I now have, with God's help, the power to put that in the back. There are other issues that you can think about, where God's power has helped you to put those in the back. When they start boiling to the front, you put those to the back. God gives you that help. He helps you to be successful. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. The very last part of Hebrews 10, verses 38 and 39, which is the introduction to the faith chapter. We have to have faith that when God calls us, He's going to be with us and He's going to help us to be successful in our walk with Him. Hebrews 10, verses 38. Now the just shall live by faith. We are to live by faith. But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in Him. And that's God speaking to each and every one of us. We want God to say well done, good and faithful servant. Not the fact that God has no pleasure because we were faithless and felt we couldn't move forward and do the things He's asked us to do. Verse 39, but we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe through the saving of the soul. We move forward. Verse 11, verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Verse 3, by faith we understand that the world is refrained by the Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. In other words, there is this spiritual dimension there that God has for us that will help us to succeed. So excuse number one was that Moses felt personally unqualified. God has no patience with that excuse. You and I shouldn't have patience with that excuse. We need to shut down Satan when he wants to whisper in our ears about how we're not qualified to be Christians. We're not qualified to overcome this or that or the other. We're qualified. God gives us the qualification. He gives us the help. Let's go back to Exodus chapter 3 and see the second excuse. Exodus chapter 3. And verse 13.

Now this, and it goes on from verse 13 to verse 22. We're not going to read all that right now. Verse 13 to verse 22 is the second excuse. And the second excuse, as I read this and kind of analyze it, is that Moses felt he didn't have the tools. He just didn't have what it took. He didn't know who this God was and so on and so forth.

And that was one of the big tools. Moses knew that people were going to ask him pointed questions. You know, what God had sent him? What God actually had a power to save and deliver them? What was his name? And if this God is going to save us now, well, why didn't he save us 400 years ago? Why go through all that hell on earth as slaves in Egypt for all that time?

And now God wants to deliver us? Why? Why now? A lot of questions. Moses knew those questions would be asked of him. And so let's notice now the response from God here in chapter 3 of Exodus verse 14. And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Thus you say to the children of Israel, I am, has sent me to you.

Now, as a side note, not really bearing upon the sermon per se, but you see Jesus Christ in the New Testament saying, I am. I'm the great I am. This is Jesus Christ talking here. This is Jesus... You know, people want to talk about the God of the Old Testament and the law of the Old Testament, and we're going through the things about the Sabbath. Here, this is Jesus Christ. This is Jesus Christ speaking to Moses.

I am who I am. And so here we see God says, I am Jehovah. The YHVH. This is the God that I am. I am a personal God. The name Jehovah means it's a personal God. It's a personal name for God. It's also a name that denotes the fact that God, as a relationship with man, is a covenant maker. And so God says, Moses, I am entering a special covenant with you and with the people of Israel.

A very special covenant. Of course, I don't have time here today. We've gone through this in other sermons. Where you take a look at the names of God. There are many names, hyphenated names, of Jehovah. They talk about him being the covenant God that does various things. For example, two examples. You've got Jehovah Jira, which is the Jehovah who provides. Our God is a provider. He's going to provide Moses and the children of Israel with success. He's going to provide them with an ability to do what God wants them to do. He's going to give them a good land.

He's going to give them good health if they follow him and do his will. He is the God who provides. Another one of the hyphenated names of God is Jehovah Nissa. Jehovah is my banner. It's like a battle flag. A battle banner. You go into battle, God is going to be there with you. No matter how you're fighting Satan, I am there with you. You're fighting all these various tribes who got to displace out of the Holy Land, I am there with you.

So now let's go through the rest of this excuse and see how God continues to respond to Moses. Verse 15, Exodus 3, 15. Moreover, God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, The Lord your God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. So here God says, okay, so they're going to ask you some pretty blunt questions.

So here's other things you can say. You've got my name. There's a rich meaning to my name. But here in verse 15, he says, I want you to remember the rich history of your people. Of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. I was there for them. I blessed them. I didn't call them and walk away from them. I'm not about to walk away from you now, because now it's your time to be called and to do the things I'm asking you to do. Verse 16, Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, The Lord, God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I've surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt.

Verse 16, God says, I'm not a blind God. I'm not a deaf God. I'm a God very much in the know. I know your trouble. I know what you've been going through these last 400 years. I've not been blind, deaf, and dumb to your circumstances. Verse 17, I've come to bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, and so forth. A land flowing with milk and honey. So God says, let's not worry about what happened for the last 400 years. Now is your time. Now is your time to be delivered. You know, we would have the saying, don't look a gift horse in a mouth.

This is your time right here, right now. Verse 18, Then they will heed your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt. And you shall say to him, the Lord, God of the Hebrews, has met with us. And now please let us go three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

This is why God is doing this. Verse 18 is a key verse. They are being delivered so they can worship God. They are being delivered so they can worship God. Of course, you know the story, the famous story of the Passover. All the miracles that were done to bring Israel out of Egypt. And of course, you've got the days of unleavened bread. They came out of Egypt. They came out hurriedly. They didn't bring their leavening with them. They had unleavened bread during those days for lessons to be taught. Verse 19 and 20. But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go. No, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in its midst. And after that, he'll let you go. Miracles are going to be done. And you know, brethren, as I've said to you so many over the years, especially when I'm visiting new people, when new people want to start giving their life to God, they want to start coming to church, Satan very much wants to rip them apart right then and there. Doesn't want them to come. Doesn't want them to make a commitment to come to services. And how many times have I seen that as a person who's been out in various states over the years? North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, you name it. You name it. You know, the various states I've worked in over the years. And as I've said to you so many times, probably 9 out of 10 people I've talked to and I've talked with hundreds. They don't come to church. The vast majority don't come. They may have as much knowledge as you do, but they don't come. Why? Because they hear what they need to hear. And Satan really quickly goes into the light and snatches that away and says, now you don't want to come to church. You come to church, you're going to lose your wife. You come to church, you're going to lose your husband and your kids. And when you come to church, you're going to lose your job. And Satan starts pressing, you know, his work goes into overdrive to make sure they don't come to church. Or if people come to church, they get through that hurdle, then when it's time for them to start thinking about baptism. Real commitment, not just the commitment of being here, but the commitment of actually being baptized and totally giving our life over to God. Satan doesn't like that either. Doesn't like that one bit. Miracles have to be performed, not only to spring Israel from Egypt, but to spring you and I out of the grasp of Satan's hands. And God very much has done that in our lives. That's why we are here. Verse 21 and verse 22 of chapter 3 here. And I'll give this people a favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be when you go out that you will not go out empty-handed. Every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely of her, who dwells near her house, antiques of silver, articles of gold, clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, so she will plunder the Egyptians. As we've said so many times in the past, it's as if God says, you know, it's a little late, but it's certainly nice. You're going to be paid for some of those 400 years of slavery. This looting of Egypt is going to set you up as a nation, and it's kind of like some back wages.

So, brethren, excuse number 2 is Moses felt he didn't have the tools, didn't have the knowledge, didn't have the words to say. And God says, no, no, no. I'm going to give you the tools. I'm going to tell you just write off what you need to do. Don't use that as an excuse.

We move on now to excuse number 3.

You see this in Exodus chapter 4, the first nine verses.

Let's just read verse 1, Exodus chapter 4, verse 1.

Then Moses answered and said, but suppose they will not believe me, or listen to my voice, suppose they say, the Lord has not appeared to you.

Now, verse 1, there's a number of ways, again, we can look at this excuse. You can word it any way you'd like. But to me, excuse number 3 was the fear of personal rejection.

The fear of personal rejection.

People are going to think I look funny. They think I talk funny. They think I act funny. I can't, you know, if I start keeping these holy days, what are people going to think? If I start going to church on Saturday, if I start keeping Christmas at Easter, what are people going to think? They're personally going to reject me, my family, my friends, all that I hold dear.

The excuse of personal rejection.

That was very big in Moses' mind. I think it's big in a lot of people's minds. That's why so many people don't come to church when God calls them.

But there's a problem with that excuse. The problem with that excuse, it's not the duty of man to make excuses. It's the duty of man to obey God.

Not to argue against the call, not to question the outcome of the call.

It's real simple. God calls, we answer.

Don't make excuses. God calls, we answer. The man or the woman of God isn't to shrink back from the call of God. Not because he or she fears negative outcomes. The duty of man and woman before God is to surrender to God's call and to do what God bids us to do.

Put a marker here in Exodus 4. Let's go over to Joshua 1.

Joshua 1. You know, if anybody could have felt the fear of personal rejection, it would have been Joshua.

How would you like to be the one? Of course, we look back into history, we see how great a man Joshua was. But how would you, if you were living back in that day, how would you like to be the one who says, where God taps you on the shoulder and says, you know, Moses was a great servant and you're next. How would you like to fill Moses' shoes?

I mean, most of us in this room probably have been in situations where maybe we were eyeing the boss's seat, we're eyeing some other person in the company we work for. We're thinking, man, can I do that? What if they asked me to do that?

I don't think I could do that. Or, you know, maybe our family has expectations of us. I don't know if I can fulfill those expectations. You know, this fear of personal failure, personal rejection. Joshua could have been there. But notice what God says to Joshua, chapter 1, verse 5. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you, I will not leave you or forsake you.

Brethren, God is no respecter of persons. What God's saying here to Joshua, He says to us, As I was with Moses, so I shall be with you. And then you put your name in that blank. So I'll be with Randy, so I'll be with Mary, so I'll be with you.

Put your name in there. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage. For to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. But notice, only be strong and very courageous. Now, we've got to put one foot in front of another.

God's not going to force character upon us. God's not going to force success upon us. We are in a partnership with God. We do have to show courage. We do have to show strength. There are certain things we have got to do. Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn to the right hand to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate upon it day and night, that you may observe to do it according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Now verse 9. Be strong and of good courage. Three times. Trimple emphasis. Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

So the excuse of personal failure, the excuse of personal inadequacies, again, that doesn't fly with God. Because he says, I'll stand with you. God says, I'm not going to fail. I've called you. And if I've called you, you're not going to fail. Now if you go back to Exodus 4, God says, let me give you some encouragement.

Let me give you some encouragement. Some signs. That's why today so many people want a sign from God. Give me a sign, God. Now, the signs God gave Moses were going to be different than the signs he'll give you, but I'm sure God gives us signs as well. You know, there's always people who come to me and they'll say, well, I've had a dream, or I've had a vision, or this or that or the other.

Maybe they do, maybe they don't. I don't know. But to me, some of the signs I've seen among God's people is how God powerfully works in their life. How God opens this door, opens that door. How God spares them from this and that. Or if God says, well, you're going to go through hell on earth right here, then God's going to walk with you through that hell on earth. Verse 2, Exodus 4, too. So the Lord said to him, What is in your hand?

He said, a rod, a big stick. He said, Cast it on the ground. So he cast it on the ground and became a serpent. And Moses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. Now, if you know anything about snakes, you don't grab them by the tail. You grab them by the tail, that's a sure sight. You're going to get bit by its head. But God has something in mind.

You reach out your hand and take it by the tail. He reached out his hand and caught it and became a rod in his hand. That they might believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, appeared to you.

Brethren, probably all of us have seen the movie Ten Commandments, right?

You've seen Moses, Yule Brenner, doing this thing with Pharaoh. Ever notice Pharaoh's hat? The big old white hat that he's wearing? What's it got on there? It's got a serpent on there. If you take a look at all the various artwork of Egypt, you see that that official crown they had had a serpent on it.

And so there's some symbolism here. You're going to be able to deal with this serpent. You're going to be able to deal with Pharaoh. I don't care what end of this snake you take, you're going to be able to deal. You're going to be successful here. So God is giving Moses an encouragement that he's going to be successful.

Verse 6. Second encouragement, Over the Lord said to him, Now put your hand in your bosom. He put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.

So instantaneously he had this dread disease of leprosy in his hand.

And he said, Put your hand in your bosom again. So he put his hand in his bosom again, and he drew it out in his bosom, and behold, his hand was restored like the other flesh.

Verse 8. Then it will be if they do not believe you nor heed the message of the first sign, they may believe the message of the latter sign, the second sign.

So here, you know, the idea is, wow, this God of Moses.

He can make something appear, become leprous instantaneously, and then heal instantaneously. And if we don't listen to Moses, this may happen to us. This may happen to us.

So Moses is being backed up by God. And the point of all this, brethren, is God backs you up. He may not do these specific things for you. He'll do other things for you. But God will back you up to shut down the work of Satan in your life and in mine.

But we simply can't make the excuses. Verse 9. And it shall be if they do not believe, even these two signs are listened to your voice, that you shall take the water from the river, talking about the Nile River, and pour it on the dry land, the water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.

So here's yet a third act of encouragement to Moses.

The Nile was the life of Egypt. It was necessary for drinking, for agriculture, for everything they did.

Without the Nile, they wouldn't be a nation.

And this sign shows that the great God had power over the basic necessities of life.

Our God, the God of Moses, was the ultimate source of provision. Not the Nile.

The Nile was a God to those people.

So once again, when you look at that third excuse, Moses feared personal inadequacies. Moses felt personal rejections.

God doesn't want to hear that. I mean, bluntly speaking, God says, Look, it's not you, it's me. I stand behind you. I don't want to hear about your excuses along those lines. That's why God keeps on responding to Moses. Let's look at number four. Excuse number four.

Exodus 4, verses 10 through 12.

Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before in our sense have you spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.

Of course, you've heard probably of them were comedy routines over the years where a guy says, Well, for a guy who was so slow of tongue, he talked a lot. You know, he talked a lot. You know, he felt he, again, he just didn't feel equipped. He wasn't gifted.

He felt he didn't have the gifts. He wasn't an eloquent speaker. He wasn't fluent. He wasn't skillful. Now, in your life, that may not be an issue. You may not have to deal with public speaking or talking to groups, but you may feel you're not gifted in your setting, whatever your setting may be.

And again, God's, you know, he said, I'll give you the gifts if you need those gifts. If this is something essential to you, I will give you that gift. Notice what God says here starting in verse 11. So the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth?

Now, of course, God's dealing with Moses' excuse here. You and I can think of our own excuse. And whatever our excuse is, God would say, well, who's made that particular part of your human anatomy or a part of your brain? I've made, you know, who gives talents, God says, I do. Who's made man's mouth or who makes them mute, the deaf, the seeing, the blind? Have not I, the Lord, now therefore go and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.

So God's response is, I'll give you what you need to say.

Just put a marker here. Let's go back over to Luke, chapter 12.

Luke, chapter 12, verse 11 and 12.

Now, when they bring you to the synagogues and the masterates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you shall answer or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. God says, I'm not going to be limited by what you feel are your inadequacies. I'll be there for you. You need to shut the work of Satan down in your life. And no matter what I'm asking you to do, if I'm asking you to do it, you can do it because I back you up.

I'll be there for you.

In Moses' case, it was this idea about speech. God says, I'll be your mouth. Don't worry about things like that.

And so Moses, you know, he keeps on wanting to make one excuse after another.

Let's now turn our attention, go back to Exodus.

Exodus 4.

So the fourth excuse, Moses felt he wasn't gifted.

Felt he wasn't gifted. Felt he didn't have what it took. God says, I'll give you what it takes. Lastly, the last excuse, excuse number five.

You know, we've already burned through four excuses. And the bottom line is, this is Moses' last excuse. This is the last time God's going to entertain him. You know, Moses probably could have gone through 50 more excuses. God says, you know, I'm just going to cut this short. You know, I'm going to give this guy some space. I love him to pieces. But enough is enough. So Moses has excuse number five. Exodus 4.

But he said, Oh, my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else you may send.

And so basically, this is where Moses should have started. Because here, in this fifth excuse, it's really very simple. Moses simply didn't want to do it. He simply didn't want to do it. And he's finally come to the point where he's dancing all around the issue. Now he says, you know, I just don't want to do it.

You know, you see comedy sketches about mules digging in.

I remember back in the day when we had our beloved dog Teddy. And there were times where, you know, I wanted him, you know, maybe it was raining really hard. It's really cold. I wanted to do our walk and get home. He's got to do his business. And of course, little guy that he was, all 70 pounds of him.

You know, that could be the worst weather in the world, but he wants to take that full walk. He's going to do his business at the very end of the walk. And he's not going to do it anytime before that. So you've got to endure all this stuff. And if he wanted to sniff something.

I mean, he was only 70 pounds, and I weigh, let's be generous, I weigh at least 200 pounds.

I weigh a little more than that, but, you know, it's a holiday, so we'll be generous here.

But if that 70-pound dog wanted to go someplace and sniff something, it took everything I had, because he would just put down those two legs and use those back legs to thrust him. Man, he was like something out of this world. He could be stubborn.

We loved him. He could be stubborn. Moses is doing the same thing. He doesn't want to budge. He doesn't want to go. He's putting those legs down. He says, I don't want to do it. I just don't want to do it.

God's response, verse 14.

So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.

And he says, Is not Aaron to leave by your brother? I know that he can speak well.

And look, he was coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he'll be glad in his heart.

Now, verse 14 is an interesting response on a number of levels.

First it shows God's upset. He's had enough.

And I've got to look at that and think, through my life, the excuses I've used.

How many times have I gotten God white hot with anger, with my excuses?

So God is angry here in verse 14. Notice it says, Is not Aaron to leave by your brother?

Now, did Moses not know they were Levites? Yeah, Moses knew they were Levites.

There's a lesson here to be learned.

Because of his excuse making, it's going to be Aaron who is going to now, and his family, the Levites, who are going to be the official spokesmen to the people of God.

God, I think, originally wanted Moses to be that person.

But Moses lost that opportunity. Sometimes, brethren, when you and I make excuses, opportunity comes and it goes. For Moses came and went.

The opportunity to be the spokesmen for God to the people of God, a tremendous honor, that came and went, because he made excuses. It's going to go to Aaron.

And because Aaron had a positive outlook, he said, Look, I know he can speak. He's coming out to meet you. He'll be glad in his heart.

Basically, God said, Moses, I'm tired of your bad attitude.

Straighten up, fella. Let's grow a good attitude here.

Verse 15. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I'll be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I'll teach you what you shall do.

So here in verse 14 and 15, God's going to be with both Moses and Aaron.

Verse 16. So he'll be your spokesmen to the people, and himself shall be a mountaintop.

He'll be your mouth to you, and you shall be as him as God.

So again, verse 16 shows that Moses lost his opportunity because of excuse-making.

How many opportunities are you and I going to lose in life because we make excuses?

I'm sure I've lost more than I sure am. I'm sure that I'm not alone when I've meditated about where I should be spiritually versus where I am spiritually. What I've lost in terms of, you know, I should have conquered this or that or the other, and I've not really conquered like I should, or to the degree I should, and the opportunities that have come that way, and I've lost because I've made excuses.

I don't think I'm alone in any of that. I think there's probably a large boat that we're all in with that.

Because of our excuse-making, we're just not going to be as rewarded by God as maybe we could have been.

Verse 17, And you shall take this rod in your hand, and with this you shall do the signs.

That rod symbolized the miracle-working power of God.

And it's interesting that that whole session stops right there.

The one point that God wants to leave with Moses is that God is with you.

He will work miracles. He will do what it takes because He's called us, and He doesn't call us to failure.

Brethren, rejecting God's call, not just the call to be in the church, but the call to do various things in our life as Christians, to reject God's call is serious business.

So whatever it is that God is calling you and I to do now as Christians, we must not make excuses.

Because when we make excuses, we will suffer loss. We don't want to suffer spiritual loss.

We want to grow. We want to be pleasing to God in every way possible.

So this Day of Atonement, which pictures the shutting down of Satan on a grand scale, lets you and I remember that this Day also represents the shutting down of Satan in our lives.

And one of the ways we need to work on shutting down Satan is shutting down the excuse-making mechanism that we all have.

Shut that right down. And as we do that, at least in that area of our life, we're shutting down the work of Satan.

Brandon, I wish Mary and I wish all of you to have a great Feast of Tabernacles last great day.

We'll be leaving Monday evening. Mary's putting a full day in at work on Monday.

I'll be picking her up at work. We'll be leaving Monday evening to head to Chicago.

We'll be pulling into Del's on Tuesday. We need to be doing some work at the arena.

I'm in charge of setting up a stage, so I've got things... Mary and I have got things to do on Tuesday.

Then on Wednesday, to set the stage up.

So I'll be thinking about you. You've got my cell phone. If you need me, give me a phone call.

But I'm wishing all of you a very happy and meaningful and a rich Feast of Tabernacles and last great day.