Thank God for the victory that he gives in our Christian lives and that's where victory comes from, doesn't it? From our Lord. I trust you have your Bibles there this morning and if you do, please turn with me to the book of Exodus and chapter 4. Book of Exodus, chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4 and in Exodus chapter 3 and 4 we have been dealing with the call of Moses, God meeting Moses at the burning bush, commissioning him to return into Egypt and to set the people of God free and Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness there, minding Jethro's sheep and God used that 40 years to prepare him for his main life's work. So Exodus chapter 4 and we're going to read from verse 18 to the end of the chapter. Verse 18 and to the end of the chapter the Bible reads, 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 be yet alive. Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. The Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt, for all the men are dead which sought thy life. 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, and he shall not let the people go. 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. 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 and she said a bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision. The Lord said to Aaron go into the wilderness to meet Moses and he went and met him in the mount of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs which he had commanded him. Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel and Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. the people believed and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked upon their affliction then they bowed their heads and worshipped.' Let's ask the Lord for his help this morning as we look at the theme, Moses Returns to Egypt. Dear Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us this morning, we thank you for the Word of God which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, we thank you that your Word is able to meet the needs of our hearts and we pray that You would be present now Lord. We need your help. The preacher needs help this morning father The hearer needs help this morning we pray for that very necessary ministry of the Holy Spirit of God to quieten our hearts and to Soften our hearts to open our hearts to receive your word The Lord helped me to be a help and not a hindrance to what you want to do this morning I yield myself to you spirit soul and body Asking that you would take me and use me as your instrument for the blessing and edification of your people. We pray in Jesus name Amen Moses returns into Egypt. In our last message we looked at Moses' stubbornness towards the call of God, the three excuses that Moses made to try and avoid surrendering to the call of God in his life. And we suggested an outline for Exodus chapter 4. Firstly, Moses' stubbornness towards the call, verse 1 to 17. Moses' submission to the call, verse 18 to 23. Moses' stumbling block in the call, verse 24 to 26, don't turn me down too much more, will you? And Moses' supporter for the call, I've got a little bit of a frog in my throat this morning, verse 27 to 31. So we looked last week at Moses' stubbornness towards the call of God and those three excuses that Moses made to try and avoid returning into Egypt. Well today we're going to continue on with that outline and see how God worked in Moses' life and how Moses ultimately surrendered to the call of God and went forward in the will of God, took steps to go forward in the will of God and so we're really just going to follow in the footsteps of Moses today as he seeks to follow the Lord and follow God's will and we're going to learn some lessons along the way. So we come now to that next point in our outline for chapter 4 which is Moses' submission to the call, verse 18 to 23. Moses' submission to the call. Now we looked last week at, as I mentioned, the three excuses of Moses and how God worked very graciously in Moses' life to help him to overcome those excuses but here we can praise God that ultimately Moses got to that place of surrender to the will of God and you may struggle in your life with certain aspects of God's will as it is revealed to you And God will very often be gracious with you in working through some of your doubts and some of your difficulties with accepting that call, but at some point you must come to the place where you accept God's will for your life, where you surrender to God's will for your life. If Moses had continued to stubbornly persist in refusing God's will, then he would have missed out on God's blessing and God would have used somebody else. Don't ever get the idea that you are indispensable to the work of God, that God's work can't survive without you. We serve an almighty God. God doesn't need us, but he invites us in many ways into the privilege of serving him. And if you refuse the call of God for your life, God can and God will supply the need from somewhere else. so make sure you get to that point in your life, as Moses did, where you surrender to the will of God. And so that's what we see here in verse 18 to 23, we see Moses finally yielding to the call of God and Moses now taking steps to follow God's leading in his life. And what's interesting, as Moses takes these steps, we'll see God give him further encouragement, further assurance in reward for him stepping out in faith. But let's trace Moses' submission to the call here, we see a number of things. We see Moses firstly appeal to Jethro in verse 18, so Moses is now yielded to the call of God and his first step in seeking to carry out the will of God was to appeal to Jethro, verse 18, 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 be yet alive and Jethro said to Moses go in peace.' I see here a principle in Moses' appeal, a principle in Moses' appeal. Moses had received instructions from the highest authority on earth, Moses had heard the voice of God speaking to him out of the burning bush and God giving him the instructions for what he was to do with his life. But I love how Moses goes back to his father-in-law and appeals to his earthly authority there before he goes off in his pursuit of God's will. I think we could say that this represented a spirit of, firstly, courtesy. Courtesy. Yeah, Moses could have easily said, well, God Almighty has called me, I'm just going to head off to Egypt. I'm not even going to say anything to Jethro. I mean, after all, God's called me and, you know, who's Jethro? And I'm just going to head off and do what I please. No, we see in Moses a good example that a divine call does not negate the need for us to work cooperatively or seek to work cooperatively with the authorities God has placed in our lives. Do you see that? This is a courtesy. Moses ultimately is going to follow God because God is the highest authority and when God has given a command, we are to follow that. But we see an important principle here, that a call of God does not negate the need for us to seek to be courteous, to check in with those who are in authority over us. You know, sometimes I've seen this where people say, well I'm called of God and they get an autonomous spirit. they say, well I'm just called of God and I don't really care what the pastor has to say about this or you know, I've just got to go, I've just got to go. And it's like, well hang on a second, there's actually another principle in Scripture here that when we have a genuine call of God, that's great but we need to try and work in with the biblical authorities that God has placed in our lives and hopefully, like Jethro, if they're in tune with the Lord, they'll get on board and cooperate with what God is doing. But it's a courtesy to do that, It's good manners to do that, and that makes sense, not only had Jethro provided Moses with a dear wife, but he had also provided Moses with employment. for 40 years and so this was a courtesy, there's a principle here in Moses' appeal to Jethro. I think we also can see cooperation and I've touched on that, that we need to work respectfully and cooperatively with human authorities. In fact, it is wisdom to check in with those in authority over us for counsel as we seek to follow God's will for our lives. As someone said, spiritual activities never absolve us from the common amenities and responsibilities of life. No believer who is not a gentleman or a lady is a true Christian in the full sense of the word. To be a Christian is to practice Christ-likeness and Christ ever thought of others. You know, some people though, behave in the most discourteous way in relation to their authorities. I don't care what you've got to say, this is God's will for my life or you know, you've got nothing to say about this. I have seen believers leave church who would probably pay more respect to their sports club, more respect to their employer if they were leaving their employment than they do to the local church and their pastor. I've had people, they just literally leave and don't even tell you or they send you a text message Now, would you do that to your employer? Or would you not show the courtesy of a little bit of notice? At least perhaps say thank you for the employment you've given me. Okay, so there needs to be courtesy. I'm not suggesting you leave the church. I'm just saying that's an example I have seen where people can be so disrespectful because, well, God's just led us to go somewhere else. Well, he may have led you to go somewhere else, but it's still a courtesy to touch base with the man God's placed over you. it's also actually a little bit of a safety net for you because did you know you can sometimes err in your discerning of God's will? I have done that myself, I have erred sometimes in my understanding of God's will and sometimes godly counsel can help be a little bit of a refining, help provide some refining to your understanding of God's will or maybe reveal to you that your thinking is unbiblical in a certain area Amen? And so this is an important principle that we need to be aware of. And then on the authorities then, we have to be very careful that we're not obstructing something that God might be doing. So it works both ways, doesn't it? Both accountable to the Lord, one to check in with the authority, the authority being careful not to stand in the way. And praise God, Jethro didn't. He obviously discerned this was the will of God and he got out of the way and allowed Moses to pursue the will of God for his life. And so Moses goes to Jethro and says, I pray thee let me return unto my brethren and Jethro says, go in peace, allows him to go. So Moses is, we see him here appeal to Jethro, now we notice he's assured by God, number two, and the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, go return into Egypt for all the men are dead which sought thy life. So now that Moses has determined to obey God and to step out in faith, God now speaks to Moses afresh, renewing his commission, go, reassuring him with the news that the people who were actively seeking to kill him 40 years previous, i.e. the previous Pharaoh, were now dead and therefore he could go with confidence and knowing that he was going to be saved. Now what I find interesting is God never told Moses this back when he was calling him. once Moses submitted to the call of God and actually began to step out in the direction of God's will, then God spoke to Moses afresh, giving him further assurance and further blessing. And you know, that is so often how the will of God is, so often we want to know the entire thing that's ahead of us, we want to know all the details, all the information, and God says, no, I've told you enough now for you to obey. here's my will for you and now you step out in faith in the direction of my will and guess what happens? When you take steps in the direction of God's will by faith, God will then bless you with further assurance, further promises from his word. It's a principle, do you know why? God blesses faith. God blesses faith, God blesses submission and obedience to His will and if God has showed you His will then you step out in faith in the direction of God's will and God will take care of the rest. The problem we have in our society is we just want to know everything in advance, we want to know all the fine print to God's will. Show me the fine print Lord and the Lord says no, I've got the fine print under control, you obey me. it's an important principle there. So God tells Moses this, rewards his faith and assures him. Then we see, just watching Moses as he takes steps in the direction of God's will here, as he surrenders to God's will, we notice number three, he is accompanied by family, verse 20, 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. I think this presents a very touching picture actually, if you let your imagination paint the scene. God has called Moses to be a man of God. God has called Moses to go and confront the most powerful ruler on the earth, Pharaoh. God is going to set Moses, as it were, on a collision course with the might of Egypt. But Moses is going to take his family with him. Do you see Zipporah there climbing onto the ass? The two boys, maybe some tears in their eyes as they say goodbye to Grandfather Jethro. Maybe some tears of the unknown. What is ahead of them? You can feel the emotion as they are departing the land they know, the loved ones they know. You know, it's a reminder that when God calls a man to be a preacher, his family goes with him. When God calls a man to go into the front lines of ministry, and it's good for you to be aware of this as church members, remember that his wife and children go with him. they become targets of the devil. They go with the man of God in his calling and there needs to be some grace at times shown to the pastor's family. I'm not talking about tolerating compromise or that sort of thing that sometimes happens, we're not talking about that or where maybe a pastor is disqualified but there needs to be some grace on the part of God's people to realise that principle as we see here in Moses that the man of God takes his family with him and therefore to pray for the family in its entirety and also show grace at times as they confront the battle. Such a calling comes with great privileges but also great pressures for the preacher's family. we see him accompanied by family and then we note number four him advised by God verse 21 to 23 and the Lord said unto Moses when thou goest to return into Egypt see that thou do all these wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thine heart but I will harden his heart that he shall not let the people go and so God now Not only does God provide Moses with further assurance as he steps out in the direction of his will, but God now provides Moses with some additional instructions and counsel about what he is to do when he arrives in Egypt. he commands Moses that he is to perform the miracles that God has given him the ability to do. These three signs were not only for the Israelites but were evidently also for Pharaoh as well and God had already revealed to Moses that Pharaoh was going to have a negative response but in these verses God really reveals to Moses the root cause of that resistance on the part of Pharaoh, it would come down to hardness in the heart of Pharaoh. Now the hardness of Pharaoh's heart is a major theme of the book of Exodus. It's mentioned at least 19 times. Sometimes it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Sometimes it says that Pharaoh's heart was hardened without specifying who did the hardening. And then other times it says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. So really God was going to work in this way God was going to harden Pharaoh's heart as an act of judgment. You see, God does not act in a random and in an unjust way. Pharaoh first hardened his own heart against God and then God hardened Pharaoh's heart as an act of judgment. Did you know it's a very dangerous thing for you to harden your heart? Because if you repeatedly harden your heart against God, God actually has the final say. And sometimes we see this in the Word of God, where as an act of judgment, God hardens someone who has repeatedly hardened their heart in order that he might justly pour out his judgment upon them. We'll talk more about that as we go throughout the series. God gives Moses a very specific message for Pharaoh. God says Moses I want you to go to Pharaoh and you are to say to him thus saith The Lord. There's power in that, isn't there? Moses was not going to Egypt with his own message. Moses was not going to face Pharaoh with his own opinions. Moses was going to Egypt armed with the mighty word of the great I Am, the word of the living God. Thus saith the Lord. By the way, that's the kind of preaching we need today. We need preaching that has that tone of thus saith the Lord in it. But we need preachers today like Moses, who are not going to waste the time of God's people with the opinions of men, but preachers who will stand and get their sermons from the scriptures, get their preaching out of the word of God and declare Thus saith the Lord. It should be a very basic thing, shouldn't it? That you should be able to come to church and hear the preacher open the Bible and actually tell you something from God's word. Do you realize though, sadly, that is very rare today. There are a few preachers out there that are truly saying, thus saith the Lord, but Moses was not that kind of preacher. God equipped him and said, I want you to go and declare my word to Pharaoh. know, phrases like, the Lord said, thus saith the Lord, and the word of the Lord came unto me, occur more than 3,800 times in the Old Testament. This is the word of the living God. This is our authority as Christians. This is the source of our message as believers. It is the word of the living God. How we need that. Today in a day where their preachers seem to be more concerned about opinions and more concerned about the latest blog and the latest book they've read. Good books can be a help but don't let them substitute the Bible. And there's something wrong when preachers seem to be more interested in quoting from the writings of men than the Word of God. Why would you waste your time on that? You know, the more I study and memorize and read the Word of God, the more I realize, you know, just the inexhaustible treasure house of Scripture there is. there's just no need for you to waste time as a preacher on all these other opinions and all these other ideas, just open the book of God and preach the Word of God. God tells Moses that he was to present Israel to Pharaoh in terms of a firstborn son. Now understand, in the ancient world that the firstborn son had a very special place of privilege in the family, a place of responsibility. And so God is revealing to Pharaoh his view of the nation of Israel. He saw the Jews as mere slaves, as nobodies, but God is revealing to Pharaoh that to him they were as special as a firstborn son and God warns him right here, if you don't let my firstborn son go, if you don't let Israel, my nation go, will slay your firstborn son. Don't forget that, when we get to the last of the plagues, the tenth plague, don't think God was unjust, Pharaoh was told from the very beginning, if you don't let my firstborn go, representing there my nation, then I will slay your firstborn son, as an act of judgment. Now there's an interesting type of Christ here because Matthew 2.15, quoting from Hosea 11 verse 1, says, out of Egypt have I called my son. So we have Israel going down into Egypt and then God bringing Egypt up out... God bringing, sorry, the nation of Israel up out of Egypt and that picture is then related to Jesus Christ. Remember Christ went down into Egypt? Remember He fled there with His mother and foster father Joseph, remember, to escape Herod? They went down into Egypt and then God brought His firstborn Son, as it were, up out of Egypt, firstborn according to rank not time, the eternal Son of God. So there's an interesting picture there of Christ in the liberation of the nation of Israel out of Egypt. So we see Moses' submission to this call of God in his life. Notice now, the second major point here, Moses' stumbling block in his call. There was a stumbling block that Moses would have to deal with now in his life. Look at it there in verse 24 to 26 and we come to a most intriguing incident in the Bible. How many of you find this incident a little bit baffling and intriguing? came to pass by the way in the inn, so they're on their way now to Egypt, can you see that? They're on their way, that the Lord met him and sought to what? To kill who? Moses. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast at his feet and said, surely a bloody husband art thou to me. Please, the Bible doesn't use the word the way Aussies use that word today, okay? It's not a swear word in Old English. In fact, unfortunately, we're one of the few nations that have turned that word into a swear word, okay. Notice the Bible's not swearing here. So he let him go, then she said, a bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision. So it's interesting, here Moses and his family are on their way to Egypt. The wife has been put on the ass and the boys and they're on their way and they stop at an encampment overnight, some sort of ancient inn, place to stay for the night and we don't know how God, maybe God appeared to Moses with a, you know, maybe... some sort of drawn sword or maybe God smoked Moses with a serious disease, the Bible doesn't tell us what happened but Moses clearly understood that he was going to die as an act of God's judgment and Zipporah clearly understood that Moses was going to die and it all centred on their failure to circumcise their second son. Now Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, we don't know which of the two sons it was, it was probably the youngest, Eliezer, and for whatever reason Zipporah disliked circumcision. She didn't want her son to be circumcised, she'd seen probably the firstborn circumcised and said, never again, I don't like this circumcision thing, I don't understand it as a Midianite, don't get it, don't understand the spiritual significance. And so, for whatever reason, Moses had given in to his wife's feelings on this matter and had not circumcised his son in accordance with God's law as a Jewish man. The circumcision was an extremely important sign the Abrahamic Covenant. So, God was going to take Moses' life for his disobedience in this matter. Zipporah clearly understood this, so she gets a sharp stone, probably a stone knife in those days, quickly performs the circumcision, grabs the foreskin, comes over, flings the foreskin at Moses' feet and says, a bloody husband out there because of the circumcision. Who said the Bible was a boring book, eh? Now, circumcision was binding on all the descendants of Abraham. Read Genesis 17. In fact, Genesis 17, 14 made it very clear that if you failed to circumcise your son, that would bring God's judgment. It says, and the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He hath broken my covenant. Now, we're not bound by circumcision as the circumcision law as Gentiles in the New Testament era, but understand that for the Jewish people, it was a sign of God's covenant with them. Circumcision, they were to bear this covenant, this mark in their flesh, that they were the chosen people of God, that they were dedicated to God and surrendered to God. So it was the sign that accompanied the Abrahamic covenant and to disobey that was very serious. that's the picture. Clearly, Zipporah had a bad attitude about circumcision. Can you see that in the passage? She's not happy about this. She calls her husband a bloody husband twice because of the circumcision. I mean, she's angry at Moses. So, God's angry at Moses and his wife's angry at him. Not a good place to be as a man, let me say. She clearly did not want to submit to this, for whatever reason, she viewed it as unnecessary, didn't like it, being a Midianite she probably didn't understand fully the significance for the Jewish people, even though they themselves were descendants of Abraham, distantly related there, I believe. You know, I think there's some valuable lessons we can learn from this incident. I've got your attention now, haven't I? I, as I ponder on this, I believe we can learn some lessons under two categories. I believe there's some lessons for those in ministry and there's some lessons for family. Now, understand we're not under circumcision but there's some very clear principles here that the core issue here is one of obedience to God and His Word, right? So, let's think about some lessons for ministry. Number one, God is a holy God blatant disobedience is displeasing to him and can bring his hand of chastening into our lives. True? God is a holy God and blatant disobedience to the Word of God displeases God. That's clearly what's happening here, God is not pleased with Moses' disobedience to his clear command. True? so we need to be reminded of that as we serve God, we are to serve Him obediently, we're to serve Him reverently and if we blatantly and willfully disobey the Word of God, that can bring God's hand of chastisement into our lives. He may not take your life, as he did with Moses, but he might kill your ministry. He might chastise you in some other way. Second lesson, ministry is a high calling and those called need to take their obedience to God seriously. Think about this, how could Moses go and preach God's word to the people of Israel while he himself had a glaring area of compromise in his own household? True? Moses is going to go and preach to the children of Israel and he's supposed to lead them as the Jewish people, as the covenant people of God, in obedience to the right of circumcision. And after the Exodus, some of them had to be circumcised because they hadn't done that in Egypt. How could Moses really preach the truth to the people of God and lead the people of God in the truth if he himself was compromised in his home in that area? That's a huge problem today. You've got pastors and preachers who are preaching God's Word to God's people while they have massive areas sometimes of blatant disobedience to God and His Word in their families. That's not right. so what Moses... what is very clear here is God is making it clear, before you get to Egypt and fulfil my will, you've got to take care, Moses, of this glaring area of disobedience, this area of compromising your life before I can use you. True? We're living in a day-to-day where standards for ministry have been lowered way below the biblical benchmark. Seriously. And I'm not talking about the need to give sometimes the pastor some grace to grow and there are little things at times, we understand that, non-disqualifying things in his life sometimes that he needs to grow in, we're not expecting perfection. I'm thankful the Bible qualification for the pastor is blameless, not faultless. It doesn't say faultless, there's a difference between blameless and faultless. If you're looking for a faultless pastor, you better go to heaven. You'll find some there, but not here. But we're talking here about blatant, again, it's probably hard for us to understand the significance of it because we think it's circumcision. Understand for the Jews, this was huge. This was a major area of obedience for the Jewish people. So it'd be like a preacher today, getting up and preaching God's word, but he has a major area of disobedience in his life, whatever that be, in some area. And so we learn here that God does have much higher requirements for those who are called to a high office. Do you understand that? If you are called in the New Testament era to the high office of being a pastor, you're called to be an evangelist, a missionary, a preacher of the Word of God in some capacity, you cannot overstate just how high a calling that is. therefore it's reasonable that God expect a higher standard, in the right sense of the word, from his men in ministry. And it is, the ministry is a very exact kind of life, you have to walk very carefully. You think about it, there are certain even professions in life that require more attention to detail, A surgeon going in to operate is going to have to have a much higher standard of cleanliness than someone performing a lower level job, true? And you would want them to, wouldn't you? Why? Because you don't want to get diseased from the man who's operating on you. So there are certain things in life that have much finer tolerances, true? Okay, in carpentry, what's the one or two mil out on the framing's okay, isn't it? Or not really? 57. Okay. If you're Pastor Dan, it's probably going to be just right, but you know, there are certain professions like that where you're doing framing for a house and there's a bit of leeway there, a few mil maybe. But on other things, it's got to be just micro units of just so precise. He said, oh, I don't like that. Well, then don't become a pastor. Don't enter the ministry if you want a sloppy Christian life. Frankly, a sloppy Christian life is not for any Christian. But if you are called, like Moses was, to go and say, thus saith the Lord, then God wants a life that is pure, a life that is clean, a life that is obedient to God. We need to get back to that today. I think even in some of our independent Baptist churches today, we're seeing a dramatic lowering of standards for those in ministry, and it's not right. Third lesson for ministry. For those called to the ministry, make sure your wife is fully on board with every aspect of your calling before you leave, before you launch out. You listening to that one? I don't know what's going on with my headset this morning. It just keeps doing something weird here. Moses had clearly ignored this issue, hoping it would go away. you go out, launch out as a ministry couple and there's a major area of compromise that's just sitting there in the background, it's not going to go away, it's actually going to come out. Because there's nothing like the pressures of ministry to reveal those kinds of things. I say that for a reason. because I've seen even in my short lifetime examples of men who have launched out and it was quite clear husband and wife were not really on the same page spiritually or maybe they were weak spiritually or mediocre spiritually and it cost some of them their marriage. Watch out. You better make sure before you launch out in the will of God that you're both on the same page spiritually, you both agree on the Word of God or you're going to have big problems. Make sure you are of one heart and one mind on doctrine and biblical convictions or it will resurface later in your ministry and cause problems. If there's an area of disagreement on the Word of God it needs to be resolved before you step into the front line or the devil will exploit that weakness to destructive effect in your marriage and ministry. Do you know this very incident, I believe, well most likely this incident, led to an estrangement for a time between Moses and his wife? Moses, we'd find out later, sent her and the boys back. Jethro, after the Exodus, brings them back, thank God they were reconciled at Mount Sinai when the people of God came with Moses out of Egypt. But Moses had to send his wife and children back because she just simply wasn't on board at this point in time with every aspect of his calling. Now, in the Old Testament context, God allowed Moses to go on to Egypt without Zipporah and fulfill his ministry. But in the New Testament, the ministry standard is actually higher. According to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1, the pastor is to have his house in order or he can't minister. If your marriage is a mess, better get out of the ministry and sort your marriage out and then maybe God will restore you. But don't just carry on because it's going to cause problems. telling you, I've seen where people have gone out, not properly qualified, not properly trained, I've just got to go, got to go, got to go and win the world for Christ. My dad said in his 40, 50 years of ministry, he's noticed that the guys that wouldn't knuckle down and prepare properly, they just had to go, had to go, didn't last. They didn't have enough ballast in the ship. I think there's another lesson we could learn, and this is a New Testament application to circumcision, a call to serve God is a call to die to self. You say, what does circumcision mean for the New Testament Christian? Well, read Colossians chapter 2, 10 through 12, where God uses circumcision as an illustration of the operation of God in dealing with the flesh life in the believer. really a truth that ties in with Romans 6, that we're crucified with Christ, that our old man is crucified with him. In Colossians chapter 2, God speaks about the same kind of death to self-truth but in terms of circumcision, that he's cut away, as it were, the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. So when I got saved, when you got saved, praise God, there was a an operation of God there, done to remove sin as a ruling power in my life. That's my position in Christ, I'm crucified with Christ, the old man is crucified with him. Romans 6.6, Galatians 2.20. So praise the Lord. It's wonderful to know, by the way, that's your position in Christ, that you're dead in Christ, don't be surprised if there's some pain when the Holy Spirit tries to make that real in day-to-day life. It's already done, that's my position. But Zipporah's saying this is going to hurt, this is not going to feel nice. And there's that aspect, in fact it's not just for those who are called to serve God in full-time ministry, every believer is called to die to self and don't be surprised if God comes to your life as a believer and says this area here has got to be cut out, This area here has got to be dealt with. You say, oh that hurts, I don't want that. So what do I do? Yield to the Lord. It'd be good if we actually thought about what we sung sometimes. Trust and obey. Trust and obey, I like that, it's faith and obedience because it takes faith to obey. For there's no other way to be what? Happy in Jesus. I just couldn't submit to the Lord in this area, I wouldn't be happy anymore. No, the only way to be truly happy, to have true joy, is to yield to the Lord in your life. So that's the spiritual principle, looking at it from the New Testament perspective there, circumcision represents this spiritual operation of God, Colossians 2, 10 to 12, where the body of sin as a ruling power is removed from my life, it's cut away as it were. So I no longer have to yield to sin, I no longer have to live under the dominion of sin, now I can still sin as a Christian but by the grace of God I don't have to, I can have victory, God can give me victory on account of that spiritual circumcision that's taken place. So we could say, to use New Testament language, Zipporah is recoiling from the cross here. You know, if there's one thing that's helped me in my ministry to date, it's the truth of death to self. Do you know how often those truths have helped your pastor, saved your pastor from doing something stupid or from getting bitter or from getting riled up in the flesh and taking matters into my own hands? It's a very liberating truth when you can say, God, I'm dead to this. I'm trusting you. It hurts, but I'm trusting you by the power of your Holy Spirit to make this death principle real in my life right now. Keep me dead to that temper, Lord, that desire to go and give that person a piece of my mind. You don't ever feel like that as a pastor, do you? Well, you never do either, do you? You little angel. I'm just saying, you've got to learn to die to self. You've got to learn to embrace spiritual circumcision as a way, that cutting process that God wants to do in our lives at times. You know, if you read the old missionary biographies, you'll find this was actually a constant theme of their writings. embracing the cross, embracing death to self, the walk of faith, the Holy Spirit working in us and Zipporah's like, I don't want this, I don't want this crucifixion experience, as it were. That's why some people are not in the ministry today either, is because they simply, I don't think, understood what it meant to die. And I don't say that condescendingly, of course not, it's just a reality. So, I think you can see there's some ministry lessons here. In fact, as I studied this, for whatever reason, I feel like the Lord just, it's like, this is the main part of the message. I think there's some marriage lessons too. You ready? One, husbands need to exercise spiritual leadership in the home, this will at times mean giving time to helping their wives if they are struggling with surrender in a particular area of the Christian life. Did you get that? Husbands need to exercise spiritual leadership in the home and this at times means giving time to help your wife understand a particular aspect of the Christian life. Did you know that sometimes, in fact it could be either spouse, some point in your marriage your spouse is going to struggle with a certain aspect of God's will. You don't have that problem, ever? That's good. You've never, excuse me, have you ever struggled with an aspect of God's will in your life? Have you, raise your hand, have you ever struggled with obedience to God in some requirement from His Word, yes or no? Three, that's good. No, there's a few more. This church is so spiritual, I'd better go somewhere else, find some backsliders to preach to. No, no, I think you get what I'm saying here. But it's especially important for the husband, sometimes your wife is going to struggle... I think Zipporah's a bit worked up emotionally here, would that be a fair statement? don't get all bent out of shape ladies and think about the feminist lobby and everything. The Bible says you are the weaker vessel and we're to give honour unto you and the worst thing you can do as a husband is get on that emotion of, oh I'm just emotional too. No, you get out of that kind of state of mind and you try and help your wife. Now I just wonder, maybe she didn't fully appreciate and understand the importance of circumcision because Moses hadn't bothered to properly work through the issue with her and explain it to her and say, sweetheart, let's sit down for a moment. He had 40 years to do it. Some husbands are like that, we'll just let the matter lie, you watch out when that matter stands up. maybe for the sake of temporal marital peace. Moses said, I'll just leave that, it's a no-go zone for Zipporah, for Zip. Don't worry Zippy. Okay Mo. The mighty Mo. We'll just let the matter lie. Have you ever heard that? sometimes there's a time to let things rest but not a major area of biblical... not a major biblical issue. Is that you and your marriage and your family right now? You've just got a glaring area of disagreement in the area of doctrine, in the area of Christian practice and we'll just keep pushing that to one side, that's going to come back to bite you. And maybe you as a husband, instead of sitting in front of the television for three hours a night, maybe you could actually get your Bible out and do a bit of study and help your help meet. No? And sit her down lovingly and say, let's look at this from the word of God. This is why we believe what we believe. This is what God said. Could I explain it to you? And actually lead your wife. Moses had left this issue to Fester in the background. Now perhaps Sephora, as I mentioned about her not seeing the value of it, yes, one way we can love our wives as husbands is to seek to be a sanctifying influence in their lives with the Word of God, Ephesians 5, 25 to 26. it's a problem today where often the issue is, the wife is the stronger spiritually, trying to get the man to do what's right. Look, frankly, I mean, this case here, Zipporah was out of line, Moses, he had his responsibilities too, but Zipporah's the main one who's got her nose out of joint. But frankly, it can happen to either spouse. What's the solution? Husband, both husband and wife needs to be yielded to the Lord, together. Ready for another one? Number two, wives need to be careful not to have a spirit of resistance to godly leadership in the home. Would it be fair to say that Zipporah has a spirit of resistance here to a biblical command? Surely a bloody husband art thou to me because of the circumcision. That kind of sounds like resistance to the Word of God. If your husband is trying to lead you in the truth and lead the family in a biblical direction, support him. it happens. I don't want... some wives just decide, I just don't want that aspect of the Christian life. I love this area of worldliness too much, or I love this too much, I just don't want... Zipporah had decided, I don't want to yield to the Lord in this area! Do you know what I find really interesting about this? Just listen up for a minute, wives. Zipporah's the one who's resisting the will of God in the home but God's going to spank Moses, not her. Do you see that? Clearly, the main resistance is coming from Zipporah, she doesn't want circumcision and she's become an obstacle to Moses But God is going to chastise Moses, not Zipporah. Why? Because the husband's the head of the home. Did you realise that as a wife, if you are resisting the will of God in your family, you could actually bring chastisement upon your husband? True? Lost some of you or you're just shocked? Can you see that? God is going to deal with Moses, even though a lot of the resistance coming from Zipporah. So good, I can just live the way I like and my husband will cop the spanking. No, then you will suffer ultimately as well. Well for Zipporah, she's about to lose her husband. It's a reminder that if you stand in your husband's way as an obstacle to his obedience, you may bring the Lord's chastening hand upon him as the head of the home. C. H. Macintosh writes, if Zipporah refuses to circumcise her son, Jehovah will lay his hand upon her husband. And if Moses spares the feelings of his wife, Jehovah will seek to kill him. Lesson number three. Husbands and wives need to strive to be of one heart and one mind spiritually. True? Husbands and wives need to strive to be of one heart and one mind spiritually. Moses and Zipporah are not on the same page on this issue, true? You can have little differences of opinion on domestic issues. Do you ever have a difference of opinion as a husband and wife? No? Again, we're surrounded by saints here, that's good. I'd love to have a CCTV camera in your kitchen. I think that would tell a different story. Eavesdropping machine. Maybe I should bug some of the members' houses. No, no, I'm just joking. You can have little differences of opinion on how the best method is to wash the dishes. And the best method, the kind of towels you should use to wipe up the dishes. I discovered some things as a newly married man, you take for granted that you don't use the hand towel to dry the dishes. We always did that growing up. No, don't do that! Okay? But you can't afford to be divided on the doctrines of the Word of God. You can't afford to be divided as husband and wife on biblical convictions. Well, dad holds to this standard, but mum doesn't really care about that one. Or mum's really concerned about this, but dad couldn't care less. That's not right. That's not the kind of marriage you want to aim for. By the way, young people, here's a quick word of advice for you. Before you marry someone, make sure you're of one heart spiritually. Make sure you agree on what you believe. Make sure you're both saved. That's a good start. if you're going to married life and you're butting heads already on some significant point of Bible doctrine or Bible practice, that is going to get magnified tenfold in your marriage. You know, it's a wonderful thing. when you see husband and wife both passionate for God, both surrendered to God, both yielded to God, rather than discouraging one another in the things of God, they are exhorting one another and pushing each other forward. Isn't that wonderful? When you have that kind of relationship as husband and wife, where in your heart you are just on the same page, you have one heart and one mind, the word of God is the authority for your marriage and is the authority for your home, that's a wonderful marriage to have. so we don't have that right now, we'll work on it. If you're the problem, husband or wife, if you're the one who's chafing over an area of biblical separation or the Word of God, get yourself sorted out for the sake of your spouse and for the sake of your family, you need to be on the same page spiritually. If either spouse is not prepared to follow the Lord fully, will bring strain on the marriage and even the chastening hand of God. You see the issue here is Zipporah doesn't want to follow God fully. Oh there are many people who want to follow God but not follow him fully. There's a difference isn't there? Some people want to approach the Word of God as a buffet meal. I'll take this bit, I'll take that bit, this bit doesn't make me feel too uncomfortable, but that there, I'll just leave that. You can't have a take-it-or-leave-it approach to the Word of God. It's all or nothing. Either Jesus is Lord of all or He's not Lord at all. Four. Mum and Dad need to remember that when they disobey God, the children under their care also suffer. Try and put yourself in Eliezer's shoes. Don't imagine too much but I'm just saying, he's caught in a spiritual tug-of-war He's caught in the middle between dad who probably wants to follow God's will and mum who doesn't want to follow God's will. She probably delayed it way too long, had to happen when he was older. I'm just saying, I feel a little bit sorry for Eliezer caught in the middle of this spat between mum and dad. Do you know that's what happens? When you and husband and wife are at loggerheads with each other spiritually, your children are going to suffer from that. Man, mum's really worked up! And that puts the children in a position where they have to say, well do I take mum's side or dad's side on this spiritual issue? That's a recipe for disaster. One of the best things you can do for your children is yield to the Lord. on the same page spiritually. If you've got a spiritual leader for a husband, that means, as a wife, you need to be willing to follow. You ready for some good news? The good news is that problems like this in a marriage are not insurmountable. You say, how do you know? Well, because Zipporah and the boys were restored to Moses at a later date. And Jethro, as the father-in-law, had a part in this. Let me read it to you, Exodus 18, 1 through 5. I don't know exactly when he sent her back but clearly he sent her back before the Exodus took place and the events of the Exodus. My inkling is it probably happened here. Sweetheart, she was so angry, she might have even said, I don't know, I'm not coming with you Moses, I don't know what happened. But Moses had to send her back, back home. That would have been a heartache, I think, for Moses to have to go on alone by himself. It's a terrible thing to feel alone in a marriage, that you're trying to go forward with the law of wife or husband's back there, sitting around, not wanting to move anywhere. say, what do I do pastor, it's out of my control. Well, I'm in a marriage like that, well, follow the Lord as best you can, keep yielding to the Lord, I'm not trying to make you... you might say, this is so discouraging because I'm in that kind of divided marriage, I have an unsaved spouse even, or a saved spouse who's just so mediocre spiritually, what do I do? Follow the Lord as best you can, pray, So Moses brings them back, and her two sons, of which the name of one was Gershom, for he said, I've been an alien in a strange land, and the name of the other was Eliezer, for the God of my father said he was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife under Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the Mount of God. It's probably a good place to get reconciled as husband and wife, isn't it? Under the shadow of God's mountain. symbol of God's authority, the towering Mount Sinai there, where God thundered forth his word. Actually, for the New Testament Christian, the best place for reconciliation is not at Mount Sinai but at Mount Calvary, at the foot of a blood-stained cross, on your knees, humble, yielded, that's where that needs to happen. You know I'm thankful that Jethro wanted to help his daughter get reconciled with Moses. Unlike some interrupters in law, some wreckers in law today, who think nothing of busting a marriage, breaking a marriage up, of giving bad advice, you know, you want Moses, Moses wanted to circumcise the son, oh he's way old-fashioned, yeah I don't blame you, I don't blame you Zipporah, give the guy the flick! That's how some people, that's the kind of counsel some people give to a marriage that's going through difficulties. That's very wicked, isn't it? You see, the problem is, he's too committed to the Bible. That's not good for your mental health, all that circumcision stuff. It's traumatic. Going to that church, hearing all that, thus saith the Lord, that's giving you depression. Wouldn't have anything to do with your sin, would it? Wouldn't have anything to do with your compromise and your internet habits. Wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it? It's just the church's fault and that preacher's fault. Word of God's fault. No. Jethro heard of what God had done and he takes her back and is a part of the reconciliation process. So I'm just saying, if you are in a marriage right now, you both know the Lord but there's an issue between you, you haven't got resolved, don't go away from here and think the solution is we've got to split. No. kneel at the Mount of God and get the problem sorted! Don't leave the elephant in the room, don't ignore the elephant in the room, because guess what? You can ignore the elephant in the room, guess what? He's still there, large as life. And elephants don't fit under rugs very well, I've found, from personal experience. No, not from personal experience but... Glaring area of compromise in this home you can see what God is doing. Moses, before you go any further to Egypt, you're going to have to sort this out. No, I don't want to do that. Well, you should have thought about that before you became a husband. It's your responsibility to sort that out, as best you can. So, I think there's some lessons for us, isn't there? I had one more point for you, but I'm going to leave you, I'm going to spare you, There's enough to be convicted about right there, isn't there? You know, I was convicted on some of this this week. Not because I believe there's any massive area of compromise in my life, but it's sobering. I think I'm called to be a preacher, I need to walk carefully with the Lord. I need to be careful that what I'm preaching to others, I'm seeking to practice by the power of God in my own life. I need to give attention to the spiritual condition of my wife and family. I need to be concerned about that. can all be challenged by this and help. So let's bow our heads as we pray. Every head bowed, every eye closed. I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands but are you yielded to God's plan for your life? I think you'll agree with me, Moses did struggle initially but praised God in the end, he surrendered to God's will for his life. Is that you? You're just full of excuses, doubts about God's will, yield to the Lord as Moses did. I feel in my heart that maybe, I just really feel this, that the Holy Spirit really wanted me to emphasise those lessons for husbands, wives. Is the Lord convicting you about something in your marriage, your life, husband or wife? Are you resistant to one aspect of God's will? It's going to cause you problems in your marriage. Maybe just right now in your heart you can say, Lord I yield to you and your word. I don't understand it all but I know that your way is always best. I can trust you. And yes, sometimes following your will hurts a bit. It means embracing the cross, but Lord, I yield to that will of yours in my life. Husbands and wives, make a commitment in your hearts this morning to strive to be of one heart and one mind, doctrinally, spiritually, where you stand on the Word of God. Lord, help us to be a united family, a united marriage. Maybe the Lord's convicting you about an area of compromise in your life, and you know in your heart that it's just out of order. You're not living in obedience to God in that area. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you would just yield right now and say, Lord, I yield to you. I don't want to go through a similar experience to Moses and Zipporah where they had to come under your chastening hand to get them to do what was right. Lord, I yield now and by your grace, we'll take steps to deal with this. Lord, help us. We pray in this area. Help me, Lord, as a preacher, to live out the qualifications you have for me. Lord, and to grow in those qualifications. We think of that verse, I think it's in Isaiah, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, we pray for clean and godly men in this polluted age. Lord, we pray for families, for homes that would be united in the word of God, for godly husbands to lead and to help their helpmates, to help their wives, the weaker vessel at times, to understand your will and to understand your word and the right path and the right course Give us surrendered hearts to your word, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.