Desert Survival Series Pt 4- Moses the Man of God — Don Courville

Moses’s Training in the World and the Influence of the Mind

Turn in your Bibles if you would this morning to Exodus chapter 2. This is our desert survival series fourth message Moses the man of God. Before we read this passage of scripture. And let me back up a little bit from last time.

We looked last week at the training of Moses at home today. We're going to spend our time mostly with the training of Moses in the world and the reason we're going to do that is we want to see why Moses did what he did.

It's very important as to what is the primary source of? Information for our mind. But we know that The scripture teaches Jesus taught us that whatever goes into our mind. This is what we act like. This is what we become.

All life must be fed. Did you know that? All life must be fed and Jesus in this realm of of our spiritual life said that man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God every word Is profitable for doctrine for reproof and so forth.

And then something else I want to share with you on on the life system that we have and It says I got to thinking about This area because Jesus shared in Matthew 22 37. He said thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy mind and We as Christians had better pay attention to this because I believe we can commit spiritual adultery very easily by getting entangled with things of the world.

If I was to have one statement for today a propositional statement it would probably be this a worldly mind will produce a worldly life and a spiritual mind or a heavenly mind will produce a heavenly life or Spiritual life.

It's just as simple as that and as we're looking at Moses through this series We're looking at Moses how God raised him up how God put him into the desert to make him the man that he wanted him To be.

We're also seeing how God is allowing us to go through deserts. So we can be what God wants us to be. The Bible says set your affection your mind your thoughts on things above. And not on things on the earth and We saw last week how the parents of Moses gave him I believe the best possible training that they could have given to him at that time.

Moses’s Escape from Egypt and the Training of Acts 7

But today we want to see how how Moses thought what he thought in relation to the world of God and God. We're going to see an interesting thing in his life in his training, but let's read now Exodus Chapter 2 verses 11 and down through 15 and then we'll pray starting with verse 11 and It came to pass in those days when Moses was grown that he went out Unto his brethren and looked on their burdens and he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew one of his brethren.

And he looked this way and that way and when he saw that there was no man he slew the Egyptian and hit him in the sand and When he went out the second day behold two men of the Hebrews strove together and he said unto him that did the wrong.

Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow and he said who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as thou killest the Egyptian. And Moses feared and said surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing he sought to slay Moses.

But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian and he sat down By a well was bought for prayer father. Would you add your blessing to the reading of your word and would you open up our minds to the teaching of the word?

Holy Spirit do the work that you want to do this morning. I offer myself as available to you and I pray that each of us would offer our minds Our bodies our souls to you this morning and say God would you do a work in my life?

Would you tell me something speak to me this morning? Would you show me if there's something wrong in my life? Be glorified in my life or ask it in Jesus name. Amen. We want to get right into it this morning and the training of Moses.

The training of Moses was basically in the world in the world world's educational system and The the worldly education is okay. I've had a fair chunk of it myself. Had three universities where I've picked up a little bit at each one.

But I found out something about that. Unless God is able to use it. He doesn't get the glory and if I'm not careful Secular education or even biblical education can just be used for self to do what I want to do.

It's just can God get the glory in my life. Through what comes into my life and all that goes out of my life. I want to read you a passage of scripture in Acts chapter 7 21 22 which gives us a little bit about his education.

And then I'm going to share a little bit more about it as we go on. But in 21 of that verse in Acts 7, it says when he was cast out Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. Nourished is a word for for feeding he was fed I believe physically and they tried to feed him spiritually in the in the pagan religions.

But I don't believe he would take it. He wouldn't buy it. He wouldn't soak it in he wouldn't absorb it. But he did absorb the educational training that was given to him for it says and Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was it mighty in words and deeds now.

That education was okay. It's okay for Moses. It's okay for you as long as it's not the supreme influence in your life. The supreme influence in the life of Moses was God he never forgot his early training.

There in the home with his mom and dad his family how they pumped into him scripture how they they told him history Israel's history and how God was going to send a Messiah and all of that. And I believe that his mother probably believed that he might have been the Messiah, but he didn't turn out like that.

But the the supreme influence in his life was not that education. It was his training that he had got at home. God was the supreme supreme influence and he never forgot it. He never moved away from it.

Your soul life the life the level Where your your your life? Progresses and arises from the very innermost being of you your soul life Is on the level of thought. It's on that level of the ideas that come into our mind.

So it is very essential that this level is is the supreme level In relation to God and we saturate ourselves in that level. That's why Jesus said you won't live on bread alone. Man shall not live. In other words the biblical man the believer will not live and shall not live by bread alone.

But by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and Moses was raised in that way. By the way, Jesus just before he went back to heaven. He told his disciples and in the Lord's Prayer in John 17 He says I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.

Jesus knows that we have to live in the world that his disciples had to live in the world. But he did pray this but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. The root of that goes back to the poor knots so much of this world is pornography.

For our spiritual life spiritual pornography along with the regular pornography now the Bible tells us that Moses He grew up. He was mighty in what in words and deeds in words. I believe that Moses was a statesman.

And when we get over there when he when he doesn't want to go out and be a statesman for God. We're going to learn some things about that, but he was a statesman. He could get up and give a political speech to the whole nation.

He was a man of character. They looked up to him. He was mighty in words and also in deeds. That means as a leader probably a military leader He could lead the nation. He was raised up in their system to be that type of a man.

Actually, I believe his education covered seven areas. Now if you'll pay attention to these seven areas when I get done, you should pick it up right away. He was trained highly in organization. He was trained highly in Discipline he was trained highly in the area of patience he was trained highly in the area of administration and he was trained highly in the area of communication and Also authority those seven areas and as we follow the life of Moses We'll see that all seven areas God uses in his life to lead the children of Israel and Even in the Apostle Paul if you go look at him with all of his training God uses that God just does not throw it out the window and say that's no good.

No, he will use that which has come into our life if he can get the glory for it so Moses Was a man mighty in words and deeds and then verse 23 goes on to say and when he was a full 40 years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

Moses at Forty: Mistaken Readiness for Leadership

Now if I can throw in a little inflection here. Maybe what you might want to call it if it's an exegetal Jesus passage where we call it Isis where you read into the passage? I Just wonder if Moses as he was raised up was waiting for his 40th birthday.

Now, why would he wait for his 40th birthday? Most of us when we begin to get up to that age, we begin to say hey these things are clicking by pretty fast. And I don't want that 40th one because that seems to be a major one To some people and I got one coming up this year.

We'll see if I have a crisis on that. And but I wonder if Moses didn't think that all of these years God is raising me up to lead the children of Israel and when I get to be 40, that's going to be the year.

Because when a man reached 40 in the Hebrew nation That was the age there. He really stepped into the limelight of being the leader. And if you remember Jesus waited till he was 30 before he went into his public ministry young men they had to be quiet.

They just had to listen and learn and then when they got older they could go into More public things from age 30 and then at 40 was a major break into leadership. But I just wonder if Moses all those years When he was 20 Moses do you want to be the Pharaoh?

You're the next one in line. You can be the Pharaoh at 20 years of age history tells us. He said no, he turned it down and then history also records again at age 25. Do you want to be the Pharaoh? You're Pharaoh's daughter.

You can be the Pharaoh. He turned it down again and then the years roll by 30 35 and now 40 at age 40 Moses said no the last time to be in the Pharaoh. He was raised up to be a Pharaoh all seven areas were Training him to be the Pharaoh of the greatest nation on earth at that time.

But he said no and I believe the reason he said no was because he knew that God wanted to To use him to lead him out of Israel. He wanted to use him to lead the Israel out of Egypt. Excuse me He knew that in his heart.

He said God has allowed me to be saved. I wasn't drowned in the river the crocodiles didn't eat me and All those years the training his Moses his mother gave him and and then the witness of the Spirit of God in his heart.

He knew that God was going to use him. And so when he got to be 40 as we read in our passage He said I believe he's got to thinking it's now or never. I've waited all these years 40 years and so when we come to that passage when he come out one day and he saw two of the Hebrews driving together he just had such a Burden for Israel for his nation.

He couldn't stand to see them fighting. That really they really tore him so he went in there and and and got in between them and and said why are you doing this? Let's break it up. We're brethren and and then the next day when he saw When he saw an Egyptian doing that to a Hebrew he killed The Egyptian we're going to get into that in just a second.

But I believe that he's thinking it. I'm I'm gonna leave them and this is the time I believe he was making his move. He rejected the the Pharaoh ship and now he's making this move and I don't know what his plans were.

How he planned on doing it, but we're going to see what God does in all of this. But I maybe thought it's now or never we're going to make our move. I'm going to identify myself. And I'm going to lead my nation.

We're going to maybe he thought there'd be a rebellion or whatever. But they were going to make their break. I don't know what his thoughts was, but I knew that he did know and think that he was going to be the delivery now.

The Burden of Moses and the Danger of Acting in the Flesh

Let's learn some principles from this Exodus passage. Remember as we go through this desert survival series the principles that you gain from this will be the most valuable thing that you can use In your life.

We're not going through this just for fun and games we're going through this because we need to know these things to survive in life and I believe this is why Satan will try to keep you away from these messages.

This is why he may he'll try to keep me from giving these messages. These are vital. All right, the first principle I'm going to state it and I'll give you the specific principle in a second. But verse 11 notice came to pass in those days when Moses was grown that he went out Unto his brethren and looked on their burdens.

He spied an Egyptian spying the Hebrews one of his brethren. I mean, oh, you killed that Egyptian. He didn't like that. But here's a principle here the principle of carrying a burden who gave Moses the burden God did.

Moses loved his people even though he was raised up. If Moses would have walked down the street. You would have thought he was Egyptian. Because later on in the passage here when he ended up out there in Midian and one of the daughters came out to get water.

Okay, who helped you out? Was it this Egyptian did he's dressed like Egyptian. He looked like Egyptian. He walked like Egyptian. He talked like an Egyptian, but he didn't have an Egyptian heart and We may be like that in the world.

We may dress and talk. Our talk will be godly though. But you know in our in our communication in the world if we're in the business. You know if we're in the computers we talk computer talk if we're in mechanic.

We talk mechanic talk we just talk like anybody else in the world, but we don't have a worldly heart. He didn't have an Egyptian heart. A Lot of people talk like Christians dress like Christians act like Christians go to church like Christians, but they don't have a Christian heart.

The heart is the important thing. Now he had a heart that had a burden first people God had gave him that burden but somebody else had the burden first and that was God and He needed to keep his eyes on God and for a second here We're going to see what Moses does.

He gets his he lets his burden get carried away. He lets his emotions. Maybe get carried away when he sees this Egyptian kill and somebody that he has a love for a burden. And he gets carried away, and he kills the Egyptian in turn now.

Here's the principle on burdens just as since we mentioned burden is this if you want to know Christ. Do you want to know the Lord? If you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ and really know him. Then you will know him by knowing what hurts him if you want to know Christ.

You will know him by knowing what hurts him. It will hurt you also. Now is that biblical? You bet your boots Philippians 3 10 and you know you're not supposed to bet either, but anyway Philippians 3 10 Paul said what then I might know him.

Have you ever want one to know him? Okay Philippians 3 10 is the verse that I might know him and what the power of his resurrection. What was the power of his resurrection? Well, that's the power of the crucified life if we will die to self and just let him live his life through us.

That's the resurrection life. It's a powerful life. But Paul said that I might know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Being made conformable unto his death. It sometimes scares me when I get to looking at this verse.

But I want to know him and I want to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. And we don't have time to get into it this morning but this principle if you want to know Christ, then you get to know you know him by becoming acquainted with the power of his Resurrection living the crucified life just dying to self and sin whatever you would want.

Just make sure that's what God would want that it'd be okay with him and get on into it. And then you'll identify and you'll learn him but this principle of of the burden if you want to know Christ and you get to know what Hurts him and you get to know him by getting into the word Study his life all the Lord Jesus Christ learn the Word of God.

This is why many things in my life. And there's maybe some things yet that I need to cut out because I found out that they hurt him. And whatever hurts him. I want it to hurt me, too. I don't want to hurt him.

I want to be like him. I want to love him know him now. Jesus let's throw it over for a second. Jesus is the greatest burden bearer the world has ever known because the Bible says in Isaiah 53 that he had born our Grease and he had carried our sorrows.

When he went to the cross he carried all our grief. He bore all our sorrows. He bore all of our sin. And I was stayed on this passage this week and something really gripped me like it never gripped me before but the thing about the cross was not the cross itself the piece of wood of that tree and Not just the fact that he died.

The thing about it was that when he died he made his soul an Offering for our sin and for three hours all of the demons in hell of hell and all those demonic atrocities Converged on him and attacked him.

God the Father had to turn his back on him for those three hours. He experienced all of our sin all of the evil of the world. He bore our grief carried our sorrows. He became sin for us. He is the greatest burden bearer.

So when you as you go through day by day week by week Moment by moment even whatever is a burden to you Whatever begins to break you down and bury you down and burden you down come back to him and let him have it.

He can handle it. He is already born all of the grief and all of the sorrow and we go through some pretty deep things. But he is the great burden bearer and the great sin bearer and there's another principle in this I don't want to stay all this time on the burden, but it's this.

This principle here. You are not able to bear your burden alone. I Think this is where Moses got out of bounds a little bit. He began to carry that burden alone too much. And then he felt like he had to do it all himself.

Well, he was going to do it all right, but it wasn't going to be all himself and the reason I think that Moses maybe tended to have a problem in this area because later on when he's leading the children of Israel through the desert and they're going through all their trials and the Experiences that we're going to see and we're going to experience too by way of identifying with him at one point the people were complaining and They displeased the Lord and Moses was not happy with him and and they wanted manna and they wasn't happy with the manna.

When they got it, you know, they wanted some food and they wasn't happy with that complaining, you know. All of that and the scripture says in Numbers 1111 it says in Moses said unto the Lord wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant and Wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me.

He began to relapse again a little bit thinking that all of this it was all his Responsibility and it wasn't and we get to feeling like that. Sometimes if life is a burden to you, then you're carrying a load that Jesus never did intend you to carry.

We're going to have some trials and things that weigh us down and everything. But the burden that we're talking about the type of thing that will that will just destroy you. It will make you do things that you shouldn't do as Moses did you're not able to bear your burden alone.

I Can't bear it and sometimes I try to and it begins to bend me over. And I'll begin to complain and mumble and rumble and maybe full sorry and you will too and maybe get discouraged. Or get depressed or whatever you go through.

I used to go through the depression this discouragement, especially don't do it anymore. There are certain other things that I have to watch out for but years I'd get discouraged. And that's just because I had my eyes on myself.

Moses keep your eyes on me and he's telling us that too. The greatest burden that will bear though is the burden of sin. We need to watch out for that one. We watched a show last week on TV and after we got done.

We questioned whether or not we should watch it or not. Wasn't that bad of a show. It was the one on vital signs maybe you watched it and some of these shows, uh, you know, how'd he gonna end up and. But that one there Ended up there's a father who's an alcoholic.

He was a doctor and the son. He was a doctor too, but he was a drug addict and both of them were being defeated by their problem and. And so the father ends up killing himself, that's his solution kill himself while the son he ends up.

He tries to break his own drug had it have it himself. He goes off they get a room a place and his wife and he tries to do it himself you know, he can't do it and. The whole thing was he comes back the whole point of the whole message you need help.

And so he goes into the treatment program. They have voluntarily gives up his license, but that's the way the world is. They do everything to help you and do everything they can to try to get you through but they never do come to God.

They always leave him out. And you can't get through life without God and the greatest burden of sin. You'll never make it without the Lord, but I just thought about that that story the burden of trials of life.

I was. Think about Matthew 11 28. We're really getting hung up on burdens here. Maybe we need to be here this morning. But Jesus said come unto me. Listen come unto me all you that are heavy laden and I will give you rest as Your sins bearing you down.

He says come to me and just let me take the sin off your shoulders. Let me cleanse you. Let me give you this rest. Salvation is a great rest. It's a great relief of all your sins. And then what happens as a Christian?

We get enticed and we get back off in the sin again and we get this burden of sin on us again that Christ has Already paid for but then he said take my yoke upon me and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart.

You shall find rest into your souls for my yoke is easy. And my burden is light. If you're a Christian and you're being burdened down with something. Then you're not carrying the same burden that Christ wants you to carry you're under another yoke.

And this is no yoke, you know, there's no joke. This is no no joke that Christ gives us that bears you down his yoke. Whatever he gives you to do you're going to be able to take it and there's going to be joy in your heart.

Because he's on the other end of that yoke well Moses had to learn this and and I think he relapsed as we go back into numbers and when we get there We'll see that he had this little relapse of this thing.

But he got carried away and thought he had to to carry the burden alone. You know what that caused him to do it caused him to presume. He made a presumption. He made two wrong presumptions I believe and maybe when you get to heaven, he might get me straightened out on some of this stuff.

But I believe he presumed number one that the Hebrew was on his side you notice. First of all, he turned against the Egyptian. He saw this Egyptian smiting this Hebrew and he went and he killed him and buried him in the sand.

He looked this way and he looked that way. Nobody's looking but he forgot to look up what I mean by that. He forgot to say can I do this to the glory of God? Yeah, no, you can't do that because you shouldn't you're not supposed to kill and I believe maybe.

Maybe part of the thing of him being out there was God had to put him in jail for a little while. Get him out there. You've killed a man Moses. That wasn't in my will. I Don't believe it was God's will for a man to be killed to be murdered like that.

Because that's a basic guideline in Scripture, but Moses presumed that That the Hebrew was on his side when he went to break up the Hebrews and the Hebrews they you're an Egyptian. Most of the time I identify with you.

No, you're not you're an Egyptian. You're gonna kill us like you kill that other Egyptian. He assumed that they were on his side and I believe then also he presumed that God was on his side well God the Bible tells us is no respecter of persons.

He's no respecter of persons and Moses killed killing a sin and The it was an effort in the flesh. Galatians 5 13 through 17 17 tells us all of the things that come from flesh killing is one of them murder.

Murdering others with our tongue and then the result of this action. What's the result? He says oh, I Made a mistake. I Have stepped out. I broke from Egypt by killing this Egyptian. I've identified with the with the Hebrews.

I've cut myself off behind and now these guys don't want me. I am hung. And I'm just that adding into that but the result of he learned he he did not rule over them. He thought I'm gonna step forward.

I'm gonna be their leader. They say no, you're not our leader. He cut it off behind and they cut off in front here. He is hung. Do you ever get hung? You know. You ever get out on a tree branch or something you get hung there and somebody had to help you out.

That's the way is. He's hung there. Now. What is what's he gonna do? I Believe he learned he made a mistake. So what do you do when you make a mistake? You ever make a bad mistake. You ever get afraid after you made it that's what Moses did.

He got afraid look at the passage, you know Moses. They said who you didn't who made you a prince over us. You ain't gonna kill us like the Egyptian. This is Moses fear and said surely this thing is known.

Moses feared where there is no faith. There will be fear and where there is fear There won't be any faith. So there was fear instead of faith. The Bible says for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. I believe Moses Stepped out of the will of God at this point.

I believe he's done pretty good up to this point. But the principle is if you can't ask God's blessing on it, then don't do it. And I don't believe Moses could have asked his blessing on it at this point now verse 14.

What you do when things get tough you want to run right when Moses do. He says surely, you know, I'm in trouble 15. Pharaoh says he's in trouble. Pharaoh heard this thing. He sought to slay Moses. Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian and he sat down by dwell.

He had it for the work down where I come from. We say you head for the woods down there. You had to the desert, you know, what's gonna happen now that he gets down in this desert. We run. He fled there are three concluding things.

Moses’s Need for Desert Training

I want to say on this passage and we're going to close up on it number one. His training prepared him for a lot of things, but it did not prepare him to deliver Israel. It did not prepare him for that he was not ready to lead a nation of two three million people out into a desert to follow God.

It's just like he needed some heart training. He needed some deeper experience. He needed the desert survival course and we need it too. We're gonna get it. It reminds me of a shoe salesman when I was in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

I was in there and get some shoes and this guy over there cussing around. Thought he's a sailor ex-sailor almost felt like asking you an ex-sailor, you know, no come to find out he's an ex-missionary.

Oh Okay figures the ex-part. I could see you know, and You know, he didn't have the training in the heart to be a missionary. That's why he's a shoe salesman. Not a very good shoe salesman either. We didn't buy shoes.

But Moses needed some deeper training and just the fact that he exploded forth in this energy of the flesh. Slew the Egyptian was proof of it. God allowed these things and God uses these things now. He needed spiritual training.

Another thing number two. He didn't understand that before he could lead Israel. He had to learn to follow God to the T. You know right to the point and he'd been following God except to this point he wasn't following God.

Because God does not cause us to do things in the energy of the flesh. Thou shall not kill later on he gives in this commandment thou shall not kill. But in his heart, he knew that he shouldn't kill you go all the way back to the beginning when Cain slew Abel.

He knew that he was wrong. The heart will bear witness when you're wrong. And this is why he was afraid if he'd done it in faith. It was of God. He had no fear and he would have withstood. And then a third thing Moses knew what God wanted.

Do you know that? Moses knew it. Moses knew that God wanted Israel out of there. He knew the scriptures. But what Moses didn't know and what you and I don't always know is this. He didn't know when and he didn't know how this is why when we pray we say if it's your will or I Want this and it's not a cop-out by faith either.

We don't bully God around but Moses knew what God wanted. But he just didn't know when and he didn't know how the wind was 40 years later. I just wonder what would have happened if he'd stayed there for those 40.

You know just to see what God would do let God make the move and he didn't know. That God was going to lead them down into that desert like that. They wanted to go home back over to Israel. Straight course has been the way.

But he didn't know how God was going to do it and here's the last principle I'm going to share with you. That's this. God's timing is as an is as important as God's training. God's timing is as important as his training.

So as we go through the lessons that he's going to let us have. Let's don't get ahead of him and let's don't get behind him. Let's just stay with him and let him do what he wants to do. We sometimes want to get excited, you know when Christ came they didn't understand God's timing.

They didn't understand God's ways and they didn't understand God's reason. You see Christ came and he came to die on the cross. They didn't understand that the ways of God are often foolish to the ways of the world, but they didn't understand God's timing.

Because they wouldn't read God's Word. God's Word told him the time that he had come. Daniel when we get through with Daniel, we're going to see that Daniel prophesied to the day when the Messiah would come.

They could have known it. They didn't want it, but they didn't understand God's way and if they'd understood scripture and followed scripture. They had understood that God's way had to be a sacrifice of his son.

Because he had told him Isaac was a type of Christ when Abraham took him to the altar and they didn't understand God's reason. God's reason was that they need to be saved by faith and trust the blood of Christ alone for their salvation.

But they thought God's way is we'll do our works. We'll do all this and that it doesn't work out that way. I was just thinking of some verses. Let me share them with you quickly and then we'll close up.

Learning the Ways of God Through Scripture

David said in Psalms 27 11 teach me thy way. Oh Lord. Teach me thy way. Oh Lord in Isaiah 53 6 says all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all so we need the Lord to teach us his way for salvation.