[0:00] Good evening. Welcome. It's good to see you. Good that you can be here. Good that we can meet together. I'd like you to turn in the book of Psalms, please, to Psalm 46. We're going to read a psalm and then we're going to sing a psalm. The same psalm, Psalm 46.
[0:21] And a psalm of great encouragement, great confidence and assurance, psalm of great faith. And as I say, we're going to read the psalm together, then we're going to sing the psalm as it's been paraphrased in our hymn books, and then we'll come to prayer. So if you've got Psalm 46 open, just listen with me as I read it.
[0:50] God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her. She will not fall. God will help her at break of day. Just stop there for a minute.
[1:29] Just so you know, when it talks about the city of God and within her, it's referring to the church, referring to God's people. So this psalm is about God's dealings with his people and with us. So we are the city of God. We are the ones with whom God is in. We're his dwelling place, his temple. That's what the Bible teaches us. So again, from verse 5, God is within her.
[1:55] She will not fall. God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar. Kingdoms fall. He lifts his voice. The earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.
[2:13] Come and see what the Lord has done. The desolations he's brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
[2:25] He burns the shields with fire. He says, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.
[2:48] Now let's sing that same psalm. It's 103 in our hymn books. God is our strength and refuge. 103. We're going to read together from our Bibles. And please would you turn to Exodus and chapter 32.
[3:16] Exodus and chapter 32. And that's page 91. Page 91 if you have one of the church Bibles.
[3:27] Now last week we began our two-parter dealing with this terrible, awful event in the life of God's people when they made a calf of gold, an idol, and worshipped it and made offerings to it and evoked the very anger and wrath of God against them. And we saw the first half, we read up to verse 14, how Moses there with God, standing before God, speaks for the people, prays and intercedes on behalf of the people. And now he's going to go down to the bottom of the mountain and he's going to face the people. So we're going to look at that together. So we'll read from verse 15 and to the end of the chapter. Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God. The writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of people shouting, he said to Moses, there is the sound of war in the camp. Moses replied, it's not the sound of victory.
[4:51] It's not the sound of defeat. It's the sound of singing, I hear. When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire.
[5:10] He ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. He said to Aaron, what did these people do to you that you led them into such a great sin?
[5:26] Do not be angry, my Lord, Aaron answered. You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him. So I told them, whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off. Then they gave me the gold and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.
[5:53] Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, whoever is for the Lord, come to me. And all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor. The Levites did as Moses commanded and that day about 3,000 of the people died. Then Moses said, you have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers and he has blessed you this day. The next day Moses said to the people, you have committed a great sin, but now I will go up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. So Moses went back to the Lord and said, oh what a great sin these people have committed. They have made themselves gods of gold. But now please forgive their sin. But if not, then blot me out of the book you've written. The Lord replied to Moses, whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of and my angel will go before you.
[7:19] However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin. And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made. Very sobering words, a sobering story.
[7:38] Please turn back then to Exodus 32. It would be very helpful if you have a Bible open as we look at this passage together. As I introduced the reading, as I said again, that this is the most terrible chapter or event in the life of God's people. Their great sin in making an idol and worshipping in it and making offerings to it and incurring the very wrath and anger of God against them.
[8:16] And when we looked at this last week, we recognised that this was just the beginning. The beginning of a long series of failings in the life of God's people throughout the Old Testament. Again and again, they would turn their hearts away from the Lord. Again and again, they would fall into sin of idolatry. Usually the idols of the nations around about them. And again and again, God would save them.
[8:39] And to save them, God would send a hero, a superhero, not Superman or Spider-Man or Batman, but a hero. People like Gideon and Samson, people who were supernaturally helped, Samson particularly, empowered to rescue the people when they had fallen into sin and incurred the wrath of God. But others as well. Of course, David, one of the great hero kings of the Bible and superheroines as well. Deborah in Judges. Esther, raised up by God to rescue the people of God. But in one sense, the very first hero, I think, is Moses. At least the hero of God's people collectively as a nation. And here in chapter 32, I believe he shows himself to be such a hero. A man for the hour, raised up by God in the midst of trying and very difficult times. Last time, we looked at Moses and saw how he reflects and illustrates something of the character of Jesus as our intercessor. The one who stands between God and sinful man. The one who makes propitiation. That's the one who turns away the anger of God. And we saw there how Moses particularly interceded and prayed for the people so that God's anger against them, we're told in verse 14, relented and they weren't utterly destroyed.
[10:13] But now what's he going to do? Now he's prayed for the people. Now he's stood before God. Now he's got to go down and stand before the people. How will he fare in this situation? How can he possibly turn around this catastrophe where the people are running amok in idolatry and in evil? Notice what we're told there in verse 25. The people were running wild, become a laughingstock to their enemies. They were in utter disarray. Surely it's in times of crisis that the true character of a person shines through.
[10:53] It's only actually when we're put in the fire, it's actually only when we're facing difficulty that the reality of our faith, the reality of the character of our heart comes about. It's as we're tested.
[11:05] Remember, Peter writes about that in his first letter, talking about the persecutions and the struggles and the trials that have come along, which are testing, purifying our faith as if like precious gold. And two men were put to the test in this chapter. Two men were faced with pressure from the people. One was Moses, one was Aaron. Aaron, in the midst of that trial, failed dismally.
[11:41] He caves in to the pressure of the people. We saw that last week. And he adds to his own shame by trying to shift the blame, doesn't he? And I read it in a slightly humorous way, I know, but really for the reason that it is so laughable, isn't it? That when Moses challenges Aaron and says, how did it come about? What do these people do to you? What do they threaten you with to make you do such a foolish thing as to create this calf? And he says, well, it's a people, they're so evil, you know. It's not me. And then he almost indicates there was a miracle that took place. He says, he threw the gold in the fire and out popped the calf. A bit like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat. But this time he threw all the gold in. Oh, this, it's folly, isn't it? It's laughable, but it's sinful. Placing the blame upon others, his own failings were other people's fault and even, well, perhaps God wanted them to have this idol. God will put you and I in testing situations like he did these men. And I'm sure that none of us want to melt in the heat as Aaron did. When we're tested, we want to be able to stand that test and to not cave in. And so I want us to look particularly at Moses and the character of Moses that shines through here and how we are called upon to imitate something of that, but also to see something of the Lord Jesus too. From verse 15, as Moses turns and leaves the presence of God to deal with this spiritual fallout, we see him first of all acting as a man of wisdom. Wisdom. Verse 17, when Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, there's the sound of war in the camp.
[13:35] Joshua was going to be Moses' successor and he would be a great leader of the people, wasn't he? He was going to be the one who'd take them into the promised land. He'd be the military leader of the people of God who would conquer that land for God, dealing with the great walls of Jericho, subduing the nations and their sinful practices. However, he still had a long way to go. He still had a lot to learn, didn't he? He hears a noise in the camp and his first thought is, it's war. But there are some things that come only with experience and wisdom is one of them. Moses knew better what was happening.
[14:16] It's not victory, he said, and it's not defeat, it's singing. He has that wisdom which is discerning, a spiritual discernment. That's a gift of the Holy Spirit, we're told in 1 Corinthians 12, discernment.
[14:30] It's something that we need, dear friends, as Christians. It's something that is very lacking, I believe, in our day. Not just in the world in general, but even amongst Christians. It seems that Christians will accept anything that is called new, or anything that's claimed to be a work of the Holy Spirit, but few use any discernment about what they hear and what they see going on in the name of Christ. To discern, is this true? Is this a work of God? Is this just a work of men? And God has given us means to discern as well, if we will use those tools. He's given us the scriptures. Is this thing that's taking place, this phenomenon, this teaching in keeping with God's word? Is it something which honors God and lifts him up, or, as in the case here, makes God's people a laughingstock?
[15:22] Is it edifying to the saints? Does it build up the church? Does it exalt the Lord Jesus? There's so many means by which we can test and discern, and we need that discernment, and we need that wisdom.
[15:35] It's a God-given gift. James, as he writes to the believers, says this, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to them. I have to confess, that's a prayer that I pray daily, and I would encourage you to pray it also. Lord, give me wisdom, wisdom in my dealings with the people in the world around about me, wisdom to discern the things that I do, and the things that I hear, and the things that I say. Wisdom and discernment to judge rightly what is going on in the world, to have understanding, and to know your will, of course. So Moses is a man of wisdom. He knows what's going on. He understands what's going on in the situation. And then we see, secondly, that Moses is a man of great zeal. He had wisdom, and he had zeal. Look at verse 19, following when Moses approached the camp. He saw the calf and the dancing. His anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. Now Moses isn't just angry.
[16:48] He's passionate, and he's filled with a righteous anger. When he sees evil being committed by the people of God, when he sees and hears the name of God blasphemed and misused, and offerings being given to this idol, there's a burning within him, a passion within him. You see, there's a big difference between anger and righteous anger. We get angry when somebody cuts us up in the road with their car, or nearly runs us over. We get angry because something of ourself has been harmed or lost.
[17:25] That's not the anger that Moses has. The righteous anger is to see wickedness and be angry at it. To see sin being blatantly portrayed and be angry and passionate about the honor of God.
[17:38] To hear the name of God. To hear the name of God. To hear the name of Jesus being blasphemed and to feel within ourselves a grief. Moses comes down the mountain and he sees the sin and he's not indifferent to it.
[17:58] He's not somebody who sees sin and goes, oh well, that's what I expected. That's the way things are. That's how people are. He's upset by sin. These people have broken the covenant that they made with God just a matter of days earlier. In chapter 4 and verse 7, after God had given through Moses the Ten Commandments and other commandments concerning worship and so on, they renewed the covenant with him.
[18:26] And Moses, we're told, said this. He took the book of the covenant, that's the law of God, and read it to the people.
[18:38] This is the response of the people. We will do everything. The Lord has said we will obey. They've made promises to God. They've covenanted to God and they've broken that covenant.
[18:48] And those tablets of stone, which were the symbols of the covenant, had the writing of the covenant, they are broken at their feet because the covenant itself has been broken as well.
[19:03] Now Moses doesn't just lose his temper. He doesn't just fly off the handle and lose his rag. God isn't angry with him. Notice later on when he's told to make new tablets by God, God doesn't say, you're wrong to do that. You shouldn't have been angry.
[19:19] You shouldn't. There's no chastisement. In one sense, God is pleased with righteous anger. Moses was zealous.
[19:36] I wonder if we are. Is that perhaps one of the great needs that we have as Christians in our day? Zeal. Passion. When there were revivals in the past during the days of Whitefield, Wesley and others as well, those who opposed the revival nearly always said, well, what's happening?
[19:57] It's too enthusiastic. It's too excitable. It just can't be right. But Christianity is enthusiastic and Christians are to be excitable and excited about the things of God.
[20:13] And that's not because we are somehow to be more modern. But read through the Psalms. Read through the Scriptures. Read through the attitudes of God's people.
[20:24] When they think about the things of God, the Psalms are full of passion. Whether it be the passion of despair, but it be the passion of anger against sin or the passion of zeal for God.
[20:35] Think about the life of our Lord Jesus. Lord, Christ did not walk through this world dispassionate, indifferent, did he? When he saw the temple of God, which was the place of prayer of his father, being turned into a house and den of robbers and people being chiseled and being deceived and robbed, what did he do?
[20:59] took up a cord, a whip of cords and kicked over tables and drove them out. He was passionate, wasn't he? When he rebukes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.
[21:17] Just read the life of Jesus. He's a man of passion, a man of zeal. Zeal for your house has consumed you, his disciples said. And Paul, when he writes, there are times when Paul is writing about the gospel, the things of God, and he gets excited, doesn't he?
[21:34] There's that wonderful place when he's been talking about God's plan of salvation in Romans 9 and 10, and he gets to chapter 11, verse 3, and he says, Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
[21:46] His heart's overflowing. Have we lost that zeal, dear friends? That negative zeal and that positive zeal because it has two sides to it.
[21:59] We see it in Moses, the negative, we might say, aspect of that zeal and anger against sin. Anger against sin within ourselves and anger when we see sin in the lives of others.
[22:12] And that needs to be both there because sometimes, dear friends, we can be so angry at the sin of others, oh, but we let ourselves off, you know, my sin's not as bad as their sin.
[22:24] No, it's anger at the sin within as well as the sin without. Now, that may be that we are indifferent because we see so much of evil in the world today. We become accustomed to it, maybe, on the television, whether it's the news or whether it's fiction.
[22:39] We're no longer shocked by it. We can become desensitized. But, dear friends, we need to be zealous negatively. But we need to be zealous positively as well.
[22:52] Be passionate about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. To tell them of what God has done for us. To witness. To be moved. Moved for those who are in sin.
[23:03] To be moved for those who are lost. To be moved as well with the joy and the delight of our salvation. Perhaps as Christians, and if I can use this phrase, Reformed Christians, we've sort of reacted negatively to the extremes of what has gone on in the name of Christ around about us.
[23:24] A lot of emphasis upon feelings. A lot of emphasis upon excitement. So we feel that we can't be like that. But don't believe that's right.
[23:36] We are feeling people. We are emotional people. We are passionate people. And the things that Christ has done for us are to be excited about. But is it, dear friends, possibly the reason?
[23:50] Not because we avoid extremes. Is it because we've become complacent ourselves with the gospel? We've become complacent about the glorious things that God has done in our hearts and lives.
[24:04] We've forgotten just what he saved us from. We've forgotten. Perhaps we've been Christians for many, many years now and we've forgotten of what God did for us all those years ago when he saved us.
[24:15] And we've become a little bit cold. A little bit accepting. Don't we need to ask that God would put within us a fire again?
[24:29] A passionate, burning fire. John Wesley was the one who would say, when I preach, the people come to see me burn. Listen to what Paul says.
[24:42] Romans 12. This is a command, an instruction from the word of God. Romans 12, 11. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
[24:53] It's the reason that we are so lacking in service. Because actually, we are lacking in passion.
[25:05] Somebody else will do it. The church will keep running. I don't need to contribute or give or serve. Is there a tendency, a sign that our hearts have become zeal-less?
[25:19] So Moses was full of zeal and wisdom. And Moses was a man, in one sense, that zeal overflows into holiness or a concern for holiness.
[25:35] Verse 26. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, whoever is for the Lord, come to me. Holiness is not an arrogance. Oh, holier than thou.
[25:47] No, no. That's not holiness. It's not a sense of superiority over others. It's not a feeling of self-righteousness. Holiness is a desire to live for God and do His will above everything else.
[26:02] And Moses takes a stand for the Lord. In one sense, he walks into that camp and everything's run amok. All the people have turned away from the Lord and sin. In one sense, almost alone, he stands and says, right, who's for God?
[26:14] Because I am. I am. He stands apart from them. And that's what holiness means. It means to be set apart for the Lord. He calls other people.
[26:30] Is there anybody else here for the Lord? Is there anybody else that's in the need of holiness? Is there anybody else willing to set themselves apart for God? We find that the tribe of Levi rallied to him.
[26:42] Moses was from that tribe, in fact. Maybe it was because he was part of their family. Who knows? But at God's command, he sends them out to put to death those who are continuing in their evil activities.
[26:58] It's a bloodthirsty scene. It's an unpleasant scene. Let's not pretend it otherwise. As these Levites go, finding people still worshipping the calf and indulging in evil and killing them there and then.
[27:12] Three thousand were killed in that day. Those Levites, we're told, were set apart, verse 29, for the Lord from then on.
[27:24] They were blessed by God. They were given this privilege of being the servants of God in the temple and the tabernacle. From them, the priesthood would come.
[27:36] But it was costly, wasn't it? It was painful. It was hard for them and for Moses to be holy in that day. When we become a Christian, we immediately are made holy in the sense that we are immediately set apart or taken apart to belong to God.
[27:55] We are taken out of the world. We are delivered from the kingdom and the dominion of Satan. We are holy to the Lord. That's the work of his grace. We become God's people.
[28:08] But the challenge for us, dear friends, is living holiness in our daily lives. The challenge is how do we outwork this reality, this spiritual reality that we belong to God in a world which is so set against God?
[28:25] Do we need, like Moses, to actively set ourselves apart from what is evil? Well, there's certainly a case for that. Are there times when sometimes we have to stand apart from those whose lives are ungodly, wicked, sinful?
[28:45] similar to that when he talks about, in Mark 9, about cutting off the hand and cutting off the foot and putting out the eye of anything that causes us to sin.
[29:00] It doesn't mean it literally, of course, we know that. He means it figuratively. In other words, something which is as precious to us as our right hand or our eye or our foot, if it's causing us to sin or it's leading us away from the Lord, we need to be proactive in holiness and separate ourselves from it.
[29:18] No, he's not saying at all, oh, if you're a really devout Christian then you're going to go and join a convent. Definitely not. It doesn't mean that we're to not have non-Christian friends.
[29:32] Definitely not. It's not meant to mean that we become a holy huddle and we only ever talk to and have time with other believers. Definitely not. But it does mean this. that we will be recognized that there are times when we need to walk away, to keep away.
[29:52] We need to be those who are especially careful to do the will of God. And that does mean sometimes we'll lose friends. Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, do not be misled, bad company corrupts good morals.
[30:12] active holiness is something which is not fashionable in our day. In the church as well there's that struggle because so much is taught about blending in with society, being like everybody else, making the church a comfortable place to be.
[30:34] But dear friends, if we are Christ, he says we are called to be salt and light. light. And what makes salt and light useful is they are distinct.
[30:45] They are different. When they become bland, when they are indistinct, they are no good to us. When the light is so dim that it's lost in the darkness, when salt is so weak that it adds no taste to the food, holiness begins with that zeal for God that we see in Moses.
[31:08] Zeal for his will, zeal for his name, zeal for pleasing him. So Moses, we see, had wisdom, zeal, holiness.
[31:19] There's one more thing here which is so vitally important and brings all of those things together in their right perspective. Moses was a man of compassion. Wonderful, amazing compassion.
[31:34] Look at verse 30 and following. The next day Moses said to the people, you've committed a great sin but now I will go up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.
[31:45] So Moses went back to the Lord and said, oh what a great sin these people have committed. They've made themselves gods of gold but now please forgive their sin but if not then block me out of the book you have written.
[32:00] You see dear friends it's possible to be zealous. It's possible to long for holiness.
[32:12] It's possible to be absolutely clear and straight upon right and wrong and yet have no compassion. And what happens then is that zeal and that holiness is utterly worthless.
[32:28] We know that because that's exactly what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees of his day. The Pharisees of Jesus' day were particularly zealous for the law of God.
[32:43] Here's what Jesus says to them. Matthew 23, 23 Woe to you teachers of the laws and Pharisees you hypocrites you give a tenth of your spices mint, dill and cumin but you've neglected the more important matters of the law justice, mercy and faithfulness.
[33:07] The Pharisees of Jesus' day the religious leaders of his day stood out in stark contrast to Jesus not because they were holier than he was not because they had more concern for the law of God than he had he was the holiest human being who ever walked the face of the earth yet he was the most compassionate person who ever lived and his compassion was towards sinners.
[33:34] In Matthew 9 we're told when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them a phrase which is repeated to the gospels when he went for meals he entertained and sat with sinners prostitutes tax collectors publicans his enemies were so annoyed by this that they accused him of one who welcomes sinners and they called him a friend of sinners but nobody hated sin more than Jesus and loved sinners more than Jesus and though Moses as he looked upon the people burnt with anger against their sin his heart also overwhelmed with compassion and love for them not like Jesus but certainly a reflection of him amazing isn't it he chastises the people for their great sin yet immediately he goes to God in prayer to seek their forgiveness and such is the love of Moses for these people these rebellious difficult sinful people he says
[34:40] God even if it means that I lose my relationship with you and I lose eternal life and I'm blotted out of that book of salvation then do it if it means these people will be spared that's amazing isn't it only in love like that that's seen in the Lord Jesus willing to suffer willing to be rejected of God willing to suffer for those who deserve the punishment can't help but see that this is something of the life of Jesus can we and yet God refuses the offering that Moses makes Moses offers himself as an atonement for their sin and God says I can't accept it and I won't accept it but later on when Jesus offers himself as an atonement for the sin of God's people the Lord accepts it because only Jesus could pay the price for our sin
[35:42] Moses was only one man he couldn't pay he couldn't atone for the sins of many because he was but one but Jesus being the infinite God could atone for and pay the cost of an infinite multitude Moses was willing to pay the price but couldn't and therefore the plague had to fall upon the sinful people God says when the time comes for me to punish I will punish them for their sin but Jesus was willing and could pay the price for our sin he was the only one who both as man and God could stand in the gap and be punished for what we deserve there's that lovely verse in one of the hymns that we sing from time to time there was no other good enough to pay the price of sin he only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in
[36:43] Moses is a great example of compassion but here is one in the Lord Jesus who has a greater love a love that knows no bounds a compassion that never fails a heart which overflows for sinners and so dear friends however we judge ourselves by Moses and we think well we have some measure of wisdom because we have age and discernment and years we need more much much more and if we think that we have zeal and passion about the things of God and burn inwardly at sin dear friends we need more and if we try and seek to be holy in the way we live and active and proactive in holiness in the way that we live dear friends we must must must be so careful that we do not allow that to overcloud compassion all the way through the new testament again and again the writers of the letters keep calling upon the believers to love one another more
[37:51] Peter in 1 Peter 1 22 says love one another deeply from the heart why do these writers tell us to love because we so easily do not love in one sense the very natural tendency of our human heart is to hate the natural tendency of our hearts is to be loveless is to be judgmental to be jealous to be selfish to be proud love is that which we need most of all and love is that which we lack most of all love is something dear friends we must work at must exercise must train at must strengthen must cultivate must encourage must increase through time together with God's people through prayer fullness through again remembering the love of Christ for ourselves for we are to love to the same degree that
[38:56] Christ loved remember what he said to his disciples this new command I give to you what is this new commandment that you love one another yes that's great as I have loved you how on earth can we love as Christ has loved us willing to lay down our lives willing to suffer willing to bear a terrible cost for the sake of those do not deserve it only by God's grace only by the supernatural empowering of God himself dear friends God has placed you and I as superheroes in this world if there's anybody who's a superhero in the world it is the believer someone who is super naturally equipped by
[39:58] God to make a difference which will ultimately mean the saving of lives but we cannot do it in our own power we cannot do it in our own strength we cannot do it by our own wisdom our own zeal our own compassion our own holiness we can only do it as Paul tells us he could do it I can do all this through him who gives me strength let's respond to God's word in prayer together whenever we turn to your word oh lord we find ourselves staring in a mirror we see the quality and character of our own lives reflected we see how far fall we short we see how much further we have to go but we see also lord how great the opportunities the possibilities we thank you again for your servant
[41:20] Moses the man you made him to be and the man that you worked through we come to you oh lord and confess that we do not feel like heroes especially not superheroes we confess oh lord that we lack wisdom we lack passion and zeal we lack holiness and we lack compassion and so we pray oh lord that you would empower us and equip us and imbue into our lives these things that we lack your word tells us that if we lack wisdom to ask and you'll give it so we ask you tell us oh lord that we should not be lacking in zeal but be fervent and so we pray cause that fervent zeal to grow and increase you call us to be holy as you are holy and oh lord again how can we possibly do that except oh lord by the holy spirit himself you call us to love as you have loved us and oh lord when our hearts are so filled with self lord it must be you by your spirit who pours your love out into our hearts make us to be the men and women that you want us to be in this day and generation make us to be like
[42:55] Moses but more make us to be like Jesus that in our lives day by day we may be instruments in your hands to the saving of those in peril for we ask it in the name for the praise of Jesus amen now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or even imagine according to his power that is at work within us to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout every generation yesterday today and forever more amen