Growing in Grace
Lesson # 14
“Grace
Is Also Accepting”
I. The Flip Side Of Several Strengths
The result of becoming too focused on a
commitment to excellence can be that no flaw is too small to correct and no accomplishment
is so well done that it cannot be improved. This attitude of course can lead to a
rejection of all who fail to measure up.
An example would be of a person who works hard to stay fit by eating better and
less, while consistently participating in a rigorous program of exercise; can tend to be
impatient of anyone who still eats junk food and thinks that a walk to the refrigerator is
exercise.
I like what Haddon Robinson said of his own experience, “I do not
appreciate opera; what is worse, I have several friends who do.” [Haddon
Robinson. Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages.
(Grand Rapids; Zondervan, 1980) p. 31 as quoted by Charles Swindoll. The Grace
Awakening (Dallas: Word, 1990). p.281]
Capable and frequent givers find it the next thing to impossible to be grateful and
willing receivers.
1. We Resist Grace When
Our Guilt And Shame Have Not Been Adequately Dealt With.
Guilt Nullifies Grace. Moses is a
prime example of this in Scripture. Exodus 3
(2:11-3:12) records how Moses resisted grace when it was offered to him.
His story is also told in a condensed version in Acts chapter seven beginning in
verse twenty.
"At this time Moses was born, and was well
pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. (21)
"But when he was set out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as
her own son. (22) "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was
mighty in words and deeds.”
Moses was reared in the household of Pharaoh. He was given a first-rate education
and for the first forty years of his life lived as the virtual son of the Pharaoh.
While in the court of Pharaoh he heard the voice of God telling him that he was to
be the deliverer of his people the Hebrews. In verse twenty-three we read, "Now when he was forty
years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. (24) And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and
avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. (25) "For he supposed that his brethren would have
understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. (26) "And the next day he appeared to two of them
as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren;
why do you wrong one another?’(27) "But
he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a
judge over us? (28) ‘Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’
(29) "Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian,
where he had two sons.”
Unfortunately he tried to do what God had called him to do, in the strength of his
own might and power, rather than waiting to do so God’s way and in God’s time.
The result was a disaster. He killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. As a
result everything changed for Moses and he had to flee for his life (Acts 7:20-34).
I have heard it said this way; “Moses spend his first forty years in the palace
learning to be a somebody. He spent the next forty years in the wilderness learning to be
a nobody. He spent his last forty years leading the children of Israel, learning that God
can make a nobody into a somebody.”
After fleeing for his life, Moses spent the next forty years tending sheep for his
father-in-law on the backside of the desert. As far as we know for those forty years God
was silent. Now look at Acts 7:30. "And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai.(31) "When Moses
saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord
came to him, (32) "saying, ‘I am
the God of your fathers——the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. (33) ‘Then the LORD said to him,
"Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. (34)
"I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their
groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to
Egypt."‘
I like the way Charles Swindoll tells the story, “Abruptly
out of the midst of a burning bush came a voice that he hadn’t heard in decades,
“Moses! Moses!” Incredible moment! He knew that voice, He remembered it from
forty years before. There was no other voice like that one. He thought his life was
finished. He had made such a mess of things, he had been convinced he would never hear
that voice again. How wrong he was! Do you know what is in that voice? Grace!”
[Swindoll. p. 285]
F.B. Meyer has a wonderful perspective on these events, he says, “There are
days in all lives which come unannounced, unheralded; no angel faces look out of heaven;
no angel voices put us on our guard; but as we look back at them in after years, we
realize that they were the turning points of existence. Perhaps we look longingly back on
the uneventful routine of life that lies beyond them; but the angel, with the drawn sword,
forbids our return, and compels us forward. It was so with Moses. ….. Then, suddenly, a common bush began to shine with the
emblem of Deity; and from its heart of fire the voice of God broke the silence of the ages
in words that fell on the shepherd’s ear like a double knock “Moses,
Moses.” And from that moment all his life was altered. The door which had been so
long in repairing was suddenly put on it hinges again and opened.” [F.B. Meyer. Moses, the Servant of God.
(Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1980) p. 33-34 as quoted by Charles Swindoll. The
Grace Awakening (Dallas: Word, 1990) p.286.]
(3:11-12).
“But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh,and
that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
It is a sense of
guilt and shame that causes Moses to feel that he is incapable of performing the job that
God has called him too. His past failure leaves him feeling that he will be rejected. God answers his
excuse in verse twelve,
“So He said, "I will certainly be with
you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of
Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."
Notice that God says in verse twelve “when” you have brought the
people out, not “if.” It is grace that makes nobodies into somebodies.
“Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I
come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me
to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to
them?"
God’s
answer is found in verse forteen and fifteen, “And God
said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the
children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’" (15) Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall
say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this
is My memorial to all generations.”
God tells Moses
it does not have to do with who you are, it has to do with who I AM.
But still Moses could not accept God’s message of grace.
“Then Moses answered and said, "But
suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD
has not appeared to you.’"
In the King
James Version this verse reads,
“What
if….?” What if’s are grace killers. Because Moses was overly concerned
about what “might” happen he didn’t hear what God said “would”
happen.
In verse two
through nine he assures Moses that he will have all the power that he needs.
“
So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A
rod." (3) And He said, "Cast it on
the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled
from it. (4) Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and
caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), (5) "that they may believe that the LORD
God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has
appeared to you." (6) Furthermore the LORD said to him, "Now put your hand in
your bosom." And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his
hand was leprous, like snow.(7) And He said, "Put your hand in your bosom
again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and
behold, it was restored like his other flesh. (8) "Then
it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they
may believe the message of the latter sign. (9) "And it shall be, if they do not
believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the
river and pour it on the dry land . And the water which you take from the river will
become blood on the dry land."
Even after these miraculous signs he is still not convinced and he offers a fourth
excuse.
( 4:10-12, compare with Acts 7:22)
“Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since
You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow
of speech and slow of tongue."
In no uncertain
terms God tells Moses he has all that he needs in verse eleven, “So
the LORD said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the
deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
God on to tell
Moses in verse twelve that He does not need our abilities he desires our
availability. "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your
mouth and teach you what you shall say."
(4:13-17)
“But he said, "O my Lord, please send by
the hand of whomever else You may send."
This can also be translated, “Please Lord send anyone else.”
God answers Moses’ objections in
verse fourteen,
"Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is
also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. (15)
"Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your
mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. (16) "So he shall
be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you….”
Unfortunately for Moses many of his future promises will come through his brother
Aaron. It will be Aaron who leads the people in building and worshipping a golden calf
(Exodus 32).
The chief cause behind the resistance of Moses was his own sense of guilt and
shame.
Expectations. The Biblical example of
this
In John chapter thirteen Jesus and his disciples gather to eat the last supper. As
they sat they began to argue about who was the greatest (Luke 22:24-26). As they sat
arguing Jesus got up and began to wash their feet (John 13:4-6). When he got to Peter, he
was resistant. Our Lord had stooped and reached out in grace, but Peter dogmatically
refuses. He said in verse eight, “Lord you shall never wash
my feet.” It is even more emphatic in the Greek where it is literally, “No way,
Lord…… never.” Pride
holds us make and gives us a false impress that we are without need. “The truth
is that we are all needy people, its just that some of us hide it better than
others.” [p. 296]
Where Peter resisted grace because of his pride, Paul is our biblical model of a
person who accepted grace because he no longer put confidence in the flesh. Paul’s pedigree is laid out in Philippians 3.
In verse four he says, “though
I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in
the flesh, I more so (5) circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe
of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;
(6) concerning zeal, persecuting the church;
concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
Paul says in effect, “That my record!” In the eyes of the
world he might have impressive credentials, but in the sight of god he was lost and in
great need.
In verse seven he went on to say, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for
Christ. (8) Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as
rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
is from God by faith; (10) that I may know
Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death, (11) if, by any
means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (12)
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I
may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (13) Brethren, I do
not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
(14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is saying in effect, “For too many years I went full speed ahead but in
the wrong direction.” Here is the record of a man who’s testimony is that he had
lost all confidence in his own credentials and realized that life lived without Christ is
empty and meaningless.
Grace only works in the lives of people who are willing to admit that they are just
human, that they are not supermen or women but just ordinary needy people.
Click on the BACK button to return to the "Growing in Grace" page.