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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you And we will be reading the entire chapter, Numbers chapter 12. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Amen. My servant Moses is not so. Who is faithful in all mine house? With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. And the similitude of the Lord shall he build, wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow, and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh hath consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spud in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut off from the camp seven days, and after that, let her be received again. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days, and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward, the people were removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran. Bless the reading of God's word, let us pray. Lord God, in heaven, we thank the Lord for the state that is given to us. I pray the truth, please bless the Lord for this day. Give us good weather for our soul and our fellowship later on. I pray the truth, please bless the preaching, and the preaching of the word, let us pray. We love you, Jesus, and we pray. Amen. All right, we're here in Numbers chapter 12. We'll continue our series on the alphabet of characteristics, and as I mentioned in the announcements, we skipped the letter G for now. We'll get to that next, but I decided I want to preach on humility in this sermon here today, so for the letter H. And we're here in Numbers chapter 12, and notice what it says in verse number 1. And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses, because the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Have the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. And you have this story where you have, you know, Miriam and Aaron, which are the older brother and older sister of Moses, and they basically, you know, criticized Moses, and they criticized for who he married. I don't believe this is the first wife of Moses. I believe their criticism of the Ethiopian woman would be because Ethiopia is attached to Egypt. But, of course, I'm sure she was a believer as well, even though she was from that part of the world, and they criticized, and the Bible says here in verse number 3, And the man Moses was very meek. Okay? A lot of people have this question, What is the difference between being humble and being meek? Now for my personal study of the Word of God, I look at humbleness and humility as an individual thing, and then meekness is kind of the interaction with other people. But it's basically the same thing. So I kind of define meekness as humbleness and action with others. And so Moses was a very humble man. He was a very meek man. In this context, what it's showing is Moses didn't fight his own battles. Right? I mean, God steps in and fights the battle for him. Go to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2. Philippians chapter 2. Let me give you four ways in this sermon that we see Moses was a very humble man. And the first one is this. He gave up a very nice life in order to serve God. He gave up a nice life in order to serve God. Now, I'm going to show you first about Jesus Christ, and then we're going to transition to Moses here. And notice what it says in Philippians 2, verse 3. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Now, when you say lowly in mind, what is that saying? It's saying you have a humble view of yourself. You don't look at yourself as being so special. You don't look at yourself as being better or more important than other people. I mean, it says, esteem others better than yourself, and that means you look at other people as being more important than you. Of course, if you're married and you're raising kids, that's one of the big things about being a good parent is you look at your kids as being more important than yourself as you're raising them. Right? And it says here, you know, let us be lowly in mind and esteem others better than ourselves, verse 4. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Okay? This was the mind of Christ to esteem others as more important than himself. Now, look, obviously Jesus was perfect. He was sinless, but he still lived his life in a way that other people are more important than his personal wants and desires. Okay? Verse number 6. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant who was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And so here's the thing. When we talk about Moses giving up a nice life and attaching it to humility, we see this word humble or humility in the context of Jesus who gave up being in heaven to come down and die for us. What's that called? It's called giving up everything you have in order to do the will of God the Father. Right? And that shows what, according to Philippians 2? It shows humility. Now go to Hebrews 11. Let's see what Moses did. Hebrews 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I mean, it's actually the ultimate show of humility, what Jesus Christ did, where he is in heaven, obviously he is sinless, but he came down to die and pay for our sins. It's the ultimate show of humility that you could give. And of course, we could use Jesus Christ for all of the good letters, right? We could use him for humility, for whatever, being forgiving, forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. We could use him for everything. I'm just trying to use, you know, human examples, because obviously they're sinners just like us, right? And it says here in Hebrews 11, verse 24, By faith Moses, when he has come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. The Bible says that Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now, why did he refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter? Was Pharaoh's daughter a bad person? I don't read that in Exodus 2. In fact, she shows compassion, it says, on Moses. I mean, she went against her father's commandments. Now, I don't think her father would have put her to death, but obviously she could have gotten in trouble or whatever, and she's actually a great show of a woman that cares more about a child than herself, and it says she had compassion. And of course, she raised that child. She put in time and effort. Pharaoh's daughter is a bad person from what we know in Scripture, but the idea is that he was not going to be linked with the Egyptians because he's not an Egyptian, and he disagrees with their religion. He's a Hebrew by his faith, not just by his ethnicity, but by faith he believed on the true Lord, right? And he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Why does this say to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season? Look, Moses was a made man from once Pharaoh's daughter had compassion on him. I mean, as Pharaoh's daughter, it doesn't mean he would have been the next in line to be the Pharaoh. I don't think he was, even though some movies say that, but he would have had a nice life. He would have had the job where basically he doesn't have to do much. He gets to eat at all the royal dinners and have nice food and not really have much responsibility. He had a nice life for himself, but he gave it up, why? In order to serve God. In order to do right. You know the Bible says that not many wise men, not many mighty after the flesh are called? Why is that? It's hard to give up a nice life to serve God. Right? I mean, if you have a lot to give up, it's going to be hard. Because make no mistake about it, everybody that serves God has to give up something. If you're serving God with your whole heart, you are going to give up some things that the world has to offer. That's just the way it works. And here's the thing, if you have a lot to give up, it's pretty hard to do it. Now, don't misunderstand me. Every single one of us gives up things to serve God. So I'm not trying to downgrade the decision you made to serve God. I mean, you went all in and you gave up some things and there is some sacrifice and there's some persecution that comes as a result. But here's the thing, I don't think any one of us gave up to the level that Moses did. None of us, as far as I know, were like, you know, into royalty. Like, you're going to become the next king or something like that. I mean, Moses gave up a very nice life in order to suffer persecution. In order to just end up wandering around. It's not like he gave up a nice life for a nice life. That's not what took place. He gave up a nice life and he didn't necessarily know what his life was going to be like after that. But it did not matter because he was doing it to serve God. Another great example you think of in the Bible, because it's not just men that make that decision. What about Ruth? Isn't Ruth a great example of the Bible? She gave up her life in Moab. And of course, we don't know how much money she had, but at least she would have been supported by her family. And even, you know, Naomi said, don't come. It's like, you're not going to have a nice life on the other side. But she said, hey, I'm going to serve God. I'm going to forsake everything in order to serve God. And here's the thing. What that shows is humility. Willing to give up what you have in order to serve God. Go to Luke 14. Luke 14. Now, look, I don't believe that anybody that gives up their nice life or makes sacrifices to serve God regrets it. I'm happy to serve God. I'm happy for the decisions I made that put me on the path to serving God in the way that I believe God wants me to serve. And I'm sure you feel the same way. But it's also difficult when you're in that kind of middle position where you're kind of debating what you're going to do. I mean, I remember one of the big decisions I made is when, you know, I quit my secular job and moved to Sacramento. You know, we moved with our family and it's like I wanted to be trained for the ministry. And you say, but what if you never went into the ministry? Well, I'd still have a great church. I mean, personally, I think that you should be willing to move, be a part of a great church if it is possible. If you are financially able, you should be willing to give up whatever you have in order to serve God. It's like, but what if I don't end up becoming a pastor, even though that's why I moved? But then you still have a great church. I mean, if I had stayed in Sacramento, I'd be like, well, I still have a great church. It's not like I would have regretted it, right? But there is a sacrifice made to serving God. And Moses showed the ultimate show of humility by giving up a nice life in order to just serve God. And it's a tough thing. It's a tough decision people have to make. Luke 14, verse 33. Luke 14, verse 33. Luke 14, verse 33. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Now notice, it doesn't say he cannot go to heaven. It doesn't say he cannot be saved. It says he cannot be my disciple. You say, by the way, isn't being saved and a disciple the same thing? No, it's not. Number one, not every disciple is even saved. Judas Iscariot wasn't saved. And it's not that it was just him. I mean, there's others that were following Christ, but they weren't actually saved. And here's the thing, you can be saved without being a disciple. So don't think these things are the same thing. But the idea is following God with your life. And if someone's not willing to forsake what they have in order to follow God, well, you can't be a disciple of Jesus. Because you must be willing to forsake in order to follow God, in order to follow Christ. And if you're not willing, well, then you can't be my disciple. Now, can you be saved? Of course. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Don't we tell people outsoiling, that look, you can stay a drunk until the day you die and go to heaven. Well, I mean, how could you say that outsoiling? Because I really want to make it clear to them that there's no works involved in being saved. And yeah, I use that example sometimes. I'll tell people that are having trouble understanding it. Look, there's drug addicts that are going to be in heaven. Drunks that are going to be in heaven. Because it's not by works of righteousness which we have done. That's what the Bible clearly teaches. But you can't be the disciple of Christ unless you're willing to obey His commandments. And if you're not willing, you're not His disciple. Here's the thing, Moses, I believe, was already saved at the age of 40. I don't know how he got saved, we don't necessarily know. The things we do know is that right when Pharaoh's daughter saw him, she said this is one of the Hebrew's children. I'm assuming, because there's actually a big debate about the skin color in ancient Egypt versus modern Egypt, and I'm not an expert at that, but I do know that Pharaoh's daughter saw a difference immediately. So I presume growing up he understood that he wasn't at least a full-blooded Egyptian. He obviously heard the Gospel from someone because everybody gets saved. How? Because somebody gave them the Gospel. They told them about salvation. We don't necessarily know how, but I would say at the age of 40 he already knew this. But he was not a disciple. You say, why? Because he was not willing to give up what he had at that time in order to serve God. And then at the age of 40, it came into his heart and into his mind, he said, I'm going to give it up in order to serve God. I'm going to make the decision to forsake in order to serve God with my life. Turn in your Bible to Acts 7. Another great example is Paul the Apostle. You know, Paul could have gotten saved and just been silent about it. Doesn't the Bible talk about people that believed, but they're not willing to openly confess? They don't want anybody to know it. You say, why? Because they're going to be in trouble. It's like we get people saved that are part of a big Catholic family, and they're never going to admit to their family that they're not Catholic anymore. I mean, that exists. Well, they're not really saved. Why wouldn't they be saved if they believe? You don't have to start doing the works to be saved. Or, for example, Naaman. Who thinks Naaman was saved? I think Naaman was saved. But he said, you know, forgive me, Elisha, because I'm going to pretend to follow Nizrak because I don't want to lose my job. That's basically what he says. And then I'm sure Elisha's thinking, I've heard this a thousand times. Right? Hey, would you like to come to church on Sunday? Man, I would love to, but always excuses, always reasons. Well, that doesn't mean they're not saved. It just means they can't be a disciple of Christ because you must be willing to give up what you have in order to be a disciple. You must be willing to sacrifice in order to serve God. There's a sacrifice involved in serving God with your whole heart. And that's what the Bible teaches. And all of us that are serving God, we felt that to some level of a degree. We've had to make sacrifices to serve God. Right? But I don't think any one of us had the show of humility that Moses did because I think he had a nicer life than probably any of us. You know, in terms of the world standards. Everything that ancient Egypt had to offer. Personally, I would not give up running water and indoor plumbing for what they have. But I'm just saying, in that world, and he gave it all up just to serve God. Right? You know, you also think of where the Bible speaks about not being ashamed of the chain of Paul the Apostle. There's a lot of people that, they think this is the best church in Metrominella. And they live in Metrominella. But they don't come to this church. There's a lot of online listeners in Quezon City. I mean, I'm amazed how many people are in the new IFP groups online or the FWBC listeners. I'm like, hey, that person lives like 10 minutes from here. Don't come to this church. And one of the reasons why is because they're ashamed of it. It's easy to be new IFP online, but oh, we can't let people know. I mean, in the private groups where nobody finds out I'm new IFP, that's okay. But I can't let that publicly be known because I'll be in so much trouble. And my church and my friends and everything. And it's just like, okay, do whatever you want. You're not a disciple of Christ then. I can't believe you'd say that. Well, it's a fact. If you're not willing to forsake, I mean, that's what Jesus says. That's what the Bible says. If you're going to be a disciple, you must be willing to forsake and give up the things that are preventing you from following God. Now, none of us do that 100%, but you must be willing to give up what you have in order to serve God. And one thing I'm thankful for is even though that requires a sacrifice, it's not like you have to give up. I'm going to sell my house, sell my car, quit my job. I mean, there's a sacrifice made, but you're still able to have a nice life here on earth, work hard, have a job, have a family. It's not like these Indian religions like Buddhism and Jainism where basically you have to give up all your clothing, you can't use toilets anymore, you can't brush your teeth, you can't have any worldly attachments, right? The great sin of using a toilet or washing your hands is like a big no-no in Jainism. Look, we're not talking about asceticism where you harm your body or something like that, but you have to give up your worldliness. You have to give up the things that are stopping you from going all in for serving God. There is a sacrifice made. Number one, Moses gave up a nice life. Number two, he viewed himself as unworthy. Here's what's interesting. At the age of 40, Moses was willing to give up everything to serve God. But one problem was he was not yet humble enough, and I'll show this to you in the Bible. I believe he was already very humble and a show of humility was giving up what he had to serve God, but he was not yet humble enough. Acts 7 verse 20. Acts 7 verse 20. And one thing you have to keep in mind because I believe that Moses at the age of 40 was probably more humble than I am today, but here's the thing. Because the responsibility for Moses was so important and so big, he had to be very, very humble in order to do this, right? Acts 7 verse 20. In which time Moses was born and was exceeding Pharaoh and nourished up in his father's house three months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was full 40 years, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him in a venture that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian. Verse 25 is very interesting because Stephen gives us extra insight that you're not going to get if you're reading Genesis through Malachi, if you're reading in the book of Exodus. Verse 25. For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. Moses, it went into his heart and his mind saying, I'll deliver the people. And the people didn't get behind him. The people didn't understand him. They didn't support him. There are two reasons why that didn't take place. Number one, the people were not ready. But number two, Moses was not yet ready either. Go to Exodus 3. Exodus 3. Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3. Now, we're going to see this in the book of Exodus, but it's consistent with the book of Judges. In the book of Judges, what do you see? You see the people rebel against God. And then what do they do? God, help us! They cry out to God, help, help, help! And what does God do? He sends a judge, sends it therever, right? And then they go into bondage again, and what do they do? God, help! Help! And what does God do? He sends them another judge. I mean, this is the story of the book of Judges. And as we take time to kind of mock that, that's what we do in our personal lives. We screw up our lives. Our lives are a mess. God, help me. Please, I'll never, ever, ever do it again. I'll read the Bible for five hours every morning. I'll preach the gospel for three hours every day. God, please, if you just get me out of this. And then he gets us out of it. We do that for a little while, and then all of a sudden, we mess up again. I mean, that's just the story of the way we are. I mean, we're sinners, and that's what you see in the book of Judges. That's also what you see in the book of Exodus. Eventually, they cry out to God, and God sends them Moses, but not yet when Moses was 40 years old. Exodus 3 verse 6. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. And notice this. And I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. See, it says in verse 7, God heard their cry. God answers the prayer request of the children of the Hebrew children, of the Hebrew people. Right now, here's the thing. That doesn't mean every single Hebrew is crying out to God, but obviously there's a level where you need to have enough people crying out to God. Look, I do believe that if enough of God's people here in the Philippines would cry out to God in various situations, I do believe that has an impact, and I believe God answers prayers. Ye have not, because ye ask not. So, prayer is not a meaningless action that does no good. I mean, it does do good. It doesn't mean God will always answer your prayers, but it does mean that we believe in a God that answers prayers. Exodus 3, verse 8, And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a large unto a land flown with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee on to Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. So remember, when Moses was 40 years old, he was like, You know what? I believe the people get behind me, and I can deliver the people. Right? When he is 80 years old, 40 years pass, and then all of a sudden, Moses is directly told by God he's going to deliver the people. Notice his reaction in verse 11. And Moses said unto God, Who am I? That's where you hear that famous casting crown song, Who am I? Right? I'm not endorsing that song, by the way. Okay? But it's a famous song. Right? But he says, Who am I? What is Moses saying? I can't do this. I don't have the ability. I'm not worthy of this position. Who am I? What's that called? It's called humility. Why? It sounds like he's weak. No, no, no. It's called not being prideful. It's called, I mean, it's called just being humble because you realize, man, this is a big responsibility. I don't know if I'm the right guy. I mean, maybe you're choosing the wrong person, God. I mean, who am I? Who am I that I should go into Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And look, if you're someone that's going to do great things for God in life, you have to be a humble person. Let me give you some examples I think people can relate to. What about before you have children? Before you have children, it seems pretty easy. You know, you just teach them the Bible. You don't lose your temper with them. You bring them to church. And of course, you're going to do a great job, right? And then when your child's about to be born, all of a sudden you're like, God, please help me. I don't want to screw this up. I don't want to mess up the life of my daughter or my son. God, please help me. I mean, that's the way it was for me. I think it was probably a lot of moms and fathers in this room. That's probably how you felt where it didn't seem so hard. And when that moment came, you're like, man, I don't know if I can do this. And what happened? It caused you to put all your trust into God to help you. That's the way it works in life. Right? I mean, look, this is my story, you know, when I used to preach sermons. You know, I've had a lot of experience preaching. I got to preach in West Virginia. And you know, here's the truth. I do not get nervous when I preach sermons. I do not get nervous anymore. Because I've done it many times. But when I used to preach sermons in Sacramento, the way Sacramento is set up is like during the scripture reading, the person preaching will go and sit in the chair right by the platform. And you know, my heart is like, beating really fast. And I'm thinking, can we have a power outage? Can like some robber come in and, you know, we just have to cancel the service? Because in my head, I'm just thinking, man, it's like I thought I was prepared. And now I'm like, I don't know if I can do this. And you know what I'm doing inside my head? I'm praying and praying and praying to God to help me. Help me not to screw up. Help me not to just say something wrong. Help me to have, you know, be able to edify the people. Forgive me for my sins I've done that would cause you not to bless me. And please help me. And it caused me to rely and trust and cling onto God to help me in that sermon. I'm sure many men that have preached here before, that's probably the way you felt. We're like, man, God, please help me. God, please help me. And you might think that's a bad thing. That's not a bad thing. Because here's the truth, in your own flesh you cannot do it. But you reach the point of finally understanding that and what takes place? It causes you to cling onto God. God, I cannot do this without you. Now don't allow that feeling to stop you from doing what you should be doing. But, here's what I'm saying, it's not a bad feeling where you don't think you can do it in your own flesh. I'm sure if you're a soul winner here, this is the way you felt when you first started going soul winning. Like I'm going to randomly go up to people, like I'm not the sort of person that can do that. I don't have the words. I'm not outgoing. What am I going to say? I mean, I'm going to embarrass myself. But here's the thing, you trust in God to help you. And does God help you? Of course. Because in the passage on Mark 16, He tells us to go soul winning. And what does it say in verse 20? The Lord working with them. Right? I mean, Bible promises God's going to be with you when you're serving Him and doing your will. So here's the thing, you're not doing it alone. And if you rely on your own flesh, yeah, you're going to fall face on the ground. But if you do it with God and rely on God to help you, you can do things that you could not do in your natural flesh. When I read Exodus 3 and Moses makes a statement, who am I? What you're seeing is a man that has a lot of humility. But here's the thing, although he was a great guy at the age of 40, he's kind of the picture of someone very zealous, but not yet ready. And I'm not saying that makes him bad. I'm just saying he had a job that was so important that he needed to have more humility and learn more and have more trust in God. And he just doesn't have that yet at the age of 40. There's a lot of very young and zealous people that want to go in the ministry. And look, they could do a great job one day, but it might mean they need five years to reach that point. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's what you see with Moses. Right? He says, who am I? He's thinking, me? Because at the age of 40, he thought he could do it. Now at the age of 80, he's like, me? I mean, there's so many people that are better speakers. I mean, I can't do this. He says in verse 11, And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly, I will be with thee. You're right, Moses. You can't do it by yourself. But here's the thing. I'm going to be with thee. I'm going to help you out. And look, when you are in God's will, God is with you. Do you understand that? It's not a bad thing to have the attitude, man, I don't think I can do it. Because here's the thing, in our own flesh and with our own abilities, we can't really do that much. We're going to mess up our lives. But with the power of God and the help of God, we can do great things. Certainly, I will be with thee. And it says, And this shall be a token unto you that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Go to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4. You know, before I was a pastor, before my family moved to Sacramento, I had a desire to be a pastor. You know, even when I first got saved, you know, at the age of 19, I believe, and I do believe that God calls people to the ministry. That is a biblical term. People have weird viewings of what that means, like seeing lights or some sort of weird Pentecostal thing. Obviously, that's wrong. But I do believe that God has certain people that He's designed them and prepared them where that's what He wants with their life. I believe there are men in this room that God wants to be pastors. I do believe that. I know people have expressed a desire. Obviously, Brother Matthias is going to be heading to Poland, but not just him. And other people might have that desire inside of themselves. And I don't think that's for everybody. I'm not going to try to do an altar call and get you to devote and make a vow that you don't really mean. But I do believe that is the desire that God has or God's plan for certain people in this world. And for a lot of people, He just has you to plan you to be a part of a great church, and you can get just as many rewards as a pastor can get. But here's the thing. When I had a desire to be a pastor, I understood a long time ago, you know, married with faithful children. I believe that. Multiple kids. Before I was married, I had a desire to be a pastor. And quite honestly, you know what, in my own flesh, when I was in my early 20s, I felt like, hey, you know what, if I was married and had a couple kids, I could do a great job right now being a pastor. That's the way I felt. I felt like I've read the Bible many times. I've memorized books of the Bible. I went to a lot of churches where pastors were just simply wrong on a lot of doctrine. There's a lot of doctrine that's just wrong in Baptist churches, and I knew that. And I just thought, man, if I started a church, I could do a great job. Right? But it was interesting because when I went to Verity Baptist, I remember telling Pastor Jimenez this, where I said, you know, it's interesting because I think 10 years ago, I felt more ready to be a pastor than I do now. And his exact response was, that's a great sign that you're ready now. You say, why is that? Well, isn't that what you see with Moses? Right? Because we all naturally, I mean, isn't it true, you first start listening to online preaching and you really feel like you know a lot, and then all of a sudden as time goes by, you start realizing, you know what, maybe I know a lot of doctrines, but I still have a lot to learn in my life. And here's the thing. God wants us to get to a place in our lives where we quit relying on our own flesh and start relying on Him. And just trust in the Lord with all of thine heart and lean not onto thine own understanding. You know why? Because your own understanding is going to fail. My own understanding is going to fail. Now, it can be a dangerous thing because here's the truth. As I said, I don't get nervous anymore. I don't have this desperation prayer in my head right before I preach. But it's still very important to be right with God. That's the most important thing about preaching. Make sure you're right with God. And it can be very easy as you start getting some knowledge and experience to quit relying on God and start relying in your own flesh. And then sometimes God has to re-humble us to get us to the place to start relying on God. But what you're seeing with Moses, we see his humility because he doesn't have the attitude, look at me, I can do this. He says, who am I? But isn't that the exact opposite attitude of other people you see? I mean, Miriam and Aaron, we just read. They say, well, God's spoken by us also. Well, think of the famous story of Korah, right? I mean, everybody's holy. God's spoken to all of us. It's interesting because Moses didn't look that highly on himself. He said, who am I? Like, I'm going to be leading the people? That shows his humility. Exodus 4, verse 10. And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since I was spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. Now, my opinion on Exodus 4, 10 is that Moses is, he's not lying, but he's not correct. And what I mean by that is, he does not think he is a good speaker, but he's wrong. Because Acts 7 told us, I mean, the Bible said he was mighty in words. He did have a lot of knowledge and ability. He actually did have the ability to do this, but he didn't feel like he had the ability. And that's actually a pretty common thing with people that are pastors where they don't really feel like they're that good of speakers. They don't think that they're, I mean, most pastors that are good pastors, if they listen to their sermons, they're thinking, oh, man, I should have said that better. I should have done that better. They just don't feel that good at their preaching. They don't feel like they're that eloquent. And once again, though, it's not in your own flesh, though. It's with the power of God. So I don't think Moses is lying in verse 10. He's making excuses, but he's not lying. But he's not really correct because he actually is a pretty good speaker. He just doesn't really realize it. It says in verse 11, And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth, or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And you know what? What God says to Moses is, well, wait a minute. I'm telling you to do it. You're the man for the job. I made your mouth, so guess what? You have the ability. You say, you know, you know, pastor, I don't think that I was given the ability to be a soul winner. I just don't think it's my calling or what's for me. You're wrong. Why? Because he told all of us, go ye. Right? Every single person is meant to be a soul winner. But I don't have the ability. Well, God said, it's your job to do. He's given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Obviously, he gave you the means to do it as well. But not in your own flesh, but with the power of God upon your life, you can do that. Go to Bible to Exodus 32. Exodus 32. Exodus 32. Now, here's what I would say about Moses and what you see in, you know, Exodus 4, because he does make excuses and basically, you know what? It's like he's too humble almost. Well, basically, instead of just putting his trust in God to do what he's called to do, he said, man, I can't do it. And he's correct. He can't do it in his own flesh. But he's allowing that to stop him from doing things that he needs to do. Right? I've thought about this. I haven't preached a sermon on it, but I've thought about writing one of the balance between being high self-esteem and low self-esteem. And neither one of these is wrong or sinful. The struggle on the sides are if you're a high self-esteem person, you can sometimes become prideful. That is a possibility. Nothing wrong with having high self-confidence or high self-esteem, but you're more likely to become prideful. Whereas low self-esteem, you're more likely to not do things because you don't feel you have the ability to do them. Neither one is really wrong and God's created us differently. It's just the reality. For me, in most situations, I'm usually a pretty high self-esteem person, and you can struggle with being prideful if you're that sort of person. Not that it's wrong to have high self-esteem or low self-esteem. In this instance, Moses is exhibiting kind of a low self-esteem and just allowing this to stop him from doing things that he needs to do. But once again, with the power of God, you can do great things. Number one, Moses gave up a nice life. Number two, Moses viewed himself unworthy, which I'm saying is a good attribute. That statement, who am I, is actually a great statement and it's not uncommon to other great characters in the Bible. There are other great characters like Gideon and ones that you can think of where they're thinking, me? Who am I? I'm not the sort of person that can do this. I wasn't raised with this sort of teaching or learning to become this or that or become a prophet and yet God uses them. That's not a bad attitude. In fact, it can be a great attitude if you're willing to take that kind of fear and place it on God and put your trust in him to help you. Number three, one thing that showed the humility of Moses is he cared about others more than himself. Moses was a man that cared about other people. He didn't care about himself. He put other people above himself. Just like it talked about in Philippians 2 where you esteem others better than yourself, you look on the things of others rather than your own things and it says in Exodus 32 verse 9, and listen unto Moses, I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I'll make of thee a great nation. God tells Moses, and this is a famous story of them worshipping the golden calf and God says, I'll wipe them all out and start over with you. Notice the response of Moses. And Moses besought the Lord his God and said, Lord, why doth thy wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore, should the Egyptians speak and say, for mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth. Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants to whom thou swerged by thy own self and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Let me say a couple things real quickly. Right here in verse 14, it says the Lord repents. Why repent always means to turn from your sin. Well, why does God keep repenting in the Bible if it means to turn from your sins? God's not a sinner. Number two, in verse 14, when it says repent of the evil, evil is not synonymous with sin. It's not. Evil can be sinful and it might not be. So I'll give you an example. If someone is trying to kill me and I defend myself and kill them, I did evil unto that person. But did I sin? Absolutely not. When God's going to wipe out the people, he's going to do evil unto them. What that means is to do harm unto them. But that doesn't mean that it, I mean, if somebody gets the death penalty for committing murder, well, the right thing took place. And eye for eye, they deserve the death penalty. But evil was done unto them. So the word evil is not necessarily in the same way we use it today. So be careful about that because the word evil in the Bible is not synonymous with sin. Okay? Verse 14 proves that. But you see Moses steps in for the people. Go down to verse 19. Exodus 32 verse 19. And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses' anger waxed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and break them beneath the mount. Now look, I believe this chapter is being discreet. We know that they have, you know, kind of like rock music, probably music that they had in ancient Egypt. We know they had dancing and obviously there's not a very God. You say, well, dancing's not always sinful in the Bible. Yeah, you're right about that but this dancing is sinful. Okay? And in my opinion, because it talks about the people rose up to play, I believe what's implied is drunkenness and fornication is taking place from some of the people. You might agree, you might disagree, the Bible doesn't directly say. But obviously, throughout the Bible and throughout the world, when there's idolatry, there's drunkenness. They go hand in hand. You have a lot of sin and I believe fornication is also implied in this from some of the people. I mean, a lot of wicked sins are being committed and of course, Moses is very angry when he sees this. So it's one thing, I mean, earlier, he didn't really see it. Now he sees it and he's mad. And he destroys, you know, the tables out of his hands with the Ten Commandments. And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and straw it upon the water and made the children of Israel drink of it. Now, I don't really know what drinking gold does to your health. I mean, I'm not, I know in a modern day, it's like the cool thing like eating like a golden pizza costs like, you know, a hundred thousand dollars or whatever. I mean, people do bizarre things when they're rich. I'm not about to eat gold or drink gold, right? Verse 21, And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? What is Moses exhibiting? Strong leadership, right? This is not pride because people accuse people that have strong leadership of being prideful. Oh, you're so prideful. This is not pride. We just saw his humility because he cared about the people more than himself. What you're seeing is strong leadership, right? Go down to verse 31. And notice this, in this next statement just kind of blows your mind when you read it in verse 31. But notice this, And Moses returned on the Lord and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, dash, and if not, block me, I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written. Now look, I believe the dash in your Bible and most, I mean, every King James Bible I've seen has that. I presume yours does as well. But I believe the dash is there for a reason after the word sin. And the implication would be there's a pause. That's what that means. Well, basically, Moses starts the statement, Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and he pauses to think about what he's saying. I believe that's the indication. That's what that would mean. And then he says, And if not, block me. Now, the statement Moses makes is a foolish statement. Because if you're saved, you're not going to be blotted out of the book of life. You're saved forever. But what he's basically saying is, I am willing to go to hell for these people. That's what he's saying. Now look, Paul made a similar statement in the New Testament, didn't he? He could wish himself to be a curse for his brethren. Here's the reality. I'm not willing to do that. I'm not that humble. I'm just being honest with you. I'm not willing to... Now, I do understand the concept, being willing to go to hell for your family, your kids, your spouse, if they weren't saved or something like that. But I'm not willing to go to hell for just a random person that we knock on their door that doesn't get saved. I wouldn't be willing to go to hell for like 50 people. I don't want to go to hell forever. Now, Moses' statement is a bit foolish. He's kind of talking out of emotion. He's just kind of coming up with whatever to say. But I believe he means this in his heart. You know what that's showing? Humility. An extreme show of humility that quite honestly, I don't have that much humility. I don't care enough about other people that I would be like, I'm willing to go to hell for them. You know, sometimes people make statements like that, like I'd be willing to go to hell for somebody else. Unless you're talking about your direct family, I don't think people really mean that. It's just kind of something that they say. But I don't believe the Bible's wrong when it says Moses and Paul said this. But they meant it. They said it. It's just really hard for me to understand that because I'm not willing to do that. And I would say for all of us, we're like, man, that shows some major humility and care about other people. Right? And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. So it's like, Moses, no. It's like, no. If I choose to blot them out and not get them... Because look, obviously a lot of people that went in the wilderness were not even saved. So a lot of them were people that could become reprobates. I mean, they're worshipping a golden calf. Not everybody's worshipping the golden calf, but a bunch of people are worshipping the golden calf. Obviously there's a lot of unsaved people. There were children that grew up in that culture. And so Moses makes this very strong statement and he means it. And what that shows is humility. Go to Numbers 16. Numbers 16. Numbers chapter 16. Numbers 16. So the three points we saw so far, he gave up a nice life. That shows humility. He viewed himself unworthy. That shows humility. And he cared about others more than himself. All of these things show great humility. Numbers 16, verse 1. Now Korah the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and An the son of Paelath, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown, men of reputation, well-known, well-respected men. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them and the Lord is among them. Wherefore then, lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. What are they accusing Moses of in verse 3, of lifting up yourself? What does that mean? They're accusing Moses of being arrogant, saying he's my Abba, he's prideful, right? That's what they're accusing of them. They're accusing of being the exact opposite of what I'm preaching. Now can there be any doubt from what we've seen here today that Moses was a humble man? There's no doubt that he was humble. And the Bible says he was the meekest man upon the face of the earth, which is very similar to humility. We see that in the Word of God. And yet he's accused of being arrogant. And what I'm saying is, when you have strong leadership, people will accuse you of arrogance. But we see the exact opposite. Right? We see him stepping in for the people, willing to go to hell for the people. He gave up a nice life. He didn't have to do that. But he did that because he had humility. I mean, look at the stupid statement they make in verse 3. Seeing all the congregation are holy. It's like, well, maybe they didn't really mean all the congregation. Every one of them, they clarify. In case there's any doubt, we're saying every single person in this congregation. And look, it wasn't just the congregation of like 80 people. It was a congregation of like thousands and thousands. Every one of them is holy? Are you kidding me? I don't care what the greatest Baptist church is in the world that has a good-sized congregation, hundreds of people. They're going to have tons of people that aren't holy. Look, I wouldn't make that statement about our church. No offense. I don't believe every single person at our church is on fire for God. I mean, it's just not realistic. Every one of them is holy. What a dumb statement to make. That's the statement that they make. Why would they make a stupid statement like that? Because they want to get followers. Well, I mean, you know, Moses as the leader, him making the decisions, we also could make good decisions. We could also do just as good of a job, and then make people feel very good about themselves. But what I'm saying is, the last thing you could accuse Moses of is being arrogant. And that's what they accuse him of. And what I'm saying is, people will accuse strong leaders of being arrogant or of not being loving, having no charity. Turn in your Bible to, turn to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. And let me say this. When it comes to pastors that you love and respect, when it comes to those pastors that you like to listen to online, I know those pastors. And when I say I know them, it means I talk to them face to face, right? I know them. There's ones that I talk to on a pretty regular basis. You know, pastors I know that they're my friends in the ministry. And let me just say this. When it comes to pastors that are great pastors and great men of God, let me help you understand one of the biggest faults that pastors have. They're too nice. They're too nice. You say, well, they don't seem that nice. They're yelling at people. And here's what takes place. You know, the Bible says charity suffers long. Charity believeth all things. You want to give people the benefit of the doubt. What takes place is pastors are very long suffering. They want to give people a chance. And inevitably, sometimes they give too much of a chance. And then what takes place? Well, then you got a situation you got to deal with. And then people see them deal with stuff like Moses deals with stuff. Oh, you're arrogant. You're not loving. No, it's actually the opposite. If anything, they're too loving. They have too much charity. They're too long suffering. And I think that's an attribute you would want in a pastor that they care too much. And maybe they give too many chances than just, you know. But that's the reality. And that's what you're seeing in the life of Moses as well. He's a person. He deals with issues when he needs to deal with them. But he wants to give people a chance. Charity suffers long. Charity believeth all things. That's what the Bible says. So point one was he gave up a nice life. Point two, he viewed himself unworthy. Point three, he cared about others more than himself. And, you know, point four, I'm not going to show you the scripture on that. But he showed humility with those that he knew, specifically with his family. And that also shows a lot of humility because you might be humble or meek around other people. But when it's your brother or sister, it's a little bit harder. I mean, I'm just saying, if I was Moses, I think my reaction would have been, well, I hate to break it to you, Mr. Kuyah and Atay, but God made me the leader because I'm better than you. Right? I feel like that's what I would say. You know, I don't have a brother. I don't have a sister. But I'm just like, there's that sibling rivalry where it'd be pretty hard to allow things to go. But, you know, when you read Numbers 12, he does not fight his own battles because he's meek. And also, he does not hold any sort of grudge in Numbers 12. You don't see that. You know, he doesn't hold a grudge at all. You know, he immediately forgives. When you go to Numbers 16, you know, there's no indication where he's like, why are you not Aaron? This is what you just did a little bit ago to me. Right? You're so upset now. You just did this to me just like Korah. No, he doesn't hold a grudge. He completely forgives. You see that? That shows a lot of humility with people that you know because these are people you know and when they hurt you, it can hurt a little bit more. But you see a great show of humility by Moses there. But here's the thing. When it comes to this idea of humility, people oftentimes look at this and they'll think that being humble is being weak or being meek is being weak. It's not the same thing. For example, if you go out soul winning and somebody wants to argue with you, you know what the temptation is in the flesh? To make them look stupid. Right? If you choose to walk away and ignore and they mock you and they criticize you, does that mean that you're weak? No. It actually shows a lot of wisdom. It actually shows a lot of strength. And you have to understand, meekness and weakness are not the same thing. Right? We need to be humble or show meekness in our lives. We need to have a humble attitude and trust in God and rely on God and not think too highly of ourselves. But the temptation can be or the thought can be, man, I'm living my life for other people. I'm giving up everything to show God what's in it for me. Isn't that the sort of attitude you could have? Wouldn't it have been very easy for a guy like Moses who gave up everything to grow bitter when he gave up everything and he doesn't have the things that he used to have? Because that happens to a lot of people. They make decisions to serve God. They give up because they know it's the right thing to do. And then later on, they start to regret. They start to think back to the things they used to have and they can grow bitter. They can grow upset. And they can have the attitude, I've given up so much. What's in it for me? Now remember that what Jesus said was that, you know, because his disciples asking this question basically. You know, we forsake it all to follow you. They're basically like, what's in it for us? And what Jesus said is, you know, basically, look, anyone who gives up everything to serve me, he's going to get manifold more in rewards and blessings from God. Saying, you're going to get more. It's going to be worth it. And look, it's true. If you live a humble life and go all out to serve God, you must be willing to give up a lot, but you're going to get so much more in return. And I'm not saying this is money. I'm not saying, you know, you give up this car and you get a car much nicer. We're not Pentecostals. But there's a lot of things more important than money in this world. And, you know, obviously rewards in heaven, but even on this life, there are things far more important than money. I care far more about my kids loving God and serving God. I care far more about happiness than about wealth. You go to parts of the world or you go to areas and you'll see people that don't have much and yet they're happy. And then there's a lot of people that have a lot of money that are not happy. Right? But what's in it for Moses? Hebrews 11 verse 24. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. Egypt that was the richest, most powerful empire in the world, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Look, there is a reward waiting for those that serve God. And of course, we know the judgment seat of Christ where we're ultimately going to get rewards. But, you know, even in this life, God can bless our lives. And once again, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be rich, but God's certainly going to provide your needs and you're going to have a blessed and happy home. God can give you those things, but you know what it requires? It requires us to be humble. It requires us not to think too highly of ourselves. It requires us not to put trust in our own flesh, but put that trust in God. Anyway, if you do that, you can be like Moses and get great rewards in heaven one day. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and ask you to help discernment our lives. God, help us in our lives to be humble, to have meekness. Help us to realize that in our own flesh we can only do so much, God. But help us instead to become fearful, but to put our trust in you that you can help us through this. Help us to put our full trust in you, God, and we know we can do great things. I ask you to continue to bless our church and bless the fellowship later and the soul wing later. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Today we will be doing what's called a pitch number 75. A pitch number 75. A pitch number 75. Let's perform this song. One, the very first one and then the last one. First one ready? Sing. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la Amen. Is there any analog? No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Is there any announcement before you close? Nothing? Whatever. God, we praise the Lord in body and name. Thank you, Lord, for today's preaching. Thank you that you can find us. We bless our fellowship. We bless our school waiting this afternoon. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen. We're just visible.