Ex.

3:1-12 GODS ANSWERS FOR MANS EXCUSES

Intro: Imagine for just a moment that you are God. You are the Creator of
the Universe and you possess all power within yourself. All right, your
people are being held as slaves and the time has come to deliver them.
Who would you choose to do this great work? Perhaps you would send a
great military leader? What about sending a skilled politician? Maybe you
would send some great orator; a man who could give heart-stirring
speeches that would grip the hearts of men. If you had the population of the
world at your disposal, would you have sent Moses? Probably not! After all,
he was 80 years old. He was a fugitive from justice, wanted for murder in
Egypt, the very place you wanted to send him! Yes, he was well educated,
but that was over 40 years ago. Yes, he had been well connected in the
political circles of the day, but that too had been a long time ago. Yet, when
it came time for God to send a deliverer to Israel, this is exactly the person
He chose for the job. To us humans, it doesnt make much sense, but to
God it was all part of a great plan.
While you think about this tonight, chew on this as well. We are living in the
midst of a world that is going to Hell. People who are perishing daily and
need desperately to be reached with the message of Jesus Christ surround
us. If you were God, whom would you send to reach them? Wouldnt you
raise up some kind of super saints? Maybe you would ordain a few angels
to get the job done right. But, surely you wouldnt send a bunch of old
sinners saved by grace to tell other old sinners about that grace. Why, if we
were God, we would want the brightest minds and the most skilled
individuals we could get our hands on. Yet, when God chose to reach this
world for himself, He looked around and decided that saved sinners made
the best candidates for His work.
He hasnt changed His mind! He has saved every one of us to be workers
for His glory, Eph. 2:10, James 2:18. But, when that realization dawns on
us, we begin to drag out the excuses. We try and find every reason under
the sun why we cant be the one He wants for the job. This was Moses
problem, and as we look into how the Lord handled Moses excuses, we
find that He pretty skillfully handled ours as well. In these 2 chapters, there
is a wealth of encouragement for the Christian who wants to serve God but
doesnt feel capable. Lets study these things together tonight and
noticeGods Answers For Mans Excuses.

I. 3:1-12 THE EXCUSE OF INABILITY

A. v. 11 Moses first concern is that he is a "nobody and is
therefore unqualified to go to Pharaoh and demand the release
of the Lords people. (Ill. Many in the church feel this same
way! We feel that we arent as qualified as someone else, or
that we just dont have the ability to get the job done properly.
Yet, in haste to give up before we ever start, we forget one
important truth God chose us! To say we arent able to do the
job says that God doesnt know what He is doing! After all, who
knows best, you or God?)
B. v. 12 Gods response to Moses, and to us, is to give a pair of
precious promises. First, He tells Moses, "I will go with you."
This is the promise of His presence. Secondly, He says, "After
you accomplish what I have sent you to do, I will meet you
here." This is the promise of a glorious reunion someday.
C. With these truths in mind, there is application that can be
made to our lives today.
1. If God has called us, He has done so with full
knowledge of our weaknesses and inabilities. (Ill.
He knows you intimately Psa. 103:14!)
2. If God has called us, He knows that we can accomplish the task through His
power, Phil 4:13. (Ill. He knows the end from the beginning!)
3. When He sends us out into His work, He never
sends us alone Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5; John
14:16-18; John 16:13.
4. After the work has ended, He will gather us unto
Himself where we will experience His great
presence for eternity John 14:3; Rev. 22:3.
D. If your excuse is one of inability, then just send that thought
back to the Hell it came from! In and of yourself, you are
incapable of anything godly and good, but through the power of

God, you can do anything! (Ill. Gideon and his little band
They were strong in their weakness Judges 7, as was the
Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 12:9-10.

II. 3:13-22 THE EXCUSE OF INADEQUACY

A. After telling God of his inabilities, Moses moves on to talk of
his inadequacies. In these verses, Moses is saying to the Lord,
"I just dont know enough about who you are!"
(Ill. Many are in the same shape as Moses this
evening. Not only do we feel that we are incapable
of serving the Lord as we should, we also feel that
we are just inadequate, that somehow, we just
dont know enough about God, His Word, etc, to
get the job done.)
B. Gods response to Moses is to remind him that He is the "I
AM!" While Moses may be inadequate, the God who calls him
and equips him certainly is not! God is in essence saying to
Moses, "Just do as I say, and I will show you who I AM as you
need me to."
(Ill. This is how the Lord works in our lives. He
leads us out to follow Him by faith and we know
very little about Him or His ways, but as the needs
arise, God proves Himself adequate and faithful to
every challenge. His great Name, I AM, becomes
and open ended statement of fact. In those 2
words, God tells us that He is what we need to Him
to be at every moment of our lives. There is not a
situation you will ever find yourself in that God
doesnt hold the solution to. He is able and He
enables us as we go through life!)

C. Following the Lord by faith is often a scary affair. When we

look at the size of the task and compare our abilities to it, we
often see ourselves lacking what is needed for true success.
However, in figuring these things out, we always leave God out
of the equation! When God is factored in, 2 + 2 doesnt
necessarily equal 4!
D. Never allow a lack of an education, a lack of money, a lack
of skill or any other thing stop you from being everything God
wants you to be. Even if you cant see within yourself the
resources needed, just be faithful to obey Him who has called
you and placed you in His work. Above all, when you are
measuring yourself against the task always remember to
measure him who is above all others and obstacles, Eph. 3:20!
E. Noah probably didnt feel adequate beside that Ark. David
must have felt pretty small next to Goliath. The Three Hebrews
probably felt in adequate against that furnace. Daniel must
have looked pretty inadequate beside that Lions Den. All
through the Bible, Gods people have been placed alongside
obstacles against which they looked and felt inadequate, but
with the power of God working through them, they were able to
overcome them all. If God willdo it for them, He will do it for you
too! He is no respecter of persons Rom.2:11.
III. 4:1-9 THE EXCUSE OF INFERIORITY
A. After the Lord handles all of Moses other excuses, Moses
decides that if he tells people that he has had a personal
meeting with God Himself, they will decide that Moses is lying.
In other words, no one will believe what he tells them.
(Ill. Many believers feel this exact way when it
comes to serving the Lord without fear. Many seem
to have the impression that others will think they
are crazy when they begin to talk of a personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, or of they
say they talk to God and that He talks back. The
truth is, we often feel that we are inferior to the
world around us. We have had this wonderful, lifechanging event and we are sure that they will
never believe us, when we tell them about it.)
B. Gods response to Moses is to let him know that when the
Lord gets through working in and through him, there will be no

doubt in the minds of others as to the truth of Moses story! In

fact, God makes it plain in verse 9 that no matter what they
skeptics say, He will keep working in Moses until they are sure
that his story is genuine!
(Ill. This is true in the lives of Gods children as
well. When the Lord comes in saving power, He
also comes in life changing power. No life can be
touched by the salvation that is in Jesus Christ and
remain like it was! He will recreate the new believer
in His image, 2 Cor. 5:17. That is not to say that
there wont be lapses from time to time. However,
the child of God will be unmistakably changed.)
C. We are not inferior to anyone this evening! In fact, we are
the twice-bought children of the living God. That makes us
people of greatness. Therefore, let us allow the Lord the right
of way in our lives. Let us give Him the room to work in us so
that this lost world may see that there is power in the Blood,
that Jesus still does save souls, and that there is hope for their
souls too.

IV. 4:10-17 THE EXCUSE OF INFIRMITY

A. In a last ditch effort to escape the yoke God intends for him,
Moses appeals to some sort of a speech impediment. It may be
that Moses just thought and therefore responded slow, or it
may be that he stuttered. Whatever the infirmity, Moses tries to
use it as an excuse for not doing the will of God.
(Ill. Many of the Lords children are just like Moses.
They look at their lack of education, a physical
handicap, their age, their income, you name it, in

an effort to stay out of the Lords field. In truth,

these are not legitimate excuses for not serving the
Lord. There are none! Whatever your hold up may
be, God was well aware of it before He chose you
for His work. Therefore, our duty is to yield to His
hand and allow Him His free reign in our lives.)
B. Gods response to Moses is that He made mans mouth and
He made mans mind, and He was able to give man what he
needed when he needed it! (Notice Moses attempt to put God
off v. 13, at this God gets angry and promises Moses a
helper. He will send Aaron his brother along as a spokesman.
But, it is worthy to note that Aaron was always leading the
people into sin The Golden Calf and in speaking against
Moses because of his wife.)
(Ill. You and I have no need to fear being used of
the Lord. He is still God, and He can still take those
whom He has saved and fill their minds and their
mouths for His glory Luke 12:11.)
(Ill. We too, have been given a helper in the Person
of the Holy Spirit! He is ever with us and will teach
us what we need to know along the way John
16:15. However, unlike Aaron, He will never cause
or lead us into trouble. His plan is to help us along
the way so that we might be the best Christians we
can be for the glory of the Lord.)
C. If your excuse is infirmity this evening, then put that thought
aside this evening. God used a jackass to speak to Balaam, He
used a rooster to speak to Peter, He used an old sheep hide to
speak to Gideon and He can use you. All He asks is that you
be available and that you be usable.

Conc: It appears to me that regardless of the excuses that man concocts

for not doing the will of God, God always has an answer. Here is the bottom

line. If you have missed everything else, then get this: God wants to use
YOU. He has saved you by His grace and He has made something out of
your life. Now, He wants to show you off to a lost and dying world. The best
thing you and I can do is throw our excuses down and realize that God is
able where we are not. Our hearts desire should be and must be to serve
Him at all costs, regardless of what He asks from our lives. After all, He
gave His all, and He asks no less from us. Are you willing to come to Him
tonight and throw in the towel? Are you willing to say, "God, here I am send
me", like Isaiah did? If so, the recruitment station is open for business right
now. All I am saying is what Moses would tell you if he were here. He would
say, "Church, you can argue with the Lord until you are blue in the face, but
He is going to get His way. You might as well go under His blessing than
under His whip."

Ex. 3:1-12 GODS ANSWERS FOR MANS EXCUSES

Intro: Imagine for just a moment that you are God. You are the Creator of
the Universe and you possess all power within yourself. All right, your
people are being held as slaves and the time has come to deliver them.
Who would you choose to do this great work? Perhaps you would send a
great military leader? What about sending a skilled politician? Maybe you
would send some great orator; a man who could give heart-stirring
speeches that would grip the hearts of men. If you had the population of the
world at your disposal, would you have sent Moses? Probably not! After all,
he was 80 years old. He was a fugitive from justice, wanted for murder in
Egypt, the very place you wanted to send him! Yes, he was well educated,
but that was over 40 years ago. Yes, he had been well connected in the
political circles of the day, but that too had been a long time ago. Yet, when
it came time for God to send a deliverer to Israel, this is exactly the person
He chose for the job. To us humans, it doesnt make much sense, but to
God it was all part of a great plan.
While you think about this tonight, chew on this as well. We are living in the
midst of a world that is going to Hell. People who are perishing daily and
need desperately to be reached with the message of Jesus Christ surround
us. If you were God, whom would you send to reach them? Wouldnt you
raise up some kind of super saints? Maybe you would ordain a few angels
to get the job done right. But, surely you wouldnt send a bunch of old
sinners saved by grace to tell other old sinners about that grace. Why, if we
were God, we would want the brightest minds and the most skilled
individuals we could get our hands on. Yet, when God chose to reach this
world for himself, He looked around and decided that saved sinners made
the best candidates for His work.

He hasnt changed His mind! He has saved every one of us to be workers

for His glory, Eph. 2:10, James 2:18. But, when that realization dawns on
us, we begin to drag out the excuses. We try and find every reason under
the sun why we cant be the one He wants for the job. This was Moses
problem, and as we look into how the Lord handled Moses excuses, we
find that He pretty skillfully handled ours as well. In these 2 chapters, there
is a wealth of encouragement for the Christian who wants to serve God but
doesnt feel capable. Lets study these things together tonight and
noticeGods Answers For Mans Excuses.

I. 3:1-12 THE EXCUSE OF INABILITY

A. v. 11 Moses first concern is that he is a "nobody and is
therefore unqualified to go to Pharaoh and demand the release
of the Lords people. (Ill. Many in the church feel this same
way! We feel that we arent as qualified as someone else, or
that we just dont have the ability to get the job done properly.
Yet, in haste to give up before we ever start, we forget one
important truth God chose us! To say we arent able to do the
job says that God doesnt know what He is doing! After all, who
knows best, you or God?)
B. v. 12 Gods response to Moses, and to us, is to give a pair of
precious promises. First, He tells Moses, "I will go with you."
This is the promise of His presence. Secondly, He says, "After
you accomplish what I have sent you to do, I will meet you
here." This is the promise of a glorious reunion someday.
C. With these truths in mind, there is application that can be
made to our lives today.

1. If God has called us, He has done so with full

knowledge of our weaknesses and inabilities. (Ill.
He knows you intimately Psa. 103:14!)
2. If God has called us, He knows that we can accomplish the task through His
power, Phil 4:13. (Ill. He knows the end from the beginning!)
3. When He sends us out into His work, He never
sends us alone Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5; John
14:16-18; John 16:13.
4. After the work has ended, He will gather us unto
Himself where we will experience His great
presence for eternity John 14:3; Rev. 22:3.
D. If your excuse is one of inability, then just send that thought
back to the Hell it came from! In and of yourself, you are
incapable of anything godly and good, but through the power of
God, you can do anything! (Ill. Gideon and his little band
They were strong in their weakness Judges 7, as was the
Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 12:9-10.

II. 3:13-22 THE EXCUSE OF INADEQUACY

A. After telling God of his inabilities, Moses moves on to talk of
his inadequacies. In these verses, Moses is saying to the Lord,
"I just dont know enough about who you are!"
(Ill. Many are in the same shape as Moses this
evening. Not only do we feel that we are incapable
of serving the Lord as we should, we also feel that
we are just inadequate, that somehow, we just
dont know enough about God, His Word, etc, to
get the job done.)

B. Gods response to Moses is to remind him that He is the "I

AM!" While Moses may be inadequate, the God who calls him
and equips him certainly is not! God is in essence saying to
Moses, "Just do as I say, and I will show you who I AM as you
need me to."
(Ill. This is how the Lord works in our lives. He
leads us out to follow Him by faith and we know
very little about Him or His ways, but as the needs
arise, God proves Himself adequate and faithful to
every challenge. His great Name, I AM, becomes
and open ended statement of fact. In those 2
words, God tells us that He is what we need to Him
to be at every moment of our lives. There is not a
situation you will ever find yourself in that God
doesnt hold the solution to. He is able and He
enables us as we go through life!)
C. Following the Lord by faith is often a scary affair. When we
look at the size of the task and compare our abilities to it, we
often see ourselves lacking what is needed for true success.
However, in figuring these things out, we always leave God out
of the equation! When God is factored in, 2 + 2 doesnt
necessarily equal 4!
D. Never allow a lack of an education, a lack of money, a lack
of skill or any other thing stop you from being everything God
wants you to be. Even if you cant see within yourself the
resources needed, just be faithful to obey Him who has called
you and placed you in His work. Above all, when you are
measuring yourself against the task always remember to
measure him who is above all others and obstacles, Eph. 3:20!
E. Noah probably didnt feel adequate beside that Ark. David
must have felt pretty small next to Goliath. The Three Hebrews
probably felt in adequate against that furnace. Daniel must
have looked pretty inadequate beside that Lions Den. All
through the Bible, Gods people have been placed alongside
obstacles against which they looked and felt inadequate, but
with the power of God working through them, they were able to
overcome them all. If God willdo it for them, He will do it for you
too! He is no respecter of persons Rom.2:11.
III. 4:1-9 THE EXCUSE OF INFERIORITY

A. After the Lord handles all of Moses other excuses, Moses

decides that if he tells people that he has had a personal
meeting with God Himself, they will decide that Moses is lying.
In other words, no one will believe what he tells them.
(Ill. Many believers feel this exact way when it
comes to serving the Lord without fear. Many seem
to have the impression that others will think they
are crazy when they begin to talk of a personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, or of they
say they talk to God and that He talks back. The
truth is, we often feel that we are inferior to the
world around us. We have had this wonderful, lifechanging event and we are sure that they will
never believe us, when we tell them about it.)
B. Gods response to Moses is to let him know that when the
Lord gets through working in and through him, there will be no
doubt in the minds of others as to the truth of Moses story! In
fact, God makes it plain in verse 9 that no matter what they
skeptics say, He will keep working in Moses until they are sure
that his story is genuine!
(Ill. This is true in the lives of Gods children as
well. When the Lord comes in saving power, He
also comes in life changing power. No life can be
touched by the salvation that is in Jesus Christ and
remain like it was! He will recreate the new believer
in His image, 2 Cor. 5:17. That is not to say that
there wont be lapses from time to time. However,
the child of God will be unmistakably changed.)
C. We are not inferior to anyone this evening! In fact, we are
the twice-bought children of the living God. That makes us
people of greatness. Therefore, let us allow the Lord the right
of way in our lives. Let us give Him the room to work in us so
that this lost world may see that there is power in the Blood,
that Jesus still does save souls, and that there is hope for their
souls too.

IV. 4:10-17 THE EXCUSE OF INFIRMITY

A. In a last ditch effort to escape the yoke God intends for him,
Moses appeals to some sort of a speech impediment. It may be
that Moses just thought and therefore responded slow, or it
may be that he stuttered. Whatever the infirmity, Moses tries to
use it as an excuse for not doing the will of God.
(Ill. Many of the Lords children are just like Moses.
They look at their lack of education, a physical
handicap, their age, their income, you name it, in
an effort to stay out of the Lords field. In truth,
these are not legitimate excuses for not serving the
Lord. There are none! Whatever your hold up may
be, God was well aware of it before He chose you
for His work. Therefore, our duty is to yield to His
hand and allow Him His free reign in our lives.)
B. Gods response to Moses is that He made mans mouth and
He made mans mind, and He was able to give man what he
needed when he needed it! (Notice Moses attempt to put God
off v. 13, at this God gets angry and promises Moses a
helper. He will send Aaron his brother along as a spokesman.
But, it is worthy to note that Aaron was always leading the
people into sin The Golden Calf and in speaking against
Moses because of his wife.)
(Ill. You and I have no need to fear being used of
the Lord. He is still God, and He can still take those
whom He has saved and fill their minds and their
mouths for His glory Luke 12:11.)
(Ill. We too, have been given a helper in the Person
of the Holy Spirit! He is ever with us and will teach
us what we need to know along the way John
16:15. However, unlike Aaron, He will never cause
or lead us into trouble. His plan is to help us along
the way so that we might be the best Christians we
can be for the glory of the Lord.)

C. If your excuse is infirmity this evening, then put that thought

aside this evening. God used a jackass to speak to Balaam, He
used a rooster to speak to Peter, He used an old sheep hide to
speak to Gideon and He can use you. All He asks is that you
be available and that you be usable.

Conc: It appears to me that regardless of the excuses that man concocts

for not doing the will of God, God always has an answer. Here is the bottom
line. If you have missed everything else, then get this: God wants to use
YOU. He has saved you by His grace and He has made something out of
your life. Now, He wants to show you off to a lost and dying world. The best
thing you and I can do is throw our excuses down and realize that God is
able where we are not. Our hearts desire should be and must be to serve
Him at all costs, regardless of what He asks from our lives. After all, He
gave His all, and He asks no less from us. Are you willing to come to Him
tonight and throw in the towel? Are you willing to say, "God, here I am send
me", like Isaiah did? If so, the recruitment station is open for business right
now. All I am saying is what Moses would tell you if he were here. He would
say, "Church, you can argue with the Lord until you are blue in the face, but
He is going to get His way. You might as well go under His blessing than
under His whip."