In this sermon, the speaker discusses the life of Moses and the lessons he had to learn before being used by God. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness, where he had to learn about himself and about God. Eventually, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, symbolizing the need for vision in serving the Lord. The speaker emphasizes the importance of preparation before being used by God, using the example of Moses and even Jesus, who was prepared for thirty years before his ministry began. The sermon also highlights the work that God commissioned Moses to do, including delivering the Israelites from Egypt and receiving the law and the pattern for the tabernacle. The speaker encourages the audience to recognize their own strengths and talents as tools for serving God, but to also rely on Him and be willing to be consumed and purified by His presence.

We'll read from verse 1 through verse 9. Exodus, chapter 4, verse 1. And Moses answered and said, But behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice. For they will say, Jehovah has not appeared to thee. And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff or a rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent. And Moses fled from before it. And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out thy hand, and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. That they may believe that Jehovah, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, had appeared unto thee. And Jehovah said moreover to him, Put now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and took it out, and behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thy hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again, and took it out of his bosom, and behold, it was turned again as his flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, nor hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the other sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also those two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take up the water of the river, and pour it on the dry ground. And the water that thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. The book of Numbers. Numbers, chapter 12. Numbers, chapter 12, just one verse, verse 3. But the man Moses was very meek above all men that were upon the face of the earth. We have been considering together before the Lord, of Moses, the servant of God. In a sense, we are all servants of the Lord. We are not only children of God, but at the same time, we are also his servants. And when we come to this matter of servanthood, the first thing we need to realize is, that we have not chosen him, but he has chosen us. You remember our Lord Jesus said, you have not chosen me, I have chosen you, that you may bear fruit. It is God who has sovereignly, mercifully, graciously chosen us. He has chosen us even before the foundation of the world. He has set us apart even when we were in our mother's womb. And he has called us by his grace, one day, that we may be his servants, that we may serve him. Now because God has chosen us, therefore there will come a day that we need to choose him. You remember Moses, one day when he was 40 years old? He rather choose to suffer with the people of God, than to enjoy all the riches of Egypt. He made his choice. So dear brothers and sisters, it is true, God has chosen us to be his servants, to serve him. But whether we can begin to serve him or not, depends on the other hand, that we one day will choose him as our master, as our Lord. It is like that slave. You know among the children of Israel, if a Hebrew became so poor, that he sold himself to another Hebrew. Now he will serve him 6 years, as a slave. But on the 7th year, he could go out free. But if that slave loved his master, loved his master's house, and he said, no, I want to remain forever your slave. Then he will be taken to the door, have his ears pierced to the threshold of the door. And this is a sign that this slave will be a slave for life. But he is not an ordinary slave, he is a slave of love. So brothers and sisters, this is what needs to happen to every one of us. One day we shall tell the Lord that we love you, we want to stay with you, we want to serve you, and we will have our ears pierced, that we may be slaves of love forever. We choose him as our master, as our Lord. But you know another thing happens, whenever we begin to have the desire to serve him, when we all feel with zeal, when we feel warm towards him, when we want to do something for him, it seems natural that we will not wait until he tells us what to do. But we will usually take the initiative, we just go out and try to do something for him. We will do it in our way, we will do it with our own strength and our own cleverness. And the result is, God allows us to fail. And sometimes we do not understand why. We think that we love him so much, we want to serve him, we do our very best, but not only our brothers and sisters will not understand us, even God seems not to back us up. And this is another lesson that we need to learn if we want to be servants of the Lord. We need to see that God does not want us to serve him in our way, with our strength. No, in ourselves. Because God's work can only be done by God himself. Unless we are willing to go through death and be resurrected, we are no use in his hand. And that is the reason why you find Moses had to flee to the wilderness. And for another 40 years, first he had to unlearn all that he had learned in Egypt. Now by that it does not mean he forgot. It means that he began to see he could not depend upon his mightiness in words and in deeds. He was willing to go to death. He was willing to lay aside everything. He was willing to be reduced to zero as it were. At the time when he considered himself as good as dead, 80 years old. And Moses said a man should live if he is strong to 80. So he considered himself as good as dead. He had no more ambition. He was very contented just to attend a few sheeps. He lost his eloquence, his big ideas, his mightiness. Everything seemed to enter into death. And it was at that time that God took the initiative. And God sent him back to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel. And of course in the wilderness for 40 years he had to learn some new lessons too. He had to learn to know himself. Which is a very difficult lesson. And he had to learn to know God. Know the very nature of God. The heart of God. The compassion of God. The mercy of God. The will of God. The purpose of God. He had to know God in a way that he never knew before. So finally the Lord appeared to him in a thorn bush. A vision. Dear brothers and sisters, if we want to serve the Lord, we must have vision. Without vision the people cast off restraint. Without vision the people perish. Without vision there will be no direction. No strength. No sustaining power. No unity. So we need vision. We need to see the vision that Moses saw. We need to see that we are but a thorn bush. We are not the cedar tree on the top of Lebanon. But we are humble, useless, nothing as thorn bush. And a thorn bush is fit to be burnt, to be consumed. But the strange thing is, it is not consumed. Why? Because the Lord was in the thorn bush. So we need to see that we are but thorn bush. We need to be consumed. But thank God that he is in us. And because he is in us, the fire only purifies us and sanctifies us. It does not consume us. It is true that all the dross in us has been consumed. But whatever is of Christ becomes brighter than ever before. And it is in that strength that we are sent to do the work. Now this morning we will begin to share together on the last forty years. You know the first two forty years are preparations. God prepared that servant for eighty years. And he used him for forty years. Twice the time was spent in preparation. For that time that God could use him. Now when you look into the life of our Lord Jesus, you find it even more. You know when our Lord Jesus was earthed, God prepared him for thirty years to do three years work. Now sometimes we are very impatient. We want to get to the work. But we forget that God had to prepare us. Why? Without preparation God cannot use us. Because we are serving him, not serving ourselves. This time we will not focus our attention on the work that God sent Moses to do. Now God sent Moses to do a tremendous work. To deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. Through the wilderness in order to enter into the promised land. And God gave Moses the law. And also show him the pattern of the tabernacle. Now the work that Moses was commissioned with was a tremendous work. And it will be very fascinating, very interesting, very profitable for us to consider the work. But this is not what we will do this time. What we will do this time is to see Moses as the servant of the Lord. In other words, when he was engaged in the work, why is it that God accepted his service? Why is it God said, Moses, my servant? Why is it that his work was approved, accepted by God? What is the secret of his servanthood? What are the qualifications? What are the things that make Moses a real servant of God? Now that is the thing that we would like to share together. So, not in any sense to slight the work of Moses, he did a tremendous work. But we are more interested in the worker than in the work. Now in the last forty years, when Moses was serving the Lord, and serving the children of Israel, I think there are two things that stand out very clearly as the reason why Moses was a true servant of the Lord. And this morning probably we will speak on the first thing. Authority and meekness. In Moses you can see authority on the one hand and meekness on the other hand. You see, no one can do any work without authority. Authority is a must. And surely Moses is a man of authority. And this authority is represented by the rod in his hand. Now you cannot separate Moses from his rod or staff. That is a symbol of authority. But usually when we think of authority, and as a matter of fact, all the artists that make any image of Moses, pictures of Moses, you will find usually they picture Moses as a tremendous, a man of tremendous strength and energy. And because he is of such strength, there seems to be a kind of not only masculine, but kind of authoritative, despotic even, tyrannic feature in him. Now we think a person with authority is a person who is hard, severe, strong to the point of hardness. Now that's usually what we will picture authority, but not so. Moses is a man of authority. But the Bible said he is the meekest of all men. Think of that. You may think that these two seem to be opposite to each other. Authority and meekness. If you have authority, well you have to be very strong. Maybe you think you have to step on everybody. And if you're meek, then you'll be the doormat and let everybody step on you. So you will think that these two characters are just opposite to each other. But spiritual authority and true meekness go together. If it is spiritual authority, it will be exercised in the spirit of meekness. If it is true meekness, there is tremendous strength in it. And this we find in the life of Moses as God's servant. Moses saw the vision. Moses received, heard the commission. But he said, it is true. I have seen you. I have heard you. You send me back to deliver the children of Israel. But if I go there, they will not believe me. They will say, God has not appeared to you. Now how can I convince the children of Israel that you have indeed appeared to me and you have indeed sent me. In other words, I need some credentials that I can present. To use the New Testament term, what are the signs of apostleship? How will people know that I'm sent by God? How can I prove it? What is my credential that I can present to the people? Now, of course, this is important. So God said, what is in your hand? Moses said, a rod, a staff. A shepherds staff. A shepherds rod. God said, alright, throw it to the earth. And as he threw it to the ground, it turned to be a serpent. And Moses fled from it. Then God said, stretch out your hand, take it by the tail. So he stretched out his hand and took it by the tail and it became a rod in his hand. God said, the voice of this rod will be heard. They will believe you. Now, if they don't believe you and the voice of this sign, then I'll give you another one. Put your hand into your bosom. So he put his hand into his bosom and when he drew it out, it was leprous. God said, put it back again. So he put it back again and drew it out and it is as fresh as ever before. God said, if they do not listen to the voice of the first sign, they will listen to the voice of the second sign. Now, if they do not listen to the voices of the two signs, then God said, I'll give you another sign. You take some water out of the river, that is the river of Nile. And cast it on the ground and it will turn into blood. And surely they will believe you. Now, these are the signs of his apostleship. In other words, by these signs, people can see that he was really sent by God. And in a sense, you know, we all need such credentials. What is a rod? A rod or a staff in the scriptures speaks of power, authority, rule, dominion, skill, strength. For instance, in Psalm 110 verse 2. In Psalm 110 verse 2 it is said, Jehovah shall send the scepter, that is the rod, of thy might out of Zion, rule in the midst of thine enemies. The rod rules. And maybe you like to turn to New Testament, say Revelation chapter 19. He shall rule with an iron rod, a rod of iron. So rod in the scriptures speaks of rule, authority, power, strength, skill. Now the rod in Moses' hand is a shepherd's rod. In other words, this rod represents his skill, his strength as a shepherd. This rod is his authority and power over his sheep. It is by this rod that he made his living. He depended on this rod for his livelihood. That is Moses' rod. And dear brothers and sisters, every one of us has a rod. Every one of us has some strength, some authority, some power, some skill, some strength by which we live. It is the symbol of our strength. Gift, natural gift, talents, education, experience, all these become a rod in our hand. And it is by these that we make our living. We depend upon these things to do work. To do whatever work God may have given to us. It may not be a shepherd, you may not be a shepherd, but you may be a doctor, or you may be a nurse, or you may be a teacher, or you may be a housewife, but you find that every one of us has a rod in our hands. We have something to boast of, we have something to lean upon, we have something to use to maintain our position to fulfill our work. This is our rod. A shepherd's rod. But the thing was, when that rod left our hand, and touched the earth, it became a serpent. A serpent that hurt. A serpent that harmed people. Now of course we know, serpent in the scripture always speaks of Satan and satanic power. So in other words, that which we have, that which we depend on, that which we even boast about, that which we considered as make us what we are, and enable us to do what we are supposed to do, remember, if it touches the earth, it becomes a serpent. Whatever talent you may have, whatever skill you may have, whatever power, whatever authority, whatever strength you may have, oh, if it should touch the earth, that is, if it should come under the grasp of the enemy Satan, you'll find he will turn it into something harmful to the world. Satan is the old serpent. And he will take hold of the talents, the power, the authority, the skill of man. And use these things to hurt and to harm people. And that's what you'll find today. Sometimes people may think that they have everything in their own hands. They do not know that the rod has already left them, and have already touched the earth. Oh, how Satan makes use of human power, of human authority, of human wisdom, of human strength, energy, skill, and all these things, and turn them into something that are hurtful and harmful. And that's what we are experiencing in the world today. The cleverest mind can be used by Satan to do the worst to the people of this world. Moses fled from it. Oh, when Moses realized that what he had, if it is gotten by Satan, it can be so dangerous, he had to flee from it. Dear brothers and sisters, do we see this? Do you not see that if Satan should get hold of you, and you may not know it, you think you are holding it in your hand, it's out of your hand already. And if Satan should get hold of you, and he will use you, it is the most dangerous thing in the world. If only we will flee from it. Are you afraid of your talent? Are you afraid of your skill? Are you afraid of your strength? Are you afraid of your power? Are you afraid of your authority? Oh, if you are not afraid, I'm afraid for you. Flee from them, as if they are things that can hurt and harm. But thank God, God told Moses, stretch out your hand, take it by the tail. Now, I don't know how true it is, but I was told that if you are able to hold the tail of a snake, of a serpent, and shake it, that snake will die. In other words, God said, take the tail, lift it up, and it became a rod in Moses' hand. But remember, this rod became God's rod. In other words, it was not the original rod in Moses' hand, which was a shepherd's rod. It was no longer that rod that became a serpent. It is now God's rod. But how did it become God's rod? Upside down, or downside up? In other words, it has to go through death and resurrection. After it has gone through death and resurrection, it becomes the rod of God. O brothers and sisters, whatever talent, whatever energy, whatever strength, whatever position, whatever authority, whatever power, whatever education, whatever God in the past has given to you, in His providence, all these things, if they are in your own hand, they can only help you to make a living. If they got out of your hand and the enemy got hold of them, they become the most dangerous thing in the whole world. But if you are willing to let these things go through death and resurrection and be in God's hand, you will find these become the rod of God, the symbol of spiritual authority. It is by this authority that Moses exercised to complete the work. God said, take the rod with you when you go to Egypt. And if you read through the book of Exodus, the book of Numbers, you will find how many times, whenever a miracle was performed, either for the sake of punishing the enemy or for the sake of delivering the children of Israel, you find it is the rod. When Moses stretched out the rod of God, something happened. He smote the rod, the river, and you find the river divided. So you find that everything was done by this rod. This was Moses' authority in doing God's work. Brothers and sisters, if we want to serve God, we must have this rod, the rod of God. Not just a shepherd's rod, of course not that rod that becomes a serpent, but are we willing to let everything that we have, that we consider as our power, our authority, let everything we have go to death, and then in resurrection, you find that God can use these things to perform the work that He has called us to do. That is the symbol of authority, of spiritual authority. And that is something that we must have. All right? That is the voice of the first sign. The voice of the first sign is this. Let go everything that you have into God's hand, let it go through death, into resurrection, and God will use them for His glory. Now, if people do not believe this sign, there is another sign. And the second sign is, God told Moses, put your hand in your bosom. He put his hand in your bosom, took it out, he was leprous. Look at your hand. You think your hand is clean, but put it upon your heart. In other words, you know, our heart is deceitful above all things. Who can know it? But God knows. The matter, the problem is not in your hand, the problem is in your heart. And what is our heart? Oh, our heart is leprous. You know, leper in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament too, represents sin. Sin is like leper. You know, a leper, you may have leprosy in you, but it can be dormant for twenty, thirty years. Nobody knows that. But then it can break out, and it can break out everywhere. It can break out at the top of your head, it can break out at the toe or toe, or wherever it may be. You know, it can break out everywhere. And in the old days, it is considered as incurable. It is unclean. Anyone who has a leper has to live outside of the camp. And when people come near him, he has to cover his lips and say, unclean, unclean, don't touch me, stay away from me. Now that is a picture of sin. We who have sinned are like lepers. Unclean before God. That is what we are. So God said now, God showed Moses what he was. Put your hand in your bosom, and out he came leprous. That is what you are. You are like a leper. You are unclean. Now think of that. How can an unclean hand handle the rod of God? But God said, put it back again. And he put it back, he drew it out, and he was as flesh as ever. You know, the principle of the second is a great principle in the Bible. I do not have time to go through the Bible with you on it, but I think probably it is good if you make a study of it. It is the principle of the second. The principle of the second is the principle of grace. Law is the first principle, and grace is the principle of the second. So here you will find the principle of the second, which is grace. God said, so far as you are concerned, you are as sinful as a leprous, as a leper. But God in his grace cleanses him, sanctifies him. And with this hand he can hold the rod of God. The rod represents power. But the hand represents life. You need a pure life to handle the power of God. These two things must go together. In other words, if you are given power and authority, but if your hands are unclean, you know what will happen. Some people have great power, but they do not have a corresponding life to exercise that power. And the result is they hurt rather than help. We need a life to back up our power. The power that God has given us has to be welded or exercised by a divine life in us. It is the divine life of Christ in us that can exercise spiritual authority. It is not God's will that the flesh should exercise any authority of God. But it should be that which is of the Spirit to exercise spiritual authority. The voice of the second sign is a life of God. If you have a life of God, people will see it, people will listen to it. So with these two signs, these are the credentials of a servant of the Lord. A servant of the Lord on the one hand must have a rod, on the other hand must have a hand. The rod represents spiritual authority, the hand represents spiritual life. And these two things go together as the signs of apostleship. It is a matter of degree, not a matter of kind. In other words, you have to have these two things. If you want to serve God. But of course there are different degrees. But anyway, these are the two signs. Now God told Moses, if they do not hear these two signs, what will happen? The third sign. Draw water out of the river, pour it on the ground and it will turn into blood. You know the river Nile is the life stream of Egypt. They drink from the river, they plant along the side of the river. It is their very life. But if they reject the authority of God, if they reject the sin of God, what will happen? Judgment. Judgment. And of course you know it is a serious thing. Authority, divine authority, if it is of God. You know lots of authority are human substitutes. But if the authority really comes from God. If a man is really sent by God. If there is a light that proves it. Whoever does not listen, is not listening to him, but is not listening to God. And the result is judgment. So the third sign is judgment. If they don't hear you, God said there will be judgment. And it is by this authority that Moses returned to Egypt. To lead the children out of Egypt and throw the wilderness in order to get them into the promised land. Now this is one side. But you know authority has to be balanced with meekness. If authority is not balanced with meekness, it can do lots of harm. Whenever it comes to God. To his truth. To God's will. To what God wants to do. Moses is as firm as a rock. In other words, he will never compromise. Moses stood for the will of God. Moses represented God. And because he represented God. And because he represented God's authority. He could never compromise. He could never lower God's standard. He had to stand with God in all things. And in that sense he was very firm, very strong. He wouldn't give up an inch. And thank God for that. But not because he had authority. He became hard, cold, harsh, dictatorial, tyrannic. When it came to himself. He never even defended himself. Authority is related to God. And to the things of God. And because of that there can be no negotiation, no compromise. If a servant of God will compromise God's truth. He is no longer God's servant. He loses his authority. So you know when you speak for God. You have to speak with authority. You represent God. It is not you. You cannot lower God's standard. You cannot compromise. No matter what people say. People may say this is hard saying. Who can hear it? But the Lord has to say it. He would lower it a bit. To suit people's taste. He couldn't do that. Because authority is related to God and to God's truth. But when it touches upon the servant himself. That's a different story. You find Moses is meek and tender. He wasn't like that before. He was brought up and reared in the Egyptian palace. And being a prince. You know. He was taught to be proud. Self confident. Commanding. Lording it over. That was how he was trained. And when he started out on his own. That was how he did. But he didn't work. But in the wilderness for 40 years. God trained him. In the spirit of meekness. You cannot shepherd sheep. With such aloofness. Such arrogance. Such pride. No. You have to take care of sheep tenderly. Softly. And Moses learned from God. The spirit of meekness. How do we know that Moses was meek. Above all men. You remember. Moses had a sister. Miriam. And a brother Aaron. You know Miriam actually was an elder sister. And really took good care of the little baby brother. Because when Moses was put in that ark you remember. In the river Nile. It was Miriam that was watching among the weeds. Weeds. So Miriam had a great interest in Moses. And Miriam was a prophetess. Was a prophetess. You remember after they crossed the Red Sea. It was Miriam who led the woman singing the song of victory. She was a prophetess. And Aaron being the older brother of Moses. He was a high priest. God did reveal himself to Miriam and to Aaron. But somehow you find when they were in the wilderness. This was recorded in chapter 12 of the book of Numbers. And here you find Miriam and Aaron became jealous of Moses. These three were the leaders of the children of Israel. Moses of course the leader. And then Aaron the high priest. And Miriam the prophetess. But somehow you find that there was a jealousy there. And if you really go into the story. You will find that it probably began. And it was. It began with Miriam's competition with Moses' wife. Miriam wanted to have a hand on Moses. She was so attached to Moses. And then Moses had a wife. Zipporah. And of course husband and wife had a relationship. They were very close. And somehow Miriam became very jealous. So she began to say. Well Moses married a Kudish woman. Actually Zipporah was not Kudish. But probably she was a little dark. So it was really looked down upon her. It was a jealousy. A woman's jealousy. They all tried to get the love of Moses. And out of that this sister began to influence Aaron. I don't think Aaron was so much concerned about Moses' wife. But certainly Aaron was concerned about his position. So that's the reason why all these things mixed together. And they began to criticize Moses. Did God speak to Moses alone? Did not God speak to us too? Surely God spoke to them. Why should he be the top? When Moses heard it. Did he say anything? Did he do anything? Nothing. Moses heard. But he said nothing. He did nothing. He accepted with meekness. Now that's meekness. If he concerned God, he would not give up an inch. But if he concerned himself, nothing to say. So God spoke for him. You know brother, sister, sister, if you say so much, God will not speak for you. It's better you don't say and let God speak. Not as a policy. Not as a policy. But as a truth. Sister, brother, criticized him. Without real reason. Exaggerated. But Moses will not explain. Moses will not defend himself. Moses just took it. That's the spirit of meekness. Why? Because he thought nothing of himself. God called these three together to the entrance of the tent of meeting. And then God spoke. God said indeed, I speak. To a prophet. But I speak by dreams and visions. But not so my servant Moses. I speak with him face to face. How dare you criticize my servant. And God left in a rap. And when God left, Aaron noticed. Miran was leprous. So Aaron pleaded with Moses. And you know what Moses did? Moses pleaded with God. Asked God to heal Miran. And God heard him. Now that's meekness. Oh, even before this time, you know, Moses has a posture. A very interesting posture. I hope you notice it. You know, whenever people began to murmur against him and to criticize him and to attack him, you know what Moses did? Now if anybody is criticizing you or attacking you, what would you do? If people are criticizing you, you stand higher. Right? That's the way you do. But what Moses did, he fell upon his face. Every time they criticize him, every time they attack him, he fell upon his face. Not only before God, the Bible said he fell upon his face before the people. You think I'm bad, I'm worse. Now when you take that attitude, what can people do to you? You know, even in Numbers chapter 11, you know, Numbers chapter 1 to 10 was the preparation for the movement. And from chapter 11, you find that the children of Israel began to move from Mount Sinai. And as soon as they moved, something happened. You'll find some people, mixed multitude. Those mixed multitude, they came out with them out of Egypt. They were not Israelites. But they were attracted by the power of God. So they came out with the children of Israel. You know, and this mixed multitude always caused problems. Now this mixed multitude in the camp began to complain and say, we are tired of this manner. Every day just eat this manner and nothing else. Oh, but we had in Egypt. Oh, we have all these smelly things, fishes, and garlics, and onions. My! And now these things are so flat. Oh, so flat. We are tired of it. And because they began to murmur, and soon it spread all over the camp, and all the children of Israel began to murmur. And when Moses heard it, he couldn't stand it anymore. He went to God and said, Lord, why, why, why do you want me to take care of these children like a mother caring like a father, like a mother caring for the children. It is just too much. I couldn't do it. I better die. I don't want to see these people cry. You know. It's just too much for me. So God said, alright. If it's too much for you, call 70 elders of the children of Israel. Call them together. And I will take the spirit from you, and give some to these 70 people, so they can bear responsibility with you together. You know, God is so gracious. God didn't say, call the 70 together, I will give them spirit. You know, God said, I will take some of the spirit upon you and put on them. In other words, don't you know that the spirit on you is enough for the job? But if you think it's too much, alright. I will let you share the spirit with other people. They will take responsibility together with you. But actually it is by the spirit, not by you, nor by the 70. Isn't that foolish for us? So God, Moses called the 70 together, and two even didn't want to come. They also must be against Moses. Two leaders, Meded and Eded. These two men didn't even bother to come. Moses called them, but they wouldn't come. They stayed in their camp. But the spirit fell on them anyway. So they began to prophesy in the camp. And some young men ran to Moses and said, These two men were prophesying in the camp. And you know, one of the young men, Moses ate Joshua. So Joshua was zealous for his... Moses, you know. He said, Lord forbid them. And you know what Moses said? Oh, don't say it. World, that all God's people became prophets. That's meekness. And in chapter 14, you know what happened? When the spies came back, and they gave their reports, and you know how the people began to cry, and they began to accuse Moses. He said, Why do you take us here? We would rather die in Egypt, or die in the wilderness. Now we will be killed by the Canaanites, and our children and our wives will all be taken by them. And they said, Now let us have another leader, and lead us back. And you know what Moses did? He fell upon his face before the people. He never spoke for himself. He accepted it. He left it with God, to vindicate for him. That is meekness. And not only that, but you know, in chapter 16, Korah and his company, 250 leaders of the children of Israel, they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. And they criticized him and said, The whole company, the whole congregation is holy. Why do you lift yourself up as if you are holier than anybody else? Moses never did that. But they accused him as such. And you know what Moses did? He fell upon his face again. See? That is his posture. Every time he was criticized, down he went. That is meekness. And when God told him to tell the people what the punishment will be, you know what Moses said? Moses said, This is not what I want to do. But it is just to show that this is from God. So the earth opened and swallowed these people lively, living into Hades. But still the people rebelled. They accused Moses as if he did it. And plague began to come upon the people. And you know what Moses did? Immediately, he knew the way of the Lord. He asked Aaron to take the censer, put the incense, stand between the living and the dead. And he saved the day. That is meekness. It is in the spirit of meekness that Moses served God and served God's people. And this is the reason why God said, Moses, my servant. He is different. Dear brothers and sisters, if we want to serve God, we must have authority. But remember, authority is not natural authority. Authority has to come through death and resurrection. It has to go with the life that is of God. And there must be the spirit of meekness in the exercising of authority. You remember Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 4, I believe, he said, Do you want me to come with a rod? Or in the spirit of meekness. Our Lord Jesus is meek and lowly in heart. He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am lowly and meek of heart. Learn of me and you shall have rest in your soul. So may the Lord help us. As servants of the Lord, how can we serve Him acceptably? Remember, we need authority and meekness. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou has called us to serve Thee in Thy work. Every one of us is called. We do pray that we may not be those who are called but not chosen. We pray that we all may be chosen because we do choose Thee as our Master, as our Lord. O God, we pray that Thou would teach us how to serve Thee. Grant us the authority that is from above. Give us a life that can back up the authority Thou give us. And also Lord, do develop in us a spirit of meekness. We pray that we may stand as a lion when Thy truth is concerned but we may be meek as a lamb when it comes to ourselves because this is what Thou art. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.