Taking the Weight 1986

I'm going to read from the book of Exodus, chapter 17, starting at verse 8. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.

So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed.

Whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary. So they took a stone and put it under him.

And he sat upon it. And Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of a sword. Not long after, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and escaped from bondage in Egypt. They found themselves under attack from a fierce desert tribe called the Amalekites.

Now the Israelites were absolutely no match for them at all. They needed help from God. So Moses goes up on the hill and stretches his hands toward heaven with the rod of God in one of them.

And the life of God flows down in a mystery into Moses and overflows into the valley below and strengthens the Israelite army. As long as his hands are up, the power keeps moving. But after a while, of course, Moses' hands get weary and down they go.

And every time his hands go down, the Amalekites begin to win. And then he'd go up again and then the Israelites would win. So finally, Aaron and Hur rolled a stone to the brow of the hill.

And Moses sits down on the stone. And then Aaron holds one hand and Hur the other. And they hold him steady until the going down of the sun.

And the Israelites win the battle. Now by lifting up his hands in this way, Moses is receiving the glory of God. And what needs to be understood is that the glory of God, spiritual as it is, has weight.

And it has to be carried by Moses' uplifted hands. Now Moses with his hands lifted up like this on the hill is a symbol of the body of Christ. With his hands stretched out toward heaven to receive God's glory.

So that evil may be overcome, the ones who are in bondage may be set free, the sick healed, the dead raised. Lives changed. But for the church, the body of Christ, to keep its hands up like this all the time is extremely difficult.

Because that glory which flows down into it has weight. And it won't keep its hands up like this unless there is an Aaron and a Hur to hold them steady. Wherever you have evidence of the body of Christ that's alive, wherever you have a congregation of believers that are alive with the life of God, you have the hands up receiving glory from God.

And for those hands to stay up, you also have to have a multitude of Aarons and Hurs holding them there so they don't get weary. Taking the weight, steadying those hands, it hinges on whether or not there are people who are serious enough about the call of Jesus to take the weight. From Matthew 11, verse 28, Jesus is speaking, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, for I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I was thinking, it's been quite a while, one Wednesday night about a year ago, somebody said, it's so hard, so hard, you know, to follow Jesus.

And a sister who was there that night and is here today said, but it's a lot harder to carry the burdens of Satan. And this is true. The yoke of the Lord will never, never, never crush you.

You know, the burden that he puts on you will never cause you to stagger and stumble. His yoke is much, much, much lighter than the yoke of guilt that you carried around for years in your life. And that some perhaps right now today have brought with them into this place.

Still carrying this yoke, this burden of guilt that doesn't need to be there anymore. And that can be washed away before you leave. Come on up here and let somebody pray with you or bring it to you with you to the altar rail as you commune.

Whatever you choose, but don't carry that burden of guilt. That doesn't need to be there anymore. You can be free of it.

You can walk out of here today as light as a feather. The yoke that Jesus puts on us is nearly as heavy as the yoke of anxiety and fear and anger and despair that many, many of us have carried for years in our lives. And some are still carried.

And again, it's not necessary to be carried on. You can, you know, you don't have to have that with you when you leave here today. Bring it with you to the altar.

Talk about it. Confess it to somebody. Let them pray with you.

And you'll walk out of here as light as a feather. See, but the yoke that Jesus puts on us does have weight. It still has weight.

And it has to be carried. When Jesus says, take my yoke, he is saying, get under my yoke, just as Aaron and her got under Moses' hands and held him up. Share with me as I carry the weight of the glory of God into this world.

See, what many of us have not yet understood is that to have the glory of God in our lives, we have to be willing, and we in fact have to do it, to carry the weight of that glory. If we want to be part of the redemptive purpose of God in this world, then we have to carry the weight of God's free grace. You say, how do we do that? It's very simple.

If Moses on the hill with his hands lifted up like this represents the body of Christ, then each of us is an Aaron or a her holding up his hands. So they don't get weary. Each of us takes the weight of his hands and his hands carry the weight of that glory, and we in some specific way take the weight of the body of Christ.

Some ministry, some service, some responsibility that we say before God, this I will carry. This is mine. I will be responsible for this, and I will carry the full weight of this thing.

I will pray. I will carry it with my hands. I will carry it with my mind.

I will use my strength to do this. For those, for instance, among us who have already accepted some responsibility in the working of the body here, then it's simply a matter of committing ourselves to carrying the full weight of that responsibility. For instance, I say then, Lord, I will be responsible to drive these people in my car every week.

Such a simple thing. But now that's my responsibility. And if I'm going to be sick or if I'm going to be out of town, I'm going to make sure that's taken care of.

I will take the weight of that. That's mine. Not somebody else's.

Mine. Or I'm going to do what, I'm going to respond to Butch's request, and I'm going to be responsible to take one class once a month in that youth church or in that nursery. And I'm going to carry that.

That's going to be mine. I'll be responsible if I'm sick, if I'm out of town. That's mine.

I'm going to take that. That's my weight. Or I'm going to go down to the nursing home, down there at St. Benedict's, and I'm going to help get those patients off the floors and down into the chapel.

Or I'm going to spend time reading to them. I'm going to spend time with them. I'm committing myself to that.

I'm going to carry the weight of that. Or I'm going to visit certain shut-ins and never let a month go by without going to see them, touching base with them, finding out how they're doing. Or I'm going to find three people who look to me to be discouraged and weary, and I'm going to spend some time with them.

Have them for dinner. Listen to them. And I'm going to carry the burden.

I'm going to pray for these people. These people are going to be my weight. I'm going to carry it.

And for those who have yet to take on some specific responsibility, it's a matter of saying, Lord, I'm willing. Or at least I'm willing to be made willing. Show me what you want me to take hold of.

Link me in. Guide me to the person you want me to serve. Show me this area of weakness that we have in this body that needs my strength and help.

And I'll take it. And I'll carry it. And I'll pray.

And I'll be responsible before you. See, the problem is that all of us are afraid of being tied down. I mean, we don't mind helping out, you know, when we're in the mood or when the weather's good or when it's fun.

Or maybe sometimes when we feel too guilty not to. But when Jesus says, take my yoke upon you, he's saying take that yoke and carry it on a daily basis. And when Jesus says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, her cross, and follow me.

That means we carry the weight of that cross every day, all the time. And the glorious thing of this is when we finally say, all right, Lord, I'll do it. Put your yoke on me.

I'll carry the weight. Link me with whatever other dry bone you want me to be linked to. Guide me to that person.

You want me to work with. Assign me the job. I'll do it.

The minute we say this, we discover that this weight that we carry is indeed a weight of glory. It's the doorway to supernatural freedom. And we find ourselves holding on to Moses' hand.

The power of God comes down into his hand, overflows into the valley below. And battles are won, lives are set free. 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 7. Paul is speaking.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. Here's the testimony of a man who knew how to carry the glory of God around in his daily life. He carried the treasure in an earthen vessel of his body.

And everywhere this man went, everything he touched was touched in some way by God. For grace, for healing, or even for judgment. God caused himself, allowed himself to be carried around in this man Paul.

What was the price that he paid to be able to do this? It was simply that he was willing to carry the weight. And he describes this in the following verses. He says, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.

Keep on going. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Still keep on going.

Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying, there it is, the weight.

Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, the cross. So that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. For while we live, we are always being delivered up to death for Jesus' sake.

So that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. We take the weight in, and the life of God flows out.

It's a mystery, and it's a glory, and it's absolutely the thing, the only thing that gives real meaning to our lives. So what does Paul say? Oh, but I don't know how long I can hold on. I don't know how much more I can bear.

The man is rejoicing. He says, so we do not lose heart. We don't get discouraged, though our outer nature is wasting away.

Our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory. Beyond all comparison.

One day, Paul is going to be carrying an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comparison, and so are we. And our preparation, our training, is simply to carry the weight of glory in our daily lives. Now, to take hold of the weight of glory in the body, and hold on to it, and lift it, and steady it, and be faithful to it.

There is a sifting going on in the body of Christ all over the place. No question about it. And it comes down to a very, very simple issue.

The Spirit of the Lord is saying, Who will take the weight? Who's going to take the weight? And there are those who step forward and say, Here I am. Send me. Put your yoke on me.

I'm ready. And there are those who say, See you later. Then came Amalek and fought with Israel at Rephidim.

And Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek.

And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. Whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

But Moses' hands grew weary. So they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat upon it.

And Aaron and Hur held up his hand. One on one side and the other on the other. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his people with the edge of a sword. God is raising up a people among us who will take hold of Moses' hands and steady them. Not just for five minutes or an hour, but until the going down of the sun, until the end.

Ask yourself, is there a place in the kingdom of God now, God's kingdom, not my kingdom, God's kingdom, where I have committed myself to take the weight. If you have, may the Lord strengthen you, prosper you, make you wonderfully fruitful. If you haven't, may the Lord help you today to simply take hold of one of Moses' hands, lift it, steady it, hang on to it, even when it starts to quiver, until the power of God flows down and Amalek is destroyed, the kingdom of darkness.

The captives are set free. The glory of God is made visible in this world. You are the light of the world.

That light has weight. Take the weight of that light, get it out from underneath that bushel, lift it up from underneath that bed, and put it on a stand and hold it up. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, that is, your faithfulness, your reliability, your steadiness, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Now today, I believe, before the Lord, that the Lord would have us really just listen. To take a time in silence, and so we're going to turn the prayer time simply into a time of listening. Nothing but silence, please.

Let's just let the Lord speak to us and ask Him, Lord, get specific with me, help me to see one specific thing you want me to take hold of. Or one area where I've committed myself where I haven't been what you want me to be. And make it clear to me, Lord.

Let's just do that. We just have silence here, and then I'm going to ask if Mary Foster would end the silence with prayer, and then we'll go on with the next hymn and the rest of the service. Let's just wait upon God in total silence and listening.