What shall I say unto them?
Ministerial difficulties to be anticipated, and how to overcome them
I. Ministers must anticipate difficulties in the performance of their life-mission.
1. Arising from prejudice in reference to the man.
2. Arising from scepticism in reference to the truth.
3. Arising from lethargy in reference to the mission.
II. To overcome these difficulties ministers must seek direction from God.
1. Divine recognition of ministerial difficulty. He will not reject any who seek His aid.
2. Divine sympathy with ministerial difficulty.
(1) Manifested by the gift of heavenly vision (Exodus 3:2).
(2) Manifested by the gift of needful instruction (Exodus 3:15-17).
(3) Manifested by the gift of holy companionships (Exodus 3:12).
Such a manifestation of Divine sympathy ought to inspire every minister with spirit and fortitude for his work. They that are for him, are more than all that can be against him. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Why did Moses ask the name of God?
1.Not to instruct his ignorance. He had not forgotten God in Egypt.
2. Not to gratify his curiosity.
3. But to satisfy Israel.
Error has many gods, he therefore wanted to know how he might prove to the enslaved nation that he came in the name of the True One. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Lessons
1. It is good for a minister to know on whose business he is going.
2. God’s answer to one objection oftentimes begets another in His servants.
3. Dissatisfaction of men about God’s instruments is very probable.
4. God’s servants very reasonably expect that He will clear up all doubt as to His name, and their duty. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
“What shalt I say unto them.”-a question for the pulpit
I. Shall I say unto them truths that are in harmony with their depraved condition? No; ministers are not to preach doctrines in harmony with the depraved tastes of men--but to awaken them from their sin, by the proclamation of the Divine name and freedom.
II. Shall I give them an argumentative discourse? It would be necessary for Moses to convince the Israelites that he was divinely commissioned--and the chief use that a minister can make of logic is to prove the divinity of his call to the ministry.
III. Shall I give them a sensational discourse? Had Moses done this he might have aroused a wave of feeling, but it would soon have subsided into calm. The freedom of the nation would not have been achieved in this way. The sensational preachers of the world are not doing the most towards the moral freedom of the race.
IV. Shall I say unto them how clever i am? Moses had humbled himself before God. And men humble before God are generally so before their fellows. Ministers should not make a display of their learning-such conduct will never accomplish the freedom of souls.
V. Shall I tell them about the cross of jesus? “Yes,” replies the penitent sinner; “that is what I want.” “Yes,” replies the aged believer; “that is the charm of my soul.” Preach the Cross as the emancipation of the world. Not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
What to preach
I remember being asked by the late Dr. McLeod, who was head physician in one of the Government asylums, if I would preach to some of the inmates. “What kind of men are they?” I inquired. “Oh, mostly sailors; and if you accept the invitation to preach to them, you must make up your mind to stand a good knock or two, perhaps even a blow in the face; but if you wish to make friends with them, you must take no notice of it.” “I am not a bit afraid of them,” I replied; “if they be sailors I shall speak to them as sailors, and I am sure they will not teach me.”. I went and spoke to them. There was no attempt to molest me, but many of the poor fellows came up to me afterwards and thanked me for what I said. Some declared that what they liked about me was that I spoke to them as sailors. No one who had ever spoken to them before had done so. Their former visitors had seemed to believe all that they were told, that they were kings, dukes, and earls, but I had spoken to them as sailors, to their true selves, and though insane, they felt that I was speaking the truth. Similarly we must speak to sinners as being just what they are. (Christian Herald.)
God-directed speaking
A man in America died, who had long been renowned for wickedness. His intellectual abilities were of no mean order; his property was considerable, and he had belonged to a family of good position. By the practice of every kind of dissipation he had achieved an evil notoriety, and gloried in being considered the most fascinating and dangerous roue in the country. This being so, his associates resolved upon giving him a funeral worthy of his reputation. As one means of ensuring this, they invited one of the most eminent Presbyterian ministers in the region to deliver the funeral discourse. To the surprise of many, after some little hesitation, he consented. On the day and at the hour appointed the country church was crowded to overflowing by an assembly composed of the relatives, friends, and companions of the deceased, together with a mixed multitude drawn from far and near by curiosity to hear what such a minister could find to say of such a man. Punctual to the moment, the tall form of the clergyman ascended the pulpit, and the service began. There was first the reading of the Scriptures. Then followed a prayer, subdued and tender, for the family and relatives of the deceased. But the announcement of the text fell upon the assembly like a clap of thunder. It was from Luke 16:23 : “And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments.” The sermon was a most pungent and powerful exhibition of the character, course, and end of a wicked man. It held the assembly spellbound to the very last word; but there was in it not a single direct allusion to the person whose obsequies they had come there to celebrate. In silence and in deep solemnity the congregation dispersed after the service was finished. Some were indignant, but any attempt to excite odium against the preacher was a failure. It was generally thought that in what he had done he was governed by a sense of duty. He was said to have stated afterwards that when he was invited to preach on that occasion he had determined to decline, but, in answer to prayer, received a message which he believed to be from God--“Go--and preach the preaching that I bid thee.” (Christian Herald.)
God’s servants report God’s words
Words spoken on your own account, without reference to your Lord, will fall to the ground. When the footman goes to the door to answer a caller, he asks his master what he has to say, and he repeats what his master tells him. You and I are waiting-servants in the house of God, and we are to report what our God would have us speak. The Lord gives the soul-saving message, and clothes it with power: He gives it to a certain order of people, and under certain conditions. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Moses’ difficulty
If Moses had been rejected forty years before, what resistance and what objections might he not expect then? And when he should speak to them of the God of their fathers, and should say to them, “I have seen Him; He has spoken to me, He has made promises to me, He has sent me to you,” would they believe him, would they listen to him, would they understand him? It was thus that the apostles of Jesus Christ, when they went to gather together the people of God amid idolaters, had to encounter two classes of enemies; on the one hand, the emperors of Rome, the rich and powerful priests of the old religions, who had their gods, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and many more; on the other hand, the nations whom they were sent to convert: there was the greatest difficulty. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will readily perceive that the apostles’ impediments and persecutions came from the people more than from the emperors and the great men of the world. But do you fully understand the objection that Moses expected from the unbelief of the people? The Israelites had probably become idolaters by living among the Egyptians, who worshipped a great number of gods, each of which had its name, as Ammon, Isis, Osiris, Apis. They shall say to me, What is His name? Is He truly the God of our fathers? Has He said so to thee? We do not see Him; He has forsaken us. (Prof. Gaussen.)
A necessary inquiry
Before going on any of life’s great errands, we should know who has sent us, and what is the business on which we proceed. Inquiries of this kind will lead to a true apprehension of our position, and in not a few cases to a reversion of our daily course. What are you living for? You are hurrying and whirling forward at a tremendous rate, your brain teems upon conceptions, your hand hardly knows a moment’s rest, you pursue the bubble, you jostle and compete and envy, you flatter and are flattered, you hoard and you dispense. What does it all mean? Who sketched the map by which yon regulate your pilgrimage? What account can you give of yourself to those who ask the name of your guiding spirit? Take the subject in the light of every-day affairs, and the singular absurdity of not knowing on whose business you are engaged will instantly appear. You meet a traveller who is professedly engaged in business; you ask him what is his business, and he cannot answer; you ask him whose interests he represents, and no reply is forthcoming; you ask him whither he is bound, and he returns the inquiry with a look of vacancy;--to what conclusion can you come respecting such a person? You instantly feel that the man is a child, and that the child has gone astray. The same thing holds true in the deeper and vaster concerns of life; and he who is wisely and profoundly anxious to know on what basis he is proceeding in commercial transactions, should look beyond the mere detail, and face the great question--upon what principle is my intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual life proceeding? Oh man, be persuaded for a moment to tarry in thy impetuous course, and cross-examine thine own heart! Don’t be deluded by the whirl and thunder and tempest of an outer life; mistake not commotion for progress, enthusiasm for regeneration, self-applause for the benediction of heaven! (J. Parker, D. D.)