WHAT IS IN THY HAND Exodus 4 1

• WHAT IS IN THY HAND? • • Exodus 4: 1 -12

• Exodus 4: 1 -12 • 1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ’The LORD did not appear to you’? " • 2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand? " "A staff, " he replied. • 3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground. " Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. • 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand take it by the tail. " So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. • 5 "This, " said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-- has appeared to you. "

• 6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak. " So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. • 7 "Now put it back into your cloak, " he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. • 8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. • 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground. "

• 10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. " • 11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? • 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. "

• Exodus 4: 17 But take this staff in your hand so that you can perform signs with it. "

• Exodus 4: 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

• Exodus 7: 9"When Pharaoh tells you, 'Perform a miracle, ' you are to say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, ' and it will become a serpent. "

• Exodus 7: 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.

• Exodus 4: 17 But take this staff in your hand so that you can perform signs with it. " Exodus 4: 20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. Exodus 7: 9"When Pharaoh tells you, 'Perform a miracle, ' you are to say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, ' and it will become a serpent. " Exodus 7: 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.

What is that in thy hand? Exodus 4: 1 -5 • Moses Staff…. Simply a stick in the hand of Moses, probably a staff, or a shepherds crooks, became , by the Power of God, the force that brought • a) the plagues on the land Of Egypt. . Ex. 7: 10; 15 • b) Divided the Red Sea, , Ex. 14: 16; • c) Brought water from a rock. . Ex. 17: 5; cf. Num. 20: 11 • Little things when placed in the hand of God, become great things

Consider others in the Bible

• David, what is that in thy hand? I Sam. 17: 40 • A sling , and five small smooth stones. • These to go against a giant, with a spear as large as a weaver’s beam. • A)A sling is about the most ineffective weapon I know. • B)His brethren said to him, “You are just a boy; you should go back to tending sheep. ” • c)How often we have heard the same thing said to Young preachers, or Young people. • David: I come in the name of the Lord.

• Little Boy, what is that in thy hand? John 6: 9 • • 5 loaves and two small fishes. But when placed in the hand of the Saviour, • and with his blessing it became enough to feed 5, 000.

• • Dorcas, what is that in thy hand? A needle. Acts 9: 39 • • The widows showed Peter the coats and the garments • made for them while Dorcas with them.

• Poor Widow: What is that in thy hand? Mark 12: 42 • • 2 Mites which make a farthing…about l/8 th of a cent. • A contribution made to God which was more than • all they which cast into the treasury.

• Preacher: What is that in thy hand? • The Bible • 1. Study it. 2 Tim. 2: 15 • 2. Live by it. I Tim. 4: 16 • 3. Preach it. Rom. 1: 16; 2 Tim. 4: 2 -4

• The joy of holding the bible in your hand, and • Preaching it!. • 1. It is the only thing for a dying man/woman. • It is recorded that Benjamin Franklin said before his • Death: “Hand me the book”… • What book, he was asked? • The Bible, • the Only book for a dying man! • And we may add, It is the only Book for a living man/woman.

• It tells us how much God loves us. • John 3: 16; I John 1: 7 ; Rom. 5: 8, 9 • It tells us how to become a Christian, a child of God. • Hear Rom. 10: 17 …Believe…John 8: 24 • Repent. Acts 17: 30 -31. Confess Matt. 10: 32, 33 and be baptized. Acts 22: 16 • Live faithfully being a disciple of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15: 58; • Rev. 2: 10 • It tells us what we are to do when, after we have become • A child of God, if we sin. I John 1: 7 -10; I John 2: 1 -2

• Preacher: What is that in your hand? • It is the Bible, the Book of God!

• At your funeral, the best thing that can be said about • You or me, is that we read and studied and tried to • Live by the book that we have in our hand. • Moses accepted the challenge of God. • Many people have become Christians today because • Of the book in our hand.

• Conclusion: • Won’t you say, Lord I give myself to you… • If you have wondered away, Jesus is waiting right where you • Left him, won’t you come back? • Why keep Jesus waiting?

• Ye call me Master and obey me not; • Ye call me Light and seek me not; • Ye call me the Way and walk me not; • Ye call me Life and desire me not; • Ye call me Wise and follow me not; • Ye call me Fair and love me not;

• Ye call me Rich and ask me not; • Ye call me Gracious and trust me not; • Ye call me Eternal and seek me not; • Ye call me Mighty and honor me not; • Ye call me Just and fear me not; • Ye call me Noble and serve me not; • If I Condemn you, blame me not.

• Our greatest battle to fight in life…it is the battle of self. • Poem: Myself. • I have to live with myself, and so • I want to be fit for myself to know. • I want to be able as the days go by • Always to look myself in the eye • I don’t want to stand with the setting sun • And hate myself for the things I’ve done. .

• I can never hide myself from me, • I see what others may never see, • I know what others may never know, • I can never hide myself, and so, • Whatever happens, I want to be • Self-respecting and conscience free.

• Jesus Christ forgot himself-- Poem “Others” • Lord, help me live from day to day, • In such a self-forgetful way • That even when I kneel to pray • My prayer shall be for – Others.

• Help me in all the work I do • To ever be sincere and true • And know that all I’d do for you • Must needs be done for – Others. • My self be crucified and slain • And buried deep, and all in vain, • My efforts be to rise again • Unless to live for – Others.

• And when my work on Earth is done, • And my new work in Heaven’s begun • May I forget the crown I’ve won, • While thinking still of – Others. • Others, Lord, yes, Others • Let this my motto be • Help me to live for Others • That I may live like Thee.