For the past several weeks I have been telling you about my seminary days. I guess I have been thinking back to that time because in August I’ll be a freshman again: a brand new, freshman professor of Geography at the South West Florida Bible Institute in Port Charlotte, Florida. Last week I told you about the time I caught my buddy sleeping and told him the professor had just called on him to dismiss in prayer. I promised that this week I would tell you how he got even.
We had just had our English class, and it was two hours before supper. We all decided to crawl into our bunks for a brief nap. Our dorm room was full with four boys. We took our nap and Danny tapped me to awaken me. He said, “Wake up Coop, it’s supper time.” I got out of bed, put on my shirt and shoes and we walked across the campus to the cafeteria. While my friends and I were heading to eat, people gave me some very dirty looks. I was totally bewildered at their strange behavior. I said, “Hello” to several, but they quickly turned away like I had some exotic disease. As I went into the line inside the cafeteria, people literally shunned me. Even the cafeteria lady looked at me and shook her head, grinning all the while. We found an empty table and I got nothing but the evil eye. I could not figure out what was happening. All the while my room mates seemed totally oblivious to what was occurring. All I knew was people I considered friends glared at me in wide eyed disbelief. When we returned to our room, it was dark and time to get ready for bed. I gathered my shaving kit and went into the shower room. When I looked into the mirror, I saw what all the scorn was about. While I had been asleep, my “buddies” had taken a black magic marker and had put 666 on my forehead. That’s right! I was walking the halls and sidewalks of a Baptist Seminary with the “mark of the beast” plastered all over my forehead. For those of you who do not understand, to a Baptist, this is the worst act of blasphemy one can perform. It is unthinkable for someone to accept the mark of the Anti-Christ. Danny and the roomies were standing behind me laughing so hard I thought they would pass out. I laughed too. I might be a practical joker, but I can take it, and enjoy it as much as I can dish it out.
Yesterday was a good day at Friendship Harmony. We honored the dads present by giving them a small gift, and the singing was roof lifting. I continued our Sermon Series, “What Were You Thinking?” This week we asked Moses, who had just disobeyed a direct order from God, “What Were You Thinking?” Moses had been told by God to speak to the rock, but instead he hit the rock. What was he thinking? The notes are below, and the video should be ready by Tuesday morning. To view it, go to www.youtube.com. From their home page, type in Friendship Harmony Baptist Church and hit enter. Then simply scroll down to the video you’d like to see.
Moses, What Were You Thinking
Numbers 20:1-13
By: Victor Cooper
11/04/06
Moses, after all your experiences with the LORD, when He explicitly told you to speak to the rock, you disobeyed and hit it. What were you thinking?
I. “It was a very hard time for me.”
A. My sister Miriam died. We were very close. Num. 20:1
B. We had been lost forty years. The people and animals
needed water and they looked to me for it. It turned into
a mob scene. 20:2,3
C. This was how this outfit had behaved in the past. They
were rebels. 20:10”
II. “But, you’re right. I had such a close relationship with the
LORD. He had shown Himself faithful throughout my life.
A. By Divine providence after Pharaoh Seti had ordered
all Hebrew boy babies under age three to be killed,
my mother put me in the Nile in a little reed-boat.
Exodus 2:3
B. My sister Miriam “arranged” for Pharaoh’s daughter to
adopt me, and pay a Hebrew mother to care for me --
it was to be my own mother! 2:8,9
C. I was then to be raised in Pharaoh’s home and raised
and educated as Egyptian royalty. Acts 7:22
And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.”
III. “I remember one of my meetings with the LORD. It was
certainly memorable. Exodus 3:2
A. I was literally in God’s presence! 3:4-6
B. He told me He was going to deliver Israel from Egypt.
3:7-8
C. Then He dropped a bomb-shell on me. He told me I was
to be His instrument in that deliverance. 3:10
D. Interestingly enough, He told me He was going to lead
the people out of Egypt and into the Promised land, but
I was only to be involved with the Exodus - not the
entrance.”
IV. “I well remember our travels through the wilderness, and
God’s presence with us.
A. He led us by day and night with His pillars. Ex. 13:21-22
B. The LORD told me Pharaoh was coming after us, but that
He would protect us. Exodus 14:1-4
C. When they were chasing us, He hid us from them with
that pillar of cloud. 14:19-20
D. By the way, lest I forget to mention it, that yammering
outfit I was leading was murmuring all the way.
14:11-12”
V. “What was I thinking? I was thinking I needed to let these
people know who was in charge. I had forgotten that God,
not me, was in charge.
A. BKC The Lord told Moses only to speak to the rock for its flow must not be attributed to his own efforts but to the Lord’s miraculous provision. Moses, however, at the breaking point of his endurance and patience (he called the people rebels), drew attention to his own authority as covenant mediator by striking the rock twice with his staff. The water came because of God’s beneficent grace, but because Moses and Aaron had drawn attention to themselves rather than trusting in the LORD they were denied entrance to the Promised Land. The principle here is clear: “…For unto whomsoever much has been given, much shall be required…” (Luke 12:48).
Have a good rest of your week. Next week I’ll tell you why lately I have become the duckman. We’ll discuss that when I see you next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!
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