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Overview
W. Herschel Ford's series of Simple Sermons have over the years proved of great help to pastors and Bible students alike. His books have been used by many pastors as preaching aids. Many laymen have also used his books for Bible study and devotions. Here in this compendium we have four books in one -- some of the best of Ford, and perhaps some of the most useful. And none of these sermons has been published before. Ford covers the basics in these four books -- basics that all of us need to be reminded of periodically: Sin and Salvation, The Cross and the Crown, On Changeless Truths, On Bible Characters. Among his sermon titles are: - The Heavenly Magnet and the Earthly Pull - Saying Good-bye to God - A Christmas Tree for Jesus - The Great Sin of a Great Saint and many more.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310469711 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zondervan |
| Publication date: | 11/27/1983 |
| Series: | Simple Sermon Series |
| Pages: | 336 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.88(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Sermons You Can Preach
Year -round sermonsBy W. Herschel Ford
Zondervan
Copyright © 1983 ZondervanAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0-310-46971-6
Chapter One
The Greatest Man in the Old Testament (Moses) Deuteronomy 34:10Great men receive distinction for various reasons. Adam gained distinction because he was the world's first man, Abraham because he was the "father of the faithful," David because he was the king of Israel in its Golden Age. Napoleon gained distinction because he was a mighty warrior, Gladstone because he was a great statesman, George Washington because he was our first president.
But why do we remember Moses? Why has he made such an impression on world history? As our text says, we remember him because he was a prophet "whom the Lord knew face to face." He came into closer fellowship with God than any man since the Fall. The great nation of Israel lived and lives today because of Moses, and Israel is his monument. Someone has called him "the giant of the Nile," but he is the giant of all the ages. He was the greatest man of the Old Testament. Let us look at his life.
I. Preservation
God's chosen people were in oppressive slavery and bondage in Egypt, but they grew so rapidly that the king became afraid of their power. In order to stamp them out he ordered that all male children born to the Israelites should be killed. But God did not let a little king of earth thwart His plans. He meant to raise up a leader who would deliver His people. So when a healthy child was born to a Hebrew couple, they kept the boy alive for three months, then hid him in an ark among the bulrushes of the Nile, hoping that he would be rescued. The king's own daughter rescued the baby and in God's design the baby was given back to its own mother, to be reared in the faith of the Hebrews.
God was working; He was preserving His man in His own way. As Jesus was preserved when Herod issued his decree for the death of all male children under two years of age, so God preserved Moses for the task for which He was preparing him. Was it blind chance that sent the princess to the right place at the right time? No, it was God. Suppose she had come on another day and to a place 100 yards up the river. But God was directing the whole affair. Things do not just happen with Him. The poet was right who said, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will." We make our plans, we choose our paths, but God always has His way.
One day Jesus met a sinful woman at a well near the town of Sychar. He talked with her, confronted her with her sin, and she was converted; then she ran back into the city to bring many others to Him. Suppose she had come to the well an hour sooner or an hour later. She and the people of Sychar would never have known Him. But this was not chance, for God had planned it from the foundation of the world. In the history of the world God has used all sorts of people and all kinds of circumstances to carry out His purposes. The preservation of Moses was a vital part of God's great eternal plan.
II. Preparation
The civilization of Egypt was the highest of that day and it centered in the king's court. This was where Moses was trained in all the wisdom and science of a great nation. But he received greater training elsewhere-he was brought up at the knees of his godly mother, and there he was taught the things of God and His people and His plans. It was no accident that Moses was given to his mother to raise in his early years; it was God training him.
When God wants a man for a certain task, He gives him the best training. When Paul was converted God sent him into the deserts of Arabia, where for nearly three years he communed with God and received from Him all the mysteries of the gospel. Since that time God has placed many men in the right homes with the right environment because He had a task for them in future years.
III. Presumption
As Moses came to manhood he looked out on the bondage and affliction of his people and he sympathized with them. He wanted to rescue them but he went about it in the wrong way. He allowed himself to be guided by his own passion instead of the voice of God. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and he slew the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. The next day he saw two fellow Israelites fighting, and when he tried to intervene and stop them, they turned on him and accused him of the murder he had committed the day before. "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23). When the king heard of what Moses had done, Moses had to flee the country and went to Midian.
It is presumptuous to take matters into one's hand instead of waiting on the Lord. But we are all guilty of this. When problems present themselves we run ahead of God and try to solve them in our own strength. People often make the wrong marriage and it ends up in tragedy because God was not considered or consulted. Careers fail and homes are broken up because God is ignored and our own feeble wisdom is considered.
Moses went to Midian and stayed there tending sheep when those years could have been used in the service of God and His people. During that time, back in Egypt, Moses' people spent the years in suffering and many of them died in slavery. We lose time and souls when we run ahead of God.
IV. Probing
While Moses was busy at the menial task of tending sheep, God's sorrowing people were crying out to Him for deliverance. And God heard them and said, "I will deliver them out." One day Moses noticed a bush burning by the wayside, but it was not consumed, so he turned aside to investigate this phenomenon of nature. Modernists tell us that this was not a miracle but that the sun was shining on an acacia bush that made it appear to be burning. But Moses had been in the desert forty years, and if this had not been a strange and unusual thing he would not have said, "I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
When he went to look at the bush he heard the voice of God calling him to return to Egypt and deliver His children. In some respects religious curiosity is a good thing. When God calls we are to turn aside and listen. When the earthquake came to Philippi the jailer was ready to listen to Paul and learn the way of salvation. When the winds of Pentecost blew, thousands of people listened and were saved. And now when God calls, we should listen. That call may come through a sermon, a preacher, a still small voice that comes in the night. But if you feel that it is God calling in any way, you should heed that call.
V. Promises
God said, "You are to lead My people to a land flowing with milk and honey." But Moses began to protest, "I can't do it. I can't go up against the mighty Pharaoh." Then God gave him strong assurance, "Certainly I will be with thee." And that was enough to make Moses stronger than a thousand Pharaohs.
Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and tell people about His death on the cross for them, but He knew that was too much to ask of them alone, so He said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." When God calls us to follow Him He says, "You put your neck in one side of the yoke and I'll be in the other side." Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Sermons You Can Preach by W. Herschel Ford Copyright © 1983 by Zondervan. Excerpted by permission.
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