Title: Who Am I – 2
“You’re Not Alone – 2”
Text: Exodus 3:11
Two weeks ago we started a series on “Who Am I?” This is a very relevant subject in the day we live in. Everyone wants to know who they are. Everyone wants to know what their purpose is.
People all over the world have asked the question, “Who Am I?” Rick Warren wrote a book a few years ago that instantly became a best seller on the Purpose Driven Life. Churches all over North America did services and preaching wrapped around this subject for months. The reason that became such a popular book is because everyone is looking for their purpose. Everyone wants to know why they are here and who they really are. Some of us are older now and we still have no idea who we are. The reason many people do not know who they are and have lost sight of who they are is because they listen to other people. Many in this room have been told at some point in your life that you are a failure, you are a nobody, and you are useless. Some have been hurt by words all your life.
I want to remind you that nobody determines who you are but you! Your circumstances don’t determine who you are. Your financial situation does not determine who you are. Your appearance doesn’t even determine who you are. My goal throughout this series, as we explore this subject, is to remind you of who you are. I know most of us already know who we are, but let this series serve as a reminder to you just how valuable you are in God’s eyes.
This world is filled with people that think lowly of themselves. Now, I want to remind you that the Bible says we are not to think more highly of ourselves then we should, but throughout this series we are not thinking highly of ourselves, we are thinking highly of the One who reigns within us. We have the Creator of the Universe dwelling inside us. It is time that we stop saying that we are worthless and it is time that we stop saying that we are filthy rotten sinners and realize that if you have the King of Kings living inside you, He is the One that makes you worthy. He is the one that saved your soul. It is a slap in His face for you to say that you are a filthy rotten sinner after Him paying the ultimate price so that you don’t have to be.
However, there were some men in the Bible that felt the same way that you are feeling. In the first message of this series we talked about one of those men that asked the same question that we are asking today. Who Am I?
MOSES
Last week we shared the whole story of Moses at the burning bush and how
the Lord called Moses to be the deliverer of His people. We find Moses’ response:
Exodus 3:11; “¶ And Moses said unto God, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
If you want to know more about this story then I encourage you to get the
CD. God pretty much told Moses, you don’t worry about who you are, you just keep remembering who it is that sent you. The I am has sent you. That is all that matters. It is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that has sent you. In other words, the God of Covenant. That serves us a reminder that when God calls us to do something, He will always equip us.
There were some other men in the Bible that had these same feelings of inadequacy that Moses had before they realized that God was with them.
JEREMIAH
Jeremiah 1:4-5; ¶ “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
This is an amazing Scripture. We have heard it quoted an hundred times or
more, yet it never gets old. God is an amazing God. Before He ever called Jeremiah he wanted to make sure that Jeremiah understood the depth of the love that the Lord had for him. He tells him, “Before you were ever born, I not only knew you, but I had a plan for you. It is time to step into your divine destiny.”
After the Lord specifically tells him how much He loves him. Listen to Jeremiah’s response. It is not all that different from the response of Moses.
Jeremiah 1:6; “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.”
The feelings of inadequacy rise out of Jeremiah. He may not have said
“Who Am I?” exactly, but that is what he meant. Jeremiah’s response was, “I can’t do what you are asking me to do, I am just a child. I don’t have what it takes.” In other words, I am unworthy. I am not capable of doing this thing. I know there are others here that are feeling the same as Jeremiah. You have the feelings of unworthiness. You are believing what others have said about you your entire life. Listen to the Lord’s response to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 1:7-19; “But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. 11 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. 13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. 14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. 17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee. (KJV)
The Lord took serious concern to Jeremiah’s feelings. He didn’t just say don’t be so stupid Jeremiah. I’ll be with you. Will you grow up and realize that I am your God. The Lord gives Jeremiah specific instructions and then I love how He sums up His pep talk to Jeremiah. “They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you.” How could he be certain that whoever comes up against him would not prevail? The Lord continues, “For I am with you and I will deliver you from all things.” At first Jeremiah did not understand who he really was with the Lord on his side, but after hearing the Word of God, he came into a deeper understanding and did what the Lord wanted Him to do.
There are some here today that may not truly understand who you are, but right now the Lord is saying to you, don’t concern yourself with it, just know that I am with you every step that you take. As long as you are obedient to Me, I have your back. I am all around you, I am inside you, I am in front of you, I am in back of you. No need to fear when the Lord is on our side.
Jeremiah was one that said, “I can’t do it,” but the Lord was quick to say that as long as you realize I am with you, you can do anything. Another man that had these same feelings was:
ISAIAH
Isaiah 6:5-8; ¶ “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”
I want you to notice the drastic difference between the beginning part of this Scripture and the end part. Isaiah starts out saying, “Woe is me! I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips.” In other words, Isaiah was saying, I am not worthy to do the work of the Lord. Truth is, he probably wasn’t at that time. But notice what happens next. The Lord touches his mouth and takes his iniquity and sin away. As soon as the Lord takes that sin away from Isaiah, He then says who will go for me. Isaiah, realizing what the Lord has done, immediately says, “I will go. Send me. I am the man for the job.” Why such a dramatic change in Isaiah? Because at that moment he had just been touched by the Master and the Master took his iniquity away and made him pure in the sight of God.
Oh, there is tremendous likeness between Isaiah and us. Some that have been saved for years says, I know exactly what Isaiah felt like. I say to the Lord the same thing Isaiah did. I am a man undone, a man of unclean lips. You are missing the point. The moment you received salvation you became a child of the King. We are not to say I am a man undone any longer because Jesus has already touched your life. He has already forgiven your sins. He has already made you clean. He already traded His righteousness for your rags. He already traded his health for your sickness. He has already traded His forgiveness for your sins. So, if we really knew who we are we would no longer be saying, I am a man undone and we would start saying, “Here I am Lord. I’m right here. Use me! Take my life and use it for your glory. Don’t skip by me, Lord, I’m right here.”
We should be like the boy in the classroom when the teacher asks for a volunteer and he raises up his hand and says, pick me, pick me. Please, please, please pick me. I want to do it. When the Lord says:
Matthew 9:37-38; “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”
You need labourers for the harvest, send me Lord. You need labourers for the lost. Send me Lord. You need someone to use for a certain work. Lord, please let me. You need someone to bless that person, please let me Lord. You need someone to pray for that hurting person on the other side of the church, Oh, Lord, please let me. If we really knew who we were and what we had to offer this world, you wouldn’t have to beg someone to go witness. You wouldn’t have to be told to do something for the Lord.
Once Isaiah knew he was cleansed, he had a total change of heart. When the Lord said, “I have something to for someone to do and I need a volunteer.” Isaiah pipes up and says, “Here am I, send me.” Please Lord, let me go. There is a difference in how you serve the Lord when you know who you are and what He has done for you.
