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The following program is a production of
Truth For The World.
♪ "Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
oh what words I hear Him say." ♪
We have been discussing Hebrews chapter 11
also known as the faith chapter.
Because of all of these people and their actions,
we learn that they are considered by God
to be faithful.
When we left off in our last study, we were talking about
the parents of Moses, Amram and Jochabed
So we will begin there today.
If you have your Bibles we invite you to turn in them
to Hebrews chapter 11. We'll begin reading in verse 23.
"By faith Moses, when he was born,
"was hid three months of his parents,
"because they saw he was a proper child;
"and they were not afraid of the king's commandment."
So Amram and Jochabed had faith.
They did what God said and they saved him.
I believe Acts 7:25 is the passage that shows
that some kind of revelation had been given to them.
But now look at Hebrews 11:24.
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years,
"refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter."
Come to years.
The Greek word here is "megas."
We take the word MEGA from it.
And literally it means great, or mighty.
So literally this text says when Moses was great.
Now that may mean that he was no longer a small boy
or it may mean that he was great in the eyes of the Egyptians.
The Jews were apparently not very fond of him.
After all, here is a Jew living in the palace of Pharaoh,
being taught by the best teachers,
having access to the best foods, and the greatest luxuries.
And these Jews are out there
every day being persecuted by Pharaoh.
So when Moses was come to greatness,
when he had influence in the land of Egypt,
when the Egyptian people would actually listen
to what Moses would say.
When he was at the point that his influence was great,
he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Here he is, in the palace of Pharaoh, in the land of Egypt.
The people viewed the Pharaoh, literally, as God on earth.
He was seen as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
When people would talk about Moses, it was understood,
that he was the son of the daughter of Pharaoh.
But, I wonder what kind of influence
Jochabed had on her boy as he was growing up,
that made him have a mind for things spiritual.
How many of us are doing a good job with our children,
in helping them to make the right kind of decisions?
We might say, even about ourselves,
how many of us have reached a point in our lives,
where we are making the right decisions?
By faith, he refused to be called her son.
Look at verse twenty-five.
"Choosing rather to suffer affliction
"with the people of God,
"than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."
Now, how many of us would make that decision today?
To choose the hard road, the more difficult road,
to give up the worldly treasures,
to give up the pleasures of the palace for a life of affliction
with the people of God.
Oh, he could have stayed and enjoyed those pleasures,
but he says it would have only been for a little while.
He knew God had told either him or his mother,
but somehow revelation was given that he was to go
and lead the people out.
We talked about that last time.
And yet we see now that it was still his choice.
God told him what to do, but, he left it up to Moses to do it.
He knew that if he planned on enjoying
the pleasures of heaven,
he had to do away with the pleasures of the world.
The pleasures of sin could not have hold on him anymore.
So he chose to suffer affliction with God's people
for a little while,
rather to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a little while.
But in view of eternity here are his choices:
You suffer affliction with Godís people for a little time
and later you enjoy heaven for eternity.
Or you enjoy the pleasures of sin for a little while
and later on you are condemned to hell for eternity.
That is the choice that he had to make.
But guess what?
You and I must still make the same choice today.
Yet so many people choose the pleasures of the world,
and they have convinced themselves
that the condemnation does not exist.
One day for them it will be a sad day.
Now look at Hebrews 11:26.
"Esteeming the reproach of Christ
"greater riches than the treasures in Egypt:"
The word "esteeming" here,
is a word that shows he gave some thought to it.
He thought it out, he laid down the puzzle pieces,
he connected all the pieces and then, he made a decision.
"Esteeming the reproach of Christ
"greater riches than the treasures in Egypt."
Now Egypt at this time was the most
physically wealthy nation in all the world.
Gold like you would not believe, silver, jewels.
Rich like king Tut, kids used to say.
They had wealth upon wealth.
Look at the decision that Moses made.
He put the two choices out in front of him and he said,
"it is greater for me, if I take on the reproach of Christ,
"rather than the treasures in Egypt."
He chose correctly.
Gus Nichols used to say,
"You can take a bucket of diamonds, and a bucket of slop,
"and set the two in front of an old hog,
"and that hog will choose the slop every time."
And there are people in this world that will do the same,
they see, the fact that serving Christ
will bring them wealth untold, later,
or they can enjoy the pleasures of this life,
and they will choose the slop every time.
They grab on to that which will satisfy
their immediate fleshly desires,
without any thought about what the future holds.
Esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
Wait a minute.
How could Moses choose Christ,
when Christ was not in the world yet?
How is it that Moses shared in the same reproach as Christ?
I do not know for sure, but I can guess.
It might be that this is a part of the development
out of the scheme of redemption.
He led the people out of captivity and gave the Law.
The law led to the Christ, and so we see that
when he suffered affliction it was in the scheme of things,
for the cause of Christ.
And when Moses was serving God, he was serving Christ.
And these Jews to whom the Hebrews writer is writing,
needed to be sure of that.
They are getting ready to leave Christianity,
and go back to Judaism
thinking that if they continue to serve Christ,
they would be forsaking their fathers.
But he says no, do not leave.
Do you not see that when Moses made that decision
long, long ago to leave the house of Pharaoh,
and serve the people of God?
When he made that choice, he was, in fact, serving Christ.
He was suffering affliction and reproach for Christ.
And friend, I do not know of a time in history,
when the people of God, those who did what God said,
did not receive some sort of reproach.
It was true in the days of Noah, and Moses, and of Christ,
and his Apostles, and it is true today.
If we are living and teaching what God tells us to,
sometimes the world will not like it.
Now, we may not be as diligent in our serving of Christ,
as we should be.
Therefore, our reproach doesn't seem to be as great
and we should be ashamed of ourselves for it.
But, be that as it may, God's people have always
been looked on as different in the eyes of the world.
Turn to Hebrews 13.
He is wrapping it all up look what he says in Hebrews 13:13.
"Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp,
"bearing his reproach."
It is our responsibility to serve just as these people did.
"Esteeming the reproach of Christ
"greater riches than the treasures in Egypt
"for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward."
"Had respect unto" is one Greek word called apoblepo.
Apo means away of off. Blepo means to look.
To look away from.
Thayer says "to turn the eyes away from one thing,
and set them on one other thing."
Literally then, this shows us that he turned his eyes
away from all the riches in Egypt.
And he focused his eyes upon the reward that God would give him.
Now, does that show us what it takes
for us to live faithfully to God?
Forget the things that are around us,
and focus our eyes upon God, and upon the reward of heaven.
Look at Hebrews 12:1-2.
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about
"with so great a cloud of witnesses,
"let us lay aside every weight,
"and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
"and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
If you and I will focus our attention upon Jesus,
we will not be bothered by the things of this world.
For he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
He kept his eye on the goal.
Now look at Hebrews 11:27.
"By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king:
"for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible."
He did it by faith.
God said you need to do this, in order to lead the people,
and look what he did.
Look at the phrase:
"for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible."
Look back at verse one.
"Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for,
"the evidence of things not seen.
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
"by the word of God,
"so that things which are seen
"were not made of things which do appear." Hebrews 11:3
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
"moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
"which he should after receive for an inheritance,
"obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went."
Hebrews 11:7-8
He did what God said, knowing that God would be true to him.
Hebrews 11:10 says,
"For he looked for a city which hath foundations,
"whose builder and maker is God."
He hadn't seen it yet, but he believed it was there.
Heb 11:13 says,
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
"but having seen them afar off."
They did not see them, but they knew they were there.
Now, we come to verse twenty-seven.
"By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king:
"for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible."
For Moses, God was a reality.
He was as real as if he could see him in the person.
He was an absolute reality but, How real is God to you?
How real is he to me?
Do you act with reverence to God, as if you could see him?
For instance, how many times do you pray,
and you just think that your words stop at the ceiling?
Is He really there?
Where is your mind,
when we are supposed to be worshipping our God?
Moses knew he was there, and so he left Egypt.
In fact, he did not fear the wrath of the king.
Moses could have been put to death by the Pharoah,
making sure no bad thing happened under his kingship.
But Moses was not afraid.
Well, where did Moses get that kind of faith?
That he would not be scared even of the King?
Look back up to verse twenty-three.
"By faith Moses, when he was born,
"was hid three months of his parents,
"because they saw he was a proper child;
"and they were not afraid of the king's commandment."
Moses had the same faith in God that his parents had.
Now, the question comes to you:
What kind of faith are you showing to your children?
Are you giving them the faith that Moses had?
Are you showing through your actions,
that, let come what may, I will choose to suffer with
Christ and the Lord's church, over riches of this life?
Now look at Hebrews 11:28.
"Through faith he kept the Passover."
What does that mean?
Turn over to Exodus 12.
Now, forty years after Moses forsook Egypt,
and left the kings house, then remember God told him to go,
and finally after some convincing, he went,.
And now God has given nine plagues.
So in the context of Hebrews eleven,
forty years passed between verse twenty-seven and twenty-eight.
He was forty when he left Egypt,
and he was eighty when he came back down to Egypt.
So nine plagues had come upon them.
Exodus 12:1 says, "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron
"in the land of Egypt, saying,
"'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months:
"'it shall be the first month of the year to you.
"'Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying,
"'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them
"'every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers,
"'a lamb for an house:
"'And if the household be too little for the lamb,
"'let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it
"'according to the number of the souls;
"'every man according to his eating
"'shall make your count for the lamb.
"'Your lamb shall be without blemish,
"'a male of the first year:
"'ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
"'And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day
"'of the same month: and the whole assembly
"'of the congregation of Israel
"'shall kill it in the evening.'"
So a lamb is needed for every household.
Unless it is a small household,
then two houses right next to one another could use one lamb.
So they take it and kill it.
"'And they shall take of the blood,
"'and strike it on the two side posts
"'and on the upper door post of the houses,
"'wherein they shall eat it.
"'And they shall eat the flesh in that night,
"'roast with fire, and unleavened bread;
"'and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
"'Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water,
"'but roast with fire; his head with his legs,
"'and with the purtenance thereof.
"'And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning;
"'and that which remaineth of it until the morning
"'ye shall burn it with fire.'"
He is giving lots of rules here.
"'And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded,
"'your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand;
"'and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's Passover.'"
Why God? That does not make any sense.
I do not normally eat with my clothes pulled tight,
with my shoes on, and my staff in my hand, ready to go.
God, those instructions do not make a lot of sense to me.
Moses, why did you do it that way?
Because that is how God said to do it.
And folks that is faith.
To kill a lamb, put blood on the doorposts and side posts,
roast the lamb, eat with shoes on,
your staff in your hand, and eat it in haste.
Why?
Because God said to do it.
Why?
Exodus 12:12 says,"For I will pass through the land of Egypt
"this night, and will smite all the firstborn
"in the land of Egypt, both man and beast;
"and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment:
"I am the Lord."
Wait a minute.
Is this not God?
Does he not have the ability to know which houses
belong to the Israelites, and which were Egyptian houses?
Sure he did.
He did not give these rules for His own benefit,
he did it for their benefit.
This was an opportunity for them to demonstrate their faith.
Faith is when we do what God says.
And the sprinkling of blood,
lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Now look at verse twenty-nine.
Hebrews 11:29 says,
"By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land:
"which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned."
Go to Exodus 14:21.
"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea;
"and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind
"all that night, and made the sea dry land,
"and the waters were divided."
Verse twenty-two says it was dry.
And here he says it is dry.
You remember the event, they come to the sea.
The Egyptians are giving chase and they look around and say
it looks like we are trapped, now what are we going to do?
And Moses said okay now what?
Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.
Moses take the rod and stretch it out over the Red Sea,
and when you do, the waters are going to part,
and you are going to walk through on dry land.
Do you believe me? Would you have believed it?
Moses did exactly what God said do,
and, so, God did exactly what he said he would.
Folks, that is what faith is.
Doing what God says, knowing that God will do what He said.
Do you think it mattered if it made sense to Moses or not?
You think Moses said,
well God, how is this rod going to part that sea?
God you think there is some kind of magic in this old staff?
No! God said do it. Moses you do it.
And friend, God tells us what we are to do,
and how we are to live.
And yet you might think to yourself,
but it does not make any sense.
God said do it.
Folks, and if you do not do it,
please do not tell me you have faith in God.
Faith in God means you do what God said, in the way God said,
for the reason God said.
It is not some mental belief in some idea of God.
Folks that is not Bible faith.
Faith says I know what God said and I will do what God said.
Because I know God will do what he said.
And he said, if I will obey I him I will be saved.
He says, believe that Jesus is the son of God.
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world,
"that he gave his only begotten Son,
"that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
"but have everlasting life."
He tells us to repent of our sins in Act 2:38.
"Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized
"every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
"for the remission of sins,
"and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
He tells us to confess that Christ is the son of God.
Romans 10:9 says,
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
"and shalt believe in thine heart that God
"hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Romans 10:10 says, "For with the heart man believeth
"unto righteousness; and with the mouth
"confession is made unto salvation."
Then he tells us we must be baptized in Mark 16:16.
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
"but he that believeth not shall be damned."
Act 2:38 says, "Then Peter said unto them,
"repent and be baptized every one of you
"in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
"and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
And then he tells us we must live faithful to him.
Revelation 14:13 says, "Blessed are the dead
"which die in the Lord from henceforth:
"Yea, saith the Spirit,
"that they may rest from their labours;
"and their works do follow them."
Friends, these are the simple rules that God has told us.
He did not do it for his own good,
just like we have been talking about.
He gives these instructions so we can show our faith in Him.
By hearing, believing, repenting or our sins, being baptized.
But now someone says, baptism does not make any sense to me.
There is not magic in the water.
No, we do not believe there is magic in the water.
We simpy do it because we have trust in God to do what he said.
♪ "Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
oh what words I hear Him say.
Happy place so near, so precious,
may it find me there each day." ♪
If you would like to learn more about God's word with
a free Bible Correspondence Course,
then write us at Truth For The World
P.O. Box 5048, Duluth, GA 30096
the United States of America.
Or visit us online at truthfortheworld.org
The preceding program was a production of
Truth For The World, a work of the Duluth Church of Christ