May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's
turn then to the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 11, and
we'll read verses 24, 25, and 26. The epistle of Paul to the
Hebrews, chapter 11, and reading verses 24, 25, and 26. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with a people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach
of Christ, greater riches, and the treasures in Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Moses was, of course, by the
grace of God, one of the outstanding characters in the Word of God. The Lord saw fit to bring him
into this world and to grant that he was preserved when he
was a baby, quite remarkably, and then of course taken by Pharaoh's
daughter to be her son and to be brought up in Pharaoh's palace
until he was some 40 years of age. Well, the Lord used that
time to prepare Moses for the work that he had
to do. And of course that wasn't the end
of the matter because the Lord then brought him into the wilderness
for another 40 years to prepare him for the work that he was
to do. So he had two very different
experiences. And when he was 80 years old,
then the Lord brought him to the fore and told him that he
was the one to lead Israel out of Egypt. And of course, initially
he demurred. He said he wasn't able, he said
he couldn't speak and really wasn't suitable at all. And yet
you see 40 years earlier, He thought he was very suitable,
and he was really surprised that his brethren had not understood
that he was the one that God had ordained to lead the children
of Israel out of Egypt. Well, what he proved and what
we proved today is a very simple statement. Your time is always,
but my time is not yet. You see, the Lord has a perfect
time. The Lord has right time and many
things have to be put into place to bring to pass the Lord's purposes
and the Lord's will. It's very easy for us to think
well this now will surely occur and any moment and sometimes
the moments go on and go on and go on, but in God's time they
come to pass. And so we have in this statement
here that Moses, blessed with God-given faith, just like the
other patriarchs that we read of in this 11th chapter, and
just like the whole Church of God, given living faith. We should not underestimate the
wonderful gift that God gives to his people believe the wonderful
truth of God, and who gives them strength to walk out the path
that the Lord has ordained for them, so that his name may be
lifted up and honoured and glorified. What a great blessing it is that
we today have a God who is a great God. We today have a God who
rules and reigns in the church of God still, though perhaps
we may sometimes feel disillusioned, yet to realize, no, the Lord
still reigns. And the great important thing
for you and me is to be found like Moses, like Moses. We see then, first of all, we
see that he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. There was that situation in Pharaoh's
palace. It must have been really a relatively
easy life, wasn't it? Yes, the son, so-called, of the
daughter of the king, surely he would have had everything
that he naturally wanted. And yet, you see, we see the
wonderful grace of God turning him from that situation and refusing
to occupy that place in the palace of Pharaoh as Pharaoh's daughter,
and instead taking a very different path, a very different path. And what we read is in this 25th
verse, choosing, choosing, he chosen and had refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. And now we're told he's choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. And we need
to notice that statement. He didn't just choose to suffer
affliction. So there are many people on the,
in the earth today who are afflicted. All of course, because of original
sin. But here we have a great statement. He was choosing to suffer affliction
with the people of God. Union, communion with them. To encourage one another in the
journey of life. And what a blessing that is for
us today, if we find ourselves in church in a community who
are indeed made up of the children of God and therefore we are choosing
to go on that journey through life with such, journeying with
them as our best friends and our kindred, not choosing to
walk in the the palace, the royal palace, but knowing that to walk
with the children of God is a blessed and wonderful occupation. And so here we see the apostle
telling us this great truth, choosing rather to suffer affliction
with a people of God, and really he spoke from, the apostle Paul
spoke from his own personal experience, because the apostle himself,
when he wrote to the Philippians, describes his position when he
tells us in the third chapter and the seventh and eighth verses,
but what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. He had a right objective, just
like Moses, both possessing the grace of God. Many years have
passed between these two situations, but we see the same wonderful
grace. And so the apostle is able to
say, but what things were gained to me, those I count in lust
for Christ, they doubtless. There was no doubt about it. I count all things but loss,
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them
but done, that I may win Christ." The apostle had a good and a
right understanding and a right value of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see that Moses in his
age also had a right view of fellowship with the people of
God. They were both traveling in the
same way. They were both traveling through
life. They were both traveling towards
the celestial city. And that was their objective,
to be found at last with Christ, which is indeed far better. And so we have then this wonderful
statement, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God. We can read these things, can't
we? We can read them very easily. We have to realize we still live
in a world where some people have to make a very difficult
decision because By making a decision to be a true follower of the
Lord Jesus Christ means they may be persecuted, means they
may lose their homes, means perhaps they may be separated from their
loved ones, means they may suffer hardship and great opposition. And yet what can we say? I believe it comes down those great
words in the Corinthians, the love of Christ constraineth us,
constraineth me. What a blessing when that is
so today in our lives. It is the wonderful love of the
Saviour, His goodness and mercy which constrains us to choose
like Moses did, choose like the Apostle Paul did, to be a true
follower of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here
is the Apostle telling us what Moses did. Moses in that eminent
position and yet you see blessed with this willingness to do the
will of Almighty God. You see God has a plan for all
his people, every one of them. And it's all very, very different.
God had a plan for King David. And God had a plan for Abraham. He had a plan for Isaac. He had
a plan for Jacob. The plan for those was very different
to what it was with Moses. But nonetheless, they were all
made willing in the day of God's power. Abraham willing to leave
Ur of the Chaldees go into a land that he didn't know anything
about. And of course Isaac content to live with him, and Jacob content
to be with Isaac, and then to live in a land and eventually
go down into Egypt. You see the willingness that
the Lord graciously gives. It is surely a wonderful sign,
a wonderful evidence of his grace And so Moses, the man of God,
the God who the Lord was going to greatly use, and of course,
greatly use in a difficult path. You might think, well, it was
a very honored position. Yes, so it was. But as we trace
out the journey of Israel through the wilderness, indeed coming
out of Egypt, we see the opposition that Moses had to face from Pharaoh,
and then the difficulties before they came to the Red Sea, and
then the obstacle of the Red Sea, and then they passed through
the Red Sea, then the obstacles of lack of food, the obstacles
of the lack of water, and then the continual rebellion of Israel
to God. We see all these things in opposition,
and yet you see The Lord was with Moses and the Lord didn't
forsake him. And the blessing is today, the
Lord is with his people and the Lord is round about them. The
Lord does preserve them. And we can say in exactly the
same words that the Psalmist Jews would reference to Israel
and their journeys. He led them forth by the right
way that they might go to a city of habitation. And surely that's
true today in the life of all the children of God. Very, very,
very many difficult, different difficulties, very many different
trials, many varied difficult temptations and oppositions.
Yet all will echo those words when they come to the end of
their journey. He led me forth by the right way. It was the
way that the Lord graciously dealt with me, for his honour
and for his glory. And so we should be thankful
today that we have an account of Moses, a full account really
of his life, right from when he was a little baby, without
much detail of course, when he was in Pharaoh's palace, We don't
have much detail, of course, when he was in the wilderness
looking after the sheep. We have a lot more detail when
he was with Israel and going through the wilderness. But nonetheless,
God was with him and God gave him grace to make this choice. You should realize that God gives
his people grace, perhaps against what they think is their better
judgment. But what do they do? They go
forth trusting in the Lord, believing in the Lord, committing their
way to the Lord, just like Moses did. And what a mercy and what
a blessing it is. And so really Moses followed
the wonderful words of the Saviour. Again, as I quoted this morning,
but a different portion in that Sermon on the Mount is so full
of gracious wisdom and instruction, we ought to read it often and
desire to follow it more closely. And the Apostle, sorry, the Lord
Jesus says in Matthew 6, verses 19 to 21, lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt and where
thieves break through and steal. lay out for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure
is there will your heart be also." So we have to take such wonderful
statements as that on board and to realize the truth of them,
to realize that although people like Abraham were wonderfully
blessed, with many riches, we can conclude that he didn't set
his heart upon them. God gave him the riches. Indeed, God has given you and
me everything that you and I possess. Sometimes saying it's good just
to meditate. We don't possess anything because
of our wonderful ability. It's because God has seen fit
to give us things. And it comes back to this. Some
people say, well, of course, it's the skill of my being and
my ability and my brains. But don't forget, it's God that
gives us a natural understanding. It's God that gives us our ability,
not something that you and I possess ourselves. It's something which
God has given. And therefore, there's reason
then to thank and to praise almighty God for his goodness and mercy
toward us. choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God, don't forget that, than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. The great difference, of course,
as we spoke this morning, the great difference is the pleasures
of sin are indeed, as the apostle says here, are just for a season,
just for our lifetime. and often just for a part of
our life, and it soon disappears because our life's like a vapor.
It's here and then it's gone. May we be conscious of this great
truth and recognize the importance and the relevance of it. You
know, the apostle speaks about affliction, And it's good sometimes
to realize these truths, because the words here tell us, choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. And the apostle
picks up this theme when he wrote to the Corinthians, and he classifies
his affliction like this. He says, for our light affliction. You may think, well, I've got
a heavy affliction, a really heavy affliction. Well, the Lord
knows how heavy that is. The Apostle Paul had many heavy
afflictions. Don't underestimate the life
of the Apostle Paul. And yet, you see, by the grace
of God, he was able to look at them and say by the grace of
God for our light affliction which is but for a moment again
he's comparing it with eternal things but for a moment and what
does it do ah this is the blessing what does it do he tells us it
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It has a good effect. Now it's good for you and me
if we can recognise the effect of the afflictions the Lord may
see fit to bring upon us, so that we can come and say, in
the words of God, it was good that I was afflicted. And that's
not something which you and I utter naturally. But you see, when
the Spirit of God moves us, we realize then that this is for
our eternal good, because that's what the Apostle says, an eternal
weight of glory. I like the analogy, on the one
hand, lightness, on the other hand, weight, eternal weight. And it's good if we ponder these
things and consider them. And the next verse, verse 18
in this fourth chapter of the second epistle of Corinthians
says, while we look not at the things which are seen, how easily
you and I do just that. The apostle tells us, which we
look not at the things which are seen, but and the things
which are not seen, but the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things which are not seen are eternal. What wisdom
there is in the Word of God, what wonderful truth there is,
what wonderful instruction for us. Our life would naturally
be much easier and much better if we took to heart these wonderful
truths and to realise what they really mean, because the Lord
is graciously setting before us the difference again between
time and eternity, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And the pleasures of sin are
indeed for a season, and then how quickly they pass away for
things that we may consider truly pleasurable. They come and they
go, and they're gone, never to return, but those things which
are eternal, those eternal blessings, and the eternal blessings must
center upon the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is the eternal Son
of God, and he does not change. And my friends, if the Lord Jesus
Christ comes to us and touches our heart, and by that I mean
this, he removes some of the hardness, some of the rebellion,
and comes alongside us and shows us that he's teaching us, he's
instructing us, he's preparing us for our eternal home. Again, as you trace out the pathway
of the children of God, you will see that all of them passed this
way. It was a wonderful, it was a
gracious preparation by almighty God. What a blessing it is for
us to pass that way. You remember, I'm sure, God's
servant Joshua, who was truly a man of God, a man called to
follow on from Moses in his pathway, and it wasn't an easy task, and
he was able to make a wonderful declaration. He's speaking to the children
of Israel and he tells them this in the 24th chapter of Joshua
and the 14th verse, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in
sincerity. That's a good statement, isn't
it? So you and I are to serve the Lord in sincerity, not in
mock sincerity, not in mock humility. but in sincerity and in truth
and put away the gods which your father served on the other side
of the flood and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord. And then he
says, and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, that means
if you think it's too difficult If you think it's too hard to
follow the Lord, this is what Joshua says. Choose you this
day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served
that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the
Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord. That's a great statement, isn't
it? How true it is. How true it was of Moses, wasn't
it? It was Moses' desire and concern to be found serving the
Lord, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of
God, to serve the Lord. And of course, all the people
answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord
to serve other gods. The Lord, our God, He is he that
brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage, which did those great signs in our sight,
and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all
the people through whom we passed. The Lord drove out from before
us all the people, even the Amorites, which dwelt in the land. Will
we also serve the Lord, for he is our God? Well, of course,
Israel served the Lord for a while, but then, of course, they departed. And that's a very, very sad and
a very solemn situation. So may the Lord give us grace
to be with the apostle, with Moses, to choose to indeed serve
the Lord. And he goes on therefore in the
26th verse, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than
the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward. Now then, you see he lays before
us this situation, esteem it. That really means enduring. It means valuing the situation,
esteeming, enduring the reproach of Christ. There is a reproach
of all those who follow the wonderful example of our Saviour, the wonderful
example of the true church of God. And so he says, esteeming
the reproach of Christ, greater riches is far more valuable than
the treasures in Egypt. And of course, the Israelites
knew what they were doing. They brought out no ends of valuable
jewelry from the Egyptians. But Moses saw beyond that, beyond
that natural value. And he was able to say, esteeming,
esteeming indeed, enduring reproach of Christ for greater riches
and the treasures in Egypt. Well, may we ask the question
tonight, how do you and I value Christ? Is he the one thing needful? Well, if he is, our words, our
walk, our conversation will show that that is indeed true, that
our desire is to be found with God's servant Moses, esteeming
their approach of Christ, greater riches and the treasures in Egypt,
all passing away, all passing away. can't take anything out
of this world. We brought nothing into this
world and it is certain that we should have taken nothing
out. No, we should go out with nothing. But oh what a blessing
if you and I possess the grace of God, because that shows to
us the wonderful favour of receiving the gift of eternal life. That's really what Moses goes
on to say, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. What a mercy then if you and
I have an understanding of the recompense of the reward. That means the Lord grants to
all his people who by his grace have walked this way, they receive
that great gift eternal life. And because you and I have no
ability to procure it ourselves, we know it is all of grace. It is because of the glorious
love of God, the love of the Saviour in so willingly laying
down his life so that you and I might receive this gift of
eternal life. so that all our sins, everyone,
everyone indeed that we've committed throughout our life, they all
have to be forgiven. They all have to be taken away. They all have to be paid for.
They can't just vanish. They have to be paid for. And
the payment required was the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why you see the blood
of Christ to unworthy sinners is invaluable, because it's the
passport to eternal life. Without the evidence, the blood
is shed to take away our sins. Then we have no passport into
glory. But oh, what a mercy to know
that Christ, the glorious saviour of sinners, has indeed died for
us. And that great and glorious saviour
has therefore taken all our sins away. You know, the apostle Peter
knew the truth of these things very well. And in his first epistle
on the fourth chapter, he speaks to us about this situation. And he tells us, just in case
we're on the wrong track, beloved, he addresses the church of God
in these endearing terms, beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you. I suppose we tend to think that
somehow we can escape these difficulties and these hardships. Well, says
the Apostle Peter, think it not strange, as though some strange
thing happened unto you. Rejoice. Really, Peter? Really? Do you mean that? But rejoice inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings. Well, again, Philippians 3 speaks
of the Apostle Paul's experience where he tells us, fellowship
with his sufferings. And we should be very thankful
if the Lord in his love to our soul has privileged us to know
something in our lives. And that doesn't mean to be physical
sufferings, and it doesn't mean to be only mental sufferings.
The Lord knows how to balance these things to bring us into
that path so that we understand what true fellowship means. And so he says, when his glory,
that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad with
exceeding joy. For if you be reproached for
the name of Christ, happy are ye." Naturally, we don't like
that, do we? We don't like to be reproached.
But it's good, you see, that we have the Scriptures to encourage
us and to strengthen us as we find ourselves in this path,
to understand therefore a little of what Moses said, for he had
respect unto the recompense of the reward. And so the apostle
goes on, if ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy
are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God rested upon you. On their part he is evil spoken
of, but on your part he is glorified. Well it would be a wonderful
blessing if in our hearts, in our soul, we glorify the Saviour
for his love and mercy toward us, giving us grace to hear the
great truths of scripture, and to be found following in the
paths set before us in the Word of God, looking forward to that
inheritance which is incorruptible and which is undefiled and which
is reserved in heaven for you or kept by the power of God through
grace unto salvation. What a mercy that will be, what
a blessing that will be, what cause you and I will have to
praise and glorify our God throughout eternity, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with a people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater
riches and the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect under the
recompense of the reward. Amen.