the Lord may graciously help
me, I would turn your prayerful attention to the book of Hebrews
in the chapter that we read, chapter 11, and reading verses
24, 25 and 26, verses of chapter 11 of the epistle to the Hebrews. So starting with verse 24, 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 the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward. Hebrews 11 verses 24 to 26 We have in this chapter in Hebrews
this hall of fame as it were of those in the Old Testament
who by faith lived their lives in such a way which was in stark
contrast to what they would have done had they not had faith. And we have before us the life
of Moses. Moses' life basically was lived
in stark contrast to the way he would have lived it had he
not had living faith. So let us look then at what Moses
did which was so different to what you expected him to do or
what naturally he would have done because of his faith. Well, as you might know, Moses
was born in a period in the life of Israel when Israel was in
bondage as slaves to Pharaoh. Pharaoh used Israel as their
workforce of slaves, they oppressed them, they were concerned because
Israel was getting stronger, so they decided to make it illegal
for any of the baby boys to live. And therefore, at his birth,
that's why verse 23 says, by faith Moses, when he was born,
was hid three months of his parents. That's why they needed to hide
him, because the king's commandment had said he should be killed.
So that was really the faith of his parents that hid him. And as you probably remember,
he was put in that ark of bulrushes. And then Pharaoh's daughter came
to wash by the River Nile. and she took pity on Moses and
adopted Moses to be her own son. So this child of a slave, this
child which was from the oppressed people of Israel, was brought
up Some of his time he was brought up in his mother's house, being
paid by Pharaoh's daughter to look after him. But after he
was weaned, as it were, when he was old enough to be on his
own, he went to live in the palace with Pharaoh and his daughter
and the others that were there, no doubt. So Moses, you see,
he was adopted into very high flying society. By birth he was
an Israelite, but by adoption he was an Egyptian, and an Egyptian
of a very high status. In fact, the Pharaoh, of course,
was the head of of Egypt, and Egypt was really the great world
power. And even today we see evidences
of the greatness of Egypt at that time. We think of all the
pyramids that were built around this period of Egypt's time. They were very advanced and very
forward and very great. This was the situation that Moses
was born into. But Moses' true parents were
slaves. They were cruelly treated. They
were oppressed. They were beaten. They were made
to serve with rigor for the Egyptians. They were despised by the Egyptians. The Egyptians wouldn't eat with
them. They were downtrodden. That was Moses' by birth what
his family was, but by adoption he was in Pharaoh's house. Well,
Moses you see, when he, we read here, by faith Moses, when he
was come to years, come to maturity as it were, and if we look at
Acts 7 where Stephen gives his defence, we read that he was
of age 40 years. He was 40 years of age when this
took place, what we have in verse 24 of our text. So Moses was brought up in Pharaoh's
court. He had access to all the learning.
We read in Acts 7 that he was a man mighty in word and deed. He was learned in all the wisdom
of Egypt. He was a great man. He was a
prince in Egypt. and therefore he was a very high
up person and also of course Egypt had great riches. They
were surrounded with tremendous riches and all the pleasures
that can flow from great riches and as we read here, the sinful
pleasures, the pleasures of sin for a season as it's described.
All these were opened in front of Moses. Moses could have carried
on living his life in that palace with everything that he could
ever wish in terms of food and fulfilment, as far as this world
could give him, he could stay in that position. And his link
to everything in that palace, there was one link that brought
him there, and that was a link by adoption. He was adopted into
Pharaoh's daughter's family. And that was his right, that
was his status to be in Egypt, in that palace. Which is why
when we look at verse 24 we can see perhaps the starkness of
what it was saying. By faith Moses, when he was come
to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Everything that he had in that
palace stemmed from the adoption that he had into Pharaoh's family
by the daughter. And yet that is what Moses refuses. Why does he do it? We are told
that this is what faith does. is the, it starts off in Hebrews
11, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. The evidence of things not seen.
Well what was not seen? What was not seen? Well, in Pharaoh's court there was
everything here for the here and now, for the pleasures of
today, the pleasures of his life here below. But Moses, by faith, was looking
beyond the here and now. He was looking to something eternal. He was looking to his end and
he, by living faith, realised that all the things that were
offered to him as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, all the pleasures
and all those things, a lot of their wealth was really gleaned
out of oppressing Israel, his very people. They were downtrodden
and their wealth was gained really from the hard work of the Israelites
in slavery. So Moses aligns himself with
his true mother and father as it were, his true birth. You
see by adoption he was a son of Pharaoh's daughter, but by
birth he was a son of Abraham. the father of the faithful. That
was his real calling. And Moses, you see, he saw beyond
everything that Egypt could give him. And he saw that they were
passing away. He saw that they were temporal.
And so Moses, you see, makes this unbelievable choice in natural
terms. You think of it, he had everything
at his fingertips. All the pleasures, all the learning,
all the wealth, all the fame, a prince in Egypt. by Faith Moses
when he was come to years. Come to appreciate the greatness
of his wealth. Come to appreciate the privilege
he had in Pharaoh's court. Come to appreciate what benefits
there would be in staying, being called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
By Faith Moses when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He refused that greatest title
of honour. because he saw something which
was invisible. He saw that being a son of Abraham
is a greater title of honour than being the son of Pharaoh's
daughter. So this, you see, is a great
part that faith makes us do things which are
humanly opposite to what we would do in Moses. Today, you see,
we might think, you young people, you might say, but the world,
it offers me so much. There's so many things that I
can indulge in, so many things that I can enjoy. You might say,
well, you know, it's alright for those in the old days, they
didn't have so much. I've got all these things at my fingertips.
No, you haven't. Not compared to Moses. Compared
to Moses, you're porpoise. Compared to the pleasures that
you have access to, compared to what Moses had, you're not
well off. Basically, Moses had everything
that you could have at that time at his fingertips. And yet, Moses,
by faith, he turned away from that which he would naturally
have gone after. left to himself that what the natural man would
choose, and he went to truly seek something that was better.
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. What a contrast. He aligned himself with the Israelites
instead of aligning himself with Pharaoh's court. What a contrast. And you might say to Moses, do
you know what you're doing? Do you know what you're turning
down when you say you refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter? Do you realise that? I think
Matthew Henry makes this comment regarding Moses at this time. He says, he is no fool that parts
with what he cannot keep to gain. what he cannot lose. Let me say
that again. Matthew Henry commented this.
He is no fool who parts with what he cannot keep to gain what
he cannot lose. You say, but what was stopping
him? Staying in Pharaoh's court? Nothing. But it was for a season. He cannot keep it. The pharaohs
in their greatness, they're gone. They've been laid in the grave,
perhaps surrounded with all the gold that we know that they did
at their burials, but they're gone. They're passed away. Their
glory is passed, as it were. They're no longer with us here.
Moses knew that he could not keep, however, if he stayed all
his life in Pharaoh's court, he could not keep the riches,
as it were, and the blessings on a natural level that were
in the court. They were passing away. So he is no fool who parts
with that which he cannot keep. And everything here below, you
see, your houses, your jobs, your friendships, everything
here below is passing, is fleeting. You cannot keep it forever. It's
not going to be there forever. To gain that which he could not
lose. What was he trying to gain? Well,
he wanted to gain interest in the people of God. Yes, they
looked downtrodden. They were downtrodden. They were
despised. They were rejected. They were
treated very badly and very terribly and very cruelly. And they were
made to serve with rigour, we read. Moses saw that they were
the people of God. They had God to be their God. And they were travelling, as
it were, to have they had a kingdom Abraham had been promised by
God that he would make of him a great nation and that nation
would come out of Egypt and he knew that there were these promises.
If you think about it, At this time, Joseph was used, if you
remember, as that mighty leader that helped Pharaoh in that time
of famine. And when Joseph died, eventually
he did, he left his bones in Egypt. And those bones in Egypt
were a testimony that Israel was coming out of Egypt. He gave a commandment concerning
his bones. His bones were in Egypt and they
were going to come out of Egypt. And we read when Israel came
out of Egypt they took the bones of Joseph. It was a testimony
to them. It was a promise to them that
they would come out. Yes, they were in slavery. Yes,
they were downtrodden. But they were travelling to no
mean city. They were going to come out of
bondage. They were going to go and be led by God through the
wilderness and to travel to the land of Canaan. 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 the people
of God. I don't know how many of you
were here many years ago when there was a special service taken
by Joe Rudd and he preached from this particular passage and he
made this very interesting observation that there was a refusing but
there was also a choosing. In other words, there was two
sides to Moses. He didn't just refuse, but he
also chose. You see, if you just choose but
don't refuse, then you try and have God and the world. Well,
that's not the way that the Lord would have you walk. But the
other alternative, perhaps, is that you refuse the world, but
don't, as it were, lay hold upon the hope set before you in the
Gospel. So in other words, you're in no man's land. You're not
enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, but neither are
you benefiting from union with Christ. Moses, he refused the
riches of this world, but he chose by living faith. You see,
this is why faith turns the world upside down. It makes those things
precious, which the world despises, and it despises that the world
calls so precious. Choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. He acknowledged that Pharaoh's
court had pleasures, he acknowledged that there were pleasures there,
but he put that time stamp upon them that they were but for a
season. In verse 26 it says, esteeming
the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. It's interesting here that it's
speaking about the reproach of Christ, but you say Christ hadn't
yet come. Moses, you see, was looking forward. Moses was looking
beyond the here and now. But by faith, you see, now faith
is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. And why is this so applicable
today? Because it's just true of every one of us. We're here
and now in this world. We have the possessions of this
world. We have the entertainments of this world. We have the allurements
of this world. We have the sins of this world,
dangled in front of us and before us. And what are we going to
do? Keep picking them? And keep, as it were, delighting
in those sins? Or are we going to be like Moses
that says, they are pleasures, but they've got a time stamp.
They're for a season. and that we may have that wisdom
like Moses, by living faith, to choose rather to suffer affliction. What a contrast! Why would you
want to do that? Why would you want to align yourselves
with a despised people? Because he saw through that despised
people, that they were a people, that though they were despised,
yet they had a great God. They had a great and almighty
Saviour. And he saw through all the negativeness,
all the difficulties and saw something of the blessedness.
But in verse 26 we have this, esteeming the reproach of Christ. Reproach, the word reproach means
shame. When people laugh at you, when
people deride you for your faith. And that's actually part of the
Christian life. Jesus was reproached, Jesus was made scorned, and so
his followers will be too. If they have persecuted me, they
will persecute you. The disciple is not greater than
his Lord. And we must realise that if we
are going to be followers of him, we are to take up our cross
and follow him. That's really why I read that
part in Matthew chapter 16. You see Jesus began to tell his
disciples, from that time forth began Jesus to chant to his disciples
how that he must go to Jerusalem, this is Matthew 16 verse 21,
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and raised again the third day. This was
the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and he was telling, he was sharing
with his disciples what that life would involve. And Peter
says, no, no, no, not this, this isn't going to happen to my lord
and master. Jesus is very blunt with Peter
and says, get thee behind me Satan, thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men. In other words,
if you think that I'm here to have a cushy number, just to
enjoy the things here below, you've got completely the wrong
end of the stick. You don't know, it's satanic
you see, he says to Peter. And then in verse 24, then said
Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let
him deny himself. What did Moses deny? He denied
all the privileges of the land of Egypt. He denied his status
as prince in Egypt. He denied all the pleasures that
were in Pharaoh's court. Why? Because he esteemed the
reproach of Christ. He saw a beauty in the path of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The path that he would walk and
a path that all his followers would walk. Then said Jesus unto
his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
not gratify himself, not do what he wants in his life, not live
his life to his own ends, for his own glory. If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For
whosoever shall save his life, She'll lose it. You see, you
would have said to Moses, look, you're in such a good situation
in Egypt, just tow the line, just go along with it, just enjoy
it. He would lose his life. You see,
he would have then been spending his life worshipping all the
things that Pharaoh worshipped and giving his diligence to those
and he would not have been aligned with the people of God. And he
now, If you think of that now, Moses, he would have been such
a loser for doing that. But you see, The Lord Jesus says,
whosoever shall save his life shall lose it, and whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. And Moses did
find his life. You might say, look, he turned
down the riches of the land of Egypt. He could have been in
Pharaoh's palace. He could have been part of the
inner circle, as it were, of the leadership of Egypt in future
life. He could have served, as it were,
at the right hand of Pharaoh and been in great power and authority.
But what does he do? He refuses that great title of
honour. Don't misunderstand me. What did he gain instead of that
title of honour? He gained, he actually became
the spokesman, the ambassador for somebody who was much greater
than Pharaoh. The king of kings and lord of
lords, that's who he became the ambassador for. He then had a
commission at the burning bush to go out and to go and free
the people of Israel. He spoke face to face with God.
And there was not a man more mighty, we read, not so great
a prophet arose as Moses. Of course, there was a one who
rose greater than him, and that was the one he was a type of,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who came in the fullness of time, like
unto me, Moses said. He was a type of Christ. The
Lord Jesus, you see, made, as Moses turned down this title
of honour in this world's reckoning, he actually got a title of far
greater honour, you see, because he became the ambassador for
the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. The one who had not just
made a few pyramids and managed to squash some slaves under him,
The one who is king of kings and lord of lords, who created
the world, the universe and everything we know is created by him and
for him and will be for his glory. This is the one he ended up serving.
Which was the greater position? Moses in Pharaoh's court or Moses
as a servant of the living God? Which was the greater? He is
no fool who parts with that which he cannot keep to lay hold upon
that which he cannot lose. Moses was one who was a great
man of God and he led Israel out of Egyptian slavery. But
you see, he laid down his life. He did something which you would
not do had he not lived in faith. You would not say that you're not refusing
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. You would not do that
because that was the line at which all your blessings came
to you because you were the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But by
faith Moses did it because he esteemed the reproach of Christ. Now this is an important point.
It doesn't say because he tolerated the reproach of Christ, does
it? He esteemed it. That's an interesting point. You see, if we are to take up
our cross and follow him, there will be reproach. That means
we will know what it is to be slandered. We will know what
it is to be falsely accused. We will know what it is to be
laughed at by our work colleagues, perhaps. The people in the playground,
you believe in God, do you? Oh, you can't do this, that and
the other because you're a Christian. Oh, and that mockery and that
shame. Do you see the Lord Jesus knew
such shame and derision? I turn to Psalm 69, which is
really the thoughts of our Lord Jesus on the cross. Let me just
read these words in Psalm 69 to you, beginning at verse 17. This is the Lord Jesus as it
were speaking. It was written by David but it
was prophetic of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We can
see this clearly because he said they gave me also gall for my
meat. and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Clearly
true of Christ on the cross. But if I look at Psalm 69 verse
17, "...and hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in
trouble. Hear me speedily, draw nigh unto
my soul, and redeem it. Deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my reproach,
and my shame, and my dishonour. Mine adversaries are all before
me." Christ on the cross was dishonoured. He was derided. He was a man that was despised
and rejected of men. And he felt it. He was not an
iron man that didn't care what his body went through or what
assaults he had from the people. He felt everything. He was a
tender. He had a tender heart. He felt
everything. And yet nothing would deter him
from his purpose of saving his beloved church with an everlasting
salvation. that has known my reproach and
my shame and my dishonour. My adversaries are all before
me. Reproach hath broken my heart,
and I am full of heaviness, and I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me
also gore for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar
to drink." the path that our Lord Jesus
had, this reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt. And we need to think about that
in our pathways. What is our attitude to reproach? Do we just grin and bear it and
say, You know, I made a wise choice to seek first the Kingdom
of God, but I've got all this problem, and this person's unkind
to me, and that person gives me trouble, and this person laughs
at me, and this person gives me derision. It's a miserable
path. Moses said this, esteeming the
reproach of Christ. Greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt. This is powerful. This is so
different than you would do by nature. This is opposite. You
see, the way of God is opposite to our way by human nature. And
you might say, well, this is Hebrew. Would the Lord say the
same thing? If you take Matthew's Gospel,
chapter 5, this is the Sermon on the Mount. This is our Lord
speaking words from his own lips. He says in verse 11, blessed
are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say
all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. So what should be our attitude?
to the difficulties, the disappointments, the sadnesses, the shame and
derision that comes from being a Christian. People mock at us.
Why do they mock at us? Because... You see, basically, Bunyan pictures
this in his Pilgrims' Progress, when Christian and faithful are
going through Vanity Fair. They come to Vanity Fair and
in Vanity Fair they could spend their money on any vanity they
wanted. There was all types of things
that they could spend their money on. It wasn't limited to one
product, it was everything. provided it was worthless, provided
it just detracted you from travelling on to the celestial city. You
could spend your money in Vanity Fair. But Christian and faithful,
you see, said this to all the townsfolk when they said, buy
this, buy that. He said, buy the truth and sell
it not. He wanted to buy the truth. He
didn't want to buy all that stuff that Vanity Fair had for sale.
And you think of Moses, as it were, making this choice to say,
no, I don't need all the riches of the land of Egypt. What will
a coffin surrounded by gold do me any good when I come to die,
compared to having Christ, who suffered, bled, and died for
his church to set them free from eternal condemnation? Moses esteemed
that to be greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. He saw,
you see, by faith. By faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And you see,
this epistle to the Hebrews was written to encourage believers
who were being reproached. You see, this was written to
the Hebrews. Hebrews were the Jews, basically. And they had become Christians,
some of them. And the Jews that hadn't become
Christians were mocking them. Where's your high priest? Where's
your temple? Where's your sacrifices? Well, in the epistle it says
that we have a great high priest that has entered into the heavens.
We have a much more glorious high priest. We have one sacrifice
for sin forever and he's sat down on the right hand of God.
We have nothing to be ashamed of and yet they were being derided,
yet they were being mocked as it were. And you see this is
written to say all the Old Testament saints, it's the same, the whole
way through, that those who Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who put their faith in the promises of God are derided
by the here and now because they are looking for a blessed hope
and a glorious appearing of the great God. But he hasn't yet
appeared. He hasn't yet, as it were, come in his glory and Moses,
as it were, was not immediately vindicated. In fact, he spent
the next 40 years with those sheep in the backside of the
desert. He had much difficulty and yet he is by God. Moses at this day was not disappointed
with his choice, as he thinks by faith that he was able to
lay hold upon that hope set before him in the Gospel. But you're
in this junction of life. You have set before you. Are
you going to serve the Lord with your life? Are you going to esteem
the reproach of Christ, greater riches and the treasures in Egypt?
Or are you going to look at the treasures in Egypt and start
adding them up and calculating them and saying how much it will
benefit you to toe the line, to just go along and call yourself
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Just go along with the world
and enjoy it. No. Moses, by faith, He refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He refused all that
this world calls good or great. He parted with that which he
could not keep, so that he could gain that which could not be
taken from him. Moses was on the Mount of Transfiguration. He was there at that Mount of
Transfiguration and what was his topic of conversation then?
What was he discussing then? He hadn't changed any. He was
still esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches and
the treasures in Egypt. He was speaking of his decease
that he should accomplish, the Lord Jesus that is, at Jerusalem. The same topic of conversation.
Nothing changed. Only he was now glorified. He saw the glory of Christ. He
was no loser. He was no loser. But you see,
Satan would come and attempt us to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season. Enjoy what this world calls good
or great. Live your life to yourself. One life. Live it. As often is
written on some Land Rovers. But it's empty. We have one life. and that is
to be lived to the glory of God. It is to be lived to show forth
his praise. That's the life to be lived.
And Moses, this great man of faith in the Old Testament, this
one who turned his back on the greatest riches that this earth
knew, to be associated with the downtrodden
in his day because he had respect. unto the recompense of the Lord,
he realised that these people were travelling to no mean city. They were pilgrims and strangers
in the earth. They that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a city. We read in the same chapter in
Hebrews, they looked for a city. Do you look for a city? those
of you who are seeking to know the Lord, and yet perhaps you're
tempted by all the vanities of this earth to go back and to
enjoy them instead of following Him, a despised way, a way of
crucifixion. And it's the way, the way the
Lord Jesus went. This is not a wrong way. Jesus
said if you don't take up your cross and follow me, you're not
a disciple. It's as simple as that. He didn't
say there's a class of disciples that don't pick up their cross,
but they still get to glory. He doesn't say that. He says
if you don't take up your cross and follow me, you're not one
of my disciples. You're not turning your back
on the world and what the world calls good or great, unless as
it were, you're looking unto Jesus. And we are to look to
Him then, the One who had gone before us. Moses, you see, was
this great man of faith. He was a type of the Lord Jesus
who would come, who would come and truly suffer, bleed and die,
so that there would be a deliverance, not just for Israel, as it were,
but for the whole Church of God. And Moses, you see, had this
great privilege. And I think the point I really
want to stress though is that he esteemed the reproach of Christ,
esteemed it. He didn't say, well, it's a real
problem, I hate it, and I really hate this way, but I've got to
endure it. No, he esteemed it. He esteemed the reproach of Christ.
And Jesus, as I say, backs it up in his Sermon on the Mount.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward. in
heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you." In other words, we are to expect a life of ease. We're
not to expect that the world is going to pat us on the back
because they haven't got faith. They don't realise that there
is a kingdom. All they've got is Vanity Fair
and the empty things to satisfy themselves. And everybody sitting
in Vanity Fair was not travelling to the Celestial City, were they? They were staying there. The
point is that Christian faithful were travelling through Vanity
Fair. They had to pass through it.
The town lay in their way and we have to pass through this
world. But we're not of it. We're not to be of it. We're
not to, as it were, spend our lives in Vanity Fair seeing how
many deals we can get which would be advantageous. But if you think,
well, this was Moses, but what happened to the Lord Jesus? Well,
after he was baptised, he was led into the wilderness, if you
remember, to be tempted of the devil. And one of the temptations
that Jesus was given was this. He was taken into a high mountain
and shown all the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them. He was shown everything that
he could enjoy here below. If he would fall down and worship
Satan, And Jesus said, get thee behind me. You are to worship
the Lord your God only and him only art thou to serve. Jesus,
as it were, turned his back upon all that this world, as it were,
could give him because he was to live despised and away because
he was going to work out a salvation for his church. And we are to
be followers of this despised man. Don't unlink what God has linked.
Yes, it is a despised way, but don't link those who also suffer
with me. They should also reign with me.
You see, there's something linked with this suffering. It's not
just suffering, suffering, suffering. It's suffering with Christ, union
with Christ, which actually is very, very precious in itself.
We have true union with Christ in his sufferings. But it's not
just union there, it's union also in his glory. And that is
of unspeakable value. And the riches of the land of
Egypt pale into insignificance compared to those things, esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
He realised that there was a reward, there was an end, and he chose
therefore those things which were union with Christ, union
with a despised one, a way of being despised. And we can try
and, as it were, weave this way and that way to avoid the crosses,
but we're not doing God's will. We're not obeying Him. We're
not being like Moses, who refused to his own natural detriment,
it would seem. But long term, it was for his
eternal good. As it were, he seemed to lose
his life, but he gained it. He gained it and so will you.
The Lord Jesus has said that those who follow me, nobody,
nobody shall lose in this life that shall not gain much more
eventually by following the Lord. Jesus has said that. May we hearken
to him and be like Moses that exercise living faith in the
promises of God, in what God had said, and turn our back on
the world and live lives which are diametrically opposite to
the wisdom of this world, because the wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
And may we know it. For Christ's sake, Amen.