Turn with me to Exodus chapter
2 and if you would also turn to Acts chapter 7 and hold your
finger at Acts chapter 7 for just a few minutes. Kind of jump
back and forth from those two texts and then we're going to
spend a fair amount of time tonight in Hebrews chapter 11. So Exodus
chapter 2 and Acts chapter 7. working you tonight. Last study we rejoiced, I believe
you did, I did, in the divine power and the purpose and the
provenance of God. And after considering the things
we did last week, I thought to myself, isn't God amazing? What
an amazing God we serve. God hardened Pharaoh's heart
and he decreed to kill every male child born among the Hebrews. And God, by His sovereign power
and purpose through divine providence, saved Israel's deliverer, the
very one that would deliver Israel and cause Pharaoh to raise him.
That's God. God is capable of doing such
things. The child's parents, we were
told, had great faith and believed God. According to Hebrews chapter
11, they hid the child for three months. So God not only spared
their son, but allowed them, for the most part, to raise him
and made Pharaoh pay them to do so. Well, it's just an amazing
story when you think about it. But it's a true story. You can't
make this stuff up. So we learn more of Moses here
in verse 10 of Exodus 2, where we're told, and the child grew,
and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, that being Moses' birth
mother. And he became her son. And she
called his name Moses. And she said, because I drew
him out of the water. And we discussed that the name
Moses means drawing out or drawn out one. Moses, the drawn out
and chosen deliverer, that's what his name means, the chosen
deliverer of God, now moves into the palace of Pharaoh to live,
and Pharaoh provides his board, his lodging, his education. The very man that would accomplish
the very thing that Pharaoh was trying to prevent is now in the
house of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's taking care of him. Again, I
wonder how we have the trouble we have in trusting God with
a God like that. Now look at verse 11. And it
came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went
out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens. And he spied
an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And let
me mention to you that between verse 10 In verse 11, 40 years
pass. Moses, in verse 11, is now a
40-year-old man. We'll see that in Acts chapter
7. And I think it's also important
to note that verse 11 tells us here that Moses was grown. And
this growth entails much more than just the reality that Moses
had grown in stature. obviously had done that. But
while in the house of Pharaoh, Moses had grown in at least two
other ways. He grew in the wisdom of the
Egyptian world. In Stephen's account here in
Acts chapter 7, you've got your finger there, verse 22 says that
Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Moses an equivalent to what we
would call today an Ivy League education. Stephen goes on to
tell us in verse 22 that Moses was mighty in words and in deeds. This man was educated. He knew
some things. He could do some things. He had
a great mind. Obviously, the hand of God was
upon him. But as we say, he had grown up
to be somebody. in the land of Egypt. And secondly,
he also grew in the grace and in the knowledge and the wisdom
of Christ. The Lord had obviously revealed
some things to him. Look at verse 23 here in Acts
chapter 7. And when he was full 40 years
old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children
of Israel. It came into his heart. How did
this come into his heart? How did this knowledge come into
his heart? The same way that God's wisdom
and knowledge comes into ours? By the grace of God, through
the gift of faith in Christ. And God had revealed some things
to Moses. He knew that the children of
Israel were his brethren. I'm certain that he knew that
for some time, his mother and father, natural mother and father
having some influence on him. But he knew that the God of Israel
was his God. And every child of God knows
these things by one reason, divine revelation. It's got to be revealed
to you who God is. Now back in Exodus chapter 2,
again verse 11, we read that Moses went unto his brethren. And he looked on their burdens,
and he spied an Egyptian spying on a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that,
and when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and
hid him in the sand. And no doubt, no doubt that God
had put into Moses' heart that he would somehow, some way, be
a deliverer to his people. While he looked on their burdens,
we're told, he saw that they were being unfairly treated. He was compassionate and moved
by the unfair treatment that this man, along with all his
people received, so much so that he slew the Egyptian that harmed
this Hebrew, because that Hebrew man was one of his brethren.
And that was all caused by God's will, as all things are. God's
grace created faith in Moses' heart. And these things were
God's doing. Now did you notice also in verse
11 that it said when Moses was grown, he went out unto his brethren? The words he went out here means
that it was a deliberate act, a deliberate act of faith put
in his heart by God. When God does a work of grace
in your heart, You'll deliberately come out of this world and go
unto your brethren. That's how we know that we've
passed from death to life, isn't it? That's what John said. We
know that we've passed from death unto life by our love for the
brethren. And God brought him out, and
if we come out, God will have to bring us out. Matter of fact,
God demands for His people to come out. I won't turn you there,
but let me read you 2 Corinthians 6, verses 17 and 18. It says,
wherefore come out from among them. It doesn't say please come
out. It doesn't say come out if you
want to. It doesn't say I hope you come out. It says come out
from among them and be ye separate. saith the Lord, and touch not
the unclean thing, and I will receive you and be a father unto
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty. Now, we have no power, none whatsoever,
to bring ourselves out. We just don't. We can try and
try all our lives and we'll fail miserably. We have no power to
bring anyone else out. I can preach, I can plead, I
can beg, but it's nothing but planting and watering and God
has to give the increase. And this doesn't mean that we're
to become hermits or monks or holier than thou idiots. That's
not what it means when it says come out from among them and
be ye separate. You know, I've seen documentaries
of those little monks sitting in a cave going, mmm, you know. That's not going to do you a
bit of good. None whatsoever. Because the issue's in here.
See? The issue goes with us wherever
we go. Oh. It simply means to separate yourselves
from the world and the things of the world, from the world's
thoughts, from the world's practices, from the world's religion, for
the glory of God. And I love that passage found
in Deuteronomy chapter seven. It reads, for thou art a holy
people unto the Lord thy God. God made you holy. Christ made
you holy. You're not holy in and of yourself,
you're unholy. The Lord made you holy. You're a holy people unto the
Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people. God chose you to be a special
people. Isn't that amazing? Unto Himself, above all people
that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His
love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number
than any people, for you were the fewest of all people, but
because the Lord loved you. That's the most amazing thing
to me, how the Lord could love me. Love me in spite of me. Because the Lord loved you and
because he would keep the oath that he had sworn unto your fathers,
hath the Lord brought you out. That's how we come out. With
a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondman from
the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Back in Exodus 2, look
at verse 13. And when he went out the second
day, this is the next day, behold two men of the Hebrews strolled
together. His brethren of the Hebrew nation
were striving about something and he said to them, he said
to him that did the wrong, wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? You're
going to fight and argue with your own brethren? You're in
the same condition, you're in the same case, same state. The one who was doing the offense
said in verse 14, who made thee a prince and a judge over us?
And then he said this, intendest thou to kill me as thou killest
the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, surely
this thing is known. And now when Pharaoh heard this
thing, he sought to slay Moses, but Moses fled from the face
of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by
a well. Now as I said, isn't this an
amazing story? You know, if you remember just
a few moments ago when we read the verse previous to this, it
says that Moses looked both ways to make sure that there wasn't
anybody looking before he killed the man. He thought he'd gotten
away with it. He honestly thought he'd gotten away with murder.
And then this fellow says, are you going to kill me like you
did that Egyptian? And Moses got scared, and he
He fleed from Pharaoh. Moses went from a prince in the
palace to a fleeing criminal in the desert. And in Hebrews
chapter 11, go ahead and turn there with me if you will. And
you can let your place go in Exodus 2 or in Acts chapter 7. We may go back to Exodus 2, but
we're going to spend pretty much the rest of our time here in
Hebrews chapter 11. Now what we have in Hebrews chapter
11 is this. We have the New Testament account
of our story right here in Exodus. It is quite amazing what is revealed
when you compare the two texts. So if you have Hebrews chapter
11, look first at verse 24. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Did you know that the phrase here, come to years, in the original
Greek interpretation means became exceeding great? I thought that
was very interesting. When Moses became exceeding great,
Now, wait a minute. Do I mean that Moses became exceeding
great when he became Pharaoh's grandson? No. No, I mean after
that. And it tells us right here, by
faith Moses, when he came to years, when he became exceeding
great, which is what that means, he refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. He became great when he renounced
Egypt. He became great when he renounced
his upbringing. He became great when in his heart
by faith he refused and he rejected the thought of being called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now listen to me on this. We
talked about it Sunday. Saving faith. Saving faith will
cause you to trust only in the Son of God and no one else. Saving
faith will cause you to put your trust in Christ alone, not in
the world, or in the things of the world." And I'll add this,
Josephus, the Jewish historian, believes that Pharaoh had no
other children than this daughter, and that she, his daughter, had
no children other than the adopted Moses. So you know what that
means? That means, and if that was so,
That means that Moses was next in line for the throne. He was
going to be the next Pharaoh. And you think about what Moses
renounced and rejected here. He rejected great wealth, and
honor, and power, and prestige, and more than likely a throne.
Only God's grace and faith in Christ will cause a man or a
woman to renounce and reject. such things in this world. Only
when a sinner sees Christ as King of Kings will he renounce
and reject himself as the King of his own heart. Now you think
about this, Moses murders a man and he buries him in the sand
and he tries to cover it up and he flees for his life to the
land of Midian. But when the Holy Spirit talks
about it on the pages of the New Testament, here in Hebrews
chapter 11, what Moses did is considered a great act of faith.
The Old Testament exposed his sin. The New Testament exposes
God's grace for his sin. The Old Testament law exposes
our sin. The New Testament grace of Christ
covers our sin. And in the end, God will see
his elect people as unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.
Now, if you're a sinner, that'll mean something to you. When you,
we all live with ourselves daily, don't we? We're not fooling anybody,
especially ourselves. We know what we are, we know
what we think, we know the things that we say, and my. But to think that God will see
me as perfect in Christ is, Something that I just can't get over, I'm
telling you. And I love to think about it. I just love to think about it.
So I think I have a perfect example of what I'm saying, how the Old
Testament exposes sin and the New Testament reveals God's mercy
and grace to sinners. You remember Olott. We studied
about Olott. Man, I'm telling you, he was
a scoundrel, wasn't he? He absolutely was. Abraham had pretty much adopted
him. You could say that Abraham was his legal guardian. He should have yielded to the
will and wishes of his elder. Everything that he got, he got
from Abraham. And then when some strife arose
between their shepherds, Abraham said, you take what you
want. And Lot did. He took the best and left the
rest for Abraham. He pitched his tent towards Sodom. A little bit later, he's moved
right downtown Main Street in Sodom. When the angels came to
deliver him and his wife, he lingered in Sodom. And even when
the Lord delivered them out, his wife's heart was still in
Sodom, and she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
But in the New Testament, I mean, the Old Testament exposes a lot.
Boy, the Lord, we talked about that many times, the Lord doesn't
hold back the sin and the inadequacies of his people. But in the New
Testament, you know what we read concerning Lot? We simply read,
God delivered just lot. He's a just man. What? Is this the same lot that the
Old Testament talked about? Same one? Well, maybe not. Maybe it's not the same one. We read, for that righteous man
dwelling among them and Sodom had his righteous soul vexed
from day to day. Could this be the same lot? In the Old Testament, it was
the old man lot. In the New Testament, it's the
new man lot. That's a great picture of the two natures, isn't it?
I've told you this story before. Probably I'll not tell it, but
I'm going to anyway. Todd Nybert went to a doctor
in Lexington one time. It just so happened to turn out
that his doctor was a fellow I went to school with in Henderson.
And the doctor told Todd where he was from. He said, I'm from
Henderson. Todd said, oh, I've got a friend that is from Henderson. You might know him, David Edmondson. He said, well, yeah, we played
baseball together. He said, what's David doing there?
He said, well, David's a pastor of a church in Madisonville,
Kentucky. And he said he dropped his stethoscope when he said
that. And he said, of all the people I ever went to school
with, I never would have thought that David Edmondson would be
a pastor. And you know what? Neither did
David Edmondson. Neither did David Edmondson. The point I'm trying to make
is when things change, it's God that changes them. It's God that
makes a difference. That was the difference in Lot's
life. was the difference that God made.
Who maketh thee to differ from another? Only God. Only God. In Hebrews chapter 11, we read
nothing about Moses murdering a man. Do we? Doesn't even mention
it. We're simply told that by faith
he refused, he rejected, he renounced a life of ease and wealth and
prestige and worldly honor. And he would rather suffer with
the people of God. than to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. Boy, that's a change that God
made, wasn't it? If we are in Christ, then we
will be perfectly conformed to him. And that's the thing that
I like to think about so much. God will have nothing to say
to us in that day, but well done, thy good and faithful servant. And you think about that and
you chew on that. And you think about your union
with Christ and what you are in the eyes of God because of
what He did, not because of what you do. Let's stop. Let's just
do everything we can to stop looking to anything that we do. And even though we're to examine
ourselves to see if we be in the faith, like we talked about
recently, Let's realize that that faith is in a person, it's
in Christ, and it's the work of righteousness that He's done
for us. That's what examining ourselves is, that we be found
in Him. And I tell you, I still can't get
over that kind of grace. I was sitting there today in
my study, and I'm just shaking my head. I can't get over this. I still can't get over that kind
of forgiveness. Well, we have trouble forgiving
ourselves, but God forgives us. Do we deserve forgiveness? No,
it wouldn't be grace if we deserved it. It wouldn't be mercy. I can't
get over that kind of Savior. What a Savior He is. You know,
Moses made some choices that the world would have called crazy. They would have. You know they
would have. It was hard enough for folks to understand how Moses
renounced, refused, and rejected the throne of Egypt. What's he
thinking? Can't you imagine what people
were saying? But to do what verse 25 tells us back in Hebrews 11,
as a matter of fact. To do what verse 25 tells us
was too much for folks to even fathom. It said, He didn't only
renounce and reject, but he chose rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. The world would call that a crazy
choice. Even crazier because his choosing
was deliberate and intentional. But do you know what the people
of God call it? They call it faith. saving faith
in Christ. And we say this all the time,
and it's true. God's people do what they want
to. God just changes their want to. And He changes them to want
to be pleasing to Him. The only reason any of us have
any desire to be pleasing to God is because He's put that
desire within us. Moses refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter. Moses chose to suffer affliction
with the people of God. And you think about that. Moses
chose affliction over pleasure. Naturally speaking, that'd be
a hard choice. Now look at verse 26. Esteeming
the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense
of the reward. As we just read, Moses protected
one of his own people and he murdered that man's aggressor.
And the very next day, one of his own people persecuted and
reproached him by saying, who made thee a prince and a judge
over us? And isn't that exactly how our
Lord was treated? Well, the scriptures say he came
unto his own, and his own received him not. His own people rejected him. That's what Moses esteemed
more than all the riches and treasures in Egypt. And I was
thinking about that. There were some among the Hebrews,
there had to have been, because human nature doesn't change,
does it? What we do today, they did back then. And what they
did back then, we do today. Because this, the heart in men
and women haven't changed. Deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked. And only God can know it. But
I was thinking that there were probably more than not those
among the Hebrews who even long after being delivered, after
crossing the Red Sea, having wandered in the wilderness. Maybe
even some of those that had actually got into the land of promise.
Well, not them, because only two did. But I'm sure they continued
to murmur and complain against Moses. They said he took too
much upon himself. And I'll bet some of them never
forgot his time in Pharaoh's palace. I bet some of them, I'm
sure that they never completely accepted him as a deliverer and
said, who does he think he is? Well, he used to be a prince
in Pharaoh's palace. He thinks he's something special. That's the reproach of Christ,
that he suffered. And he was glad to suffer it.
Why? Because those who are persecuted,
hated, and despised for Christ's name's sake are going to be greatly
blessed in the end. That's what the Lord Himself
said. Moses saw something. What was it? Well, the last part
of verse 26 here in Hebrews 11 says, For he had respect unto
the recompense of the reward. And some might say, well, you
see there, preacher, there is rewards in heaven. No, there is a reward in heaven,
singular. There's a reward in heaven. That's
the word singular is used here in Hebrews 11. And I found it
interesting that the word recompense also means reward. The recompense
of the reward, the reward of the reward. Well, we know who
the reward singular is, it's Christ. We say it all the time,
heaven is only heaven because of who's there, and that's Christ.
But Christ is the reward of the reward. And I got to thinking
about that, and I finally, I just had to make myself stop. I got
lost in it. Salvation, if I may say it this
way, is a reward of our faith. By God's grace and mercy to us
in Christ, faith is God's gift to us, so we can't take credit
for it. And therefore, with the reward
of redemption, we have Christ who is our redemption. Salvation
is not a reward we receive because of something that we've done.
Salvation is a reward because of something that Christ has
done for us, and therefore, he is our reward. Christ is the
reward of our reward. And I love that. And that's for
free. I'm not charging anything extra
for that. That's just an observation that
I make. But do allow me to be perfectly clear. It's only by
faith in Christ that any of us would make any correct choices
like the choices that Moses made. But the child of God, I'm telling
you, would rather be a son and daughter of God than one of Pharaoh
in the world. Either the pleasure of being
Pharaoh's son was temporary. God showed Moses that. He revealed
that to him. Oh, there's pleasure of sin in
a four season, but it's temporary. The believer would rather suffer
the reproach of Christ than to have all the riches and the treasures
in Egypt. Why? Because Christ is eternal
life. He that hath the Son hath that
eternal life. And what would a man give for
the saving of his own soul? That's priceless, isn't it? Eternal
life in Christ, priceless. And no wonder we're told to cast
not away our confidence, which has great recompense of reward. I think it was Todd or one of
the preachers that I listen to regularly said this, said, faith
is not a choice, but faith makes choices. That's true. You don't choose to believe.
You only believe when you have no choice. That's true. When you have no other place
to go, when you have no other place to look, when there's no
one else but Christ to turn to, when God shows you your inability
and God shows you your unwillingness by nature, then and only then
will you see your great need. Those of you that know Christ
know that what I'm telling you so. You've got to get lost before
you get saved. You've got to die before you
live. You've got to come down in order to be lifted up. That's
just the way it works. You've got to see your need before
you'll ever see who you need. And it's then and only then that
you'll see that one remedy and that one thing needful. And that's
faith in Christ. Now look at verse 27. By faith,
again, Paul, the writer of Hebrews, who I believe to be the writer
of Hebrews, says, by faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the
wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
I think it's fairly obvious from this verse in Hebrews that Moses,
in seeing Christ, renounced his association with Egypt and he
forsook it. Not until he saw Christ. When
you come to Christ, you'll do some renouncing. You will. When you come to Christ, you'll
do some forsaking. It just has to be. It has to
be that way. You cannot love the world, nor
the things of the world, and at the same time, love God with
all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Can't do it. Your heart won't allow you to
set your affection on two things that way. That's why our Lord
said, no man can serve two masters. That's the same terminology he
used in John 5 when he said, no man can come to me. It means
no man has the ability to serve two masters. Why? Well, he tells us. You'll love
the one, hate the other. You'll cling to the one, despise
the other. We don't have the ability to
set all our affection on two masters. I mean, that doesn't
even make good sense, does it? Can you love two people the most?
No. You've got to love one more than
the other. We neither have the ability to
serve two masters. No man or woman has within them
the ability to love two the most. You cannot effectively serve
two masters because your service to one will greatly suffer in
your division of interest. So let me say it one more time.
Moses teaches us a very valuable lesson here. I pray that God
enable us to learn it. The ways of this world, the values
of this world, the religion of this world, the thinking of this
world. It's messed up, isn't it? It's
contrary to God and Christ. It's a works-based world. And
once you see the liberty and the freedom that's found in Christ,
I'm telling you, you'll renounce this world and all the things
that it offers. You will. The writer of Hebrews
reminds us again, this is only accomplished by God-given faith. Over and over and over again,
speaking of these Old Testament saints who loved the Lord, who
are with Him now in glory, by faith, by faith, by faith Abel,
by faith Enoch, by faith Abraham, by faith Sarah, by faith Noah,
By faith. Over and over again. It's by
faith. Verse 27 again. By faith Moses
forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. Well it sure
seemed to me like in Exodus chapter 2 that Moses fled Egypt because
he feared Pharaoh. Said Pharaoh was out to get him
and he left. He didn't hang around town. But remember this speaks of Moses
by faith. If you read on here in verse
27, it says, for he endured. Those that endure until the end
shall be saved. And we know that we endure to
the end because Christ loves his people until the end. You've
heard me say that more than once. And later in our study, Moses,
He fled Egypt in fear, and later he walked right into the throne
of Pharaoh. And he says, God said, let my
people go. Let my people go. He had his
eyes on Christ, no doubt about it. He then feared only God. He saw the Invisible One." Have
you seen the Invisible One? Oh, I'm telling you, He's the
Sovereign One, the All-Knowing One. And that one who had said,
who made thee a prince and a judge over us, it'd soon be obvious
who did. I can tell you that. I wonder
if that old boy was around saying, what was I thinking? It's pretty
obvious who made him a prince and a judge over the people of
Israel, the invisible Godhead. I'm telling you, friends, there's
going to be some reproach along the way, along this walk. There's
going to be some reproach of the gospel that you believe.
Not everybody's going to believe it. As a matter of fact, some
of you have experienced this reproach from those that you
love. There's going to be some reproach of the Christ that you
trust. You're going to hear things like,
do you really believe that God became a man and did for you
everything that His holy law required and everything that
His holy justice demanded? And you're going to say, yes,
I do. And they're going to shake their head. And they're going
to say, do you really believe that in order to be saved, that
all you really have to do is believe on that Christ? You're
going to say, yes, I do. And veins are going to start
popping out in their neck, and they're going to get red-faced
and mad. And then will come the reproach.
I've seen it and heard it many times. Why, you think you're
the only ones that are saved. Some of you are smiling because
you've been told that, haven't you? You think that you're the
only ones that preach the truth. You think you're the only ones
that love Jesus. That's the reproach of Christ.
That's the reproach of Christ. That's a suffering that God's
people share and bear. But you know what? We esteem
it. We count it a privilege. Don't
we? Absolutely, because it works
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory in the
end. We esteem the reproach of Christ
because we know that in Him we've got far, far greater riches than
the treasures of this God-forsaken Egypt in which we live. Has God shown you that? God help
us to continue to trust and rest in Christ and Him alone. I love this gospel, don't you?
I sure do.