We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching onward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. that our songs abound and every
tear be dry. It really does help sing these
hymns. It really will dry the tears.
It really will. Do you like that, Jill? It's
our favorite hymn. One of them. I stood there and watched our
little ones. A couple of them can't even read
yet. Isabella and Lily and Olivia. So they can't sing these
songs yet. Then there's Kelly. I saw her
trying to sing it. Laura back there singing. I was
just hoping and praying. The Lord let them sing these
songs someday from their hearts. We talk about faith. See, it
really is a gift of God. We can't make them believe, can
we? We can't make them believe. We
have them here. If we could, we would when we
would make them believe. We can't do it. I know who does.
I know who can, I know who does, and I know how he does it. Right
here. Right here. So maybe, you know, I hope to
look up some day and see those young grown ladies singing these
songs from the bottom of their hearts. That would be a miracle,
wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be wonderful? Nothing
better. It would be nothing better. Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, good
preaching is truth applied. Taking God's Word, which is the
truth, the gospel, which is the truth, declaring it, and then
illustrating it. That's the way our Lord preached.
I say good preaching. I'm not saying I'm able to do
that. I know what it is. That's the
way our Lord did. He declared the truth and then
He applied it to the people. What I want
to do here, looking at this story of Moses, this wonderful story,
is tell you what the Word teaches here and then tell you the story. These are real people, real experience,
real story of Moses refusing, by the grace of God, refusing
something and choosing something, by the grace of God. And what
Moses, by the grace of God, esteemed more than anything else. So I
will tell you what it's saying and then apply it, I hope. with
this story. Verse 24, "...by faith Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter." There's no higher, you couldn't
get any higher in this world than that. Pharaoh's grandson. That meant to Moses, that meant
fame, which everybody wants. It meant
honor. Everybody esteemed him so highly. It meant power, influence. It meant wealth beyond description. Riches. To have those things, to have
that fame, honor, power, wealth, to have the worlds Honor, you
must walk with it. You must think like it. You must
cater to it. Right? To be really successful
in this world, you have to think like it, act like it, bow to
it, cater to it. But now when God Almighty takes
someone like Moses and changes them, gives them
this faith, They refuse it. If offered it,
they refuse it. They refuse it. Faith won't walk with the world,
it walks with God. Faith doesn't think like the
world, it thinks like God. Faith is crucified to the world,
and the world will crucify you. Right? Now, for the young people in
here, What about ambition? What about worldly ambition?
Well, worldly ambition is not good in any sense. It's just
not. There's nothing I can say to
condone that, because our Lord said, set not your affection
on things below, didn't He? Work hard, hard work, attainments,
going to school, get an education and so forth. Nothing evil about
that. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with getting a
good job. God gives it and so forth. But set not your heart
upon it. If anything takes you away from
the one thing needful, then it's evil. And you'll go down with
it. the world. Child of God. Here's the thing about it. Child
of God. God Almighty reveals to His children that there's
one thing they need. Food and raiment. It's all you
need in this life. Food and rain. Boy, you need
this salvation. Verse 25 says Moses refused that. Verse 25, he chose rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season. There are choices. But then again, we have to give
God all the glory. It is God that worketh in us
both the will and the do of His good pleasure. If a man chooses,
it is because God made him willing in the day of His power. Whosoever
will, will because God chose him. Moses says, chose rather
to suffer affliction with the people of God. Egypt, throughout
the scripture, Egypt represents the world. Egypt, just like the
modern world, was the center of science and art and politics
and technology. It was full of godless people,
people that didn't believe in God. People with their own laws
that didn't believe God's law. They did not believe God. They
had their own laws. So I'm sure homosexuality and all that sort
of thing was just accepted. Free. No holds barred. That was Egypt. Things haven't
changed. The world hasn't changed. Now Israel on the other hand.
Children of Israel were the elect of God. Weren't they? They worshiped God. They believed
God. God revealed himself to Israel. And what they were mostly
were servants, laborers. And they believed God's law.
And so it is today. God has a people, an elect people
in this world. They're not of it. They're in
it. And they're mostly servants to the world. That is, they worked
for the Egyptians. We were talking about that last
night. Egypt owns everything. And the people of God work for
them. And God gave them favor in the eyes of the Egyptians.
So it is like that. Things haven't changed. And while
the Egyptians had it fairly easy, the children of Israel had it
tough. Affliction. We read that in Psalm 73. That's
why I read that. David looked around at the world
and he says, they're not in trouble like I am. He said, they're not plagued
like other men, Godspeed, with pride. They're full of pride
and violence. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than the heart could wish. He said, they're corrupt, speak
wickedly against God, their mouths against heaven, their tongues
in the dirt. God, don't you see this? Oh, yes, he sees it. Oh,
yes, he sees. And he sees the affliction of
his people. Yes, he does. David said, your people are waters
of a full cup. That is, of trials and affliction.
Israel of old, they were in bondage, they were laboring, they were
just getting by it's saying, well, they had food and rain. He says, God, look down, Solomon.
He said, I'm taking you out of here. So David, the one that wrote
that Psalm 73, said this. He said, I tell you what, I'd
rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God. than to dwell in
the tents, the palaces to rub shoulders with, to be a part
of the rich and famous. How about you? Moses' affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season, it said. There is pleasure in this sinful
world, much pleasure. But it says for a season. It's
seasonal, just for a little while. Just a little while. It doesn't
last. It doesn't last. Look at this, verse 26. It says,
Moses, esteeming the reproach of Christ, or for Christ, greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt. Reproach of Christ? Moses? Oh
yeah. Our Lord said, Moses wrote of
me. It says before that, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and he was glad. Moses
loved, knew, believed the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ revealed himself to Moses. He knew Christ. And all who do
suffer reproach. It's called the reproach of Christ.
Our Lord said to his disciple, you shall be hated by all men
for my name's sake. He said, marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hate you. They hated me, they'll hate you. That's the reproach of Christ. They killed Christ. Reproach
means to rail on. Reproach means to taunt. Reproach
means to bring down, to scoff at and mock. Reproach, that's
what that means. To ridicule. That's what reproach
means. Reproach of Christ. What's that talking about? Believing God. Believing the
truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believing that Christ is Lord, not because we
make Him Lord, because He is. Because God made Him Lord. Believing
that Christ came down here to save a particular people, elect
of God, given to Christ before the world began. He came down
to save those people. They didn't deserve it, nobody
did, but he came down to save those particular people. And
it's to believe that he did just that. That he didn't make an
attempt, that he came and actually put away their sins by the sacrifice
of himself. That he died for his people and
put away their sins. To the praise of the glory of
His righteousness imputed to Him, His blood shed for the remission
of their sin, and every single person God chose and Christ died
for, will, hath been, is now, and shall be forever saved. No
possibility of them being ever lost because salvation is of
the Lord. To the praise of the glory of
His sovereign power and sovereign electing mercy and grace and
love in the blood of His Son. That there is no other reason
for salvation. All the reason of salvation is
found in the Lord Jesus Christ, the substitute for His people. And people hate that. Everybody
but God's people, that is. And they'll hate you for telling
them. They hated Christ for saying it. He said, No man cometh unto
the Father but by Me. And the Pharisees said, We don't
like that. It's still so. Still so. And so they took him
and hung him on a tree. But they did what their evil
hearts determined to do, but what God determined before to
be done. There is no free will except with God. The world will
hate you for that. They'll reproach you. They'll
call you bigoted and narrow-minded. Yes, straight as a gate and narrow
as the way. And we don't say that. Christ
said that. Narrow. Narrow. Reproach. Reproach. If there's no reproach, apparently
we're not saying it clear enough. One time, someone wrote to my
dad. He was on TV for years and wrote
to him and said, You and Jimmy Swagger are my two favorite preachers.
Do you remember that? And Dad said, Man, I must not
be saying it clear enough. Do you remember that? I don't want to try it again. I've even heard that fellow,
though, the Lord put in his mouth the truth just to make people
accountable for it. Not to save them through him,
but to make them accountable. The Lord spoke through an ass
one time. He can still do that. Anyway, reproach of Christ. He said, you'll be hated by all
men for my namesake, for my glory, for my honor. That's what God's
people are all about. We're not all about the church.
We're not about ourselves. We're not about our denomination.
We're not about this. We're about His glory. That's
why God saved the people, to the praise of the glory of His
grace, that He might show in time the exceeding riches of
His grace to us. And that starts now, that showing
forth His glory. And it brings reproach. So be
it. So be it. Moses, he said, is
better than the treasures of Egypt. Greater riches? Riches,
true riches. What are riches? What are riches? Scripture talks about the deceitfulness
of riches. Meaning. wealth, material possessions,
money, and so forth, that it's all deceitful. It doesn't matter
what it is in this earth. If it's material, it deceives you into thinking
that if you get enough of it, you'll be happy. That it will
give you rest. You accumulate enough of it,
then you can rest and take your ease. Rest? No, sir. Could be gone. Bam! It's gone. Right? A man's going to build
a bigger barn. He has so much, you know, building,
I'll just sit down on my rock and I'll retire and enjoy all
this. God took him. What a fool. We need riches. Things in this world deceive
us. They promise joy. The fact of
the matter is, the more you accumulate, the more heartaches and troubles
there are with it. Isn't it? Isn't it so? If I just
get enough money, then I'll be happy. You name me one rich person
that says that. I mean, that really is happy. Name me one who's finally got
to be a millionaire, and now that's it. That's all I need.
Name one. Can't get enough. The eye is
not full with seeing, the mouth with tasting, the ear with hearing
is not full. It never will be. It deceives
you. It promises joy. Oh, I'm happy now. Boyfriend
is taken. Then where do you find joy? So
it's deceitful. But there are riches. Scripture
talks about unsearchable riches. Riches cannot be described. Something unspeakable, full of
glory. Scripture says it's Christ. The
unsearchable riches of Christ. And that's something you can't
explain. Somebody doesn't have it. I talk about this joy that we
have in worshiping and all that, and I remember distinctly thinking,
you know, I wish, I remember wishing that I found great joy,
but I didn't find any joy. And now I do. Something experienced
actually. But the rich, it talks about
rich in faith. Lasting joy, full of glory, peace,
our Lord said that no man can take from me. Our Lord said,
I'm going to give you peace that no man, no man, no person, no
matter what happens, no matter what anybody does, no matter
what takes place, no circumstance, no trial, no nothing can take
it from you. And the world won't understand
it and even you won't be able to understand it. Passive understanding.
Rich. I want that peace, don't you? I want to be rich in that. Faith. I want to be rich in faith, don't
you? So that no matter what happens, I'm standing on a rock. That's the riches I want. Treasures
of Egypt. A treasure is something you store
up. Something you deposit all of
everything into to use at a later time. And as we said, that's what people
do, don't they? Treasure. Put treasure. Our Lord said, provide for yourselves
treasures in heaven. Bags that wax not old. Where moths can't get to. Rust
can't corrupt. Thieves won't steal it. Lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven. And then the time comes, you'll have it all. What is that? I'm trying. He says, verse 26,
this recompense of reward. He had respect under the recompense
of the reward. The recompense. You remember when Peter, recompense
means payback. Payback. Peter at one time, The Lord said, except you forsake
all that you have, you cannot be my disciples. And Peter said
to the Lord, Lord, we have. We've forsaken all to follow
you, didn't we? We've left everything and everybody
for you. What do we get? That's what Peter
said. Abraham said the same thing. What do I get? Lot gets Sodom. What do I get? Oh, Abraham. You get me. You get me. And our Lord said
to Peter, Peter, Simon, brethren, there's no man that hath forsaken
houses, or land, or father, or mother, or husband, or wife,
or son, or daughter for my sake in the gospel. that will not
receive 100 fold in this life and eternal life. Peter, eye
hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard, haven't entered into your heart
the things that I prepare for them that love me. What do you get? You couldn't
take it if I showed it to you. You couldn't live any longer
on this earth if I let you see it now. You wouldn't be content
here if you're not able to bear it. But trust me, trust me, not
one person has forsaken this world for Christ's sake. Not
one who trusts me. And that's what Moses did by
faith. He forsook Egypt, verse 27. not fearing the wrath of
the King. He endured as seeing Him who
is invisible. He endured as seeing Him. Chapter 12, looking unto Jesus.
He endured. There is only one way to endure
the affliction, the reproach, looking to Him. One way. Forsake, eat. Only one
way to forsake what the flesh wants so bad. Lust of the eyes,
lust of the flesh. Only one thing to forsake that.
You see someone better. Look at him, and everything will
fade. Won't it mess? It'll fade. The
beauty of it, the glory of it, the value of it. He said he esteemed
that reproach. He didn't hold anyone or anything
in high esteem on this earth, only God, only Christ. How about
you? Besook Egypt, enduring, seeing
him who is invisible, and verse 28 says, he kept the Passover
through faith, sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed
the firstborn should touch them. He kept the Passover, and kept
the Passover, and kept the Passover, and kept the Passover, and kept
the Passover. He kept keeping the Passover.
How it all started, the Lord brought him and his people out,
was through the Passover. He came to Moses, he came to
the people of God and said, I'm going to come through and I'm
going to destroy Egypt, the firstborn and all the land of Egypt. But, you found favor with that. You
found mercy with that. I'm going to tell you how to
keep from being destroyed. I'm going to tell you how I love
you. The blood. The blood of the Lamb. And when I see that blood, you
take this blood of the Lamb, an innocent sacrifice, a substitute,
and you take that blood and you strike it over the doorpost,
the lintel, the jam of the house where you and your children are,
and when I see the blood, I promise you, when I see the blood, I
will pass over you. And the plague won't come now,
not hoofing or harrowing you, But I see the blood. And Moses
believed, and the people did, and when God came through, he
saw the blood, and not one single person in Israel died. Not one. Moses knew, my life is because
of the blood. And so from there on, the blood
was his life. Do you hear what I'm saying? From then on, I'm going to keep
the Passover. I'm going to go to church. Do we have to keep the Passover?
Do we have to? No, we don't have to. We want
to. It's my life. I love it. The blood. The blood. The blessed
blood. He kept it. Kept keeping it. He ordered his life around it.
It was his life. He was living because of the
blood. And so therefore, the blood was his life from then
on. See that? Well, the actual story. Let me
just tell you the story. Moses had parents. I'm rhyming
Jacobean. Back in chapter 2, we've looked
at it. They had a son, and they, remember, committed him to that
basket, and he was found by Pharaoh's daughter, and so he was raised
in Egypt. And so are our children. Aren't
they? They're raised in this godless
world. We cast our bread on the water,
though, don't we? We do. We cast, oh my, I don't
want to give her up. If we could keep them with us
all our day, we would, wouldn't we? Protect them from the world.
That doesn't do them any good. God's God everywhere. Isn't it? Well, they did. They
cast Moses out there. But in God's providence, you
remember the story? God let her, his mother, Jacobean,
raise him and teach him and nurse him. You know, why do we have
our children in here? We insist upon it. Because this
is the only place they're going to hear the truth. That's right, it's vital. God
in His goodness is still giving us a place. Well, the armament
jackabed Moses Parris committed him to Egypt. Don't you know that his mother
and dad were greatly concerned about Moses while he was in Egypt?
Huh? Being raised by Pharaoh's daughter. Oh, it's a last place they wanted
him to be raised. You follow me? Famous. Powerful. Oh, my. My, my. And she earnestly prayed. Do
you reckon? Do you reckon she earnestly prayed for Moses? And
she earnestly taught him. Whenever he came around, she
taught him. Whenever he came around, she
told him, son. Didn't she? You know she did.
It's a real story. I'm not making this up. It's
just by faith. Jacob had taught Moses, salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is not for the rich
and the mighty and the noble. It's for the nobodies and the
nothings. It's for the poor and the contrite. It's not for the
proud, it's for the lowly. It's not for the self-righteous,
it's for sinners. It's not by riches, it's by blood
and sin. Moses raised in Egypt under Egyptian
influences, Egyptian friends with all the treasures of Egypt,
finest homes, finest clothing, finest food, finest chariots
money could buy. You reckon he was enamored with
those things as a boy? Joseph, you reckon he loved the
chariots? Oh man, he had a duly. Finest chariot money could buy.
Yeah, I did. I did. Do you reckon he ran in with
his buddies into mischief out in Egypt running the streets?
Do you reckon? He's a boy, isn't he? Guarantee it. Guarantee it. Do you reckon as he got older he thought,
I'm going to find the prettiest woman in all of Egypt? I don't care if she knows God
or not. He didn't know God. I mean, we were there, weren't
we? How pretty, that's what I need.
The most beautiful girl in Egypt. And I'm going to have me the
finest home, the biggest chariot money can buy, make me lots of
money. I'm going to be Pharaoh. That's what I'm going to be.
That's what I want more than anything else. He went to school,
got his degree in Egyptian archaeology. Yes, he did. The finest man had
to offer an education. He'd see those Jewish people,
those servants, and think, boy, those poor ignorant people. Didn't
he? Poor ignorant people. I bet they
wish they had what I have. And Mom, she kept praying for her boy.
Reckon? Egypt is where it's at. Egypt,
the hope of mankind. Egypt, education, that's it.
That'll be the Savior. Egypt, technology. Egypt! Now, Moses. Let's see when he was come to
Ares. One day, God God did this. He was 40 years old. God Almighty
came and appeared to him in a burning bush. Take your shoes off. God did this. Moses did nothing. That doesn't mean when you come
to here, it doesn't mean nothing. He just changed his mind one
day. Oh no, God came to him. Moses. God revealed Himself to
him. God, who is rich in mercy, who
loved Moses for His great love for which He loved and chose
Moses and began to quicken him by His grace. And I know, I know,
this is my story, I know as God began to reveal the truth to
him, it was the Word which He had heard from a child. That word written on his heart,
he believed. He believed. He believed God. And it has changed him. You've
got to take a look. He began to see things real clearly. He began to see things he couldn't
see before. His affection changed. His estimation changed. It's
a true story. His estimation. It's my story.
His estimation, I think, completely 180 degrees changed. He went out to his brethren. His brethren, mind you, not Egypt. One day he thought, I want to
be just like those poor Israelites. I have all this, but I have nothing.
They have something I want. I remember distinctly envying
my sister. Yes, I do. When the Lord began
to deal with me, I distinctly remember envying what Becky had. I wanted it. And I knew it had
something to do with coming to church. I remember that like yesterday.
And I wanted it. Oh, you're talking about a miracle
of God's grace. One day Moses thought, you know,
there's nothing to this Egypt. There's nothing to these so-called
friends of mine. All they want is what they can
get out of them. He thought, these Hebrews have
something I want. They're real people. They've
got real hope. I think I'll cast my lot with
them. I believe I'd rather have what
they have, their hope of eternal life, than all that Egypt has
to offer." Yes, he did. What could do that? Only God. God. Christ. I'd rather
be called a son of God than a son of Pharaoh. They're steaming
their reproach, the affliction. Do you know what he suffered
from his Egyptian? You're doing what? You're giving
up the throne? Moses, have you lost your mind
or are you a fool? I reckon, that's found out. I'll be a fool
for Christ's sake. No, he said, I believe I've finally
got some wisdom by the grace of God. I believe God has given
me wisdom from above. Think you're the fool. You're
the fool if you stay in this perishing place. You're the fool.
I pray and I hope that God will give you the same understanding
He's given me. He had respect under the reward. All the praise, honor, glory
of being a Pharaoh meant nothing to him as opposed to being the
Son of God. rather be commended by God than
man. And he began to actually despise
Egypt. He won out. Before it was, man, this is it. Now he thought, is this it? And
he says he forsook. Forsook it. Forsook Egypt. Left
his friends. Who did he leave? Just things. All his old buddies. You can't walk together except
you be a group. You can't have fellowship with the darkness.
Light can't. Moses is a new person. He's a
son of God, not a son of Balaam. You can't walk together. He felt
uncomfortable around the Egyptians now. Before, he felt uncomfortable
around these Israelites. Now, what are they going to talk
about? He's got new hope. He's got new
principles. He's got a new estimation of
things. Everything they see in Egypt,
he thinks they're blind. He's got new eyes. He's got new
hope, new love, new affection. Right? It's a true story. Who gets the glory here? God does, that's why. Not Moses. Take somebody forty years old,
and it says he forsook Egypt, and it says he didn't fear the
wrath of the king, it didn't matter. He endured a sea in him
who's invisible. And oh, I love that verse 28
again. Look at it again. It says, Through
faith he kept the Passover. Through faith he kept the Passover. and began from that day forward
to wander through the wilderness with a bunch of poor ragtag Jews. Left Egypt while they scoffed
and mocked and called him a fool. And he got his staff in his hand
and just a pretty good robe on his back and some mighty good
shoes. that wouldn't wear out for 40
years. Joshua, Caitlin, Aaron, Miriam, her, Martha, Mary, Samuel,
Stanley, let's go. Where are you going? Marching
to Zion. We're leaving here. We have no
continuing city here. We're looking for another. God's
promise. Let's go. Let's stand together.