As I mentioned in the reading
a few moments ago, verse 1 of Hebrews 11, we're given a definition
of what real faith is. Real faith. I stress that because
there is such a thing as a dead faith. The faith of devils. Those aren't my terms. That's
what we read in the Word of God. James, in his epistle, says that
very thing in chapter 2, James 2, verse 14. James asks, What
doth it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works, can faith save him? That is, a more literal
rendering would be, can such faith save him? And again, in
verse 20 of that same chapter, James writes, But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works is dead. Again, verse 26
of chapter 2. Whereas the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. And I hope
you know that what I'm about to say gives me no joy whatsoever. It's sad. It's heartbreaking. But there are multitudes who
professed just the kind of faith that James said is dead, is dead,
is vain. Faith without works. Now you
know a lot of people that would fall under this category. I mean,
it's just so. It's the day in which we live.
It's always been so, but I think more prevalent today perhaps
than at any other time. But their faith, such faith as
James spoke of, is a faith without words. It's a mere historical
faith. Like I read in a history book
about Abraham Lincoln. I read in the word of God or
somebody tells me about Jesus Christ. I believe on him just
as a matter of history. It's a mere profession. A profession. It doesn't take a work of God
in a sinner's heart to make a profession. People are pumped into making
professions all the time. It's going on all around us.
But it's a profession without possession. It's a dead faith. And it lies only in words, no
deeds, that show the truth and the genuineness of that profession. No evidence, as we read there
in verse 1. The tree shows its life. We know
a tree's alive, that fig tree down at the parts of Boy, I would
wait each year, wait for that to get ripe so I'd eat those
figs. They were so good. But the fruit didn't give the
tree life. Figs appeared because the tree
already had life. Fruit is not the cause of life,
but life is the cause of the fruit. Likewise, faith alone,
we know that. The word plainly declares again
and again. Faith without works saves. You're saved by grace through
faith. It's not of yourself, not of works. But the faith that
saves is never alone. That's what James, James is talking
about the kind of faith that saves. It has this evidence,
the fruit of good works. I love what we read in 2 Corinthians
5 and 17. Paul said this, Oh, glory to
God's grace that makes this so. This is as certain as anything
that has to do with our salvation. Therefore, if any man, not most
men, not some men, no, Paul writes dogmatically, without a single
exception, God's work in us is as effectual as God's work for
us. One is as effectual as the other. Therefore, if any man be in Christ
Jesus, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. I heard, I think it was Brother
Henry Mahan say or Scott Richardson, perhaps both of them, God saves
a sinner. God saves some poor husband who
was a drunk, even his hound dog will tell the difference. He's
a new creature in Christ Jesus. A new, oh, I like that word,
don't you? Not dead, dry, lifeless religion. Oh, no. Not just going through
emotions. Not just accepting some rules. Oh, no, no. A new and living
way. When a child of God believes
there is open up to him, a new and living way is opened by the
blood of Christ into the very holiest of all, into the very
presence of God. New song. The psalmist said,
he's put a new song in my heart, even praises to our God. And
those new creatures, creations, they look for new heavens and
a new earth. They're expecting that. That
place where God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Did
you hear that? where we read God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away, and new creations looking
for the new heaven and the new earth are looking mostly mostly
and chiefly for that one who sets upon the throne and declares
in sovereign majesty, behold, I make all things new. John, write that down. Don't
miss that, John. He told the apostle, write that
down because these words are true and faithful. If they weren't,
I wouldn't be telling you. So there is no question, no question
that whatsoever truly believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall
be saved, not temporarily, but forever. God's salvation is an
everlasting salvation. The life that the great shepherd
gives, Billy, is eternal life. It will never end. It will never
stop. It will never cease to be. True
faith saves. The faith of God's elect is a
gift from God himself. that will never be taken back.
It looks to Christ at the first. Do you recall it? Do you recall
it, child of God? Oh, you don't know exactly how?
You don't need to know. It's a mystery. Just as our Lord
told Nicodemus, you don't control the wind. You can't tell where
it came from, where it's going. Oh, but you see the evidence
of it. You see the leaves blowing on the tree. You see the swaying
of the branches. Oh, faith. Faith by God's grace
shall never be taken away. It looks to Christ at the first,
and it continues to look to Christ until that faith gives way to
sight. When I step into glory, I won't
need faith anymore. I can bid faith goodbye, because
then I'll be looking at the one who was the object of faith,
when they shall be with Christ in glory. Again, we refer to
it, but Paul says, for by grace are you saved through faith.
And that not of yourselves, it's God's gift. Not of works, lest
any man should boast. It is that faith that justifies
and gives peace with God. That's not a dead faith. That's
a living faith. That's a work and an operation
of God in the heart. And listen to what Paul said
in Romans 5 and 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, being declared not guilty, We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God. The faith of
a child of God if asked by the Son of God like Peter was, but
whom do you say that I am? Don't give me second-hand knowledge. Don't try to tell me about the
experience of somebody else. Who do you say that I am? Who
am I to you, Larry Chris? And the answer? The answer of
one who possesses the precious gift of faith in Christ will
reply, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. There's
a lot I don't know. There's a lot I don't understand.
But I know this, Jesus Christ is my Savior. Jesus Christ saved
me. Jesus Christ raised me from the
dead. Jesus Christ gave me life and faith. And it's Jesus Christ
that will not let me go. I know that. I know that. Not in my head, in my heart.
He's given me that precious gift. And that's exactly, that's exactly
how he replies to that answer of every believer. This is what
he said. Well, you're smarter than everybody
else. Thank you so much for allowing me to save you. No, no, no, no.
He said, blessed art thou. You're a blessed man, be happy.
That's one definition of the word blessed, is happy. Be happy. For flesh and blood has not revealed
this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. That's what
I want, don't you? I don't want a dead, lifeless
faith, so-called faith. Such a faith as that is not saving
at all. Oh, it's the very opposite, it's
damning. God save me from that. And that's
what we read here in verse 1 of Hebrews 11. Here's the definition.
Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the
evidence. The evidence of things not seen.
And through the rest of this chapter, the writer gives us
example after example of what he said in verse 1. Of faith being the evidence of
things not seen. I want to look at just one of
those examples. One of those demonstrations of God-given faith. How it affects a believer. One that's called, one that's
given that precious gift. And it's Moses. Moses. Look at
verse 26. This will be our text. And here's
the message. The greater riches of Christ. We listened to Aaron Greenleaf
sing that just now. I'd rather have Jesus than silver
and gold. What good is silver and gold
going to do me when I stand before God Almighty? When I'm standing
before the righteous judge of all the earth, what good is silver
and gold going to do? No, I'd rather have Jesus. That's
the heaven, or rather, the treasure of heaven. Before we come to
that, verse 26, look what it says. Esteeming, rather, verse
26, our text. It says, esteeming the reproach
of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Moses, though
he was raised in luxury, you know the story. His very name
means drawn or to draw out. Pharaoh's daughter drew him out
of the river, took him into her home, and raised him as her own
son. Moses, though he lived in luxury
in the house of Pharaoh, being raised as Pharaoh's daughter,
was brought at the appointed time. At the appointed time,
in God's gracious and wonderful providence, he was brought by
the sovereign grace of God to turn his back on all of it. Every
bit of it. He was 40 years old at the time.
And he looked at all the treasures of Egypt. That's what our text
says. And he said to himself, no, I
don't want them. You can have them. I'm leaving
all this to follow Christ, even with reproaches." Because God's
children have always suffered reproach just like their master.
But he said, I'll turn my back upon all this luxury. Hmm. Wow. What in the world is Moses
thinking? Hmm. I mean, why would he do
such a thing? Our text tells us that Moses
looked at all the treasures in Egypt, And then he compared them
to the riches of being a follower of the Lamb. And by faith he
saw that the riches of Jesus Christ, far outweighed, were
far greater than all the treasures in Egypt. He looked beyond that. He had respect unto the recompense
of the reward. The Greek means this. That phrase
means this. Turning his eyes away from other
considerations, He fixed them, he focused on the eternal recompense. Moses looked away from those
things which are seen with the natural eye and by faith looked
beyond to that treasure laid up for him in heaven. Consider,
look at verse 25. There we're told he chose rather
to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. He left Egypt that represents
this world traveling toward Canaan, a type, a picture of heaven.
And any hardship, any reproach, anything he would endure in the
journey would be more than, he would be more than recompensed
for when he entered that city whose builder and maker is God.
Do you suppose, do you suppose And I'm being facetious. Do you
suppose any of these believers that we read of in this chapter,
any believer since that day, Those of our dear friends, brethren,
that have already entered glory, do you think when they step into
glory, do you think when they open their eyes for the first
time in glory and see the King of kings and Lord of lords, do
you think they remember anything down here that will compare to
the glory that should be revealed to them and in them? Well, of
course not. Of course not. The glory of Egypt,
this world, cannot compare to that better country. that heavenly,
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
has prepared for them a city. Brethren, we are going to that
place above. Don't get too, our Lord taught
this. He exhorted us, he warned us.
Don't get too attached to this world. Don't be too concerned. I mean, don't be, we expect,
we don't expect any different from the world. Their philosophy
is get all you can, any way you can, and keep it, and hold on
to it as long as you can. Oh, but the child of God, Christ
says, be content. If you've got food, your heavenly
Father knows what you really need. Look at the sparrow. Look at the little man. Your
heavenly father knows? Knows? Oh, I think it was a man
by the name of John Aerosmith made the statement, if ill becomes
a true child of God, a citizen of heavenly glory, there'll be
watering in the dust of this earth, grasping for things below
when his treasure is above. The glory of Egypt again cannot
be compared to that heavenly home, to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled. That's where we're going. If
this word is true, if God can be trusted, if I belong to Jesus
Christ, he has laid up for me an inheritance, incorruptible
and undefiled, that fadeth not away, it's reserved right now. I've got a reservation in glory.
Why shouldn't I be happy? I'm going to be with him that
loved me and gave his life for me. No wonder, Paul said, when
he did the same calculating as Moses. He looked at the world,
his false religion, his false hope, and God called him out
of it, and he said, well, now let me tell you this. I've done
a little adding and subtracting, and this is what I've come up
with. I reckon, I reckon, that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be
revealed in us. Old John Newton, he wrote many
hymns. Amazing Grace, the most famous, but he expressed this
better than I can. And I think I've shared this
with you before, but he wrote, when the weary traveler gains
the height of some commanding hill, his heart revives it over
the plains. He sees his home, though distant
still. Thus, when the Christian pilgrim
views by faith his mansion in the skies, The sight his feigning
strength renews, and wins his speed to reach the prize. The
thought of heaven his spirit cheers. No more he grieves for
troubles past, nor any future trial he fears, so he may safe
arrive at last. Jesus on thee our hopes we stay,
to lead us on to thine abode. Assured thy love will far repay
the hardest labors while on the road. Isn't that so? Amen, Mr. Nook. The prophet said, Isaiah,
for since the beginning of the world, men have not heard, nor
perceived by the ear, nor hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for them that waiteth for him. Here's
the second thing. Moses refused to be the son of
Pharaoh's daughter because he was a son of God. A son of God, my soul. Talk about a royal lineage. Pharaoh's daughter seems to have
adopted Moses and he probably, probably would have ascended
to the throne of Egypt in time. But Moses had a much more royal
family to which he was a member. He refused to be a child of any
earthly king because he was a child of the king of kings and lord
of lords. He refused to wear a crown below
because he was looking beyond that to this time, henceforth. Henceforth, every child of God
can say what Paul said. And Paul said it to four of us.
Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that
day, and not to me only, but to all them also that love his
appearing. Moses, with every other child
of King Jesus, will be among those that, from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the
prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God. How about that? Unto God and
his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Another
old hymn that's in our book, I believe. My father is rich
in houses and lands, he holdeth the wealth of the world in his
hands. Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold, his coffers
are full, he has riches untold. I once was an outcast, stranger
on earth, a sinner by choice and an alien by birth. But, but,
thank you Lord. But I've been adopted, my name's
written down, an heir to a mansion, a robe, a crown. I'm a child
of the King, a child of the King. Oh, with Jesus my Savior, I'm
a child of the King. Wow. Now what does being a son
of Rockefeller or whoever, how does that compare to this? I'm
a child. I'm a joint heir with Jesus Christ.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, Romans 8 and
16, that we are the children of God. And if we're children,
then we're heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. Everything he has is mine. If so be that we suffer with
him that we may also be glorified together. I was reminded by an
article I read in your brother Paul Mahan's bulletin. I read
it yesterday, it's his bulletin for today. I was again reminded
of what I have heard before, that the best commentary on the
scripture is scripture. Paul's article was titled, God's
Word Stands Upon Itself. He wrote, while studying to preach,
I always prop up my Bible on a book in order to see it better.
Well, recently, I had another Bible sitting on my desk and
used it to prop up the one I was reading from. And I thought to
myself, this is as it should be. God's Word stands alone. The Bible doesn't need another
book to support it. Now I only use another Bible
to prop up my Bible. So here, here, I want to give
more scripture, more scripture commentary from scripture, from
more scripture. Along this line, listen to what
Peter wrote about in 1 Peter, his first epistle, chapter two.
Oh, what hardships those to whom he wrote were enduring at the
time. But he reminded them of this.
earthly kings, pharaohs, what do they compare to this? But
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people. That don't mean women put their
hair up in buns and go around looking like they're wearing
shoes too tight, trying to look religious. No, peculiar means
special, set apart by God. that you should show forth the
presence of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light. How does being the son, again
I ask you, of any earthly man, whoever it may be, compare to
that? Listen, another verse, another
commentary, scripture commentary on scripture. Behold what manner
of love. Behold that. Don't forget that,
child of God. Don't forget that. Yes, in the
world you'll have tribulation. Jesus Christ himself promised
that. Don't expect any different, but that doesn't change it. You're
going to weep. You're going to have some long
nights of weeping. Maybe you did last night, and
you may again tonight, but it doesn't touch this. It doesn't
faze this. Behold, behold! Moses looked
beyond. He looked beyond to the recompense
of the reward. He looked at what was waiting
for him, for every child of God. Behold, John wrote. Look at this,
remember this, consider this, stay focused. The pastor up in
North Carolina, Brother Carol Poole, we would go out, when
we were up there, he would pick us up and we would go out for
breakfast. And his wife would ask him, are
you focused, Pastor? He'd be driving, Carol'd be driving,
and she would look over and say, are you focused, Pastor? She
told Robin to get distracted, don't pay attention. She would,
every now and then, she'd say, are you focused, are you staying
focused? John says, focus on this. Behold what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
sons of God. Wow. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not, that's okay, because it knew him not, beloved. Now,
now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. That should put
joy in our hearts, shouldn't it? And a song on our lips. Psalm 149. That's exactly what
David tells us. Psalm 149. Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song.
And his praise in the congregation of the saints. You are a chosen
people. Every child of God. He's made
you to be his saints. Praise him. You've praised him
before. Oh, praise him again. Why are you cast down, David
wrote in another psalm. Oh, my soul, why are you cast
down? Why are you so sad? You shall yet praise God, my
hope is in him. Our singing should be as we read
there in Psalm 149, verse one, unto the Lord. The songs we sing
should be of him, to him, not about mama, not about papa, about
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for of him and through him are
all things. We sing, I sing, more prone to
complain, have a new complaint rather than a new song. Oh my
soul, shame on me. Let Israel rejoice in him that
made him. Let the children of Zion be cheerful in their king.
He is that new creation, that's what a child of God is, and he
calls for a new song. When we are made new creatures,
creations, we rejoice in him that made us. Our joy is in our
God and king. Let the children of Zion be cheerful,
joyful, in their kingdom. Every attribute of God, pick
whatever you want, His wisdom, His power, His sovereignty, any
and every attribute of God should call for a song. It's something
to sing about. Let them praise His name in the
dance, David said. Let them sing praises unto Him
with the temporal and harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure
in his people. How about that? He takes pleasure
in his people. The Lord said, it's your father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He delights to do so. He will beautify the meek with
salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their
beds. How comforting, how comforting. The fall asleep, the doves off,
the drift off, while singing God's praises. Or just lay back
at the end of the day. After the night has come, just
lay down knowing I'm His. I'm lying down, I'm His. I don't
know what's gonna go on out there, but it won't change the fact
that I'm His. When I wake up in the morning,
I'll still be His. Oh yes, oh yes, I'm a child of
the King. A child of the King with Jesus
my Savior, I'm a child of the King. Brothers and sisters in
Christ, isn't that precious? Doesn't that put a song in your
heart? To hear again, to know that you're His? To hear Him
say, no one can pluck you out of my hand. You're my sheep,
I'm giving you eternal life. You're in my hand. And you're
in my father's hand. Who's going to get you out? Who's
going to pluck you out? I give you eternal life and you're
never going to perish. Here's the last thing. Concerning
these greater riches of Jesus Christ, you can't esteem them
too high because they are Christ himself. They flow from him. He's the center, he's the treasure,
he's the diamond. Priceless. And there can be nothing
to compare to those riches. He's that pearl of great price.
This is the treasure that never loses its value. The stock market,
doesn't matter, let it crash. It won't affect this. Riches
once obtained can never be, these riches once obtained can never
be lost or stolen. The rich fool, remember our Lord
spoke of him in Luke 18, spent his whole life laying up treasure
for himself, but he knew nothing. He didn't want to know. anything
about the greater riches of Jesus Christ. He was, our Lord said,
he was not rich toward God. And anyone, our Lord said, that
acts like he did and is not rich toward God will suffer as he
did in the end. He had more than enough earthly
treasure, but he didn't have that treasure in heaven that
failed not, where no thief can steal or no moth can corrupt. And when he died, I wonder if
anybody stood around his grave and said, oh, did you know how
much he had? Oh, you remember those big barns? He was right
in the process of building bigger barns because he had so much.
His barns were bursting. Wonder how much he left behind.
He left it all behind. He left it all behind. When he
was called out to stand before God, he stood there absolutely
naked. Nothing. He stood before a just
and, oh, my soul. before God without a mediator.
Without a mediator. He stood before a just and holy
righteous God. A God that declares, I will in
no wise, I won't pass by, I'm not gonna wink at sin. People
think he's doing it now, but he's not. And when we stand before
him, and it dawns on us, oh I'm in the presence of a just and
holy God and I'm naked. The best I've got is my fig leaves.
I don't have a mediator. God Almighty, that absolutely
righteous, holy God, sitting on His immaculate, white, glistening
throne of judgment, is ready to say, depart from me because
I don't have a mediator. Calvinism is not a mediator.
Baptist theology is not a mediator. Catholicism is not a mediator. Mary is not a preacher. Priest
is not a mediator. Between me and the Holy God,
the only mediator there is, is Jesus Christ. And if I don't
have Him, it doesn't matter what else I do have, I'll hear Him
depart from me like the rich man. When he was called to stand
before God, he was poor. Oh, how poor he was. He had nothing
of the riches of Jesus Christ. He was destitute of God's rich
grace and mercy. But remember what Paul wrote
to his beloved son in the faith, Timothy, when he was sitting
in prison? Godliness, Timothy. Don't forget
this, Timothy. Godliness with contentment is
great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And
having food and rain, Let us be there with content. How delightful
it is to be content with God's good providence. It's rare to
meet someone, even a professing believer. Oh, just complain, complain, complain.
Oh, how delightful to be content with God's good providence. Someone
said providence, that's God's providence. God providing for
us. Assured that if the Lord is my
shepherd, John, If Jesus Christ is my shepherd, if I'm one of
his sheep, then this naturally flows from that. This is the
consequence that I shall not want. If the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want, I shall not like another old hen. Though troubles assail us and
dangers are fright, though friends should all fail us and foes all
unite, yet one thing secures us, whatever be tithe. The promise
assures us the Lord will provide. The birds without garner or storehouse
are fed. From them let us learn to trust
God for our bread. His saints what is fitting shall
ne'er be denied. So long as it's written, the
Lord will provide. Last week, actually I think longer
than that, but I've seen on local news and national news about
the Lottery. It just keeps growing and growing
because nobody's won it. I think they said it's over a
billion dollars. How many zeros is that? It don't
matter. It's a lot. It's a lot. That's
a lot. And people said, and they interviewed
some of them from Alabama, they're traveling to to Florida or to
Georgia to buy them a lottery ticket, standing in long lines.
And they interviewed him and said, oh yeah, yeah, what did
you do? Oh, man, if I win, oh, if I win that, I'll do this and
I'll do that. Dreaming, dreaming about what
it would be to be the winner of that large amount of money. A child of God, sinner, a child
of God already possesses far greater riches than that lottery
can ever give. That lottery can't buy me mercy. It can't buy me grace. It can't
give me salvation. And brothers and sisters, the
riches of Jesus Christ that every believer possesses is not a dream. It's not a fable. It's not a
fairy tale. It's a blessed reality. They each have the riches of
Jesus Christ. What's that worth? They have
the riches of His free saving grace, the riches of God's great
mercy in Christ. That's what Paul says in Ephesians
2. God showed forth by quickening you the riches of His grace in
glory. He shall stand you forth like
a trophy case of His immaculate sovereign grace that called you
out of darkness, gave you life, and brought you to glory and
presented you without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Oh,
money can't buy that. How rich is that? When Moses
stood on the other side of the Red Sea, seeing the bodies of
Pharaoh and his army drown, what did the treasure of Egypt look
like then? What was it worth then? Listen
to this, Exodus 14, 28. And the waters returned, and
covered the chariots and the horsemen, and all the host of
Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, There remained not
so much as one of them, so much for Egypt's treasures. Now compare
that to this. But, but, but the children of Israel walked
upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were
a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus
the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians,
And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. And Israel
saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.
And the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his
servant Moses. And Moses said, let's sing a
song. Let's sing a song. Someone said this is the first
song recorded in scripture. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord, saying, I will sing unto
the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The Lord is my strength
and song, he has become my salvation. In the greatness of thine excellency
thou has overthrown them that rose up against thee. Who is
like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee?
Glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou and thy mercy has led forth
the people which thou has redeemed. Thou has guided them in thy strength
into thy holy habitation. The Lord shall reign forever
and ever. That sounds much like the song
in Revelation, doesn't it? Where we read, And they sung
the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, Great, this is Revelation 15, verse 3, Great and marvelous
are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou
King of saints. One more glimpse of Moses, not
while he was on earth, but after he went to glory. In Luke chapter 9, he came to
pass, Luke 9 and 28, he came to pass about eight days after
these sayings, that the Lord took Peter and James and John
and went up into the mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the
fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was
white and glistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared with
him in glory. who appeared in glory and spake
of his decease, his decease, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem." Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. That
was their exodus. But it was a picture of the believer's
departure from this world. The word here for decease is
the same word for exodus. They talked about his decease,
his exodus, his departure, out of this world. Oh, my soul, I
can only imagine the esteem, the esteem, the holy wonder,
the adoration Moses experienced standing on that mount, seeing
the Lord of glory. Oh, that was what he esteemed. That's why he looked beyond what
Egypt had to offer. He had respected the reward of
being with Christ and the honor, the honor of talking to the Lord
Jesus Christ of what he would accomplish at Jerusalem, the redemption
of his people. And soon, every believer will
make their exodus, their departure from this world and like Moses,
like Moses is now and every child of God that's gone on, so shall
we ever be with the Lord Jesus Christ. our everlasting reward. What a hope. God bless you. Amen.