Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter two. Exodus chapter two, verse 10.
This is speaking of Moses. And the child grew. And she brought
him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses. She said, because I drew him
out of the water. Now, 40 years passed between verses 10 and
verse 11, we read of the birth of Moses in these first 10 verses
of Exodus chapter 2 and then 40 years pass and Moses was raised
an Egyptian. He was the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He was, as Stephen says, learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and mighty in words and in deeds. In the account in Hebrews chapter
11, verse 24, when it says he had come to years, it means literally
when he became great. Now, Moses was what we would
call somebody in Egypt. As a matter of fact, the Jewish
historian Josephus says that Pharaoh did not have a biological
son. And Moses was next in line for
the throne, whether that or not that. So I don't know, but he
was somebody in Egypt and. I believe that when verse 11
begins, Moses is a believer. I don't have any doubt that his
mother and father told him about the prophecies regarding him,
how he was to be the deliverer and How do you reckon he felt
during that 40-year period? I mean, he had all this stuff
from Egypt that the world would consider good and valuable, and
he was going somewhere in Egypt, and yet he had this prophecy
regarding him being the deliverer. And I'm sure he loved his mother.
Pharaoh's daughter was no doubt very good to him, and he loved
her, and I believe he probably loved his life in Egypt. Turn with me for a moment to
Acts chapter 7. Now, this is Stephen's account
of what took place in Acts in Exodus chapter 2. Verse 23, and
when he was a full 40 years old. It came into his heart. To visit
his brethren. the children of Israel. You see,
he knew he was a Hebrew at this time. He knew he was not a true
Egyptian. And it came into his heart. Why did it come into his
heart like that, you reckon? Well, you know, the Lord put
that in his heart. It came into his heart to visit his brethren,
the children of Israel, and seeing one of them suffer wrong, he
defended him and avenged him that was oppressed. And he smote
the Egyptian, for he supposed his brethren would have understood
how that God by his hand would deliver them. But they understood
not. So he knew at this time he was
the deliverer. When he comes out at 40 years
old, he knows he is the deliverer. And he figured they'd know it
too, but they didn't. As a matter of fact, his life can be divided
into three 40-year periods. The time in Egypt, the time in
the backside of the desert, and the time spent leading Israel
as a shepherd. Turn back to Exodus chapter 2 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 was grieved by this. And
he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. We don't know what this Egyptian
was doing to mistreat this man, but he was doing something horrible.
So we read in verse 12, and he looked this way and that. Now,
what they're saying is he's trying to see if anybody's going to
see him. He looks this way. He looks that way. Is anybody
looking? He looks this way and that. And when he saw there was
no man, he slew the Egyptian, he killed him. And then he buried
him in the sand to hide the evidence. Now was this right? Did he have
a justification for doing this? No doubt that Egyptian was wrong
in smiting this Israelite, but you can bet he was wrong in what
he did. But he did it. He did it. He murdered this man. He slew
him and he hid his body in the sand in order to hide the evidence. Verse 13, And when he went out
the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together.
They were fighting with each other. And he said to him that
did the wrong, Wherefore spitest thou thy fellow? Why are you
doing this? And he said, Who made thee a
prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me if thou
killest the Egyptian? And Moses feared. and said, Surely
this thing is known. 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. Pharaoh wanted Moses dead because
of this. And Moses fled to the land of
Midian where he spent the next 40 years of his life as a shepherd. He went from being one of the
most respected men in Egypt to a shepherd for 40 years. He went, as the world would say,
from the top to the bottom. Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter
11. I want us to read the sacred inspired writers account of what
took place. This thrilled me to think about
this. Hebrews chapter 11. Now remember what Moses did.
Moses murdered a man. And he hightailed it out of Egypt
in fear because he thought the Pharaoh was going to get him.
Now what took place? If not the account we have in Exodus chapter
2. Now look with me in verse 24 of Hebrews chapter 11. 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. Now, this is very interesting.
By faith, Moses did this. Once again, this is very interesting.
In Exodus 2, he murdered a man. He hid his body in the sand and
fled for his life in fear. And when you read the account
in Hebrews chapter 11, it presents what he did as a heroic act of
faith. Like I said last week, The Old
Testament, the law, exposes my sins. The New Testament, grace,
covers my sins. You know when the story is told
about me, when the story is told about you, if you're a believer,
you know what's going to be told? Nothing but good. Nothing. but good. How can that be? Union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing but good. Let me give
you a very powerful illustration of this. When you read in the
Old Testament, you read about Lot, you read about his life,
and you tell me anything good you could say about him. I mean,
he was a relatively worthless person,
as far as what we would say if we didn't have the New Testament,
and we read about the history of Lot, you know what we would
conclude about him? He was lost. He didn't know the
Lord. He couldn't know the Lord and act the way he did and did
the things he did. I guarantee you we would conclude
that this man was lost by his conduct, by the things that he
did. He pitched his tent towards Sodom. He lingered in Sodom,
even after God said, get out, he lingered there. He chose the
well-watered plains and just let Mo, I mean, Abraham, whatever.
But I want you to look at the New Testament when it mentions
him. Turn to 2nd Peter. This is talking about the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 6, 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 6.
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, he condemned
them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that
afterwards should live ungodly. And look how Lot is described.
He delivered just Lot. Vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked, for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing
and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto
the day of judgment to be punished." Look at this description of Lot. Now, we do not read in Hebrews
11, 24 that Moses murdered a man and hid his body in the sand
and fled in fear, but we read that by faith he did what he
did. Back to Hebrews 11 or maybe you're
already there. Verse 24. By faith Moses. Here's
the New Testament description of what he did. By faith Moses.
When he was come to years he refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. Sounds to me like he just fled
out of fear. But it says he 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 under the recompense
of the reward. Now, I can see two reasons for
this. Why the New Testament gives such
a different account of this story than what we read of in Exodus
chapter 2. Here's the first reason, because of the gospel. Because
of the gospel. Do you know Hebrews chapter 11
is the true story? If God says it's that way, it
is that way, isn't it? You want the true story about
Moses? Don't go into Exodus chapter 2. Ah, that tells about his flesh,
no doubt. But if you want the true story,
the real Moses, the one God saved, the new creature in Christ Jesus,
Read the account. In Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 is what Moses
knew nature did. Exodus chapter 2 is what his
old nature did. Quite a difference, isn't there?
God accepts and speaks of what the new nature has done for Christ's
sake and what the old nature has done was put away on the
cross. I've entitled this message the
choice of Moses and by faith he made some choices and I'm
sure a lot of people would find these choices that Moses made
hard to understand. In Hebrews 11 24 it says by faith
Moses when he was come to years and that reads literally when
he became great. I don't know why the translators
translated it that way. The word great is in the original. By faith, Moses, when he became
great. You know, when he was learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds
by the world standard, he wasn't great. He thought he was, no doubt.
Other folks thought he was, but he wasn't great. But here is
where he becomes great. Do you know it's possible for
a man, me and you, to be great in the eyes of the Lord? Is that
something you covet? I'm not talking about great and
being competitive with somebody else. I want to be greater than
this one or that one. I know the disciples were always arguing
about that, and that's in the flesh of every one of us. If
it comes to who's going to get up front, I'm going to want to
get up front. That's wrong, but that's that's that's just in
our flesh. But I'm talking about truly great.
You know, the set of John the Baptist in Luke chapter 11, what
Luke chapter 11, verse five or verse 15, verse 15, I think it
is. Luke chapter one, verse 15, talking
about the birth of John the Baptist, it says he shall be great. in
the eyes of the Lord. Now, that's who I want to be
great in the eyes of. I'd like you to have a high opinion
of me. There's no doubt about that, but here's who I really
want to have a high opinion of me. The Lord Himself. When Moses
became great, truly great. Well, what did he do when he
became great? Well, look in our text in Hebrews 11. By faith
Moses, when he became great, he refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. He renounced his relationship
with Pharaoh's daughter he disowned. He turned his back on that relationship. And I have no doubt that people
thought he's crazy. He's gone mad. Why would he do
that? I mean, that seems cruel. Look what all Pharaoh's daughter
did for him. Look at what influence he could have being in the court
of Egypt for the glory of God. He could influence more people
and talk to more people and have more influence if he'd just stay
there. He's crazy for doing that. But that's what he did. He refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Look what he did in
verse 25. He chose free volition. He chose rather
to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. He chose affliction over pleasure.
That's a strange choice, isn't it? Go on reading. Verse 26, he esteemed the reproach
of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. Now,
that's a strange choice, isn't it? That's a strange estimation.
He looked at the reproach of Christ being despised, being
hated. And he said that greater riches,
that's more valuable than all the treasures of Egypt. Now, how is this? Well, it was
by faith. Moses, it says in verse 26, he
had respect under the recompense of the reward. Now, it was by
faith he saw this, but he saw something in the recompense of
the reward that other people didn't see. By faith, Moses did
these things. It was faith, faith in Christ
that moved him to make these very powerful choices. And faith
is such a powerful thing. You see, faith works. Faith works. Now, we need to
consider the reason he made these choices. Scripture says he had
respect under the recompense of the reward. That's why he
made these strange choices. That's why he decided, I'd rather
be a son of God than a son of Pharaoh. That's why he said,
I'd rather have the reproach of Christ than all the treasures
of Egypt. It was by faith. He had a respect to the recompense
of the reward. Now what's this reward all about?
What is the reward of the believer? In Genesis chapter 15 verse 1,
God said to Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great
reward. Christ Jesus Himself is the reward
of the believer. What is faith? By faith, he believed
that. It's believing God. It's believing
God. It's believing the Word of God.
That's what faith is. It really is that simple. It's believing
what God says. It's relying on what God says.
By faith, he saw this exceeding great recompense of reward. Is there a reward to faith? Absolutely. Christ Himself being found in
Him, being united to Him, abiding in Him, being like Him. And what
a recompense, what benefits there are in being found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He Himself is the reward. It's
not heaven. It's a person. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ. He Himself is the reward. Simply seeing Him. Simply beholding
His beauty. Being found in Him, being united
to Him, He Himself is the reward. Listen to this scripture. I quote
it all the time. But what a glorious reward this is. In Him, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and you are complete. Absolutely lacking nothing. All that He has, all that He
is, you are. What a reward. He himself is
now. By faith, he had respect under
the recompense of the war, the reward, the word here means to
look away from all else to one object, and that's precisely
what Moses did. If you see who Moses was looking
to. His strange choices, strange
choices become no brainers, don't they? If you see who he was looking
to. Christ. Well, you want to be
a son of God or the son of Pharaoh? I'd rather be a son of God. You
want to have the affliction with His people and be counted with
them, or do you want to have temporary pleasure? And it's
temporary. The pleasures of sin are only
temporary. Well, I'd rather be counted with the people of God.
Would you rather have the reproach of Christ or the treasures of
this world? I'd rather have the reproach of Christ. I really
would. If you could look into my heart and see which choices
I'd make, Because I see the Lord Jesus Christ is altogether glorious
as my salvation, I make same choices He does. Now faith is
not a choice, but faith makes choices. You don't choose to
believe. You only believe when you have
no choice. Do you understand that? You don't choose to believe. You only believe when you have
no other choice. You've got no other way to go.
You've got nowhere else to look. It's all you've got. But I tell
you what, when you believe, you make some choices. And you make
these choices that Moses did. And it's not hard to make these
choices. If you see the glory of Christ,
He's infinitely superior to all else. He's altogether lovely. Now, in seeing Christ, Moses
renounced his association with Egypt. He refused. He rejected. This thing of being
Pharaoh's son and the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now, if you
come to Christ, if you believe on him, you're going to be doing
some renouncing. And if you don't renounce. You've
never really come to him. When he saw the Lord Jesus Christ,
he renounced his association with Egypt. Now, wherever there's
true faith, there's some renouncing. You renounce the world. Our Lord
said, if any man loved the world, the love of the Father is what? Not in him. Not in him. Now, do you, let me ask you,
this world, this soap bubble we call the world, I know that
there's things about our flesh that find this world a trap. I like the physical beauty of
the world. I like enjoying good things to eat and going places
and all that kind of stuff. There's nothing wrong with that.
But I'm talking about the maxims of this world, the principles
of this world, the values of this world, this worldly religion,
my own natural religion, the religion I was born with, the
religion of salvation by works, the religion of salvation somehow
caused by me. I renounce it. I renounce Egypt. I renounce it. When you believe
on Christ, you renounce this world. You know, this renouncing
begins in baptism. You know, when I'm baptized,
I go under. I come back up. And I say in
that my only hope is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
And I was buried with Him. I'm risen with Him. And I rise
to walk in newness of life. He's my Lord. I'm under new ownership. He's my Lord. He chose affliction by being
identified with the people of God over the pleasures of sin
for a season. Now, without doubt, there is
pleasure in sin. I remember one time hearing a
preacher say, I don't desire these sinful things anymore.
And I wanted to stand up and say, you liar. Everybody knows
better than that. Why are you saying this? It was
in a prison. It was in a prison. And the chaplain got up and started
telling the prisoners all that kind of stuff. There's pleasure
in sin. You know that? I know that. In
all of its forms. You wouldn't even go after it
if that weren't the case. But it's only for a season. It's only temporary. And what
would it profit a man if he would gain the whole world and lose
his soul? And what would a man give in
exchange for his soul? I tell you what, pleasures of
sin, and I'm not saying that my flesh is unaffected by that.
Sure, my flesh is affected by that, and yours is too, the old
man. But I tell you what, I choose
to be identified with the people of God, and the afflictions the
hatred of this world that is associated with identifying with
his people. Listen, I'd rather be hated by
this world than be identified with the people of God than to
enjoy all the pleasures of sin. How about you? If you're a believer,
you would. You make these same choices.
It means that because you have respect to the recompense of
the reward, you see the glory of Christ. You want to be identified
with him. I'd rather suffer affliction
with the people of God I'd rather be numbered with them, identified
with them, than to enjoy all the pleasures of sin for a season
which are only temporary. You know, in identification with
His people, there will be affliction. Remember, turn with me to Matthew
chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. You know what? Isn't it interesting? I do choose affliction with the
people of God over the pleasures of sin per season. But I also
see myself in the account of Exodus chapter 2 also, where
Moses... You see that, don't you? You
see that. I'm so thankful for the Word of God, the way it presents
things. I find such comfort in that. But look at Matthew chapter
5. Verse 10, Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake. And that's not talking about
doing good things. If you do good things, they'll
put your name in the paper. They'll put a picture of you.
Look at the good things this person has done. That's not really what
that's referring to. That's talking about being persecuted
for his righteousness sake. Believing His righteousness is
the only ground of acceptance before God, nothing else. You
look to Him and Him only. Our Lord says that's a state
of blessedness. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and
persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely
for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. You know, I want to know, as
Paul said, the fellowship of his sufferings. I want to know the fellowship
of his sufferings. I want to be like that martyr who, when they lit the fire to
burn him to death, he said, to die with Christ, to die for Christ,
it is an honor I do not deserve. I want to suffer affliction with
the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season. Back to Hebrews 11. It says in
verse 26, he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than
the treasures in Egypt. Do you really believe the reproach
of Christ to be greater? than all the riches of Egypt,
all the riches of this world. Do you believe that? Well, what
is the reproach of Christ? Well, over there in Hebrews,
look over in Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 13. Hebrews 13, verse 13. For here, or let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. And you know what was without
the camp? It's talking about the camp of the children of Israel.
Who was without the camp? Does anybody know who was outside
the camp? Lepers. Lepers were the people outside
of the camp. And we're to go to him outside
the camp, bearing his reproach. And that's a typified sin. But the reproach of Christ, the
world looks at that person who believes on the gospel is nothing
more than a leper. But let's go to him bearing his
reproach. Turn to first Corinthians chapter
one. I want you to see this, please. First Corinthians chapter
one. Verse 23, Paul says, we preach
Christ crucified. There's our message. We preach
Christ crucified. Now unto the Jews, the religious
fellows, this is a stumbling block. And unto the Greeks, that's
the intellectuals, the educated people, it's foolishness. But
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, both the religious
and if God calls them, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Now Paul says we preach. This
is our message. We preach Christ crucified. We preach the person of Christ.
He's God's Christ. He's God's Messiah. He's the
Son of God. He's the God-man. We preach Him
crucified. And we're not just talking about
the fact that they drove the nails in His hands and feet and
they nailed Him to a cross and lifted Him up, although that's
certainly part of it. We're talking about what He accomplished by
that death. When He died on Calvary's tree, listen to me, please, listen
to me. When He died on Calvary's tree, I was set free. Everybody He died for is saved. Their salvation is signed, sealed,
delivered. When He said it is finished,
the salvation of every one of His people were finished. Finished. Salvation wholly by what He did
without any reference to what you and I do. Now to the Jews,
The religious fellas, that's a stumbling block, that'll lead
to sin. What about good works? What about responsibility? What
about the stuff you're supposed to do? Does that count for nothing?
You believe salvation is completely by what He did, totally outside
of yourself? You really believe that? Yes,
I do. Why, that's a stumbling block. That'll lead people to sin. And
then to the Greeks, that's the intellectuals. That's the wise
of this world. You expect me to believe God
became a man? You expect me to believe that
He was born of a virgin? You expect me to believe that
He really lived a sinless life? You really expect me to believe
that sin was placed upon Him and He died on a cross as a substitute
and that you're saved by somebody else's righteousness? You really
expect me to believe that? You expect me to believe that men
are dead in sins Can't do anything to save themselves? They're just
totally helpless and they'll go to hell if God doesn't do something
for them and that they're just completely evil? That's such a morose, negative
attitude. You really expect me to believe
something like that? You expect me to believe that God chose
who'd be saved? It doesn't have anything to do
with man's choice? You expect me to believe that Christ only
died for a specific people and that God the Holy Spirit calls
those people and they will persevere? You expect me to believe that?
Why that's foolishness. I don't believe that. Well, I
figured you'd say that. The Bible said you would. But to them which are called, called
by the invincible, irresistible grace of God, Christ, the power
of God, and Christ, the wisdom of God. And do you know that
I esteem the reproach of Christ? I want to be one of those people
who reproach. I'm not talking about looking for trouble. You
understand what I'm saying. I'm not talking about trying
to cause trouble and trying to vindicate myself and validate
myself by getting people mad at me. I know people that do
that, and I don't want to do that. But I do want to bear the
reproach of Christ where people hear what I really believe, what
the Word of God says, and they reproach me for it. And I esteem
that. I count that greater riches than
all the riches of this world. That's what faith in Christ is.
Faith in Christ is a powerful thing, isn't it? It's a powerful
thing. You see, old Moses, he had respect
under the recompense of the reward. And when God gives us grace to
see the glory of his gospel, You know, these choices become
no brainers, don't they? I make the same choice he does.
If you see the excellency and beauty of Christ, the completeness
of his salvation, you'll make the same choices. I want to close by reading a
passage in Joshua chapter 24. Now, like I said, understand this.
Faith is not a choice. I can remember torturing myself with this question. What does it mean to believe?
If I knew I would, but I can't. I can't figure it out. What does
it mean to believe? I mean, I believe in God. Sure
I do. I believe the sky is blue. It is. What does it mean to believe? I can remember torturing myself
over what does it mean to believe? Do I have faith? And I tried
to believe. And the more I try to believe,
the more impossible it seemed to me. You see, you don't choose
to believe. You only believe when God gives
you faith. And when God gives you faith, you have no choice
but to believe. You have no choice. But that
doesn't mean faith doesn't make choices. Look here in the book
of Joshua, chapter 24, verse 14. Joshua says, Now, therefore,
fear the Lord. And serve him in sincerity. And
in truth. And put away the gods which your
father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt and
serve the Lord. And if it seemed evil unto you
to serve the Lord, choose you choose you this day whom you
will serve. whether the God which your father
served, if you want to go that direction, go that direction,
that we're on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the
Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Let's pray.