Good morning and welcome to the
Sunday morning broadcast of the Grace Community Church of Rock
Valley, Iowa. I'm Pastor Joe Terrell and we
invite you to tune in this time each week as we bring you a message
of the grace of God. Now this morning's message is
on the subject of the faith of Moses. We find it described in
Hebrews chapter 11 verses 24 through 27. Let me read them
to you. By faith Moses, when he had grown
up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded
disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the
treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward.
By faith he left Egypt not fearing the king's anger. He persevered
because he saw him who is invisible. Now we normally think of Moses
as a man of the Law. After all, it was through Moses
that God gave the Law on Mount Sinai. Yet, in the Scriptures,
Moses is actually set forth as a man of faith. In fact, this
faith that's described here in Hebrews chapter 11, this faith
of Moses preceded his becoming the Lawgiver. Moses' faith is
given wide expression in Hebrews chapter 11. In fact, only Abraham
gets more ink. Only Abraham's faith is described
in greater detail than Moses'. But I want to look at Moses'
faith as an example of the faith of all of God's elect. And there
are three specific characteristics of Moses' faith on display here. First of all, that Moses' faith
stood the test of greatness. Secondly, that Moses' faith had
a proper object. And thirdly, that Moses' faith
took action. So first of all, let's look at
this. That Moses' faith stood the test of greatness. Now it
is written this way by faith Moses when he had grown up, but
actually the word means when he became great. Now it could
be applied to becoming great in age or great in anything.
Now the faith of many people can stand the test of being a
nobody, but it cannot endure being a somebody. The faith of
some is destroyed by trials of adversity, but I've seen more
people have their faith destroyed by prosperity. Spurgeon put it
this way, I can think of nothing better for a man than riches,
except maybe poverty, and nothing better than health, except sickness. The story is told, once again
concerning Spurgeon, that he called the elders of the church
together for a special prayer meeting and didn't announce what
the subject was and why he felt it was so urgent that they gathered
to pray. But when they all gathered in the room to pray, they asked,
Brother Spurgeon, why are we here? What's so urgent that we
had to gather to pray? He said, well, it's Brother so-and-so.
We need to pray for him. And they said, well, what's happened
to him? Has he become sick? No. Well, has he fallen on hard
times? No. Well, then why are we here
to pray? And Spurgeon says, well, a relative of his died, a very
wealthy man, and he has left our brother his entire estate. Our brother has become very rich
and he will need much grace to endure these riches. You see,
faith sometimes is tried by trial, but sometimes faith is tried
by prosperity. You see, some might find faith
a suitable thing for their childhood years, but unfitting for them
as grown-ups. They outgrow the religion of
their youth and prove that what faith they had while they were
young was nothing more than following mom and dad. You know, it's a
great thing to be raised in a home where the gospel is believed,
where God is believed, where God is worshipped. That is a
great privilege. But often children in such homes,
they grow up kind of assuming that they believe. And yet their
faith is proven faulty. When they become old enough,
When they outgrow their childhood and their dependence on mom and
dad, sometimes they outgrow their dependence on God. And you find
that really what looked like faith in God was nothing more
than faith in mom and dad. You parents, you be careful as
you raise your children. and you try to raise them in
the fear and admonition of the Lord, that you not raise them
to follow you. Because what's going to happen
is someday they're going to quit following you, they're going
to outgrow the need to follow you. And if their following God
was only really just one of the ways in which they followed you,
they're going to quit following God too. As you teach them the
things of God, make sure they're not looking to you. lest it be
proven that what faith they had in childhood was not saving faith,
but was merely a religious following of your own convictions and not
their own." So some see faith as suitable for childhood, but
they think they outgrow it. Some see faith as appropriate
for the ignorant, but the educated person is above believing such
unsophisticated things as the gospel declares. You know, this
particular form of unbelief is sometimes subtly hidden under
a religious shroud. I once watched a parade, and
among the entrants in that parade was one of the local churches
of that town. Now, on their float, they had about five or six things
posted which characterized the message and purpose for their
existence. And among the things they listed
were women's rights, and world hunger, and workers' rights,
this kind of thing, several other social ills to be found in the
world. This is what defined them. But the thing that startled me
is that there was not one word about Christ on the entire float. Not one thing said about Christ.
Here they are claiming to be a church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and yet they had not a word to say about Christ when they presented
for public display what their message and purpose is. Evidently,
they had progressed beyond Christ. Be very wary of any progress
in life or theology or religion that makes you or that takes
you beyond the simplicity of Christ and Him crucified. Now, some think that faith is
suitable for the powerless, but it's unnecessary for those who
have learned to take control of their own lives. How often
have you heard someone, well, religion is just a crutch. Christianity
is just a crutch for weak people. It's unnecessary for those that
are strong. It's unnecessary for those capable
of making their own choices and taking responsibility for their
own lives. Well, there's more to what they
say than they know. They're more correct than they
know. For it is written that when we were powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly. Christianity is for the powerless,
for those who know themselves to be powerless. to be without
strength, to be without the ability to make themselves right in the
sight of God. For you see, the Scripture does
not teach us that we are able to do anything. It says that
Christ is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God
through Him. The abilities laid out in the
Gospel are not ours. They're Christ's abilities. Yes,
the Gospel is a crutch. It's more than a crutch. It's
not as though We who are yet dead in trespasses and sins are
merely laying, merely have a broken leg and just need a little help. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. How much more powerless can you
get than dead? We're utterly dependent on Christ and utterly
dependent on the blessings held out in his gospel. But a man's
faith is proven to be saving faith. That is, it's that faith
which is the gift of God. when it is shown that a man never
becomes so great that he no longer needs faith and even more would
gladly give up his greatness to preserve faith. I'll give
you an example. Paul the Apostle. He was ready
and even gladly gave up all that he had for the sake of knowing
Christ. The reason that a believer gladly
gives up all for the sake of faith in Christ is that the one
who has faith has seen someone greater than himself. And no
matter how great he gets, he knows there's someone greater
than himself. You see, men outgrow God because
they become greater than their concept of God. But when someone
has truly seen God with the Spirit, he'll never outgrow the God he
has seen. And he'll always need Him and
always seek after Him. This Great One, this Great God
is invisible to the flesh. The flesh is simply incapable
of perceiving a spiritual being, unless that spiritual being takes
on some physical form, as the Lord Jesus did. However, when
they saw the Lord Jesus, they couldn't understand Him, they
didn't receive Him. Because the greatness of God
is not seen with the eyes of the flesh. The eye of the Spirit
is able to perceive the greatness of God. And when a man's spirit
sees God, he'll never outgrow God. Many a person professes
faith in their younger years, and we would not deny the reality
of child faith. But child faith is proven only
in maturity. The faith of the poor is proven
only when they get rich. And the faith of a nobody is
proven when he becomes a somebody. If a man can ever outgrow God,
he never truly had the faith of God's elect. Secondly, Moses'
faith had a good object, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, some
might say that Moses was looking forward to his reward. That's
what the scriptures say. And I'll agree, he was looking
forward to his reward. But what was the reward that
Moses looked forward to? Well, the reward is Christ himself.
Christ is the reward of faith. Christ is both the one we look
to and the one we look for. "'I am thy shield and exceeding
great reward,' said God to Abraham." Jesus Christ is not simply the
way to the reward, He is the reward. The Lord Jesus Himself
is the great blessing of the Gospel. Paul wrote that knowing
Christ was his ultimate joy and blessing, so much so that he
was willing to part with everything else for the sake of the greatness
of knowing Christ. All to know Him. not just to
know about him or be aware of his person and character, but
to enter into intimate union with him as a wife with her husband,
to spiritually speaking, hear his voice say, I am yours and
you are mine, to live in the light of his presence, to walk
through each day in the certain knowledge of his presence and
his love and his protection. Now this is blessing indeed.
This is great blessing. Paul further demonstrated the
great blessing of Christ himself when he declared that for him
death was gain. Now how can it be that death
would be gain? I don't see any gain in death,
do you? A man's life goes out of his body and his body begins
to decay. The mortician gets a hold of
him real quick and embalms him so his body doesn't decay before
they can have a funeral. The world can see no No gain
in death? The flesh cannot perceive it.
How can death be gain unless death brings about an increase
of what one enjoyed and sought after in this life? Paul wrote
this, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. In this life
all of Paul's joy and blessing was wrapped up in Christ, his
Lord and Savior. Death would be gain to Paul.
for it would bring more Christ. Christ is the great blessing
we have in this life and will only be greater when we die if
we're in Christ. Moses, just like Paul, perceived
that Christ was so glorious that even reproach for his name in
this world was more valuable than all the treasures of Egypt.
And Egypt had vast treasure. The Lord himself is the good
news of the gospel. Now, most of you know that the
word gospel means good news. Well, what's so good about the
news of the gospel? Well, the bad news of the law
is that we must establish a righteousness in the sight of God, must perform
a righteousness in the sight of God if we're going to receive
blessing from Him. So it's written, the man that
does these things shall live by them. But that can only be
bad news to us because we know that none of us is capable of
performing the law to God's satisfaction. We have all sinned and fall short
of the glory of God. The good news of the gospel is
that what we cannot do, Christ has done. Or paraphrasing the
way that Paul put it, what the law could not do because it depended
on our weak flesh, God has done by depending on the strength
and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
was naturally righteous. For he is the offspring of God.
There was no sin in him. When he came into this world,
he did not bear the sin of Adam because Adam wasn't his father.
He bore the righteousness of his heavenly father, God. And in his great strength, he
maintained that righteousness in the face of great temptation.
He always did those things that pleased the Father. He always
worked the will of God. He kept the law in every jot
and tittle and performed every aspect of it to perfection. And
then in His great love for His Father and in His great love
for His people, He went beyond the call of duty and did more
than the law required. He surrendered Himself to the
death of the cross. And there God exacted from Him
the penalty that was due for the sin that He bore. Now the
good news is that there is nothing left for you and me to do. All
the work is done. Righteousness has been established.
Sin has been paid for. We just trust our souls to Him,
cast our souls upon Him. You see, faith today does the
very same thing it did in Moses' day. It sees in Christ all that
is necessary to satisfy God with regard to sin, and sees in Christ
all that is necessary to take me from what and where I am to
being what and where He is. Now that is good news indeed.
I want to look at the third point about Moses' faith, and it's
simply this, that Moses' faith took action. Now here is a point
on which many stumble, taking one of two extreme positions.
Some would make faith to be everything, that is, they preach that God
has done everything that he can to save everyone, and he did
it equally for everyone, and now the scope or extent or the
success of God's work of salvation is left in the hands of each
man, for each man decides of his own free will whether or
not he will accept God's offer of salvation. Now, they act as
though faith is merely a decision that's exercised at some specific
moment in time, sort of like when you agree to buy an insurance
policy and you sign on the line. Well, according to this theory,
it is the faith of natural men that ultimately determines who
will be saved. Faith is everything. Then there
are those who latch on to one aspect of the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace and act as though that is all there
is to it. They latch on to the doctrine of unconditional election
and act as though an elected man will be saved whether or
not he ever actually hears or believes the gospel. There are
some who will focus on the successful redemptive work of Christ and
preach as though faith is nothing in justification, that it's only
the evidence that one has been justified. Or some will so emphasize
the effectual calling of the Spirit of God that men and women
will just sit around and wait for some spiritual experience
to prompt them to do something. But they never simply obey the
promise of the Scripture and call upon the name of the Lord
to be saved. But the point I want to drive
home today is this, that faith is necessary to salvation. and
that faith is known by this, it takes action. You see, the
Bible teaches us in Hebrews 11 that without faith it's impossible
to please God. If you do not believe, you'll
be lost. He that believeth not shall be damned, says the Scriptures.
God's sovereign grace purposes the salvation of God's people
and His sovereign grace providentially arranges everything to ensure
that those people are eternally saved and among the things that
God's sovereign grace arranges is that everyone of God's elect
will hear the gospel and will believe it. Moreover, faith is
not merely some singular decision made at a single point in time,
a simple act of the mind just trying to make some kind of provision
for the eternal future. Faith that is the gift of God
takes action. It sees things that others do
not see. It makes proper judgments about
the things it can see. It makes choices and follows
the choices it makes. Faith is the lifelong disposition
of the heart, the heart of a man born again by the Gospel, by
the Spirit of God. This is the point James makes
when he says faith without action is dead. It's not moral actions
that James was talking about, it was works of faith. Faith
always expresses itself in action. Now let's look at how Moses'
faith expressed itself in action. Moses' faith saw things that
natural men cannot see. He saw Him who is invisible. Verse 27 of Hebrews 11 says,
By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He
persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. Now God is
invisible to the natural eye. and unperceived by the natural
mind. No man has seen God at any time
as the Scriptures. All that the natural man can
see is what his natural senses tell him. Now from natural senses,
as a man looks at this creation, he may know that there is a God,
and he may even reason out that this God is an eternal God and
is possessed of limitless power. But the natural senses cannot
perceive the grace of God or the gospel of God. Nor can the
natural senses see in the man Christ Jesus the very fullness
of God. Nor can a man who is merely a
natural man actually believe that all righteousness and judgment
has been fulfilled by Christ. And the natural man cannot actually
believe the gospel and from the heart call on the name of the
Lord to save him. But that man who has been given
a new spirit, a new nature, has been born again by the Spirit
of God. He can see and perceive God, and he knows the things
of God. He sees God in creation just
like everyone else, but he sees more. He sees God in Christ. He sees that God was in Christ
reconciling the world to himself. You see, Moses saw Christ literally
when God appeared to him. It said he saw him who is invisible.
It says Moses talked with God like a man talks to a man face
to face, and there's a reason for that. Moses talked to God
face to face, and God appeared to him, I would suppose, in the
form of a man. Every appearance of God is an
appearance of Christ. God is essentially invisible.
He's beyond the scope of human senses. But God has appeared
from time to time in one form or another, and every appearance
of God has been in the person of Him who is called the Word. That is, it's been an appearance
of Christ. Whether it's the voice of the
Lord God walking in the cool of the evening in the Garden
of Eden, that's Christ. Whether it's the angel of the
Lord that appears to Abraham, that's Christ. Whether it's God
on Mount Sinai appearing to Moses, that's Christ. God in the burning
bush, that's Christ. Moses saw God in all the promises
that were given to the patriarchs concerning the blessings that
they would receive. Abraham saw Christ's day, says
the scripture. And when Moses thought on Abraham's
life, he also saw Christ's day. Moses saw him who is invisible
and the man born of the Spirit of God can see God in some respects
like Moses did spiritually he sees and perceives the invisible
God and the man born of the Spirit of God can see the reward of
faith which is Christ himself when a believer sees God he sees
his reward compare these scriptures here The Lord says in John 17,
24, Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where
I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because
you loved me before the creation of the world. And then listen
further to 2 Thessalonians 1, 9. They, that is the ungodly,
will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out. from
the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.
What is the great reward that's given to those who believe? God
Himself. To see God, to be united to Him
in Christ, to see Christ and behold His glory, that's the
reward. The natural eye can think only of rewards of golden streets
and pearly gates and mansions. They misunderstand that the book
of Revelation is not talking about heaven literally and talking
about that the blessings of heaven are made up of gold, pearls,
and marble columns. That's flesh. No, the reward
of faith. is God Himself. As God said to
Abraham, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward.
Now let's be careful here when we talk about seeing God and
seeing a reward. We're not talking about some
physical vision or experience. For even the flesh can see such
things as physical visions and experiences. Rather we're talking
about a spiritual persuasion and knowledge of God. Let's go on. Moses' faith made
judgments about things that he could see. Since Moses was flesh
and could see fleshly things, and since he was also spirit
and could see spiritual things, then he was in a position to
make comparisons and judgments about the things of both natures. He could compare the spiritual
with the fleshly because he saw and experienced both. He saw
the treasures of Egypt and the reproach of Christ. Though Christ
had not yet been born, Moses knew of Him through the testimony
of the patriarchs. He must have known who Christ
is, and what Christ would do, and what Christ would be, that
He'd be a man, and He'd be the mediator between God and men,
and that He would suffer. He knew that Christ would be
held in contempt by the greater part of humanity, and that He
would suffer and be rejected by men. And he doubtless knew
that all who follow Christ would be treated with similar contempt
and reproach as the Lord had said, they hate you because they
hate me. He knew that going outside the
camp unto Christ would result in bearing the shame and bearing
the reproach that Christ did. He saw those things, he knew
those things. And he saw the pleasure of sin
and the suffering of God's people, it's written that he considered
and chose to suffer with God's people rather than enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season. You see, he saw both of them.
He saw the pleasures of sin and the suffering of God's people.
He lived in the palace, yet saw how God's people were treated.
Faith judged that the suffering of God's people was to be preferred
to the pleasures of sin for a short time. Therefore, Moses' faith
did several things. Moses Faith acted on what it
knew. Moses' faith made a choice. Faith
is not a passive thing. Faith is an active thing. God's
choice of us is foremost, but all whom God choose, choose Him
in return. Faith is not known by the feelings
it produces or even necessarily by the doctrines it professes,
but faith is known by the actions it takes. It became evident to
Moses that he could not hold on to his Egyptian pedigree and
his spiritual pedigree. He must choose between the two.
You see, folks don't want to choose. They don't want to give
up anything or lose anything for Christ's sake. They are willing
to add Christ to what they have, but they are not naturally willing
to forsake all things to follow Christ. The Lord says in Luke
14, 26, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father
and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes,
even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Do you see what
our Lord is saying? There must be a choice made.
You cannot have Christ and other things. That is, you cannot let
any other thing take the place that belongs to Christ. He chose
to be mistreated. Knowing the options available,
he chose to go with the people of God and to suffer with them. This was a conscious choice he
made. He knew what lay ahead. He knew
that what would happen if he sided with the people of God.
He knew he'd lose all the advantages of being the son of Pharaoh's
daughter. He knew that he would lose all the treasures of Egypt.
He knew that he would lose all the esteem that he had, and the
prestige, and the position, and all that he would get in return,
so far as what the flesh could say. All he'd get in return was
mistreatment. But he left Egypt. He knew he
could not stay there and follow God. Well, what does Egypt represent? Well, it's anything in which
a man trusts and finds comfort. It is his life, his loves, his
ambition. In truth, Egypt represents the
man himself. For if any man would follow Christ,
he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. Egypt may take the form of his
religion. There are many who, when they
find Christ, when they are confronted with the gospel, they realize
they must leave their religion. It might be they have to leave
their church. Just because the church has a good name on the
outside doesn't mean it has a good gospel on the inside. Just because
it has a name with a good tradition behind it doesn't mean that that
tradition is truly being preached and set forth. There are thousands
upon thousands of churches in which the gospel was once preached
clearly. It's not there now. Many denominations
of whom it must be written, Ichabod over the door. It's no longer
Ebenezer, hitherto hath the Lord brought us. It's Ichabod, the
glory has departed. And there are many people who
when they hear the gospel, they realize, I can't stay in this
church and believe the gospel. They find out they lose their
family and friends because their family and friends will not tolerate
the new gospel. They may lose their position
in this world. They may lose their wealth in this world. They
may lose their pleasures. They may have to, like Saul of
Tarsus, give up their own righteousness to lay hold of the righteousness
of Christ. But when Moses forsook Egypt,
It wasn't simply forsaking one thing. It was forsaking one thing
that he may go to another. As it was later written, let
us go outside the camp unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the
ultimate proof of faith. It goes to Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ said, Come unto me, all you that are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. He said, He that comes to me
I will in no wise cast out. He says, He that hath heard and
learned of the Father cometh unto me. Is your faith like Moses? We were all born in Egypt. Have
you ever left Egypt? Have you ever left all that you
are and all that you have to go to Christ to be saved by Him? God give you grace to do so.
Until next week, the Lord bless you.