of all the examples given in
Hebrews chapter 11, I think perhaps Moses is the example of faith
best suited to us. Those men of God who are mentioned
in the first part of this chapter are all examples to be followed,
but none of us can literally follow their examples because
we can't do, nor are we required to do, literally what those men
did. God has not called us to offer
up a literal sacrifice as he did Abel. He has not called us
to build a literal ark as he did Noah. He has not called us
as he did Abraham, literally, to leave our homeland, our fathers,
our families, to dwell in tents, or to offer up our Isaacs. But
the faith of Moses exactly tallies with that which God requires
of us. It exactly tallies with the experience of all God's saints. You see, Moses' faith caused
him to walk the same path, make the same sacrifices, endure the
same troubles as our faith will cause us to follow and to endure. Let's read together Hebrews 11,
24, 25, and 26. 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 of Egypt, For he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Now the title
of my message tonight is Moses, a man who believed God. A man
who believed God. As it was with Moses, so it is
with all who believe God. You see, true faith, not lip
faith, not credo faith, not head faith, True heart faith is manifest
in many ways in the lives of God's people. These four things
are absolute certainties. Wherever there is true faith,
faith believes God. Abraham believed God, we're told,
and it was counted to him for righteousness. He believed God's
revelation of himself in his word God's revelation of himself
in his son, whom he promised way back in the garden. The faith
believes the Lord Jesus Christ. These days men everywhere talk
about faith and keeping the faith and hold the faith. Faith, when
spoken of in this book, is talking about faith in Christ. It's talking
about believing the revelation God has given concerning his
son. Trusting Christ alone. for acceptance
with God. Recognizing, as Larry said in
his prayer a little bit ago, our only righteousness is Christ,
our only redemption is Christ, our only sanctification is Christ
the Lord. We find acceptance with God only
in Christ. Faith believes God as he is revealed
in Christ, that God-man who now sits upon the throne and rules
all things according to his sovereign will, disposing of all things
for the good of his people." I do not mean to suggest that
faith believes God perfectly. It doesn't. We recognize that our faith itself
that must be bathed in his blood and robed in his righteousness.
And still yet, weak as our faith is, we all acknowledge and confess
gladly, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. Secondly, true faith submits
to Christ. as Lord. True faith believes
it and true faith submits to it. Faith gladly bows to Christ. Faith is delighted that Christ
rules and wants him to rule. Faith bows itself in the totality
of our being to Jesus Christ the Lord. We gladly submit to
him. We often hear folks say, well, we just have to trust the Lord. Oh, God prevent us from ever
thinking like that. We get to trust Him. In the midst of heartache, trouble,
trial, heaviness, I talked to a friend today who's going through
terrible difficulties. And he said, I know this is God's
will. He's doing good. That's exactly right. My God
does all things well. I want him to have his way. I
want him to have his will. I want him to do with me as he
will. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. My choices are always wrong. when my choice conflicts with
his. My will is always wrong when my will is at odds with
his. My way is always wrong when my
way is contrary to his. Faith vows to him as Lord. These days people talk about
men and women being saved and then somewhere down the road
maybe if they pretty please will let Jesus be their Lord. Oh,
no, no, no. In its essence, faith recognizes
he's Lord and bows to him, bows to me. You've got the right to
rule over me. Now do it for the glory of your
name. Faith bows to him. True faith,
thirdly, follows him. Our Lord often came to men while
he walked on this earth, and the way he called them, he said,
follow me, follow me. He said, he that taketh not his
cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He said,
if you don't follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Faith follows
his word, the revelation of his will in his word, the doctrine
given in his word, the instructions of his word. Faith follows his
example. Faith follows his spirit. Faith
follows Christ. Not perfectly, as I said, but
faith follows him persistently. All of God's people are followers
of the Lamb. Yes, sometimes, like Peter, we
follow afar off. Sometimes we follow with fear
and trembling, as Moses did in the passage we read earlier.
But all true believers follow Christ regardless of cost, regardless
of consequence, none perfectly, but all persistently. And I'll
tell you something else about faith. never quits. Faith believes to the end. We all fall. A thousand times a day we fall. We all sin. Sin is so much a part of what
we are that everything we do is marked with sin. Sometimes
our hearts are cold and hard and indifferent. So long as we
live in this world, in this body of flesh, we are likely to commit
any evil. Now, I realize that's a hard
pill to swallow, and we try not to acknowledge it. We try our
best to avoid it. But the fact is, so long as we
live in this world, we are likely to commit any evil, prone to
wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it, seal it for thy courts above. But having said all that,
faith never quits. Though the righteous fall seven
times in a day, the Lord raises him The Lord God will not allow
his own to forsake him, and he will never forsake them. Faith
believes God. Faith bows to God. Faith follows God. Faith continues believing, looking
to Christ our God to the end of our days. Now with that said,
I want us to look at this man Moses as he's described here
in Hebrews 11, 24, 25, and 26. And I want to find some things
here for the instruction of our hearts in this matter of faith.
I want to make two statements and then I'll try to answer two
questions. First, understand this. Because he believed God,
Moses deliberately gave up some things he would have preferred
not to give up. Faith always does. Faith always
does. Our text tells us specifically
that Moses gave up three things. He gave them up for the glory
of God. He gave them up for the sake of his soul. Had he not
given them up, he would not have believed God. Had he not given
them up, it would have demonstrated clearly that he knew nothing
of God's grace. Had he not given them up, it
would have proved obviously that he had no faith. If he believed
God, he must give these things up. You say, well, Preacher,
I thought we believed in salvation by grace, and that grace means
that our works had nothing to do with our salvation. You're
exactly right. You're exactly right. But where there's true
faith, there are things that are consequences of that faith,
and you can mark it down. You can mark it down. Moses counted
the cost of following Christ. He knew what the cost was. and
he willingly paid the price. He made three of the greatest
sacrifices a man could ever make. Number one, when it was come
to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now let me tell you what that
meant. This man Moses, because he believed God, because he counted
the cost of following Christ, deliberately forsook and gave
up rank, position, and greatness. We are told by tradition that
Pharaoh had but one daughter, his only child. Moses was her
only child. Hers by adoption, yes, but hers
nonetheless. That means that Moses was the
next man in line to the throne of Egypt. Now you stop and consider
that. That wasn't like being elected
four years to be president of the United States. That wasn't
even like being the queen or king of England, a figurehead
monarchy. Oh, no, no. This man was next
in line to be king over the greatest empire in the world, with the
greatest influence in the world, with the greatest wealth in the
world. He could have been a great man,
powerful, influential, a man known among the Pharaohs. But he refused it. He refused
the throne of Egypt. He refused his family. He, for Christ's sake, forsook
his mother whom he loved. That one who was Pharaoh's daughter
was the one who raised him. And he loved her as his own mother.
He made his decision, but he made his decision not when he
was an impetuous boy, not when he was an impetuous youth, not
at some time when he was 16, 17 years old and he got upset
and said, I'm going to leave home. Oh, no. This man was 40
years old, 40 years old when he abandoned the throne, when
he abandoned Pharaoh's house, when he abandoned Egypt, when
he abandoned his mother. With those things he gave up
earthly ease and pleasure. These are hard things to deal
with. You see, we all like pleasure. We live in the me generation. We've been raised to think that
the whole world revolves around me. The whole world exists for
my pleasure, to make me happy. Men and women, I can't I can't
tell you how I grit my teeth, just grit my teeth to keep from
biting my tongue off or slapping them. Folks say to me, well,
I'm not happy anymore, so I'll abandon my wife. I'll abandon
my husband. I'll abandon my family. I'll
forsake everything I'm responsible for because I'm not happy. Let me tell you something. It's
high time we learn and learn well the world does not exist
to make us happy. God did not create the world
to make us happy. God does not bring things to
pass in time to make us happy. Moses abandoned pleasures that
in themselves involved nothing evil. Not as far as other men
were concerned. These pleasures were not the
pleasures of of sexual deviancy. They were not the pleasures of
drunkenness. They were not the pleasures of
immorality. That's not what he's talking about. They were the
pleasures of wealth, security, comfort, luxury, ease of life. But for these, these things,
for Moses, they were the pleasures of sin. How come? How come? Because to hold on to them, it
meant walking contrary to what he knew to be the will of God. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. What book says it? Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. That which is contrary to God's will is that which is evil,
and the Lord God makes it plain to us. This too was a great sacrifice. He gave up that which all men
and women of all ages, of all social conditions most naturally
seek, pleasure, pleasure. And thirdly, he gave up riches,
the treasures of Egypt. They would have all been his.
And I dare say this was his greatest sacrifice. None of us like to acknowledge
it, but most, most are far more willing to give up position and
pleasure than prosperity. Most will forsake family for
prosperity. Yet Moses didn't give away just
a portion of his wealth. He didn't just say, I'm going
to give away most of what I have. He gave up everything, David,
everything. Let me show you something how
great this sacrifice was. Stephen tells us in Acts 7.22
that he did this when he was 40 years old. He was a man learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, mighty in word and mighty in
deed. In other words, Moses deliberate
there. deliberately as a wise, well-educated,
mature, responsible man gave these things up. He wasn't hasty. He didn't make a rash decision.
It wasn't just an emotional thing, but rather it was deliberate,
willful, calculated. He counted the cost. And he was
in no way, in no way obliged to do it. In no way, except because
he believed God. Pharaoh didn't piss on him and
drive him out of the kingdom. The children of Israel didn't
beg him to become their leader. He wasn't a dying man who was
about to leave the world. And so he said, well, I believe
I'll give everything up for God. He wasn't a beggar who had no
rightful claim to the possessions. He wasn't an old man who could
no longer enjoy these things, but he counted the cost and gave
them up. He made these sacrifices willingly. for the honor of God, just because it was best for
God's people, best for the glory of his name, best for the interest
of his kingdom, best according to his will. This is what God
had me to do. He didn't just flee from Egypt
because he was afraid. He fled from Egypt because he
knew himself to be the appointed deliverer of Israel. Stephen
made that claim. Stephen said he presumed his
brethren would know that God had sent him to be their deliverer,
but they didn't understand anything. All right, here's the second
thing. Now, don't let Moses give up some things he'd prefer to
have kept. He chose some things he would have preferred not to
choose. His choices were as great as his sacrifices. He chose to
walk in a path that was completely contrary to the flesh, contrary
to worldly wisdom, contrary to all personal desire. The Holy
Spirit tells us that Moses chose three things specifically, hard,
costly choices they were, but necessary, absolutely necessary. First, He chose a path of affliction
and suffering. No man in his right mind would
ever do so. No man would ever do so except
by faith. Conflict instead of comfort.
Adversity instead of prosperity. Sorrow instead of satisfaction.
Pain instead of peace. suffering instead of soulless,
he chose to take up his cross and follow the Master. And when
our Lord tells us that a man must take up his cross daily
and follow him, he's not talking about a piece of wood. He's not
talking about some idolatrous thing that men look at superstitiously. You see these silly religious
folks, some fellow who's then on television dragging across
on roller skates around the country. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about deliberately choosing what he knows will cost
him for the glory of God. That's what it is. Deliberately
choosing that which you know is going to be painful, which
you know is going to cost you, which you know is going to be
adverse to everything you want by nature. But this is what God
has for me. Moses chose the company of God's
despised people. He left his family and friends
and became one with God's people. Their troubles became his troubles,
their sorrows his sorrows. He not only preferred God's despised
people to the people of the world, he preferred them to himself. This man, Moses, oh, he was indeed
a faithful prophet, a faithful pastor to that church in the
wilderness. Oh, sometimes he got plum angry. And sometimes he acted like a
fellow who was out of sorts because he was out of sorts. But this
man, Moses, expressed his most genuine concern, his most genuine
care for God's people. When the Lord said, Moses, you
step aside and I'll kill these folks and I'll raise up a nation
out of your loins. And Moses said, Lord, forgive
them. And if you won't forgive them,
Then blot me out of your book." Moses said, Lord God, I stand
with these people, your people, my people. Forgive them, forgive
them, forgive them. He chose a path of reproach and
scorn, mocked, belittled, ridiculed, laughed at. Moses was the joke
of Egypt. He saw reproach and scorn before
him. And he said, I'll take it. I'll
take it for my people. I'll take it for Christ's sake. I'll take it in the name of him
who's coming after me, who is my deliverer. I'll take it for
the glory of God. I'll be honest with you. I don't know anything more difficult
for a man to take. than constant reproach and scorn
from everybody. Constant reproach and scorn.
Painful. We think it's painful to our
children. I suspect it might be a little more painful to us
than to them. They get over it in a hurry. We don't. Never was
there a man but the God-man who made such sacrifices and choices
as Moses did. He gave up the king's throne
and chose a slave's rags. He gave up the king's palace
for a place among God's people. He gave up riches for poverty,
respectability for reproach. Why? What on earth motivated
him? This is the third thing. What
was the principle? What was the driving force? What
was the controlling factor? What was it that made Moses behave
like this? Our text tells us, by faith,
Moses. He believed God. His faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
motivated him, directed him, inspired him, controlled him,
ruled him, He did what he did because he believed God. He believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ, that one whom God promised he would
send. This man Moses believed that God would keep his promise.
He believed that God would fulfill his covenant. He believed that
God would indeed deliver his people, that God would never
forsake his own. After 400 years in Egypt, Moses
looked on these people and said, these are God's people. The Lord
God said the time has come now when he will deliver them. And
it looks like there's no possibility that they will ever come out
of this land. Failure is opposed to them. Look at them out there
in their rags. But he said God's going to deliver
them. God's going to fulfill his word. God's going to do what
he said. God's going to save his own. You see, he believed
that with God, nothing is impossible. The deliverance of Israel. The
overthrow of Pharaoh, how's that going to happen? God. God will do what he said. He
believed in the wisdom and goodness of God's providence. Somehow Moses understood. I don't know how, except by the
teaching of God's Spirit. He understood that like Joseph
before him, He was in the place of God for such a time as this. Oh, my soul. Blessed is that
man who understands that he's in God's place, in God's time,
for God's purpose. And everybody else may as well
get out of the way because he's moving through. You see, a man
who believes God has backbone. A man who believes God has something
to give him courage. A man who believes God faces
any obstacle and faces it confidently. He believes God. Moses believed
God is faithful. Turn over to Lamentations 3.
Let's look at this passage one more time. Lamentations 3. Excuse me, I've got a little
bit of a cold. Verse 21. I can't tell you how often this
passage rolls through my heart and refreshes my soul. This I recall to my mind, and
therefore have I hope. I look around me, no hope. I look at you, no hope. What
are we going to do in this mess in which we live? No hope. I
look at me, no hope. No hope. But I lift my heart to heaven
and I recall to mind what God has revealed concerning himself.
And I have hope. I mean confident hope. When I'm
talking about hope, I'm talking about something I'm dead sure
of. It is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because
his compassions fail not. That means more than God never
ceases his own to cherish. That means more than God's love
is immutable. God's co-passion with us never diminishes. As a father is moved in his heart
because of the needs of his child, so the Lord God Almighty has
compassion on us that never fails. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul, therefore will I hope in him. He's the portion of my
cup. He's the portion of my inheritance.
The Lord is good to them that wait for him. I believe I'll
wait for him. He's good to the soul that seeks
him. Seek him with all your heart. It's good for a man that he should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. God's
faith. He's faithful to his purpose,
faithful to his promises, and he's faithful to his people.
No matter how things look, no matter how they feel, no matter
how they may hurt, God is faithful. Faith caused Moses to see things
that had not yet come to pass. Faith caused him to see temporal
things as temporal. What's that throw? It's just
a place for a man to sit. But what are the riches of Egypt?
Go over there and ask somebody where they are. What is this
position, this prestige, this power? He saw things eternal
as eternal. And his heart set on things above,
not on things on the earth. This man interpreted God's providence
By faith, according to his word, he didn't interpret God's word
according to what he saw in Providence. Faith showed Moses what God would
have him to do. And faith gave him the strength
to do it. Now, marvelous as Moses' sacrifices and choices seem to
be, they're really not very marvelous at all. Not at all. If you consider just one thing.
Are you listening? Bobby, he believed God. He flat believed God. Look at verse 27. By faith, Moses
forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. See that? He didn't forsake Egypt because
he was afraid of the king. For he endured, look at this,
seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover. He ate that lamb, sacrificed,
put the blood on the door post and the lintel. He kept the Passover,
looking to Christ. And the sprinkling of blood,
lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch the other. By faith,
they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians
are saying to do were trail. All right, one last thing. What
would the Holy Spirit have us learn from this? How does this
apply to us? Let me give you three statements
and I'll wrap this up. I'll make it as personal as I
possibly can. If I would be an heir of eternal
life, if I believe God, I must take
up my cross daily and follow Christ. Choices come every day in many
ways. Where there's no cross, there's
no crown. Where there's no battle, there's no victory. You see, faith in Christ requires
a denial of self, a constant saying no to the flesh. Faith
willingly, deliberately takes up the cross. That is the way
of offense and difficulty for the glory of God. Faith follows
Christ. Secondly, and this just follows what I've
just said, if I live for myself and refuse to forsake this world, I cannot have faith. I cannot
have Christ. I cannot have life. Our master
said, whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same will
save him. If I prefer my will to God's
will, if I seek my way rather than my Lord's way, if I prefer
the world to Christ, if I place the things of time before the
things of eternity, If I live for the comfort of my body rather
than the welfare of my soul, if in my heart I prefer myself
to Christ, that's what it's all about, David. It's preferring self to Christ.
Then I don't know Him and I have no faith. You see, no man can
serve two messengers. You'll either serve self or Christ. You'll either deny self or deny
Christ. You'll either live for the world
or live for Christ. So I say to you and to me, as
Joshua said to Israel of old, choose you this day whom you
will serve. If the Lord's God serve him, if not, go ahead and
live for yourself. But as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord. We will serve the Lord. All right,
thirdly, If I believe Christ, if I follow Christ, if I seek
the will and glory of Christ, my God will take care of all
my earthly and eternal interest. You know, those things were far
less difficult to struggle with. when I was 18 or 20 years old
than they are now. Some time ago, I had a fellow
that told me, he was an old man. He said, you know, as you get
older, these things just don't matter to you. I thought, I sure
hope I live to get that old. Because the older I get, the
more they seem to matter. And I keep praying, Lord, teach
me in my old age what you taught me in my youth. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you. Are not two sparrows sold for
a father, and one of them shall not fall to the ground without
your father? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered,
Fear he not, therefore you are more value than many sparrows. Your Father in heaven will feed
you and clothe you and care for you. Set your heart on things
above. I hope this is true. Jesus, spotless Lamb of God,
thou hast bought me with thy blood. I would value none beside
Jesus. Jesus is crucified. I am thine
and thine alone. This I gladly fully own. And in all my works and ways,
only now would seek thy praise. Help me to confess your name,
bear with joy your cross and shame, only seek to follow thee,
though reproach my portion be. When thou shalt in glory come,
and I reach my heavenly home, loudly still My lips shall own. I am yours and yours alone. Amen.