Not this Sunday, but the following
Sunday on the 10th, Brother Sam Vance will be bringing a Sunday
morning message. It'll be 11 o'clock service only, no dinner.
Next Wednesday night, there'll be no service. I'll be on the
road to go preach in Missouri. So there'll be no service next
Wednesday night. So that's the schedule that's coming up. This
Sunday, everything will be normal. Soup and sandwiches and afternoon
message, the whole nine yards. Let's get a hymn. I'm gonna turn
to hymn number 474, Only a Sinner Saved by Grace. ? Not have I gotten but what I
received ? Grace hath bestowed it and I have believed ? Boasting
excluded, pride I abase ? I'm only a sinner saved by grace
? Only a sinner Saved by grace, only a sinner. ? Saved by grace
? This is my story ? To God be the glory ? I'm only a sinner
? Saved by grace ? Once I was foolish and sin ruled my heart
? Causing my footsteps from God to depart Jesus hath found me,
happy my case. I now am a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner, saved by grace. This is my story. the glory. I'm only a sinner
saved by grace. Tears unavailing, no merit has me, or else I must die. Sin had alarmed me, peering God's
face, but now I'm a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner, saved
by grace. Only a sinner, ? Saved by grace
? This is my story ? To God be the glory ? I'm only a sinner
? Saved by grace ? Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows ? Loving
his Savior to tell what he knows Once more to tell it would I
embrace I'm only a sinner saved by grace Only a sinner saved
by grace Only a sinner saved by grace this is my story God
be the glory I'm only a sinner saved by grace hymn number 267 all things work
out for good ? All things work out for good
we know ? Such is God's great design ? He orders all our steps
below ? For purposes divine ? For purposes divine ? This is the
faith that keeps me still no matter what For well I know tis best For
well I know tis best So now the future holds no fear God guards
the work begun And mortals are immortal here work is done. Someday the path
you chose for me will all be understood. In heaven's clearer
light I'll see all things worked out for good. All things worked
out for good. Exodus chapter 2, I'm going to
read verses 11 through 15. The title of my message tonight is,
As God Sees. Exodus chapter 2, verse 11 says,
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 spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there
was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And
when he had went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews
strove together. And he said to him that did this
wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who
made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill
me as 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. Let us pray. Our Father, it is
in the name of Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior, who is Lord over all, who rules
this universe with sovereign sway, who does as he pleases
in heaven and earth and in all the deep places, who owns and
operates every human being that walks upon the face of the earth.
We are glad, Father, that you have counted some of this humanity
among your elect chose them to salvation from the foundation
of the world. Had it be that Christ became
their surety and assumed their sin debt before they even existed,
that He came into this world and died in their room instead,
paying the debt that they owed and perfectly satisfying your
law and justice. that you made him to be unto
them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that in all things he might have
preeminence in all the glory. We are thankful that we are named
as your children. We know what we are. We are shamed
often, full of shame for ourselves and our weakness and our frailty,
where our thoughts go where they shouldn't the darkness of our
own hearts and minds. But we know, Father, that you
remember our sins no more because of the glory of that perfect
sacrifice where our Lord made himself an offering for sin.
Father, we pray for those who are sick and going through trials,
who are away from us for whatever reason. We ask, Lord, that you
might be with them, comfort them, and strengthen them in Jesus
Christ, and help us tonight as we look at your word. Give us
clarity of thought. We pray in Christ's name, amen. Now, this record that's recorded
here in Exodus chapter 2 is recorded three times in the word of God.
This particular record is recorded three times. In this passage
is a historical account of what took place. In Acts chapter 7
it is recorded as part of Stephen's preaching Christ that eventuated
in him being stoned to death. And in Hebrews chapter 11 it
is recorded in the light of Moses having God-given faith to do
these things. So these three instances are
recorded. This instance is recorded three different times. In this historical record that
we have before us in Exodus, the narrative is declared in
facts, empirical evidence of the circumstances that caused
Moses to ultimately flee Egypt, as it says here, in fear. This
account does not deal with spiritual things or even the providence
that is ruling in the matter of this that will ultimately
lead to the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham back in Genesis
15. In the book of Acts, Stephen
covers scripture from Abraham to Moses to Christ as he preaches
the gospel to the priests who had hired liars and perjurers
to bear false witness against him. He did in the early days
of the Church what the Lord and His disciples and the apostles
did and every preacher of the gospel does today. They employed
the Old Testament scriptures to preach the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the result of that sound doctrine In the days of the early
church, often proved to be capital punishment, it certainly did
for Stephen, who was the first martyr recorded in scripture
for Christ. As those haters of the truth
hurled their missiles at Stephen, one Saul of Tarsus held their
robes, and he would one day give his life for the same gospel
that he at the time disdained and hated. And in the epistle
of Hebrews in chapter 11, the Lord defines this entire account
as an act of faith on the part of Moses, and his account seems
to differ in some people's mind from the historical record that
we have here, though it doesn't. By asserting that this is a matter
of faith, the scenario is addressed in an entirely different way,
in an entirely different realm. The scenario is addressed in
an entirely different realm, setting forth the spiritual eternal
and providential meaning of what actually took place here historically. Herein lies a very important
truth. The way things really are is
the way God sees them. The way things really are is
the way that God describes them. It is said this way in Scripture,
Man looks on the outward appearance But God looks on the heart. Man
looks on the outward appearance. In this historical record, we
see what happened. We can see that. It is plainly
before us. But in the record that He gives
in the Acts and in the Hebrews, we see more. And we see it explained
in a spiritual way. This is seen time and time again
in the miracles of Christ. What men saw as impossible was
absolutely possible with Christ. God revealed men's impossibility
as His opportunity, and we know that how God sees a thing is
how it is. No matter what we see or what
we can see with our natural eyes, what God says this means is what
it means. It's what it always means. What
we see in our text here in Exodus chapter 2 is Moses is grown up. Some Hebrew writers have him
18 years old, some have him 20, some have him 30 years old. which
would be normal for a man to be called a man because at 30
they were called men. At 30 they could become a priest. At 30 our Lord began his ministry. But Stephen said he was 40 years
old, which would be the first 40 years of his life. The next
40 will be spent in Egypt and in the wilderness,
totaling his life out to actually 120 years, three times 40. It says that Moses went out to
his brethren to look at their burdens. Now remember, he's the
son of Pharaoh now, or the son of Pharaoh's daughter, the grandson
of Pharaoh. That he viewed these Hebrews
as brethren reveals that he identified with them. He went out to see
his brethren. That word is used twice. Even
though he held a high place in Pharaoh's palace, Pharaoh's adopted
grandson. He did not go out to ogle his
brethren in their troubles. He was concerned for them. Stephen
said in Acts chapter 7 and verse 23 that it came to Moses heart
to visit his brethren. To visit his brethren. Here in
our text it says he went out to his brethren. And Stephen
says he went to visit them. To visit someone usually implies
that everything is Nice. It's a kind thing to do to visit
folks. Our Lord said, You visited me when I was sick. You visited
me when I was in prison. He went out to visit them. In
our text, Moses sees an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew. Probably whipping
him because he wasn't making enough bricks out of clay. And
it says Moses looked one way and then the other. He's got
a plan. He knows what he's going to do.
But he wants to check and make sure there ain't going to be
no witnesses around for what he's about to do. And when he found
none, it says simply that he killed the Egyptian. He killed
the Egyptian and buried him or hid him in the sand. Now he surely believed that he
got away with it because he didn't see nobody looking. The next
day he goes out again and sees two Hebrews in a scrap. Some
Hebrew writers, most of them in fact, say these two men were
Dathan and Abiram, which later on would give Moses a whole lot
of trouble in the future. But he asked the one who had
been wronged or was doing wrong, he asked him why they were fighting
amongst themselves when they ought to be sticking together.
They are brethren, they are Hebrew brethren. And their response
to his rebuke was, well, who made you the boss? Who are you? Who do you think you are to come
and tell us what we ought to be doing and what we ought not
to be doing? They said, Are you going to kill
us too like you killed that Egyptian? And then he knew that he had
been found out. Moses knew that he had been discovered.
And in fear of Pharaoh, he took flight and fled to Midian. That's
what's recorded for us. And Stephen records this with
a bit more motive included. Look over at Acts chapter 7 with
me, beginning with verse 23. Now remember, Stephen is preaching
the gospel here. He's preaching the gospel. He's
preaching Christ and Him crucified because they have accused him
of sedition, they accused him of blasphemy, they hired people
to lie on him. In Acts chapter 7 verse 23 it
says, And when he was full forty years old, it came to his heart to visit
his brethren and the children of Israel. And seeing one of
them suffering wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was
oppressed and smote the Egyptians. You see the kind of language
being used here. The other one is a simple statement of facts.
Empirical evidence, if you will. This is what happened. Now, Stephen
begins to talk about things like vengeance or avenging someone
or defending someone and avenged him that was oppressed and he
calls the one who he defended as being oppressed. You see the
tenor of the language is a little different. And he smote the Egyptian.
And this next phrase is very important. For he supposed. That's
where we get into problems. We start supposing and figuring
out. In another place it says he thought. He thought. Every time we get to thinking
that we got something figured out, we'll find out we don't.
But he supposed. that his brethren would have
understood. Now this is an amazing fact. Stephen is saying that
somehow the idea of being delivered was already in the minds of the
Hebrews. Somehow the idea of escaping Egypt. He said he supposed
his brethren would have understood that God by his hand would deliver
them. He thought that they understood.
Maybe it was because he slew that Egyptian. that they would
have thought that he's gonna be their hero. I don't know.
But they didn't understand. They didn't understand. The next
day he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have
set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren. Why do
ye wrong one another? But he that did his neighbor
wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge
over us? Wilt thou kill me as thou did
the Egyptian yesterday? then fled Moses this saying and
was a stranger in the land of Midian where he begat two sons. So we see there's a little bit
different language employed here as the gospel is being preached
because this ends up with him preaching Christ. We end up with
Moses saying God's going to raise up a prophet from among the people.
If you don't listen to him you're going to perish. He quotes that
in Acts chapter 2. And Stephen he repeats it again. Now we come to the account as
described by our Lord in Hebrews chapter 11 if you want to turn
there. And it is the third time this is accounted in Hebrews
chapter 11. Now you know how it is accounted
both historically, you know how it is accounted when the gospel
is being preached. Now here is the Lord accounting in this great
chapter which is that great cloud of witnesses that is spoken of
in the latter part of chapter 11. this great cloud of witnesses
is these heroes of faith that are set forth throughout scripture
and it says in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 24 by faith now
that's not mentioned in Exodus it's not mentioned in the Acts
but here the Lord says by faith Moses when he was come to years
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Wait a
minute, did you read that before? I didn't read that before, but
this is how God sees it. He chose rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. he esteemed the reproach of Christ,
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect
unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him
who is Invisible. That's God's record. That's an
amazing thing, isn't it? We have a historical account
which sets forth facts. We have a little bit of elucidation
and illumination in the preaching of the gospel. Then we have the
Word of God when he incorporates the concept of God-given faith
that Moses did that thing we read in Exodus 2 by faith and
it had nothing to do with what actually happened there. It had
to do with other things. He went out to visit his brethren.
He killed somebody. He got caught. And it says he
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. That's
how it's described. Isn't that an amazing thing? That's a wondrous
thing. And I know people read that. The first time I read it,
I scratched my head and I said, wait a minute. What's going on
here? The difference of this account
is utterly amazing. This is how God sees this incident.
because he ordained it in his providential dealings with Israel.
Remember, he's bringing all things to their appointed end because
he's made a promise to Abraham way back in Genesis 15. He used
Joseph to bring this people to Egypt and stay there 400 years
and then deliver them by this man, Moses. All this is all part
of his plan, his providential dealings. This is the real and
true account of the meaning of the entire episode right here
before us. This is what it all means. I
remember many years ago, I think it was Dave Lambert, we were
talking and Dave said, I made this statement, I said, the Old
Testament means what it means, but it means more than it says.
And he scratched his head and he said, what are you talking
about? I said, the Old Testament's not about the Old Testament,
it's about Jesus Christ. from Genesis to Malachi. That's
what the Old Testament is about. Now we have all these historical
events taking place and they are recorded for us. All these
things take place but somehow in some way they all point to
Christ. Our Lord looked at those who studied the Old Testament,
who lived in the Old Testament, who copied the Old Testament,
who were the ones who actually kept the Old Testament through
the days of the Maccabeans and held it safe so people could
actually have the written word. He looked at them and he says,
you do search the scriptures for in them you think you find
eternal life, but they are they which testify of me. The scriptures
testify of me. In Luke chapter 4, or chapter
24, it says he took those disciples on the road to Emmaus and opened
up the scriptures to them. He said, and in Moses, and in
the Psalms, and in the prophets, he expounded to them the things
concerning himself, and he opened their eyes that they might understand
the scriptures Luke chapter 24 verses 25 through 27 in Acts
chapter 10 Peter when he was preaching said all the prophets
gave witness to the Lord Jesus Christ all the prophets Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, all those talked
about Jesus Christ. You read those accounts, you
say, what does it mean? Well, they do. All of them talk about
Jesus Christ. When Paul was accused of being
a heretic for preaching the gospel, he said in Acts chapter 24 and
verse 14, after the way which men call heresy, that's how I worship God, believing
all that's written in the law. the Pentateuch, the first five
books of the Bible, and the prophets, all that follow. That's how I
worship God. You want to call me a heretic?
Well, I'm a heretic then, and I heretically worship God believing
that. Now, when we read this in Hebrews,
it's not good God putting a favorable spin on the actions of Moses.
He's not doing that. This is God revealing the heart
of Moses wherein he had placed the gift of faith. This Moses,
this is Moses looking to Christ. It says that here in Hebrews. In Hebrews, esteeming the reproach
of Christ. What was the reproach of Christ?
The reproach of Christ, he was taken outside the camp and crucified. He said he went outside the camp
of Egypt and joined up with the Israelites. That's what it's
talking about. He looked to Christ. Moses looked
to Christ. Moses looked to Christ. He looked
for that Messiah. His act was an act of faith.
His act was by faith a refusal to be called Pharaoh's grandson.
When he did what he did, he was by faith refusing to be called
Pharaoh's grandson. His act was by faith aligning
himself with an afflicted brethren in their suffering and seeing
the pleasures of Egypt as sin against God. His act by faith was esteeming
the reproach of Christ as His standing in Christ's righteousness
alone, that's what the reproach is, in Christ's meritorious death
alone for His entire salvation. Tell people that and you'll find
out it's a reproach. It's a reproach. He did that rather than esteem
the great riches that sin affords in the land of Egypt. And he
did that because he knew what was of true value. He understood
the recompense of the reward. His act by faith was forsaking
Egypt, fearing God more than he feared the king because he
saw him who could only be seen by faith. He looked for the invisible.
All this time, this historical account was about something else
altogether. It was about Christ. and his
glory. He saw him who could only be
seen by faith. This is how God sees it. So this
is how it is. I know our circumstances sometimes
are dire, but all these things that happen to us and come our
way are for our good and for his glory. This is part of God's
plan. This is part of his purpose and
we just shake our head. You say, how can this be any
good? It's good. It's good. The natural reasoning,
as you read these three accounts that are given of the same instance,
seems to be a contradiction. But by faith, the believer sees
it plainly because of the way God sees him or her. When you
think about it, this is our life, this seemingly diametrically
opposed thing. Wait, that can't be what was
going on there in Exodus 2 as is described in Hebrews chapter
1. That seems, how God sees that
just seems so strange. What about our life? What about
us? This is our life, brethren. We're a hot mess. Our thoughts
and deeds, hearts and minds are often occupied with that which
would hurl a thousand worlds to hell. We confess our sins. Why? Because
we're sinners. Only a sinner is saved by grace.
Not have I gotten but what I've received. We struggle in war
with our flesh. We see ourselves so very wrong
on every level. We avoid introspection because
it's a painful exercise that never ends up well. How does
God see his believers though? That's what we are. We know what
we are. We feel it. We know it. We experience
it every day of our lives. How does God see us? He sees us as accepted, beloved
children. He sees us as righteous, and
holy, and perfect, and pure in heart and mind. He sees us as
always doing what's right. He sees us as redeemed, saved,
eternally secure. Why? You say, well, I know what
I am. Why does He see me that way?
He sees us in Christ. He sees us in His Son in whom
is no sin. This is how God sees His children,
so this is how it is. Oh, the glory of His grace. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name.