The Faith of Moses

[0:00] Let's get to, sorry, let's get to Hebrews chapter 11 and let's move forward in our chapter.! This is a study that never was my intent.

[0:12] It was only my intent to start on a little subject, a thought of faith, and it just developed into taking this one example at a time. Because as we recall, I hope you recall that studying this, that the Old Testament, the theme of the Old Testament is not even close.

[0:30] Faith is not even mentioned but two times and only one time is it in a positive light. But the New Testament is just filled, chocked full of faith.

[0:43] And it turns out, well, the Old Testament had its share of faith and it was very much alive but just wasn't emphasized. Yet here in the book of Hebrews, the writer is showing the Hebrews that, no, there was much faith in the Old Testament.

[0:58] And these aren't just examples to believe on Christ but they're examples to go forward from your faith in Jesus Christ and to walk by faith. And so we're going to continue with this study of these Old Testament examples of what New Testament faith should look like in your life.

[1:15] We've seen a lot of things already, including last time we came together was studying Moses' parents in verse number 23. And there were some incredible things there, I think, that were uncovered just by looking at them.

[1:31] And the reason that those two, Jochebed and Amram, got a mention in what we call the Hall of Faith. Two characters that you barely know a thing about and they show up in this prestigious chapter on faith.

[1:45] And there's something about that that not just did we learn about dying faith from a few references earlier, but then we learn about these parents and I didn't label it parenting faith, parental faith, but that's kind of what it is here.

[1:59] And so just briefly reminding you about that study, they kept their special, special boy, their proper child, he was called, exceedingly fair. They kept him away from the Egyptians as long as they could by faith.

[2:13] And by faith they feared God more than they feared the king. And by faith they had to let go of their boy when the time came that they could no longer hide or protect him.

[2:25] All of that was by faith, by faith, by faith. And they're great examples for parenting today because it's a good idea to keep your kids away from Egypt as long as you can.

[2:36] Yeah, it really, really, really is. As long as possible. It's a good idea to fear God and to obey his word no matter what the culture and the people tell you. The king tells you is what's good and right for the land.

[2:47] It's better to fear God and obey the word of God because our rules and our standards come from the book. That's where they come from, not from the school, not from the administration, or whatever couple, three or four letters you put together and call it a council that's going to tell you what to do.

[3:01] No, it comes from our holy Bible. That's what we do. We fear God. And then the point comes when you have to turn your kids over to the Lord, when you just can't make them do it anymore.

[3:14] You can keep them from the Egyptians as long as possible, but eventually you just have to entrust them to God and let go. And that is hard for some to do.

[3:25] And there's some that they should have let go a long time ago and let God just have his way and do his thing. And instead they keep interfering and keep interfering and keep interfering and it's never going to end good.

[3:37] And to do this you need faith. And that's the problem. Some parents, they just don't exercise faith. They won't trust God and let go. Now we're going to get off of that and move forward. This week is going to be about the faith of Moses.

[3:49] And there's many things mentioned, but I want to read with you verses 24 through 27. So follow along and we'll this week look at the faith of Moses. Hebrews 11, 24.

[4:00] 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's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect under the recompense of the reward.

[4:29] By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. I want to take a look in detail of Moses' faith here that's mentioned in this chapter.

[4:44] And I want to show you that it's displayed by a choice, a choice that Moses made. Now for others, it wasn't that at all. It was some completely different things that had to do with preparing an ark, or offering a sacrifice, or being tried in regards to his only begotten son.

[5:01] But with Moses, the example that he's going to give us and show us and teach us something about faith has to do with a choice that he made. A single decision. And I think we can learn some real important truths about how God desires, what he wants to see out of us.

[5:17] So let's pray about this. Let's put some prayer on this, and then we'll get into the Bible. Lord, it's up to you to do the work now, and to open our eyes, and to teach us from your book.

[5:28] This has been recorded. It's been preserved. It's in our eyesight, even as we speak. But Lord, it's going to be a work that you have to do. And I believe that firmly, that you have to open our eyes to the truths that are in this book.

[5:40] And you have to relate them to us. And so God, please help me to convey this message. And please help your people to have ears to hear. And then help us to have hearts willing to receive and to obey.

[5:51] And God, just impress upon somebody's hearts in some manner what you want them to accomplish. And help them to be obedient. And just pray that you'll get something done here today for Jesus' sake.

[6:01] And it's in his name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right. And I want to notice, first thing, the timing of Moses' when his faith kicked in. Notice this.

[6:12] It said in verse number 24, By faith Moses, when he was come to years. When he was come to years. Now, Acts chapter 7 tells us that he was a full 40 years old.

[6:26] And it's not the number that I'm going to focus on, but it's the fact that he was a grown man. And now he was faced with a choice that only he could make. The choice was to remain in the Egyptian way of life, the way the world had brought him up and trained him to be, or to leave that life and go to the people of God and take up residency with them and identify with them.

[6:50] Even if it meant going to that lifestyle would mean suffering affliction. Because those people were in bondage. And Moses had a choice to make. And the first thing I want to say about his choice tonight was that his choice was a life choice.

[7:06] Meaning it was an individual, personal choice of how Moses is going to live his life. When he was come to years, it was time for him to make some decisions for himself now.

[7:19] He came to years and began to recognize, this is my life. And this is my decision of how I'm going to live my life. I was raised to live this way, but now I'll choose if I'm going to live that way or if I'm going to choose another way.

[7:38] When he was come to years, it was a life choice. And it sounds to me by reading it that Moses moved out of the house. It says in verse number 24, when he was come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

[7:53] It sounds like he's divorcing himself from that family that he grew up in and that household. And it said then in verse 25, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God.

[8:10] It looks like he left. He left the house and went back to what we would call home. He moved out and moved back to where the people of God were.

[8:21] Nobody else could make that choice for him. That choice was his to make, to stay with Pharaoh's family or to go suffer with God's people. And Moses made a choice.

[8:33] A choice that was made by faith. It's going to come to a point in every Christian's life. And I say Christian because for the lost, they're on the broad road and they're dead in their trespasses and sins and the blindness of their heart.

[8:49] But a born-again Christian that has an understanding of God's way or my way, God's way or the world, that Christian, everyone is going to be faced with a decision at some point of how they're going to, their short life, how it's going to be lived out.

[9:07] They make a choice. Some choose early that God's way is the right way. Some young people, young Christians choose that I'm going to stay with God because I believe it's the right thing to do.

[9:19] Others, myself included in this one, decide, no, I'm going to run with the Egyptians for a while, but realize this is not the life I want and this is not the right life and it's not the best life.

[9:31] It's a bad choice. And then decide to run back to God and get back to where they belong. But every Christian is going to be faced with this decision. And only you, Christian, can make the choice.

[9:45] Ultimately, this life choice is yours to make. You have the power. To live a life indulging in the pleasures of sin.

[9:57] To follow the world or to take up your cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. To become a disciple of Jesus Christ. One way is filled with attractions. One way boasts all the entertainment and all the enjoyment you can handle.

[10:12] While the other one's quite a bit different. The other one is not as sexy as that. It's not as glamorous. It doesn't dangle anything much in front of your eyes in the temporary.

[10:23] Rather, it tells you, actually, if you come this way, there's going to be some trials. There's going to be some testing. It's not going to be all roses and easy. But there is a special reward if you'll stay with this one.

[10:37] And Moses made a choice. The same choice that every child of God is faced with in their life. Is the Christian life going to be real to me? That's the choice.

[10:49] Am I going to believe this stuff and stick with it? Am I going to do this or not? Every Christian has to make that decision. To me, personally.

[11:00] Not to please somebody else. But what am I going to do with my life? Am I going to live it my way? Or am I going to live it to seek the Lord? To obey the Word of God?

[11:12] Am I going to attempt to walk with Jesus Christ on my own? Moses had a choice to make. It's the same choice that Joshua. He famously challenged the children of Israel and said, Choose you this day whom ye will serve.

[11:28] It's the same choice. So what does this teach us about faith, though? What are we learning about faith? Well, we've already actually learned this in the message on dying faith a few weeks ago.

[11:40] But I think it's a little clearer here. Is that faith has got to be personal. It has got to be an individual thing that resides within you.

[11:52] In the new man inside of you. It's a fruit of the Spirit. You must learn to exercise faith on your own through a personal relationship with God.

[12:03] You choose. It's a thing that... It's something that nobody else can know. And I don't mean because it's like a secret thing.

[12:14] It's hidden. No, it's because it's a personal experience that I cannot enter into the faith of anyone else in this room. Your relationship with God, we can pray together.

[12:26] We can talk about God together. We can bounce things off each other. But in reality, that private thing, that real thing between you and God, only you can feel it and know it and experience it.

[12:39] And Moses had a choice to make. Am I going to do that? Or am I going to stay here and live with these Egyptians and enjoy some pleasures of sin? Well, Moses made a choice.

[12:51] It was a life choice. And he made that choice by faith. There's more to this. Look at verses 25 and 26 again. It says, I want you to realize that Moses' choice was a costly choice.

[13:05] In verse 25, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and steaming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.

[13:18] For he had respect under the recompense of the reward. In reality, all choices that we make have costs that are embedded or there's a weighing of a decision.

[13:32] It's in all of them. Some are so minor, you don't even consider it. You don't think twice about it. Some are more important than others. For instance, you consider the price of an item. You consider the value.

[13:43] You consider the need of that item. Maybe if it's something you're purchasing or the long-term effects of whether you should or shouldn't choose this route. You weigh things all the time.

[13:55] Well, there was a cost that weighed in Moses' mind. It's Egypt's treasures now or greater riches later.

[14:06] Because that was Moses standing at that fork in the road and seeing that he had the opportunity at his fingertips to have all the treasures that Egypt offered him.

[14:18] It was available. On one hand, he had a life of comfort and pleasure and wealth an Egyptian lifestyle of royalty at his fingertips.

[14:32] No one would tell him no. He was trained up in all the wisdom of Egypt. He was a sharp guy, a natural leader. And on the other hand, was a life of bitter hardships and cruel bondage.

[14:50] Practically speaking, Moses made a dumb decision. What a fool. With everything to gain, he chose to throw it all away and then go live with these lowly, despised slaves.

[15:10] Practically speaking, humanly speaking, he lost his mind. What an utter foolish nonsense. It's like a wealthy, successful man giving in to drugs and then ending up on the street.

[15:25] It's like from first to worst. Oh, oh, wait a minute. But we're forgetting something. Because Moses made that choice by faith.

[15:38] Because Moses saw something in his eyes. Look back at chapter 11, verse 1. Remember what faith is. Verse 1, Faith is the substance of things hoped for.

[15:52] The evidence of things not seen. With Moses' decision, there was something unseen that Moses hoped for, that Moses expected in going to live with the Israelites.

[16:10] There was something that Moses believed in. Through the eyes of faith, he didn't see them as some despised, lowly servants. He's looking at them and says, they're the people of Almighty God.

[16:22] They're the people that have promises from heaven to earth. They're going to inherit some things, Pharaoh. Almighty God's going to deliver them.

[16:33] He's already pledged it. He won't go back on his word. He's going to deliver them into a goodly land, Pharaoh. A land way better than Egypt. That's what he saw.

[16:45] He didn't see some slaves. He saw the people of God. For Moses, this was the best decision he ever made in his life. To get out of Pharaoh's house before it was too late.

[16:59] And to get in with the people of God. Suffer affliction. To Moses, that'll be worth it. To get away from this pleasure. Get away from this wealth of Egypt.

[17:11] Because I'm going to get to where God's people are. Moses weighed the cost. A costly choice it was. But he made his choice by faith.

[17:22] If you could weigh the two options in your hands, the choice seems obvious until you add faith. Until you add faith to the one.

[17:33] And by faith, Moses refused the temporary. And he chose the eternal. If you find yourself in this life making decisions under pressure, and you'll find yourself always seeming to take the easy road, and you never have any peace in your heart about the choices you're making, because you just don't know if it's right, it could be that you're not bringing faith into the equation.

[17:59] It could be you're just acting out of the pressure. I have to make a decision now. And I don't know what to do. Faith needs to be factored into your choices. Don't only look on the immediate.

[18:10] Don't look on the temporary. Learn to look on the eternal. Learn to weigh your choices out with faith. How is this going to affect me down the road? How is this going to affect my children down the road?

[18:23] How is this going to affect my family and my walk with God if I choose A or B? Learn how to make your decisions in faith. Weigh it out. Throughout history, the people of God have made similar choices to that of Moses.

[18:41] Many people of God have weighed the options in front of them. And they've made the decision to follow God's leading and give up careers and give up promotions and give up comforts and give up American lifestyle and give up family relationships to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

[19:04] Why? Why give all of those opportunities up? Because the calling of God was in their heart. Because they couldn't stay in Egypt any longer.

[19:14] Because the new man, the new man had such a strong drive and desire to please God. I was never there before. And now the new man just wants to serve the lovely God.

[19:29] He just wants to please Him. He wants to walk with Him. He doesn't care. I know lawyers. I've heard of engineers, of dentists, of doctors, that have professional men and women, years in college, years of study, much money spent on a career, and feel the call and the pulling of God and walked away from it so they could be a pleasure to God with just that little bit of life they have left.

[19:56] They made a decision. I'm not pitching to you tonight that we all leave our jobs and try to, I'm just pitching to you when you have that choice to make. When God puts that choice on your table, you make the choice in faith.

[20:11] That's what you do. You bring faith into the choice. When you're weighing it, don't you dare look at the temporary. You bring faith in, you'll make the right choice. It'll become clear. I wonder if you've been confronted yet with counting the cost of serving God today.

[20:28] I wonder if you've sacrificed anything to choose the Lord Jesus Christ. If that's in some small way, if you've had to weigh some things out in your life and decide to, by faith, choose the way you believe the Lord would have you choose.

[20:44] Has your Christian life cost you anything? Anything. A relationship with a dear friend because you took Jesus Christ.

[20:57] A promotion at a job that's going to force weekends upon you. And you say, no, wait a minute, no, but God's priority number one. And for the new man, you need to learn this.

[21:11] Wealth and success and current monetary, that's a currency that the new man does not worship.

[21:24] When you're sitting as a spirit-filled Christian in the office with the boss and he says, I'll give you this, I'll give you this, I'll give you this, and it's going to take away something from serving God, the new man is just, that's bouncing right off of him.

[21:40] I'm not seeking those things. If it's going to take you away from God, it doesn't even factor because God gets first place. Remember when Achan, back in Joshua chapter 7, remember when he saw and then he coveted and then he took and then he hid?

[21:59] Remember that? I wonder if, what would have happened if he would have weighed the cost of his choice? I know what would have happened. He would have stayed far away from the wealth and the money and the silver and the gold and the goodly apparel and he'd be alive.

[22:18] I wonder how many Christians spiritually are dead, zombies, because they can't say yes to God in faith. every choice they make has to do with money.

[22:32] Every decision on their plate has to do with how's this going to affect me? How's this going to make me look? And they can't just walk with God to please him first. Moses had a choice to make, a costly choice.

[22:46] And there's a third and final thing I want to say about Moses' choice and that is it was an unpredictable choice, meaning that it was a choice that he himself could not predict the outcome, how this was going to play out, the results.

[23:04] Those results were actually veiled from Moses when he made the choice. In verse 27, he ended up forsaking Egypt. Off he goes into Midian for 40 years.

[23:17] But that is not the outcome that he anticipated. I'll show you this. We read this the other week. Would you flip back to the book of Acts chapter 7. And this is where we get a little insight into the mind of Moses and his decision.

[23:39] He had a particular outcome in mind when he made his choice, but things didn't seem to go that way. So his choice was a bit of an unpredictable one.

[23:50] Acts chapter 7 and I'll start in verse 23. You see his name in verse 22. He was learning all the wisdom of the Egyptians, mighty in words and deeds.

[24:02] And he was a full 40 years old and came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. Seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him and was oppressed and smote the Egyptian for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them.

[24:19] But they understood not. The next day he showed himself unto them, they strove and did it again. And the next thing you know in verse 29 he's taking off to be a stranger in Midian.

[24:34] This is not, he made his decision, a choice, a life choice to suffer with his people. A choice that he weighed those costs but he added faith and made the right choice but he did not foresee how that choice would go, how, where it would actually take him.

[24:56] An unexpected turn in the course that he chose. It's not the way he saw it unfold, the way he saw it unfolding was he was going to deliver this people out of Egypt.

[25:07] And yeah, 40 years later. But the way he saw it and he supposed his brethren would see it that way and they didn't see it that way at all. And off he goes.

[25:20] So by faith he forsook Egypt. By faith he adjusted. The circumstances have changed. And what are we going to learn from this?

[25:31] Well, one of the hardest things for Christians is to adjust to the unforeseen circumstances that come up in their life. and there's plenty of them.

[25:43] Good and bad and ugly. Christians get this idea. Please don't swallow this, but Christians get this idea. If I do right, God blesses me and it's all good.

[25:58] If I read my Bible and pray every day, if I go to church, it will be peace and joy in my life and in my family. Christians have the mindset, if I do this, God will do this.

[26:13] What else is there to it? That's the Christian life, right? And then comes the unexpected. Then comes that unpredictable part of the choice to do what's right and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

[26:29] Then comes the part where it's not smooth sailing. And some Christians fall off to the way and they get bitter. They don't know how to respond to that because I thought if I did right, it would be good.

[26:44] Well, Moses made a choice, but his choice, as we're seeing, was an unpredictable one. And so, what did he do? By faith, he adjusted. By faith, Moses realized the same thing you and I need to realize is that God knew this outcome before I did.

[27:04] this didn't surprise him. It surprised me. So, I need to adjust. Matter of fact, not only was God not surprised with this unexpected thing, but God's, I guess, he's fine with it because this is what he put in front of me and this is my lot.

[27:27] This is where he led me. Taking up my cross and following him led me into this valley and as hard and as hot as it could be, God must be okay with it.

[27:40] So, what do you do? You adjust your thinking. You temper your expectations and you keep trusting that God has a plan and that God can work this out and he'll do it by faith.

[27:53] Coming to the close here, Christian, when your plans fall apart, that is all the more reason to reach out to God in faith. When your situation doesn't match your expectation, Moses, all the more reason to turn to God by faith.

[28:15] This is how I thought it was going to go. I'm not there. Do I run from God or do I turn to God and say, help. Help my unbelief.

[28:27] Just help. It's not why, but rather help. Have mercy. Give me grace.

[28:40] Unpredictable results. The longer I live, I actually find that's a huge part of the Christian life.

[28:52] Unpredictable. We can learn from Moses to choose God's way and it'll end where God wants it to.

[29:02] We've already covered this on Sunday. Oh man, it's been a year or better ago. What that time in Midian meant to shaping and preparing Moses. Little did he know, watching those flocks in the wilderness, that he would be guiding the flock of God's people through that exact wilderness to the very exact place he was when he met him at Mount Sinai.

[29:27] He didn't know what was going on those 40 years. God did. And so by faith, Moses adjusted. God's big enough.

[29:39] He's wise enough. He's loving enough to hold your puny little vapor of a life in his hand.

[29:51] He's big enough to care for you and to guide you and to solve it all. You just have to trust him. You have to put it in his hands because he's able and he's willing.

[30:06] It's up to you to live by faith. So three thoughts was by faith, you make the personal choice to follow him with your life. That's a personal decision you have to make.

[30:19] Would to God I could make it for you. God. And that you could make it for your children and for your family but we can't. It's an individual when you come to years, whatever that may look like for one versus another, at some point when you're born again you make a choice, is this thing going to be real to me or not?

[30:40] By faith you make that choice to follow him. By faith you choose God's way even when the world is promising you an easier road. Even when they're offering you pleasure, riches.

[30:54] You choose God's way. It may not be an easier road. It may have some bumps, it may have some things where you get knocked around. How do you endure that?

[31:04] How do you go? By faith. That's what the world doesn't have, that's what God offers you. And finally by faith you choose to follow him even when he doesn't show you where he's taken you.

[31:18] He says take up your cross, follow me. Where are we going? Lord, I just told you, follow me. Yeah, but where are we going Lord? This is all I'm telling you.

[31:31] We're going this way. And you by faith believe I can trust him. So I will trust him. A large part of the Christian life is unpredictable.

[31:46] God gave us that one valuable thing that we need so badly that makes all the difference and then some.

[31:59] Faith. Faith. You got some of that? Do you? Then you need to start exercising it.

[32:11] If you've exercised it a little, you understand it. God grows it. Now you can exercise some more of it. Don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid.

[32:21] If I start going this way, somewhere it's going to happen. He's going to check me out. Trust him. Just put your hand in his.

[32:31] Put your life in his faith. Go. Faith. Moses made a choice. And that choice is an example of what our faith is supposed to look like right here, right now, in the lives that we live in 2025, in California, in the United States of America, by the grace of God, we're to walk by faith.

[32:59] Amen. Amen. Father, thank you for our study tonight. Thank you again for another example and for how it applies to our lives. Lord, it's my request to you that you would work on each heart that's here in a way that you would draw them and help them to understand and see that the Christian life is the right choice.

[33:22] It's the best choice, not the easiest, not the most glamorous and glorious, but boy, in the end, you've sworn some things in an oath and you cannot lie and there's eternal riches that are waiting for us that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven.

[33:49] Lord, help us to see the recompense of that reward is far greater than the pleasures of sin in this wicked land amongst us. God put it into everybody's heart to trust you and to love you and to walk with you and to want you and to desire to live by faith.

[34:07] And then, Lord, for those that have tasted some bitter things, help them to pick up, to adjust, to walk by faith today, tomorrow.

[34:19] and, Lord, this life has got very little things that are certain. We've learned that by experience and others will learn it again.

[34:33] So, Lord, please give us the faith to trust you. May this charge this evening be what's needed for your people to live by faith. May they take this and use it.

[34:46] We pray this in Jesus' name, for his wonderful name's sake. Before we close, Father, once again pray for Linda West. I ask that you'll touch her body, touch her mind, give her strength, give her peace.

[34:58] Please be gracious to her and merciful. Please help her to recover quickly. Be with her family, give them all grace, as these times can be difficult and trying on everybody. And then finally we ask prayer for Gia, for this young little girl.

[35:13] Would you please be merciful to her? Would you please help and assist with those doctors and their work and their diagnosis and just be present? And would you Lord also use this as an opportunity for the Lord Jesus Christ to be glorified?

[35:29] We just pray for your mercy upon all of these and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Alright, good night, you are to Smith.