PM Exodus 2 Moses - Looking for a Greater Reward

[0:00] In Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2,iseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseiseise The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

[0:38] When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bull rushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank, and his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

[0:56] Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young woman walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it.

[1:09] When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, this is one of the Hebrew children. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and call a nurse from the Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?

[1:24] And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, go. So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.

[1:39] So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses because she said, I drew him out of the water.

[1:52] One day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

[2:03] He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together.

[2:14] And he said to the man in the wrong, why do you strike your companion? He answered, who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?

[2:27] Then Moses was afraid and thought, surely this thing is known. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian.

[2:38] And he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

[2:50] The shepherds came and drove them away. But Moses stood up and saved them and watered their flock. When they came home to their father, Raul, he said, How is it that you have come home so soon today?

[3:06] They said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered the flock. He said to his daughters, Then where is he?

[3:17] Why have you left the man? Call him that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man. And he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom.

[3:31] For he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. During those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery, and cried out for help.

[3:44] Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning. And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

[3:56] God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. May God bless that reading of his inspired and holy word. Hebrews chapter 11.

[4:11] And we'll read verses 23 to 29. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 23 to 29. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

[4:35] By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

[4:46] He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

[5:05] By faith, he kept the Passover, and sprinkled the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea, as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

[5:26] Now, as most of you will know, Hebrews 11 is all about faith. But faith can be a difficult thing to grasp hold of, and it can be a difficult thing to understand.

[5:37] So the Holy Spirit has given us many examples of faith, so that we can understand faith better.

[5:48] And one of the examples that were given in Scripture of faith is Moses. There is perhaps no figure in the Old Testament that is so Christ-like as Moses.

[6:00] If we were to think of all the similarities between Moses and Christ, we could be here for most of the night. When you think of Christ and Moses, they were both born into a genocide.

[6:18] A wicked leader was both trying to destroy the male children, Pharaoh and Herod. God preserved them both as children. They both, in their own way, came up from Egypt.

[6:37] They were both leaders in the wilderness. They both fed the people of God in the wilderness. They were both mediators. They were both leaders.

[6:51] They were both prophets. There are many, many similarities between Christ and Moses. Moses is a Christ-like figure pointing us to a greater Redeemer and a greater Saviour.

[7:07] But this evening I want to look at the faith of Moses from this text. And I want to notice three things. What did Moses give up by faith? What did Moses choose by faith?

[7:19] And how by faith was Moses able to persevere? So first of all let us look tonight at what did Moses give up by faith?

[7:31] Well Moses gave up by faith three things. He gave up privilege. He gave up pleasure. And he gave up prosperity. Think of the privilege that was afforded to Moses.

[7:47] He was a prince in Egypt. We don't know this from the Bible but tradition tells us that he was perhaps the only child of Pharaoh's daughter.

[8:00] He could well have been the heir to the throne. Acts chapter 7 verse 22 tells us Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

[8:13] It's almost a parallel to what is said of Christ in Luke chapter 24 verse 19. A prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.

[8:23] Moses was a man of great privilege. He was perhaps, with the exception of perhaps Solomon and Daniel and Nehemiah he was perhaps the most prepared leader in the Old Testament.

[8:45] He would have had a unique training amongst almost all the Bible characters. Moses had rank. He had power. He had privilege.

[9:00] He could have become one of the great pharaohs in history. And yet he gave it all up. He gave up privilege.

[9:10] He also gave up pleasure. We're told in our text. He gave up pleasure. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

[9:24] Imagine all the pleasures that were open to Moses in the court of Egypt. He could have had any pleasures he wanted.

[9:36] Anything his eyes saw he could have had. Any sensual pleasure. Any beauty he desired. The Egyptian religion was all about pleasure and abundance and luxury.

[9:51] And Moses could have had anything he wanted. And yet we're told that he turned his back on pleasure. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God.

[10:07] Egypt was a sophisticated civilization. It wasn't a backward civilization. It was advanced and developed. Moses could have traveled over much of the known world at that time.

[10:23] The Egyptian empire spread from Sudan over in the west right across to the east.

[10:36] Moses could have gone anywhere he wanted. He could have enjoyed anything he wanted. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life could have been Moses'. He could have lived for pleasure if he wanted to.

[10:51] But he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. What else did Moses give up by faith?

[11:02] We're told that Moses gave up prosperity. In verse 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt.

[11:15] You think of the wealth that would have been open to Moses. Greatness and pleasure couldn't keep Moses in Egypt but neither could prosperity.

[11:30] The Egyptian empire was an empire of huge opulence and wealth. Imagine the security that you could have had if you'd stayed in the Egyptian empire.

[11:40] He would have wanted for nothing. But yet he gave it up. So what did Moses give up?

[11:53] He gave up privilege. He gave up pleasure. And he gave up prosperity. People might say, well maybe he was a young and rash man.

[12:06] Well we know from scripture that he wasn't young. He was in the prime of his life. He was a 40 year old prince. He was well educated. He must have known what life would have been like when he left the Egyptian empire.

[12:21] He must have known what poverty was like. He certainly knew what slavery was like for the children of Israel. But yet he turned his back on all that.

[12:37] He didn't give up because he was obliged. He wasn't on his deathbed. He wasn't being forced to give up something. He chose to give it up. You might say, well the king was going to kill him but we're told that a new king had arisen.

[12:54] He could have perhaps gone back to the new pharaoh and pleaded for mercy. He could have perhaps lived in exile somewhere else. But he chose to suffer reproach with the people of God.

[13:09] Moses gave up all that glory to dwell with a despised people. And doesn't that remind us of Christ?

[13:20] Moses gave up the glory of heaven to tabernacle with sinners like you and me. Moses is a picture of the gospel.

[13:32] He gave up pleasure. He gave up privilege. And he gave up posterity. But what did Moses choose by faith?

[13:47] We were told in verse 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

[14:00] Moses chose suffering and affliction rather than the fleeting pleasures of sin. to identify with the people of God would have involved a life of suffering and affliction.

[14:20] the people of Israel were an enslaved people. They were a hopeless people.

[14:31] They were a landless people. They were a leaderless people. And by choosing to be amongst them Moses was choosing trials.

[14:44] He was choosing poverty. He was choosing distress. He was choosing anxiety. And most likely he was choosing death. But yet by faith Moses chose the path of suffering rather than the path of pleasure.

[15:02] He could have taken the path of least resistance. He could have taken the path of privilege. But he chose the path of suffering. Moses knew where redemption was to be found and it wasn't to be found in Israel.

[15:21] It was to be found amongst the people of the living and true God Jehovah. Moses believed in a God he could not see.

[15:33] He believed in promises he could not touch. He believed in a deliverance that would come that he could not see but by faith believed in. He was like Abraham who looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God.

[15:53] Moses endured suffering and affliction because he believed in a better land a better leader a better sacrifice a better law and a better mediator.

[16:08] what else did Moses give up by faith? Sorry what else did Moses choose by faith? Sorry he chose affliction but he also chose to identify with the despised people.

[16:24] He chose to identify with the children of Israel. Can you imagine the high circles that Moses moved in? He rubbed shoulders with the great and with the good with the powerful.

[16:39] He lived in the lap of luxury. Servants would have waited on him. Everything he wanted he would have got. but now he chooses to identify with slaves with shepherds with the oppressed with the destitute with the afflicted with the tormented with the enslaved with the frightened with the traumatised that's who Moses chose to identify with.

[17:11] He chose to identify with a despised people. Most of us struggle to carry our own anxieties but to carry the anxieties of an enslaved people.

[17:27] We are happy to throw a few coins into a charity tin maybe. We are happy to sign a petition. We are happy to do a sponsored walk. But to go and live with the despised people and to fight for them that's something altogether different.

[17:49] But Moses goes and joins this despised people. He identifies with them. He tabernacles amongst them. He dwells with them. He became an ally to them.

[18:00] He became a friend to them. He fought for their freedom. He became a companion in their tribulation. Moses chose to identify with a despised people.

[18:11] And then thirdly under this heading what did Moses choose? He chose reproach and scorn. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt for he was looking for the reward.

[18:28] Moses chose reproach and scorn. Imagine the gossip in the Egyptian court when Moses left. Imagine the jokes that were told about Moses.

[18:44] Why would he give up all this luxury and all this privilege to go and live with that despised people? What a fool!

[18:58] What possessed him to give up such influence and such power and such wealth? He could have been one of the great pharaohs in history and now he's a shepherd in Midian.

[19:11] He chose reproach and scorn over the Egyptian court. Imagine the first time he went back into the court of Pharaoh.

[19:28] Imagine the sniggering laughing and the jokes that would have been told about Moses. This great Egyptian prince now in the clothes of a shepherd.

[19:41] Imagine how they would have laughed at him. How they would have ridiculed him. The great Moses has fallen on hard times.

[19:51] how far he has fallen. But that's what faith did for Moses.

[20:03] He chose affliction. He chose a despised people. And he chose scorn. Acts tells us that Moses was mighty in word and deed.

[20:20] He was well educated he chose these things by choice. He turned his back on power and pleasure and prosperity.

[20:37] Faith compelled him. But then thirdly and lastly how did Moses persevere by faith? How does how does faith enable somebody to persevere?

[20:54] All the mocking all the affliction. How did Moses persevere by faith? Five times we're told here by faith.

[21:07] By faith by faith by faith by faith what did Moses have faith in that made him turn his back on all these things and choose the suffering and affliction of the Lord's people?

[21:25] Well first of all Moses had faith in a promised saviour. he had faith in a promised future saviour.

[21:40] Remember in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 God said to Satan he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

[21:52] Right back in Genesis there was the promise of the coming redeemer and the people of God were holding on to that promise. A saviour is coming a redeemer is coming and even at this early stage in the Old Testament there was the promise of a future saviour.

[22:11] God had said that a deliverer would come. How were the saints in the Old Testament saved? How was Noah saved?

[22:23] How was Abraham saved? How was Moses saved? Well we're told with regard to Abraham that he believed in the Lord and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

[22:36] The saints in the Old Testament looked forward by faith. Their faith was like a telescope. They saw in the future that a redeemer would come that would save them.

[22:49] All the blood of bulls and of goats and of animals could not forgive one sin but they looked forward by faith to the redemption of a saviour in the future.

[23:05] Long before Christ came to this world Moses suffered the reproach of Christ looking forward by faith. And you see in Genesis chapter 3 we are assured that Satan will be defeated but in the meantime God sends many redeemers.

[23:28] God sends Moses himself in Exodus chapter 3 verse 7 Then the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their task masters I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land a land flowing with milk and honey and he says in verse!

[23:54] And now behold the cry to Pharaoh that you may bring my people the children out of Egypt God has many redeemers before the final redeemer will come and Moses is to be one of those redeemers he is to be a Christ like figure leading the people of God out of oppression into the promised land that it is all pointing forward the types and shadows to the future saviour that will come in the Lord Jesus Christ so Moses had faith in a promised saviour but he also had faith in the covenant promises of God think of all the promises that had been given to Abraham before Moses came

[24:54] God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as the stars in the sky he said to him in Genesis 17 that he would make him exceedingly fruitful that he would make him into many nations he said to Abraham that kings would come from him surely an impossible feat given the age of Abraham and given the age of Sarah who is beyond child bearing years God makes an impossible promise but it seems impossible but Moses believes in those promises he believes that God will give the people of God a land and a redeemer he believes in the promises the covenant promises of God he has faith in the covenant promises of God so he has faith in a future saviour he has faith in the covenant promises of God but then he also has faith in the character of God he believes that with

[26:17] God nothing is impossible the Israelites had been slaves for 400 years how could God take millions of people out of the land of Egypt preserve them in the wilderness and take them to a promised land it was impossible never been done before how would you feed them in the wilderness how would you give them water in the wilderness how would you protect them from their enemies the Egyptians had chariots they were fierce they were a fierce warrior nation but by faith Moses believed that God could do the impossible he could redeem a people for himself he could deliver them he could feed them he could give them a land flowing with milk and honey he could deliver them from the mighty hand of the mightiest empire in the world at that time

[27:22] God could protect them God could preserve them the obstacles were massive but yet Moses had faith that God could do the impossible Moses also had faith that God was all wise that God knew the end from the beginning and you see when somebody has faith that faith goes beyond reason and sense people would have mocked Moses but you see Moses' faith was like a telescope he could see that God would deliver them he saw that God was all wise he saw that God was all merciful that God had mercy and love upon the children of Israel he hadn't abandoned them he was chastising them for their sin but he loved them he showered his mercy upon them and he wanted to save them and redeem them so he believed that

[28:34] God was all merciful that God was loving towards his people he believed that by faith so Moses believed in a promised saviour he believed in the covenant promises of God and he believed by faith in the character of God what can we say by way of conclusion tonight then what have we learnt about faith well the great example that the Bible puts before us of faith is the faith of Moses Moses wasn't interested in the king of Egypt he was interested in the king of kings faith assured Moses that affliction and suffering were temporary suffering and affliction are God's school to train us for glory sufferings are the furnace which

[29:41] God puts his children through in this world to make us long for eternity to purify our sin and our dross that's what he was doing with the children of Israel in Egypt the children of Israel had chosen idolatry and they needed to be chastised they needed to be disciplined!

[30:00] so that they would love the God often uses the scalpel of suffering in this world to cut away the ties that bind us to this world Moses saw with the eye of faith the kingdom of Egypt crumbling into the dust but he saw a kingdom that would never end by faith one day all the riches of Egypt would be lost buried in the sand stolen all those pleasures leading to death and judgment what remains of the Egyptian empire now a few pyramids a few things in the national museum you see that's what faith does it shows us the future that we cannot see and that leads us to two conclusions tonight the first conclusion is that if you are to know the

[31:10] God of Moses you must make the same choice as Moses you must give up what Moses gave up and you must choose what Moses chose you must choose Christ over the pleasures of this world we must be prepared for reproach for self denial for suffering if we are to identify with the people of God the people of God have always been a reproached people the problem with Christianity today is it's a crossless Christianity it's a Christless Christianity and it's a cost less Christianity and the great question for us tonight is is there any cross in our Christianity do we know what it is to suffer affliction with the people of

[32:16] God J.C. Royal says this many I fear would like the glory who have no wish for grace they would fain have the wages but not the work the harvest but not the labour the reaping but not the sowing the reward but not the battle but it may not be as Bunyan says the bitter must go before the sweet if there is no cross there will be no crown have you made the same choice that Moses made have you chosen to suffer reproach with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and then the second conclusion that this leads us to tonight is that nothing will enable us to turn to God and to choose God unless we have faith without faith it is impossible to please

[33:17] God we can do many many things in life that are good we can attend church we can read our Bibles we can love the poor but what we need to please God is faith that is a supreme thing we can have knowledge we can have commitment we can have feelings we can have excitement but unless we have faith we cannot please God only faith in the finished work of Christ will take us to heaven you might say tonight I still don't understand what faith is faith is reaching out the empty hands of faith and receiving the finished work of Christ on the cross that's what faith is everything has been done for us and we reach out the empty hands of faith and we receive the finished work of

[34:22] Christ that's what faith is that's what is pleasing to God faith enables us to choose Christ when we have Egypt at our feet when we have all the pleasures and the privilege and the prosperity of Egypt at our feet faith enables us to choose Christ instead of all these things faith enables us to choose God when everyone is mocking us it enables a man to build an ark for decades while being mocked and ridiculed by the world faith enables us to continue faith enables us to leave our land and our people and seek a land that God will choose as Abraham did faith enables us to go into the lion's den or the fiery!

[35:19] furnace faith enables us to endure the anger of the king or the world or our neighbours or our family why?

[35:32] because he endured as seeing him who is invisible that's what faith enables us to do to endure as seeing him who is invisible faith gives us a vision of the beauty and the glory of Christ so that we might endure through all the sufferings and trials of this life to receive our heavenly reward that's what we have here in Hebrews 11 we have a people who chose the reward that they could not see they turned their back on the reward that they were offered in this world and they set their faces toward a city whose builder and foundations was made by God what are we going to choose this evening my friend are we going to choose the temporary pleasures of sin or are we going to choose the lasting reward that

[36:34] Christ offers let's trust this evening in the greater Moses the one who came from the glory of heaven to the squalor of this world to tabernacle amongst the reproached and sinful people the Lord Jesus Christ the greater Moses faith gave Moses a telescope Moses could see rest afar off he could see the promised land he could see peace and victory afar off by faith J.C.

[37:13] Ryle says dim sighted reason could only see trial and barrenness storm and tempest weariness and pain but you see Moses saw beyond that he saw towards a land of rest the promised land and you see when we go through the trials and sufferings of this world faith interprets those trials and sufferings for us Moses saw that behind a frowning providence God so often hides a smiling face and only Christians can have that joy and reproach and suffering and sacrifice we interpret this life with the eyes of faith this is not a reward a reward is to come in a better land in a better place let me close tonight with the words of 1

[38:17] Peter 1 8 though you have not seen him you love him though you do not now see him you believe! in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory obtaining the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls we have a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory if we have faith tonight we can have a joy in all the difficult circumstances of this life because we have faith in an unseen savior who has gained the victory for us and we are moving we are pilgriming towards a land where we will receive a reward a promised land of heaven where we will truly enjoy our rest and our reward may bless these thoughts to us let's pray our gracious God we thank you for the great example of Moses we thank you oh lord that he by faith was willing to suffer reproach with the people of

[39:19] God and to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season he was not willing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter but was rather willing to be!

[39:30] identified with our reproached and despised people we thank you our gracious God for the preciousness of your word we thank you oh God that faith gives us a telescope to a better land and a better rest than we have in this world and we pray oh God as we go through the trials and sufferings of this world that you would give us the faith that we need to see that behind a frowning providence you hide a smiling face we thank you oh Lord for the relevance of your word to our situation and we pray that you would bless your word to us tonight and help us to take it with us as we go into a new week so bless your word we pray!

[40:15] receive our thanks in Christ's name Amen