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Sermon Manuscripts
Faithful Over the World Part 1
a sermon in the series
Hebrews: an Epistle of Encouragement
A sermon delivered
Sunday morning January 6, 2002
at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Paducah, Ky.
by S. Michael Durham
© 2002 Real Truth Matters
Hebrews 11:23-28
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
The world is a hostile place for us Christians. It is not to be regarded as home or friendly. Whatever hospitality it would show you or me it cannot be trusted. It should be seen as a ploy to ensnare us into its devilish system. Afghanistan offers no more hostilities to our soldiers than does the world to the soldiers of the cross of Christ. How well did John Bunyan illustrate the charm and cruelty of the world when he told us of Vanity Fair. The dear pilgrims, Christian and Faithful, came upon this light but deceitful place in their journey to the Celestial City. So appropriately named for all within its borders was vanity. Every lust a man could imagine was on display and for sale at Vanity Fair. The pleasures of this world were laid out in the most attractive manner so that men found them hard to resist. And when Christian and Faithful refused to do business with the Fair’s merchants they were arrested, tortured and Faithful was martyred.
Yes, I think Bunyan quite fairly portrays the world in Vanity Fair. When you or I refuse to do business with this world and purchase its pleasures we too will be marked by the world as traitors. We will be seen as the enemy, and with vengeance in its eye the world will hunt us down and will do with us what the hunter would do with the fox.
We must always remember the warning of our Lord in the Revelation, “hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown,” for there is always someone in the world who would steal your crown.
Ask the church member who has forsaken Christ for the world if the world’s influence is not strong. Ask him if the tasting of the world’s best is worth the endless ages of a world void of all pleasures? How many of our friends and family who walked with us for a season are now no longer with us! Are they not testimonies of the world’s strength and seduction? And how many of us are already wounded in our hearts and are drugged by the drink of this world and we know it not? How this text has sobered me to the fact that the world must not be underestimated! I have been awakened out of a trance placed upon me by the ease and comforts of this world and made to know my own shortcomings as a soldier. “Endure hardness as a good soldier,” but the truth is you and I settle for the soft and smooth things. It is amazing how easy it is to endure comfort.
So the question I want to ask us this morning is do we realize the fierceness of the world’s hatred toward us? Do we understand the world will give no quarter? The world knows only fighting to the death. Mercy and forgiveness it will never offer.
Our text today shows us the world’s major artillery that it uses against us. It will roar at us with the voice of lion, or it will seduce you like a siren, or bring you pain as an executioner. Power, pleasure, and pain are its main weaponry against us. In order for this truth to be reinforced within our minds all we need today is to study the author of Hebrews’ discussion of Moses. Upon Moses the world unleashed its fury without reservation, and tried to destroy him, but as a good soldier of Christ he kept his grip on the shield of faith and overcame.
It is only by faith that we shall overcome the world. Let’s study the world’s strategy against us and our defense against it in the faith of Moses.
The world’s power tempts us to fear it more than we fear God. That’s the temptation of power. In the example that we have in our text, we see in verse twenty-three that Pharaoh threatens to use his power to kill. A Pharaoh that did not know Joseph had ascended to the throne of Egypt. Some historians say that this Pharaoh was an invading king who had conquered Egypt and was not in the dynasty of the Pharaohs that knew Joseph. In his fear that the Israeli nation was growing at an alarming rate, faster than Egypt, and that they would join forces with Egypt’s enemies, the Pharaoh put forth an edict that all Jewish male babies were to be killed. And the Egyptian king employed Jewish midwives to put to death any Jewish male baby that was born. But they didn’t obey Pharaoh. The Pharaoh then ordered all parents to dispose of their male babies and his soldiers to enforce this ruling by killing all male babies they discovered.
In verse twenty-three we see that the parents of Moses knew this edict very well because they hid their child, Moses, after his birth. We see that power tempted them, just like other Jewish parents. If they didn’t follow the royal command then perhaps they would be arrested, imprisoned, and separated from their children. Or perhaps they would be executed themselves. The temptation was to fear what Pharaoh could do rather than fear God. The anger and the wrath of Pharaoh is a type here of the anger and wrath of the world. Kings, presidents, governments, and judges wield a great deal of power. The Bible tells us that God has established them to be the servants of God to do good, but often many governments abuse their power and are not the servants of good but of evil. It’s at that point that you and I as Christians are to reject the powers that be, so that we may submit to the power of God. We are to never obey governments when governments tell us to disobey God. I know right now that this doesn’t seem to be a problem for us today, but the day is coming, coming quickly, when the government of the United States will raise its hand and sword against Bible believing Christians, and they will use their power to tempt us to fear it more than we fear the Lord God. Oh, may we, as Jochebed and Amram, the parents of Moses, fear God more than we do any man.
So we see that one of the ways that power tempts us is by fear and intimidation. But another way that power tempts us is by enticing us to covet it. In this passage we see a big decision that Moses had to make. Was he going to continue in the courts of Pharaoh as a prince of Egypt, or was he going to join the ranks of his people and side with God? I cannot but believe that for forty years Moses wrestled with that question. The Bible tells us in Acts chapter seven that when he came of age he decided he would visit his people and see their affliction. At age forty something dramatically happened to Moses. But before we discuss what this dramatic event was, let us ask the question, why did it take him to the age of forty to begin to wonder about God’s people? Was it because the attraction of power was alluring? Power is a temptation; to be able to wield authority is one of the temptations that the world will offer. How many preachers have succumbed to that temptation. I’m sure we could mention names of preachers who have been sidetracked from the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to become involved in politics to the point they’re no longer preachers, they’ve become politicians, and their ministry and the name of Christ, as a result, has suffered because of it. Friend, if you’ve been called to preach the Gospel, stay out of politics. Does that mean Christians have no place in politics? No, I am not saying that, I said preachers ought not to be running for office; preachers ought to preach the Gospel. It’s the Gospel that has the greatest power or agency for change that our nation needs. It will not be done through the courts, and it will not be done in the legislative halls of Congress or in the executive offices of the White House. Dear friends, our culture can only be impacted for Christ by the liberating power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need more preachers to stand today and tell the truth and not be attracted and tempted by power and prestige.
And so, either power will intimidate you or it will attract you by its allurement of authority and prestige. But power’s temptation can be defeated. Look at verse twenty-three and verse twenty-seven.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment . . . By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:23, 27).
Both the parents of Moses and Moses himself by faith overcame the temptation of power. They were not intimidated by power nor were they enticed by it. In First John chapter five and the fourth verse the Bible says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” It’s faith in God and His promises that gives you the ability to withstand when power tries to intimidate you or entice you. Look at Amram and Jochebed. When we look at verse twenty-three, we have to go back to verses one and two of this same chapter. One and two set the entire theme. The definition of faith cannot be forgotten as we’re going through this list of God’s heroes. Faith is the ability to see reality as God sees it. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In other words, it’s the ability to see as God sees reality, and often reality is not all that you see. Amram and Jochebed had been given a view of reality as God saw it concerning their son Moses. Now the words here in our text saying, “because he was a proper child,” literally means he was beautiful, he was pretty to look at. But if you turn to Acts chapter seven and verse twenty, Stephen uses a different term. He uses the words, he was “exceeding fair.” Now in the Greek this means more than that he was just a beautiful child, it literally means he was beautiful to God. Stephen is saying that Moses was beautiful to God, and Amram and Jochebed took note that there was something different about this child, that he was beautiful to God. What was it that they saw? Was it something in his features? No, it was that God spoke to them and revealed that this their son would be a deliverer of Israel. How do I come to this conclusion since there is no verse that says that in the entire Bible? As we understand that faith is not something you and I produce but is produced by the word of God, when God peels back the curtains of invisible reality and allows you to see what only He can see, at that moment you know with absolute certainty it’s going to come to pass because God has placed that faith in your heart. This is what the writer of Hebrews and Stephen are stating, that God had done something in his mom and dad.
When born, babies are not necessarily beautiful. Yet every parent thinks his or her newborn is beautiful. But there was something different about this situation. It just wasn’t the pride of a parent’s heart; there was something more here. They saw that this child was beautiful to God. In other words, God had spoken to them that this child had a special purpose. When God speaks to you, you can know that you know. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Moses also experienced the faith giving word of God. Moses overcame power’s temptation by faith. Look at verse twenty-four,
By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Hebrews 11:24).
In verse twenty-seven it says he “by faith forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Now verse twenty-seven is problematic. At least it was for me until this week. It says in verse twenty-seven that he was not afraid of the power and the wrath of Pharaoh. Yet when you go to Exodus chapter two it says he feared the saying of the Hebrew, “Who made thee a prince over us, and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?” And it says, “And Moses feared.” Now I know the Bible doesn’t contradict itself, so how can one chapter in the Bible say Moses feared and the other say he didn’t fear. Let me show you what I believe is happening here. Verses twenty-four through twenty-six tells us that Moses came to a point in his life when God manifested Himself to Moses. Pharaoh’s daughter did not rear Moses when he was an infant or small child. It was his own mother Jochebed. When Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses floating in the basket on the Nile river, immediately his sister Miriam, who had been watching the basket boat, ran up to Pharaoh’s daughter and said, “Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? (Exodus 2:7). It was Moses’ mother who was summoned to rear the infant Moses. And in those years of Moses’ upbringing, Jochebed utilized the time to teach Moses his heritage. She surely told him the special circumstances of his deliverance and what God had said to her and to his father, Amram about Moses. All the days of his childhood she taught and imparted truth of God, the truth of Abraham, the truth of Isaac, the truth of Jacob, and the truth of his future.
Thus Moses had information about his unusual birth, deliverance, and his Jewish heritage. But for forty years nothing happened until something takes place that only the book of Acts chapter seven tells us. Stephen, in his defense, tells us that Moses rejected Egypt and that he moved to Goshen, but this leaving Egypt’s palace was more than Moses wanting to identify with his people. It was in Moses’ mind time to deliver the people. There was an encounter that Moses had with God that placed this desire to liberate his people in him at the age of forty and Stephen bears this out. Although the encounter is not recorded, it is implied. Stephen says that he went to see his people to be identified with them, “For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not” (Acts 7:25). When Moses left the charmed halls of Pharaoh and went to his people in Goshen, it wasn’t just to pay a visit, it was to live there, believing that the people would understand the call that he sensed in his own heart and life that he was to be the deliverer. And when he killed the Egyptian, he was sure not only that it would prove his loyalties to the people of Israel, but that he had severed his ties with Egypt, and that he was God’s anointed for the task. In our text in Hebrews chapter eleven and verse twenty-four it says, “When he came to years,” meaning at the age of forty, Moses “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” Moses renounced his position in Egypt.
Perhaps you have seen the movie The Ten Commandments or Disney’s, The Prince of Egypt. You must forget what you’ve seen there, and accept the biblical facts as they are presented. At age forty, Moses didn’t go down to visit his people to see how bad things were, he went to be one of them. He renounced his authority and position in Egypt.
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 in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward (Hebrews 11:25-26).
Therefore Moses “by faith he forsook Egypt.” In other words, it does not mean that he fled Egypt; it’s not referring to him leaving when he killed the Egyptian; it’s referring that he forsook Egypt and all of Egypt’s wealth, power and authority, and pleasure that he might suffer the affliction of God’s people, esteeming the reproach of Christ a greater reward than the treasures of Egypt. Verse twenty-seven is the action of the decision of verses twenty-four through twenty-six. On the day before Moses tried to break up the two Hebrews who were fighting, he killed an Egyptian because he was beating a fellow Hebrew. In Moses’ mind he believed he needed to demonstrate in some way that he had truly severed his ties from Egypt, and he needed to demonstrate it, and of course being a little bit on the hot-headed side as Moses was, anger grabbed him and he killed the Egyptian. The next day he sees two Hebrews scuffling, arguing. He tries to break them up and immediately they reject Moses. And they reject his leadership and say, “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?” The Bible tells us something happened to Moses at that moment. “And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.” Now he did fear the wrath of the Pharaoh. Earlier he had renounced Egypt, willing to suffer the consequences of that decision to deliver his people. But now Moses had a problem, the people wouldn’t follow. He had renounced Egypt, and therefore he couldn’t go back. He had murdered an Egyptian, and the people for whom he had given everything up would not follow him as their Messiah. At that moment, fear struck his heart, and he knew there was nothing left for him to do but to leave Egypt. He left and went to Midian.
In Hebrews eleven and verse twenty-seven the author says Moses had been willing to give his life. The problem was, however, it wasn’t God’s time yet. There is no doubt that God had revealed Himself to Moses at age forty as a calling within His heart to be the deliverer of Israel. Again in Stephen’s sermon to the Sanhedrin this point is made in Acts chapter seven and verse twenty-three, “And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.” What does Stephen mean when he says, “it came into his heart”? From within his innermost being the knowledge of being Israel’s deliverer arose and led him to choose to separate himself from the treasures of Egypt and become one of his own people. Insight provided by the writer of Hebrews tells us that this decision was a spiritual evaluation and therefore a spiritual decision. Stephen can only be giving us the idea that Moses was being awakened by God to his destiny. But as we have already stated the problem was Moses took it upon himself to do the delivering rather than depend upon God. So we see there is no contradiction between Moses’ account and the author of Hebrews.
Moses feared God more than he did the armies of Pharaoh, and he obeyed God. That is the product of faith. If you are to have such kind of faith you’re going to have to see God as God is. And the only way to see God as He is, is to look at Jesus Christ. Listen to me, there are many of us who claim to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but the truth is we’ve never seen Christ, we’ve never experienced Him. I’m not talking about physical eyes, I’m talking about the heart. Many prayed prayers and made decisions for Christ, but have never experienced Christ. When you experience Christ, He places a fear of God in your heart that supersedes the fear of the world. The stronger that fear is, the more you’re willing to obey God and not be so captivated by power and its anger or its enticement.
Let me see if I can make some application for us. Today, we don’t sense our government, or some power, or king, or president, trying to entice us to do something that’s anti-Christian or unbiblical. We don’t have the powers that be breathing down our necks, examining, inspecting everything we say and do. How then does power influence us to disobey God? I think one of the ways it has influenced the Church the greatest is by the appeal and the enticement of it. What’s going on today is the degeneration of the American church. And it’s happening because preachers and churches are desiring power in this world. In order to have power in this world, you have to play the world’s game. It’s called compromise. It means, do not stand for truth, stand for everything else but truth. In order to gain power, you must compromise. Watch Washington and see how the politicians do it, and do not think they’re going to let the Church do it any other way. In order to have the power they have, you have to play the game as they play it.
But do not be overwhelmed by the power of the world because it is only a pseudo power. Its powers are limited by the hand of God and can go no further than the boundaries He has established. The world’s power cannot destroy both body and soul in hell. Nor can it change what truly ails man—sin. Only the power of God can do that. Therefore let us humble ourselves before God and submit to Him. Oh the church needs the power of God; otherwise, we’re going to be playing up to the world, trying to be like the world. We will resort to the world’s methods and ways. We may receive accolades and praise from the world, but that’ll never change the world. Am I saying we shouldn’t try to fight, and we shouldn’t sign petitions, and we shouldn’t get involved? Absolutely not, just realize that that will not change it. What will change it is when you and I begin to believe the promise that greater is He that is within you than he that is within the world. Do we believe it? Do we believe God is big enough in this church to change Paducah? I fear not, and even less do we believe that Christ will through us touch a nation. But I’m telling you, He’s big enough. He’s big enough, and we’ve got to believe it.
How do you believe? How do you muster that kind of faith? Well, faith comes through grace, by hearing the word of God. God does a work of grace in your heart and takes His word and causes it to explode within your heart. I call it the divine explosion. And so this morning, I just pray that God will challenge us as a church today not to go the route that so many churches are going right now, trying to gain the favor of the world in order to win the world. The world knows what we have become, and they want something different. They already have what churches are trying to cater to it, and that is the world. They want something different. Let us pray that the Lord will do a work of grace in us and cause us to hear the promise. Until a church somewhere in a community decides that they’re going to let God be all that He is in them and believe God, the world will never know. It will never know what God can do. Thank God for people like Amram and Jochebed and Moses who knew God. And I’m thankful for those of you that know God in this room, and I’m praying that if you don’t, you will. Amen. |
