By Faith Moses (Part A)

From east to west, or north to south, but not earth to heaven. That part, when we leave that out, that's when our faith falters. So the words, by faith, throughout scripture, it is what made Abraham stand out in his generation, it's what made Job stand out in his generation, it's what made Abel stand out. We are all of the heroes of scripture, Esther, Ruth, faith, and we are not to be an exception, we are to follow the examples.

After today's message, to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, as he begins his message by faith, Moses. We are in Hebrews chapter 11 still. Some of you can remember the days before the word of God, the house of God, meant very little to you.

And now it means so much, it is a work of the Holy Spirit in your lives. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 23 through 29. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child.

They were not afraid of the king's command. By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover, the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

By faith, he passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. Very difficult, it can be, passages of the Bible that you're very familiar with as a Bible teacher or just as a believer. Because we get so familiar, we tend to just look for what we know and feel comfortable with and we risk missing fresh information from the Holy Spirit.

And this is one of the challenges for me. We're doing Moses as a servant of God and with the adult study and here we have him this morning. And so I'm very comfortable with Moses and that's when I have to be on guard that I don't allow that comfort to overrule the Holy Spirit. And I only share that because we're all susceptible to it as believers.

You may be comfortable with a passage of Scripture sharing with an unbeliever and you should know that's when you need to be especially on guard. Well, by faith, Moses, that is the highlight of this paragraph we're looking at. Remembering that Israel wandered through the wilderness for 40 years as punishment for their faithlessness. One of the great lessons out of that is that faith matters.

How you trust God in relation to what God has shown you, it matters very much. Paul writing his second letter to the Corinthians said to them, But as you abound in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also. And what he's pointing out, he's saying, you're developing as Christians, you've got faith. You have the speech, you can preach the gospel, you know the Bible, you have knowledge. He says, in all diligence, you're hard workers.

Remember Martha, she was a hard worker too, but Mary chose the excellent thing. And he also says, you have love. As a Christian, you say, well, what more do I need?

Is that not the package? And then he adds, see that you abound in this grace also. In the context of what he's talking about in 2 Corinthians, he's talking about the grace that flows from faith for others, that which flows through us from Christ on behalf of others. And so often, Christians, they trust God, they sing songs to him, they love to preach the gospel, they know their Bible, they know so much about the faith. It's just not very gracious and not very kind.

Oftentimes, they're the kind you want to avoid. May that not be us as we consider this chapter by faith. The author is using as his platform, as his runway for everything he's saying in this 11th chapter. Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 4, the just shall live by faith. That passage of Scripture comes from the mouth of a man of God who's living in times of injustice, with idolatry, and he calls out to God, why don't you do something?

How long are you going to delay? I need a faith that is stronger than just the abstract. I need you to do something, God. And of course, God said, I'm going to do something, and it's going to be something amazing, you're not going to like it. The prophet was determined to be obedient to the Lord, and he says, I will stand my watch, I will see how he answers me, and God did answer him, and God said to him, the just will trust me.

That's what I want from you as my children. So I'm saying all of this to say, don't devalue Bible knowledge by not putting it to use. One of the things that hinders us as Christians is that when pressure comes our way, we fear, what is going to happen to me? That is an opportunity for our flesh to rise to the front, all the Bible knowledge to go to the back, and our action becomes less than faithful. But the writer to Hebrews is saying, but wait a minute, there are those who by faith, they did things, not very pleasant to the flesh, but they accomplished much for the kingdom. And so I again encourage you, don't be discouraged if you're going through things in life, and you have this Bible knowledge, and you feel that God is letting you down, because things are not going your way, because you're not overcoming, because you're in pain and suffering, or your loved ones are such, or not getting sick, whatever it may be.

The just, those who are right with God, they live by faith. That faith is evidenced in what flows out of us, that's grace. And that comes from a knowledge of the word, from understanding the scripture.

Not enough to put the tool belt on, you have to know what to do with the tools that are on the belt. And that is why we sit before God's word, and we say, Lord teach me. You point out to me, impart to me, remember Habakkuk was saying, you're imparting so much revelation to me, but I need more than the impartation of revelation, I need you to act, and God said, I need you to trust.

We'll come back to that, hopefully, in a very strong way as we move through this 11th chapter. Verse 23, we return to, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid in three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's command. Now this by faith is not the faith of Moses, we'll come to that when we get to verse 24.

But 23 are his parents, Amram and Jacobed by name, that's his dad and his mom. Exodus chapter 6 tells us that Amram took for himself Jacobed. And it continues, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, and of course Miriam also. This Moses, this man, born with a death sentence on his head.

He was born into a world under the edict of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to kill all the male children born by the Jews. His parents struggled with that, no question, the terror of that on them. His parents offered the sacrifice of faith. We hear about the sacrifices of praises, that's very pleasant, is it not? We're offering to the Lord our praise, our adoration in spite of what's going on in our life. But the sacrifice of faith, that means there's pain. There are reasons not to believe, there are reasons not to trust, according to the horizontal view of life, that flat line from east to west, or north to south, but not earth to heaven. That part, when we leave that out, that's when our faith falters. And so the words, by faith, throughout scripture, it is what made Abraham stand out in his generation, it's what made Job stand out in his generation, it's what made Abel stand out, all of the heroes of scripture, Esther, Ruth, faith.

And we are not to be an exception, we are to follow the examples. He says, because they saw he was a beautiful child. If the circumstances surrounding this verse weren't so horrid, this would be almost comical. Well, what if he wasn't a beautiful child? Well, that's not how it reads.

I think all children are beautiful. Then they grow up. In other words, they were moved by the sight. They struggled with their term and seeing what the neighbors were doing under this awful law. They struggled with what was going to happen. They may have had their conviction, but you know, when you're under such pressure, you go on this roller coaster, you're up one minute, you're down the next minute. So when the child was born, look at the child, so innocent, so beautiful, welcomed into the world by the parents, but not by the government. And so they knew what they had to do. They knew at the sight of the child what their mission was in life and that this child was not going to be harmed. Oh, look at him.

We will not do anything to him. And so he enters this world making an impression. That's one of the notes that comes out of this story. Newborns, all of them make an impression on us, at least on good people.

Moses made an exceptional impression, Exodus 2. So the woman, that is his mother, Jacob, conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. That's all she could get away with before the authorities would come and take the child.

She could hide him no more. And so he comes into the world, into their lives, and he moves people with no effort. He does not even know he's moving them. He's moving the hearts.

He's charming them with life. Remember, Noah was moved with godly fear. Well, here Moses is moving his parents just through his innocence. There are lessons in that for all of us. Again, don't be so dull-hearted as a Christian for whatever reason that you're no longer moved by the Holy Spirit.

Keep yourself sensitive to the things of God in the midst of the pressures of life. And so this sight of the adorable child, it did strike them with force. Acts chapter 7, Stephen gives us a little more insight on this moment. He says, Moses was born and was well-pleasing to God.

Isn't that interesting? He's well-pleasing to the parents at birth, but God was pleased. God is pleased at life and precious in the eyes of the Lord of the death of his saints because so often we wonder if God cares.

What's going to happen to me now that this is happening to me? Does God care what is going to happen to me? And God says, trust me.

This life ain't all that, but this is all we know. And the thought of the unknown can be quite daunting, except by faith. And this thought too, I'm not going to let the unbeliever outlive me. They can face these things with the courage that they forge in their own will, in their own humanity. I'm not going to let them outdo me.

When it's my turn, I will go out singing songs. That's something we should commit ourselves to, regardless of what comes our way. And they were not afraid of the King's commandment. They dared to defy what was wrong because they believed. That is why they believed God. They trusted God. If God could take care of Noah, he can take care of Moses. And that's when they built a little mud raft for him known as an ark going his way, trusting God to deal with this. They had come to the end of their own strength.

This was the only option. And the writer of Hebrews is telling his audience that you belong to a people who are no stranger to danger. And here you are under persecution because of your faith by your countrymen.

Well, this is not something new happening to you. Satan hasn't singled you out alone and God hasn't forgotten you. Satan singles out every believer. God never forgets. He says, I'll be with you.

I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And again, we either commit ourselves to accepting that or struggling against it. And therefore, he is saying to them, be strong against the threats and the taunts of those who don't like your faith. Do you love it?

If they don't like it, do you need their acceptance? Verse 24, now he says by faith, when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now this is the faith of Moses. When he became of age, 40 years old.

We know that again from Stephen's sermon in Acts chapter 7. Now when he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. Here is Moses raised in Pharaoh's court. Every material thing that he could want at his age was there for him.

Every opportunity to do something with it was there for him. He was raised under the influence of Egypt more than anything else. This life of Moses in Egypt for 40 years, in Midian for 40 years, and then in the wilderness for 40 years.

120 years of life of Moses. And you look at that and you say, how would I have performed under those circumstances? Well, he wasn't the only one. There were others with him that had very similar circumstances.

He continues in verse 24. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter because he realized where he truly belonged. It was not instant for him. But when he realized it, he embraced it. Even that, even that was a struggle for Moses. He understood where he belonged in this life.

He just didn't know how to go about doing it and he didn't do it well at the start. I think this full-blown refusal to be identified with the people who worship cats was significant. Now, it's kind of humorous, is it not? That's what the Egyptians did. They worshiped cats. Well, there were other things too, but cats were the big one. We have people today who aren't far from that. And nothing wrong with loving your pet. Nothing wrong with benefiting from what they have to offer. There is something tragic when that pet becomes more important than people.

When that pet is the source of your joy and comfort and relief. Watch out. Satan is playing you if you're drifting into these waters and it happens.

It happens enough to sound the warning. He's a pet. Don't forget that. Because there are those, again, that are more concerned with pets and animals than the salvation of souls. This is a tragedy if you are a Christian.

If you're not a Christian, you've got a whole bag of tricks that need to be thrown out and have Jesus Christ put in its place. Well, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. And again, remember we talked about Joseph. Joseph said, my dead bones don't belong here in Egypt. They belong in the land that God has promised me.

And many types come out of that. One of them is my soul does not belong to this life and this world. It belongs in heaven with the Lord.

That is my home. I am a pilgrim, not of this world because of the Spirit of God that lives in me. Remember when Moses was called, at first he was reluctant. He didn't want the call. He flat out told God, can you get somebody else?

They really did. And God said, no, you're it. And so Moses started off, okay, I'm going to do it. Told Jethro, the tribal chieftain, I'll be leaving back to Egypt. It was his responsibility to do that. But then he sort of tinkered around and God had to give him a second command. It's time to go. And then even then on the way, he neglects his duty as the head of the home, refuses or for whatever reason, he doesn't circumcise his son.

Zipporah, his wife has to do it. And you are a bloody husband to me. She was totally hot over that matter. The point, yeah, my wife's never been hot at me.

I can look at you and tell. The point of the whole thing is that Moses was reluctant. He gradually came into that. And so for you who are Christians, who are still struggling with your identity in Christ, understand that you're not alone. But struggle with that identity should eventually be satisfied.

You should overcome it and find out who you are in Christ. For we Christians, God wants our identity to be set in truth. He wants it to be set in love, in modesty, in separation from the world, in freedom without recklessness.

We fail there a lot, do we not? Some Christians, they are so free that they are sinning. They are reckless with their freedom. We are free to obey. Obedience counts, incidentally. 1 Corinthians 10, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but not all things build me up. Not all things edify. Later he repeats that again, Paul does, and he says, Not all things are edifying for me, and I will not be brought under the power of the things that I am free to be brought under the power of outside of Christ.

I'll be careful. In verse 25 he says about Moses, Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Well, he could have just had a good old time in the palace with the Egyptians. And we may ask the question when we look at this beginning of verse 25, Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. Well, why do God's people suffer affliction? If he's this good God, great God, and all of these things he says he is, why does he not insulate us?

Well, he will, just not yet. Right now, it rains on the just and the unjust alike. It's about we identify with sinners because we are one, saved by grace, albeit, but sickness. All right, I can understand that. How about anxiety? Why do Christians have anxiety?

Jesus said, Fear not, over and over again. And yet, we find ourselves struggling from time to time with it. Dissatisfaction, ooh, that's a sinister one. That creates critics, not Christians. We criticize God, we criticize his house, his people, anything we can get our views plastered over, we'll take the shot if we're not careful. Envy, what about that one?

Keeping up with somebody else. Why do they get to have the blessing? Why does he or she or this mean this? Ooh, that one comes so easy to Christian, you'd think it was one of the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt be mean. Outburst of wrath, sexual lust, greed, worldliness, doubt, shallowness, being wronged by life, being wronged by others, being wronged by yourself. I've hit everybody in this room, including me.

Me, my problem is, I get sick of being right all the time. I'm telling the story, what am I supposed to say? Choosing rather to suffer affliction, rather to identify with God's people no matter what happens. Let me ask you, will you serve the God who you know is there, even if you think he doesn't care? Will you still serve him? Is he worth that? Is he that true that when you think he doesn't care, you're going to serve anyway?

What do you think Job did? The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac, he trusted God, knowing that God had this under control, even if he had to go through whatever it was he was called to go through.

And so to suppose that being a child of God eliminates affliction is to prove your ignorance of the faith, of the word, of what the messages in the Scriptures are to us. Faith operates with enough revealed truth. I just need enough of it. Jesus said this faith is quite powerful.

You just need a little bit to move a mountain. You know, getting that little bit is not easy it seems, but it's there. And so faith enough to trust the revealed truth of God, that's what propels the believer. That's what causes us to choose rather to suffer with God than to please the flesh. He says then to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin there in verse 25. Well, sin appeals to us because we're sinners, and you just can't turn that off. It's going to be a struggle all our lives. What's our response to it? That's what matters. And so we read verses like this because the apostles struggled with it in their own lives.

He says, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. You've been listening to Cross-Reference Radio, the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast, today's teaching is available free of charge at our website. Simply log on to crossreferenceradio.com. That's crossreferenceradio.com. We'd also like to encourage you to subscribe to the Cross-Reference Radio podcast. Subscribing ensures that you stay current with all the latest teachings from Pastor Rick. You can subscribe at crossreferenceradio.com or simply search for Cross-Reference Radio in your favorite podcast app. Tune in next time as Pastor Rick continues teaching through the book of Hebrews right here on Cross-Reference Radio.