It's not sin to have certain things. It's not sin to have money.
It's not sin to possess certain things and have certain honors and certain things in the world in terms of status. Well, today John MacArthur is going to look at the life of a man who did just that, showing you how that biblical character models, for you and me, an extraordinary trust in God. John is continuing his study. It's an in-depth look at the heroes in the Bible's hall of fame of faith. That's Hebrews chapter 11.
So follow along in Hebrews 11 now, and here's John with his study called The Power of Faith. So when Moses reached the age of 40, he faced a very crucial decision. Now he had to choose whether to become a full-fledged Egyptian without any reservation or to join his own people, Israel. Now he had a key to making the decision, and that was his faith in God. All through those 40 years he never wavered apparently in his faith in God.
For 40 years he enjoyed the privileges, the prestige, the status, the honors of a prince in Egypt with all the royal rigmarole that went with it. But the time came to face the biggest decision of his life, and it's very apparent that God came to him. God spoke to him somehow. God indicated to him that he wanted him to go back to his people, Israel, and lead them out to the Promised Land. He had to make a choice whether to throw aside everything that he had in the palace and go live with slaves or to forget the call of God and grab what he had. In Acts chapter 7, again going back to Stephen's sermon which deals so interestingly with the character of Moses, just pulling out a couple of things.
It says in verse 23 of Acts 7, And when he was full 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brother and the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian, he killed him. For he supposed his brethren would have understood, watch, how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. You see, he knew that God had already called him to be the deliverer, and he thought if I go in there and show that to them and I'll smite this Egyptian, I'll kill him, that'll prove to them whose side I'm on, they'll know that I'm to be their deliverer, but they didn't buy it.
They didn't buy it. But he knew what God wanted out of him. Now our text here tells us in Hebrews 11 what he did with the honor of the palace. And in simple words, he chucked the whole thing.
I love it. What it says is this. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, what's the next word? Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Moses did not seek the world's prestige. He sought that which was the will of God. He knew God had a better kingdom.
He knew God had a better reward. Prestige and honor and fame is a powerful thing. Most people live all their lives dreaming about attaining it, you know that? Sure we do. We put ourselves in the position of famous people.
Most people live trying to get up higher on the social ladder. Moses gave it all up. And you say, well, I've given it up too. I've never had it, but I've given it up.
Moses had it, gave it up. You know, the world has its evaluation system. How do you get honor in this world?
Well, usually one of four ways. Number one, you're in the right family. If you're born in the right family, you're honored. If you just happen to be in the right family, you are automatically thrust into the public eye with a measure of greatness. And you may not have any at all.
You may have, you may not. Another thing that the world uses to measure prestige and honor is money. If you have a lot of the greenies, you see, you get the honor of the world.
I don't think it's always honest honor, but you get it. Another thing is education. If you have enough degrees after your name, certain people think that that's what it's all about. And then, of course, if it isn't right, family, money, and education is position.
If you happen to be in a particular position, if you happen to be famous because of what you do, maybe it's athletics, maybe it's entertainment, maybe it's finances, maybe it's business, I don't know, whatever it may be. But you see, all of that has no relation to God's greatness. He honors people on totally different bases.
He's not interested in what family you came from, how much money you had, how much education you've got, or what position you have in the world. That is not remotely the concern of God in terms of greatness. And I can prove that to you because I want to introduce you to a man who was greater than Moses. I want to introduce you to a man who is greater than David, Abraham, Elijah, or anybody else who ever lived in the Old Testament. This man was greater than all of them. You say you're talking about Jesus, aren't you? Nope.
I'm not at all. I'm talking about a man you wouldn't believe. Listen to this.
It's terrific. Verse 15 of Luke 1. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. You say, who is it?
Back up. Verse 13. For the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. Thy wife, Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son. Thou shall call his name, what? John, the greatest man that ever lived up until his time, John the Baptist. You say, what made him great? Right family?
No. He was just born to a simple priest, Zacharias and Elizabeth. You say, well being a priest was a pretty good thing, wasn't it? There were so many orders of priests that you only got to serve in the temple a couple times a year.
A priest was a very humble thing. You say, well he probably had a lot of money, didn't have too much money, lived in the desert. Couldn't afford too many real fancy clothes. He wore camel skin, sort of a modified Tarzan suit. You say, well he must have had a tremendous education, didn't have any education at all.
You say, well what a lofty position, not very much of a position. He was out there and he even had a strange diet. The Bible says he ate locusts and wild honey.
And I don't care how you even try to convince me, grasshoppers with honey on them still doesn't make it. Simple family, no money, no education, a desert wanderer with the most bizarre kind of clothes and diet, yet he shall be great, not in the sight of the world, but what? In the sight of the Lord. And let me give you a verse that used to shock me until I began to settle upon what God sets as a standard for greatness. Matthew 11, 11. Don't ever forget this verse. It's great.
Listen to this. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women... That certainly takes in most of us. Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
Boy, that's a powerful statement. You say, what made him so great? Well, there's a couple of things that stand out in Luke 1 that made him great. Number one, he was obedient. Number two, he was filled with the Spirit. Number three, he turned many of the hearts of the people of Israel to God. You see, God measures greatness totally different than the world.
Totally different. John said, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. All that the world has is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
And all these things are going to perish. But he that doeth the will of God abideth...what?...forever. Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him...first thing...deny what?
Himself. Take up his cross, follow me. The disciples said, we have forsaken all to follow thee. What did they forsake?
Fishnets. Big deal. Moses abandoned the palace. First article in the covenant which Moses received from God was, thou shall have no other gods before me.
He must have the preeminence. Moses is a classic, absolutely classic example of self-denial. My friends, as long as you can break with God in order to preserve any worldly interest of yours, then you don't really operate on faith.
The strength of faith is proven by self-denial. Baron von Weltz renounced his title, his estates, his revenues, and he went as a missionary to British Guiana. And today his body fills a lonely grave in British Guiana.
This is what he said. As he renounced his title, he spoke these words. What is it to me to bear the title well born when I am born again to Christ? What is it to me to have the title Lord when I desire to be the servant of Christ? What is it to be called your grace when I have need of God's grace? All these vanities I will away with and all else I will lay at the feet of my dear Lord Jesus. End quote. Thus did Moses. He really didn't care about all the things that the world had to offer.
In fact, he didn't even care about any of the things the world had to offer. You know, I'm not famous. I've never been close to being famous. But we all have had at some point in our life a little taste of it. And I can remember when I finished college that I had 13 school records in various athletics. And the last day I was there, I went and I looked at the record board, you know, and I just kind of enjoyed looking at it. And, you know, it was important then. I mean, I had worked hard. And I remember I came back the next year and I only had eight. Somebody broke five of them.
I came back two years later and somebody lost the record board. Boy, what a lesson. Boy, the world doesn't have much to offer when you compare it with what the Lord offers, and Moses knew it. So Moses did not choose the world's prestige. He chose rather to lower himself to join the slaves of Israel and be their leader. Second thing, Moses said no to the world's pleasure, to the world's pleasure. Verse 25, great verse, listen to this.
You know it already probably. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy what? Pleasures of sin for a season. He'd just rather suffer with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Now let me tell you something, folks. Sin is fun. It is, terrific.
Whenever we enjoy it, it has very, very enjoyable characteristics for a season. Hamartias Appellausus, sin is fun. The enjoyment of sin, the pleasure of sin. Now Moses was called to give his life for his people.
He knew it. Now he had a choice. I either do what God tells me to do or I disobey. Now it will be fun to disobey from a human standpoint. I get to live in the palace, have all the goodies that I have, all the women I want, all the money I want, all of this, this, this, this, all the power I want, all the authority I want.
That's a lot of fun to have all that stuff. But God said, go down there to those people who are in slavery and assign yourself to them. That's the choice I have, to stay as sin, to go as obedience. He chose to do what?
To go. And so he considered not the enjoyment of sin. To have sought to retain his place in the Egyptian court would have been sin. Now let me say this, it's not sin to be in the Egyptian court unless God tells you to be somewhere else.
You with me? It's not sin to have certain things. It's not sin to have money. It's not sin to possess certain things and have certain honors and certain things in the world in terms of status. It's not sin unless you choose it over what God calls you to do. Then it's sin. But sin can be fun for a season, but only a season. I like what Job 20 verse 5 says. The triumphing of the wicked is short. And the enjoyment of the hypocrite is for a moment. See?
Very brief. In fact, there's a couple of other passages that maybe we ought to look at in connection with that. Job, I'll read them to you. Job 21 verse 7, this is kind of a complaint. Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? Ever asked that question of God?
How come all the crummy people do so much better than I do? Their seed is established in their sight with them and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God on them. How come the wicked do so well? Their bull gendereth. In other words, their cows have other cows.
Faileth not, their cow calves and casteth not her calf. They don't have problems raising cattle. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance. They've got happy, healthy kids.
They take the timbrel and the harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute. They spend their days in wealth and then bang like somebody dropped a bomb. And in a moment they go down to hell.
Zap. Boy, what a picture. Here's all the happy and having calves and little children dancing and it's going along and in a moment they go to hell.
That's what he said. Yea, sin is real good for a little while and in a moment it's over. Psalm 73 verse 12. Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world.
They increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. He says, I'm purified but I'm poor. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. If I say I'll speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God. Watch this. Then understood I their end.
Did you hear it? He says, I cleaned my life up and it didn't go well for me. I got chastened, kicked around, plagued and buffeted.
I looked at the rich and they had it all. And I didn't understand until I went into the sanctuary of the Lord and I considered their, what, end. Sin is fun for a season and only for a season. Isaiah said this, chapter 21, verse 4, the night of my pleasure hath turned into fear. Let me give you another verse. Oh, potent verse. James 5, 5. You have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton.
Get your hands on everything you could get. You have nourished your hearts. Now watch this bomb. As in a day of slaughter. You ever seen them fatten up a pig for slaughter?
Fatten up cattle for slaughter? This is all you nourished yourselves. You did what you want.
You got fat and sassy as in a day of slaughter. People, judgment comes and it comes sudden and it comes swift. Moses said sin is fun, but it's so brief.
So brief. And the highest, most lasting joy is to do what God says. You know, I think David probably had a lot of fun with Bathsheba. I think that that, when he saw old Bathsheba over there taking that sunbat. Oh, he liked that. He looked over and said, that's Bathsheba.
I'd like to get to know her. And I think he just had a lot of fun with Bathsheba. Later on in his life, he cried out on the night of his guilt, my sin, my sin is ever before me. And then he watched his children break his heart. He watched the little baby, the product of that relationship with Bathsheba die. He watched his son Absalom rebel against him and be hanged. He watched horrible things occur in his life. Sin was fun.
I bet if David had to do it over again knowing what he knows, he wouldn't do it. You see, what the Lord does is give us pleasure forevermore. That's the kind I want.
Isn't that kind you want? Forevermore. You see, so Moses, he made a conscious choice to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And that's an act of faith.
He actually believed God. And he believed that if he did what God wanted him to do, he'd come out better in the end. Beloved, God has called us all to holiness. He's called us to come apart from sin.
And it's not always easy because the world is throwing all kinds of garbage in our path and it's so easy to reach down and pick it up. But Moses believed God and he said, God, you want me to do what's right and you'll honor me for it and I'll do it. Now watch this. Real faith. I mean, people, if you really believe God, what are you going to do? You going to do what God says?
Of course. Whose interest has God got at his heart? Yours. Yours. The devil doesn't care about you.
He only wants to devour you. If you really believe God, two things you'll do. You'll reject the world's prestige for the honor that only God can give and you'll reject the world's pleasure for the everlasting pleasure that only he can give. I think I'll stop there and next time we'll take it from there.
Let's pray. Our Father, we are grateful that clearly the Word of God gives us the choices that faith makes. If we really did believe you, we'd do what was right every time because we know you love us. I always think about it in terms of my own children. I say to them, you know, I only tell you this because I love you. I tell them not to go out in the street because I don't want them to get hurt. It's not because I want to deprive them. And Lord, I know you work with us the same way. You tell us, don't do that.
I'm not trying to restrict you. I want you to have real joy. Oh God, save us from wanting to climb the ladder of the world. Help us to want more than anything else in all existence to have you honor us by saying, well done, good and faithful servant. And Father, save us from being preoccupied with the pleasures of the world that bring joy for a season and tragedy forever. Help us to realize that we cannot sin without having it affect us and the people around us. Help us to pursue holiness with a passion. Help us to do what Moses did. Refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and choose affliction with the people of God if we have to suffer rather than the pleasures of sin for a season. God, may our faith be the kind of faith that makes right decisions. Maybe you've been in church and you've been in some kind of religious structure, but you're all wrapped up in the world's affairs and the pleasures of sin.
You just really can't stay out. You like to begin the life of faith. If that's the case right where you sit, all you have to do is say, God, I want to know Jesus Christ. I want him to come into my life. I want to believe. If your heart is crying out to grasp God, it's as simple as your own faith.
He's there. Believe it. Christ is alive, believe it. In your heart, all you have to say is, God, I want to believe. I want to trust you.
I don't want to become the devil's victim. And you can invite Jesus Christ into your life right now, right where you sit, and your life will be transformed from this moment forever. Boy, what a promise is. Now, those of you who are Christians, maybe God's just spoken to your heart.
He's spoken to my heart about a lot of things this week as I've studied. One of the things is, you know, it's an easy temptation for us, so easy, to want the accolades of the world. If you've been searching for that above everything else, above... There's nothing wrong with wanting to accomplish things in the world, to do your best, to be thought of as a diligent worker, as the best at your trade or your profession.
Nothing wrong with that at all. As long as in it all, Jesus Christ gets the glory and the preeminence, and as long as that's never set above that which he desires for you to do. If the consuming desire of your life is to please him, and these things come as a byproduct, then you've done it right.
If you pursue these things, you've done it wrong. And maybe there's some of you who've been trapped in the pleasures of sin. And in your heart, you note that you want to be released, and you want to know the pleasures that are forevermore, the joy unspeakable and full of glory that's ours when we do what is right. Now, Father, we thank you that the word is clear, and it's incisive, and it cuts us, opens us up. Thank you for Moses.
Dear God, what a man he was. May we learn from him. Father, for whatever the need of our life, we know you have the supply. We pray that we'll come believing you for it. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Are you willing to give up everything to follow Christ? That's a question at the heart of John MacArthur's current study on grace to you called The Power of Faith. John is the teacher each day on this broadcast.
He's also chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary in Southern California. Now, John, I imagine that some of our listeners today are battling doubt, perhaps even doubts about their standing before God. Right now, they would say their faith is nowhere close to the faith we read about in Hebrews 11. So for someone in that situation, someone who wants a more confident faith, what encouragement and hope is there? Well, I think it should be understood that true saving faith is available to the person who comes to Christ.
It's not something that you develop. In other words, you can go from unbelief to belief in the miracle of the moment of regeneration. Having said that, that faith, that real faith, that saving faith will grow. And it becomes a more confident faith as the believer begins to see the operation of God in his or her life. You know, I would say I believed when I came to Christ as a young guy. My faith was the real thing. Fast forward 60 some 70 years, and I can tell you my faith now is so far beyond the faith that saved me, because all these decades of being in the Word of God and seeing God's hand, seeing his power in my life and the lives of people around me, living through the divine providence that comes my way seemingly every day, I have a faith now that is confident and strong in a way that it never was in those early years. It was the real faith.
I believed the right things about the right person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel truth, but really your whole Christian life long your faith will grow. And that leads me to mention the fact that we want to offer you a copy of a booklet called Unshakeable Assurance. You are more prone to question your salvation and maybe even question whether your faith is a saving faith.
You're more likely to do that when you're young in the faith. And so to help you with that as you're in the journey of faith and get you along the way toward that confident faith, we're offering a free booklet, Unshakeable Assurance, and that is exactly what the book is about. It'll give you eight reasons why Christians struggle with assurance.
And then I'll show you 11 biblical tests that can help you know if your salvation is real, and you do want to know that. If you're struggling with any uncertainty, this is the booklet for you. Again, we'll send you a free copy, the title Unshakeable Assurance, available for a limited time. Free booklet is yours today if you let us know. Thanks, John. And, friend, we do want to get you a free copy of this booklet. It gets right to the key biblical truths that can help you know whether your faith in Christ is genuine and that you are really saved.
The title again, Unshakeable Assurance. Request your free copy today. Call us at 800-55-GRACE during normal business hours.
That's weekdays, 730 to 4 o'clock Pacific time. Or, go to gty.org anytime. You can also request John's booklet by email when you write to letters at gty.org.
Unshakeable Assurance walks you through eight reasons that you might question your salvation, and it shows you how to overcome those doubts. Again, to request your free copy of the booklet called Unshakeable Assurance, just call us at 800-55-GRACE or go to our website, gty.org. And while you're at the website, gty.org, take advantage of the thousands of free resources that are available there.
You can read our blog. You can supplement your daily Bible reading with three different devotionals. You can download any and all of John's sermons. That's over 55 years worth of preaching available in MP3 and transcript format, free of charge.
To tap into all that's available to you, go to gty.org. Now for John MacArthur and our entire staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week with us, and be here tomorrow when John looks again at what you can learn from Moses about experiencing the power of faith. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You.
