Learning from the Faith of Moses - Heb 11:23-29

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1 Learning from the Faith of Moses - Heb 11:23-29 Intro: A. The Faith of Moses is one for us as Christians today that we must admire in both our youth and old age: 1. Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the Faith Hall of Fame. a. Moses has already been mentioned as being faithful in all his house... As a servant Heb. 3:2,5 (1) Hebrews 3:2,5 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 2. What lessons can we learn from this text? II. The Faith of His Parents - vrs 23 A. They hid Moses for three months Ex. 2:2; Acts 7:20 1. Exodus 2:2 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 2. Acts 7:20-20 At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father s house for three months. B. Thought of him as special Ex. 2:2; Heb 11:23; Psa. 127:3 1. Hebrews 11:23 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king s command. 2. Psalm 127: Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. C. Did not fear the royal command Heb. 11:23 1. Hebrews 11:23 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king s command. D. They trusted God would preserve him and use him. E. Parents today also need faith Heb. 11:1; 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom 4: Hebrews 11: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2. Romans 4: And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah s womb.20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform Corinthians 5:7-7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. F. Faith is needed to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Deut. 6:4-9; Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15 1. Deuteronomy 6: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 2. Requires discipline Prov. 13:24; 19:18; 22:6,15; 23:13 a. Proverbs 13:24 24 He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly. b. Proverbs 19:18 18 Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on Page 1 of 6

2 his destruction. c. Proverbs 22:6,15 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. 15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him. d. Proverbs 23:13 13 Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. III. Refused To Be Called The Son of Pharaoh s daughter (24-26) A. When he came of age (Heb. 11:24; Ex. 2:11; Acts 7:21-25) 1. Hebrews 11:24 24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh s daughter, 2. Exodus 2:11 11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 3. Acts 7: But when he was set out, Pharaoh s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.23 Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian.25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. a. Moses made a mature choice to align himself with God and His people renouncing his privileges. b. With maturity comes greater responsibility B. Choosing rather to suffer affliction (vrs 11:25) 1. Hebrews 11: choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 2. What would many think of his choice? 3. Choosing to follow the Lord takes faith Mat. 7:13,14; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim 3:10-12 a. Matthew 7: Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. b. Acts 14: strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. c. 2 Timothy 3: But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 4. The pleasures of sin are short lived! - 1 Jn 2:15-17; Rom 6:23 a. 1 John 2: Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16 For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. b. Romans 6: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. C. Esteeming the reproach of Christ as greater (vrs 11:26) 1. Hebrews 11: esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. 2. Moses chose spiritual riches over temporal riches Mat 6:19-24; 1 Tim 6:6-17 Page 2 of 6

3 a. Matthew 6: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. b. 1 Timothy 6: Now godliness with contentment is great gain.7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 3. Spiritual riches are seen ONLY through the eyes of faith Heb. 11:1,6; 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 10:17; Heb. 13:13 a. Hebrews 11:1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Vrs 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. b. 2 Corinthians 5: For we walk by faith, not by sight. c. Romans 10: So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. d. Hebrews 13: Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. D. Looking to the reward (vrs 11:26) 1. Hebrews 11: esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. a. Moses looked away from everything else - focusing on what God promised 2. So should we (Heb. 11:1; 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Phil. 3:8-14; Heb. 12:1,2; 10:35; Tit. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:3-9) a. Hebrews 11: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. b. 2 Corinthians 4: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. c. Philippians 3: Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. d. Hebrews 12: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising Page 3 of 6

4 IV. the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. e. Hebrews 10: Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. f. Titus 1:2 2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, g. 1 Peter 1: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,9 receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls. Forsook Egypt (27) By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. A. We Should Forsake The World 1. Come out from among them and be separate (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Pet. 2: 20-22) a. 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will dwell in them And walk among them.i will be their God, And they shall be My people. 17 Therefore Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you. 18 I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. b. 2 Peter 2: For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to his own vomit, and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire. 2. Not fearing men but God (Matt. 10:28; Rom 8:35-39) a. Matthew 10: And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. b. Romans 8: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?36 As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 3. Through faith look to God (Psa. 16:8; 1 Pet. 1:8) a. Psalm 16: I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Page 4 of 6

5 b. 1 Peter 1: whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, B. Kept the Passover - vrs 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 1. We Need To Take Seriously Our Worship & Service To God a. With reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:28) (1) Hebrews 12: Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. b. When we partake of the Lord s supper (1 Cor. 11:23-33) (1) 1 Corinthians 11: For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord s death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord s body.30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.33 Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. C. Guided The Children of Israel Through The Red Sea (vrs 29) - 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. 1. By One Man s Faith, Many Became Faithful a. They saw and accepted the saving grace of God (Ex. 14:13,22) (1) Exodus 14:13, And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. b. How does your faith impact those around you? (Matt. 5:13-16; 1 Thess. 1:6-10) (1) Matthew 5: You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (2) 1 Thessalonians 1: And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything.9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. Page 5 of 6

6 V. Conclusion: A. The Faith of His Parents 1. Refused To Be Called The Son of Pharaoh s daughter 2. Forsook Egypt 3. Kept The Passover 4. Lead The Children of Israel Through The Red Sea - B. We Need Faithful Parents 1. We Need To Reject Satan s Influence 2. We Need To Leave The World Behind 3. We Need To Worship And Serve God 4. Our Faith Needs To Be A Positive Influence - C. Moses was a great Man of Faith. Page 6 of 6