! 1! Title: Tempering God's Instrument Text: James 1:2-4, 12; Hebrews 11:23-27 Moses lived during treacherous times. The Pharaoh on the throne was not familiar with Joseph. He did not even understand the significance of Joseph. Worse than this, the people of God could not recall Joseph's role in their own history. Israel had too much of Egypt in them. They had settled down and were into a life style of prosperity and affluence. Even the idols of Egypt had become their gods. The promise of Canaan had grown quite dim. They had forgotten that God had a better plan for them. They needed to be shaken from their apostasy and idolatry. This seldom happens in the midst of prosperity. It usually only occurs in the midst of suffering. Following freedom, they went into forced labor, and then slavery. Each succeeding edict was worse than the former one. Finally, there was that mass edict of death, the slaughter of the innocent. The order was given that if any Hebrew male baby was found, he was to be thrown into the river. Place yourselves in the shoes of Moses' parents. I wonder how they felt when an unusually beautiful baby boy was born? The strongest forces in the world are faith and love.
! 2! Those parents possessed both of them. Hebrews says, "By faith they hid him for three months (At home)." A tiny baby can be controlled, taken care of, and nursed at home for a few months, but there is a limit to that. This took plenty of faith, but the next step took even more. There came a time when they could not keep him at home. So they made a little floating crib (A miniature ark) and water proofed it. One day, they skillfully took the baby in the crib, and hid him among the reeds and bulrushes (That grew on the banks of the Nile River). There comes a time in the lives of our children when by faith, we as mothers and fathers have to let them go. It is different in every family for each life. The parent that is unable to "let go" becomes a possessive guardian. However, we will be forced to let go in fear and resentment, or like Moses' parents, who did it by faith. The faith that surrenders to God our most precious earthly treasures is generally rewarded and vindicated by receiving them back again, sanctified by the altar on which they have been laid. It doesn't take much imagination and wonder what these folks thought about when they walked away from the Nile River that day. They watched until that little ark was a speck. I wonder if there was ever a more dramatic moment in history? One's imagination can run rampant here. What if
! 3! a gentle breeze caught that basket and floated it out into the current, to be found or ultimately consumed by one of those massive Egyptian crocodiles? Never did so much depend upon such a tiny and frail seed of life. The life of the baby in the manger depended ultimately on the baby floating in the bulrushes of the Nile River. Moses' sister, Miriam, was keeping watch over the baby, when she heard some sounds. She saw a crowd of people near her brother's little boat. In the midst of this group was a young, beautiful maiden. Miriam recognized her as the daughter of Pharaoh. She was coming with her attendants to take a bath in the river. Pharaoh's daughter put this mystery together in seconds. The edict of her father...the crib...the dusty baby inside...she sees and understands it. Ancient Jewish history has a tender legend that says, "At the very moment, when one of the maidens lifted the lid of the floating crib, God sent the archangel Gabriel, to pinch the cheek of the baby to make him cry." I don't know about the legend, but the baby cried. What normal woman cannot be affected by the cry of a helpless baby? She picked him up in her arms, and said, "It is one of the Hebrew children!" There must have been some discussion about her father's deadly edict. However, the scripture says that "She took pity on the child."
! 4! Then Miriam innocently skipped up saying, "I know a Hebrew woman who is willing to nurse the child. Shall I call her?" Pharaoh's daughter gave Miriam the command to go find the woman to nurse the baby. She said that if they took care of the baby, she would pay them. Of all the astounding providences of history, this one beats them all. The very daughter of the man who gave the death order, saved the life of the baby, who someday would deliver God s people from the slavery of this king. The psalmist says, "There are times when God laughs, as He adds insult to injury." The whole thing is paid for with the king's own money. Who would have thought that the king who said, "If it is a son, throw him in the river," had one of those very sons living in his court? We don't know how much influence Moses parents had on him, but we are assured that he was with them long enough to receive a lasting impression of who he was and his family roots. God always has a perfect providential scheme. Reformers always have to come from within. They never come from without. You'll never change anything by throwing stones at it from the outside. Reformers are always a part of the system which they seek to reform. Yet, in some strange way, they seem to transcend the system. This has been true
! 5! all through history. Saul of Tarsus was a Roman, a Jew trained at the feet of Gamaliel, a Pharisee of Pharisees, in order to become the great apostle of grace to the gentiles. Luther had to be trained in the very priesthood that he would someday break out of. Wesley was an ordained priest in the Church of England, steeped in it's rituals, doctrines and orders. A Britisher and churchman to the core, whom God used to start the fires of a new spiritual awakening. Reformers come out of the system that they are going to reform. God put Moses into the heart of a system that one day he would escape. He becomes the prince of Egypt. He learns the details of Egyptian science, education, religion and the land. His cultural background provides the materials which the Holy Spirit will someday use. God is fashioning a vessel for the future. There must have been 101 seemingly trivial providences of God that were used as a great spider web to weave a divine design in the purpose for the life of Moses. The very name "Moses" is filled with meaning. Pharaoh's daughter gave him that name, because it literally means, "I drew him out of the water." This word means, "drawn out," and is used only twice in the old testament. Psalms and II Samuel show a similar verse, referring back to the story of Moses. The psalmist says, "He drew me out of
! 6! many waters." Moses is the, "drawn out one." Drawn out from the waters of adversity and opposition. He has been drawn out to become the deliverer. God draws him out from the death edict of the king. He draws Moses out of the waters of the Nile. Now God has to draw him out of the most deadly traps of the allurements, fascinations, pleasures and entanglements of the sinful lifestyle in Egypt. God was tempering Moses to be a refined instrument of God. Moses is a grown man now. He is the prince of Egypt, highly educated, greatly respected, possibly the commander of the Egyptian army. When Stephen gave the account of Moses in Acts 7, he said, "Moses was instructed in all of the wisdom of Egypt. He was mighty in word and deed." The Jewish historian, Josephus, writes much of Moses' military prowess. He was a man of respect and honor. We've seen the faith of the parents of Moses, but now comes the time when Moses must decide for himself. A second hand parental faith is not enough. It makes a good start, but it now comes to the point of personal decision. Hebrews 11 points out clearly that, "By faith Moses (When he was an adult) refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and chose to receive the ill treatment of the people of God." I don't want to minimize the covenant idea of our
! 7! faith. Christian parents can make a great impact on us as young children. Our confirmation materials show our candidates each year what God's grace has done for them before they make their decisions for Christ. I believe their parents have been God's greatest conduits through which His power has been manifested, but they themselves are beginning to come to the point of accountability before God. They are beginning to make their own decisions. God is the only one who ultimately knows that day and hour in a human life. Christianity is not only a matter of family religion (Covenant), but it is also a personal decision. Have we made that personal decision ourselves, that our families made for us at our baptisms? There comes a time when the faith of parenthood is not enough. Two words in our text begin to come clear at this point, namely, "refusing and choosing." There comes a time when we must refuse and then choose. I thank God for those decisions made, especially in our younger years. The church needs to guide us from a feeling centered, experience oriented christianity to a young adult decision that must be made with maturity. When Moses grew up, he made his decision. Have we made our decisions? We can't rest on childhood decisions. We can start there, but we must develop it into a sturdier structure. Moses
! 8! made that decision when his personal achievements seemed to be at their highest, and when Israel's plight appeared to be at it's lowest. He had the most to lose and the least to gain. In his decision, he willingly left the royal ranks, and lived among slaves. He made the choice when the allurements and fascinations were at their best. He chose to be with God's people. Why? He saw beyond. He perceived a greater treasure. He sensed the invisible. He heard the sound of God's drum. Some refuse to make the decision because they do not want to be openly classified as God's people. Moses refused and chose. Can we imagine Moses sitting near Pharaoh, looking out at the slaves, as they worked under difficult circumstances? He was second in power only to Pharaoh. He stood up, told Pharaoh he didn't belong in the palace and walked out into the noon day sun. Many years ago, the entire world held it's breath to hear King Edward VIII say that he renounced his throne for the woman he loved. Moses made his dramatic announcement for the sake of a greater love and a deeper treasure. He was able to look beyond the present. His faith saw the One who was invisible. Some years ago we heard a testimony of the conversion experience in the life of the then Sen. Harold Hughes. We did not see it as an
! 9! emotional upheaval. He was a grown man, who had experienced much of what the world had to offer. He knew how Christ had revolutionized his life. At the peak of his career he refused his political position. He said, "No! I think God can use me somewhere else." He caused many to come to Christ. It is one thing to refuse being called the child of Pharaoh's daughter. It is something totally different to identify with the Hebrew slaves. He went out, looking for his people. He saw their burdens. That is the test of the christian life. How burdened are we by those who are enslaved in sin? How much do we care for the lost? Do we care enough to pray, share etc...? Moses went and saw their burdens. He possesses his faith and made an eternal commitment. We remember how his premature act of zeal, whereby he killed an Egyptian and hid him in the sand, caused Moses to flee into the Midian desert. It is interesting how afraid we are of failure, and yet (From the scriptures) it is one of God's greatest instruments in the shaping of His people. When we try to serve the Lord in our own ways, in our own zeal, according to our own time table, we usually fail. At times, our efforts are premature. The Hebrews were not ready for deliverance. They had not yet reached the point of desperation. They refused the leadership of Moses. Just
! 10 because we have failed in something we have tried to do for the Lord, we don't need to give up. Maybe what we did was right, but the timing was all wrong. We must be patient as we grow in spiritual maturity. Like Moses, we need to check and see if what we have accomplished was done in our own strength. Moses' life can be divided into three parts: 1. The first forty years - God took a nobody and made a somebody, 2. The second 40 years - God took a somebody and made a nobody, 3. The last 40 years - God took a nobody and showed the world it is the nobody that He uses to do His work. Moses had the zeal, commitment and faith, but he needed a tempering of spirit, which God had to do for all of His servants. Moses had to learn it the hard way. You and I usually have to learn it that way too. An eager, well-trained, highly educated, but overly confident young minister was asked to speak in a rather large church. He was flattered by the invitation. He worked very hard on his message. After a few moments into the sermon, he realized everything was going wrong. He froze up and "bombed out." After getting through it somehow, in total humiliation, he made his way to the back door of the church. There was an old saint in the congregation who knew very well what had taken place. Before he
! 11 went out of the door, he took the preacher by the arm and said, "Son, don't be discouraged. I believe God wants to teach you a lesson. If you had gone up into the pulpit the way you came down, maybe you would have come down the way you went up." The way up with God is down. Why is this so hard to learn? IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN.!