that we end of the service this ears to hear the message that you play next to
him if you would turn in your hymnals to him number 163 him number 263 number
263 we'll go ahead and start there right on the first oh what a Savior that he
died for me raise your hand sure gladly bring you one and is our Bible memory
passage of the week Hebrew 615 we're getting close to the end of this chapter
but still plenty of time to learn it brother Alex you know he told me he
learned it just on the drive here so that's just Alex for you it's just that
type of guy so hey you can do it you can do it too on the inside though is the
service times listed Sunday morning 1030 a.m. Sunday evening 430 p.m. and our
Wednesday evening Bible study through 1st Samuel at 7 o'clock all of our soul
winning times are listed there and the one highlighted in gold is our soul
winning rally where we have some preaching and singing as well in
addition to our soul winning. Nursing home ministry is listed there if you take
part of that ministry please make note of those times and when you're preaching
or playing piano on the bottom left there is our year-to-date statistics on
soul winning getting close to that 500 mark for the year so great job everyone
on soul winning keep up the hard work as we finish out this year. On the right
please be in prayer for Mrs. Whitney Reed for her pregnancy and as well our
upcoming events definitely a lot of events coming up exciting time to be
here at this church next Sunday Lord willing our church is going to
transition finally from steadfast Baptist Church to anchor Baptist Church
really excited we've got the invites ordered so next Saturday and we go out
soul winning we'll use those and it won't be anchor next Saturday but if
they come to church on Sunday will be so it'll be appropriate to hand those out
on Saturday gonna be lots of fun pastor Shelley is gonna be here of course
preaching in the morning the ordination service and the evening we also have a
special treat pastor Aaron Thompson from Sure Foundation Baptist Church in
Vancouver will be preaching that evening service there should be a lot of people
from out of town it's gonna be a great time of fellowship brother Ryan Urbanic
he is going to be gracious enough to be bringing Texas barbecue up in between
the services so come to church nice and hungry Sunday morning you know don't
just eat a bunch of donuts in the morning save save room for that good
Texas barbecue it's gonna be a great time December 20th is the ladies
Christmas party December 21st is gonna be our big Christmas soul winning push
on a Saturday you don't normally go soul winning on a Saturday that's okay
but if you'd like to be a great one to try out as we're gonna try to get lots
of people save that day as they're thinking about Christ around Christmas
New Year's Eve party is gonna be at seven o'clock it's gonna start at seven
o'clock rather on New Year's Eve and we're gonna have a men's preaching night
there is a sign-up sheet or at least there was a few minutes yep there it is
there's a sign-up sheet back there so if you are a man interested in preaching
just got to wear a tie preach out the King James Bible unless you're making
fun of other versions and sign up there and we're excited to hear all you guys
preach and then after that we're gonna have some food and we're gonna set this
place up for games and fellowship and food you're more than welcome to stay to
midnight past midnight you know it's good to provide a safe option while
there's a million drunk drivers on New Year's Eve it's good to hang out with
God's people start your year off right in church so I'm looking forward to that
party giving is listed there if you like to give online and then of course if you
usually give with a check next Sunday don't write it to steadfast Baptist
Church you start writing it to Anchor Baptist Church if you like to give by
check on the back is the prayer list please be in prayer for all those
people I did hear from brother James Perry that he's start feel a little bit
better with his back so but keep him in prayer because obviously he still is
having some issues there and I also heard a praise report about miss Terry's
cancer that she is doing well obviously she's been going through chemo so she
probably feels terrible and is her body is taking a toll but you know the cancer
is going away so that's good news but just please keep her in prayer you ever
have any prayer requests please email the church and of course I'd be happy to
add those for you that's gonna be it for announcements we'll go ahead and go to
our third song right for our next team if you would turn in your him knows to
him number 282 I not now in number 282 in 282 we'll go ahead and start there
right on the first while we pray and while we plead while you see your souls
deep need while our father calls you home my brother and plates are being passed
around the Hebrews chapter number 11 there's 11 substance of things hope for
the evidence of things not seen for by at the elders obtained a good report
through faith we understand that the world were framed by the Word of God so
that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear by faith
Abel offered offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which
he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts
and by it he being dead yet speaketh by faith Enoch was translated that he
should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for
before his translation he had his he had his test this testimony that he pleased
God but without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him by faith Noah being warned of God of things not not seen as yet moved with
fear prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the witch he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith by faith
Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after
received for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went
by faith he sojourned in the land in the land of promise and in a strange company
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs of him the heirs with
him of the same promise where he looked for a city which have foundations whose
builder and maker is God through faith also Sarah herself received strength to
conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she
judged him faithful who had promised therefore praying there even of one and
him as good as dead so so many as the stars of the sky and multitude and as
the sand which is by the seashore innumerable these all died in faith not
having received the promises but having seen them a far off and were persuaded
of them and embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country
and truly if they have been mindful of the country from whence they came out
they might have had opportunity to have returned but now they desire a better
country that is in heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their
God for he hath prepared for them a city by faith Abraham when he was tried
offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his
only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called
accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence
also he received him in a figure by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
concerning things to come by faith Jacob when he was a dying blessed both the
sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning upon the top of his staff by faith
Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and
gave commandment concerning his bones 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 Moses when he was
come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather
to suffer affliction with the people of God did 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 and respect under the recompense of the reward by
faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the King for he endured as
seeing him who is invisible through faith he kept the Passover and the
sprinkling of the blood lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch
them by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land which the
Egyptians a saying to do were drowned by faith the walls of Jericho fell down
after they were compass about seven days by faith the red the harlot the harlot
Rahab perished not with them that believe not when she had received the
spies with peace and what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell
of Gideon and of Verac and of Samson and of Jephthah of David also and Samuel
and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness
obtained promises stop the mouths of lions quench the violence of fire escape
the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong wax valiant in fight
turned to flight the armies of the aliens women received their dead raised
to life again and others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they
might obtain a better resurrection and others had trial of cruel mockings and
scourging game moreover of bonds and imprisonment they were stoned they were
saw a sunder were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about in
sheep skins and goat skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom
the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens
and caves of the earth and these all having obtained a good report through
faith received not the promise God having provided some better thing for
us that they without us should not be made perfect. Let's pray.
Amen all right well we are in Hebrews 11 and you want to keep a bookmark here
throughout the sermon but let's read in verse number one Hebrews 11 the Bible
says now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things
not seen for by it the elders obtained a good report and to help you understand
Hebrews chapter 11 a little bit you know it's often referred to as the hall
of faith chapter and why is that well it's kind of a play on words of like a
hall of fame what is a hall of fame hall of fame is basically a museum right and
you'll go to like the baseball hall of fame and you'll see some sort of you know
plaque to a baseball player and you might see his baseball bat and his glove
and a list of his accomplishments and a list of things that he's done and that's
often inspiring to people who like baseball or whatever but this is kind
of like a spiritual museum an exhibit show if you will where God is trying to
showcase great examples of faithful people and he's kind of walking you
through this hall saying hey here's an example of this great person and what
they did and it just goes on and on and on like that but of course you know one
of the reasons God does this is so that we could look at someone as an example
right it's something that we should strive to do we should follow in their
steps but really at the end of the day it's not even just so that we could look
at this person and just think well this person is so great it's so that we could
look at the God of that person and realize that the God of that person is
so great because all the people on this list through faith in God they did all
these great things it's not like they themselves were some special amazing
person though they are pretty awesome and we should look up to them but I
just want you to understand that the reason we look to their faith is because
it's faith in God all right and so the title my sermon this morning is Moses a
great man of faith Moses a great man of faith Moses is someone that I've been
thinking about and reading about a lot in the last year he's one of the coolest
Bible characters in the entire Bible did a lot of really amazing things and I
want to just talk a little bit about Moses this morning and let's learn some
lessons from his faith Hebrews chapter 11 let's go to verse number 23 number
one this morning the faith of Moses his parents before we're gonna talk about
Moses let's talk about his parents look at verse 23 it says 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 now nothing in
the Bible is there by accident when the Bible starts telling us about Moses the
first thing that the Bible tells us about is his parents now in order for
you to understand what this is talking about we need to get some context go to
Exodus chapter number one Exodus chapter number one and the reason why God brings
up Moses his parents is because Moses his parents were living in a very dark
time and through a lot of really severe challenges look at Exodus chapter number
one to help you understand what they were living under verse 8 the Bible says
this in Exodus 1 now there arose up a new king over Egypt which knew not
Joseph and he said unto this people behold the people of the children of
Israel are more and mightier than we come on let us deal wisely with them
lest they multiply and it come to pass that when there fall without any war
they join also unto our enemies and fight against us and so get them up out
of the land so Moses's parents are living in a time where the government
despises them the government is fearful of them and wanting to persecute them
because of course we know that this new Pharaoh this new king did not know
Joseph and Joseph at the end of Genesis had just gotten done saving Egypt
through the famine so it's just funny to think about like the people of God
Joseph saves your nation but because Pharaoh forgot about history now he
despises the people of God you know it kind of reminds me a lot of the United
States of America how America was founded on biblical principles America
was founded by Christianity but because today so many people have forgotten our
history now we see an increase of people even in power despising Christians
despising the Bible when this nation has only become great because of
Christianity because of the Bible you see that Moses his parents are living
under this type of a time look at verse number 13 it says and the Egyptians made
the children of Israel to serve with rigor and they made their lives bitter
with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the
field all their service wherein they made them to serve was with rigor so not
only were the people of Israel at this time just despised by the government
but they were made to be literal slaves and the government was constantly
oppressing them and putting them under hard bitter servitude so think about
Moses's parents they're not growing up in a rosy picture here they have a
government that hates them they're being used as slaves I mean they have
they have no creature comforts that we enjoy here in America they don't get a
you know wake up and drink coffee they don't go get a get their nails done they
don't have any you know fun or entertainment or anything like that it's
just their life is just under oppression and bitter hard bondage is where they're
at they're in a really rough time of life look at Exodus 1 verse number 15
it says in the king spake to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of the one
was shifra shifra and the name of the other Pua and he said when you do the
office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see upon and see them upon the
stools if it be a son then ye shall kill him but if it be a daughter then she
shall live so you know Pharaoh's taking it to the next level here where he's
not just despising them he's not just putting them under slavery but he
actually takes the Hebrew midwives which these are women that go into this
profession usually because they love babies they love birth they love you
know women and things like this and he's instructing them when you see a male
child born you're going to kill this child you know we can't even fathom
something like that you know nothing like that has ever happened in this land
where the government is like telling you you have to kill your children I mean
that's just an insane situation that these people are in but look what it
says in verse 17 it says but the midwives feared God and did not as the
king of Egypt commanded them but saved the men children alive and of course we
know there is a proper time to disobey authority and that is when that
authority is telling you to sin and in that case we always obey the higher
powers and so it doesn't matter that Pharaoh is the most powerful human on
earth if he's telling you to kill a child obviously these midwives are
saying no we're gonna fear God we're not gonna you know fall through this wicked
order verse 18 and the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto
them why have you done this thing and have saved the men children alive so
he's calling them out here verse 19 it says in the midwives said unto Pharaoh
because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women for they are lively and
are dead delivered ere the midwives come in unto them so they're saying you
know these Hebrew women they just give birth so fast you know they're just
given birth so fast and you know they're already delivered to the child before we
get there that's what they're telling Pharaoh verse 20 says therefore God dealt
well with the midwives and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty and so
you can see you know God's blessing on this nation that even though they're
being oppressed they're hated they're slaves they're being told to murder
their children God is blessing them and causing them to multiply it says in
verse 21 and it came to pass because the midwives feared God that he made them
houses and Pharaoh charged all his people saying every son that is born he
shall cast into the river and every daughter you shall save a life you know
think about the gravity of this situation if at first he was just telling
the midwives hey I want you to take care of this nasty job for me I want you
midwives to kill the men children but when he sees that it's not happening he
kind of ups the ante and he just says hey all the people in the land if you
have a man child if you give birth to a baby boy you know what I'm commanding
you to do I'm commanding you to literally throw your child in the river
now what kind of person would ever obey an order like that of course this is
just insane this is something that no God fearing person could ever do but put
yourself in these people's position right they're being commanded by the
king someone that has the authority to round them up put them in prison kill
them they're being instructed you must kill your men children I'm sure that
he's got his you know Gestapo going door to door and checking and making sure
that there's no baby boys in the house and you know the result if you did have
a baby boy was probably death and so these people are facing hatred from the
government they're facing slavery and they're facing potential death just for
not murdering their children that's the time that they're living in that's the
reality you know we can't even relate to anything like that in America in our
lifetime we have never seen anything even close to that but this was a reality
for Moses his parents this is what they were living in stay there I want to read
for you acts 529 it says then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said we
ought to obey God rather than men and you know Moses his parents and many of
the Hebrew midwives had this mentality that they weren't afraid of the King's
commandment because they did fear God and they realized that hey we ought to
obey God rather than men and let me tell you something it is a satanic ideology
it is a satanic movement that wants to destroy children and anyone that has any
fear of God would obviously never do such a thing and you know we see
something like this today in our country it's called abortion but you know what
no God fearing person wants anything to do with this no God fearing person
would ever condone of a person purposely murdering their child whether that's in
the womb through some sort of poison or some sort of instrument or literally
throwing your baby in the river it's the exact same thing murdering your child
in the womb IVF any type of thing that kills a child before it's born is the
exact same crime as throwing your baby in the river it's murder and you know
what God's people should always rather obey God than men you know maybe today a
woman perhaps could be in a situation where her parents are pressuring her to
get an abortion maybe it's not as severe as the government you know
threatening by law that you have to but there probably are women today in this
world where their boyfriend wants them to get an abortion God forbid their
husband wants them to get an abortion or their parents want them to get an
abortion but you know what of course every lady that fears God should say no
I'm gonna obey God rather than men and so one of the things about Moses parents
is that they didn't make excuses based on their circumstances you know they
were godly people through faith they hid Moses and they could have made an
excuse saying hey we're facing death here it's against the law to do what
we're doing they could have made all these excuses but they didn't they were
steadfast they decided to fear God no matter what the consequences were go to
Exodus chapter 2 look at verse 1 it says and there went a man of the house
of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi and the woman conceived and bear a
son and when she saw him that he was a goodly child she hid him three months so
Moses his mother Jacob bed she does what any normal human being would do she's
delivered of a child and she's like this is a goodly child this is this child is
great there's nothing wrong with this child this is a sweet precious baby so
I'm not gonna kill it I'm gonna hide it and do everything I can to defend it
that's what a normal person does verse 3 and when she could not longer hide him
she took for him an arc of bull rushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch
and put the child there in and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink you
know think about this situation for three months she was able to hide Moses
and if you've had babies before you know that the first three months their cries
are pretty quiet right and then all of a sudden they get their lungs and it's
that you miss those little cries well you know Moses probably is able to be
hid for those first three months but it gets to a point where he's too loud she
can't hide him anymore and think about the level of desperation that she is in
to actually do this because I mean I think about my children and my daughters
that I would in a moment die for it's not even a question like any moment any
time I would die for my children I would do anything I could to protect them but
could you imagine the level of stress and and just the desperation you'd have
to be to put your precious three month old little baby in a little ark and just
push it down the river and you don't know what's gonna happen you don't know
that baby's gonna die you don't know if that boat is gonna sink and that baby's
gonna drown you don't know if one of Pharaoh's men is gonna see it and kill
the baby I mean could you imagine this level of desperation but yet because
they feared God because they trusted in him that's what they did Exodus chapter
2 look at verse number 4 it says and his sister stood far off to wit what would
be done to him so Moses's big sister is walking along the river likely and just
watching what's gonna be done and the the daughter of Pharaoh came down to
wash herself at the river and her maidens walked along by the riverside
and when she saw the ark among the flags she sent her maid to fetch it so
somehow Pharaoh's daughter is bathing in the river and something catches her eye
and she goes and fetches Moses out of this ark it says in verse number six and
when she had opened it she saw the child and behold the babe wept and she had
compassion on him and said this is one of the Hebrews children you know of
course it's not just saved people that have a natural affinity towards children
you know this daughter Pharaoh's not saved but you know what she's not she's
not a reprobate and so she automatically has some sort of compassion towards this
child and rescues him and she says this is one of the Hebrews children then said
his sister to Pharaoh's daughter think about the bravery of this young girl
here shall I go and call to the nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse the
child for thee you know she's kind of entering into this this secret pact with
the daughter of Pharaoh where the daughter of Pharaoh knows that this is
illegal the the older sister of Moses knows that this is illegal and she kind
of just throws herself out there hey you want me to go get a nurse for you I
mean that's a lot of bravery that this young girl is having here and look what
Pharaoh's daughter said verse 8 and Pharaoh's daughter said to her go and
the maid went and called the child's mother and Pharaoh's daughter said unto
her take the child this child away and nurse it for me and I will give thee thy
wages and the woman took the child and nursed it and the child grew and she
be she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son and he
called his name Moses and she said because I drew him out of the water so
it's just amazing you know her faith here in this situation where she gives
up her child to the river and then presumably hours minutes who knows how
long later you know she had now has Moses back in her arms and is literally
being paid to breastfeed her child you know don't say amen but how many ladies
in here would like to be paid to breastfeed their child right that'd be
wonderful everyone would like that but think about it she went from the most
insanely desperate situation ever where she's thinking my child may die he may
drown in the river he may be killed by one of Pharaoh's men to pretty soon the
baby's being returned to her through the work of her young daughter and now she
has Moses and is able to nurture and breastfeed Moses on the government's
dime talk about God working through a seemingly impossible situation you know
God absolutely can always come through for those that have fate in him for
those that fear him for those that refuse to bow down to the world's demands
to Satan's demands you know God can come through in any situation and that is why
Hebrews 11 starts off by saying by faith Moses go back there to Hebrews chapter
11 Hebrews 11 Hebrews chapter 11 verse 23 says by faith Moses when he was born
was hid three months of his parents because they saw that he was a proper
child and they were not afraid of the King's commandment you know Bible says
that his parents were not even afraid of the King's commandment that's how much
that they feared God rather that's how much that they had respect unto God's
commandments that you know what they're they're not even afraid of Pharaoh's
commandment they're gonna do what's right and that's why when Moses is
talked about in Hebrews 11 and you think about Moses the great man of faith
Moses the man that led the children of Israel out of Egypt Moses the one that
walked through the Red Sea right Moses that brought us the Ten Commandments it
didn't come out of a vacuum folks his parents were awesome believers his
parents were super great examples of faith and you know the lesson that we
learned from that is that we need to model faith for our children we need to
be good examples to our children and when we go through hardships we need to
see those hardships as hey I need to go through this I need to do what's right
not even for my own sake but for my children's sake so that they can look
back at our stories and see a great example of faith stay there I'll read
for you Proverbs 22 verse 6 the Bible says train up a child in the way he
should go and when he is old he will not depart from it and of course we know
everyone does have free will but you know who's more likely to get saved in
this world a child growing up in a Hindu home or a child growing up in this
church obviously a child here is way more likely to get saved now what about
who's more likely to grow up to be a great Christian who's more likely to
grow up to be a great person of faith someone being raised in an atheist
household or someone being raised in a do-nothing Christians household or
someone being raised in Moses's parents household right someone being raised in
a household where mom and dad take serving God seriously and you know I
want I want you to consider this morning and reflect on your life you know if
your parent if your children were just to copy and paste you what would their
faith look like would they be people that go to church three times a week or
would they be people that wake up on Sunday morning and decide maybe I'll go
to church maybe I won't will your children be people that open their mouth
boldly to make known the gospel to the lost will your beat will your children
grow up to be soul winners or will they be like you lazy and doing nothing if
that's you this morning you know you ought to consider those things about
yourself that your children are very likely not going to just be some great
Moses some great person of faith when you yourself are not modeling that for
them and you know it's great to have other role models in life it's great to
have friends it's great to have pastors and people you can look up to but you
know what no one is gonna make more of an impact on your children than you and
you know what Moses yeah he was three months old you know when he was taken
away and brought back after that he was just a baby but I guarantee you those
early years of his life made a big impact on him and you're gonna see that
later on the story when he chooses to stand with God's people that he did
identify with them and you know his mother Jacob bed his father Amram made
a serious impact on his life you know they were they weren't able to probably
provide everything for him he probably didn't live the most luxurious
lifestyle or anything like that when he was under his Hebrew parents house but
you know what they did provide for him a model and example of faith to follow
them you know I would just recommend that church does your family see you
being spiritual you know I recommend that at home your children see you
reading the Bible I recommend that at home your children see you praying I
recommend at home ladies your children see you being respectful to your husband
and obedient and modest and godly not just out at church only once a week you
know you need to live a life that is real and that is a real example that
your children can follow and and this is one of the coolest things about Moses
his parents Jacob ed and amram did not do what's right and did not go through
all these hardships and these great trials of faith because they knew well
my son's gonna be Moses I mean my son's gonna split the Red Sea because if you
knew that about your son already you'd be like yeah I'm willing to do whatever
he's gonna lead us out of slavery they didn't know what he was gonna amount to
but they just did what was right anyways and I don't think that's a
coincidence that God gives parents like Jacob or children God gives children to
people like Jacob and Amram to have people like Moses when they're not
they're not in it for themselves they're just doing what's right because
they fear God and so the faith of Moses's parents is a great example go to
Psalm 78 Psalm 78 Psalm chapter 78 verse 2 the Bible says I will open my
mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and
known and our fathers have told us we will not hide them from their children
showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and
his wonderful works that he hath done for he established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel which he commanded our fathers that they should
make them known to their children why that the generation to come might know
even the children which should be born who should arise and declare them to
their children that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of
God but keep his commandments you know it's really important to bring
memorials to your children I mean that's why we have Hebrews 11 right it's a
memorial it's a Hall of Faith to us so that we can look at the great works of
God that he's done in the past and that we as a result might set our hope and
trust and faith in God and Moses was able to look at his parents life story
and who knows how old he was when he found out what his mother and sister had
done you know I'm sure he was probably a child when he found out but you know
what that had to make a huge impact on him to know hey the only reason I'm even
alive today is because my mother was a great person of faith and you know what
that memorial that example the passing down of those stories to the next
generation made an impact on Moses and you know what that's why I'm preaching
about this right now is so that hopefully it'll make an impact on you
and on your children so that they could put their faith in God but you know
what your children also not need to hear just about Moses they need to hear about
you they need to see you they need to see mom and dad serving God mom and dad
doing great things for the Lord God coming through and delivering mom and
dad through tough situations because that's gonna cause your children to put
their faith in God go to Hebrews 11 I'll read for you 2nd Timothy 1 5 the Bible
says when I call to remember it's the unfeigned faith that is in me which
dwelt first in my grandmother Lois and my mother Eunice and I am persuaded that
in thee also so you know Timothy also who ended up being a great pastor in the
New Testament he had a godly heritage as well in his grandmother and in his
mother you know what ladies don't discount yourself to the example that
you could set to your children you know obviously we have a men-run church here
where the man's preaching but you know what ladies can still do a lot for the
Lord to ladies can go out soul winning and reach tons of people for Christ
ladies can teach their children the Bible ladies can do the Bible
memorization chapter ladies can go on missions trip ladies can pray for each
other ladies can help this church you know you could do a lot where you could
create a Timothy someday by modeling your great example number two this
morning Moses identified with God's people one of the things that made Moses
great was that he identified with God's people look at Hebrews 11 verse 24 it
says by faith Moses when he was come to years so he's becoming older refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter so the Bible here is implying there
comes a certain age where Moses finds out who he really is and who his real
parents are and the real you know background that he has and you know what
he decided he said I refuse to be even called the son of Pharaoh's daughter
because obviously Pharaoh's daughter took Moses unto herself and yes he was
allowed to be fed those early years of his life by his real mother but of
course the story is that he ended up living in Egypt and living in Pharaoh's
household and living in the daughter of Pharaoh's household but you know what
there came a time where Moses decided you know what I don't want to be
identified with this anymore I want to stand with God's people and think about
this sounds like oh yeah no big deal but think about this he's growing up in
royalty he's growing up in Egypt he has every carnal pleasure all the money all
the access all the honor and prestige you could possibly imagine being a
relative of Pharaoh right meanwhile what's the other end of that equation
slavery poverty oppression hard work nothing good nothing easy look most
people would never trade these two things it takes a serious person of
faith to trade on purpose wealth for poverty freedom for slavery yet because
he actually loved God and because he was a great person of faith he refused to
even be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter now go to 1st Timothy chapter
number 6 1st Timothy chapter number 6 1st Timothy 6 verse 5 says perverse
disputings of men of corrupt mine minds and destitute of the truth supposing
that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself you know there's many
Christians today and it's been this way for thousands of years that equate
wealth prosperity having nice things with being godly yet we have Moses a
great person a godly person he did the exact opposite he had all the wealth and
gain and all that stuff yet he purposely gave it all up to become poor and he's
actually the real godly one look at verse 6 it says but godliness with
contentment is great game could you imagine being someone extremely wealthy
having all these privileges and purposely giving it up just to help
other people that is a high level of spiritual mature maturity right there
for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing
out and having food and raiment let us be there with content but they that will
be rich fall in temptation and snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts
which drown men in destruction and perdition you know some people think
that money can buy happiness I just want to be rich I just want to have all these
things and then I'll be happy yet the Bible says that those that want to be
rich actually fall into temptation and into a snare and into many foolish and
hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition there's a lot
of wealthy people in this world that have all the accolades that are
miserable that hate their lives that aren't happy that aren't living any sort
of mission they're not doing anything fulfilling with their lives they're not
serving God with their lives and so Moses rather than chasing those things
which eventually wouldn't have been brought with him when he dies they're
not bringing him any fulfillment he gives all of that up just to help other
people just to serve God verse 10 for the love of money is the root of all
evil which while some coveted after they've heard from the faith and pierce
themselves through with many sorrows but thou oh man of God notice the Lee these
things isn't that what Moses did he fled that lifestyle and fall after
righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness fight the good fight
of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and has
professed a good profession before many witnesses you know Moses literally fled
from that lifestyle to go wandering around in the desert and deal with a
bunch of complaining Jews whining about food whining about water you know he's
getting mad at Aaron Aaron's making a golden calf Moses breaking the tablets
breaking the Ten Commandments he ends up not even getting to go into the
promised land he just gets to see it you know but he did all this for love of God
and love of other people he was willing to give everything up for that so much
so that he said hey I'm not even willing to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter why because he wanted to identify with God's people Hebrews 11
verse 25 Hebrews 11 verse 25 notice what he says choosing choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season who on earth makes that choice I mean that seems counterintuitive in the
flesh right hey I got a choice before you you could either have unlimited
wealth the best food you can imagine the best place to say stay access to all
these things you ever wanted or you could choose pain and suffering which
one are you going to choose and Moses chose the rather why with the people of
God it says he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and you know this really makes me
think of isn't this exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us unlimited
riches unlimited wealth he's God for crying out loud he has access to
everything but yet he became poor for us he chose rather to suffer affliction for
the people of God than to enjoy anything else I'm gonna read for you stay there
second Corinthians 8 9 says for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that
though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty
might be rich you know Moses is a great picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
because he gave up all his wealth he gave up all of his riches just to suffer
for God's people so that they in return can live in the land flowing with milk
and honey you know that is that's God coming down from heaven becoming a man
suffering on this earth going through all the temptations being tempted by the
devil hungering and thirsting for 40 days and 40 nights then being lied about
having a false trial and being brutally murdered on the cross just so we can go
to the promised land just so that we can have a home in heaven that's what Jesus
did for us you want to know why Moses was a great man of faith because he
wanted to identify with God's people and he was willing to sacrifice anything and
everything for other people that's a real man of God right there someone
who's willing to sacrifice go to Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter number 2
Hebrews 2 verse 9 says but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by
the grace of God should taste death for every man for it became him for whom are
all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings for both he that
sanctify it and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not
ashamed to call them brethren that is a humbling thought right there that the
Lord Jesus Christ is not ashamed to look at you and to look at me and say that's
my brother that's my sister when we are unbelievably undeserving that no one in
here deserves for Jesus to look at us and be his brethren because he's perfect
he's God he's incredibly rich and he gave that all up he traded it for
sufferings so that we can benefit from him and he says not even that he's just
not even ashamed of us on top of that us that are sinners and us that continue
to sin until the day that we die Jesus Christ is not ashamed of us and in the
same way Moses who had everything traded it for God's people because he
was not ashamed of God's people I'm gonna read for you 2nd Timothy 1 8 it
says be thou be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord
nor of me his prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the
gospel according to the power of God you know Paul is telling Timothy don't be
ashamed of our Lord and don't be ashamed of me his prisoner you know Paul wrote
of himself and the Apostles as being the off scouring of the world everyone hated
the Apostles you know the world hates Christians and even today real
Christians real disciples of Jesus Christ are hated by this world but you
know what you don't hate them you should not be ashamed of God's people
nor of his prisoners you know God forbid maybe someday we're gonna live in a
world where you might even get arrested for preaching the Bible you might even
get arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ but you know what don't be
ashamed of that be willing to stand be willing to identify with God's people
even if it costs you something why because Moses literally gave up
everything just to stand with God's people just to identify with God's
people and you know what I'm not ashamed of any believer in Christ you know I
might I might not just I might disagree sometimes with things that they do may
not like things that they do they may sometimes bring shame to themselves
through their sin but you know what I'm never gonna be ashamed of a Christian
and I'm especially not gonna be ashamed of those that are disciples of Jesus
Christ those that are really preaching hard those that are really out out
soul-winning you know I'm not ashamed of those people count me among my
brothers in Christ all day long oh that you know they're hated in Germany they
got the police coming after him in Germany don't care I stand with those
people count me among them oh well these people are like you know Nazis or
something first of all no they're not but I don't care what you call them I'm
still standing with those people oh you guys are hateful you guys want death on
everyone okay no we don't but whatever you call me I'm still just standing with
God's people anyways and you know what even if someone messes up even someone
does something bad I still I'm gonna stand with God's people over the wicked
over Egypt any day of the week you know I'm not ashamed of steadfast Baptist
Church I'm not ashamed of the articles I'm not ashamed of the fights I'm not
ashamed of any of that stuff and I'm not ashamed of you guys either you know we
need to have an attitude like Moses that says nuts to whatever the world can
provide me if it's gonna keep me from fellowship with God's people if it's
gonna keep me from standing with the side of right and with God nuts to all
of it because pretty soon we're all gonna be in heaven folks and pretty soon
your job isn't gonna matter your money isn't gonna matter your prestige your
accolades you're being loved by people in the community being loved by your
family is all trash in heaven you know what stand with God's people and do
what's right because that actually has eternal value go back to Hebrews 11
Hebrews chapter 11 here's another really interesting reason why Moses was
wanting to identify with God's people it's in verse 26 don't miss this why
did he do this because is steaming the reproach of Christ greater riches than
the treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the
reward you see on one hand he could have esteemed the treasures in Egypt all the
great carnal things he could have enjoyed but you know what he was
balancing that against the reproach of Christ keep in mind this is the Old
Testament this is thousands of years before Christ would be physically born
on this earth and today you got people saying oh in the Old Testament salvation
wasn't known no one could have known Jesus in the Old Testament well sorry we
have the New Testament is the commentary right here and the Bible saying that
Moses did not want to be called the the son of Pharaoh's daughter he wanted to
identify with God's people because he esteemed the reproaches of Christ better
than the riches of Egypt notice what it says the end for he had respect unto the
recompense of the reward you see Moses even understood thousands of years
before Christ was born that there was a coming Messiah yes he didn't understand
his name he didn't know his name was Jesus but he believed there was a coming
Messiah that would die for the sins of the people that if we call upon the name
of Lord if we put our faith in that person that we're gonna be saved and
we're gonna have a great recompense of reward for our labor you know you could
find Bible verses in the New Testament talking about getting rewards in heaven
being greatest in the kingdom of heaven being least in the kingdom of heaven
getting crowns in heaven we have a lot of that stuff in the New Testament but
even in the Old Testament Moses knew he was esteeming the reproach of Christ he
was esteeming the fact that the Messiah someday would be hated reproached spoken
against and he chose that for the rewards that he would get someday in the
future rather than the riches of heaven and you know how much more for us you
know if Moses can look to the coming Messiah who he didn't even know all the
details about he didn't even know the name you know we have the whole New
Testament giving us in great detail the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus
Christ we know how much he loves us we know the great teachings and power of
his preaching we know that the great the fact that he's God we know all these
things how much more should we esteem the reproaches of our Savior better than
anything this world has to offer if if Moses can do it not even fully
understanding who he was gonna be how much should we who can actually read
about the crucifixion could actually read about our Savior being on the cross
and saying father forgive them for they know not what they do that's amazing
the love of Jesus Christ how much more should we esteem his reproach better
than anything else you know we should be willing to stand with God's people we
should be willing to suffer loss to suffer consequences to lose money to
lose privilege to lose our lives to stand with God's people and to stand
with the Lord Jesus Christ go back to Hebrews 11 number three Moses practice
godly separation Moses practice godly separation Hebrews 11 verse 27 it says
this by faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he
endured as seeing him who is invisible see not only did he just not want to in
status be seen as an Egyptian not only did he want to just you know
theoretically stand with God's people you know what he did he physically
separated himself from Egypt he wasn't dwelling in the palace anymore he
wasn't dwelling in the King's house anymore and eventually him and all God's
people literally separated from Egypt in a great exodus you know this is a good
picture picture here of living a separated life that you know God doesn't
want us to just in theory stand with Christians you know get on Facebook I
stand with Christians no God actually wants you to live a life where you
actually make a serious change where you're actually physically separated
from things that the Egyptians do that you're not living like the Egyptians
anymore because you're not an Egyptian you are a Christian look at or go to
second Corinthians chapter 6 I want to read for you Ephesians 5 11 the Bible
says and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather
reprove them you know Moses he knew that Egypt was a place of darkness he saw
that Pharaoh was mistreating people that Pharaoh was enslaving people I mean at
one point he saw one of Pharaoh's workers beating up in Hebrew and Moses
gets so mad that he actually murders the guy which isn't right we know what it
shows he doesn't want to have any fellowship with these people right he
wants to be completely cut off it says but rather reprove them you know Moses
did that for a long time going to Pharaoh and reproving him thus say the
Lord let my people go oh you're not gonna let me go well I'm gonna curse
your whole land with blood frogs flies lice darkness death of the firstborn hey
I mean just like all these curses from God he's reproving them art isn't he
he's not being associated with them he's not if there's no question of where
Moses stands I mean he's standing on God's side and he's literally calling
down curses from God on them second Corinthians 6 verse 17 says wherefore
come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not
the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a father unto you and you
shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty you know the Bible
exhorts us to be separate to come out from among the world you know us as
Christians we should not look talk live act exactly like the world does you see
when you read this story there's a big difference between the Egyptians and the
Hebrews everything is different about them the way that they live the God that
they worship the things that they do every single thing is different and look
us as a Christian we could spend a whole sermon talking about all the
different things we should be separated about but you just need to understand
this principle that there's certain things that the world says that you
should not say there's certain things that the world drinks that you should
not drink okay there's a certain attire that the world wears that you should not
wear there's certain things that the world listens to that you should not
listen to there's certain things that the world watches and reads that a
Christian should not do why because God has called us to be separate in Titus
it talks about how the grace of God teaches us that we should live godly
soberly and righteously in this present world people think oh you know we're in
the New Testament we got all this grace so we could just do everything that the
world does we could look like them and talk like them and go do all the same
activities no actually grace teaches you how much more separated you should be
and if Moses in the Old Testament can despise Egypt so much that he's willing
to physically separate from all the wealth and prosperity and and carnal
pleasures how much should we be willing to separate from things that are not
pleasing in the eyes of God and what happens the same thing that happens to
every Christian the children of Israel get tired of serving God they start
complaining about their leader they start missing things in Egypt they start
thinking what about the garlic and the onions and the leaks and the movie
theaters we had all this cool stuff in Egypt but you know what it's all trash
it's all garbage you were a slave in Egypt it's like all the things that the
world does we think man it looks like they're having fun first of all you
know the Bible talks about pleasures of sin for a season right Moses didn't
want to enjoy this the pleasures of sin for a season because people that live
really wicked lives sure it could appear that they're having fun and they are for
a short time for a very short time because the consequences of sin are so
much worse than people think people think oh you know I'll just go around
I'll commit these sins it won't be a big deal and then they keep living like
that and their entire life is destroyed and sometimes Christians are so foolish
because they're not walking in the spirit they're not reading the Bible
they're living carnal lives in the flesh and they could look back to Egypt
sometimes and say you know what I want a piece of that but I'm just warning you
don't do it because you're gonna wake up and regret that decision every single
time and you know I hope God is merciful to you and I hope you don't get the full
punishment that you deserve I hope that of myself too but I'm just trying to
warn you God wants us to be separated how do you think God would have liked if
God here here's God sending Moses to the children of Israel and you know what
they started doing they start complaining about it they get delivered
from slavery they were slaves literally now they're in the in the wilderness
heading to the promised land and they're just complaining about it this is like
Christians who get saved they were on their way to hell but then the Bible
tells them to do something and they complain about it the Bible says hey
stop drinking alcohol and they're like well that looks fun that's what all the
Egyptians do that's what all my Egyptian co-workers do that's what all
my Egyptian family members do yeah but it doesn't matter because you're not an
Egyptian and those people are on their way to hell and guess what they're not
on their way to hell because they're sinning or anything like that of course
faith alone is what causes salvation but I'm just saying why even though you're
saved and you can't lose your salvation why would you want to live exactly like
the Egyptians Moses was a great person of faith because he forsook Egypt he
left it behind he burned his bridges literally go to 1st John chapter 2 1st
John chapter 2 1st John chapter number 2 all the Egyptians seems like they're
having so much fun look at their parties look at all the things they're doing
yeah you want to know how they all died the Red Sea being split and then being
crushed by the weight of the sea and drowning to death in the ocean. So that's the end of their
great lifestyle. It's not something to look up to. First John 2 15 says, love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world. And of course, Egypt throughout the Bible, the world is
a picture of Egypt. Egypt is a picture of the world. The Bible says, if any man loved the world,
the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. Go back to
Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11. And so Moses here, he did not have a love for Egypt.
He did not have an affinity for Egypt. He was not hanging on tightly to the pleasures of this
temporary carnal life. He was willing to let it all go in a moment because he wanted to stand with
God's people, because he esteemed the reproaches of Christ. He forsook Egypt. Hebrews 11 verse 27
says, "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him
who is invisible." You see, sometimes when you practice godly separation, it's going to invoke
wrath from other people. And here, Moses, he knew, hey, if I separate from Egypt and if God's people
separates from Egypt, you know, there's going to be people that are mad about that, specifically
Pharaoh. And you know, it's the same exact thing in our lives. Sometimes not only does God want us
to separate from sinful activities and just practices, but sometimes God actually wants you
to separate from people. Sometimes God actually wants you to separate from individuals. And you
know why a lot of people sometimes don't separate when they actually should is because they're
fearing the wrath of that person, right? You know, they may have a family member or a church member
who's involved in serious sin that the Bible commands that person to be kicked out of church
for, but you know what? They're just too afraid of that person getting mad at them and ruining
that relationship, but you know what? Moses was not afraid of that wrath. He was going to do
what's right. He's going to separate from whoever he had to separate from if it was God's will.
Go to first Corinthians five. I'll read for you. James four, four. The Bible says you adulterers
and adulteresses know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. You know, it would have been so easy for Moses
just to keep his mouth shut. It would have been so easy for him just to grow up in Pharaoh's
household, to enjoy carnal pleasure, to live his life, to pretend like he doesn't know who he is,
to pretend like he doesn't see the oppression on God's people. He could have just kept his mouth
shut and continued to have been friends with the Egyptians. There's only one problem with that.
Friendship with the world is enmity against God and whosoever will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God. Meanwhile, Moses is the friend of God. He's the opposite of that. Why?
Because he was willing to separate from people. Because he was willing to do what God wanted him
to do. Stay there in 1st Corinthians 5. Proverbs 13 20 says, "He that walketh with wise men shall
be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." You know, if Moses would have made
that decision to just keep hanging around the Egyptians, he wouldn't have been Moses. He would
have been destroyed. He would have been corrupted into a different person. You know, we got to
realize that the people that we hang out with, the friends that we make, the people that we choose
to look up to and follow the example of, will affect our lives. And the Bible says a companion
of fools shall be destroyed. That's why sometimes God wants us not only to separate from sinful
practices, but oftentimes from people as well. And you know, obviously we should try to have the
best relationships that we can with everyone. We should try to have great relationships with
our families. I'm not telling you go burn your family or anything like that, but I'm saying there
could be severe situations and instances where that actually is the right thing to do, you know,
and so you got to be willing to do that if necessary. First Corinthians five 11 says,
but now I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator
or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one
know not to eat for what have I to do to judge them also there without do not you judge them
that are within but them that are without god judgeth therefore put away from among yourselves
that wicked person you know the bible does teach the idea of church discipline that there's some
people that have committed to egregious of a sin that it's not our opinion deciding what where that
line is the bible just clearly spells out for us what sins are unacceptable for someone to be a
church member and be committing and when someone commits those sins we need to practice a level of
separation from that person and of course that means the pastor officially excommunicating
excommunicating that person but you know i've been a church member you know for over 10 years
and when this has happened in any other church what i do how i apply this to myself is that i
stop being that person's friend i don't care how long i've known you i don't care how great of
friends we've been in the past god's word is more important and i'm not gonna fear the wrath of my
friend because this is what people do well this person's my friend he got kicked out of church
so i'm gonna be a respecter of persons unto him and not cut him off and keep talking to him and
keep hanging out with him because he's my friend this has literally happened to me where someone
who was my friend was kicked out of church was publicly marked and you know what i did i did
this really crazy thing called unfriending them on facebook unfollowing them on instagram really
intense right and this person just freaks out and i'm just like hey this is what i do for everyone
get right with god apologize to your pastor get back in fellowship with the church and it's all
good but i don't care who you are if you are someone that is under the wrath of god by being
cut off from the congregation i am not your friend at that time and in fact the way i can
do good unto you is by stopping being your friend because hopefully the goal is that you miss
fellowship with god's people you miss all the people that you like and you say oh man i should
really stop railing maybe i should stop lying about everyone maybe i should stop falsely accusing
everyone maybe i should stop going committing fornication maybe me and my girlfriend should
get married maybe i should you know stop being an idolater whatever the sin is you know the goal
is that that person would be punished and that person would feel the remorse and regret of that
punishment and decide to change decide to start getting separated themselves but until that
happens when someone's kicked out of church yes they're kicked out officially but you know what
it also helps when god's people actually apply that to themselves and also separate from that
person not just like well you know the pastor's the mean bad guy but everyone else in the church
should be like i'm so sorry that he's so mean you know i hope i hope he lets up soon and lets you
back no we should just all be in one accord here and if we're all in one accord that's the best
chance that that person has for getting right go if you would to hebrews 11 we'll finish with this
hebrews 11 verse 28 says through faith he kept the Passover in the sprinkling of blood lest
he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them so notice another thing about Moses was that he
believed and feared God when God told him hey I'm coming through the land and I'm gonna kill all the
firstborn you better put the blood on the doorpost and if I see the blood I'll pass over you you know
Moses didn't take that lightly he really believed that was gonna happen he really feared God he
really obeyed God verse 29 by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land which the
Egyptians a saying to do were drowned and of course one of the most just epic moments in the
entire Bible so many times I try to picture this I would love to see this I don't know if there's
a playback in heaven but if there is this is one of the first things I want to see is the Red Sea
if you look at your bulletins today that is the Red Sea on the front of the bulletin how cool would
it be to see that Red Sea split to see God's people being chased by an army more powerful than
them more numerous than them and seeing God's people walking through on dry ground it doesn't
say they're walking through on muddy Oklahoma red dirt like when it rains here they God opened that
thing up and they were walking through on dry ground and then as soon as they got through God
closed that through and killed all of the Egyptians killed Pharaoh and his entire army you know just
what an awesome picture that is and you know who led God's people to do that Moses one of the
greatest men of faith who has ever lived the guy who did all these great things but you know I just
want to close with this idea like I kind of said at the beginning of the sermon when we go through
Hebrews 11 and God is showing you this person did a great thing through faith this person did a great
thing through faith it's not so that we can necessarily just look at this person and say
wow they're great though they are though we should follow their example it's that we could say wow
the God of Moses is great because you want to know who saved Moses when he was in the river God did
you want to know who helped Moses bring down all those curses on Egypt and hardened Pharaoh's heart
and delivered the children of Israel from Egypt God did you know who opened up the Red Sea and
caused all the Egyptians to be killed God did the God of Moses and guess what that God is still
available to us today the God you know where two or three are gathered together in my name there
I am in the midst that God is here right now with us and you know we need to have faith in that God
and realize that our God can do great things for us and great things for other people you know I
hope this sermon can help you increase faith in God let's pray Lord thank you for this day thank
you for the great stories in the Bible for Moses and his a great example and I pray that we would
look at this example and follow it in our lives but mostly Lord that we would just trust in the
God of Moses as the rock of our life in Jesus name we pray amen if you would grab your hymnals at
this time we'll go ahead and sing one last song to conclude the service hymn number 404
when the battle's over hymn number 404 go ahead and start there right on the first
♪ In the new paragraph ♪
♪ We shall verify ♪