The Faith of Moses: Looking Ahead to Christ (Hebrews Sermon 56)

When Jesus was with his disciples in Caesarea of Philippi, he was on somewhat of a retreat with them and spending some time in the midst of his busy controversial and difficult ministry, he went on retreat with them up to the northern cooler regions and he was up in the mountains there, and he was sitting with them and having a discussion with them. And he asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Son of Man was Jesus’ name for himself. “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah; and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you,” he asked, “Who do you say that I am?” I always imagine a dramatic pause at that point as I read the account. And Simon Peter speaking for us all said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And then Jesus said something very important when it comes to understanding salvation. He said, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven.” No one is saved from their sins apart from that supernatural revelation of Christ. A divine and supernatural light, revealed directly to the heart of the individual center is the essence of everything apart from that none of us will be saved.

And God has been doing that from the beginning of human history, he has been revealing Christ to sinners, he has been opening up inside their hearts the light, an eternal light of His own glory radiating in Christ, and opening up that beautiful eyesight of faith inside their souls to receive that light of Christ, and see it for its beauty and its majesty, and glory. And in seeing Christ there by faith we are justified. We see the glory of God, our sins are forgiven and God’s been doing that all along. It’s always been the same in every generation. And now as we come to Hebrews 11, and as we’re unfolding this chapter, and we’re understanding faith, we’re understanding justification by faith, how it is that sinners like us who have violated God’s laws, who have done things we ought not to have done, who have left undone things that we were commanded to do, how can sinners like us be made right in the eyes of such a Holy God? And it is by this divine and supernatural light of Christ revealed directly to your heart. If you’ve been sitting on that mountain side with Peter and the others, seeing Jesus’ physical body, maybe his feet covered with dust, him looking like an ordinary man, you would not have been saved by that sight, it would not have saved you.

Many people saw Jesus physically and were not saved. But if God the Father would reveal Jesus directly to your hearts and you will see in him, Almighty God in the flesh, and more than that, that He shed His blood for you, that He died in your place and you see that a transfer can happen, that your guilt can be put on Jesus and His righteousness given to you, then you will be saved, and that’s all. And that’s what he’s been doing all along, and he did it in the life of Moses.

Now, when we come to Moses, we come to a key issue here for the author to the Hebrews and his first century audience. He’s writing to Jewish people who had heard the Gospel, had made some kind of outward profession of faith in Christ. But now they’re under pressure, they’re being persecuted probably by Jewish religious authorities and neighbors and relatives and friends to forsake Christ, to turn back from Christ and go back to the Law of Moses. And so, in their minds, it’s Moses versus Jesus, that’s the way they saw it. And they were being tempted strongly pressed by persecution, other troubles to turn their backs on Jesus and go back to Moses, in effect, to the law of Moses, the Old Covenant sacrificial system, all of those things.

John chapter 9, when Jesus heals the man that was born blind, and then he’s hauled up in front of the Jewish religious authorities and they have some sharp words back and forth. At one point, this man says, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?” And they answered, “We are disciples of Moses. As for this fellow, we don’t know where he comes from.” And the blind man answers so beautifully. “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

Never in history has anyone heard of the eyes of a blind man, man born blind being open and you don’t know where he’s from? Isn’t it obvious? But there is the dichotomy. We are disciples of Moses, as for this man, we don’t know who he is. And so, these Jewish first century professors of faith in Christ, were being tempted to forsake Jesus and go back to Moses. Now, the author’s already opened up this topic for us in Hebrews 3. He’s shown us that Moses was a faithful man, he was a servant in God’s house, but Jesus is no mere servant in God’s house, but is a son over God’s house.

I. By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to Christ (vs. 26)

But now, here in Hebrews 11, he’s going to get even more pointed, he’s going to say, in effect, that Moses was justified by faith in Jesus Christ even in his day, and that God mystically, mysteriously, spiritually revealed Christ to him at that point. And so, by faith Moses looked ahead to Christ. Look at verse 26, “He, [Moses] regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ, as of greater value than all the treasures of Egypt. Because he was looking ahead to his reward.” So here we have this incredible statement, disgrace for the sake of Christ. Now, this was 1500 or 2000 years or 1500 years before Christ was even born, the Exodus, something like 15 centuries before Jesus. And yet, he was seeing Christ by faith. That’s what the author is asserting. Jesus asserted as much concerning Moses, didn’t he? In John 5:46, Jesus said, “If you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” Moses wrote about me. And then after his resurrection, Jesus in Luke 24:27, speaking to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus said, “‘Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.'”

And then later that same day to the disciples in the upper room, he does the same thing, beginning with Moses, he shows everything that Moses had written about him. Now, Moses, who we began looking at last week, who was rescued out of the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter, and who was raised in royalty, raised in wealth and honor and privilege, as in some ways an adopted a son of Pharaoh, turned his back on all of that, he forsook all of it, he rejected it, he would not be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, but embraced suffering for Christ, embraced it. God revealed Christ to Moses, and Moses was willing to choose suffering for the sake of Christ, rather than the luxuries and pleasures of Egypt. Verse 26 explains why he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ, as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

Because he was looking ahead to his reward. In due time, Moses would write the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He would record all the stories that have been the backdrop of what we’ve been looking at in Hebrews 11, up to this point. Moses would be the one that wrote down from the very beginning how God predicted a serpent slayer that would come. How he told even in Genesis 3:15, that the seed of woman would come and he would crush the serpent’s head. It was Moses that would write those words. It was Moses who wrote about Abel’s sacrifice and Enoch walking with God and Noah’s flood, and Abraham being called out of err the Chaldeans and turning his back on that and the promise made to Abraham that through his offspring, all peoples on earth will be blessed. It was Moses that wrote all of these things, it was Moses that wrote the account of Abraham almost killing his son Isaac on Mount Moriah and how the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said… The angel said, “Now, I know that you fear God, because you’ve not withheld from me the Angel of the Lord your son, your only son.”

And then the angel said, “I swear by myself… because you’ve done this… I will surely bless you.” Who is the angel of the Lord? Moses wrote those words. It was Moses who wrote these things, it was Moses that wrote about Jacob’s dream and the ladder and the angels ascending and descending, and the Lord at the top looking down. And about the wrestling, Jacob is wrestling with the angel. And the predictive blessings that Jacob made to the 12 patriarchal leaders and to Judah in particular saying, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” It was Moses that wrote those words. And so, God had in some amazing way, revealed Jesus to Moses and he trusted in Christ.

Now, I don’t think that Moses fully understood everything that he was writing. No Old Testament prophet really did. 1 Peter 1:10-12 says that the prophets who wrote the predictive messages about Christ in the Old Testament did not fully understand. They were trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories it would follow.

And they were told that they weren’t serving themselves, but that later generation that would come. And so, we have the benefit of greater clarity. The New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the actual accounts of the works of Jesus, what he actually did, and how the Gospel spread through the Book of Acts, and the Epistles explaining the theology of the Gospel. We have it all so very clearly. But Moses understood who Christ was. And so, the key issue then for these Hebrew-Christians and for us is that Moses was justified by faith long before he gave them the law. Moses’ simple trusting in Christ predates the law. And so, by faith Moses looked ahead to Christ. And frankly, there’s not much difference between looking ahead to Christ by faith or looking back to Christ by faith. It’s the same thing. Neither one of us sees him with our own eyes, we have the Word of God we have the accounts of who he is, we believe them or we don’t, it’s really that simply.

And Moses looked ahead based on the words of God and saw Christ and trusted Him. And we look back based on the words of God and we trust Him or we don’t, and if we trust Him, we have forgiveness of sins.

II. By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to His Reward (vs. 26)

Secondly, we see that by faith Moses, also looked ahead to his reward. Look at verse 26, He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. There are so many key elements in this verse. First of all, the essential aspect of faith is that it’s forward looking, we’re looking forward, we’re looking ahead. The assurance of things hoped for. Romans 8:24 says, “who hoped for what he already has?” So right away from the beginning in verse 1, we are told that faith is forward looking, it looks ahead, it has to do with things we hope for, things we have not yet received. We’re also told in verse 6 that God rewards those who earnestly seek him. In verse 10, we’re told that Abraham was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Verse 13, we’re told, all these patriarchal people, the people in that era were still living by faith when they died, they did not receive the things promised, but they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.

Looking forward, looking ahead is part of faith. People who say such things, verse 14 show that they’re looking for a country of their own, something that they can possess forever and ever, they’re looking ahead. Verse 16, they’re longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Verse 16 again, God has prepared a city for them. All of this forward looking. Verses 20-22, the patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph, they’re all looking ahead, looking ahead, even to their death beds. And so, that’s a fundamental issue, the issue of looking forward. And we do the same by faith in Jesus, amen, that’s the nature of the race that we’re running, Philippians 3, forgetting what’s behind and straining or pressing on toward what’s ahead. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We’re looking ahead, we’re looking forward, we press on toward the goal.

Oh, do you not see how delightful this is? Do you not see what an advantage we believers have over worldlings. They dread the future. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Why? He’s got everything he wants, right? He’s the king. Yeah, but he might not be king tomorrow. There might be an assassination plot, someone might be poisoning his food, somebody has to sample his dinner. Somebody might shove a dagger between his ribs before he goes to bed that night. Or maybe some other king is going to come with a more powerful army, and he’s going to take away everything he has, because he’s not strong enough. And so he goes to bed anxious and concerned, he’s afraid. The same thing for ordinary people, we’re worried about the future, what it’s going to bring, will we lose everything dear to us? O Christians, brothers and sisters, you will not lose everything dear to you. Your best things are stored up in Heaven for you and moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal. Your treasure can’t be stolen from you. What are you afraid of? We are rich in Christ, and we’re looking forward to coming into our inheritance, amen. We’re looking forward to getting it. Right now, we’re living on stipend checks and they’re pretty good. They really are. The deposit of the Spirit and we’re feeding on that, and the spirit’s testifying that we’re children of God, and all of that, but won’t you be glad to give up the stipend check for the actual inheritance? Amen.

Well, praise God. We are wealthy and no one can take our wealth from us, and so we look forward. They’re afraid of death, they might not have admit it, but they’re in bondage, they’re in slavery to the one who holds the power of death over them, because they’re sinners and they can’t get free. All of their lives are held in slavery by their fear of death. Only Jesus, the death conqueror can deliver you from that. He holds the keys of death and Hades. Amen. We have no fear of death. Our best things are all in the future. I don’t care what incredibly good life you’ve had up to this point, richly blessed by God, amen. All of them are as tiny insignificant blessings compared to what you have yet to come. And so therefore, in Colossians 3, we set our hearts on things above and things to come, not on earthly things. Oh, what an advantage our faith is, looking forward, looking forward to Christ, looking forward to his return, looking forward to our inheritance.

And we’re told in 2 Peter 3 with this whole same kind of language that we’re looking forward, looking forward, he says it three times, looking forward. And it says, “Since everything that you see is going to be destroyed in this way, everything, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and Godly lives as you look forward, there it is, as you look forward to the day of God and speed it’s coming.” Do you realize how vital that is it? Alright, those are the two infinite journeys there, because everything’s going away, everything is going to burn, it’s all going to disappear. You are given in those verses 2 Peter 3, the two infinite journeys, you ought to live a holy and Godly life, you ought to purify yourself from un-Godliness, that’s an internal journey and you ought to look ahead to the day of God and speed it’s coming. You do that by evangelism and missions, there’s no other way. And so, by sharing the Gospel, by bringing the elect Christ, Jesus isn’t coming back to till all the elective heard the Gospel and responded by faith, then he’s coming back, amen.

So we’ve got work to do friends, we’ve got internal journey and external journey, work to do. But he says it three time in 2 Peter 3, we look forward to the day of God, God we look forward to the second coming, we look forward to the new heavens and the new Earth, we’re looking forward to it all. And how glorious is that? Now, in this text, it says that Moses isn’t just looking forward to Christ, but he’s looking forward to his reward. He turned down a life of luxury and in effect, he’s standing before Almighty God and saying, “Okay God, I’m turning down silk pillows, I’m turning down plates of grapes and beautiful slave girls dropping the grapes right into my open mouth, I’m not going to live like that. They’re not going to find me with their big fans anymore, I’m not living that life, I’m going to go wander in the desert with a bunch of fractious people who do not appreciate me, and who actually would like to stone me.

Actually, he didn’t know all that was coming, but it’s coming. And he embraced a life of disgrace. Do you see that word, disgrace. The people who were his friends, the Egyptians who were his friends in the court there, maybe his half-brothers and half-sisters, his adoptive mother, all of those Egyptian powerful people who were beating on his biological people, but they were his friends, and they like… He turned his back on all of that, and He embraced disgrace for them. The author to Hebrews are going to call us all to that in Hebrews 13. Jesus suffered outside the gate. We need to go outside the gate and bear the disgrace he bore. He is disgraced by the world. You want to be pleasing to God, then you stand next to him and get disgrace to. So Moses was willing to bear disgrace for the name of Christ. What about you? What about me? Are you only to be disgraced, societally rejected, looked on poorly, slandered, reviled because you follow Christ? Well, Moses was willing to do it, it says because he was looking forward to his reward.

And what is the nature of this reward? What is this reward? When we come to rewards again, we already covered it in verse six so I don’t need to go into any great detail. Rewards are tokens of God’s pleasure connected with your actions and motives. God gives you some emblems of how pleased he was that you did that. The fundamental reward of the Christian life is God himself. God himself is our very great reward, and we get him. All lesser rewards, and there are lesser rewards, are all in some way connected to our relationship with him. They are relational moments.

It’s God saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant. I am pleased with you. Enter into the joy of your master, I want you to step into the joy I had when you went into the room and close the door and pray to your Father who’s unseen, or when you gave to the needy and your right hand, didn’t know what your left hand was doing.” Your reward is great for this.

Rewards are different than wages. They’re not earned or merited as though we deserve them. The rewards of the Christian life are just lavish grace, amen. We know that God would even have us in heaven, but that he would actually find things in our lives worthy of praise. He rewards us, and so Moses was looking ahead to his reward. Now, rewards are not all equal. There are some great rewards and lesser rewards. Causes something to be greatly reward-able versus something that’s worthy of a smaller reward? I think it has to do with how much faith and how much sacrifice it took to do it in this world. The harder it is, the more faith that you need, the more it costs you in this world, then the more worthy of praise and a reward it will be in the next. Does that make sense?

So, if you do anything by faith, anything at all today by faith, you make a phone call by faith, you speak a word of encouragement by faith, you get down on your knees and pray for someone by faith, any of it can be rewarded, will be. God is not unjust. He won’t forget anything you’ve done. Store up lots of them. But the really big ones, the big rewards, the great rewards are for those who suffer in this world to serve Christ. Does that makes sense? It costs you something and by faith, you do it anyway. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

So great is your award if you suffer greatly. Does that make sense? And we’ll meet them later in the same chapter, in Hebrews 11, people who wandered around in deserts and caves and were sawn into and stoned and suffered greatly for Jesus and so if you want great rewards then do great things. Understand that you don’t deserve, even for doing great things, anything from God, but he’s promised that he will reward and great will be your reward. And so Moses had a great reward because he made a great sacrifice. He turned away by faith from a comfortable life of ease and embraced suffering and disgrace for the sake of Christ.

And he did it because he weighed it. He considered it of greater value, that’s what the text says. He weighed it and looked at it and it was better for him. It was a better deal. A few months ago I went with my daughter, Carol, and we went up to pick up my mom and drive her back. She lives seasonally across the street from us, and so we had some time and we went up to Rockport, Massachusetts, and we went into a number of the painting stores they have up there. It’s a real art center, and I don’t know that much about art appraisal. I probably couldn’t tell the difference between a masterpiece and something that just generally looked good, but I noticed that there was a wide range of prices, everything from $75 up to 10, 15, 20 $25000 for a painting. Decided not to buy one of those. Alright, but I thought, “What’s the difference?” This one’s bigger than that, so it’s not just size, has to do with quality, different things, but there were just different prices, and it has to do with appraising. And so somebody who’s really skilled at this, who owns these stores, they look and they can tell something that’s really high quality because the thing itself.

You’re on a desert island and it’s between an incredible painting and sufficient food to last year, you know what you’d pick. Even if it were a bunch of barley roles, you choose the barley roles. So the thing doesn’t have any intrinsic value, but it just has to do with what the market will bear, and the quality of it. And the value that comes at appraising. And so, a faith-filled person does some praising here, and you’ve got the life in an Egyptian court, a comfortable life of ease and power and pleasure. You’re looking at the value of that and then you’re looking at what you get if you choose a life of suffering and disgrace for Christ. He looked at and this infinitely outweigh that. It was worth it to Moses to do it. He wasn’t the fool to do it.

He’s enjoying that reward now, and he’ll enjoy it forever and ever. It would have been a fool not to do it that way. So it has to do with a reckoning process, a thinking process, seeing the world rightly. It is temporary, friends, that’s all going to burn. We have a short time and while we have this window of opportunity, give it up. That’s what the Lord’s calling on us to do.

III. By Faith Moses Feared the Invisible God More Than Visible Pharaoh

It also says in verse 27, by faith Moses feared the invisible God more than visible Pharaoh. By faith he left Egypt, it says, not fearing the king’s anger. He persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

And we touched on this last time with Moses’ parents. Sometimes Satan presents himself as an angel of light, and he offers you the world or a portion of it. 2 Corinthians 11:14, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” but sometimes he takes the form of a dockyard bully, and if you don’t do what he wants, he’ll punch you in the mouth or cut off your head. Revelation 12:17, “Then the dragon, [that’s Satan] was enraged at the woman, that’s the people of God, and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” that’s Satan like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

And so he especially uses wicked kings, intimidating kings, and here it’s Pharaoh. Kings have the power to make your life miserable. Proverbs 20:2 says, “A king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion. He who angers him, forfeits his life.” You cross the king, you die. So it’s intimidating, it’s scary. And so we have many biblical examples of this. We have Nebuchadnezzar, prime example. What a temper problem he had. I trust Nebuchadnezzar in heaven now. I think he is, but God had to deal with that temper.

And humble him and his arrogance, his pride. And when his counselors in Daniel 2 couldn’t tell him what his dream was and interpret it for him, he became filled with rage and gave an edict that all of his counselors in Babylon be put to death, all of them. Same thing happens in chapter 3 when he erected a golden statue and ordered that everyone bowed down to it, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to it, and again, he’s filled with rage. I find that interesting. He has everything he wants. The most powerful man on Earth, can eat anything he wants, drink anything he wants, do anything he wants. He is the man, and he’s fill with rage that easily, just like the devil.

And when they will not bow down to him, he becomes even angrier, and his face becomes twisted with rage and he orders the furnace heated seven times hotter. Many, many leaders like this, Pontius Pilate, knowing that Jesus is innocent, goes back and forth. And at that point Jesus is done talking to Pilate, doesn’t say anything to him, you remember. Silent, he said a few things to Pilate, but at that point, it’s done. He’s not saying anything. And Pilate says ridiculously, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have the power to crucify you and the power to set you free?”

It’s intimidation. Happens in our day and age. Probably no one did this more intensely than Adolf Hitler. A terrible intimidate. Demon possessed, I think. He was called carpet chewer by some of his counselors and generals that were around him because he would throw himself on the ground, foam at the mouth and chew the carpet, which would bother me if I saw someone doing that. It’s terrifying. Hermann Goering who was a World War I fighter ACE, courageous man, corrupt but courageous, was terrified to bring Hitler bad news. No one wanted to bring him bad news, ever. They were terrified of him.

When he met in March of 1938 with the President of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Benes, he threw himself into such a purple rage in front of this man that the man went in almost had cardiac arrest. He almost died right in front of Hitler because of the terror and fear. Did the same thing a year later with the representatives of the British government after he had swallowed up Czechoslovakia, they come in and try to avert World War I, I and he does the same thing rolling on the carpet and screaming.

The guy walks out to go back to report to Neville Chamberlain, Hitler jumps up slaps himself in the thigh and starts laughing. He says, “Chamberlain’s government will topple by this evening.” Which it didn’t, but that’s the kind of rage. And he used it. The same thing with the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, famously pounding on the table with his shoe out of rage. It’s very intimidating. Moses by faith faced the king’s anger and did what God want him to do anyway.

He faced it, and he was not afraid of the king’s anger, and he persevered. He left Egypt by faith. Now, Moses left Egypt twice. You understand that. He left Egypt, the first time, after he murdered the Egyptian overseer, the slave driver, he murdered him. Looking this way and that, he murder him, and hid his body in the sand. And it says right in Exodus 2:14 Moses was afraid the next day because he came upon two Jews who are arguing. He said, “You guys are brothers. You should get along.” And he said, “Well, you want to kill us, like you killed that Egyptian yesterday.” And then it says then Moses was afraid and said, “What I did must have become known.” And then Pharaoh found out about it and wanted to kill him, so he ran for his life. Fugitive alright. I don’t think the text is referring to that because he was afraid.

No, it’s referring to the second time he left Egypt after the plagues when he brought with him millions of Jews. And so he comes back after 40 years of wandering in the desert, 40 years of caring for his father’s sheep, father-in-law sheep, and God appears to him in the flames of the burning bush. Calls on him to go back and to tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” He goes back, he says, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘Let my people go.'” And Pharaoh says, “I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let the people go.” And thus begins a back and forth that is ever escalates Pharaoh’s rage. Every step makes Pharaoh angrier and angrier. Plague after plague, the plague on the fresh water turning it to blood, than the plague on the frogs, crawling all over Egypt. Plague of gnats and flies swarming all over Pharaoh’s body and in his household. Plague on the livestock, the boils the hail, the locus, the darkness, one plague after another and you have to imagine each one of these directly attacking Pharaoh’s rule, and attacking his pride and making him angrier in anger. How would you like to be Moses having to go negotiate with this guy day after day after day?

Finally, the most dreadful plague of all. Plague on the first born, at that point Pharaoh is trying to bargain with Moses. It’s alright, you can go, but you can’t go very far, you can go, you can’t bring your livestock with you. No, there’s no bargaining. You’re not in a strong position, Pharaoh, in case you hadn’t noticed. You’re going to do exactly what God wants you to do. Finally, Pharaoh was so enraged that he says, “Get out of my sight. Make sure you do not appear before me again, the day you see my face, you will die.” “Just as you say,’ Moses said, ‘You will never see my face again.'” Well, through all of that, Moses persevered through all of the anger and rage of Pharaoh he persevered as if seeing it says the invisible God because he could see God, because he could see him by faith, let’s be honest, he feared God more than he feared Pharaoh.

This is a very powerful, a powerful lesson. One time I was afraid to lead an outreach, it was a Halloween outreach in Salem, Massachusetts, and I was afraid because the year before, I’d almost been arrested for doing this outward. Didn’t do anything wrong. But Laurie Cabot, the official witch of Massachusetts, back then Massachusetts had an official witch according to Governor Dukakis. And that was her and I met her daughter, delightful girl. At any rate, she came out, 25-year-old woman, she was filled with rage at me, and we had a very interesting debate in front of her house. I’ll never forget that. Well, a year later we’re doing another outreach.

It was the night of what became known as the perfect storm. There was a movie made about it, and there was a hurricane that struck off the coast of Massachusetts, and it was an unbelievable time, and I was middle of the week, and I was just… Satan was working on me all day long, is the longest work day of my life. I was just an engineer at that point, and just I thought it by now it’s got to be 3 or 4 in the afternoon a be like 9:30 in the morning, which is the long day because just the fear, r satanic fear of witnessing, satanic fear of persecution. And at that point, I was doing scripture memorization, in Isaiah, Isaiah 51. It says there, “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar– the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand– I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.'”

That’s what I was memorizing that day. I’ll never forget that.

I said, “Alright Lord, I get the message.” Do not fear man more than you fear me. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but I give you an even higher motive than that. How about delight in the Lord? I just want to please him, I want him to be pleased with me. I want to see his smiling face. I want him to be glorified and so the fear of the Lord enabled Moses not to fear the king, and delight in him, as well.

And so Stephen at the end of his trial, as he has already accused them of being stiff-neck people of uncircumcised hearts and ears, and they didn’t like that very much. They were very angry. And then suddenly Stephen, as they were furious with him, gnashing their teeth at him, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up and he saw heaven open, and he saw Jesus standing at the right side of God. He said, “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Delight, beauty, attractiveness drives away all fear. He was already gone. They had to kill his body, but he was already in heaven at that point.

Just the delight and the joy, and by faith, as if seeing the invisible Christ, he was bold and courageous.

Now, I still have two more points, but I see that it’s 12:20. So let’s do it next week. Let’s talk about the Passover and the Red Sea crossing, next week, amen. Can’t do that in one minute. You know I can’t do that. I cannot do the Passover in the Red Sea crossing in one minute, so we’ll do it next week.

IV. Applications

The application for this is plain, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Son of Man, he is the savior. Has he been revealed to you as such? Has God the Father revealed Christ to you? And if he has, venture on him. Venture holy let no other trust intrude. Trust in Christ entirely, your own righteousness cannot save you. Maybe you had not been a Christian before you came in here maybe a friend invited you, maybe we met one on the outreach yesterday. And that’s why you’re in church today and you know you’re not a Christian, you know that you’re not saved. All you need to know, you’ve heard today.

That Jesus the Son of God died on the cross, shed his blood for sinners like you. If you trust in him, you will be forgiven. And so I say, also to you as believers, venture on Christ. Don’t fear man. Be willing to turn your back on a life of ease and comfort and embrace a life of suffering and disgrace. Don’t fear disgrace. Don’t seek it out say, “I want to be disgraced.” But go after Christ and faithfulness, and share the gospel and disgrace will find you. But let’s be bold and courageous close with me in prayer.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Hebrews 11:26-29 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29 ¶ By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

I.   By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to Christ (vs. 26)

Hebrews 11:26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

A.  Amazing Expression: “Disgrace for the sake of Christ…”

1.  Key concept: Old Testament saints looked ahead to Christ as much as we look back to Christ… and they did so the same way: BY FAITH

2.  Christ was as invisible to them as He is to us… time matters not at all

3.  What matters are the promises and statements and prophecies of God

4.  In some amazing way, God had revealed Christ to Moses’ heart, which enabled him to choose a life of suffering and disgrace over the life of pampered ease and worldly pleasure

5.  This verse tells us it was ALL FOR CHRIST!!! He did it for Christ

6.  God had worked faith in Christ in Moses’ heart, enabling him to flee the sin of Egypt and embrace a difficult life for love of Christ

B.  Clear Assertion by Christ: Moses Believed in Me for He Wrote About Me!!

1.  Statement to His Enemies

John 5:46  If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.

2.  With the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

3.  With his disciples in the Upper Room

Luke 24:44-47 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

C.  Moses Would Write the Pentateuch: Christ was Revealed to Him

1.  It was by the pen of Moses that all the stories of Genesis would eventually be committed to paper

2.  Christ had already been amazingly revealed by then

3.  God had told Adam and Eve about the Serpent Slayer who would crush Satan’s head… Moses would eventually write all this down

4.  Enoch walked with God and prophesied about the Second Coming of Christ

5.  Abraham had seen the day of Christ coming

John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.

a.  Most clearly in the angel of the Lord’s existence and statements on Mt. Moriah

Genesis 22:12 Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.

Genesis 22:15-17 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you

6.  Jacob had seen the Lord at the top of a stairway leading to heaven; he had also wrestled with an mysterious man and said “I saw God face to face”

7.  Jacob had predicted the coming of the Messiah in the Tribe of Judah

Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.

8.  All these things passed onto Moses as his Jewish heritage… God also worked saving faith in Christ in His heart

D.  Moses Did not Fully Understand What He Was Writing… But He Still Believed in Christ

1 Peter 1:10-12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

E.  Key Issue for the Hebrews: Moses was Justified by Faith Before He Gave the Law

1.  The Author to the Hebrews… seeking to wean them off of Old Covenant subservience to the Law of Moses

2.  Had already shown that Moses was faithful as a servant in God’s house, but Jesus faithful as a Son over God’s house

3.  Here, his point is to show that Moses was also justified by faith in Christ before he was given the Law

4.  In other words, if Moses were here himself, he would tell you the same thing: we are justified by faith in Christ, not by observing the Law; AND the death of Christ has forever fulfilled the animal sacrificial system and thus that system is OBSOLETE

II.   By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to His Reward (vs. 26)

Hebrews 11:26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

A.  Essential Aspect of Faith: “Looking Ahead”

1.  Faith is intrinsically linked to hope… a strong conviction based on the promises of God that the future is unspeakably bright

2.  Throughout Hebrews 11, the author is showing how faith-filled people were constantly “looking ahead”

a.  Verse 1: “assurance of things hoped for”… looks AHEAD, not back

Romans 8:24 Who hopes for what he already has?

b.  Verse 6: rewards

Hebrews 11:6  … [God] rewards those who earnestly seek him.

c.  Verse 10: looking ahead to a city

Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

d.  Verses 13-16: looking ahead to the things promised… a city and a country

Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.

Hebrews 11:14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

Hebrews 11:16  they were longing for a better country– a heavenly one.

Hebrews 11:16 Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

e.  Verses 20-22: patriarchal blessings on the deathbed… all LOOKING FORWARD… Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

3.  Fundamentally faith LOOKS FORWARD, not back!!! Faith is yearning, pushing, striving, pressing to move ahead to the glorious future that God has planned and is crafting

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

4.  How delightful is this!! Worldlings tend to dread the future!!

a.  “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”… why? Because the king is afraid of losing his position of power

b.  “worse case scenarios”… the worldly people are constantly anxious about it

c.  Ultimately… fear of death dominates them…

Hebrews 2:15 all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

d.  Christians do not DREAD the future… we DELIGHT IN IT and by faith we live in it day by day

Colossians 3:1-4 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Thus we spend our whole lives LOOKING FORWARD to what is coming and seekinig to SPEED IT ON:

2 Peter 3:11-14 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 ¶ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

5.  So… Moses was LOOKING FORWARD to Christ… but he was also LOOKING FORWARD to his reward

B.  Moses Looked Forward to His Reward

1.  Context: Moses was ENABLED to turn his back on the treasures of Egypt and his share of gold and silver and silk pillows and plates of grapes being carried in by slaves and his future as a minister of this or that in the kingdom of his adopted family member, the Pharaoh of Egypt…

2.  Moses was ENABLED to embrace a life of suffering and disgrace for the sake of Christ…

3.  How?? By “looking ahead to his reward”

4.  God commends this in Moses… to treasure the rewards of a life of sacrificial faith is not shameful but MANDATORY and greatly glorifying to God

5.  Moses expected to be rewarded by God for giving all this up

C.  The Doctrine of Rewards… Again!!

1.  First, a reward is something given by an authority figure, like a king, to a servant who has served well… it is a blessing, a benefit given in connection with pleasing service

2.  A reward is different than a WAGE… a wage is the just payment of what an employee DESERVES for what he’s done… rewards are not deserved but are gifts of grace

a.  Wages are rejected in the Christian life in the sense that everything we get that’s good is a GIFT OF GRACE

b.  We cannot earn our salvation

Romans 4:4-5 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

c.  Rewards are a gift of grace, then

3.  Rewards are expected and embraced by faith

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

4.  What passages teach about rewards

a.  God Himself is the greatest reward

b.  All other rewards are connected intimately with our relationship with him

c.  The essence of the reward: praise from God

d.  The rewards will be for anything done by faith…even very small things i)

e.  Rewards are not all equal

Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

f.  The greater the faith, the greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward

5.  What is the reward??

III.   By Faith Moses Feared the Invisible God More Than Visible Pharaoh (vs. 27)

Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

A.  The Intimidation of Evil

1.  Sometimes Satan masquerades as an angel of light… alluring, enticing, deceiving

2 Corinthians 11:14 Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

2.  But sometimes, he takes the form of a dockyard bully… simply intimidating people into a cowering, trembling mass of slaves

Revelation 12:17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring– those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

B.  Especially human kings… so given to WICKED INTIMIDATION THROUGH RAGE

Proverbs 20:2 A king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion; he who angers him forfeits his life.

1.  Clear examples of intimidation in Scripture

a.  Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 2:12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 3:13-14 Furious with rage, Nebuchadnezzar summoned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king, 14 and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?

Daniel 3:19-20 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.

b.  The Antichrist in Daniel’s predictions

Daniel 11:44 But reports from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in a great rage to destroy and annihilate many

c.  Pontius Pilate threatening Jesus with crucifixion

2.  Modern-day intimidation

a.  Hitler’s fits of rage were legendary

Hitler dominated people with his temper… his rage was terrifying to everyone; Herman Goering, head of German airforce, the Luftwaffe, was a highly decorated WWI ace… but he quivered with fear when bringing Hitler bad news; high ranking German officials secretly called Hitler “carpet-chewer” because he sometimes threw himself in a rage down on the carpeted floor and rolled around like a raving lunatic foaming at the mouth and chewing the carpet if he was angered

In March of 1938, when meeting with the President of Czechoslovakia, Edvart Benes, whose nation his armies were poised to invade, Hitler flew into such an insane rage that Benesh came close to dying on the spot with a heart attack; over a year later, he did the same thing with the British Ambassador in August of 1939, several weeks before Nazi troops invaded Poland and began WWII. Hitler’s rage in front of the British ambassador was so fearful he appeared to be absolutely insane… however, no sooner had the Ambassador left and the door was closed, Hitler slapped himself on the thigh, laughing at the man and said that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s Cabinet won’t survive that conversation… his government will fall tonight! It had all been a calculated act of intimidation through rage

[Google “teppichfresser incident”] Churchill and Hitler: essays on the political-military direction of total war; By David Jablonsky p. 263-4

b.  Iron Curtain days

On October 12, 1960, the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Kruschev, so enraged at a speech he was hearing pounded his shoe on a table

In general, Communist governments have used the same kind of terror and intimidation to dominate people, and specifically to crush Christians

c.  Persecution Project stories

d.  Moses’ courage in the face of Pharaoh’s rage leaves a timeless encouragement to all intimidated Christians throughout history to STAND FAST!!!

Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

C.  By Faith He Left Egypt

1.  The real question is… what does this refer to?

2.  The text says, “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the King’s anger…”

3.  Moses dramatically “left Egypt” twice: once right after he murdered the Egyptian, the second time in the Exodus, when he led several million Israelites out of Egypt after the plagues

4.  Which of these two does the text refer to?

5.  Problem with the first: it seems Moses was VERY MUCH AFRAID of the King’s anger when he first left Egypt

Exodus 2:13-15 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” 14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian

6.  This probably refers to the Exodus then

D.  The Anger of the King of Egypt During the Exodus

1.  The battle with Pharaoh was one of step by step escalation

2.  Moses confronted Pharaoh with a clear command:

Exodus 5:1 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'”

3.  Pharaoh responded memorably:

Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”

Exodus 5:6-9 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

4.  Thus began the battle… and step by step, God destroyed Egypt and ruined Pharaoh’s reign, and Pharaoh became more and more enraged

5.  The plagues stripped Egypt of all its produce, but also stripped Pharaoh of all his pride… it seemed design to humiliate him and render him absolutely powerless

6.  With every encounter, Pharaoh’s pride and his rage increased

a.  The plague on the fresh water… turning it to blood

b.  The plague of frogs… crawling all over the land of Egypt

c.  The plague of gnats… and then of flies… tormenting Pharaoh

d.  The plague on the livestock… The plague of boils… The plague of hail…The plague of locusts… The plague of darkness

e.  Finally… the threatened plague on the firstborn

7.  Culmination: Pharaoh tries to BARGAIN with Moses, for him to leave their livestock in Egypt; Moses refuses to bargain… it’s COMPLETE OBEDIENCE or more plagues… Pharaoh becomes enraged and threatens to KILL Moses if he ever lays eyes on him again

Exodus 10:28-29 Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” 29 “Just as you say,” Moses replied, “I will never appear before you again.”

E.  Moses Persevered AS IF He Saw the Invisible God

1.  “persevered”…

a.  Word implies the long journey of dealing with Pharaoh through all this process

b.  Step by step, Moses persevered through all the plagues and the negotiations with an evil tyrant… he never faltered, never gave in to intimidation

2.  The cause of Moses’ perseverance: FAITH…

3.  “AS IF HE SAW the invisible God”

a.  This is the best way to translate the Greek

b.  Moses did not have some ongoing vision of God

c.  Rather it was “AS IF” he could see the invisible God

d.  This is FAITH, the eye-sight of the soul

4.  The key to courage in facing intimidating tyrants… be more consumed with God than with man

a.  Fear God more than man

Isaiah 51:12-16 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, 13 that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? 14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. 15 For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar– the LORD Almighty is his name. 16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand– I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.'”

b.  Love God above all (a BETTER MOTIVE than the terror of the Lord)

i)  Moses persevered because it was as if He was seeing the glory of God, the beauty of God, the power of God… it was GOD’s INFINITE MAJESTY that gave Moses such courage

ii)  Another picture: Stephen

Acts 7:54-60 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. … 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

5.  So also Paul in front of the megalomaniac Nero… the one who would later have captured Christians burned in his garden as a source of light at night… Paul was commanded by Christ to preach the gospel to him!!! And, completely abandoned by every other friend, Paul was faithful and boldly preached to Nero of Christ’s crucifixion and the coming judgment and of Nero’s personal need for repentance!!

2 Timothy 4:16-17 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.

Lesson: BY FAITH (as if seeing the invisible Christ) we Christians can be bold… we can persevere, not fearing the King’s anger)

F.  Moses’ Final Act of Courage with Pharaoh: The Red Sea Crossing

1.  After Israel left Egypt, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart one more time

Exodus 14:5-7 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.

Pharaoh and the greatest, most awesome army on the face of the earth found Israel by the Red Sea and trapped them there

The people cried out in terror!!!

Exodus 14:10-12 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

2.  The terror of Pharaoh overcame Israel… but not Moses!!

Exodus 14:13-14 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

This is the mature faith of Moses… NOT FEARING THE KING’S ANGER… HE PERSEVRED AS IF SEEING HIM WHO IS INVISIBLE!!!!

IV.   By Faith Moses Kept the Passover (vs. 28)

Hebrews 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

A.  Before Moses Even Confronted Pharaoh:

Exodus 4:22-23 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'”

B.  The Tenth Plague: Dreadful and Deadly… Predicted to Pharaoh by Moses

Exodus 11:4-7 So Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt– worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.’ Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

C.  The Only Remedy: The Shedding AND Application of the Blood

Exodus 12:3-7 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.

D.  By Faith Moses KEPT the Passover and the Sprinkling of the Blood

1.  By faith , Moses killed the lamb… trusting God that it would be effective

2.  By faith, Moses applied the blood on their doorposts… trusting God that it would be effective

3.  By faith, then, Moses FEARED THE COMING WRATH OF GOD

“Faith is the ASSURANCE of things hoped for, the REBUKE of things not seen”

a.  Both the coming danger AND the remedy had to be accepted BY FAITH

b.  The coming danger was INVISBLE

c.  The connection between the blood of the lamb and the rescue from wrath was INVISIBLE…

d.  Only by faith could this be done

4.  By faith, then, Moses DID NOT REST ON HIS GOOD RELATIONSHIP

WITH GOD or His privileged status

5.  By faith, Moses knew that, without the shedding of the blood of the Lamb, Israel also would deserve to die

Exodus 12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

Exodus 12:23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

6.  By faith, Moses and Israel obeyed these instructions and were SAVED

Exodus 12:28 The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 12:29-30 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

7.  By faith, Moses knew the SHED and APPLIED BLOOD provided the ONLY SAFE HAVEN of REFUGE from the WRATH OF GOD

Exodus 12:22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning.

8.  Ultimately, by faith, Moses OBEYED THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!!

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Romans 3:23-25 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

V.   Applications

A.  Come to Christ

1.  The passage celebrates Moses’ faith at the time of the Exodus

2.  The real focus was on Christ… deliverance from WRATH and the giving of a reward!!!

3.  By faith you have both the NEGATIVE and the POSITIVE

B.  Christians: Cherish your Deliverance from Wrath AND Delight in your Future Rewards

C.  Look Ahead to Christ… His Second Coming, the Wrath He Will Pour Out on the World, the Rewards He will Give

D.  By Faith, Learn to Conquer Your Fear of People

Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

1.  Be willing to suffer for Christ

2.  Be willing to speak up against injustice

3.  Be willing to stand up against abortion

4.  Be willing to speak the gospel to a boss or co-worker or scary neighbor

5.  By faith, SEE HIM WHO IS INVISIBLE… and fear God more than you fear man

6.  By faith, LIVE FOR DELIGHTING GOD more than delighting man

E.  By Faith Obey God

1.  Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood though it may have seemed foolish

2.  Study God’s word enough to know His will… then DO IT by faith