Download Sunday October 28, 2012

Sunday October 28, 2012
Pastor David Miklas
Message Hebrews 11 - #10
Phone: 570.829.5216
e-mail: [email protected]
Text: Hebrews 11:23-29
Moses - A Parent’s Faith
Introduction: The Old Testament saints have shown us a great deal about faith already:
Abel showed us how to live by faith.
Enoch showed us how to walk by faith.
Noah showed us how to work by faith.
Abraham showed us the pattern of faith.
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph showed us the victory of faith.
Now we come to Moses, who will show us how to make decisions or choices by faith.
Please turn to Hebrews 11 and follow as we read verses 23-29. As I read this I would
suggest you either underline or highlight a number of KEY WORDS.
“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.(24) By faith Moses,
when he was come to years, REFUSED to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; (25)
CHOOSING rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin
for a season; (26) ESTEEMING the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. (27) By faith he FORSOOK Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king: for he ENDURED, as seeing him who is invisible. (28)
Through faith he KEPT the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the
firstborn should touch them. (29) By faith they PASSED through the Red sea as by dry land:
which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.”
I think Moses, as a great man of faith, sets a great standard for the decisions that someone
with true faith must make. Since life requires many decisions, one aspect of Christian
maturity is the ability to make right decisions based on faith.
A mature Christian will consistently make right decisions, while an immature Christian will
not. Let me put it another way: right decisions result in holiness; wrong decisions result in
carnality.
In terms of maturity and holiness, your Christian life rises or falls on the basis of the
decisions that you make. For example:
WHEN SATAN TEMPTS, you either decide to say "No" or "Yes."
WHEN A WITNESSING OPPORTUNITY ARISES, you either take the time to communicate
the truth of Jesus Christ ... or you don't.
WHEN YOU HAVE A FEW SPARE MOMENTS, and you have an extra opportunity to read the
Bible, you either read it ... or you don't.
WHEN YOU WAKE UP SUNDAY MORNING, you either go to church, study God's Word, and
have fellowship ... or you don't.
Invariably, the decisions that you and I make will touch every area of our Christian life.
Since the beginning of time, God has given men the opportunity to make choices that will
affect their lives. The first man that had a choice to make was Adam. Unfortunately, he made
the wrong one.
Every area of our lives turns on the decisions that we make - either we grasp every
opportunity for bringing glory to God, or we miss them by choosing the way of the flesh,
the world, and Satan.
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The way we make decisions will determine our destiny - both temporal and eternal. God
calls all people to make a choice. For example:
In Deuteronomy 30:19-20 we read, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I
have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and
thy seed may live: (20) That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his
voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:”
In Joshua 24:15 we read, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day
whom ye will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
In John 3:36 we read that our eternal destiny is determined by a choice we must make. “He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but
the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Right choices are made on the basis of faith, and Moses was a man who lived by faith.
The record of Moses’ life covers four of the five books of the Pentateuch - from Exodus 2
to Deuteronomy 34. He was a tremendous man - the greatest of the Old Testament
figures. And his greatness was based on his faith in God. He believed God in the midst of
unbelievable circumstances.
The paragraph I read earlier from Hebrews 11 describes the kind of faith that says ‘NO’
and sticks by that decision. During the next two weeks, we will use this paragraph to
focus on three areas – the first one in this message, and the last two in the next message.
Then, three weeks from now, we will sum-up the faith of Moses with a very practical
application. I want to encourage all the children and teens in this ministry to be here to
hear that message. Right now, let’s look at four faithful actions:
First: A faith to DISOBEY the Laws of Egypt, verse 23;
Second: A faith to DEFY the life of Egypt, verses 24-26;
Third: A faith to DEPART from the land of Egypt, verses 27-29; and
Fourth: A faith “as seeing him who is invisible” verse 27.
I want you to notice from verse 23 a faith to DISOBEY the laws of Egypt, “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.”
The names of Moses’ parents mentioned in Exodus 6:20 were Amram and Jochebed.
They were obscure people, but they gave to the world one of the greatest religious and
political leaders of all time. The background of their story is found in Exodus 2:1-10
where we read:
“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. (2) And the
woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him
three months. (3) And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes,
and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by
the river's brink. (4) And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. (5) And the
daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by
the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. (6) 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. (7) Then said his sister to Pharaoh's
daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child
for thee? (8) And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's
mother. (9) And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and
I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. (10) And the child grew,
and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name
Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.”
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Pharaoh, a wicked ruler in the land of Egypt, noticed that the rapid growth in the number
of Israelites made them a danger to him. So, he decided to kill all of the Israelites’ male
babies.
By the way, that baby-killing business remains among us today under the name of abortion! We
have one of the most pro-abortion Presidents ever. He appears to be pushing the abortion agenda in
every way possible. However, abortion was murder in Old Testament times; abortion is murder
today, and abortion will always be considered murder in God's eyes.
Pharaoh reasoned that if the Israelites happened to side with his enemies, they might help
them overthrow him. He thought he could avoid being outnumbered if he killed all the
Israelites’ male children.
The Devil's plan behind that decision was to keep the promised Deliverer from coming to Israel.
What Pharoah and Satan didn't know was that God is always at least two steps ahead of the Devil.
We may be late or come up short; but God is never a day late, and He never comes up short!
So the Lord bamboozled the Devil's plans!
Enter Amram and Jochebed, Moses’ parents. They loved the Lord and feared Him more
than they feared Pharaoh's government.
While I'm on the subject of fearing God, let me say this. One of the problems in America today is
that we have too few parents who fear the Lord more than they fear anybody or anything. “It is time
for parents to be parents and for children to be children, even through the teen years!
Children and teens sleep in their parents' house, drink their water and eat their food, and
parents have the right to tell them what to do! So do it! God is going to hold every parent
accountable for how they rear their children.”
When baby Moses was born, he had the look of a proper child filled with potential. His
parents hid him for three months to avoid being killed by Pharaoh. Even that is a miracle
in itself! When they realized they could no longer hide him, his mother made a small ark
out of bulrushes and pitch. She placed that baby boy in that ark and took him down to the
river. She had to turn loose of that ark with her precious child inside, put him in the hands
of the providence of God, and then turn and walk away.
Listen! There comes a day when parents have said all they can say and done all they can do.
They must say, "Lord, we can't hide this child and protect him anymore. Lord, we can't do
anything, but trust him to Your care."
God is walking up and down the banks of your river, and He can be a Parent, when you
cannot be a parent. He can do what you cannot do. He can say what you cannot say. You can
trust God with your children!
Moses was left completely in the hands of the Sovereign God of Glory. But that little
baby was protected, because his mother soaked each bulrush with faith as she wove them
into the ark, and also pitched that ark on the inside and outside with prayer.
Because that ark was bathed in prayer and soaked in faith, that child was as safe in that little ark in
the midst of dangers as when he was in his mother's arms. God took up where that mother
couldn't go and He did what she could not do!
It is wonderful the way God arranges events in our lives. When God places us in an ark,
His plans cannot be destroyed.
Moses' big sister was peeking through the bushes when she saw Pharaoh's daughter and
her maidens coming to the river to bathe. Now isn't it amazing that this influential woman
would go to bathe in the same vicinity where Moses was resting in the providence of
God? When she got close to where Moses was, the Holy Spirit pinched him, and he
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started to cry. At the same time, the basket floated close to the woman, and she sent her
maidens out to fetch it.
When she looked down into that basket and saw that baby, I believe he turned on the
tears full force. The motherly feelings that are bred into every woman began to kick in,
and she claimed Moses as her child.
Pharaoh's daughter did not have the ability to nurse, and Walmart wasn't yet around, so
she couldn't send someone to buy formula. She thought about the young mothers who had
had their babies killed. One of them might be able to nurse this child. About that time,
Moses’ big sister asked if she could go fetch a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.
Praise God, she took the baby to his own mother, and the child's mother nursed her own
child! The Lord had already blackened one of the Devil's eyes by letting Moses live; now He was
about to blacken the other eye. Pharaoh's daughter said, "You go fetch her, and tell her I will pay
her wages to nurse my child,"
Not only did the mother get her son back, but she also got to nurse him and rock him and sing to
him, and the Devil's crowd paid for it!
But the day came again when Moses’ mom had done all she could do, and the young
child was returned to Pharaoh's daughter. Once again, that mother had to walk away from
her child and leave him in the hands of the God who could do what she could not do.
Out of this passage on the faith of these parents let me suggest a very practical
application.
First someone said, "The home is the center of development where children learn WHO
they are, WHY they are in the world, and WHERE they are headed. It is the place of earliest
and most lasting instruction. It is the seminary of eternity. Parents have the solemn duty to
bring their children into intimacy with the Lord and prepare them to live with Him forever.
The years they spend at home are the most critical of their lives. During that time they are
neither toys for our amusement, nor slaves to do our errands. Neither are they to be the
targets of our irritability and impatience. God considers the raising of HIS children a sacred
stewardship. Once they leave our shelter, we will have done all we've going to in meeting
God's requirement as mothers or fathers. But until that time, the Bible insists we are
responsible for the spiritual upbringing of our offspring. "
Second in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we read, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one
LORD: (5) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and
with all thy might. (6) And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
(7) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when
thou risest up. (8) And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes. (9) And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on
thy gates.”
In verse 4, we are given the Theology of God. There is only ONE God and this truth is to be
passed on to the world.
In verse 5 we are given the human response to the realty of God.
In verse 6 we are given the personal commitment needed to pass on this message.
In verse 7 we have the parental communication parent to child.
The children are to see the law of God written all over the house. THE LAW OF GOD IS
TO BE PASSED ON, SO THAT GODLINESS and RIGHTEOUSNESS CAN MOVE from ONE
GENERATION to the NEXT. “Ok, Pastor, how are we to RAISE GOD FEARING CHILDREN
in this sin-cursed world so that they learn to say ‘No’ to the world and ‘Yes’ to the things
of God?”
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NUMBER 1: The STRAIGHT-FORWARD APPROACH. During these NO
NONSENSE years of childhood to adolescence, from 3-12 years of age, you don't have to
beat around the bush. You say what you mean, and in most cases, the child just accepts
what you say. During these years as you lay the foundation for believing the Word of
God, here are 10 practical actions you can take:
1. Since "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God," start reading the Bible to
them while they are still an infant.
2. Teach them to memorize scripture, beginning at age 3.
3. Make a game of repeating to them and them repeating to you: "The Bible is the Word of God.
God loves me. Jesus is God's Son. Jesus died for me."
4. Build respect for and confidence in their pastor as a man of God. Encourage them to go to the
alter with decisions they make based on preaching from the Word of God.
5. Teach them how to pray. Since their hearts are tender, they will accept the fact that God is their
Heavenly Father and can be trusted to care for them.
6. Make Sunday a big deal in their lives. Magnify the importance of the House of God by being at
all the services.
It is during these early years, parents need to bring children and adolescents to FAITH IN
JESUS CHRIST and encourage them to get saved. CHILD EVANGELISM is oh – so
important!
NUMBER 2: The REALITY YEARS. Suddenly before you realize it, your ADORABLE,
CONTROLLABLE, LOVABLE, adolescent moves into those teenager years.
These are very critical years, because teenagers will either be a LIVING TESTIMONY OF
THEIR GODLY PARENTS who have instilled the FEAR OF GOD in their lives, or they will
DRIFT away from the Lord. They don't want pat answers. They are looking for the REAL
THING.
First: You need to show in your life the reality of Christ. If Christ is not real in your life,
a teenager will see right-on-through you.
You talk with teenagers often enough, and you will hear them say, "Christ is not real
in the life of my parents. Their lives are “all talk, and it’s all a show on Sunday.” They will
go on to say, "The Halo in church comes off and is folded up and put away once they arrive
home. CHRIST ISN'T REAL TO THEM, WHY SHOULD HE BE REAL TO ME?"
I am saying if you are going to raise a GOD FEARING CHILD, your faith must be real.
Someone said, "You cannot impart what you do not possess. You cannot bring your children to the
level of spiritual maturity unless you possess the reality of Christ in your own soul and life."
is the number ONE reason for spiritual failures in the lives
of Christian teenagers. If you are going to show your teenager the reality of faith in God,
in Christ, and in the Word of God, you MUST show that reality CONSISTENTLY in your
own lives.
INCONSISTENCY IN ADULTS
Second: During these reality years, here are ELEVEN things you need to impress upon
your teenager.
1. Since we live in a sinful world, you better commit yourself to making sin exceedingly sinful and
saying this over and over again: “SIN DAMAGES, SIN DESTROYS and SIN DAMNS.”
2. From Ephesians 4:22-24, apply this principle: everything I remove as an influence that is EVIL
for my child I must then replace it with something GOOD.
3. Expose them to Godly heroes, sacred music and Godly books.
4. Pray daily for your family by name facing crises in life together.
5. Help them to interpret life's daily events in light of the Word of God.
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6. Teach them salvation is only by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
7. Teach them that they must obey you, as you obey God in raising them. For I must one day give an
account to God for them.
8. Teach them the "fear of the Lord." That means they will not only be disciplined by you, but they
will also be disciplined by God.
9. Teach them that this world is a temporary training ground for eternity. They are only "pilgrims
and strangers" on this earth.
10. Teach them that they have two natures. Their one nature is ruled by self, the devil, and this
world. Their other nature is ruled by the Holy Spirit if they but daily yield to Him.
11. Teach them by RESTRAINT. There are some parents who say, "Pastor, I trust my son or
daughter to do right." Children are born with an old sin nature. Therefore, prior to developing
spiritual maturity, parents simply cannot trust them.
Third: They must be made to face the reality of eternity. From II Corinthians 5:10 we
discover that one day we will all stand before God at the Judgment seat of Christ, where
we will all give an account of our lives, and our works will be evaluated.
Therefore in view of this fact, parents need to teach children and teenagers ETERNAL
VALUES - the value of living for the Lord, the value of soul-winning and the value of
serving others.
Children grow up much faster than we would like. As parents, we influence the future of
our children - NOT SO MUCH BY THE WAY WE LIVE BEFORE OUR CHILDREN, BUT
MORE SO BY THE WAY WE LIVE BEFORE OUR GOD. When a father and/or mother walk
with God and PRAY FOR THEIR FAMILY, that family cannot escape the impact of those
prayers and the results even after the father and/or mother dies. GOD HONORS THE
PRAYERS OF A GODLY PARENT!
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If God has spoken to your heart, after reading the sermon Moses – A Parent’s Faith, right now talk to
God about what He has spoken to you.
Do you have the assurance that one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know
Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Bible tells us in
Acts 16:31, “...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...”
Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be their personal Savior: “I do want to go to
Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this
great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay
my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment
on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.”
If you made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, would you please let me know?
Please send an e-mail to, [email protected] and I will send you some literature that will help you in
your Christian life.
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