Seeing Him Who is Invisible

Father, thank You again for bringing us together in Your house.  We thank You for the good word that we heard this morning about prayer.  So we pray, dear Father, that we would become more like You in praying, praying for Your glory and Your honor.  Even now we ask that as Your Word goes forth that the Spirit of God may fall upon Your servant and so preach a better message than Your servant tonight.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.   

Behind the white house is our church cemetery.  Over the years I walked its grounds to pray, to think through an issue, to meditate on scripture, or to remind myself of God’s steadfast love.  Walking along the rows of headstones, I see names of senior adults who now see Him face-to-face.  The very first row in that cemetery I see the name of Harold Jones and at the end of that row I see the name of Grandville Broom, two elders that served faithfully here at Christ Covenant, two elders who gave all they had to minister, particularly to the senior adult community.

Then if you go to the other end of the row a little further down, there is a stone in the ground with the name of Dick __.  Dick __ was the first pastor to the senior adults here at Christ Covenant from 1991 to 2001.  The Lord used Dick to lead Harry Reeder to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ when Harry was a teenager.

A little further down that row you’ll see another stone with the name of Sally __.  Sally was a part of this church for many years.  She sung in the choir here.  She played piano in the senior adults.  She was on the same level as Pam __. 

If you look a little further down, not too far from the lots that Carol and I purchased, there’s a marker with the name of Dick __.  Dick and Peggy __ joined Christ Covenant about the year that Carolyn and I came here and it’s been my pleasure as a shepherd to have a Caleb like Dick __.  He served so faithfully.  And when the Lord called him home, I know it was a time of rejoicing for him, but I certainly have missed his presence.

And if you look down a little further in the cemetery, there’s a headstone that says “Cullen,” Dave and Jenny Cullen.  They, too, came to Christ Covenant about the year that I came, same time that Dick and Peggy __ came.  They, too, were servants in our community, and their good daughter, __, continues on in the line of service for the Lord.

Then there is another tombstone with the name of Lee, __ Lee, as he was known to many, as honorable __.  Last but not least there’s a tombstone with the name of Jerry __.  Jerry was the longest serving elder in the Central Carolina Presbytery, was ordained back in 1975.  He went home this past January and faithfully served all of those years.

I often leave the cemetery with thanksgiving on my heart, thanking the Lord for having known these men and women.  I often leave with encouragement to finish the race that is set before me.  I often leave with praise to the Lord for saving these folks and using them in the building up of the kingdom of God.

Now there are just a few of the 70 that were a part of the senior community that now rests in the cemetery.  But these names that I’ve mentioned opens this evening the corridor of faith in Hebrews 11.  They share together with these men a faith that is now visible and is complete.  Our text is Hebrews 11:23-28.  Our focus on Moses.

So take your Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23 through 28.

“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.  By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.  He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.  By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.  By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

The history of Moses goes from the beginning of Exodus and ends in Deuteronomy chapter 34.  Hebrews chapter 11 begins with Abraham and now we see Moses.  Both of those men share equal honor in Hebrews chapter 11.  Three examples of faith are found in the life of each man, more than any other person.  Abraham, father of the faithful.  Moses, the great emancipator and law giver.

The greatest decision that Moses ever made –  What shall I do with my life? – hinged on the choices that he made.  He chose to accept certain things and he chose to reject certain things.  Moses was comparatively a young man in proportion to the length of his life.  Think with me, Moses’s life can be divided up into three stages.  From year 1 to year 40 was in Egypt; from 40 to year 80 he was in the land of Midian; and then from 80 to 120 he was in the wilderness with the children of Israel.

Moses’s decision making involved choices that were not simple but they were vital to his relationship with God.  As we will see, he chose to accept certain things and to reject certain things.  Moses made three decisions as given to us in our text tonight.  If you’ll notice in verses 24 through verse 26, decision number one he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  The second decision is found in verse 27 – Moses forsook Egypt.  And then in verse 28 we read that Moses kept the Passover.

Now what is interesting about Moses’s account here in Hebrews 11 is that we have a little bit of background information that the other men of faith, women of faith, do not have.  We find out about the early days of Moses.

Look back at verse 23:  By faith Moses when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

His parents.  Their names are not listed.  That’s often the case, isn’t it?  Someone turns out to be something and the Lord uses them, we know their name but we don’t know mom and dad’s name.  But if you look you’ll find that the father’s name was Amram and the mother’s name was Jochebed and they lived in a hostile environment, severe oppression governed the lives of the Israelites there in Egypt.  They were under forced labor.  They were slaves.  And the Pharaoh pronounced infanticide for all the male Israelite children that were born.

We read here that the child was beautiful.  His mother saw that he was beautiful.  He was a beautiful child.  What does that mean?  What parents don’t think their child is beautiful?  You know, we had four of them and all of the beautiful, you know.  When I look at other people’s babies, they’re not as beautiful as mine.  Then it goes up a level when you become grandparents.  Our six grandchildren, they’re just beautiful.  What is the meaning here of beautiful?

Well, it means more than an attractive appearance.  In Acts chapter 7, verse 20, we get some idea of what that word means.  Steven, in giving his account of Israel’s history, we read in verse 20, Steven said “at this time Moses was born and he was beautiful in God’s sight.”  Now in the Greek text it means well-pleasing to God. 

God had some special purpose for their son.  Apparently God had given some special revelation to that effect.  Most probably the Lord made it known to Amram and Jochebed that their child was to be the promised deliverer.

An interesting note.  Our man Josephus, great historian, if you ever have time to read his three volumes, it’s worth plowing through.  But Josephus claims that while Moses was in the mother’s womb that God revealed to his father that his child would be his deliverer of Israel from its bondage in Egypt.  So perhaps that’s implied when we read in Hebrews that he was a beautiful child.  He was set apart for this fact of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt to receive the promise that was given to their forefathers.

As our brother read just a little while ago from Exodus chapter 2, verse 5 and 10, you know what happened to young Moses, that Pharaoh’s daughter saw him hidden in a basket in the bulrushes.  And here again we marvel at God’s sovereignty, that Jochebed became not only his mother by birth but became his nurse, and on top of that Pharaoh’s daughter was paying her to be his nurse.  Now only God could do something like that.  You know.  And thus Jochebed had a number of years to implant in Moses a sense of his Jewish identity.

Some scholars say that he was turned over to Pharaoh’s daughter maybe at the age of 3 or 4, but there’s a lot that say no, about 10 years.  He was 10 years old.  She had those years to implant in her son’s heart and mind the reality of the God of Israel.

What a beautiful example of how God honors the faith of a humble, God-fearing couple.  He answers their prayer, He spares Moses’s life, and He fulfills His purpose for Him.  It’s this same faith in verse 23, the faith of our fathers, that Moses exercised in the three choices he made regarding his life.  Those three choices again is that he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, the second is that he forsook Egypt, and the third is that he kept the Passover.

So with that behind us, now let’s look at these decisions and see what took place.  We read in verses 24 through 26 that when Moses grew up he refused, and that’s emphatic.  I mean, he had a stiff upper lip of the heart.  He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  By faith Moses when he was grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.  He considered the reproach of Christ’s greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt where he was looking to the reward. 

When Moses reached the age of maturity, and Acts again in chapter 7, that was about the age of 40.  So the first 40 years in Egypt was spent partially at home with his birth parents but the majority of that time was spent in Pharaoh’s palace.  At the age of 40 he was about to be fully absorbed into the Egyptian culture.  Would he spend his life with the people of God or with the house of Pharaoh?

Now on one hand he had been reared in the house of Pharaoh.  He was trained in all the skills and all the wisdom of the Egyptians.  He was heir to the throne.  He had a position of leadership.  Josephus again says that he was trained in military leadership and conducted several battles and was known for his leadership skill.  Perhaps if that was so what a wonderful tool to have in your pocket when you had to take care of 2 million people whining in the wilderness.  You know?

But he was heir to the throne, he had position, he had power.  He had treasure.  He had renown.  That’s one hand.  But on the other hand, his parents were Israelites.  Their life in Egypt was one of reproach and affliction.  In order to be an Israelite, he must identify himself with the people of God.  For Moses to give his life to Pharaoh, it was necessary for him to do absolutely nothing.  He was in line to be a Pharaoh.  Wow.  What an awesome position to be yours.

Moses had choices before him.  To enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, or suffer affliction.  Choose the reproach of Christ or the treasures of Egypt.

Now, folks these are the same choices you and I have to make every day.  Are we going to say no to the world?  Are we going to say no to the lust of the flesh and the pride of life?  Or are we willing to identify with Christ and walk in the path of holiness?  Choose the reproach of Christ or the treasures of Egypt.  That was Moses’s decision.

Notice here that Moses’s active of faith is based on two decisions.  He chose and he considered.  Two C’s, right?  He chose to suffer affliction with God’s people instead of enjoying the pleasures of sin, which only last for a brief time.  As Pharaoh’s daughter’s son, he would have unlimited access to every sinful pleasure in all of Egypt.  He chose not to live for the present, though.  We see here that instead of continuing to be identified as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son, he decided to identify himself with the despised and cruddy Israelites as viewed in the eyes of the Egyptians.

Well, folks, that’s a major decision.  He was throwing away the position of Pharaoh, the riches, the honor, everything that’s tied into that.  He was willing to throw that away and embrace and identify with the God of Israel and His people.  He chose to suffer affliction.

Notice the second thing here that he considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.  His new identity with the despised Israelites caused him to be the reproach of the pagan culture of Egypt.  Can you imagine Pharaoh’s daughter?  Pharaoh?  The leaders of the high court of Egypt?  The elite of the social strata of Egypt?  And all the ordinary day blue-collar Egyptians?  They couldn’t believe this guy, wanting to renounce all of this and be a group of ragtag bunch of sinners, the Israelites.  They thought themselves to be far superior than the Israelites.  But he considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. 

Just like our Savior’s association.  Remember when He was on this earth?  He associated with the despised publicans and sinners and the woman of ill-repute instead of the elite religious rulers of Israel.  It caused Him to be reproached and rejected by the Jews. 

Moses suffered that same kind of reproach and he regarded the reproach of greater value than the riches of Egypt.  Let that sink in.  To turn his back on all that was guaranteed to be his and to identify himself with a group of people who had no respect, no standing, who were slaves, whose children the sons were given to be slaughtered.  What prompted Moses to make this decision?

Notice here in verse 26 the answer is that Moses, and I like the King James here, had respect unto the recompense of the reward.  Which literally means the payment of wages.  It refers to the eternal reward that God will give to those who obediently respond to and faithfully fulfills the divine call to service.

Moses, I believe, at this juncture was well aware that God called him to be the deliverer of His people from their slavery in Egypt.  I think that’s found in Acts chapter 7, verse 25, according to a speech of Steven.  But he says here he had respect.  He was looking steadfastly at the eternal reward that was before him.  If you’re looking steadfastly, then you’re looking away from something.  He looked away from the world and he looked at the eternal reward.

You know, in our youth group growing up, and that was many years ago, we used to sing a song at particular time in the service of special meetings.  The song was “I have decided to follow Jesus.”  I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.  Though none go with me, still I will follow.  Though none go with me, still I will follow.  Then that last verse goes:  The world behind me, the cross before me.

Moses made that decision to put Egypt behind him and the claims and all the benefits that come with that to follow Him and to see what was waiting for him on the other side in eternity.  Moses permanently looked away from the temporal rewards of Egypt and he focused his attention on the eternal reward God would give him.  His decision to refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter was prompted by faith, faith in the reality of God and in the reality of the promised reward.  That’s decision number one.

Decision number two is found in verse 27 – by faith Moses forsook Egypt.  By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.     

Beloved, Moses could see what Pharaoh could not see.  Moses could see what the wise men of Egypt could not see.  For he saw Him who is invisible.

Now in Exodus chapter 2, verse 14, we have the account of Moses and the slaying of the Egyptian and burying him in the sand only to be discovered the next day by the very Jewish people that God called him to lead.  Well, it says he was afraid and he fled.  Yet, here in verse 27, by faith he left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the king.  How do you reconcile those two verses of Scripture?

I believe that Phillip Hughes explains it very clear.  He says it was not personal fear of Pharaoh but the awareness of his destiny as the deliverer of the covenant people that caused him to take flight.  Had he remained at that juncture, the destiny would have been thwarted, humanly speaking, by his execution, so impaled by the faith and the divine purpose for his life, Moses took refuge in Midian.

How did he endure for such a long time in the land of Midian?  Forty years.  It wasn’t the garden spot of the world, I’ll tell you.  It was desert, barren.  It was nothing like the beautiful fields found in Egypt.  It was barren.  For 40 years he lived in the land of Midian, became a shepherd tending sheep.  Forty years he put up with sheep that stunk.  You know, sheep stink.  So they tell me; I’ve never smelled a sheep but I’m told that.  But for 40 years he did that.  How did he endure for such a long time? 

Moses’s faith persevered as if he saw Him who is invisible.  Moses’s faith in the reality of the invisible God who called him to do His will enabled him not to fear the wrath of the king and therefore to forsake Egypt.  We must remember tonight that our God is real and has made Himself known to us by faith through the Word of God, through worship, through the times of prayer and meditation upon the Lord.  God makes Himself known to us so that we see the unseen and that’s how we endure.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that in the race of endurance we’re to fix our eyes on Him.  That is, on Jesus.  To see Him, to see His endurance on the cross, and His despising the shame and how He is now exalted at the right hand of God.

Now we come to decision number three.  In verse 28:  By faith Moses kept the Passover.

You know, when Moses came back to Egypt 40 years later, at the age of 80, the land of Egypt went on a wild ride.  Can you imagine at the age of 80? 

Now we have close to a hundred senior adults here at Christ Covenant in their 80s.  That’s a lot.  Now can you imagine this man coming back, standing for the all prestigious, mighty Pharaoh, and before Pharaoh with God’s guidance, Moses unleashed ten plagues in Egypt.  The plagues were to destroy the Egyptians confidence in their pagan gods.  With each plague, it seemed as if Pharaoh would relent and let the people go only to go back on his word.

The final plague was to be death to every firstborn throughout the land of Egypt.  This would include the death of every firstborn Israelite child unless the Israelites followed God’s careful instructions.  This was the first of the ten plagues that required Moses and Israel to prepare for.  The other nine Moses just declared the judgments and they fell.  Israel was not a part of that.  But this time the tenth plague, they had to be prepared.  Each family was to select a lamb to sacrifice.  The lamb’s blood was to be painted on the doorframes of each house.  The lamb was to be roasted and eaten with bitter herbs.  That night the Lord would go through the land of Egypt and kill the firstborn of every household.  Unless there was lamb’s blood – the Lord would pass over the house. 

What a night that was.  All of those weeping Egyptians, crying over the death of their children, of their cattle, of their servants.  That night the children of Israel took the blood, painted the doorframes, ate the lamb.  Moses and the children of Israel trusted God’s instruction and did exactly what God asked them to do because they trusted God.  That night every house in Egypt was mourning over the death of their firstborn, except those in the houses that were painted with blood.

Moses obeyed God precisely.  He did what God instructed him to do regarding the Passover and the angel of death passed over the nation of Israel.  The Bible tells us that the Passover was a picture of Jesus Christ, that He has become our substitute to bear all the wrath of God, eternal death for us.  We stand under the curse of eternal destruction because of our sin and only those for whom the blood of the Lamb has been applied will be delivered.

Moses’s faith in God’s provision of blood protection was great, indeed.  Because neither he nor Israel nor the world had ever seen such a deliverance.  This was a first.

Moses did not look to his performance before God to endure the time of destruction but he looked to the blood of the substitute.  Even so, we’re to look to Jesus Christ, our substitute.

Tonight we see in Moses’s life of faith how faith in the reality of the invisible God enables His children to withstand the pressures of the world, to live for His glory, and to endure by seeing Him who is invisible.

Three take-aways tonight.

Number one.  Moses lived with eternity values in view.

He developed this forward look.  He came to see himself as a pilgrim, one who lived in this world but who lived for the treasures of heaven.  Do you have that forward look tonight?  Do you look at yourself, your status as a pilgrim?  Do you see yourself tonight just preparing for heaven?  So was the life of Moses.

Number two.  Faith overshadows our feelings in refusing the sinful.

All the pressures were great for Moses to capitulate, to surrender to Pharaoh, and to enjoy all the things that were his, but he saw that the eternal reward was far outweighing.  Faith secures our footing in the race that is set before us. 

Again, making those decisions are not easy.  Whatever we find ourselves in, it is that which the Lord has ordained and gives us the grace, the strength, the wisdom, to navigate through.  Keeping our focus on Him who is invisible is what Moses did, the author and finisher of our faith.

The third thing I want to end with is this.  That our faith will one day turn to sight.  One day the invisible Jesus will become visible.  As Isaiah reminds us in chapter 33 verse 17, your eyes will see the King in His beauty and view a land that stretches far.   

Let’s pray.  Father, we thank You tonight for this life of Moses.  We thank You for his example, showing us that we can turn from the ways of the world by faith and pursue and follow after You.  Lord, help us to cultivate a pilgrim view of our lives.  Lord, for some of us, we’re young and got many years and we think that we’re going to have a long time here, but some of us, Lord, are in middle age and we realize that we’re getting to the top of the hill and there are some of us here, Lord, that’s going down the hill and we realize that we are, indeed, pilgrims.  Lord, help us to cultivate the fact that You have placed us here to keep serving You by faith and to have that forward look, the world behind us, Christ before us.  O Lord, we pray that we may be strong as Moses to say no to the world, to Egypt, and to obey Your Word.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.