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156.
No, we're not.
Getting ready, we pray. We pray, Lord.
We pray. We pray on the water.
Start brother Bob, 23.
11/23.
By faith, Moses, when he was born was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the King's commandment.
By faith Moses, when he was come to years.
Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ. Greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
For he had respect under the recompense of the reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first born should touch them.
By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encompassed about seven days.
00:05:10
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believe, not when she had received the spies with peace.
And what shall I more say, For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barrack, of Samson, and of Jeptha, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant, and fight turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women receive their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yeah, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy, They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
And yesterday there is another series of seven.
With Moses and the children of Israel here.
And once more I believe we see an example of.
In Moses case particularly, putting off present advantage in order to have future gain.
Humanly speaking, I suppose Moses had every advantage that we could think of. He was brought up in Pharaoh's court, and Egypt was the leading nation in the world of that day, so that he had every advantage.
And I suppose it would not have been out of the way for him to have thought, as some believers do today. Look at what I can do for my people who are slaves.
If I'm in a position of power and authority, which he likely would have been.
But he looked beyond all that, didn't he, and was willing to suffer affliction, as it says, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
And so once again, it's a real example to us too. And that faith, of course, carries on when we see the children of Israel forsaking Egypt, Moses, of course, taking that position as the leader. But then, uh, once again, we see them leaving a place that their hearts continually hankered after, even in the wilderness, in order to go to a land that God had said he would give them.
So once again, it's a a lesson of faith for us and again.
Very, very apropos for the Christian life where we give up what is immediate advantage that looks very good to us by sight, in order to have that which we can gain by faith.
We come to this transition point in the chapter, I think helpful to look at the back and forward at the last seven. We just finished. The promises are prominent and there's patience. It's the patience of faith that kept each of those going forward and kept them going on toward the goal that was up ahead.
There were certainly problems in Joseph's life. There were problems in Jacob's life, there were problems in Abraham's life, but they're not listed here in the chapter.
Because of the key feature, the prominent feature is that the face kept them going on until it was ahead and the promises in this section of the chapter, what seems to be prominent foremost are the problems. It starts right out in the first verse that we read and it says uses the word afraid. And then we run across things like affliction. We run across approach, reproach. There's death mentioned, there's drowning there's.
00:10:14
All these difficulties, the mocking is the scourging and so on. What comes ahead? There's the problems. That didn't stop faith either. I thought of it as a way that's helpful for me and remembering the structure of the chapter, to think of these first seven like we're on a road trip. Many people drove to get here. There was a promise up ahead of what would be at the end, and there was a need for patience especially. Well, I shouldn't say especially, I was going to say especially for children, but it's just as true for me and perhaps for others.
Hey, are we there yet? We've probably stopped saying it out loud, but we keep thinking it internally. For some of us, there's a need for patience to get all the way to the end. But there might be potholes and car trouble, and there might be roadblocks. There might be things along the way that would stop us as well. And so there needs to be energy for faith to push on through them. There needs to be the energy of faith to get past those problems and through them and not just sit down, give up, turn around and go back because of the problems in the way.
And so these ones from Moses forward give us examples of ones who pushed through those roadblocks or in some cases they didn't push through them. They were, they suffered those scourgings and imprisonments and some were killed, but none of them turned around and went back. And so the problems on the road didn't make them turn around and go back. And there was perseverance to their faith that kept them moving on.
Yes, that's very helpful because as we mentioned, I believe in the first reading meeting.
In this last section of the chapter, it's really the faith. It's faith that gives energy.
In spite of obstacles and problems, and we don't want to, in these meetings, give the impression that if we follow the Lord, it's all going to be.
Sunshine and smooth sailing and smooth roads. No, there may be many obstacles, there's many difficulties and so on.
And these ones face things that I suppose most of us will never have to face.
In the path of faith and service, however, the difficulties that we face today, brethren, are very real.
And just as our brethren in other parts of the world are facing problems that are very real and things we've never been called on to face yet, the problems and difficulties that we're going to face when we leave these meetings in seeking to follow the Lord in the path of faith are no less real. And it is interesting that this section starts with Moses parents. And I want to say a word about that to encourage the hearts of parents, not just those who are in the midst of raising children.
But those of us who have raised our families and perhaps things haven't always turned out the way that we had prayed and thought that they would.
I want to encourage our hearts because we don't know the end of the story yet.
And it's very interesting with Moses parents that they had the faith to take Moses and to hide him in that little ark of bulrushes that they made and how God undertook for them and for Moses in the end. And so we find, if you notice Mr. Darby's translation of the verse we began with, it says when they saw he was a beautiful child, you know, they weren't moved with fear here.
We spoke of Noah earlier. He was moved with fear. They weren't moved with fear.
I suggest it was faith that was motivated by love. They looked at this little baby.
You think of Moses taken up out of the waters and after they had put him there and handed back, what emotions must have gone through a mother's heart to see how God had taken care of her son in the waters of the Nile? But we find that, and I want to say this particularly to mothers, but to those of us who are and have been fathers as well.
Moses mother was given a special charge to take Moses away.
And to nurse him for Pharaoh's daughter. We are not told in Exodus chapter 2 how long she had Moses.
But the day came when as a young boy, he had to be sent back to the palace to be raised as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. And to me, it may be small consolation to mothers who have raised children who are not gone on for the Lord. But it's interesting to realize that it was. Moses never came out for the Lord or took a stand with the people of God till he was 40 years of age.
00:15:09
Not interesting. He was 40 years of age and we don't even know if Moses mother was alive to see.
The results and fruit of her early laborers with her son. If she was, it was a long time to wait. If she wasn't, she'll see it at the judgment seat of Christ where it will all be brought out. And I just say that to encourage those of us who are parents. Maybe we haven't seen our children go on for the Lord. We keep praying, of course.
But just remember, we haven't seen the end of the story yet.
And Moses parents faith was eventually honored whether they were alive to see at this side of heaven or not.
And I I think that's an encouragement to us. And so he 40 years of age and Moses comes out for the Lord. One other little comment about the expression here, the son of Pharaoh's daughter. You notice he wasn't raised to be Pharaoh's son, but the son of Pharaoh's daughter. What do we learn by that expression? Well, Pharaoh would bring beside before us perhaps, if I can put it this way, the raw side of the world.
We know what Pharaoh and his taskmasters were like when the children of Israel were there in Egypt.
But the son of Pharaoh's daughter would perhaps bring before us the nice side of the world.
Moses was raised in the best of circumstances that were probably available in the world at that time. It was the night wasn't the raw side of the world. It was the good. It was the good things. It was the comforts of this world. But the day came when Moses refused all that, all the comforts and niceties of this world that the Kingdom of Egypt could offer.
Why did he do it? He took a stand for the Lord and with the people of God that challenges exercises my own soul. What are we seeking? And I just say to those who are younger, what are you seeking in this world? To be the son of Pharaoh's daughter, to have it all nice and comfortable. Nothing wrong with comfort. We're thankful for this wonderful venue and the wonderful hotels we've enjoyed this weekend. The kindness of our brethren and the goodness of the Lord.
But, brethren, are we willing to take a stand with the people of God, to serve the people of God, in spite of what conditions it might be, in spite of the opposition that there might be. Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Comment about Moses if you turn back to Exodus and you don't need to I'll just read it. It says there and the woman conceived and bear a son and when she saw that he saw him that he was a goodly child or beautiful child, she hid him three months and when she could no longer hide him, she took him for took for him in Acabulas and so on. We know the story. The chapter only mentions those three months that she hit him. I wanna suggest that Providence is not faith.
Sometimes.
We get reached the end of ourselves and we commit ourselves to Providence in our despair. But that in itself is not faith. Another lesson to learn from this too is it seemed like a terrible child, a terrible time to bring a child into the world. And today, the day in which we live, might equally seem a terrible time to bring a child into this world. But this child that God, that that this couple brought into this world was Moses.
The deliverer of his people. So I don't think that we can make our decisions based on the circumstances we see around us. That's not faith. And then just a general comment about this portion of the Scriptures. Why is it here in the book of Hebrews, there are Hebrew believers, Jewish believers that had received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah. They had gone along with the Christian testimony. But number one, things weren't turning out the way they'd expected. Number one, they expect the Messiah to come and establish a Kingdom.
And then two, having gone along with the Christian testimony, they didn't expect persecution. Everything seemed to be saying this is the wrong path.
And there are perhaps those in this room that have gone along with the Christian testimony and look around the room and see each year numbers dropping a little bit, the assembly shrinking in size and saying, well, Providence must be telling me circumstances must be telling me that this is not the right path. This is not the right place to be. We cannot be guided by circumstances. We were just. We will be turned out of the path of faith if we do that.
00:20:17
Providence government circumstances, but faith governs our heart and our conduct and so Jonah learned that as well. I mean he, he thought, you know, circumstances were God had ordered that boat there, you know, but.
That wasn't safe on Jonah's part and we can run into those circumstances ourselves when we see see our path changing in a certain certain way.
But have we gone to the word of God about it to show, to, to realize or to find out whether this is the path for faith? And so as you say, it's, it's very important that we don't take our course necessarily from Providence, the, uh, and from circumstances.
It says that Moses was hid three months and I think there is a time.
That children can be hid from the influences of this world, especially in our homes, if our homes are sanctuaries, brethren, and they should be a sanctuary from the evil influence of the of this world. And it's a constant struggle.
To be careful that this world doesn't get into the home and affect children in their young years. It's so important because they're formative. I heard one report that said that a child is 70% formed as to its personality by the time he reaches 3 years old and 90% when he reaches five years old. So those first years are so important.
That they be hid from the influences of this world. But what happened? We know when he could no longer be hit. And it's been mentioned that she took an ark of bulrushes and put him exactly where Pharaoh had commanded that all the children be put, but in a way that he was preserved. That's faith. They saw that little child and they put him there.
And I often thought, brethren, when?
Moses daughter took that child back to the palace.
The Pharaoh might have said I commanded all those children be thrown into the river. She could say, father, your command was fulfilled. He was in the river. I took him out and that's what Moses means. Take him out, a beautiful brother and the faith and then as it was mentioned that we don't have.
Any evidence of faith working in Moses until he was 40 years old?
And brethren, it impresses me the way that God works in every life in a different way. You cannot lay down rules as to how God is going to work. He works differently in each one. And I'm sure that Moses mother, when Pharaoh's daughter said, take this child away and raise it for me, she must have told Moses a lot about the children of Israel, Moses.
We're here in Egypt, but we really, this is not our place. Our place is somewhere else. It's in Canaan. That's the land we're called to. And I think in time Moses reflected and he identified himself with those slaves instead of the people of Egypt. Wonderful way that faith operates in each one.
Different I you know, you go from country to country and hear the story of how God has worked in different lives and I just marvel brethren, I get to hear quite a few stories and it's always different. No one exactly like another. But these are principles and I say to young people get a hold of the principles of the word of God act on them because they are so important.
In the world that we live, it's not being guided by circumstances or Providence as has been mentioned, but act on the principles of the Word of God and act and view the future.
00:25:10
Yeah, when you were talking, Brother Bill, it reminded me of what Jim Elliott said. He is no fool who gives that which he cannot keep.
To gain that which he cannot lose. Think about it. It's a tremendous statement, and that's what the Christian life is. It's giving up what we have here because we're not going to be able to hold it very long anyhow, but using it and in view of the future, that day when things will be forever eternal, in that scene to which we are called eternal glory.
So Moses was 40 years old when he came to years.
He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose rather to suffer.
You like to suffer.
You like to suffer, Bill.
Chosen.
None of us would choose it, and I hope we don't, because we're never told in Scripture to seek persecution or to seek reproach or to seek suffering. But if we're faithful, we're told that it will come without. We don't have to go after it. And Moses knew very well that that was going to be the pathway that was ahead of them.
He did this when he became great.
That would be the time most of us would choose to, to, to not refuse those things. We've got them already. So now we've arrived. But here Moses had had them already, but he chose rather and to refuse all those things that he was given. And so it's, uh, that's very interesting to see that that's not the normal way of doing things. And you chose affliction because it was the children of Israel that were in affliction.
And he identified himself with that brethren. There are so many of our dear brethren in other parts of the world that are afflicted today.
Do we know what it means? I don't think we know much what it means, but.
Brethren, I fear that we sometimes don't identify with that as much as we might. The Lord help us, at least in our prayers, to to intercede for them. And I really do believe that if there's a heart there, it will be ways in which we can interact and be a help to our dear brother and in other parts of the world.
Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And when I was younger I used to ponder that verse because again, we sit here and cut relative comfort this morning. We're not afraid of the government arresting us or people coming in and shooting us, dragging some of us off to prison to have a Bible meeting. But I would just make this suggestion to apply it in a practical way to our own lives.
That in the measure in which you and I are faithful to the Lord Jesus and reflect something of Christ in our lives, while we may not suffer physical persecution here in North America.
There is always a reproach connected with the name of Christ and His testimony. And if you and I leave these meetings with Christ, reflecting in our lives and seeking to be faithful to Him, even to be gathered to the Lord's name as a reproach, Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, and we might suffer reproach. No bearing his reproach, if we take only the name of Christ in the way we seek by grace to meet us gathered to His name.
There's going to be, there's going to be a reproach connected with it even from other believers. And so it encourages us, Moses, faith encourages us to take that stand with the people of God, with others who seek to be faithful. You know, I've had the privilege on more than one occasion of standing at the Red Sea and baptizing Egyptians. You know what they tell me?
00:30:00
When we take this stand, either ourselves or with our families.
There's a real reproach connected with it. They're not going to get ahead, they're not going to get a promotion, they're not going to get a good job. They're going to be watched by the government often.
I've never been put to that test myself in the path of faith, but that really stirs my soul. And to think, brethren, how easy we have it here. Some little sneer, some little reproach that we get for following the Lord, or speaking faithful, or standing with the people of God, or being gathered to the Lord's name and going to that little meeting room down the road.
Brethren, let's seek to be faithful. You know Moses.
Again, will he ever be disappointed? He took that stand with the people of God. You know, he refused to be great in the greatest Kingdom of the day. And where was the reward? Well, later on, 1500 years later, long time. But 1500 years later, he stood on the Mount of Transfiguration. Little preview of the coming glory. It's a long time to wait for the reward, wasn't it? Or at least part of the reward.
But 1500 years later, he stood with Christ.
On the Mount of Transfiguration. And I want to say to Moses when I see him another day, Moses, was it worth it to give up?
Maybe giving up having a pyramid erected to your honor, some statue to your honor?
Oh, he'll say it was worth it and more because the kingdoms of this world, as we said the other day, are for a moment of time. The things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. And Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible. And I never realized till I visited Egypt a number of times when it says he esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt. I don't think most of us really understand.
What that meant, the treasures of Egypt and the greatness of Egypt, as our brother Ogali will attest to. They were something that still remarkable in the history of this world today. Gold covered everything in those days, from chariot wheels right up. He gave it all up because he esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt. Oh brethren, when we get the glory.
We see the Lord Jesus, and then when we come back to reign in His Kingdom with Him, oh, we're gonna wonder why we didn't give up more down here for His sake.
Get into the land, didn't he?
But in a far better context than he would have before.
Noteworthy here, isn't it that?
It says.
In verse.
24 By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Then in verse 27 it says by faith he forsook Egypt.
Uh, I would suggest that that does not refer to the time when he fled from Pharaoh in order to go into the backside of the desert.
Those 40 years are passed over because they were part of God's ways. It was not, in that strict sense, part of the pathway of faith. Just as the wilderness journey of the children of Israel is passed over in silence. By faith they passed through the Red Sea, verse 29, and then verse 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell. Nothing said about the wilderness journey. Part of God's ways, but not part of His.
And in that sense, not part of the pathway of faith. But it was necessary for both, wasn't it? Moses needed that time in the backside of the desert. Israel needed that time in the desert itself. And so do we. Again, it's not part strictly Speaking of the pathway of faith. It's part of God's ways with it. And I don't suggest for a moment that faith was an exercise in those.
Years, I believe it was. And actually it's rather interesting to note apropos to what you were saying, Jim, that.
Moses did not fear the wrath of the king when he forsook Egypt.
00:35:00
But what was it that eventually broke Moses?
It was what came from within, from his own people.
What eventually caused him to get what Scripture calls a provoked spirit and to act contrary to the instructions of the Lord? It was what he had to endure from his own people. And so if you and I don't feel the persecution from the outside world in the same way that some of our brethren do.
Sometimes the Lord allows it to come from within, shall we say?
The profession of Christianity, and that's even harder to take in some cases, isn't it? And we see, as was mentioned earlier, Nick was mentioning it, that sometimes it can be potentially discouraging to see.
Assemblies getting smaller to see, conferences getting smaller to see this one and that one who says I'm going somewhere else? It can be very difficult. And sometimes there is, and we have seen it. The mockery, oh, are you still connected with that? Oh my, and so on. That can be harder to endure than if the man of the world makes fun of our Christianity.
And that is eventually what took Moses down. But we don't find fault in that sense. We merely comment on it because it's recorded in the Word of God. Because the provocation was certainly plenty severe. And speaking for myself, I think I would have broken down long before Moses ever did. But we just say that those years that the Lord trained him, whether in the desert or.
During the wilderness are not mentioned here, but they are part of God's ways with us, and you and I will find we have to go through them too.
Umm, a steaming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasure of Egypt, having respect and to the recompense of reward. And we may have difficulty identifying with those things. It's been helpful. I came across a statement once that I was he. I found helpful in this regard.
The least thing from the hand of God.
Is better than the best the world can offer.
Now, some things God gives us are not all that attractive.
But the least thing from the hand of God is better than the best the world can offer.
OK, So what? What understanding did Moses have? It says here, esteeming the reproach of Christ. Was he looking forward to the Messiah? Or what's the thought there?
Suggest Tim that.
The author of the book of Hebrews, Probably Paul.
Is writing from the vantage point of New Testament light, just as he says earlier in the chapter, but now?
Verse 16 They desire a better country that is in heavenly. As we mentioned yesterday, I don't believe at the time that Abraham knew that the reward would be heavenly. Now he knows it. I don't believe that Moses necessarily knew.
That it was the reproach of Christ. Yes, they knew. And he had it revealed to him that there was one coming down the road, and he prophesied about him, one that would be greater than he. And he said him, shall ye hear? But what did he know about God in Trinity? Very, very little, I'm sure. What did he know about the revelation of Christ? Very, very little. But it was the reproach of Christ. And I suggest that Paul calls it by its New Testament name, if you like, even though Moses didn't enter into it at the time in the same way that we can.
00:40:03
But remember that Paul was writing, and we assume it was Paul for New Testament believers who had been brought into that position, who knew who the Lord was, who had seen the Messiah, and who, as we were saying yesterday, were experiencing terrible reproach because of following Christ. It was very difficult for a Jewish believer in those early days.
Everything was against them. It was the reproach of Christ, and I believe Paul calls it the same thing.
Would you, would you agree with that, Bob? Is that a fairway of looking at it? Yes. It's hard to maybe understand because the Lord Jesus has not come as the Christ at this time, but I think that whenever there is the revelation of God in whatever measure it is given.
This world is against that, and there is that conflict, that reproach, in any age. Daniel felt it when he sought in Babylon to live for God. He was made to feel it. There were those under the reign of Darius that had him thrown into the den of lions.
Conflict. Are you gonna avoid it? There's no way to avoid it.
You can't avoid it. And so Moses esteemed that greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. O brethren, to realize that God is going to have His purposes fulfilled in the end, and we're living in a world system that is against God. Are you going to go with the flow?
Or are you going to stand for God?
That's the reproach, isn't it?
Oh, of course, Egypt was at that time an idolatrous nation, and their worship was anything but that of the true God. So that, as you say, any mention of the name of the Lord brought reproach when when Moses did forsake Egypt and LED the children of Israel out of it.
What was his initial contact with Pharaoh like? Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and so on? Who is this Lord you talk about? And of course we know that the resultant plagues gave ample evidence. Had Pharaoh been willing to pay attention of who the Lord was? But always from man's history since the Fall, the natural mind has been at enmity with God.
And of course, God's revelation in Christ brought out the supreme hatred of man, didn't it?
27 he endured.
As seeing him who is invisible.
That's what faith does.
It lays hold on that which is not seen.
In Second Corinthians chapter 4, an important verse.
The end of the chapter.
Says while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are.
Not seen for the things which are seen are temporal.
But the things which are not seen are eternal, tremendously important principles here. We live in a world where we it's really a materialistic age and you're taught in schools and in business to react according to where there will be profit, and that's business. But that's understandable.
But as a Christian, you should base your life on things that are not seen. And those things that are not seen are eternal things. Just look around you right now. This room, it's a nice room, nice chairs, everything nice. How long is it gonna last? What will this place look like in 100 years?
00:45:12
I don't know.
But it's temporal. It's just for a time, it's passing. And are you going to stake your future on that which is temporal or that which is eternal? And brethren, we have in Christ that which is eternal, and you can only lay hold of it by faith. And that's what Moses did. He endured.
As seen him who is invisible.
Wonderful, wonderful reality, brother, and may the Lord help our dear young people, especially in this materialistic age, not to get distracted by material things. Yes, we have to deal with them. Yes, we have to have certain measure of things down here, but this is just a means to an end. It is not the end. Don't make it an end in itself.
So we live for another day. We live for another world, a world that is eternal.
We're called to eternal glory. Wonderful.
It wasn't it, it was him. And I think that's the key to the book of Hebrews as well, because the Lord Jesus, none of us have ever seen him with the physical eye. We didn't have the privilege like John and others who saw him with their eyes and their hands handled of the word of life and so on. But he's no less real to the eye of faith. And so Moses saw a person. He saw him who is invisible.
In the beginning of this book we see Jesus. How do we see him? Not with the physical eye like they did when he was here, but is he any less real to the eye of faith? And brethren, what we need to do if we're going to be preserved and encouraged to press on in the path of faith, is to have a vision of Christ before our souls, to look up by faith into the open heavens. You know, when the Lord Jesus was here as a man on earth.
Heaven opened up so that Heaven could be occupied with the only perfect man that ever walked this planet.
But heaven is just as open today, not so much that heaven can look down, but that we can look up. And so at the end of this chapter, in the beginning of the next one, at the beginning of the next chapter, he encourages us to run with endurance the race set before us. And how are we going to do it? It's to look unto Jesus, the one who began and completed the path of faith in absolute perfection, and he's the only one who did.
But with him as our object to see him who is invisible to the physical or the natural eye.
But real to the eye of faith, brethren, that's what's going to give us the courage. How could Moses go on?
You know Moses life is taken up in three sets of 40 and how could he go on?
Year after year and those last 40 years in the wilderness, you say, how could he do it? You know, I think it was Bill mentioned about him losing his patience with the people of God. And I say just once in 40 years. I know it was once too many, but to me it was a pretty good record. I, I don't think I would have lasted that long.
But He endured us, seeing Him who is invisible. He had whatever vision he had of the Lord before his soul. He could go on in spite of the problems. And brethren, not that we want to dwell on it, but let's remember this. We're not necessarily going to see the removal of all the difficulties down here. Sometimes we'd like to pray. We pray and we'd like the difficulties removed. But the Lord doesn't always remove the difficulties. But what He does do is give the faith and the grace.
And the energy to go through the problems and difficulties to endure enduring is different from deliverance. We'd like deliverance. But he says no. If I don't deliver you from it, I'll give you what's needed to endure it.
She'll lose it.
And he loses his life. For my sake shall save it.
00:50:06
If we had the power of God, we certainly would change some circumstances in our lives, but if we had the wisdom of God, we would change absolutely nothing.
3 verses, verses 29, or rather 2829 and 30. They're not the last three, I shouldn't say that, but these three I would suggest bring an order before us in the Christian life.
In verse 28 there was the keeping of the Passover because if we could put it this way, in Egypt, the Lord was against them. Was He really? No, because He was providing a way whereby they would not lose their first born. But I think it was mentioned earlier that the Lord couldn't pass over the Israelites and bring judgment on the Egyptians.
Without the blood, because the Israelites were no better than the Egyptians. And of course, we need to remember that too. As I've often said, I have no right to look down my nose at a man who is an unbeliever. I may have to be faithful with them. I may have to speak to him about where his end is. But I have to say there but for the grace of God, where I go to.
But the Israelites, by faith, put that blood on the door, trusting that it would keep the destroyer from coming into their homes, and they were preserved.
But then they go through the Red Sea. That speaks of deliverance, doesn't it? In the sense that we recognize that if in Egypt the Lord is against us.
At the Red Sea, Satan is against us.
And there Satan and all his hosts come against us, and Pharaoh and all that the world could muster came after them. But the Lord overthrows them in the Red Sea. And I believe it was mentioned yesterday that the Red Sea speaks of baptism and speaks of being.
Dead and arisen with Christ. And as we've already often mentioned, it's the first record of singing in the Bible when they stood on the opposite Bank of that Red Sea.
But then.
There's more, isn't there? The wilderness is passed over because it wasn't, in that same sense, part of the walk of faith. It was part of God's ways. But then what happens by faith? The walls of Jericho fell. Oh, there is going to be conflict in our Christian lives if we want to enjoy the land of Canaan. And many dear believers are content to stay on the opposite Bank of the Red Sea.
Without entering into that land of Canaan, because it speaks, doesn't it, of our heavenly calling. And if the church loses the sense of its heavenly calling, as we've sometimes said, and this is quoting another, it loses, humanly speaking, everything. And so there is going to be conflict. And those walls, well, we know when the spies went in the first time, they said those walls are rising up to heaven and those.
Giants there. They made us look like grasshoppers.
But when it was a matter of obeying the Lord, those walls came down without any human effort whatsoever except to blow those trumpets. And so we will find it in our Christian lives that if we want to enjoy those heavenly things, conflict will be involved. But I suggest there is an order here, the sprinkling of the blood, the deliverance through the Red Sea, and then finally the crossing of the Jordan and the conflict.
In the land of Canaan. And we will find it. It will come in that order in our Christian lives.
Interesting. We were speaking yesterday about the obedience of faith, that faith is obedient. And when it came to Jericho, it was for seven days marching, for the first six days marching around.
Once every day.
And then the 7th day, seven times around.
I wonder if there was any complaining?
00:55:01
On their part, what is the purpose of this?
There doesn't seem to be any cracks forming in the walls.
Brethren, it is.
Paying attention to what God says, that's faith and it's obedient. And when, like you say, they went around the 7th time and blew the horns, the walls came down.
Pay attention to what God says. He means what He says. Sometimes I don't understand it very well and so I might have to go back and look at it better.
But pay attention to it. Faith is obedient.
So then you have rehab mentioned, it's interesting. God brings from that city one individual that lived on the wall that was to fall down. He redeems a person that comes right into the royal lineage of the Lord Jesus. Beautiful.
Not sure, maybe somebody has a thought on this, but uh, why It's Rahab the harlot. It mentions it still Ray hard the harlot grace of God, isn't it? She's mentioned in that way, I believe every time she's mentioned and I believe it's it's not so much to attach a stigma to her, but to show the grace of God. And it's interesting, isn't it, Bob?
That when you go back and read the story, it wasn't just Rahab. Her face is what shines here, but her household as well. And again, I think that's an encouragement. Maybe there's someone here and you say I've failed so bad in my life, how can I now raise a family for the Lord or go on for the Lord?
Their sin has consequences, but there's always.
The grace of God that comes in where great sin abounds, grace much more abounds. And so with Rahab in that wicked city, Jericho, yes.
We noticed Moses parents earlier in in in in wicked Egypt, how they raised their child for the Lord in a marvelous deliverer. He became Rahab and her household were saved through her faith. It's interesting too, that when you read the story, you say, well, how much faith did Rahab really have? Now we know she had faith by taking the spies at their word, but you know, she was she was really a traitor. She betrayed her company and she told lies.
But God again was able to separate the precious from the vile and the faith. In the end, in spite of those things, the faith comes out. She hangs that scarlet cord, that rope in the in the window again, showing us a picture of the basis of all blessing is the work of Christ, the blood of Christ. And as a result, it was she and her household. And as you say, she's brought into the royal line.
It's not part of our subject, but just a little homework. Go back and read the 1St chapter of Matthew where you get the lineage of the Lord Jesus in connection with the royal line of things.
And notice the women that are brought out there, women that are brought in to the royal line by the grace of God. You have Tamar, you have that Rahab, you have Bathsheba. Again, I quote the verse where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. And that's true in all our lives, brethren.
And I would suggest that perhaps there is another reason why the Spirit of God brings Rahab's name in here in the book of Hebrews.
She was a gentile, wasn't she?
And at the time that the book of Hebrews was written, we know that those Israelites, those Jews, were having at least some of them a terrible time with blessing, going out to the Gentiles. They had a very difficult time with the gospel being preached to them. And of course, Peter had to learn a real lesson as to receiving the Gentiles. But it was not easy. It took a while.
01:00:06
And even after all that had happened, there came a time when Peter got carried away and Paul had to withstand him for separating from them. And I just, I just suggest the thought that her name is brought in here, among other reasons, to show that God was reaching out to the Gentiles long before that. And he had brought in Rahab not merely into the congregation, but into the royal line, as we've noticed.
And now, of course, in the church, God was reaching out to the Gentiles in a wonderful way and going to bring Jew and Gentile together as we get in Ephesians 2IN1 Body by the cross.
So I just suggest that it was a little indication to those Jews that this had not been something new or some new thought of God. He had prophesied in the Old Testament that the Gentiles would be brought into blessing. And of course we know that looked on primarily to the Millennium. But here now in the church, God was going to bring both into blessing, in that one body into the church without any discrimination.
And the name of Rahab here, I suggest, would have reminded them of that precious truth.
Verse 32 mentions others too. He says time would fail me and our time is going to fail us here too. We only got 10 minutes left brethren, but.
It's interesting these pairs that are mentioned, Gideon and Barrick, Sampson and Jeptha, David and Samuel.
I'm not sure why, but they're all mentioned in the reverse order of time.
Barrick was before Gideon, Jeptha was before Samson, and Samuel was before David. Have you ever thought about that, Bill?
Tested that there is a strength to faith, that is, the darker the day gets, the, umm, brighter face shines. And so the reverse in each of the first two pairs is uh, because it becomes harder and harder for uh.
Men of nature to go on. Therefore there's more the need of faith. And so that's why Gideon and Barrack are reversed by Sampson and Jeptha are reversed, perhaps with David and with Samuel. Each one of the ones that comes before Gideon, Barrick, Sampson, Jeptha, were those that bore rule in the land and David's placed with them. Samuel's placed with the prophets that come after and were mentioned after. So it's given in that order.
Thank you.
I never came to any solid conclusion it it. I wondered if I had heard that thought. And I wondered, too, if perhaps some of these men displayed more faith than others. Because we know that Jeff had serious failure in his life. But that's that's very good, Steven.
The grace with Rahab, she's also the first one in the chapter that had a house in the land. You go back through all the other Old Testament worthies, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses, not a single one had a house in the land. Rehab's the 1St and she's a Gentiles was mentioned and the walls fall down in town. Not to build up her house, but to let her out. It was a place that had been judged and she's let.
To escape from it. And here, as was already mentioned, these Hebrew Christians were in danger of, of going back of being discouraged of looking at what's going on in the in their lives and and turning back from Christianity. And so the only one that had a had a house there up to that point in the chapter, I'm sure getting an embarrassing Samson and we know David at houses, but up to that point in the chapter, rehab is the first one and her city is destroyed so that she can escape.
So the ones that are listed here, and then he goes on to give a summary of what they did, They through face subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, and so on. There's no doubt as we read their stories and their history that they had faith to various degrees. And there are no doubt those that we can think of that are not listed here, that like Daniel and the three Hebrew children and so on, who are no doubt alluded to.
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But then as our time is gone, it says in verse 36.
And others.
And we say, what about them?
I I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Yes, I'm sorry and others. And then he repeats it in verse 36. Thank you. And you say what about them? Did they have less faith than the ones that have been previously mentioned? Because when we read what happened to them, they didn't have deliverance like like the the other ones. They suffered in a way. They *** **** down their lives, they were beaten trials of cruel mocking and so on.
You say, did they have any less faith? No, these all died in faith. And I think this is an important principle for us to realize because maybe we come to the end of a chapter like this and we've considered these Old Testament men and women of faith and all the things that they did and how they conquered and triumphed and accepted wonderful deliverances and there were miracles in their life and so on. And we say, well, I I've never experienced this kind of thing in my life. Maybe I don't have faith.
No, these other ones, we can't look at them and say they didn't have faith. And brethren, we can't look at our brethren in other parts of the world today who are in prison being tortured, laying down their lives and say they don't have faith. They may have greater faith than those of us who live in in relative ease and maybe are sneered out and reproached for our testimony. And so these ones Scripture confirms.
They had their faith was just as valuable, just as great, just as important. We'll receive just as great a reward in a, in a coming day. So and others. And I say that because sometimes in the Christian world today, the Christian community today, there's this thought that if we're not experiencing some great miracles in our lives and outward expressions of the Spirit of God and and so on. Well, you don't have faith.
You know, I, I, I, I, I heard this and I, I, I could hardly believe it, but I heard a preacher. Well, I'll tell the story. I, I was in a cafe in Freeport, Bahamas one day and having a cup of coffee and waiting for John Mark Council to finish his business so we could fly back to Nassau that evening. And there was a television on and there was a pre, one of these preachers on, in on the television.
And all of a sudden, this preacher stopped and said, if you have faith, put your hand on your television screen with me and we'll pray for a new car for you today.
You know, I thought after I thought, you know, it's going to be a lot of people who put their hand on that television screen and they're not going to get a new car and they're going to be told it was because they didn't have the faith that that is not what we learned from Scripture, brethren. These ones that were tortured and saw in asunder and wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins.
Could you? Could they set you? It be said of them they didn't have faith and that's why they suffered.
Scripture confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that they.
Had faith. And so as we leave this place, brethren, let's seek by the grace of God to go on trusting the Lord. We may not have great deliverances, we may not see great outward miracles in our lives, but whatever we are called to pass through in our path for the Lord, the key is to have complete confidence in Himself, in His Word, and to act in obedience.
No matter what. And what about these ones that that died, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. God had something better in mind for them.
And whatever God allows in our lives, God has something better in mind for us. And what is the end of the story?
Whether we die of natural causes or whether we're martyred for the testimony of Christ, we're going to reach the goal and we're going to be there with glorified bodies and the days coming back coming when we're going to come back. And a king shall reign in righteousness, and Princess shall rule in judgment. And he's coming to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that are about him in that day.
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All the triumphs of faith in the latter group is the sufferings of faith, but they're both faith and the Scripture says if any man suffer as a Christian, happy as he, so we don't have to look for these a new car and all these other things that they're trying to say that you have to have faith for. But there's the suffering. And just like the Lord Jesus, it was the suffering and the glory that falls.
Lord, wasn't it at the end And that's isn't that. What each of us covet brethren, is his well done and His good report at the end.
Ask Brother Cannon.
What scripture can you give me to show that the Old Testament believers will be raptured at the same time as the church? And he gave me verse forty. I thought it was a very good verse. They, the Old Testament believers we've been talking about, without us shall not be made perfect.
To depart and to be with Christ from this life is far better, but it is not the perfect state. Brethren. The perfect state is what you are referring to, Brother Jim. When we will be given our new bodies and we will be in resurrection glory with the Lord, conclude that they might obtain a better resurrection in that as well.
There was some women received their dead, raised to life again, but others were tortured and they died. They weren't raised to life again. They weren't spared. But am I correct in saying that that better resurrection they look forward to is that resurrection that we have in the last verse? I had a man once trying to tell me that there's different, uh.
Qualities of resurrections that we'll have as believers and to use this verse as an example of that. But that's not what it's saying.
Umm, number 1187.
I've left the home.
Grass.
316 Just three and four 316.