Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Over these last few Sundays, we’ve been looking at , and thinking about faith.

We’ve seen that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

It is in the unseen, but anchored in what God has said, knowing that He is trustworthy.

We also saw that faith is the only way to please God.

There’s no other way to do it.

Then last week we were thinking about forward looking faith.

Faith like that of Abraham who lived in light of the future, in light of what God had promised would happen.

And that faith looked beyond the grave.

Into the future, trusting that death was not the end.

And this was a good reminder to the original hearers, the people to whom this letter of Hebrews was written to.

Back in the chapter before we were told that they were believers, those who had faith.

But were enduring conflict and suffering.

Insult and persecution.

Prison and having their property taken away.

All for following Jesus.

Connect back to 10:32-36

This morning we’re going to continue seeing what this chapter of the letter to the Hebrews teaches us about faith.

And we’re going to see that faith chooses to identify with God, to receive the promise, by running after Jesus.

Well this morning we’re going to continue seeing what this chapter teaches us about faith.

We’ll see some more of those things we’ve seen already, and we’ll also see that faith chooses to identify with the people of God, to receive the promise, by running after Jesus.

Faith chooses to identify with the people of God (v23-38)

So let’s take a look at our first point.

Faith chooses to identify with the people of God.

We’ll see that in verses 23-38.

Now, we all choose to identify ourselves with something.

And we do it in a lot of ways.

Perhaps the most common way is through our clothing or electronics.

You wear the colour of your team.

You have a symbol embroidered on your tshirt.

You have a logo prominently placed on your mobile phone.

Perhaps you wear the colour of your team.

Or perhaps you have a logo attached to your tshirt, or mobile phone.

Illustrate identification - football team?

Walking slowly to not be seen with?

But it also works the other way round.

Sometimes we do things so we’re not identified with someone or something.

Taking a waitrose carrier bag to Aldi.

Choosing to walk slowly behind someone in town, so they don’t see us, and we’re not associated with them.

We all choose to identify ourselves with something.

And choosing to be identified with something was an issue for these original hearers of Hebrews.

It was because they were known for being Christians that they were facing these trials.

And, so, the temptation for them was to shrink back from their association.

To throw in their branded towel.

To give up on following Jesus.

But those of faith, choose to identify with the people of God.

We started to see this idea last week.

We saw that Abraham left his homeland, his place of safety, his people, to go where God had told him to go.

We saw that Abraham left his homeland, his place of safety, his people, to go where God had told him to go.

And the final verse from last week ended with Joseph - who at the time was the prime minister of Egypt, one of the superpowers of the then world - having his bones taken to the promised land identifying with the Israelites rather than the Egyptians.

And Joseph started to point us towards the Exodus story, and that’s where we end up in our first verse this morning, in verse 23.

This verse reminds us of the opening of Exodus.

After God had made those promises to Abraham of descendants more numerous than the stars, we see that begin to happen at the start of Exodus.

But that causes problems for the Pharaoh at the time, who decides to kill off any Israelite child the moment they’re born.

And that is why Moses’ parents hid him for three months.

And in doing so, they did not fear the king’s edict.

They set themselves up against the dominant culture, the ruling party, the Pharaoh.

They chose to identify with the people of God.

And the same goes for Moses in verse 24 and 25.

You could say, like father (and mother) like son.

It’s one of the ironic stories in the Bible, where Moses having meant to have been killed by Pharaoh, ends up living in his house instead!

The little Israelite boy, who was meant to be dead, was given the benefits and privledges of living in the house of the ruler of one of the world powers.

Just imagine what that would have looked like.

I reckon it would have been similar to the position that our Prince George is in.

Now, I don’t know what William and Kate are like as parents, but you can see the appeal already.

You get the best clothes, the best cars, the best houses - all because of who you are.

But Moses, by faith, chose to throw that all away.

He refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

And instead chose to identify with the people of God - right there in the middle of verse 25.

And in doing so, he chose two more things.

Did you see them?

Firstly, he chose to be ill-treated.

That has to be a deliberate choice doesn’t it?

The choice to say, I’d prefer to suffer than to enjoy the things you have for me.

That’s a deliberate choice.

A deliberate choice to be part of the people of God.

Secondly, he chose that rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

He chose to be ill-treated rather than to have pleasure.

Rather than enjoying what he had and be associated with the Egyptian power, Moses chose to be maligned and ill-treated along with the people of God.

The people of God.

That includes all of God’s people from all of time.

That connects all the stories from the Old Testament to the people reading or hearing this.

Connecting those in the past to the listeners of this letter, both then and now.

Moses chose to be part of the people of God, and in doing so, he chose to suffer.

That’s the experience of the hearers, as we saw back in chapter 10 verse 33.

People that had lost it all to follow Jesus.

As I say that, you may be thinking ‘the maths doesn’t add up’.

Why would you want to do that to yourself?

Well we’re told why Moses did it, in verse 26.

Moses did his maths, he counted the cost.

And he realised that it was worth it.

He saw the treasures of Egypt as nothing in comparison to the reward that is to come.

Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

Now, that sounds absolute madness in our materialistic world doesn’t it?

Who in their right mind would throw away the gold of Egypt, and choose to suffer instead?

Those who have faith, that’s who.

Those who have faith, and so choose to identify with the people of God.

Like Moses here.

And we see that idea rolling forward.

By faith, Moses left Egypt, not scared of the king.