The Faith of Moses Part 3

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Intro

Alright everyone, we are heading into our last message focusing on the faith of Moses in our series called “by faith”.
There are a few things I want to bring back into our minds as we work through the final part of this passage.
One…we should always have the definition of faith in our minds, found in Hebrews 11:1.
Chapter 11 Slide
Hebrews 11:1 ESV
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
It’s two things.
Assurance that comes from having a hope
Being convicted by things we can’t even see.
So that’s the first thing we should remember as part of our foundation.
Two…we should always have in mind where we are heading in Hebrews 12:1-2.
Chapter 12 Slide
Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Meaning, we are looking at all these witnesses in chapter 11 as a way of being encouraged in our own faith and to turn our eyes to the perfecter of that faith.
That’s the second thing.
And three…we need to be reminded of the specific things we have learned about faith in Moses’ story thus far.
Let me recap the last two week just really quickly for those of you that need reminding or weren’t able to join us.
We’ve learned two major things over the past two weeks. And first one was..
Faith defends good and godly things. (v. 23-24)
We learned this from Moses’ parents choosing to defend and protect the life of Moses as a baby. We learn that in verse 23 if you’re looking in your bible. Hebrews 11:23.
We also learned this from Moses himself when he refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter there in verse 24…him refusing the status of Pharoah’s grandson was an act of defending his status as a hebrew…that is a member of the covenant people chosen by God.
From that we also learned another thing through Moses’ life in verse 25. And that is...
Faith fuels the fight against sin. (v. 25 - 26)
In verse 25, We saw this in Moses’ choice to choose belonging to the people of God rather than the enjoying the sinful pleasures that Egypt had to offer. You’ll see it there, he chose to be mistreated rather than receive sinful pleasure.
Last week we also learned how faith fuels the fight against sin.
By changing our perspective
Meaning that faith causes us to view the world differently. To treasure different things. Things that don’t make sense to the world, but make sense to those who belong to God. We saw this in verse 26 when it says he considered the reproach of Christ to be a greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt.
And we also learned that faith fuels the fight against sin..
By giving us hope.
We saw this at the end of verse 26 where is says that Moses did this because he was looking towards the reward. He had the hope of a reward to come. Whether it was the hope of belonging to God’s people, the hope of seeing them free, or the hope of entering into the promised land. This hope empowered his faith to fight against the sinful pleasures of Egypt.
Moses’ had hope. And we learned how Jesus had a hope as well in chapter 12. The hope of the joy that was before him in bearing the cross.
At the end of last week, I encouraged you to spend some time finding where your sins are, and putting them into perspective with the hope you have of being a child of God.
I also encouraged you to tell someone of what your plan is in fighting your sin…how you’re going to live as if you have a hope. Just a reminder, if you haven’t done that yet…make sure you do. Make sure you bring others alongside you as you follow after Jesus.
Alright, so that’s a quick recap of last week…and that leads us into verse 27. So let’s get our eyes back in the passage and continue where we left off.
Hebrews 11:26–27 ESV
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
So let’s hone in on what we learn in verse 27 about faith. In this verse we see another main point...
Faith overcomes fear. (v. 27)
You can see right there at the beginning of verse 27. It says “By faith he left Egypt…not being afraid of the anger of the king”
There, once again, we see this phrase “by faith”. Meaning, that faith is the causing agent, the driving factor…faith is the reason it is able to happen…so “by faith”…he left, because he wasn’t afraid. Meaning, that his faith caused him not to fear.
It caused him not to fear the consequences of Pharaohs wrath.
It caused him not to fear the unknown of where he was going.
It caused him not to fear things that are so common to all of mankind.
You know, we face those same types of fears today. The fear of the wrath of those over us…whether its a boss, a professor, our parents...
Many of us fear going against them, rebelling, disappointing them.
We also fear the unknown. The unknown of what might possibly happen to us, or the reasoning something is currently happening to us.
The unknown and the uncontrollable things in life create in us a terrible feeling of anxiety, a feeling of fright…you know that pit in our stomach, the head swirling feeling. For some of us our fears and anxieties bring us to tears. For others it causes us to rebel or isolate ourselves in order to protect.
What I’m saying is, there are typically two types of people when it comes to dealing with fear. Now, I’m making broad generalizations here…but most of us fall in one or both of these two categories. When we fear…some of us despair or…some of us go into protection/control mode.
Let me say that again. When it comes to fear, some of us despair, and others of us protect/control.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
Some of you, when something frightening happens to you. Something that causes you fear, or let’s even say something that causes you anxiety, because the definition of anxiety is “a feeling of uneasiness, worry, or nervousness about an imminent event or uncertain outcome.” According to scripture, anxiety is a form of fear, which you will see in a moment. Some of you when this happens…you go into despair.
You feel hopeless.
You feel sick.
Tears might come to your eyes.
Your heart races. Panic attacks can happen.
These things can happen…and your response is to despair. To retreat. To hide. To disconnect. To isolate yourself.
Some of you shame yourself for it. Some of you become extremely self focused with this “woe as me” attitude.
Some of you ignore the truth of scripture or the reality of God, instead choosing to focus on only what you can see.
Like for some of you…when fear happens, despair happens.
But then there are other people in this room. That when fear happens. Control happen. You overexert yourself in the situation. You bear down. Clench your teeth. And you will things to happen. And the more things you can control, the less fear you will feel. I fall more into this category.
Brittany and I just had some friends over this past weekend. I won’t go into all the details…but one of our friends while they were visiting revealed to us that they had been diagnosed with a tumor on their spinal nerve. It’s a very deep tumor, and will take a surgery that is many hours long in order to get to it, evaluate it, and hopefully remove it.
And as she is telling us this…you can clearly see the reaction of control happening simultaneously. As she’s telling us this news…we ask why didn’t she say anything? Why didn’t she let us know.
And she said “because she was going to be fine”. That everything would work out. That she would just keep on going.
And I told her in that moment…I said her name and I said “you know, you can’t will yourself to be healed…that’s not how it works”.
And I said that too her because in that moment, she was using control to deal with…and conquer her fear.
She was using control to conquer her fear…in the same way that many of us would use despair to conquer our fear.
But what scripture reveals…is that faith is what conquers our fear. Faith is the enemy of fear.
Where faith is abundant, fear is scare.
And…to the opposite, where faith is scare, fear is abundant.
Let me show you what Jesus has to say about it. You don’t need to turn there, I’ll have it on the screen. But let’s look at an example of Jesus speaking on the relationship between faith and fear.
This passage is from Mark 4.
Mark Passage
Mark 4:35–40 ESV
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
So you see it right there in verse 40. Why are you...afraid....have you still no…faith.
Jesus is saying, that the abundance of fear in their lives…must mean there is a lack of faith in their lives.
Let me say that again…the abundance of fear, has revealed a lack of faith.
Just like, the author of Hebrews here in verse 27 again..you can look at it. Just like the author of Hebrews says…we know that Moses’ acted “by faith”, because he was “not afraid” of the king’s anger.
I pray…this reveals something to you tonight. That if your life is filled with fear or anxiety…the cause could be a lack of faith.
Back to “Faith overcomes fear slide”
Now, super quick caveat. Some fear is caused by trauma, right? Physical or emotional trauma that has happened to us in the past. Some fear exists as our brain and body’s natural reaction due to some awful occurence or event that has traumatized us...
I’m not speaking of that fear. Yes, that fear is also related to faith in many ways…and oftentimes our faith is what will bring us to peace in those moments...but it’s not a simple as the type of fear that the disciples had in this passage. The type of fear the disciples had in the boat in that passage, and the type of fear that Moses was facing in the king’s anger are a fear that occurs in ordinary life.
The fear that occurs because of trauma can oftentimes take more nuance than what I have to offer in this message…but…that doesn’t mean you should tune out, Because the principle of faith vs. fear still holds true even in those circumstances…but may require some more specific counsel. So take these principles, pray them, think them over, learn them…and as the Lord reveals to you…seek deeper counsel if needed to help with the trauma related fear. Faith is still the key, but might take a little more evaluation.
Alright? So back to the idea of the fears that occur in daily life. The fears of those over us, or things harming us. Like the disciples in the boat, or if Moses had been afraid of the king’s anger.
The fears and anxieties that come from tests, boards, hard relationships, large social gatherings, war in Ukraine, starting something new, facing the unknown…and the list goes on. I could keep on listing them but something tells me you’ve got some mind if you struggle with this.
So. We’ve established the types of fear that we deal with. We’ve established that not only is there a relationship between faith and fear in verse 27 here…but Jesus himself speaks of this relationship. So what do we do with it?
I would say we follow in the footsteps of Moses, and in the calling that the author of Hebrews is placing on us. Look back at verse 27. It says..
Hebrews 11:27 ESV
27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Look back at that last part of the verse. For he endured as seeing him…who is invisible.
If you have the CSB translation it says “for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.”
Meaning, under the pressure of fear of the King’s wrath…Moses was not afraid, because he had a perseverance…that perseverance was as if he had seen the invisible one.
There are two options here...The author here is either talking about God the father or Christ as the invisible one. We can’t say with 100% certainty, but that doesn’t really matter because either way it’s God.
And the point the author is trying to get across is this…he’s essentially saying...
“That Moses…yeah that we all know about, the one with the staff and the parting of the red sea, and the burning bush, and the plagues, and all that! That guy wasn’t afraid. He didn’t fear Pharoah. Moses acted as if he had seen God. Himself.”
But we know up until that point…we know Moses hadn’t seen God himself. However, he did have a moment in which God called him. He did have a moment where is path interacted with the almighty in an amazing way.
The burning bush.
God, miraculously worked in the life of Moses to intervene in his life…call him to himself, and set him on a mission. And from that moment on…Moses acted as if he had seen God himself.
As if he had seen the invisible one.
And that life changing event caused him to persevere against fear.
And the same is true in your life.
If you are a Christian. A true Christian. Then you have had a miraculous encounter with the almighty.
You have crossed from death to life.
He has called you to himself, and set you on a mission. Remember the mission?
Matthew Verse
Matthew 28:19–20 ESV
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
That’s the mission. After God called you to himself through salvation he called you to others through mission. But don’t miss…seriously…don’t miss the last line there. What does it say?
Behold…I am with you. always.
Guys. Moses walked as if he had seen God himself. But we…we have something better.
We walk not only as if we had seen God…but we get to walk as if Jesus is with us always.
And that is how we persevere through fear. That is how we increase our faith in a way that decreases fear.
We live and act in full assurance that we have seen God in our lives…and that he is actually with us at all times.
Back to faith overcomes fear slide
So when we face fear that comes from life. When something difficult or scary is set before us? How do we allow Faith to be abundant and fear to be scarce?
The solution: We walk as if we have seen the invisible one. We walk as if we know Christ. Because we do know Christ.
And Christ is our strength. Christ is our hope.
You know that’s the actual context of that super famous Philippians passage.
Philippians 4:12–13 ESV
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Paul says it. Whether I face hunger, whether I’m brought low, whether I’m in need…I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Meaning…I am strengthened by Christ when I face need.
And friends…fear is a time when we are in need. Need of more faith.
So when you face a fearful situation, you walk into that situation with the actuality that you are on mission, that Christ is with you always, and that you have seen and been in relationship with the invisible one.
You let your assurance of things hoped for, your convictions of things unseen…be the thing that fuels your faith, fights your sin, and conquers your fear.
I’ll end with a few very practical tips on how to make that happen.
Separate slide:
A Practice of Prayer
A Memory of Scripture
A Belonging to God’s People
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