Biblical Saving Faith has a Proper Eternal Perspective
0 Amens
Biblical Saving Faith has a Proper Eternal Perspective
Hebrews 11:24-26
September 14, 2008
Series 3 Sermon 55
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of
Introduction
Many people are passionate about a whole lot of things. Many in the last few weeks have become passionate about the upcoming presidential election. Some of you are passionate right now because college football season just started. If you read the ads that come in the mail there are people getting revved up for deer season. All kind of things make us passionate. Our jobs and our hobbies can become the objects of our affections.
Go to work and ask your coworkers what they are passionate about and they will tell you. Go to a local store and talk to someone and ask them what they do and they will quickly tell you what they enjoy. Some people are passionate about making money. Some are passionate about saving money. Some of you ladies are passionate about seeing how far you can stretch that grocery budget. Many others are passionate about their children’s activities and are great soccer and football and t-ball moms and dads. You see these stickers on people’s car windows that have their child’s name and uniform number along with a picture of whatever it is that they are playing. Dads are often convinced that their sons will be the next Tom Brady or Michael Jordan or Barry Bonds.
This passion overflows often as dads and sometimes moms and umpires get into shouting matches and fistfights over a call in a little league baseball game. I call that misplaced passion. It’s just a baseball game for kids.
What are you passionate about? What are you so into that you might just give up everything to pursue it? What looms so large in your mind that you might even put your very life on the line in order to have it? What would you quit your job for tomorrow if the opportunity arose for you to pursue? How many of you are truly that passionate about something?
How many of us truly are that passionate about God? How many of you would lay down dreams and wealth and goals and jobs and hobbies and careers and ease of life to live out a passion for the pursuit of God and glorifying Him through doing His will for your life?
How many of you would simply say that is too hard? But you see this is what the Lord Jesus requires. In Luke 14:26-27 the Lord Jesus throws down the gauntlet and tells us what real discipleship looks like. Listen as I read the word of the Lord.
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Then the Lord finishes off that statement by saying this in verse 33.
"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
If anyone wants to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ then he or she must make a clean break with the world and they must make a clean break with the way the world thinks. The world is passionate about power and wealth. The world is passionate about pleasure and ease. The world is passionate about comfort and supposed happiness. But the world has it all wrong. The world says that in order to be truly happy you must have the right opportunity, the right education, the right job, the right spouse, the right amount in your bank account, the right number of children, the right size house, the right type of car and the right type of luxuries that go with them. Often in many towns across our country the railroad tracks will separate the happy from the oppressed and poor. One side is happy and the other side wishes it was on the other side so they could be happy. But the world has it all wrong. The world that we live in is upside down.
The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-26, 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
It’s not just the world that does not understand this, the church for the most part has it all turned inside out as well. Otherwise the prosperity Gospel would not be so popular. Or books like “Your Best Life Now” would not be selling out across the country. The churches message today is that God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Do you have it all wrong? Is your world backwards from what Christ says it ought to be as a Christian? Have you made a clean break with the world or do you have one foot in the church or one in the world?
If it is then it’s time to make a radical shift in thinking and action. It’s time to get a proper eternal perspective. And today we have the example of man who left wealth and power and prosperity because he saw the true reality of what true wealth really is.
That man is Moses. But as we have looked at the people in Hebrews 11 thus far we have seen many who would break with the ways of the world for a different and more difficult path. Starting with the first martyr Abel who chose to obey God and his brother killed him for it. This was not unlike the situation the early Christians who first received this letter were in. They were being persecuted and killed by those who were supposed to be their brothers who were still in Judaism. Then we saw Enoch and Noah who were radically obedient in their day when the world was pursuing sin they were pursuing God. Abraham and Sarah were called out of the
Last week we turned our attention to Moses and how his parents, Amram and Jochebed, defied the king’s edict and refused to kill their beautiful son Moses and how the Lord protected the child by His sovereign hand.
Today, we look at Moses as a grown up. We are going to see a man who had everything the world could imagine. He had power, wealth, fame and all the comfort the world could offer. Anything he desired he could have. Moses was in a position that very few in human history have found themselves and most in that position have only corrupted themselves by being there.
But this is where the true passion comes in. Listen to me. God has, does, and will call His people to radical obedience and faithfulness even when the carrot of this world’s pleasures is dangling in front of their nose. And because of radical depravity my nose and your nose wants that carrot a lot more than what God offers us in the here and now.
Listen, this is why salvation is a miracle. God changes a stony heart bent toward sin and puts in a new heart that desires Him. But our flesh gets in the way of this and that is why we are called to mortify or kill the flesh so that we can be passionate followers of Christ.
In order to do this we have got to cut some ties. We have to sever the umbilical chord to the world and latch on to Christ. Moses was a man who exemplified this for us.
PNP
From our text today, Hebrews 11:24-26, I want you to see three necessary decisions that the Christian must make to be a passionate follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. We must refuse to be identified with the world.
2. We must choose the more difficult path.
3. We must consider what is of true eternal value.
Let me say to you this will not be on the New York Times bestseller list. These biblical truths that I will unpack today will not be popular with the false believer. These truths will resonate in the heart of the person who has a passion for Christ though and hopefully will bring conviction where conviction is needed and thus true biblical repentance.
Purpose
My purpose in preaching this passage is to ignite a fire in your hearts to passionately pursue Christ by applying these three necessary decisions to your life and then to follow hard after Christ.
It’s past time for the church to stop playing Christian and be Christians who live lives of radical sacrifice. We get so caught up in the things of the world that we forget about following Christ. We are all guilty of this. We worry about the real estate market and the stock market and the presidential election and gas prices and raising our kids and preparing for retirement we forget what our Lord said to us in Matthew 6:25-33.
25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life , as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air , that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life ? 28 "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
What do you seek? The world or the
RPNP
So look with me at these three necessary decisions that the Christian must make to be a passionate follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. We must refuse to be identified with the world.
Look with me at verse 24.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
You know the story. Moses is put into the basket and set out in the
I wonder how much teaching took place in those three years? I bet that little Moses knew all the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph and Abel and Enoch and Noah when he left his mother and father’s house at the tender age of three and went to live in Pharaoh’s palace.
Just a side note, I believe that when Moses decided that he could no longer be an Egyptian that what took place is all that information that his mother and father poured into him God used in his conversion. So many people think little children can’t learn and can’t retain information but they can and they do. They are like sponges and when you put the Word of God into them it stays in them and one day, the Sovereign Lord of the Universe may use that information that you poured into that child to convert them to Christ or if they are already converted may use it to call them to some very important Kingdom calling that He has specifically gifted them for.
But back to the text. I want you to notice what Moses chose. Look at verse 24 again.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
Notice first that all that Moses did was by faith. What did he do? He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. All of the wealth and power at his fingertips and he walks away from it.
Now where does the writer of Hebrews get this information? It is in Exodus 2:11.
11 Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
Remember these words were written by Moses himself about himself. It was at this point that all that his parents had told him was coming back to him and he was faced with a very difficult decision. The Egyptian was beating the Hebrew. As the son of Pharaoh’s daughter he could have walked away. He could have said to himself, “He must have had it coming.” But what was in his heart came out. That Egyptian was not his brother. The Hebrew was and he came to the defense of his brother.
At that moment the reality of the decision that he had made came to fruition. He rescues his brother and kills the Egyptian. At this point it was obvious to all where his loyalties were.
This was not unlike the first century believers who were reading this letter. The obvious connection between the two was that as Christians they were called by their Lord to identify themselves publicly as Christians by visiting those who were incarcerated for being Christians. Any thing less than public identification was to deny the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you ashamed of being a Christian? I am not talking about walking around strutting with your big Bible and Christian T-shirts showing off your faith. Anybody can do that. What I am talking about is when your comfort or your job or even your life is on the line will you identify yourself as a Christian and stand strong no matter the consequences or will you cower in fear afraid of what you might lose?
Moses could have stayed in the background and enjoyed the power and wealth of
How did Moses do this? He did it by faith and in that choosing to not be identified with the world he also had to do something else. Which is our second point.
Like Moses:
2. We must choose the more difficult path.
Notice verse 25 with me and see what Moses did.
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
Here is where we see the correct perspective of what life is all about. All Christians are faced with a choice. The choice is comfort and ease or a life marked out by sacrificial obedience. You see those folks who think that someone can truly call themselves a Christian and still be so firmly planted in the things of the world are just dead wrong.
Look again at what verse 25 says.
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
Now the world and the false Christian can not understand this. This will never stick in their mind or heart and they will think you are a fool for doing this. Moses understood this and Christ taught us during His temptation that the world and all that it has to offer pales in comparison to being identified with God and His people.
The writer of Hebrews juxtaposes two alternate realities in verse 25. The choice is before all of us. Do we choose to be mistreated with the people of God or do we choose to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Notice how the writer describes sin. First it is enjoyable. People who are involved in constant sin are enjoying what they do. The writer also that sin is pleasurable. If it were not we would not be so attracted to it. That is why we have the Ten Commandments. It is much more enjoyable to steal money than to work for it. It is much more enjoyable to chase a new companion than to be satisfied with the spouse that God has given you for a lifetime. It is much quicker to kill someone than to learn to live peaceably. The list can go on and on. Sin is enjoyable to the flesh and it is pleasurable to the heart bent on corruption. But there is a third characteristic mentioned here by the writer. Look at verse 25 again.
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
You guessed it. It is fleeting. It is temporary. And the reason it is temporary is that it always leaves you unsatisfied. You may be satisfied in the moment but that satisfaction is at best temporary. This is why the alcoholic must go back to the bottle and the addict back to the needle. Sin always leaves you empty no matter how enjoyable it is in the moment.
So what is the alternative? For Moses and the people that originally read this epistle and for us the choice is clear. We choose to be identified with and mistreated with the people of God over our own safety and comfort.
So how do we get our minds and our hearts so set on the things of God that like Moses we can make the correct decisions at the time when we are faced with these choices? You may not be there right now and be faced with that decision but brethren at some point you will be there and if that decision is not made now then how you react is already determined.
Soldiers that go into combat react different ways. The soldier that has already chosen death over retreat has made up his mind going in that either he will be victorious and walk away or he will be carried off the battlefield. He will not retreat. Only the uncertain run away or take the easy way.
So what is it that we need to understand right now that is going to cause us to choose to be mistreated with the people of God than choose the fleeting pleasure of the sin of protecting our comfort and ease?
The truth that we need to dig our fingernails into is our third point.
3. We must consider what is of true eternal value.
Now look at verse 26.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of
I want you to notice the word “considered” in verse 26. In the Greek it is in the imperfect tense which often means a repeated action. So this was not a one time decision but a continuous considering. What was he considering over and over again? He constantly reminded himself that the reproach of Christ is greater wealth than the treasures of
I want you to really get this today. The reproach of Christ would take Moses to the wilderness to tend sheep which was loathsome to the Egyptians. It would take him from the hustle and bustle of life in
Then as he was used of God to deliver the people of
To the world and the false Christian that life does not sound very good. That life almost sounds wasted. Surely the comfort of and wealth of
We are all faced with this decision. Will we bear the reproach of Christ which is the Gospel message and because of that message the world will hate you or at least think you are insane or will we simply set Christ aside and enjoy all that the world has to offer?
The word reproach would have been very familiar to the readers of this epistle. It is used in Hebrews 10:33 and if you will look at verses 32 and 33 you will see this word.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
The original readers of this letter now had someone to identify with. They now understood that this is the way the world reacts to the true followers of Christ. They are reviled and hated and they struggle and they suffer and most of all they bear the reproach of their savior the Lord Jesus Christ. They do this gladly knowing that they must consider over and over again that the reproach of Christ is much more valuable than all the fleeting pleasures this world has to offer.
Have you made that break? Have you decided that it is better to suffer and die with Christ than to live a life of ease and comfort and go to hell? Are you one of the long list of people in Scripture who have willingly laid it all down in order to follow Christ?
Some of course would say this is too difficult. They prefer a Gospel preached that is easy that you just have to say a prayer or walk an isle or shake a preacher’s hand in order to be in the kingdom but the Gospel truth is that the faith that saves is a world forsaking, God obeying faith that is radical and the person who has it will be so passionate about following Christ that they would rather suffer and die than to be involved in what is fleeting which are the temptations of this present age.
I am not saying that Moses was perfect or you will be perfect but the standard has been set. Real faith chooses suffering for Christ over friendship with the world.
This is where all those guys involved in emerging churches and seeker friendly movements have it all wrong. The world is not supposed to think that we are just like them so they will somehow be attracted to us. We are supposed to stick out like soar thumbs to the world precisely because we are different. We don’t blend in and because we are not like the world then the world will not like us or think we are hip and cool and want to join our club. Listen to Romans 8:12-19.
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
Passionate followers of the Lord Jesus Christ willingly break ties with the world and choose the more difficult path because they understand what is of true eternal value. Look at verse 26 one more time with me.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of
Just like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, Moses lived the way he lived and chose what he chose because he understood that what is eternal is of greater wealth than what will be destroyed and come to nothing.
Listen to 1 John 2:15-17.
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
This morning, what are you passionate about? Is it Christ and His kingdom or is it just a worldly distraction that will come to nothing?
Today you may say to me, “Preacher what you are saying is not the Gospel that I was taught. I was taught you just believed and you are eternally saved and you will go to Heaven when you die.”
The truth is that the Gospel is for the saving of our souls but we are called to live out that Gospel in a world in total opposition to it. This is the teaching of our passage today and the testimony of the whole of Scripture. And if one does not attempt to live out the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ then they are living according to the flesh and are not a true believer.
This is why salvation is a miracle of God. Our natural bent is to exalt ourselves. We want people to notice us and praise us and promote us but God calls us to radical servanthood and to reject the world and all that is of the world and to embrace His Kingdom and His righteousness. That is what passionate people of faith do.
So where does this thinking come from? Where does the attitude that is needed in order to live out the Gospel come from? Let me close by showing you exactly where it comes from. Look with me at Philippians 2:5-11.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped , 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let’s pray.
Comments:
Login to post comments