Faith That Guides, Lessons From Moses Series

Faith that Guides - Lessons from Moses

Hebrews 11: 24-28

The story is told of a small town in which there were no liquor stores. Eventually, however, a nightclub was built right on Main Street. Members of one of the churches in the area were so disturbed that they conducted several all-night prayer meetings, and asked the Lord to burn down the place.

Lightning struck the tavern a short time later, and it was completely destroyed by fire. The owner, knowing how the Believers had prayed, sued them for the damages. His attorney claimed that their prayers had caused the loss. The congregation, on the other hand, hired a lawyer and fought the charges. After much deliberation the judge declared, "It’s the opinion of this court that wherever the guilt may lie, the tavern keeper is the one who really believes in prayer while the church members do not!" Now I don¡¯t know if that is a true story or a legend, but it shows how faithless people may find God faithful! It is entirely possible to go through the external motions of faith all the while having no faith at all.

This was the problem of some praying Christians whose story is told in Acts 12. Peter had offended powerful people and he was thrown into prison. A house church went to prayer for his release and God sent an angel in the middle of the night to miraculously bring the apostle out of the prison. When he knocked on the door of the house where the prayer meeting was going on a hilarious scene resulted. Listen.... Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter¡¯s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, ¡°Peter is at the door!¡± You¡¯re out of your mind,¡± they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, ¡°It must be his angel.¡± But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

The model of faith that we will consider this morning was sometimes a real Believer with a powerfully life-changing faith in God. When he prayed, he expected answers...most of the time. At other moments in his life, he was a man torn by doubt. In this double-minded humanity, we can identify with this hero. Let¡¯s meet Moses. READ Hebrews 11: 24-28 Abraham was the physical father of the people of God, the Jewish people. Moses was the one who brought them their religion. He is the Law-giver, the nation-builder. Our body of Western law rests squarely on the law of Moses which is written in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. We owe this man a tremendous debt of gratitude for our way of life even after all these centuries!

But it wasn¡¯t just his brilliance that brought us this understanding of God and man. It was his faith. His epitaph from Deuteronomy 34:10-12 says it well....

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt¡ªto Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Moses, who lived to be 120 years of age, had three distinct divisions of his life each lasting 40 years.

Consider this:

Age to 40 41-80 81-120

Identity ¡ôPrince of Egypt ¡ôShepherd in the Desert ¡ôProphet and Deliverer of God¡¯s people

God ¡ôPagan gods ¡ôSelf ¡ôThe True God, Yahweh

Home ¡ôPalace of privilege ¡ôDesert of Desolation ¡ôLand of God¡¯s Promise

The catalyst for spiritual growth and development in Moses¡¯ life was FAITH!

By faith Moses, when he had grown up... CHOSE A NEW IDENTITY.

Moses deliberately turned his back on a privileged life as a member of the aristocracy of ancient Egypt, which was the superpower of its day. As a member of the royal family, he could have finished his days in pampered luxury, far from the slave roots from which he came. But he felt the stirring of the Spirit of God and heard God¡¯s call to be the man who would lead the Israelites back to the Promised Land. His choice was not the romantic impulse of a teenager who wants to change the world. At age 40, Moses chose to identify himself with the people of God.

In Exodus 2 we are told that he was out among the slaves one day when he saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian master. In one moment, Moses made a choice that would change the rest of his life, he landed a fatal blow on the Egyptian master. The next day, when it became apparent to him that his crime was public knowledge, he fled his homeland. He then entered the second phase of his life... that of obscure shepherd in the sun-baked regions of Midian.