Moses Defining Moment

MOSES DEFINING MOMENT

Ex. 2:11-15/Heb. 11:24-27

Intro:

1. John bumped into Marilyn at the store. He had not seen her in about 7 years. Marilyn had cancer. They talk for a while and as she departed she said, “Come and see me sometime.” About a month later he thought about Marilyn and felt burdened to give her a call. He put off calling for several weeks and when he finally got around to it he was told that she was in the hospital. After several more weeks of procrastination, he head for the hospital to visit Marilyn. As he was walking toward her room the met her husband, who said, “John, thanks for coming. Marilyn died an hour ago.” John said, “As he hugged me, like I deserved it or something. I felt like a slug. But right then I made up my mind that I would never put off what I sensed the Lord was leading me to do.”

2. John had what is called a Defining Moment, a life-changing decision that changed the direction of his life. Many times a life-changing moment does not happen at a point in time, but over a period of time.

Trans: Exodus 2:11-15, but first we have to go to Heb. 11:24-27 to see his Defining Moment. Our passage is merely the results of that moment.

I. FIRST, IT BEGINS WITH A WORD FROM GOD. Heb. 11:24a

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter – this means he received a word from God (Rom. 10:17).

Trans: As we are daily into God’s Word, God begins to speak to our hearts through His word. It often takes several weeks to figure out exactly what He is saying to us. George Murray was a British soldier who found himself in Alexandria without water. George recalled reading that Julius Caesar had run into the same problem, in almost the same location. He had a copy of that book in his pack and read that they found water by digging deep into the sand. He and his troops began to dig in the sand and soon found life saving water. That is how it works with the Word of God. We get into it and it gets into us. Perhaps God spoke to Moses from those passages we looked at last week – Gen. 15:12-21; 50:24, 25.

II. FURTHERMORE, BROUGHT A WATERSHED DECISION. 11:24b

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter – Moses was 40 years old (Ac.7:23) at the time. He made a decisive clear decision – he refused to identify with the Egyptians but with God’s people. Patrick Morley, “Every man must answer the question, “Who’s in control…The [defining moment] comes when we turn from self to God. We commit ourselves to accept God’s calling for our lives, and we will not discover that calling if we are consumed by our own agenda.” See Eph. 2:10.

The work that God prepared Moses for was delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. God also has a specific work for all of us to do! He has gifted us for a specific work. But it’s deeper than being committed to a certain work, it is a commitment to God (Mt. 5:16).

Bobby Darin had a number #3 hit song in 1963 called "You're the Reason I'm Living"

“You're the reason I do things

You're the things that I do

You're the reason I'm living

I'd be lost without you”

When He becomes the only reason were living, we will experience a defining moment.

III. NEXT, IT MEANT A BREAK FROM THIS WORLD.

A. Thus a loss of Safety. 25a

choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God – as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son he was protected by the Egyptian army. By refusing to be called Pharaoh’s son, he choose to suffer. If we choose to turn our back on this world, the god of this world will come against us (1 Pet. 5:8). When we yield to our calling it will involve suffering (1 Pet.2:21). We cannot radically follow Christ and play it safe! And yet what is more safe then trusting God! It may seem that the world, money, and people can give us more safety then God, but that is an illusion! This world will think it’s safe when the antichrist comes (1 Thess. 5:3). It’s like fearing to fly in an airplane. Many think it would be much safer to get somewhere by car. I read, “Commercial airline travel is 30 times safer than transportation by car. It may not seem that way when you’re in a Boeing 747 at 35,000 feet. However, out of 5 million scheduled commercial flights in 1982, only five resulted in fatal accidents. Being carried by tons of metal thrust through the air by huge jet engines is actually safer than being pulled along in an 8-cylinder machine that never leaves the ground.” Loss of the Safety the world can provide might seem risky but in reality safety is found only in the will of God. Prov. 18:10; 29:25