Unprecedented Faith
“Moses – Keys to Effective Faith”
Hebrews 11:23-29
Watch on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQBjsFRv6Wg
We are continuing our series, “Unprecedented Faith.” Now, in Hebrews chapter 11, or what is known as “God’s Hall of Faith,” we find ordinary people who achieved extraordinary accomplishments. These men and women weren’t perfect; in fact, they were far from it. They often failed, but they kept going by faith and reached their God-given potential and goals. The purpose of this chapter, then, is to encourage us and to give us the faith to keep moving forward on our own journeys.
This morning, we will look at Moses, who in many ways was considered the greatest person in the Old Testament. Moses received the Ten Commandments and the Law from God, and he authored the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah. He led the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt, which was the most powerful nation at the time. But he was also a person just like you and me.
And so, the question becomes, why was God able to use Moses so effectively? Well, according to the writer of Hebrews, Moses was able to identify and answer some of life’s most basic questions. Questions like, “Who are we?” “What are our choices?” “What is most important?” and “What are our goals?” And these are what I call keys to effective faith.
Let’s begin by looking at this passage: Read Hebrews 11:23-29
From these verses, I see three Keys to Effective Faith.
Key #1 - Be Ourselves
In other words, we must become who God created us to be.
We should never try to be someone we’re not. God created us with a purpose. When we pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we’re affirming that God has a plan and purpose for this world, and we have the privilege of being part of it.
As you know, I often highlight key thoughts during some of my messages, and I’d like to do the same with these three keys. The first key thought is about being ourselves.
“There’s no one else who can do what God has called each of us to do, or to be who God has called us to be.”
Moses had to face this issue right from the start. He experienced what we might call an identity crisis. When he was born, the Egyptians were executing male Jewish babies. So, his mother placed him in a basket and set him afloat on the Nile River; in other words, she put him in the hands of God, where soon Pharaoh’s daughter found him and raised him as her own son.
Moses was born Jewish but raised Egyptian. So, he had to decide who he truly was. This was a crucial choice because it shaped who he would become. If he said, “I’m an Egyptian,” he would enjoy a life of ease, fame, and wealth as part of the royal family.
If, however, he said he was Jewish, he would be humiliated, kicked out of the palace, and sent to live with his own people as a slave. But even though Moses saw how badly the Jews were treated, he made the decision and chose who God created Him to be.
The writer of Hebrews said, “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.” (Hebrews 11:24 NKJV)
The word “refused” literally means to reject, deny, and disown. Moses cut himself off from a promising career in Egypt because he refused to live a lie. Instead, he wanted to do what God had created him to do and to be who God created him to be.
There is something freeing about being ourselves and embracing who God created us to be. If I may say so, the quickest way to develop an ulcer is by trying to be someone we’re not. Therefore, to live a faith-filled and effective life, we need to be true to ourselves.
But you might be wondering, “What has God created me to be?” As a Christian, God created us all with a purpose and a plan.
The Apostle Paul said, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)
And the greatest work any of us could do is to be missionary, that is, to be ministers of the gospel message—the good news of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are called to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. So, how can we love others as God calls us to? It’s by telling them about God’s love—how Jesus Christ came to this earth to die for our sins so that we can have eternal life with Him in heaven.
So, we need to be who God created us to be. This is the first key to having unprecedented faith.
Key #2 - Be Responsible
In other words, we must take responsibility for our lives.
Let’s stop blaming others for our problems. Let’s stop saying, “It’s not my fault.” Instead, we need to accept our responsibility in the problem and make the necessary changes. The choices we make today will shape who we are tomorrow. Moses made that choice and began living a meaningful life of faith. Notice what it says about the choice Moses made.
“Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” (Hebrews 11:25 NKJV)
To “choose” means to select or to decide. And so, there’s a principle we see from these first two verses. When Moses refused, he chose. The negative is followed by the positive. By refusing, Moses was choosing.
Now, another key thought is…
“Christianity is a religion that replaces the negatives of life with the positives of God.”
God had chosen Moses before he was even born, and as a baby, God had His hand on his life. We see the same thing with Jeremiah.
God said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV)
We cannot blame others for the wrong direction our lives have taken, nor can we rely on other people’s spiritual commitment. Just because our parents or spouse are Christians doesn’t make us one. Please understand that God has no grandchildren, only children. Therefore, we cannot be grandfathered into heaven. There is no “Grandfather Clause.”
Now that Moses had grown, he chose God, even though God had first chosen him. God chooses us, but the question is, “Have we chosen God?” We all need to make that choice. We can’t have it both ways. We are either pleasing God or ourselves. Jesus said, either we’re for Him or against Him. There is no sitting on the fence. There is no middle ground.
Moses made his choice when he came of age. One sign of maturity is accepting responsibility for the decisions we make. However, society teaches us to pass the blame. They say, “It’s not your fault,” “Blame the banks, the economy, environment, politicians, or your parents and teachers.”
How often do we hear people, including ourselves, say, “The reason I am like this is because of what somebody else did to me?” Society has given us plenty of excuses to justify what has happened to us, including our bad behavior, or “our sin.”
And so, when Moses grew up, he made a choice, he took responsibility.
If we want to live an effective life of faith, we must be true to ourselves and take responsibility. Like Moses, we need to make tough choices because no one else can make them for us. No matter what has happened in the past, we don’t have to be bound by it. Instead, we have the freedom to choose how we will respond to the trials and tribulations of life. Will we choose to be bitter or better?
Key #3 - Establish Biblical Values
We need to establish a Biblical value system.
This issue must be settled in our lives. If we want to choose the right way, then we must have the right values. So we need to ask, “What is truly important?” This isn’t something we decide haphazardly or on a whim, but something we must give careful consideration to. That’s what Moses did when he clarified his values.
“Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:26 NKJV)
To “esteem” means to weigh in the balance, to give careful consideration, and to evaluate the options for their worth. Moses considered God’s will more valuable than all the treasures of Egypt.
What is our value system? To find the answer, we need to identify what matters the most. What do we base our decisions on?
If we don’t define what’s valuable, others will do it for us. If we don’t choose how to use our time and resources, others will decide for us.
What are the values of this world? There are three common values the world promotes, and people are desperately searching for them. These are Pleasure, Possessions, and Power.
By the world’s standards, Moses had it made. He had everything the world values. Yet, he valued the reproach of Christ as of greater value. That is, he considered the abuse and disgrace he endured for the Messiah to be more valuable than all the pleasure, possessions, and power the world could offer.
Moses had everything the world values, and he gave it up; he walked away from it to live with a group of slaves. Who would do that? The answer: someone with a different value system. Moses realized that there were things far more important in life, and he wasn’t going to be satisfied with anything less than the best, and that would stand the test of time.
King David said much the same thing.
He said, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10b NKJV)
Jesus said that no one can serve two masters. They cannot serve possessions and God at the same time. In the end, they will love the one and hate the other, or vice versa.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24 NIV)
And this leads me to another key thought.
“It’s easy to say 'yes' to God, but it’s a whole lot more difficult to say 'no' to everything else.
You see, it’s easy to say yes to God when He offers abundant life, purpose, peace of mind, power for daily living, help with our problems, eternal life, and forgiveness. But do we realize that by saying yes to God, we’re essentially saying no to the value system of the world?
That’s the hard part of the pill to swallow. So, we spit it out because we want to say yes to both, but the Bible calls that being double-minded.
The Apostle James said, “A double-minded man, is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8 NKJV)
Now, from these three verses in Hebrews, plus a fourth, verse 27, we see that Moses made decisions that shaped his value system. And if Moses hadn’t made these decisions, we wouldn’t be talking about him today; instead, we’d be visiting his tomb in the King Tut exhibit.
And so, the first thing I see is that it’s about God’s purpose.
God’s Purpose
Moses understood that God’s purpose outweighs popularity.
“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.” (Hebrews 11:24 NKJV)
Look at this title, “son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” That’s status. He was the big man on campus and at the Pyramid club. He probably had his picture in the Egyptian Gazette as the “Up and Coming Monarch of the Year.” He was known by everyone and had the kind of popularity that everyone wants.
But Moses understood that while popularity can win contests, it doesn’t last. Fame is fleeting and has been downgraded from 15 minutes to 10.
What I appreciated about Moses was that he wasn't overly impressed with himself. Moses desired God’s purpose for his life. He said, “I’d rather be a slave fulfilling God’s purpose than be king of Egypt with all the popularity that goes with it.” God’s purpose is worth more than popularity.
The second thing is that it’s about God’s people.
God’s People
Moses understood that God’s people are more precious than pleasure.
“Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” (Hebrews 11:25 NKJV)
Moses’s people, the Jews, were slaves. How would we react? How would we decide? Moses chose pain over pleasure, discomfort over ease. And the reason was that people are more valuable than pleasure.
Moses heard the people's cries and recognized that they were more important than his comfort. Moses understood that, like popularity, pleasure wouldn’t last either.
Now, there is something about the pleasure of sin we need to understand, and that is, while sin may be pleasurable for a while, it is also painful. It’s kind of like, we can enjoy our kicks, but we’re going to get kicked back sooner or later.
The Bible talks about it as reaping what we sow. It says, “They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7 NKJV)
And so, Moses’s value system was that God’s purpose is more important than popularity, and that people are more important than pleasure. But there is more.
The third thing we see is God’s peace.
God’s Peace
Moses understood that God’s peace is more important than possessions.
“Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:26 NKJV)
Some things in life matter more than possessions. There’s a peace of mind that comes when we’re in the middle of God’s will and purpose for our lives.
Now, we can’t buy lasting happiness. Let’s say I buy a fancy new car. I feel happy and enjoy driving it everywhere. But after a couple of months, it stops making me happy. The new-car smell fades, and I’m no longer satisfied, so I get a newer model.
Someone said it like this, “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”
Jesus said, “Beware! Don't be greedy for what you don't have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.” (Luke 12:15 NLT)
It’s all about values. We should love people and use things. However, we often reverse this order, loving things and using people to get them. People are meant to be loved, not used. This shift in values will truly make a difference.
Moses sacrificed the very things most people spend their entire lives trying to achieve! Why? The writer of Hebrews tells us how Moses did this. It is found in verse 26: “He (Moses) looked for the reward.” He was focusing on the future; he was living his life with an eternal perspective.
Moses had his eyes set on the prize, and upon what counts, and that’s the last thing we see from these verses. And that is our need to have God’s vision.
God’s Vision
In other words, let’s stay focused on the prize.
Moses constantly visualized his goal. He always kept it in front of him.
“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27 NKJV)
Moses never lost sight of his goal. To do the same, we need God’s vision for our lives.
We all face problems, which is why we need God’s vision. We should view our lives and this world through the eyes of the Lord.
Someone said, “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”
Let me put this another way: “Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off God.”
Moses’s life was full of challenges. Consider all the problems Moses faced: he had to lead a slave nation out of the most powerful country in the world and then get them through the harshest place on earth, known as the wilderness of sin, and this, without a backup supply of food or water. Yet, he was able to bring them to the Promised Land because he focused on God, not the problems.
Further, consider how long Moses had to wait from the moment he chose to follow God and identify with His people until he led them to the entrance of the Promised Land – 80 years. How well would we do if we had to wait 80 years, or even 80 days?
Conclusion
One of the greatest tests of our faith is how patiently we wait for answered prayer, healing, or the fulfillment of a goal. Do we become discouraged when there is a delay? What we need to realize is that not all of God’s delays are dismissals.
The difference between maturity and immaturity is understanding the difference between “no” and “not yet.” Do we give up and say it’s not meant to be when God doesn’t answer our prayers according to our timetable? Let’s stay encouraged. Let’s keep praying. Let’s not lose our passion. Instead, let’s renew our vision.
Jesus did the same.
He looked beyond the problem, which is our sin, and saw the possibilities, which is our salvation.
He looked beyond the pain of the cross as our sin was laid upon Him and saw the eventual reward—an eternity in heaven for all who believe.
So, He went to the cross because He knew the result would be our salvation.
Jesus understood the Father’s plan for His life. He knew who He was and the purpose of the Father. He embraced the responsibility and chose the cross, never losing sight of the prize and the goal—our salvation and an eternity with us in heaven.
Let me finish with this: “We are as close to God as we choose to be.”
We face the same choices as the men and women in God’s Hall of Faith did. Will we choose God and His people over the passing pleasures, power, and possessions of this world?
Moses made the Hall of Faith, and so can we. How? By choosing God and His purpose for our lives.
