January 27, 2002 Heb. 11:27,28
¡§It keeps going¡Kand going¡Kand going¡K¡¨
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever felt like quitting? Last Sunday, I watched more football than I have seen probably since I was in high school. After we got home from church, I turned on the game between the St. Louis Rams and the Green Bay Packers. The score was already heavily in favor of the Rams, but there was still time enough for the Packers to pull it out if everything went right. But everything went wrong. The quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre, threw six interceptions last week. I¡¦m sure he felt like quitting. It got to the point in the game that there was no way that they could have won. And there were still 7 minutes left on the clock. That must have been the most agonizing 7 minutes in that quarterback¡¦s life. He didn¡¦t want to throw anymore. He didn¡¦t want to be in the spotlight anymore. He wanted them to put in the back-up quarterback. But he continued to play. And he continued to throw. And they lost. But next year, he will start again, because he endured ¡V he persisted ¡V he persevered.
Great or successful people have always been people who refused to give up. Dolly Parton, though she may not be considered great is certainly successful. When asked why she had succeeded from such a humbles background, she said this: ¡§I never stopped trying, and I never tried stopping.¡¨ Others who later became great were cast off as failures before they ever were given a real chance. FRED ASTAIRE ¡V a memo circulated after his first screen test for MGM in 1933 ¡V ¡§Can¡¦t act !, slightly bald !, can dance a little¡¨
WALT DISNEY ¡V was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
ALBERT EINSTEIN ¡V didn¡¦t speak until he was 4, didn¡¦t write until he was 7. His teacher described him as ¡§mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams¡¨. F.W.WOOLWORTH ¡V his employers at the dry goods store said he had not enough sense to wait upon customers.
WINSTON CHURCHILL ¡V failed at junior school. Did not become PM until he was 62 after a lifetime of defeats and set backs. His greatest contributions came when he was a ¡¥senior citizen¡¦. ¡§Persistent people know they can succeed where smarter and more talented people fail¡KSuccessful people understand that no one makes it to the top in a single bound. What truly sets them apart is their willingness to keep putting one step in front of the other ¡V no matter how rough the terrain.¡¨ ¡V Suzanne Chazin, ¡§The ultimate key to success,¡¨ Reader¡¦s Digest, April 1992, 21-26 Each of the people I just mentioned refused to give up. Each one endured. And each one made a definite impact on the world of today.
This morning, we¡¦re going to continue to look at people of faith, specifically Moses. In his life, I want us to see that faith will produce endurance that can enable us to keep on going in spite of the obstacles that threaten to hold us back.
Endure - to hold up under (pain, fatigue, etc.) stand; bear; undergo / to put up with; tolerate / to continue in existence; last; remain / to bear pain etc. without flinching.
In a couple of weeks, the winter Olympics will begin in Salt Lake City. The opening ceremonies are on Feb. 8. During the time of the olympics, we will see people perform in many different events ¡V ice skating, ice hockey, skiing, bob sledding. Each athlete is different. They speak different languages, they have different skills, and they have different chances of winning that gold medal. But one thing they all have in common. They have all endured to get where they are. They have endured people who said they couldn¡¦t do it. They have endured long practices and short nights of sleep. They have endured falls, and broken bones, and disappointments. But now they are in the olympics. And whatever their performance level when their event arrives, they can be proud. They made it ¡V simply because they endured.
persist ¡V to refuse to give up especially when faced with opposition or difficulty; to continue firmly or steadily / to continue consistently, as in repeating a question; to continue to exist or prevail; endure; remain.
I recently heard about a guy who stopped in the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up a couple of items for his wife. As is often the case in the grocery store, he kept passing this same shopper in almost every aisle. It was another father trying to shop with a totally uncooperative three year old boy in the cart. The first time they passed, the three year old was asking over and over for a candy bar. Our observer couldn¡¦t hear the entire conversation. He just heard Dad say, ¡§Now, Billy, this won¡¦t take long.¡¨ As they passed in the next aisle, the three year old¡¦s pleas had increased several octaves. Now Dad was quietly saying, ¡§Billy, just calm down. We will be done in a minute.¡¨ When they passed near the dairy case, the kid was screaming uncontrollably. Dad was still keeping his cool. In a very low voice he was saying, ¡§Billy, settle down. We are almost out of here.¡¨ The Dad and his son reached the check out counter just ahead of our observer. He still gave no evidence of loosing control. The boy was screaming and kicking. Dad was very calming saying over and over, ¡§Billy, we will be in the car in just a minute and then everything will be OK.¡¨ The bystander was impressed beyond words. After paying for his groceries, he hurried to catch up with this amazing example of patience and self-control just in time to hear him say again, ¡§Billy, we¡¦re done. It¡¦s going to be OK.¡¨ He tapped the patient father on the shoulder and said, ¡§Sir, I couldn¡¦t help but watch how you handled little Billy. You were amazing.¡¨ Dad replied, ¡§You don¡¦t get it, do you?¡¨ I¡¦m Billy!¡¨
That situation which most of us can identify with illustrates the difference between persistence and endurance. The child was persistent. He continued doing an action in spite of his dad¡¦s objections. He wanted to get something that he did not have. The dad, Billy, endured. He stood his ground against one of the most potent forces in nature ¡V the whining of a child in a public place.
Now, let me show you how both endurance and persistence fit into the Christian life. Endurance is the ability to keep on believing what God has told you is the truth in spite of evidence to the contrary. It is the ability to stand your ground in your character in spite of all the things that attempt to unsettle you. It is not just standing still. It is refusing to be pushed back. And then there is persistence. Persistence is when we keep on doing what God has told us to do in spite of the obstacles. In spite of what we think about it. In spite of what it costs. Even in spite of whether or not it makes sense simply because God said to do it.
Persistence in godly pursuits is rare. Endurance in godly character is hard to find. And the reason for that is because of the obstacles that seek to make us give up.
Let¡¦s take a look at some of the things that can get in the way of us enduring ¡V some things that can make us quit as they are evidenced in the life of Moses.
1. Endurance means continuing to do what God has said even when others stand in your way. (vs. 27)
„h Opposition from your enemies ¡V ¡§Pharaoh¡¨
Moses left Egypt twice ¡V once at 40 years old and once at 80 years old. He left the first time fearing for his life. Pharaoh had found out about Moses¡¦ murder of an Egyptian. But the second time, Pharaoh couldn¡¦t scare him away. What was different? This time, Moses had experienced a personal encounter with the invisible God. Moses knew he was going to have to face Pharaoh to accomplish the job they God had given him. Can you imagine how angry Pharaoh would have been after some of those plagues? His empire was being destroyed! I would have been afraid to walk back into his presence. It¡¦s kind of like being scared to walk into your wife¡¦s presence after you¡¦ve messed up big-time. Any of you guys ever been there?
With each successive plague, pharaoh¡¦s anger grew a little bit more. After the plague of darkness, Pharaoh cast Moses out of his presence and demanded that Moses never come into his presence again. (Ex. 10:27-29) Moses warned Pharaoh that the last plague was going to take the life of every first-born son in Egypt, including Pharaoh¡¦s own son. After Moses delivered this message, Scripture records that Moses was hot with anger. (Ex. 11:8)
Why was Moses angry? Was it out of frustration? There¡¦s no evidence of any anger on his part related to the other nine plagues. We know it took a lot to get Moses angry. Jesus called him the meekest man who ever lived. Up to this point, except for maybe with the plague of hail, no one had died as a result of any of the plagues. But now, people were going to die, and many of those were going to be children. They were going to die because of the stubborn refusal of one man to listen to God¡¦s voice.
Pharaoh knew what it was to endure. Think about the pressure that the first 9 plagues would have put on him to let the Israelites go. [talk briefly about the first 9 plagues ¡V blood, frogs, gnats, boils, locusts, darkness, animal sickness, darkness, etc.] God was trying to get through to him, but he refused to listen. He refused to be moved. He would not budge.There are people in your lives like that, maybe even someone here like that. God does things in your life to try and get your attention, but you hold out against God. God¡¦s been speaking, prompting, but you, like Pharaoh refuse to give in. And the children are always the ones to suffer.
Like Moses, it should make us angry when one person or group¡¦s sin causes the death of the innocent ones, especially when they are children. Moses had spent 40 years among the elite of Egypt. He was known by, and he knew a lot of people in Egypt. Even at his return at age 80, Moses was highly regarded among the Egyptian leaders and the people. Moses had rejected Egyptian society, but he still had friends there. He didn¡¦t want to see them suffer. Many parents, in spite of God¡¦s attempts to work on their hearts, have made the decision to reject God. The problem there is that in so doing, they have condemned their children too.
We have a Bible club for children in our home. One girl who attended the first week came to our door a few minutes before club was to begin this week and said that her dad would not allow her to come back. He is of a different religion, and so he¡¦s going to refuse his daughter the opportunity to hear the truth. The innocents always suffer when those in authority reject God.
The true God, Moses¡¦ God, the invisible God as it says here in the Bible, was in direct contrast to the gods of Egypt who were all gods that could be seen with the eye. Part of the point of the plagues was to show that what is seen is often false but what is unseen is real if based on the word of God. The plagues themselves where a direct confrontation with some of the gods of Egypt. For example, the plague of darkness turned invisible the sun god, who the Egyptians worshipped. It is no accident that one of the commandments that Moses later delivered was, ¡§you shall not made a graven image.¡¨ That would be an attempt to turn an invisible God into a visible God. Nothing could measure up to God¡¦s true glory. That task was reserved for Jesus who made the invisible God visible in all his glory. (Jn. 1: - ¡§we be held his glory¡K¡¨)
The Bible says that Moses was not afraid. Had he been concentrating or focusing on what filled his eyes, he would¡¦ve been afraid. But Moses wasn¡¦t looking at the king right in front of him ¡V that he could see with his eyes. He was looking at a God that was invisible. How do you see what is invisible? You see the evidence. Jesus talked about not being able to see the wind, but it¡¦s evidence is seen in the movement of the leaves in the trees. Moses had seen the evidence of God¡¦s power and person ¡V the burning bush, the miracles, and the plagues.
What Moses saw when he looked at Pharaoh was an immovable obstacle. He saw someone who had such a hard heart that he wondered if he was ever going to accomplish his mission. There were plenty of opportunities for Moses to give up. I¡¦m sure he wondered something like this: ¡§Is anything going to break through the hard heart of Pharaoh? It took 10 earth shattering plagues to change his mind ¡V and then, only temporarily.
In your attempts to reach people or restore a relationship, you may have tried everything, and nothing seems to work. You want to give up. It looks like nothing could touch that hard heart. You come upon a positive evidence for Christianity or some logical, or emotional argument that you know we¡¦ll get through to them. But even after you¡¦ve shot that arrow that you know we¡¦ll pierce through the hard heart, it bounces off like it was hitting stone. You want to give up. But God says, ¡§Keep on trying.¡¨
„h Opposition from your friends
Moses should have had a foreshadowing of what life in the wilderness was going to be like. When he first approached pharaoh about letting the Israelites go, pharaoh made the people¡¦s work much more difficult. They blamed Moses for it and rebelled against the message he delivered. The anger of his own people after their work was increased did more to discourage Moses then the anger of Pharaoh did. This pattern of blaming Moses whenever things got bad was the same pattern they were going to evidence for the next 40 years in the wilderness.
2. Endurance means continuing to do what God has said even when it doesn¡¦t make sense. (vs. 28)
God had revealed to Moses what the last plague was going to accomplish. Every firstborn male, human or animal, was going to die as the death angel passed through the land. To Moses, it made sense that God was getting ready to pour out His judgment on the nation of Egypt. Pharaoh destroyed a generation of boys when he gave the order that all Hebrew boys be thrown into the Nile. Though probably a different Pharaoh now, he and the society that had allowed this atrocity was reaping the results of those actions some 80 years before. You will reap what you sow. God was going to kill the first-born sons in Egypt because the Egyptians had oppressed the Israelites, God¡¦s first-born son. (Ex. 4:22) That all made sense to Moses. Egypt deserved the punishment.
But when it came to God¡¦s provision for Israel¡¦s escape from the death angel, that did not make sense. God told them to take a lamb, kill it, and spread its blood on the door-frame of each Israelite house. They were to put some on each side and some on the top. Now that did not make sense. First of all, they were God¡¦s people already. Why didn¡¦t that make them automatically exempt? In some of the other plagues, what had happened to the Egyptians had not happened to the Israelites even though they lived right next door to each other. When the Egyptians were experiencing total darkness, the Israelites had sunshine. Why did the Israelites have to do anything at all? Second, hadn¡¦t they suffered enough already? They had shed their own blood under the whips of the Egyptians and as their children were thrown into the Nile. What good was the blood of a lamb going to do? Why more suffering, even if it was just the suffering of an animal? And third, why blood? Moses was an educated man. He could have come up with all these questions and many more. But instead, by faith, he just did what God said.
Moses needed to be shown as a person who lived by faith. He was regarded as the giver of the Law. Salvation and a righteous lifestyle came not through the law but by faith. ¡§In the Jewish mind, [Moses] was associated with commandments, rituals, and ceremonies ¡V with all the religious requirements and works of the Old Covenant. But he was a man who lived by faith.¡¨ Because of this, ¡§to show that he lived by faith, not legalism, is one of the most powerful arguments possible to convince Jews that God¡¦s way has always been the way of faith.¡¨ ¡V John MacArthur, N.T. commentary on Hebrews, p. 347. The Passover ceremony may have seemed very odd ¡V even grotesque and cruel. But, ¡§faith always accepts God¡¦s provision, no matter how strange and pointless it may seem to human understanding.¡¨ ¡V p. 357
The families had to pass through the blood in order to get into the house and be safe. There was no other way in. God said, ¡§¡Kwhen I see the blood, I will pass over you¡K¡¨ (Ex. 12:13) Jesus is our Passover lamb. (1 Cor. 5:7) There is no other way but him. ¡§I am the door¡¨ ¡§I am the way¡Kno man comes to the Father except by me.¡¨ (Jn. 14:6) ¡§To the world, good works seem like a much better way to please God than faith¡K¡¦All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment¡¦ (Is. 64:6). Faith accepts Christ¡¦s righteousness applied on our behalf.¡¨ ¡V p. 357 just like the blood was applied on the doorframe of every Israelite home.
[talk about the Israelites journey that began in the middle of the night making sure to mention that they carried out Joseph¡¦s bones (Ex. 13:19) just as he had instructed, by faith, hundreds of years before]
How can you endure when there is so much pressure on you to quit and give up? You can do what Moses did.
Forsake the world.
First, he decided to forsake Egypt and all the Egypt stood for. The word that is used for forsake means much more than just leaving behind. Along with a physical departure it also means a heart renunciation. When you forsake something, you not only refuse to take your body there again, but you also never take your heart there again. You may not go to the same places you did when you were not a Christian, but you still long for them. Or you may have never physically gone there, but your desire is to experience some of those things if even just once.
On April 21st, in the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez sailed into the harbor of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat Montezuma and all the warriors of the Aztec empire, making Cortez the conqueror of all Mexico. How was this incredible feat accomplished, when two prior expeditions had failed even to establish a colony on Mexican soil? Here¡¦s the secret. Cortez knew from the very beginning that he and his men faced incredible odds. He knew that the road before them would be dangerous and difficult. He knew that his men would be tempted to abandon their quest and return to Spain. And so, as soon as Cortez and his men had come ashore and unloaded their provisions, he ordered their entire fleet of eleven ships destroyed. His men stood on the shore and watched as their only possibility of retreat burned and sank. And from that point on, they knew beyond any doubt there was no return, no turning back. Nothing lay behind them but empty ocean. Their only option was to go forward, to conquer or die.
When Tammy and I got married, we made a decision. Divorce was never going to be an option. When problems came, as we knew they would, our only option was working through them until we arrived at a solution. When the only road available to you is the road in front of you, it makes it much easier to keep on going ¡V to endure and to persist.
Focus on Jesus
The second decision that enabled Moses to endure was that he fixed his eyes on a God he could not even see. He did it in a society where worship was based on gods that you could see. He had a lot of distractions that could have steered him off course.
My son, Benjamin, had a battery of learning tests a few weeks ago. One of the tests gauged his ability to concentrate even while he was being intentionally distracted. In front of him was a video screen with numbers flashing in a window. His job was to hit a button every time that the number one followed the number 9 on the screen. He did pretty well. But then, two other screens were added to his test ¡V one on either side. Now, he was told to repeat the same thing that he had just done while different numbers flashed in the side screens. His task was to focus solely on that middle screen. He was told that he should just ignore the side screens. He performed 50% worse on the test this time. He was distracted. He didn¡¦t keep his focus.
For us, the task is even harder. We have to focus on what is not seen ¡V a God who loves us, heaven, a purpose in all things ¡V and ignore what is seen ¡V the loss of a job, cancer, suffering without a reason. What are you going to focus on? What is going to rule your life? -- the seen or the unseen? Do you remember that old song: ¡§Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.¡¨
¡§The LORD is my light [what enables me to see] and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?¡¨ Ps. 27:1
Never FORGET what God had done!
The people had a hard time concentrating on what they could not see and they had a short memory. When Pharaoh changed his mind and went after the Israelites to bring them back, they were afraid. But Moses wasn¡¦t. Moses said, ¡§Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.¡¨ Moses knew a lot about standing firm in the presence of an adversary. He was used to standing in front of immovable obstacles and watching them be parted at the power of God.
Knowing that the people forgot easily, God gave them a way to remember. The Passover was not a one-time event. It was an enduring memorial that they continued for hundreds of years, once a year. It was a yearly reminder that God never forgot His people. And it was a yearly reminder that when you do things God¡¦s way, when you endure, when you persist, God will deliver.
But it was more than a reminder. It was an anticipation. It was looking forward to the final sacrificial lamb. On Passover, hundreds of years later, Jesus hung on a cross as the final sacrificial lamb. Now, because of His death, and our acceptance of that death as payment for our sin, God sees the blood applied to our lives, and He passes over us.
We, as the church, don¡¦t celebrate Passover any more. Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb, paid the price once for all. But so that we may never forget, we celebrate the Last Supper. Jesus said, ¡§Do this in remembrance of me.¡¨ We do this not just to provoke us to thanks but also to provoke us to endurance. Jesus endured. Jesus finished His race. So can you.
CONCLUSION
Two frogs fell into a can of cream
-- or so I’ve heard it told
The sides of the can were shiny and steep,
The cream was deep and cold,
"Oh, what’s the use?" said No. 1,
"tis fate -- no help’s around --
Good-bye, my friend! Good-bye, sad world!"
And weep still, he drowned.
But No. 2 of sterner stuff,
dog paddled in surprise,
The while he wiped his creamy face
and dried his creamy eyes.
"I’ll swim awhile, at least," he said
-- or so it has been said --
"It wouldn’t really help the world
if one more frog was dead."
An hour or two he kicked and swam --
not once he stopped to mutter,
But kicked and swam, and swam and
kicked, then hopped out, via butter.
As a church, we must persevere. When it looks like we¡¦re not having an impact on our community, and we¡¦re not growing to the level that we need to, and we feel like giving up, we must persevere. As a Sunday school teacher, you must persevere. Keep on teaching even when it looks like no one is being changed. Keep on contacting members and prospects even when your class isn¡¦t growing. As a parent, when you see all the influences of the world working to drag your children away from God, persevere. Keep teaching your kids what is right. As a Christian, when you feel like your prayers aren¡¦t making a difference, persevere. Keep on praying. As an employee, persevere.
¡§I just can¡¦t go on. The burden is too heavy.¡¨ ¡§Cast all your cares on Him for he cares for you.¡¨ (1 Pt. 5:7) God has promised that he will never give us more then we can handle. (1 Cor. 10:13) There is a verse in the book of Psalms that talks about the fact that when our burden is too heavy to bear, God takes it off of our shoulders and puts it on his shoulders. God has promised that ¡§in due season, you will reap if you faint not.¡¨ (Gal. 6:9) Are you going to have faith in the promises of God? Are you going to endure? Are you going to be like the Energizer bunny and keep going, and going and going?
