TRUE LEADERSHIP REQUIRES FAITH
Heb 11:23-29
Have faith! That is an admonition often heard, often from those who are not going through the things we are going through. Have faith in God, for faith is only as good as its object. Our faith must be in God, in his word, in his promises. “Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith has substance because it is founded upon God’s word.
Paul wrote “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
Last week we looked at the Faith of Abraham who became known as the father of the Faithful. This week we want to look at the faith of Moses. Moses was one of the greatest leaders in History, especially in the Old Testament. He was the deliverer, the great law giver, the great statesman who was used mightily of God in his day. Yet had it not been for his faith, we would have never heard of Moses.
As we investigate the faith of Moses we will discover something of the power of faith in our lives.
I. FAITH DELIVERS US FROM OUR FEARS (11:23)
Actually the faith of Moses has its roots in Moses parents. An order had been given that all the Hebrew boy babies be put to death. Yet Noses’ parents feared God more than the Pharaoh. Their own lives were at risk for their act of hiding their son from the Egyptians. Their faith helped them to overcome their fears.
Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Though godly parents cannot pass on their faith as they do family traits, they can certainly create an atmosphere of faith at home and be examples to their children. A home should be the first school of faith for a child.”
What are your fears? Is it some dreaded illness? the fear of death? the process of dying? the fear of tomorrow? the fear of the future? the fear of the unknown? Many live in fear, of being robed, of the future. Faith in God helps us face our fears.
Someone once said, “Fear knocked, faith answered, and no one was there.”
The faith of Moses’ parents led them to hide Moses and how he came to be adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was nursed by his own mother but he grew up in the king’s palace in Egypt. The slave boy became a member of Egyptian royalty.
II. FAITH DETERMINES OUR CHOICES (11:24-26)
All of us are faced with choices in life. As the adopted son of an Egyptian princess, Moses could have lived “the good life.“ He was a prince of Egypt and seemingly had it made. In time however, Moses’ faith led him to refuse his life in the Palace and identify with the suffering people of God. That was no doubt a difficult choice. Note in verses 24-26, Moses made three choices.
1. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
2. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin. To have held on to the pleasures of sin would have resulted in a wasted life. He chose to leave it all behind to suffer with the people of God.
3. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” The Bible says, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
Yet so many today are choosing the pleasures of sin, the quest for earthly riches, and worldly position over Jesus Christ. All these things are so fleeting.
ILL. Wiersbe tells of a mayor in a large American city who moved into a dangerous and decayed housing project to demonstrate the problems and needs of the minorities. However, she also kept her fashionable apartment and eventually moved out of the slum.
Moses left the palace of Egypt for the slave huts of the Hebrew people and never returned to his old life. He chose to identify with the Jewish slaves. Men and women of faith are often called upon to bear reproach and suffering.
III. FAITH DEVELOPS OUR VISION (1:27)
Moses’ choice to forsake the world, developed his spiritual vision. He saw beyond the events of the moment to the ultimate purpose of God. He saw by faith what could not be seen with the natural eye. He saw Him who is invisible, that is, he saw the eternal God.
He also learned that God was working even in the dark and difficult moments of life. He learned the meaning of Romans 8:28 long before the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write those words.
IV. FAITH DEPENDS UPON GOD’S WORD (11:28)
Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is “substance.” It acts upon God’s Word and His self revelation to us.
The night the death angel passed over the land of Egypt, they kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood over the door post lest the death angel destroy them. They were acting on God’s word when He said, “When I see the blood I will pass over you“ (SEE Ex 12:21-30 , Key verse 13).
The keeping of Passover was an act of Faith. Future Passovers were acts of worship and remembrance as the Lord’s Supper has become for us.
Though they could not have understood all the significance of the Passover at the time, in faith they acted upon God’s revealed Word to them.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” this is God’s word for us.
V. FAITH DIRECTS US FORWARD (11:29).
Forward, onward, and upward. By faith they kept the Passover. Pharaoh finally let them God and then went after them.
See them on the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptians behind them. They were facing an impossible situation, but with God nothing is impossible.
God spoke in Exodus 14:15. “Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” One Paraphrase of this passage goes like this. “Quit praying, get the people moving. Forward march.”
There are many obstacles in the Christian experience. Faith leads us forward. How do we overcome the obstacles, Read Hebrews 12:1-2. We overcome by keeping our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.
CONCLUSION: Our Lord Jesus had much to say about faith and believing.
John 2:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten qSon, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life
John 5:24: Most assuredly, I say to you, she who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, tbut has passed from death into life.
John 7:37-39: On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, s“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 tHe who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, uout of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 vBut this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those 7believing in Him would receive; for the 8Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet wglorified.
John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her, “I am lthe resurrection and the life. mHe who believes in Me, though he may ndie, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
John 14:12: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father
John 20:30-31: And dtruly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 ebut these are written that fyou may believe that Jesus gis the Christ, the Son of God, hand that believing you may have life in His name.
These are but a few of the promises of our Lord. What is the object of your faith? It must be Jesus. Keep “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
