Choosing Faith: Moses' Bold Rejection of Worldly Gains

Devotional

Sermon Summary

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips



Moses' decision to forsake the privileges of Egyptian royalty and align himself with the oppressed Israelites is a profound testament to the power of faith. This choice, as described in Hebrews 11:24-26, was not made lightly or without cost. Moses, a man of high education, rank, and ability, chose to suffer affliction with God's people rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [00:00:09]

Moses belonged to the noblest order of men, but he was saved by faith alone, even by the same faith which saved Rahab. This faith moved him to the faithful service of God and to a self-denial unparalleled. My honest prayer is that you who are moral, amiable, and educated may see in the action of Moses an example for yourselves. [00:03:38]

Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible, and though for a while a loser, he is now an eternal gainer by the loss. May the spirit of God incline you to follow in the path of faith, virtue, and honor, where you see such a man as Moses leading the way. [00:04:31]

When Moses had come to years, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. We need not narrate the stories which are told by Josephus and other ancient writers with regard to the early days of Moses, such as, for instance, he is taking the crown of Pharaoh and trampling upon it. [00:05:17]

Moses was trying whether he could not serve God and remain the son of Pharaoh's daughter too. Perhaps he thought he could share the treasures of Egypt and yet bear testimony with Israel. He would be known as a companion of the priests of Isis and Osiris and yet at the same time would bear honest witness for Jehovah. [00:07:17]

If when Moses was a child he spoke as a child and thought as a child, when he became a man he put away his childish ideas of compromise. If when he was a young man he thought he might conceal a part of the truth and so might hold his position, when he came to ripe years enough to know what the truth fully was, he scorned all compromise. [00:09:00]

Moses was willing to take upon himself the reproach of Christ and to bear the affliction of God's people. When I ventured to observe again, there was nothing very attractive in the people themselves. They were wretchedly poor, they were scattered throughout all the land as mere drudges, engaged in brick making. [00:17:10]

Moses left honor; he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He left pleasure, for he refused to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, and according to our apostle, he left wealth as well, for in taking up the reproach of Christ, he renounced the treasures of Egypt. [00:22:23]

If there be true faith in a man's heart, he will not deliberate which of the two to choose, beggary or compromise with error. He will esteem the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Consider yet once more what Moses espoused when he left the court. [00:23:10]

Moses had faith in Jehovah. It is possible that Moses had seen the various gods of Egypt, even as we see them now in the drawings which have been copied from their temples and pyramids. We find there the sacred cat, the sacred ibis, the sacred crocodile, and all kinds of creatures which were reverenced as deities. [00:28:50]

The faith of Moses also rested in Christ. Christ did not come, says one. Nay, but he was to come, and Moses looked to that coming one. He cast his eye through the ages that were to intervene, and he saw before him the Shiloh of whom dying Jacob sang. [00:32:39]

Moses had faith in the recompense of the reward. He said thus within himself, I must renounce much and reckon to lose rank, position, and treasure, but I expect to be a gainer, notwithstanding, for there will be a day when God shall judge the sons of men. [00:38:04]

Ask a question about this sermon