Moses

Our message this evening consists of four points about the man Moses, which I hope will both honor our subject as well as be a blessing to God’s people. These points include the following: The Faith of Moses; the Faithfulness of Moses; the Failures of Moses; and the Fate of Moses.

1. First, we want to consider the faith of Moses (READ Hebrews 11:23-27)

I want to consider 5 thoughts from this passage…

1) By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

Moses didn’t care about earthly titles, and he didn’t care about Pharaoh’s throne! He didn’t want to be called an Egyptian, even if it meant being the king of Egypt! Moses wanted to be called the son of His own mom and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Moses. He wanted to be numbered with his own people, even if that meant suffering reproach as a Jew – so what’s new? That has always been the way of life for God’s people…the way of suffering, the way of reproach, and the way of persecution.

2) Secondly, by faith Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Moses had plenty of opportunity in Pharaoh’s palace to be familiar with the many pleasures of sin. But by faith in His God, he cared nothing for it! Yes, beloved, there is a pleasure of sin, but it is only for a season. It is only for a short time, and then the pleasure turns to pain, and heartache, and misery, and finally death…and that without remedy! And yes, it takes a lot of faith to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than enjoy all the pleasures that sin has to offer!

3) Thirdly, by faith Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches that the treasures of Egypt.

What is more valuable, beloved, all the wealth in Egypt or the eternal wealth of Christ? Well, where is the wealth of Egypt now? Where is the wealth of great Babylon now? And some day men will be asking, where is the wealth of America now? Where is the wealth of rich men when they die? Its gone, and its soon forgotten along with them.

But where is Moses’ wealth in Christ today? Its eternal in the Heavens where moth or rust cannot corrupt, and thieves cannot break in and steel. Beloved, labor not for temporal wealth that parishes, but for the eternal riches of Christ in glory! Remember Moses, the man who had it all, and threw it all away in favor of Christ, and the true, lasting riches of glory!

4) Fourthly, by faith Moses forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king.

Moses didn’t want anything to do with Egypt. He wanted out of that place. He wanted to be in God’s country with God’s people. He told old Pharaoh that “there shall not an hoof be left behind”. They were getting out of Egypt and they weren’t comin’ back no more, no more, no more! And Moses didn’t leave nothing behind when he left!

God help us to get out of Egypt and to stay out of that cursed place. God help us to find our home and happiness in God’s country with God’s people. It takes faith to do this, beloved!

5) Fifthly, by faith Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Moses, how can you do all these things? How can you deny earthly power and wealth, and the pleasures of sin for a season? How can you endure reproach and persecution as a child of God? The answer; by seeing Him who is invisible! Isn’t that really what faith is? We believe in the Almighty God of Heaven, Who can do all things, Who has power to save us, and power to keep us, and power to bless us – and yet we’ve never seen Him! Lord give us the faith of Moses, that we too might see the invisible God, and win the victory over Egypt!

2. Secondly, we want to consider the faithfulness of Moses.

We’ve seen the faith of Moses, now we want to observe that faith produces faithfulness. People are inclined to be devoted and committed to things they really believe in, and things they believe are really worth their time and effort. A child of God with great faith, who really believes that Christ is worth their time, and worth their substance, and worth their labor, will exhibit great faithfulness to the Lord and His cause. Well, Moses was just such a man of great faith, and consequently he was a man of great faithfulness to his God.

The Bible says in Hebrews 3:5 that Moses was faithful in all his house.

Moses was very faithful over all that God put in his charge. When Miriam and Aaron challenged the authority and leadership of their brother Moses in Numbers 12, God told those 2 rebel roses that His servant Moses was faithful in all His House. Why is it that people in the church who are far less faithful to the Lord, are the ones who challenge God’s faithful ministers who have given their entire lives, and all their substance, and everything they have to serving the Lord? Probably because they are envious and jealous of the man of God whom the Lord has set over His work.

1) First, Moses was faithful to the people of Israel, who were God’s household…

For 40 long years Moses was faithful to God’s people by committed and dedicated service to them.

He was faithful to provide for God’s people. He gave them manna from Heaven and water from the Rock. Now, we know it was the Lord, but He used Moses to give them all these things.

He was faithful in judging God’s people to insure that justice was done among them.

He was faithful to lead God’s people and direct them in the way the Lord would have them to go.

He was faithful to mediate for them when they sinned against God, when God would have utterly destroyed them on numerous occasions, but Moses stood in the breach and pleaded for them.

Yes beloved, Moses was faithful over all the household of God over which God had made him the overseer. Would to God that this could be said of us pastors who have been given a similar charge over the flock of God!

And even more importantly, Moses was faithful in all the House of God…

That is, he was faithful in all the Holy things pertaining to God’s House.

Moses was faithful to the Word of God. He was faithful to write the inerrant Word of God as he was inspired by God, and then he was faithful to administer the Word of God to the people of God. Moses taught the truth of God’s Word just as he received it from the Lord. He didn’t alter it; he didn’t embellish it; he didn’t pick and choose what he would teach. But Moses was faithful to teach all the Words that God’s gave him, exactly as He gave them. God help us to do the same.

Moses was faithful in his duties to build God’s House exactly according to do pattern given to him by God in the mount. He didn’t change or alter one single stitch! Everything God told Him to do was necessary and important, and that’s how Moses built it. Christ built His House, His Church in the New Testament, exactly according to His pattern, and it is our duty to continue building His Churches exactly according to the pattern He gave us in His Word. God help us to be like Moses, and faithfully build the House of God today!

Moses was faithful to intercede for God’s people in prayer, to seek God’s forgiveness for their sins, and to seek God’s loving favor in their behalf. May God give us a heart to pray for God’s people today, and to intercede in their behalf. That should be the heart of every pastor!

He was faithful in revealing the Messiah to God’s people. Remember, people were saved back then the same way they are saved today. There has only ever been one way of salvation. People had to hear about Christ, and I am confident that Moses was faithful in preaching the Gospel to them.

In all these things, Moses never faltered in His faithfulness in all his house. Pastors and church members would do well to consider the faithfulness of Moses, that we might emulate him, and strive to be faithful over all our house; especially we who are pastors, whose responsibilities are similar to those of Moses. May it be said of you and I that “he was faithful in all his house”.

3. Thirdly, we want to consider the failures of Moses.

Moses had great faith, and Moses was very faithful in all his house. And yet, Moses was still a sinner saved by grace. He was subject to sinning just as other men are. He was a man of like passions, and at times he sinned, and did things that were displeasing to God.

Moses questioned God at times. He questioned his own calling and his own ability to be the leader of God’s people…as if God didn’t know what He was doing when He called Moses to lead His people!

Moses also questioned why God called him to lead such a rebellious people, who constantly murmured and complained about God’s provisions, and about Moses. Maybe we pastors have questioned God for the same reason! But its not our place to question God!

Moses sometimes complained to God when the children of Israel rebelled against God, and rebelled against his God given authority to lead them. Oh boy, how pastors today can relate to this?

Moses got angry at times, and all too often he let his anger show in ways that were harmful to his own cause, and to the cause of God.

In anger he broke the tables of stone, when Israel worshipped the golden calf which Aaron had made. Although God didn’t charge Moses with a trespass in this case, Moses’ anger still got the better of him.

In anger Moses smote the rock twice. We read in Numbers 20, verses 10-12:

“And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

In this case Moses was charged with sin because he failed to sanctify the Lord in the eyes of the people. This cost him and Aaron their entrance into the promised land.

So then we see that Moses wasn’t perfect. He was said to be “…very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3), yet he got angry, and he complained, and he questioned God. He was a sinner still. Moses was a great man of God, but He also had his share of shortcomings.

So when you consider your pastor, and you look to him for an impeccable example for you to follow – just remember that Moses, one of the greatest leaders in the history of Israel, also had his failures and his shortcomings. The best of men will fail us at times. Only Christ is a perfect example for us to follow.

4. Fourthly and finally, we want to consider the fate of Moses (READ Deuteronomy 34:1-7)

“And Moses the servant of the Lord died”. This is the sad end of Moses’ life, because he died before he could enter the promised land. He saw it from Pisgah’s lofty heights, but God wouldn’t let him go in. Why? Because of that one sin when he smote the rock twice. Moses wanted to go in so badly. He tried to talk the Lord into letting him go in, but the Lord would not let him…

Deuteronomy 3:23-26 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, 24 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? 25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. 26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

Moses asked God for many things in his lifetime, but this was one thing God would not let him have. One sin kept both Moses and Aaron out of the promised land. This was truly an example of the saying, “so close, yet so very far away”. From Pisgah’s lofty heights Moses could see all the good land God promised his people. He had spoken so much about it to God’s people, how they would conquer the inhabitants of the land, and how they would inherit the blessings of this rich and fruitful land and divide it among themselves for an inheritance forever…but because of one sin, Moses wasn’t allowed in.

Moses died there in the land of Moab, and God buried him. God brought Moses to life to save His people from their bondage in Egypt. God preserved his life when Pharaoh would have had him killed as an infant. God made Moses a great leader, a compassionate intercessor, an obedient servant, and a faithful friend of God and His people. And at the end of his life, God buried him. Moses is the only man that I know of that God buried. I don’t know what significance there was in God burying Moses, but if I have to be buried, I wouldn’t mind if God buried me.

Its kind of odd, but no one knew where God buried Moses. But had they known, they probably would have made a shrine out of his tomb and worshipped it. I suppose that’s why God buried him.

And it said in verse 7 that Moses’ natural force was not abated, and his eye was not dim. In other words, he was in perfect health at 120 years of age. It was just God’s time for him to die, plain and simple. Even perfect health won’t prevent us from dying when it is our time to go!!!

Finally, we want to see Moses one last time…

Mark 9:2-5 And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

The final appearance of Moses was here in the New Testament on the mount of transfiguration. Moses, what more could you ask or hope for, as you stand with the blessed Lord Jesus Christ and behold His glory? Not the back parts of God as you saw once before, but face to face with Christ your Saviour. Now he’d seen everything any man could ever hope to see…he saw the glorified Son of God!

Conclusion:

What lessons might we learn from this message?

-Remember the faith of Moses and get out of Egypt and stay out!

-Remember the faithfulness of Moses and be faithful to what God has called you to do.

-Remember the failures of Moses and learn from his mistakes to be a better Christian.

-And remember the fate of Moses, that one day we too will see the glory of the Lord face to face! Not in the promised land of Canaan, but in the promised land of Heaven itself.

May God bless the message to your hearts is our prayer!