Missions Paul

As we approach Easter and on this Maundy Thursday it is good to pause over these verses in Hebrews that describes the Exodus, it is so appropriate to our salvation story that Christ has brought us through the cross and the empty grave.

“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.” (Hebrews 11 v 29)

Here is the picture of the enemy chasing down the people of God. Do you feel like that today? In this whole Exodus story there is one thing you need to know today. Your God fights for you. It is the Bible story and you will have known times in your life when you can testify of such. So why not again? Why not today? He is making a way for you and you are crossing the Sea of Judgment. However on looking over your shoulder you see that the way is also opened for your enemy, they are relentlessly chasing you down.

The author is reminding the community of believers that God will help them if they stay true to the course of Christianity and not to return to Judaism.

You’ve heard the phrase “to set the wheels in motion”? The Cambridge Dictionary has a meaning for it: “to do something that will cause a series of actions to start”. There are some seasons of our life when a series of actions and developments are taking place that would indicate that there is only one course of action. The wheels are in motion. I know at times it does go that way. We are all destined to die for example.

However, never underestimate God. Here is a powerful verse found in Exodus 14 that was in the mind of the Pastor writing to the community of believers, he is thinking of the drowning of the Egyptians who were chasing after God’s people:-

“He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” (v25)

He can jam wheels, He can remove wheels!  The Lord fights for His people.

“He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty” (NASB)

“He took off their chariot wheels” (NKJV)

And the beautiful The Message says, “He clogged the wheels of their chariots; they were stuck in the mud.”

My prayer for you today is that your enemy be stuck in the mud with their wheels not in motion anymore!

The inevitable is not always inevitable.

Can you imagine waking up today having had a restless night with condemning thoughts and then going through the day having doubts about your abilities and who you are? And can you imagine in all of that trying to be the best you can be for others, yourself and for God?

Yes of course you can. We have all had similar experiences because the enemy of our life accuses us day and night (Revelation 12:10-11).

When God looks at you, when He investigates you, what does he find?

What I write this morning is one of the most important truths I know and it is why I trust in God: the blood of Jesus the Lamb of God.

Just like Noah through faith built the ark ahead of the judgment flood, Moses, he also declared by faith that the Hebrew people of God should sacrifice the Passover lamb and paint the blood over their doorposts of their houses. This is one of the things we celebrate on during Holy Week. This then is our next verse:

“By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.” (Hebrews 11 v 28)

One of the most destructive events in the Bible, the plague on Egypt, was prevented from coming on the people of God because of the blood that was on their houses. But see this:

Exodus 12:13. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

When I see the blood. 12:23. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

When I see the blood, it doesn’t say when you see it. It is what God finds on you. He finds the sacrifice of His Son. He finds His righteousness placed on you. He finds no condemnation. He finds grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

What people find is immaterial. What your enemies find matters not. Even what you may find in your self-condemnatory life does not count. It is what HE finds that counts.

I do love Chris Tomlins song ‘Indescribable’. It is a song that is trying to describe the indescribable God. He is high, He is deep, no one can fathom Him, He is uncontainable, all powerful, untameable and we are awestruck. However, it is almost the last line of the song which I particular value: “You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same”. YOU SEE. That is the point. Our faith needs to be on what He sees.

If we lived our life on what He sees and what He finds and not what we know and what the accuser says then maybe we will live better and perhaps the many decisions of life will be easier.

Our Father in heaven sees and finds the blood of Christ, this is why I trust God, I trust the blood!

The reasons was for the temptation to go back to Judaism were many as we have seen and perhaps the greatest was fear.

Fear of man proves to be a snare as we know. Moses refused to let it hold him back from the purpose of God for his life. He was carrying a dream in his heart and it was this that defeated his fear.

“By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11 v 27)

• The dream is always more important than the fear of people, whoever they are. Pharaoh’s experience of the plagues meant he would drive Moses out eventually.
  • It may be that some will be offended if you pursue God’s purposes for your life.
  • The path to the fulfilment of the dream can be laid with many insults.
• The important people in your life are the ones who will support your dream. The story of Moses leaving Egypt has a small but powerful moment when he tells God’s people to ask the Egyptian neighbours for gold, silver and articles of clothing for the exodus journey.
  • Burn the right bridge, the one that will hold you back.
  • Don’t burn the bridge that can be used to support your dream.
• You must believe in the importance of your dream.
  • God views your dream of where you will be as more important than where you are now. This is the “he saw him who is invisible” part. The nation of Israel (the not yet) was sitting within the nation of Egypt (the present). There is a ‘not yet’ of you sitting in this present moment.

Why would anyone abandon the faith? Why would those who have been forgiven, received grace then turn and walk back to their old life?

This is the whole point of this letter to a community of believers who are being tempted to return to Judaism because it is just too difficult to be a Christian.

We need these heroes of the faith within the Bible to show us how to overcome human weaknesses with courage, selflessness and humility to continue to serve God who called them.

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” (Hebrews 11 v 24-26)

Some turn back because the present is more important to them than the future.

Moses chose to remain and be known as belonging to the enslaved nation. He chose the difficult path. He could have had an easier life. He could have taken all that was set before him. His status and the enjoyment of all the treasures that Egypt could give were there for the taking. What he had to hold on to or return to was far more than this community of believers who were thinking of going back to Judaism or even ourselves who decide we don’t want to do church anymore.

Moses chose the hard life. He let go of security that was there for the taking. It was his right and no one would have objected. But he was looking ahead. That is the point. Where are we looking today? Moses ultimate reality was the ‘people of God’ and ‘Christ’ even though the author doesn’t necessarily mean Moses knew of the Messiah to come. What is our ultimate reality? Eternity!

Faith for what is ahead is sure and certain and it means we can endure whatever the suffering is in our present.

What is out to bring you down today? Is it a diagnosis? Some discouragement? A threat of some kind.

The last verse of Exodus 1 heralds a dangerous threat if you were parents of a 3 month old boy. “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Here is our verse, “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” (Hebrews 11 v 23)

The Exodus 2 account shows us that the parents were naturally proud of their child, he was good looking. There isn’t any prophetic sign that they knew he would be the redeemer but the author in using ‘no ordinary child’ could be using a Jewish thought that they did.

They hid Moses for 3 months in defiance against this evil ethnic cleansing.

Pharaoh can never cull everything. There is always a broken reed that is not removed. There is always a smouldering wick not snuffed out. There is always a Moses. A survivor will always be found. You may be beaten up on the side of the road of life half-dead but definitely half alive too. You may think this is the worst time of your life but you do not realise that at this same time something new is emerging. In the death there is life. It looks perhaps like an end but there is a beginning.
And this is something very different to what was previously known. This is no ordinary moment. This has the potential to be one of the most inspirational moments of your life. This could even be the redeeming of what has been lost before. This will bring a time of knowing the voice of God more, perhaps of experiencing His presence in an unquestionable way and maybe this will take you on a whole new journey, a new chapter has begun.
Moses is hidden.
What you can do now is to take care of this moment. Don’t throw this moment away. Don’t ignore it and don’t boast of it either. Let it be hidden for a while for the moment will come and the world will see.
Moses is hidden.
For to us a child was born, Jesus. He was hidden. Not for 3 months but for many years. And He is here with you. Hidden in your life. It is never over. It may be hell and death may be all around but He is the resurrection. He is crafting a new chapter. Take care of your faith. Look after it. For from this faith impossibilities can come.

It is not only how you live your life but how you approach your death that marks you as a man or woman of faith.

“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.” (Hebrews 11 v 22)

Your greatest possession is God’s promise that He will do what He said He will do. This promise may have been given to your previous generation or it may have been given to you. But the promise of God doesn’t die when we die. It continues to its fulfilment.

Genesis 50:24 and 26 “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  ²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.”

His dying words were: God will come to you and God will bring you to the land He has promised our forefathers.

This in 2024 is still our promise. God will visit you and God will bring you home.

He has done that. You have known His ‘aid’ throughout your life. He has been faithful to you. He has visited you by His Spirit and He will lead you home to heaven,

These are words of faith. Not only by Joseph but they are yours too.

This is what you pass to the next generation.

Joseph went further and made sure that when he died he would be a constant reminder that the following generations must also carry this covenantal promise. “…and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones”.

They embalmed Joseph and placed him in an Egyptian coffin which they carried as they journeyed towards the Promised Land. He was a constant reminder that they could never settle until they arrived there. They had to get to the Land that was promised them for one thing they had to bury Joseph! It wasn’t until Joshua’s generation that he would be buried in Shechem.

Joseph’s faith spoke to the next generation. It was not only about his story but a continual one of which he was simply a custodian. It is true of us today.

You know you. If you were being perfectly honest then you wouldn’t have picked you. But He did. When it didn’t make sense and when the odds were stacked against you, He chose you!

And He did it right on time!

“By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” (Hebrews 11 v 21)

This is not the day to waste time wondering if, when, where or how God will, may or perhaps use us! Why?

1. God never fails to raise the next generation. After Abraham came Isaac. After Isaac comes Jacob. After Jacob comes Joseph. After Joseph comes Ephraim and Manasseh. He has raised you too. He called you even when you were young and you didn’t appreciate fully His calling. Why do you think He has walked with you, guided you and protected you? The answer is because you are next. You’re it. Live your life for God. Ask for much. Expect much. Do much.
2. God chooses from His criteria and not man’s. Incredibly Jacob takes his grandsons and treats them as his sons and firstborn sons at that, bypassing Reuben and Simeon. Joseph expected Manasseh to be blessed first ahead of Ephraim but Jacob chose Ephraim to be pre-eminent, special, the chosen one. And … God has chosen you also! It might not seem fair and it might not seem wise (as you look in the mirror of self-awareness). But it is His grace. So be thankful!
3. Whosever God raise and chooses He blesses. This is the point the author is making. Don’t give up. You belong to a historical line of people who didn’t deserve to be called but they were.

Do you know the experience of being part of a story that looks like human manipulation and deceitfulness have been more at play than the hand of God?

It seems so unfair doesn’t it? They have got away with it and no one is listening or seeing what is blatantly clear to you.

And so you trust God because there is nothing else you can do.

Many know Jacob’s name as ‘supplanter’, ‘deceiver’ or ‘holder of the heel’ because he twice deprived his brother, Esau, out of his rights as the firstborn son.

Such is the story that comes to our minds as we read the next verse in this great hall of faith.

“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.” (Hebrews 11 v 20)

In the ancient world there was nothing more powerful within a family than the parental blessing. They looked into the future and spoke words over their child. This brief sentence is in line with what the author is writing to the community of believers instructing them to look to what is ahead and not to jeopardise that by looking behind and returning to Judaism.

We all know with hindsight that the Messianic promised line had to continue through Jacob and not Esau. Despite Esau being stronger and had the right to claim the firstborn inheritance he was not God’s sovereign choice.

If our filter of life is what is fair then we are going to miss the story of God. But if our filter in life is on the roles we play in the ever-revealing plan of God then our focus is on His glory and pleasure not ours.

So if I am chosen to be blessed above the rest then realise it is not because I am better than the rest and if I am not then I don’t walk away or abandon the faith, I accept the glory of God and His purpose which is higher than anything or anyone. For God’s glory is higher than man’s deception.

Well … I have tried to do so throughout my life and it still is the constant prayer.

Abraham is known as the father of faith. He passed the test and God knew He feared Him.

How? It was this event, though very difficult for us to comprehend. At a time when many nations were involved in child sacrifice comes an unpalatable story of our own.

“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ¹⁹ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11 v 17-19)

Up to this point Abraham’s credentials to be the father of all nations was suspect.

A man more afraid than full of faith.

A man used to lying if needed rather than speaking the truth despite the consequences.

A man who couldn’t lead his own family very well.

A man who ‘Ishmaeled’ his Isaac taking things into his own hands instead of asking God.

Abraham had surely been tested and encouraging for us he failed quite a lot of the tests. Without the testing of faith what is left is only a feeling of faith, a wish, a desire to have. There is much of this faith around. But without testing there is a danger that this faith is little more than desire. How will the testing happen and what does it look like?

It is in what we will give up.

Will we let go of something precious to us?

Why is that important?

It is because it mirrors Him. God gave up His only Son for us.

Can we get to the place of saying, ‘not my will but yours be done’?

Sacrifice reveals the element of fantasy held within any faith story. Sacrifice keeps us selfless and makes sure that benefits from faith is not the motivation for faith. Sacrifice involves the now and what is precious to us now.

How could Abraham do what he did on Mount Moriah?

It was simply because there was no Abraham left. Who’s life was more important? Abraham’s, Isaac’s or God’s?

It is possible to build an image of God from within our own need and desires and not from the fact that He is far above; all omnipotent; an all powerful God tho desires that we totally surrender our lives to Him in love and worship.

Every one of us can pass the test if today we surrender once again and we give to God our all. It is sacrificial faith.

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. ¹⁴ People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11 v 13-16)

All these people includes Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob and so many more. The author is calling this community of believers to look back on those who have gone before them who persevered, who had faith, who trusted in God and who are now in a better place. So how can you turn back? That is the message. “If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.” So how can you now think about returning to Judaism?

This morning I am thinking of my friends and family members that have died. They were my heroes of the faith. The anniversary of the call ‘home’ is today for one of them.

When they died:

• v13- They were carrying the promises of God in their hearts. They had vision. So how much more should I also carry those promises and believe God for what is ahead? They trusted till death so I must also.
• v13-They were honest about their reality. They understood their present. This was not pie in the sky when they die. This was a conviction of their reality. They were agitators of their world. Provokers of people. They would not be moulded into something that wasn’t of God. They would not waste time on time-wasters. They did not fit in certain circles. So how much more should I simply trust God and not man?
• v14-They carried eternity in their hearts. They preached it. Their worldview was from an eternal lasting perspective. So how much more should I turn my eyes on Jesus and not on the things of this world?
• v15-They did not turn back because ahead was always better. So how much more should I stop thinking about what is behind me?

And finally and most importantly ….

• V16-That’s what happened when they died and they then met God who was not ashamed of them and led them into all that He had prepared for them in heaven, the eternal city of God. So how much more should I live my life knowing this will be my experience also?

When they died they began to live.