1st March 2023

1st March 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read - Hebrews 11:24-28


Message Alan Burke 


What do Carry Grant (North by Northwest), Peter Ostrum (Charlie from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) and my personal favourite who invited ‘The Truffle Shuffle’ from one of the best movies ever, Jeff Cohen (The Goonies) have in common? You may be scratching your head but it is an easy one, they all gave up acting to do something else. Carry Grant at the age of 62 just stoped acting and became member of the board of many companies, Peter Ostrum got a golden ticket but wasn’t interested in acting and became a Vet, then Jeff Cohen swapped fame to become a lawyer, setting up his own law firm. Those are all useless pieces of information that you can file away in your head and hope they come up in a table quiz some day. Many people look to those like those aforementioned and dream of becoming like them, having wealth, fame, power. Today we are focusing on a man that rejected the wealth, fame, power that were his, all for the sake of Christ. 


Moses was one of the most powerful men in all of Egypt but regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as greater reward than the treasures of Egypt. The reason here we are told in Hebrews 11 is a simple one, for Moses was looking forward to his reward (26). 


Some of us might find it hard to get our heads round that, having everything at our fingertips, more wealth than we could imagine, having every whim or desire attended to, rejecting it all, but as we unpack that we see a man who ‘By faith’ was sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he did not see. He had hope in the Christ, the Messiah of God, the promised one of Genesis 3:15, and while we may want to avoid the reality of it, he knew that everything in this life is but fleeting, our days are like the grass, for “26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt 16:26).


In doing this as Hebrews tells us verse 25, that Moses, choose to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. For Moses had everything at his fingertips, as prince of Egypt he had it all, he had what most people want, the wealth, fame, power that many people long for, that they live for, that they desire with all their heart, but if Moses had went after these things it would have meant that he would have had to reject the Lord God and the people of God. 


Moses was willing to give these things up, wealth, fame, power but these things aren’t inherently wrong, the issue is when these things cause us to reject God. There is an interaction that takes place in the New Testament, between Jesus and a man, it’s often known as the story of the rich young man. The interaction of course sees the man leave after speaking to Jesus saddened because what Jesus was asking of him was too costly, he had great wealth and did not want to give it up (Matt 19:16-30). The problem is when those things that the world has to offer means that we reject God. We are free to the good things of God as long as we do so without sinning, the choice is always between obedience to our Lord and saviour, or sin. The rich young man rejected Christ because the cost of following was too much, Moses on the other hand rejected wealth, fame, power, he regarded disgrace for the disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward (Heb 11:26). That is what Hebrews makes clear. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q89 How is the Word made effectual to salvation?
The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation. (Neh. 8:8, 1 Cor. 14:24–25, Acts 26:18, Ps. 19:8, Acts 20:32, Rom. 15:4, 2 Tim. 3:15–17, Rom. 10:13–17, Rom. 1:16)
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