Moses–His Faith and Decision

Moses–His Faith and Decision

DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, JUNE 24, 1888,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Hebrews
11:24-26

WE generally picture Moses with beams of glory rising from his brow and
the two tables of the Law in his hand. A stern man holding forth a
sterner Law. But we must correct our idea. Moses is as much an example
of faith as he is a representative of Law. What he did was as much due
to his faith as were the acts of Paul or John. In describing Moses, the
summary must begin, "By faith," as much as if we were describing
Abraham. Continue to regard Moses as a representative of the Law but
also view him as a man of wonderful and powerful faith.

I need scarcely remind you that the faith of Moses was peculiarly
active and operative. I might apply the words of James to him and say,
"Likewise, was not Moses justified by works when he refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and chose to endure affliction
with the people of God?" The faith of Moses was what ours must be, a
faith which worked by love–even love to God and love to His people. It
was no mere belief of a fact. But that fact had an overpowering
influence upon his life. Moses believed, believed firmly and intensely,
believed for himself, so that he took fast hold of that which is
invisible. Moses showed the reality of his faith in his life–by what
he refused to do–and by what he chose to do.

Both the negative and the positive poles were made right by his faith.
Everything about Moses proved the truth and the vigor of his faith in
God. He was second to none among those "who believed God and it was
accounted unto them for righteousness." He was king in Jeshurun and he
was the greatest of Law-givers. But yet he happily takes his place
among Believers who find their all in God. On the Arc de Triomphe which
is raised in this eleventh chapter of Hebrews the name of Moses is
written among the very greatest of those who lived by faith in God. I
pray that while I am speaking this morning faith may be worked in some
here present who have it not as yet.

And I pray also that others who have true faith but have not yet avowed
it may find themselves drawn to take a decided step and take their
place on the side of God and His people. The question, "Who is on the
Lord's side?" is the one I would press upon you this morning in the
hope that, like Moses, many of you may be willing to suffer the
reproach of Christ, which has not ceased.

Our first remark shall be Moses had faith. The second shall be Moses
exhibited clear decision as the result of his faith. And then, thirdly,
we will say Moses should be imitated by us.

I. First, then, MOSES HAD FAITH. I am not going through the whole life
of Moses–that is much too large a theme for one discourse. But I shall
very much keep to my text.

It is very clear that Moses believed in God. He was learned in all the
learning of the Egyptians. He had been brought up in the very best
academies of the period. But he had not been seduced from faith in his
God. There were many gods in Egypt. But Moses worshipped the one God,
the God of his fathers. And though he may have known comparatively
little of Him, he knew enough to have no other God but the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I suppose that his mother and father could
tell him but little of the family faith. But as they were God-fearing,
believing people, they taught him what they knew.

He believed in the living God, Creator of Heaven and earth. He
worshipped one God, the Ruler of Providence–one God who is to be
obeyed and adored. And to this God he adhered. I would that all of you
believed in the living, personal, working, ever present God! In these
days many do not believe in a personal God but in some sort of force or
mystic en-ergy–they know not what. This is virtually to have no God at
all. To Moses the existence and ruling power of God were the greatest
facts of life. He believed in the one living and true God, bowed before
Him, desired to be found serving Him and to have Him as his friend,
even though this should put him in opposition with all the world.
Although the pomp and power and glory and wisdom of the ruling nation
were all on the side of idols, Moses worshipped the one God. For in His
power and Godhead he solemnly believed.

In the next place, Moses believed that the Israelites were the chosen
people of God. This, of course, he had learned from his parents and he
heartily believed it, though it certainly did not look to be true. If
the seed of Jacob were the people of God, why were they left under
oppression? Why were they enslaved by Pharaoh? Why were their children
doomed to die? Could the elect of God be left in so evil a plight? If
God was the God of this people, why were they made to endure
affliction? Perhaps they told him that God had revealed unto their
fathers that they were to go down into Egypt and to be strangers in a
strange land.

But whether or not, it was the solemn conviction of Moses that the
living and true God had chosen the seed of Abraham to be His people and
had taken them into covenant with Himself. They were the election of
Divine Grace. For this cause Moses loved them and desired to be
numbered with them. Certainly, they were not in themselves a very
lovable people–there was much about them that must have saddened the
heart of Moses. They were ignorant, while he was edu-cated–they had
been debased by slavery, while he was of that brave disposition which
is nourished in freedom. When he, himself, attempted to be their
champion, they did not receive him. He found two of them striving
together and when, with gentle words he would have made peace between
them, one of them replied, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?"

Yet Moses said to himself, "Whatever they may be, they are the people
of God and I will be one of them." Even to this day the Lord has a
chosen people, a remnant according to the election of Divine Grace.
Looking critically at the Church of God, we soon detect much that is
faulty, many shortcomings and many grievous evils. Yet the Church of
God is God's choice and we may not despise it. I can say of God's
people–"These are the company I keep. These are the choicest friends I
know."

If they are good enough for God, they are good enough for me. If you
never join a Church till you find a perfect Church, you must wait till
you get to Heaven. And if you could go there as you are, they would not
receive you into fellowship. Consider who are the people that
acknowledge God in their lives, who hold the Truth of God as it is
revealed, who believe the Holy Scriptures and worship God in the
Spirit, having no confidence in the flesh. Cast in your lot with these
people, however poor and common-place they may be. If they are not all
you would like them to be, neither are you yourself all you would like
to be. But simply, because you believe them to be the people of God,
cast in your lot with them, begging the Lord to have mercy upon you and
deal with you as He is likely to do to those who fear His name.

Moses further believed that the reproach which fell upon his people was
the reproach of Christ. It is said that he "esteemed the reproach of
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." But Christ was not
there. Christ as yet had not been born into the world. How could the
reproach of Israel in Egypt be the reproach of Christ? This shows us
that the Christ was always one with His people. Even as the Church is
the body of Christ now, so were the Lord's people the body of Christ of
old. The Lord Christ so sympathized with Israel in Egypt that what they
bore He bore. "In all their affliction He was afflicted and the angel
of His Presence saved them." Jesus is that "angel of His Presence."

Brethren, it is a grand thing to discover and know by faith that the
reproach which falls upon the people of God is the reproach of Christ.
When Stephen was killed, it was Stephen, was it not, that died? Yes,
but Christ stood up from His Throne that day. When Christ spoke to Saul
on the road to Damascus He did not say, "Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute the Church?" but, "why do you persecute Me?" Christ suffers
in the least of His people. The poorest and the most obscure of them,
when ridiculed and put to scorn for His sake, is not alone in his
grief–the Head suffers in the members. The reproach of Believers is
really the reproach of Him in whom they believe. The reproach of Israel
is the reproach of Christ and Moses believed this. "Ah," said he,
"whatever they say against these people and whatever they do against
them, they are really saying and doing against the Lord's Anointed."

Furthermore, Moses believed it to be wisest to be upon the side of God.
"He had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Adding all things
up and making a deliberate calculation of the whole business he
believed that it must be right and wise to stand on that side which was
in agreement with the living God. He made up his mind that he would be
where the Lord was. Now, dear Friends, that is a wise conclusion to
come to, is it not? Should we not be on the side of God? We are His
creatures–should we contend with our Creator? He has been infinitely
good to us–ought we not to side with our Benefactor? All that He does
is right, all that He permits is just, all that He advocates is pure.

Should we not be on that side? The other side is the side of evil and
darkness, the side of the devil–should we be found there? I think not.
O young Man, it will be your glory to be upon the side of God. O young
Woman, it will be your beauty to espouse the cause of Christ. What can
become of us if we are opposed to God, the Good and True? Shall the
thread contend with the flame, or the wax with the fire? If we are on
the side of God we are on the right side. And being on the right side
we shall have peace of conscience and rest of heart. The right must
ultimately win the day.

But even if it were not so, a brave heart is content with being right.
Is it just? Is it true? Then put down my name as a soldier in that
army. It must be well to be upon the side of God because God's worst is
better than the world's best. Did you notice how Moses put it? He
brings forth affliction and he esteems it to be better than the
"pleasures of sin." Now, pleasures are certainly better than
afflictions, according to any ordinary judgment. But Moses came to this
conclusion– that although affliction might be God's worst–it was
better than the pleasure of sin, which is evil's best. He mentions
reproach, which is one of the most bitter kinds of affliction, for many
a man can bear pain but cannot bear ridicule.

Moses set down reproach and he counted it to be better than the
treasures in Egypt. Yet the treasures in Egypt were the best things in
Egypt–its gold, its horses, its fine linen and the many things that
made Egypt famous. I say he put all these down in the schedule, and
then preferred the reproach of Christ to them all. God's fast is better
than Egypt's feast. Thus he calmly and deliberately made his decision
and said, "I throw in my lot with the people of God. I take their God
to be my God and where my duty to God may call me, there will I go."

Next, dear Friends, note this–Moses had faith in a future judgment. He
looked beyond the present. He "had respect to the recompense of the
reward." It is dangerous to be always looking at things from one point
of view. If we could go quite round and see things from the future,
looking back upon them rather than forward to them, how different they
would appear! "Oh," said a lady to her minister, "I find great pleasure
in going to the play. There is the pleasure of anticipation, there is
the pleasure of enjoying it and there is the pleasure of thinking it
over afterwards." "Yes," said her minister, "I know all that, Madam.
But there is one pleasure you have forgotten, namely, the pleasure of
meditating upon it on a dying bed." She shrugged her shoulders, she
could see no pleasure there.

I wish that men would estimate their pleasures by that rule. How will
they look when they lie dying? How will they appear when they stand
before the judgment seat of God? When I have once come into eternity
and have to spend it according to the final sentence, how shall I look
back upon what I have done? As a Christian man, how shall I look back
upon wasted opportunities and idleness in my Master's vineyard? As an
unbeliever, how shall I regard wasted Sabbaths, rejected entreaties, a
neglected Bible, a disregarded Mercy Seat? If we could only view things
in that clear light which beats about the eternal future we should
avoid a thousand mistakes. View the course of life as Moses did, in
connection with the recompense of the reward and a resolve will be
taken which will make you commence a life for God and holiness.

Let me not quit this point till I have said that Moses had a personal
faith by which he realized the whole business for himself. He did not
say, "Yes, there is a God undoubtedly and these are God's people and
there is an end of it." But he said, "There is a God for me to worship,
for me to trust, for me to obey. Here are God's people. I resolve to be
numbered with them. Their God shall be my God. I will be one of the
sheep of His pasture, and take my part with His flock. If they suffer,
I will suffer with them. If they rejoice, I will wait to rejoice till
they rejoice."

His faith led him on to personal action. He did not say, "I am placed
by Providence in the palace of Pharaoh and so I am not called upon to
suffer like the rest of my race." No, no–he refused to be called the
son of Pharaoh's daughter. He did not say, "I am so circumstanced that
I need not suffer and therefore I will keep out of the general trouble
as well as I can." You know how men feel–that there is nothing like
keeping on the warm side of the hedge. Moses resolved that he would
suffer affliction with the people of God. Moses would be on a level
with his brethren. He declared himself to be one of the despised
nation. The reproaches of them that reproached Christ in His people
fell upon him.

This was the faith of Moses, a real personal faith. Come, dear Friends,
ask yourselves, have you all such a personal faith in God? I tell you,
if your faith is not personal and practical faith, it is not worth two
pence. It will do you no good, either here or hereafter. It will leave
you lost to God if it leaves you still a friend to the world and an
alien from the people of God. Oh, that you may say from your heart,
"This God is my God forever and ever. He shall be my Guide even unto
death." Faith in Moses was the foundation of the whole building of his
life. Have you faith? Then every good thing will come of it. Have you
no faith? Then you have no beginning from which a happy end can come.

How can you read your title clear to mansions in the skies, when you do
not, as yet, know the first letters of the alphabet of Divine Grace?
You can never build up a character such as God will approve. For you
have not even laid the first cornerstone of faith.

II. Our second point is this–MOSES EXHIBITED A CLEAR DECISION. Oh,
that the Spirit of God would work the like in all of us! Note, first,
the time of his choice–"When he was come to years." We do not know the
exact time to which this refers. When he was forty years of age he
visited his Brethren but his mind may have been made up long before. It
was "when he was come to years." I suppose that means early in life, as
soon as he was of full age. Why not earlier still? He was in Pharaoh's
court under many influences which may have prevented an earlier
confession. We are not sure that God had yet spoken to his heart so as
to make him feel the importance of following the Lord fully.

Anyway, it was in early life that he declined the world and chose his
God. It is a grand thing for young people to decide for God soon–it
will save them from a thousand mistakes and bring them a thousand
advantages. Early piety leads on to eminent piety–he who begins his
journey early travels far in the day. The great bulk of those who have
distinguished themselves in the Church of God will be found to have
been converted while they were yet young. "When he was come to years."
Does some youth here claim that he has not yet come to years? I
answer–Is that so? Why, the other day you were demanding of your
father certain liberties because you felt yourself quite the man.

I find that lads nowadays become men earlier than they used to do. I
wish they would take upon themselves ripe responsibilities as well as
covet ripe privileges, Oh, that they would act as Moses did when he
came to years! If you feel you have come to years in one way, admit
that you have come to years in another way. Say, "Now is the time when
I must come right straight out and be a Christian man." You young women
who do not care to be called girls any longer, I pray you give your
hearts to Christ. The sooner you are decided, the better. Still it is
said, "when he was come to years," as much as to say that whatever his
decision was while he was yet young, that decision was carried out more
practically when he was come to years.

We wish to see young people converted, but we wish it to be as
thoughtful a conversion, as clear and deliberate a change as if they
were advanced in age. We trust that their following years will confirm
what they do in their youth. Now, what do you say, Brothers and Sisters
of mature years? If you could lay aside your religious profession and
begin again, would you still make today the decision which you arrived
at when you were young? Oh yes, we can say and do say–We have lifted
our hand unto God and we cannot go back. And instead of wishing to go
back, we lift both hands now, and cry–

"It is done, the great transaction's done, I am my Lord's and He is
mine."

We do not wish to retreat from the Covenant of our youth, or draw back
from the bond of our Baptism into Christ of long years ago. We repeat
the vow and cry, "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of
the altar." Moses decided for God early in life. But he also decided
when he was capable of forming a mature and deliberate judgment. Moses
went about arranging his life like a man of business and decided
wisely. But we must note well the prospect which he gave up. He
"refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." To be the son of
Pharaoh's daughter made him a prince of Egypt. Some have thought that
the Pharaoh then reigning had no other child but this daughter and that
her son Moses would have succeeded to the throne of Egypt. We cannot be
sure of that, though it may have been so.

The son of a princess has noble rank and grand opportunities. Wealth
was evidently to be had–the treasures of Egypt were before him. Honor
was his already and as he grew older titles would multiply upon him.
But he said firmly, "No. I cannot be an Egyptian. I am an Israelite and
I prefer the privileges which come to me from Father Abraham to those
which come by Pharaoh's daughter. I cannot relinquish my part in the
Promise and the Covenant but I can, and

will, relinquish all the honors which come of Pharaoh's court." He did
so–deliberately did so. "He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter."

A great many would say–What a fool he was to give up what others
covet! I fear that many of you professors would not lose a situation
for Christ. Some of you could not lose a shilling a week of extra pay
for the Lord. Ah me, this is a miserable age! Go with a lancet
throughout these Isles and you could not get enough martyr blood to
fill a thimble. Backbones are scarce and grit is a rare article. Men do
not care to suffer for Christ. They must be respectable, they must vote
in the majority, they must go with the committee and be thought well of
for their charity. As to standing up and standing out for Christ, it is
looked upon as an eccentricity, or worse.

Today if a young man proposed to sacrifice his position for Christ's
sake, father and mother and friends would all say–"Do not think of
such a thing. Be prudent. Do not throw away your life." Once men could
die for conscience sake–but conscience is nowadays viewed as an ugly
thing, expensive and hampering. No doubt many advised Moses to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but he steadily refused. He
deliberately divested himself of his rank that he might be numbered
with the downtrodden people of God. For a moment I will show you some
of the arguments which Moses must have had to meet. In his own mind,
when having come to years, he began to think the matter over, many
arguments would arise and demand reply.

The first argument would be, "You will be acting very unkindly to your
adopted mother–What will she say? She drew you out of the water when
you might have been drowned. She took you home, she saw that you were
nursed and cared for, she has had you trained and educated. She has
spent no end of money on you. There is nothing you could wish for but
what she has supplied it–her heart is entwined in yours–and now,
having come to years, if you refuse to be called her son, it will be a
very sad return for her love."

Natural affection has often proved a serious difficulty in the way of
grace. The Lord Jesus has said, "He that loves father or mother more
than Me is not worthy of Me. And many are thus unworthy." In the case
of Moses, a sense of honor would join with affection. He knew that it
was right to refuse to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But still,
there was something to be said on the other side. For how could he
disown a tie which the hands of love had fastened? Could he rend that
fond connection? Could he persist in saying, "I am no Egyptian"? I
doubt not that he felt, "I should be playing the hypocrite if I
professed to be of Egypt, and I must tell the Princess as gently as I
can, but still most firmly, that I cannot be called by her name. For I
am the son of Amram, of the tribe of Levi, of the seed of Jacob."

Moses was an Israelite, indeed. He would not conceal his nationality
nor renounce it by becoming a naturalized Egyptian. Though it should
tear the heartstrings of his foster mother and be even as a sentence of
death to himself, yet he would take his stand. Moses thus proved his
faith to be stronger than that of many who are mastered by family ties
and held captive by the bonds of earthly love. Unequal yoking is the
ruin of thousands. The friendship of the world is the blight of piety.
Happy are they who love Jesus more than all!

Next, there would come before the mind of Moses the plausible argument,
"Providence has led you where you are and you ought to keep your
position." When Moses looked back he saw a remarkable Providence
watching over him in the ark of bulrushes and bringing the Egyptian
princess down to that particular part of the Nile to bathe. How
singular that she should see the ark and save the life of the weeping
babe! Could he fly in the teeth of Providence by relinquishing the high
position so specially bestowed? Thus would flesh and blood reason.

How often have I heard people excuse themselves for doing wrong by
quoting what they call Providence! Arguments from Providence against
positive commands are ingenious deceptions. Providence is of God, but
the lesson which we draw from it may be of the devil. When Jonah wanted
to flee to Tarshish he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to
Tarshish. How providential! Nothing of the sort. When Cain killed his
brother Abel, was it Providence which found the club? Whenever a man
wants to do wrong he will find opportunities at hand. But let him not
excuse his wickedness by the apparent opportunity for it. Be afraid of
that kind of Providence which makes sin easy.

When a Providence comes across you in doing right, do not give over
your gracious purpose but know that it is sent to try you, whether you
can serve the Lord under difficulty. A Providence which chimes in with
your natural inclination may be a stone of stumbling by which your
hypocrisy will be made clear. Moses felt that Providence did bring him
into Pharaoh's court, but he also felt that it brought him there that
he might be put to the test to see whether he would come

out of it for the Lord's sake. Do not believe in the reasoning which
suggests that Providence would have us slide along an easy, though
evil, way.

Providence, if it is read aright, never tempts to sin, though it may
put before us trials for our faith. Our rule of life is the commandment
of the Lord, not the doubtful conclusions which may be drawn from
Providences. Yet another argument may have met Moses, for it is one
which I have heard repeated till I am sick of answering it. Moses could
do a deal of good by retaining his position. What opportunities for
usefulness would be in his way! See how he could help his poor
Brethren! How often he could interpose at the court to prevent
injustice! Moreover, what a bright light he would be in his high
position–his example would commend the faith of the true God to the
courtiers and great ones.

Nobody could tell what an influence would thus be exercised upon Egypt.
Pharaoh himself might be converted and then all Egypt would bow before
Jehovah. Thus have we met with Brethren who say, "Yes, I am in a Church
with which I do not agree. But then, I can be so useful." Another
cries, "I know that a certain religious union is fostering evil. But
then, I can serve the cause by staying in it." Another is carrying on
an evil trade but he says, "It is my livelihood and besides, it affords
me opportunities of doing good!" This is one of the most specious of
those arguments by which good men are held in the bonds of evil. As an
argument, it is rotten to the core.

We have no right to do wrong from any motive whatever. To do evil that
good may come is no doctrine of Christ but of Satan. Fallen nature may
wander in that way but the Grace of God delivers us from such wicked
sophistry. Whatever good Moses might have thought that he could do in a
false position, he had faith enough to see that he was not to look to
usefulness but to righteousness. Whatever the results may be, we must
leave them with God, and do the right at all cost.

But, dear Friends, do you not think that Moses might have made a
compromise? That idea is very popular. "Now then, Moses, do not be too
strict. Some people are a deal too particular. Those old-fashioned
puritanical people are narrow and strait-laced–be liberal and take
broader views. Cannot you make a compromise? Tell Pharaoh's daughter
you are an Israelite but that, in consequence of her great kindness,
you will also be an Egyptian. Thus you can become an
Egypto-Israelite–what a fine blend! Or say an Israelito-Egyptian–with
the better part in the front. You see, dear Friends, it seems a simple
way out of a difficulty to hold with the hare and run with the hounds.
It saves you from unpleasant decisions and separations.

Besides, Jack-of-Both-Sides has great praise from both parties for his
large-heartedness. I admire this in Moses, that he knew nothing of
compromise. First he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter
and secondly he made a deliberate choice rather, "to suffer affliction
with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season." My Hearers, come out, I pray you, one way or the other. If God
is God, serve Him. If Baal is God, serve him. If it is right to be an
Israelite, be an Israelite. If it is right to be an Egyptian, be an
Egyptian. None of your trimming. It will go hard with trimmers at the
Last Great Day. When Christ comes to divide the sheep from the goats,
there will be no middle sort. There is no place for trimmers. Modern
thought is trying to make a purgatory but as yet the place is not
constructed and meanwhile you border people will be driven down to
Hell. May God grant us His Grace to be decided!

Notice the lot which Moses chose. He refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter and he chose to take his portion with the oppressed,
reproached and ridiculed Israelites. I want you to see the terms in
which his judgment is expressed. For no doubt the Holy Spirit tells us
exactly how Moses put it in his own mind. He chose rather to suffer
"affliction with the people of God." Does not that alter it
wonderfully? "Affliction" nobody would choose. But "affliction with the
people of God," ah, that is another business altogether. "These are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

I choose the "great tribulation," not because I like it, but because
these came out of it and have "washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb." "Affliction with the people of God" is
affliction in glorious company. I was reading the other day the life of
John Philpot who was shut up in Bishop Bonner's coal-hole in Fulham
Palace. There he and his friends sang Psalms so merrily that the Bishop
chided them for their mirth. They could have quoted Apostolic authority
for singing in prison. When there were seven of them, Philpot wrote–"I
was carried to my Lord's coal-house again, where I, with my six fellow
prisoners, do rouse together in the straw as cheerfully, we thank God,
as others do in their beds of down."

To be with the people of God, one would not mind being in the
coal-hole. No one wants to be in Bonner's coal-hole. But better be
there with the martyrs, than upstairs in the palace with the Bishop. To
hear the saints' holy talk and sing

with them their gladsome Psalms and with them behold the Angel of the
Covenant, is a very different thing from mere suffering or
imprisonment. "With the people of God"–that is the sweet which kills
the bitter of affliction. Nobody here wants to go into a burning fiery
furnace. But none of us would refuse to be there with Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego and that "fourth" who was "like unto the Son of God"!

I admire this in Moses, that he does not look at half a thing. He views
it all round, and having seen it all, he forms his judgment. He did not
choose affliction for its own sake but affliction with the people of
God he preferred to the pleasures of sin. Note the next
expression–"Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures in Egypt." Nobody desires reproach for its own sake. But "the
reproach of Christ" is a very different matter. That gives a new flavor
to it. Nobody wants to stand up in yonder pillory, where everybody is
hurling mud and filth at the object of their scorn. But tell me that
the sufferer is the Lord Jesus Christ and I will find you a host of
volunteers to stand with Him and gather honor by sharing in His
dishonor. "The reproach of Christ." Why, that is glory!

Thus Moses placed things in their right light and they seemed to
undergo a complete change. Now. Notice what he said about the baits
upon the other side–"Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." See!
He calls the pleasures of the court "the pleasures of sin." Why, Moses,
you need not fall into vice! You could be an Egyptian and yet be chaste
and honest and sober and just and good. Yes, but he regards his
proposed life as the son of Pharaoh's daughter as full of "the
pleasures of sin." Now, mark this–If you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, it becomes your duty decidedly to come out and stand on His
side. And if you do not do so, the pleasures derived from your sin of
omission will be the pleasures of sin. You are living a life of
disloyalty to Christ and that is a life of sin.

"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." That is to say, if you have not
faith that you are doing right, you are doing wrong. And as Moses could
not feel that he was doing right by being an Egyptian, whatever
pleasure he might have gained from his remaining at court would have
been "the pleasure of sin." Then note the word, "For a season." Did you
hear the tolling of a bell? It was a knell. It spoke of a new-made
grave. This is the knell of earthly joy–"For a season!" Honored for
doing wrong–"For a season!" Merry in evil company–"For a season!"
Prosperous through a compromise–"For a season!" What after that
season? Death and judgment.

Note once again, that Moses spoke about treasures. And as a great man
in Egypt he knew what wealth there was in the land. But he qualifies
the treasures by saying, "treasures in Egypt." For an Israelite those
treasures were nothing, since they were in a foreign land. Treasures in
the land that flows with milk and honey–these were real treasures. But
treasures in Egypt were a mockery. Moses shakes his head at them. He
esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt. So, you see, most deliberately, with great discrimination, Moses
made his choice and kept to it and God blessed him in it. He was
preserved in the ark of Grace from the hand of the enemy and was drawn
out of the waters of temptation to be consecrated to the high service
of God.

III. I want, in the last place, hurriedly to say that MOSES SHOULD BE
IMITATED BY US.

First, Brethren, we should have Moses' faith. The things which Moses
believed are true, and therefore ought still to be believed. They are
as important today as when he believed them. Let us lay hold upon them
and feel their practical bearings this very morning. Young men,
especially–I entreat you to believe in God and in His work of Grace
among His people, that you may be numbered with His chosen now and in
the day of His appearing.

Next, we must imitate Moses in this–that if we do believe we must come
out on the Lord's side. Now that you have "come to years," do let it be
seen on whose side you are. Let there be no doubt, no hesitation, no
vacillation. But let those who see you in the house, or in business,
know that you are on the Lord's side. Let me exhort you also to see
things in the eternal light. Do not look at things in their bearings
upon today, or tomorrow, or the next few years. Judge by eternity. For
the present the good man may be a loser. You must look further than
your foot. Take the measuring line of the sanctuary and use it when you
judge of spiritual things.

Note another important matter–I pray that you may get into fellowship
with Christ. Oh, to know Christ and love Him–to have Him to be your
Savior and then to feel that you can wear the reproach of Christ as a
chain of gold! This is a great help in the life of a tried child of
God. Dear Friend, if you are a Believer in Christ, give yourself up to
God without reserve–say, "I will follow You, my Lord, through flood or
flame. I will follow You up hill or down dale. I will follow wherever
the Lord shall lead the way. I will follow at all cost and hazard." Say
this in your soul. Take God for

your all in poverty and disgrace. Take God on the bleak winter's day
and say–"I am resolved, God helping me, to do

His will."

If you do this, you cannot tell what God has in store for you, nor need
you give it a consideration. Moses, after all, was not a loser by his
self-denial. He became King in Jeshurun and was more than a monarch in
the wilderness. He refused to be Pharaoh's son but in the Book of
Exodus God said to him–"See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh."
Egypt's haughty monarch feared his plagues and entreated his
intercession. The Lord made Moses so great that among those who are
born of woman he ranks among the first unto this day. Even in Heaven he
is remembered. For they sing "the song of Moses the servant of God and
of the Lamb."

Young man, if you give yourself unto the Lord you can little guess what
He will do with you. What you lose will be a mere trifle compared with
what you will gain. As to honor–all honor and glory lie in the service
of the Most High. I am come to this conclusion, my Brethren–whether I
sink or whether I swim, I am the Lord's! By His Grace I will believe
His Word and cling to its inspiration, whether the Lord shall roll away
my reproach or not. I would say with the three holy children, "Our God
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and
He will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, be it known
unto you, O King, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the
golden image which you have set up."

By God's Grace, with Job my heart has said–"Though He slay me, yet
will I trust in Him." Be this the resolve of each one, for Christ's
sake. Amen.