Follow A Good Example, Part 1

Today on the Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

We must choose to make God's kingdom first got it is against all logic menu raised in Pharaoh's home. This is the richest, most powerful human being on the planet you been given the very best treatment. The very best for the very best education you could possibly have and I am certain in Pharaoh's daughter in the home possible loved him and he chooses to treat all of that infamous treatment marginalization as a person joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart fellowship in words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill go for now is once again he shows us how God's word makes our world whenever we entered the new millennium, the New York Times Magazine published data series of six millennial issues probing the past thousand years of human history to predict some of the aspects of what they saw would be in the future, the third in the series was called into the unknown, answering the question that werewolves exploration and discovery going the next millennium, and they wrote these words, the story of the last thousand years can be told as a series of agreed adventures Marco Polo to China and Columbus to the New World and Garland, the Galapagos adventurers as old as Homer.

But plunging into the unknown.

In quest of knowledge is a legacy of this millennium, one that began with Leif Erickson and ended with a robot on Mars.

The record of physical discovery in the past thousand years is remarkable. People of daring and imagination, pushback, barriers, abatements, silver uncharted waters and opened up a world that we all now take for granted Internet article date introduce someone that I had never heard of. Introduce the Chinese admiral, saying he almost 100 years before Columbus had never sailed. He commanded a huge navy of 28,000 sailors and over 300 ships a Navy larger than any Western world. The country was going to know until World War II. He let his fleet to wipe the waters of Southeast Asia and he reached all the way to the East Coast of Africa. What the article goes on the say is shocking. It saved his adventures were amazing. He had no lasting impact.

You see, there was no real interest in China for what it happened.

There was no follow-up to his expiration and because of that you are not China dominated world expiration in the centuries ahead said in the end, and explore makes history, but does not necessarily change it for his impact depends less on the trail that he blazes than on the willingness of others to follow the D-ring of a great expedition is hostage to the national will of those who remain going to think about this for moment, there's a tremendous spiritual lesson. This idea of whether or not someone would follow you think about that word.

It is such a Christian word follow many times did Jesus say following. I want to stop at a brief moment, then go to the right of the most important text but I want you to go with me to first Corinthians chapter 10 for just a moment. First Corinthians chapter 10 in verse one in here the apostle Paul is talking about this great adventure. This is going to be this is a great adventure.

He says friend not want you to be unaware, brother, and that our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the seas talking about the Exodus he says, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the CMA always the same spiritual food and they all drank a spur same spiritual drink and they were drinking from a spiritual walk which followed them in the rock was Christ.

He said nevertheless with most of them God was not well pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness.

Then God says this now, these things happen.

As examples for us so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved Albina verse 11. Now these things happen to them as an example and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages come. So what's the whole point of the Exodus need story makes a great movie. See you seen the movie.

It's like that's really neat, but all the neat things that happen those people. That's not exactly what God had in mind. Now I want to go to the text in Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 is a whole chapter dedicated to spiritual trailblazers. These are the people that want the rock. These are heroes of our faith.

We know their names is an amazing thing. We have decided not God.

We called the Hall of Fame of faith and that's probably regrettable and if you've ever been to Hall of Fame.

What's the whole point. Are you going to see what all these people done in their chosen profession.

While that's really neat that you really need all they do.

You see, it's a spectator thing for us. We honor them by going that's all there is. God would never have called this chapter, the Hall of Fame of faith God would see this chapter was written so that those will follow and imitate these people. In this chapter. When you read this chapter, you come to a couple conclusions. These are perfect people at all is nothing perfect about many of them.

These are people who were feeling.

People who trusted and unfailing God. No one in this chapter, by the way ever played it safe. Not at all. That's why they're there.

None of them chose a risk-free life.

So God decides to put them in their so that he they could be an example for you and I to follow and I want to do is just one family. That's the family. Moses and God says that this family existed for the reason for you and I to follow what they did so will start verse 23 and it says by faith Moses when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child. They were not afraid of the kings eating the first lesson in this is in faith.

We must choose courage over fear's always been this case would God's people. We must choose courage over fear go with me now you hold to place her cousin coming back. I want to go to Exodus, the book of Exodus chapter 1, I hope you understand the background from a spiritual point of view. We always think of what the poor Jews are slaves in Egypt but they were sent to Egypt by God. I believe the God was really worried about the fact that the Canaanites were having already such a negative effect on the Jews who were in the promised land.

And so because of that, because it was a famine because the story of Joseph.

They end up in Egypt and they end up in Egypt, 72 people 72 people end up in Egypt and when they leave 400 years later is 2 million+ people God used Egypt the birth of his nation is a God sends them into Egypt and suddenly you're going to see that there is a change in Egypt, a change for the worse, a new group of people called costs are high costs depending on your pronunciation.

They changed Egypt, they became suspicious of all foreigners and so down in verse eight of chapter 1 of Exodus. It's is now a new king arose over Egypt, he did not know Joseph and he said it was people. Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more than mightier than we come let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war. They will join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and departed from the land so they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor and they built, he said for Pharaoh storage cities, he said-in Ramses, but the more they afflicted them.

The more they multiplied, and the more they spread out so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel and the Egyptians compel the sons of Israel to labor rigorously and they made their lives bitter and hard labor mortar and bricks and all kinds of labor in the field and all the labors which the religious group rigorously imposed on them, and then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives.

One of the named one of the listening shift from and the others were named and he said when you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birth still fit as the sun you shall put them to death is a daughter, she shall live in one Warriors but he did one those who could breed, he said, but the midwives feared God, they could have been in the Hall of Fame of faith. The midwives feared God it says did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live so the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, why have you done this thing and let the boys live in the midwives a deferral because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife get that's an interesting chat payment by the lake that was a whole class and dollar seminary on adverse is taught by Norman Geisler brilliant apologist Dr. Geisler said that righteousness owes evil nothing in it about half of the student said you always have to tell the truth.

Dr. Geisler said no you don't. Righteousness owes evil nothing and this is one of the verses. He went to the midwife told you there new their honor for you see is an interesting thought.

It says so God was good to the midwives. Some nations love that kind of stuff he says, and the people multiplied, they became mighty and it came about when the midwives feared God, that he established households for them and then Pharaoh commanded all his people seen every son who was born your to cast into the Nile and every daughter you are to keep alive. There's the eating oppression went to abuse the slavery and now the genocide. That's what happens in Egypt and I said we we must choose courage over fear. It's kind of ironic. By the way, because the Egyptians worshiped the Nile as the life giver.

They worshiped the river and so they want to use the river to kill young Jewish boys. The midwives have a tremendous amount of courage, but then we learn something else here we learned in verse one of chapter 2, a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi and the woman conceived and bore a son and when she saw that he was beautiful. She hidden for three months but when she got item no longer. She got them in a wicker basket covered it over with tar and pitch and that you put the child in it and set it among the reeds are the bank of the Nile. That's interesting.

Now you have somebody here who's decided that they had a son and there's a couple things. This is Amber at an Jacobite don't even mention by name till Exodus 6. Parents of Moses now want to understand something here. They had the child for three months now their lives in danger, you have a child, it would probably cost you not only the child's likely your life in the Hennepin for three months but there's something else about them. It's a little bit interesting. At least I find it interesting. They saw that he was beautiful, and that's an interesting phrase.

They saw that he was beautiful at the NIV says that an in book a batch that he is no ordinary child.

There's something unusual about this child is only three months old. A please don't get upset with me but normally between birth and three months enough. There's not really that much going on I but this child is special. In his own way. He's very, very special. Stephen says and accepting that he was beautiful and pleasing to God. He is clearly a child of destiny and God uses his beauty to get them in the Pharaoh's household listeners. No way in the world, a daughter of Pharaoh would just pick up a Jewish baby right. This made him look like a this baby was really no ordinary baby this baby was special and so that's what you see is behind-the-scenes here how this works now the faith of these parents saves Moses and again another Anthony.

He is saved by being put in the Nile which was the biggest place of execution. Faith is following God's clear leading despite the dangers notice that it's also wise they trust God, but they hide the baby's an interesting thing for three months.

One of the funniest things by the ways they said why they have to get rid met the three months and I actually read a commentator that said because he cried to I don't think we know that exactly what happened, Peter, and says this. It was not as if the Lord reacted to the decree and thought on the one am I going to do now whether it's precisely by the means of this decree that God brings the deliverance of his people. God's informed them full control of both Moses birth and of the external circumstances that threaten to undo it. God does not remove Moses and the situation more as a strike on Pharaoh who dares to oppose him, both of which he certainly could've done instead God places Moses in the same now that Pharaoh intended the boys harm any brings the boy right the first doorstep and have him raise him in Pharaoh's house, why to defeat the enemy decisively at his own game. At the very heart of his own strength. He said this is a God who can be trusted and Moses parents chose to trust God think about practical lesson. This is do you choose courage over fear when it comes to your faith. Think of a young Christian girl who gets pregnant. What does all of her friends and everybody else tell an abortion, this when the life she does it take courage is a take courage for teenage notice a number and have the baby.

It takes courage to do that.

There are all kinds of incidents is in our life and the choice we have is will you choose that have courageous faith or will you choose not to succumb to your fear and I think we do that so often we end up ashamed of ourselves because we succumb to the fear rather than shown courage and Moses parents this going to cost them their life they want. Afraid now back to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24 says, by faith Moses we've just moved 40 years and please understand some things here.

Moses is an Israelite by only one factor birth. That's it that's all years he's been raised by Egyptians and she's three months old so wasn't like all know we going on the lot a lesson from his mom and dad just from birth. He is Egyptian in every way, social status, prestige, wealth, that's who use that to Moses is he goes on, he says, by faith Moses when he had grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and here's the choice he makes choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. That's a choice Moses made, we must choose to make God's kingdom first, and he does and is against all logic menu raise in Pharaoh's home. This is the richest, most powerful human being on the planet you been given the very best treatment. The very best food. The very best education.

Everything you could possibly have you had that and I am certain of Pharaoh's daughter in the hall household loved him and he chooses to treat all of that infamous treatment and marginalization as a person and this is a time of incredible prosperity in Egypt is the 19th Dynasty. This is one of the most prosperous periods in the history of Egypt. He's an Egyptian by adoption and status, and culture and had nothing to do with the neighbors. He was born one. You see, how can he make such an unthinkable choice because he chose to make God's kingdom first sin amazing thing back to Exodus for just a moment.

Verse 11 of chapter 2 is is now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up they went out to his brother and he looked on their hard labors Nissan Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brother say look this way and that we saw that there was no one Iran. He struck down the Egyptian and he hit him in the stand. Now please understand something here that could have been courageous on his part, but that would not be advocated by God. Okay, he might've felt in his heart that he was an Israelite, but he acted like an Egyptian Prince besieges executed the man on his own and it says then that the he went out the next day, and behold to Hebrews were fighting with each other and he said to the offender why are you striking your companion and he said made you Prince and judge over us. Are you intending to come here as you killed the Egyptian and Moses was afraid and said sure.

This matters become known. Now you got understand what happened to Moses having Moses thought no one will notice this, but if the Jews notice of what will they do with me me me hero right.

Hey, beginning about the sky he killed a guy was being brutal. One of our people but notice the Israelites don't function that way and when a new more to do with Moses than the Egyptians. It's exactly the same for them and it's kind of an interesting thought of his part in any conspires and interesting way. As I said before he is.

His heart is all Hebrew, but his actions are just like a prince of Egypt would act it is wrong. That's exactly what you find out in the book of acts chapter 7 Stephen is talking about. It says he was wrong makes it extremely dangerous choice pastoral government on the radio ministry of fellowship, nor if you ever missed one of our broadcast or maybe you dislike of the sum of the method one more time. Remember, you can Google a great website called one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen the fellowship and the word online event website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of her previous audio program at Fellowship in the Word. We are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help his radio ministry continuous broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly with just the 100th support for ministry can be centered Fellowship in the Word. 4600 Clearview Pkwy., Metairie, LA 7006 if you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format that is is a sermon, the pastor will deliver during a Sunday morning service at fellowship monitored visit our website FVC Nolan.org that FVC and oh LA.O RG at our website you will find hundreds pastoral sermon you can browse through our sermon archives to find sermon series are looking for. You can search by title. Once you find the messenger looking for. You can listen online or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own.

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