Wiersbe, Warren: Running With The Winners-13 ~ Hebrews 11

Hebrews chapter eleven verse twenty three, we have the faith of the parents of Moses. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. The record is given in Exodus chapter one verse twenty two, Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. Exodus chapter two. and there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi, and the woman conceived and bare a son, and when she saw him, that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months, and when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off to know what would be done to him. We have back in the book of Acts another record of this event, Acts chapter seven, uh, verse nineteen: The new king arose who dealt subtly with our kindred and evil entreated our fathers so that they cast out their young children to the end that they might not live, in which time Moses was born and was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house three months. And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. The faith of Moses' parents. Their names were Amram and Jochebed. They were the parents of Moses. Moses had an older brother whose name was Aaron, and an older sister whose name was Miriam. The law that Pharaoh had given to destroy the boy babies had not been in force when Aaron was born, but it was when Moses was born. Now, Amram and Jochebed were rather obscure people, but they gave the world a very famous son, Moses. But the most important thing about them was their faith in God. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden. Now, it wasn't Moses' faith that did this, it was the faith of Amram and Jochebed. Now, let's consider what kind of faith these people had. To begin with, it was cooperative faith. They believed together. Now the record in Exodus twenty two indicates that only the mother was the one who did this, but we read in Hebrews eleven twenty three that both parents were involved in this great act of faith. Cooperative faith, they believed and they obeyed together. Now you'll keep in mind that Bible faith is not just an intellectual thing where we assent with the mind, nor is it an emotional thing where we are stirred in the heart. True Bible faith involves the action of the will. True faith means obeying God in spite of consequence and in spite of circumstance. And this is exactly what Amram and Jochebed did. They had cooperative faith. Now, it wasn't easy to believe in those days. Those were difficult days. A new Pharaoh arose who had forgotten all about what Joseph had done for the people of Egypt. This is so often true, isn't it? Where someone comes in and, uh, saves a situation, and then a new generation comes along that doesn't even remember them for what they've done. History tells us that this new Pharaoh was from the outside. There was an invasion that took place, and this Pharaoh came from outside, altogether a different kind of a dynasty. Be that as it may, he was making life miserable for the Jewish people. Now, this had been prophesied. God had told this to Abraham back in Genesis chapter fifteen. Abraham had told Isaac, Isaac told Jacob, and Jacob told his sons, and they in turn told their families. And so the people of Israel should have expected this difficulty to come, and it should have increased their faith. You see, when, uh, the word of God is fulfilled and we see it actually happen, this would increase our faith. But there were some in the nation of Israel who, alas, did not have much faith, and they were always wanting, when they were delivered, to go back to the land of Egypt. It wasn't easy to believe in those days. It wasn't easy to be married in those days. It wasn't easy to have normal family life in those days, because if you had a baby boy that was born, you had to kill that baby boy. But you know, God had given to them a word of faith. Romans ten seventeen, a verse I have quoted often in this series, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Why did they preserve this little baby boy? Because God had given them a word of faith. God had said, this is my deliverer, and the future of Israel is wrapped up in this little baby boy. Hebrews, uh, eleven twenty three says he was a beautiful child, a proper child. We read the same thing in Exodus, and, uh, Stephen says the same thing in Acts chapter seven verse twenty. There was something very special about this child, but keep in mind it was not, uh, just parental love and devotion that caused them to spare this child. It was because God had marked him out to be the deliverer and somehow had told Amram and Jochebed what his plans were for this baby boy. Faith is our response to God's word, and then when we believe God, God's word becomes God's work. What he promises, he's able to perform. The word that is given by his lips can be empowered by his hand and accomplish his purposes. Now, the point I'm making in this first, uh, characteristic of their faith is simply this. It was cooperative faith. Here's a husband and wife believing together. A husband and wife who knew the word of God together. A husband and wife who trusted God together, who prayed together. This makes me think of First Peter chapter three verse seven: Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them, the wives, according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. And I have often stated in this series that we see men of faith here as well as women of faith. Sarah was a woman of faith, and she was blessed to have a husband who was a man of faith. Jochebed was a woman of faith, and Amram was a man of faith. It's a wonderful thing when a husband and wife believe together. This is why you don't want to marry somebody who's not a believer. In my pastoral ministry, we've had many heartaches as we've watched, uh, young people disobey their parents and disobey the word of God and marry out of their faith. Now, I know sometimes God overrules and good comes out of it, but oh, the heartache and the tragedy of it when we disobey the word of God. Husband, are you encouraging your wife in her faith? Wife, are you encouraging your husband in his faith? Do you read the word of God together? Do you pray together? You say, well, we're so busy. Then you're too busy. You never know what God wants to do with that child in your family. You have no idea the influence you can have. Cooperative faith. Secondly, I noticed that they also had courageous faith. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Courageous faith. You know, faith gives us courage. It gives us courage to face opposition. It gives us courage to seize opportunity. It gives us courage to overcome obstacles. Faith gives us courage. You just read through Hebrews chapter eleven and see how courageous these people are. Isaac had the courage to put himself on the altar, daring even to die that he might be obedient to his father. Moses, we shall see, had the courage to stand before Pharaoh, and he had the courage to lead the people right through the Red Sea. Joshua had the courage to conquer the nation. Rahab had the courage to be different when everybody else around her was opposing Israel. And then you take these great heroes like Gideon and Samson and David and the three Hebrew children and Daniel and the folks who suffered so tremendously. What gave them that courage? Faith. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. They had courageous faith. Now, Pharaoh was doing his best to exterminate the nation of Israel, and Pharaoh has had many descendants. Many nations have tried to exterminate Israel, only to fail, only to fail miserably and themselves be judged by God. First he tried slavery and oppression, that didn't work. And then he told the midwives to kill all the male babies that were born, and that didn't work. Then he told the parents to throw the baby boys into the Nile River, and of course, that didn't work. The very baby who was put into the Nile River turned out to be the redeemer of the people of Israel and the judge of Egypt. You know, faith that sometimes makes us do things that to others appear foolish. They hid Moses for three months, and at the end of that three-month period, by faith, they put him in that little ark and put him by the shore of the Nile River. You'll remember, of course, that the Nile was one of the gods of Egypt. They worshipped that river, and so in throwing the boy babies into the water, they were making sacrifices to this Egyptian god. Well, Amram and Jochebed refused to do that. They worshipped the true God of Israel. Furthermore, they would not murder their own baby. There are people today who think nothing of murdering babies before they're born, but they didn't believe in that. And they put Moses in the little ark in the river, the very place of judgment, the very place of danger, and yet along comes Pharaoh's daughter, and then Moses begins to cry. It's interesting that a baby's tears and his sister's tact and his mother and father's trust overcame Egypt. When that baby began to cry, that was the end of Egypt. That was the end of the slavery, because from that day on, can you imagine it, Pharaoh's daughter was raising the very one who would bring judgment down upon Egypt and eventually deliver Israel. Pharaoh said, drown your babies, and one day his army was drowned. We reap what we sow, don't we? Faith gave them courage. No fear. We know God's in control. And when they put this baby there in the water and put Miriam there to watch, they trusted God to work everything out, and he did. We have that same promise, and we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. They had courageous faith. A woman came to D. L. Moody one day, and she said, oh, Mr. Moody, the Lord has given me a wonderful promise. I am given to being afraid, but he gave me Psalm fifty six verse three, what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Mr. Moody smiled and said, that's a good promise. I'll give you a better one. Isaiah twelve two, I will trust and not be afraid. Courageous faith. I don't know what you're afraid of today, the future, people, circumstances. By faith you can overcome because courageous faith, circumstances, by faith you can overcome because courageous faith God honors, and God will work according to his will. There's a third characteristic to their faith, cooperative faith, they believed together, courageous faith, they didn't have any fear, and then contagious faith. Their faith spread. Now, faith cannot be inherited, but faith can be instilled. Moses could not inherit his mother's faith or his father's faith, but their faith was instilled in him by their teaching, by their example, by the trials that they went through, by their obedience. You know, Miriam caught some of this faith. She was just a young girl when she was babysitting, watching her little brother there, uh, floating in that ark by the, uh, shore of the river. But Miriam caught this faith, and she believed that God was working, and she said to the princess, shall I go call one of the Hebrew mothers to, to nurse the child? And the princess said, go right ahead. So Miriam went and got her mother. I tell you, God has a way of catching these people in their own devices, doesn't he? Here was Pharaoh trying to destroy the nation of Israel, and here is God using Pharaoh's own family to preserve the nation of Israel. He catches the wise in their own devices, doesn't he? Moses caught their faith. We're going to see in our next studies how that Moses was a courageous man because of faith. He had the courage to oppose Pharaoh. His faith was cooperative. He got the whole nation to believe and to cross that Red Sea and to apply the blood of the Lamb. Uh, they had contagious faith. Now, if you want your children to be believers, you've got to set the example. It's not enough, mother and dad, to send your children off to Sunday school or Good News Club or vacation Bible school and, and not have an atmosphere of faith at home. Have your children ever seen you pray, ever he- ever heard you pray? Do they know that you love the word of God? Do they know that when you close the door, you are studying God's word and praying? I tell you, one of the greatest gifts you can give to your children is the example of believing parents. The, um, parents of Moses, Amram and Jochebed, were not famous people, but they had a very famous son, and the thing that was distinguishing about them was that they had contagious faith. Now, unbelief is also contagious. You find somebody in a church or in a family who has unbelief, that's contagious. It leads to discouragement and doubt and fear, but faith is also contagious. Just to believe that God will answer prayer, believing that God will pay the bills, that God will open the way. You're concerned right now about how the children are going to be able to go to school. It's expensive these days, and yet you're trusting God, and God is going to work. We're going to see, as we study Moses, that Moses had the vision of faith. He s- he endured as seeing him who is invisible. He had the vision of faith, and he had the values of faith. He chose rather to suffer affliction than to have the pleasures of sin, and he won the victories of faith. He overcame Egypt, forsook Egypt, and d- delivered his people. Now, where do you get this? Where do you get this vision of faith from his mother and father? Again, Moses did not inherit it, but it was instilled in him. Where did Moses get this, uh, these values of faith? Where do values come from? Well, he saw it in his mother and father. He saw that they knew the, uh, things that were really important. What are the priorities in your home? Do the children, uh, pick up your priorities? Your... they certainly do. You can be sure that they do. Where did Moses learn the victories of faith? How did he overcome Egypt and Pharaoh's six hundred chariots and all the army? He got this from his mother and father. I say it again, one of the greatest things we can do for our children is to set the example of faith, to instill in them faith in the word of God. Please don't expect the Sunday school and church to do this for you. Your children are in Sunday school and church maybe two or three, four hours a week, if that much, but they're a part of your home day in and day out, and they're out there in a wicked world that's, uh, unbelieving and trying to oppose. Oh, that we might set up in our home such an atmosphere of faith that our children grow up and they trust the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and they learn how to pray and how to read the word of God and how to claim God's promises. That's the secret. And my prayer is that all of us might have that kind of a home situation. Well, Moses' parents, cooperative faith, courageous faith, contagious faith, that's the kind of faith children need in a home.