Jesus Christ is presented as infinitely greater than Moses, who, despite his significant role as lawgiver and deliverer, ultimately failed to sanctify God in the eyes of the people and was thus disqualified from leading them into the promised land. The sermon contrasts Moses' three major failures—being too hasty at forty, too hesitant at eighty, and too heated at one hundred and twenty—with Christ's perfect patience, alacrity, and imperturbability. While Moses' glory faded, Christ's glory transforms believers, demonstrating his superior status as the true Joshua who leads God's people into rest.
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Thank you for coming. Pray the Lord bless the word here. Now we are continuing our subject on the greatness of Jesus. Please don't object to my use of the simple name Jesus without the title of the Lord Jesus. We know that he's our Lord Jesus Christ. But to say, to speak of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, just takes things for granted. For if he's the Lord and he's the Christ, he must be great.
But I use just the simple name in the same way that the writer of the Hebrews does. For although that the Lord is so great in Hebrews, yet very, very often we have the simple name Jesus. And so when we speak of the greatness of Jesus, we are marveling, as it were, that the lowly Jesus is so great. We're speaking of the humanity of our Lord, in contrast to other human beings. We have spoken about the greatness of Abraham and on the greatness of Jacob.
Now, shall we tonight is the greatness of Moses. Now tomorrow night the Lord willing the greatness of Solomon. A greater than Solomon is here, said Jesus our Lord. And then a greater than Jonas is here for Friday night in the will of the Lord. And then of course we are continuing our messages in the morning. A survey of the New Testament based on Titus II, eleven to thirteen. I have not indeed mentioned my books, but there are some here available for you.
The one, the glory of his rising, has to do with Christ's resurrection and ours. It's the sequel to my other volume, which I'm sorry, is out of print, which I'm hoping to have someday printed again, at least in paperback. the grandeur of Golgotha. A man told me one time I wouldn't take a hundred dollars for my coffee if I didn't think I could get another one. I'm sorry that one's out of print, but maybe you'll find this one equally good, I hope so. Then the gladness of his return, the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of them are available and of those If there are orders, put your name in if you'd like to have those and give them to our brother, Mr. William. When we were in New Zealand, there were seven hundred copies sold in the ten months we were there. Shall we read tonight, please, in Hebrews chapter three? Hebrews chapter three. And verse one. Hebrew three and verse one, wherefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is builded by some, but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken of. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we? If we hold fast to confidence and rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the earth.
May the Lord bless to us his precious word. We shall have occasion to read some other verses later on, please. Now Moses was great. He was truly great. But in the eyes of a Jew, Moses was greater than Abraham. Greater than Jacob, greater than Joseph, greater than David, greater than Elijah or Elijah or greater than David. Jews love to say we are Moses' disciples.
Moses. Moses was a very great man. It is not the purpose of the writer of the Hebrews to disparage Moses at the expense of our Lord. To belittle him in any way. To exalt our Lord Jesus at the expense of Moses. No. We are assured in Hebrews twice over, in this portion I read to you, that Moses was faithful in all his house. God could say about Moses, well done, thou good and faithful sir.
We're going to think first of all of the greatness of Noah, of Moses. He was truly great. The man who renounced the kingdom, the greatest kingdom of the earth, In order to go and live amongst the slaves of that great kingdom, must have been a truly great man. A man who was prepared to die that others might live, must have been truly a great man. For just as the Apostle Paul said, I could wish myself a curse from Christ for my brethren's sake.
My kinsman according to the flesh. So Moses could say, O God, forgive Israel their sin. And if not, blot me out of the book which thou hast written. I could wish myself a curse, said Moses as it were, from God, for my brethren's sake, my kinsman according to the flesh. It takes a great man to be willing to die for somebody else. Moses was a man who made the mighty Pharaoh tremble on his throat. Moses was a man who led two to three million people out from the domination of Egypt and across the Red Sea and into the wilderness and led and bore with that people for forty long years.
That took a great man. He suffered their manners in the wilderness. for forty years, as God himself had done. Moses was a man who was hidden at birth and hidden at death. God intervened in a special way at the birth of Moses, and God intervened in a special way of the death of Moses. In fact, Moses was a man who was hidden four times at least in his life's history. He was hidden at birth.
His parents hid him for three months. When you read the story in Exodus chapter two, you think that all the hiding wasn't a part of his mother. You have to come to Hebrews to discover that the father joined an effort. When you read about the early birth of Moses and the fact of his being hidden, There's not a man in the whole picture in Exodus chapter two. As a matter of fact, there are no less than seven women in the picture and not a man in the picture. One wonders at the tremendous success of the whole thing.
In chapter one of Exodus, there are at least two women and their names are still on the imperishable page of Holy Scripture who are midwives. and defied the king when he ordered them to slay every baby. When you come to chapter two, you read about Pharaoh's daughter, but you don't read about Pharaoh. The Bible doesn't give her name. Archaeology says her name was Hatshepsut. That is a nice name for you when you're thinking of girl's name. Hatshepsut. Beautiful. And archaeology says that she was one of the most masterful of feminists.
A woman who was used to having her own way. Uncommon type. Archaeology has found coins engraved with the cartouche, the image of Pharaoh and his daughter reigning jointly on the throne. And you can see the character that she has. When she saw this baby, she says, this is one baby's father's not going to get and drown. I'll keep him. I'll keep him. Taylor's not in the picture, but Pachet is. Moses' father's not in the picture, but his mother is.
What was her name? Jockey bed. Right. And the father's name? Amram. Thank you. All right. His mother was in the picture but not his father. His sister was in the picture but not his brother. And when Pharaoh's daughter sent the maids to fetch it, there must have been at least two. So you've got two midwives in chapter one. You've got Pharaoh's daughter. You've got Pharaoh's mother. You've got Pharaoh's sister, Miriam. and you have at least two mates, seven and all. And so Moses was led, was taken by Pharaoh's daughter and race in the palace.
And he who said, drown the baby boys, I want to put an end to this race. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. For he was hiding in his palace. The future deliverer of the children of Israel from a domination of Egypt. God said, I'll make you pay the board and room and education expense of the future deliverer of my people. Thanks to Pharaoh's daughter. What a beautiful story it is. I sometimes linger in that story. I haven't got time tonight. But if I did have time, I'll tell you what I would say. I would say that Pharaoh's daughter sent the maid to fetch that little box, and when she opened it, the babe wept.
It doesn't say it how old, it was a boy. The babe wept. And her heart went out to this baby, and she said, this is one of the Hebrew children. And just then Moses' sister came up and said, Blendly, would you like me to fetch one of the Hebrew mothers to nurse it for you? And Pharaoh's daughter said, yes. And Miriam went and got, of course, baby Moses' mother and brought her to Pharaoh's daughter. Pharaoh's daughter said, would you nurse it for me? Now, the Bible doesn't say this. It hasn't got time. But if I had time to quote from the unauthorized version, I'd say that Pharaoh's daughter said to Moses' mother, would you nurse it for me?
And she says, well, of course, I'm very busy. But I think I could squeeze it into my schedule. And Pharaoh's office said, well, again, I'll pay you for it. And so Pharaoh, who said the baby boys were to be drowned, had to pay the bill for the nourishment of Moses by his mother. And so that's the story of Moses. He was hidden at his birth. And then, of course, he was hidden in the palace of Pharaoh for those many years, learned in all the learning of Egypt. Pharaoh didn't know he was hiding the future deliverer, but he was.
And then he was hidden for forty years on the backside of the desert, as we shall say. And then he was hidden in the cleft of the rock. And then when he died, God hid his body from the devil. Moses was a hidden man. Moses was the man that gave the law to the children of Israel, not just the Ten Commandments, but everything they appertained to their daily life, physical, civil, religious, legal, everything. And he did that for years. Moses was a prophet, priest, and king.
Did you know that? He was a prophet because God, he said himself, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up like unto me. To him shall you hearken. He was a prophet. And until the institution of the Aaronic priesthood, he was the only priest that Israel ever knew. And he's called the king in Jeshurun. The king in Jeshurun. Great man. Moses was truly great. He was the man that built the first house of the Lord in which God dwelt. After the pattern showed him in the mountain.
A great man. And I say again, it's not the purpose of the writer of the Hebrews to magnify the Lord Jesus and minimize Moses. No, Moses was truly great. I think we have a glimpse into his greatness, if you would like to turn to Deuteronomy, for a moment please. Chapter thirty-three. I think it's only as we see something of the greatness of Moses that we'll see something of the exceeding greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter thirty-three in verse one says, And this is the blessing wherewith Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. Verse one introduces us to what I call the voice of Moses in blessing. The voice of Moses. Look at chapter thirty-four, where we shall read about the vision of Moses. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan.
And in verse seven it says, And Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim. The vision of Moses. Did you know that at a hundred and twenty his vision was twenty-twenty? That's a fact. At a hundred and twenty, his vision was twenty-twenty. His eye wasn't dim. And his keen eyes showed him all the glory of Cain, in company with God. The vision of Moses. Look at the vigor of Moses. His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. You ever think of that? At a hundred and twenty years of age, his natural force unabated.
vigor of Moses. And finally, the virtues of Moses, verse ten. And there arose not a prophet, since in Israel, like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all his signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do, in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his lambs. The virtues of Moses. What a man he was. Truly great. The voice of Moses. Raise and bless. Read Deuteronomy thirty-three. Next time you got a little time. And you'll find that it's all about God.
The heart of God. Yea, he loved the people. The hands of God. All his saints are in his head. The feet of God. And they sat down everyone at thy feet, the mouth of God, and everyone shall receive of thy words. That's a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter thirty-three and verse three. He loved the people, the heart of God. All the saints are in thy hands, the hands of God. They sat down at thy feet, the feet of God.
and everyone shall receive of thy words. Read further down this chapter, and you'll read about the shoulders of God, and you'll read about the arms of God, underneath of the everlasting arms. In other words, this voice of Moses is raised in blessing Israel. When he does, he just brings them to the greatness of God. Then the vision of Moses and the vigor. and the virtues of this man. Now read verse one of the next book. Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord came to pass that the Lord stake unto Joshua, the son of none, Moses' minister.
Why do I read that? I read that to show, dear friends, that the time came when that voice was stilled. The time came when that vision was gone. The time came when that vigor was no longer felt, and the virtue was only a thing of the memory. Moses was dead. But God wasn't dead. And he said to a man by the name of Joshua, I want you to take his place and lead the people in. We shall consider after a while the moral reasons about Moses... inability to lead the people in.
But for typical reasons, may I just say now, it wasn't proper or possible that Moses should lead the people into the rest of Cain. It would have spoiled all God's types, all God's picture. Moses was the lawgiver. Moses was the exponent of law. Moses stood for the commandment. It was impossible that law could bring people into rest. So the sinner Moses is out of the way, the batter. For typical reasons. In order that Joshua, Jehovah the Savior, it's the same name as Jesus. Twice in the New Testament when it's translated Jesus, it should be Joshua. In Hebrews and in Acts chapter seven.
That's how closely the names are related. So it's Jesus that leads them in. It's the Savior that leads them in. So Moses is dead. But all his vigor and virtue is done. But Jesus is not done. A greater than Moses is here. Now, when we say all that about the greatness of Moses, there are three things I must point out that show the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ over Moses, leading us to say, a greater than Moses is here. I don't know if you ever noticed or not, But Moses made three great mistakes, three great failures in his life.
And strange to say, the one, the first occurred when he was forty, the second occurred when he was eighty, and the third occurred when he was a hundred and twenty. That's right. There are forty years between the three failures of Moses. I want to speak about it. And we'll pause at each of those. and will contrast a greater than Moses by God's grace. All right. Moses is now forty years of age, and according to Stephen in Acts chapter seven, we read this the other morning in our house. In Acts chapter seven, Stephen says, when Moses was full forty years of age, see forty in the Bible is a number of a complete probation.
Moses said, I'm forty now. And Stephen says, he thought that the time had come for him to deliver Israel. And he thought that his brethren, the Israelites, ought to know it. He had renounced the throne. He was the prince of Egypt. Archaeology doesn't seem to suggest that Pharaoh ever had a son of his own. Moses could have been the next Pharaoh, they say. But Hebrews He renounced that, to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a reason. So in his forty, he says, the time has come.
It was in his heart to go down and visit his brethren. And you know the story. When he came down to see how they were getting along, he saw an Egyptian smiting one of the slaves, a Hebrew. Then Moses looked this way and that, and nobody was around. He was a great strapping man. He killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. The next day he came down to see how they were getting on. He says, The time has come for me to shah. I'm the deliverer of my people. And they'll recognize it. So he saw two Hebrews quarreling. And he sought to separate them.
And one says, Who made you a ruler over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed Egyptian yesterday? And Moses discovered that he had come unto his own, and his own received him not. He thought the time had come after all of his part. But he was too hasty. At eighty we shall find him as too hesitant. At a hundred and twenty, we'll find he was too heated, too angry. These are these three failures. Too hasty at forty.
Too hesitant at eighty. Too heated at a hundred and twenty. He thought they ought to know that he was ready. Forty years of age, in vigor, at the top of his power. He thought. The time has come. But he was wrong. For Pharaoh sought his flame. He fled. And he fled. And he was gone for forty long years. On the backside of the desert. Doing what? Shepherding sheep.
In the days of Joseph it was said that every shepherd was an abomination to Egyptians. And if that still remained, that which was naturally obnoxious to Moses, he had to do for forty years. Oh, he was a great strong man. You remember when he fled from Pharaoh, he came into the land of Midian, and he saw some seven girls outwatering the flock, daughters of the priest of Midian. And the other could get to the water, to water the flock, and the shepherds came down and drove them away. And Moses, single-handed, evidently, drove them all away.
He was a vigorous man, strong man, big man. But it had to go away for forty years. People who had been learned in all the learning of the Egyptians, learning to be somebody, had to go away for forty years, learning to be nobody. Learning to be nobody. For forty years shepherding a flock. The prince of Egypt. Future Pharaoh. Raising, getting married. Raising two sons. But just a shepherd. And one day as he came to flock, he saw something which the royal looked at it looked like a strange phenomenon.
He saw a bush burning with fire. all day. But it wasn't burning out. He said, I'll turn aside and see the strange sights. And so he turned aside. And you know the story. When he got near, the Lord says, Moses, Moses, draw not neither. Take off thy shoes from off thy feet. The place where thou stand is holy ground. And Moses did so. And stood with unshod feet. That strange phenomena. A bush burning with a strange fire. And out of that bush there came a voice. The voice of God.
God dwelling in a bush. A lily bush. And saying, My name is I am. I am. And now he says, I am going to send you to the Egyptians. The time has come. You're eighty years of age. The time has come for you to deliver my people Israel. And Moses, who was ready forty years before, wasn't ready now. I've no doubt he said to himself, I've learned my lesson. You won't get me jumping into anything.
So God said, I'm going to send you to deliver my people. And Moses says, oh no, not me, Lord. And he sought to give God five reasons why God ought to get somebody else. That's right. He says, who am I that I can go? Who will I say sent me? They won't believe me if I go. I'm not able to speak very well. Get somebody to help me. And the Lord overcame all his scribbles. He says, Moses, I'm still going to send you.
The time has come. He who was too hasty was now too hesitant. And God sent him. And he delivered the people of Israel. And now he's a hundred and twenty, nearing the end of life's journey, and nearing the end of the long journey across the wilderness for forty years. And the children of Israel are murmuring as usual, murmuring for the tenth time, ten notable time, against the Lord.
And it says, There's no water. The water is given out. And God said to Moses, Speak to the rock, which has been following. Speak to the rock, and it will give forth its water. And Moses was angry. And so was Aaron. His patience at last gave out. He who was the meekest man in all the earth, his patience is exhausted. He said, ye rebels, must we bring you water? Must we bring you water out of the rock?
And he took his authoritative rod and he struck it. And the water gushed out. And God says, you are through. You are through. You have failed to sanctify me in the eyes of the people. You've spoiled everything I've been building up in type about the rock Christ Jesus. You've insinuated the thought that the rock must be struck twice. But it only has to be struck once. And all you have to do after it's struck once is speak to it on the water come forth. Amen? That's so. The rock was Christ and he was smitten once.
And Peter says, for Christ was once offered for sins. The Roman Catholic Church says Peter was the first pope. Well, listen to him. Christ has once suffered for sins, and the sacrifice of the mass is an insult to the once for all character of the death of Jesus Christ. Sacrifice of the mass is a continual sacrifice for sins. But Peter himself says Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. And because he has suffered once, he only has to be spoken to now. But Moses spoiled the type. God says, you'll fail to sanctify me in the eyes of the people.
And Moses, you'll never end to the land. Which not now. Or he entered it fifteen hundred years later. He stood with Moses and Elias on the mountain of transfiguration in the land. And the three of them, you know what they talked about? They talked about Christ's exodus at Jerusalem. For when the three of them, the two of them got together, are Moses and Elias, the two of them. When they got talking together, Luke says they talked about his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But the word decease in the Greek language there is exodus. It only occurs three times in the New Testament.
They not only spoke of his going into death, arising out of death, as Exodus meant that. And Moses was there. But for the time being, he's disqualified. He must die on the top of the mountain. And Joshua, the Savior, must lead them in. Now, let's go back. To... Was the Lord Jesus Christ too hasty? I wonder if you've ever thought about this, dear friends. Have you ever thought of the thirty long years that the Lord Jesus had to wait before he could act?
Have you ever thought of the stirrings of his strength in the presence of human weakness during those thirty years. Have you ever thought of the pain of his perfect sympathy in the presence of human woes when he can't do a thing to alleviate it? Have you ever thought of the outrage of Christ's justice against human injustice and against the ravages of the devil for thirty years and he can't do a thing about it.
Is he rebellious? No. No. He'll wait and wait and wait until thirty years when one day he'll stand up and say this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. What? The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to preach the deliverance of the captives, to open the eyes of the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable of the year of the Lord. This is it. I've waited for it, for the Father's will, for the Father's time.
Have you ever thought how the deep call down to deep during those thirty years? The world's deep need, calling to his deep resources for thirty years. Blindness, but he can't open their eyes. Weakness, but he can't make them strong. Death, but he can't raise the dead. He must wait. Oh, the patience of Jesus. And even his disciples would have been glad if he had acceded to the demands that he be king. Because you see, they would join him and sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And when the people would come by force and make him a king, he departed from. It wasn't the time. He would patiently wait for the Father's will. But then again, Moses at eighty, too slow, too hesitant. Was the Lord Jesus ever too hesitant? No. No. Culminating in this, we have been reading about, studying about the Gospel of Mark, the forthright character of the Lord Jesus, the activity of the servant, the readiness to do the Father's will, culminating in this, the cup which my Father has given me, shall I not?
No hesitancy here. Right on till the end. Then what about his heat? What about his anger? None. And when the opposition was crowding in, What did he say? What did he do? They come to capture him. And he says, Let these go their way.
If you seek me, let these go their way. He said, Now is my soul troubled. Now is my soul. He was in trouble. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No. But for this cause came I unto this hour. I think every time, friends, I quote that verse, I feel like putting in words which are not in Scripture. They would be wrong. But they might be infighted. I feel like saying this. The hour has come, Father, and what shall I say? Save me from this hour? No. A thousand times no.
But for this cause came I unto. waiting. And he who said, now is my soul troubled, turns round and says, let not your heart be troubled. He would shield his arm. He would shield his arm. And so when they come to take him, he gathers his arms ahead, doth gather her brood under her wing, and says, if he seek me, let these go their way. Heat? No. Anger? No. Resentment? When they all pursue him and flee, no, he would gather them under his feet.
I heard about a man whose farm was burned. When he came, kicking up the debris, he saw an old what he thought was just a dead charred body of one of his chickens. And he kicked it disconsolately. And when he did, a number of young live chickens, ran out from under the dead body of their mother. The chicken shielded them and kept them alive at the expense of her death. The Lord Jesus gathered his own under his wings and he died to protect them.
No heat, no resentment. Father forgive them for they know not what they do. greater than Moses is here. You know, it was a time when Moses' face shone like the sun. When he came down from the forty days with God, the Bible says his face shone. So much the children of Israel couldn't look at it. But as the days and years went on, the glory faded. The glory faded away. His face just became like somebody else. But you know what the Bible says about the face of Jesus?
It says the more you look at it, your own face becomes transformed like it. Amen. But we all with unveiled face. Beholding as in the glass the glory of the Lord, our change into the same image from glory unto glory. Our greater than Moses is here. Blessed be his name. Shall we pray? Gracious God, our Father, we thank thee for thy precious work, and may it do us good. Oh, we thank thee. We thank thee, our Father, for the patience of our Lord.
When the deep called unto the deep, and still he waited, waited in his pain, the pain of his sibling, waited in his strength, the stirrings of his strength, waited in his outrage, the outrage of his justice, that the injustice of men, but he'll wait until the day when his father says, this day will the scripture be fulfilled. We thank the afresh for the patience of our Savior.
Well, thank thee, Father, for the alacrity with which he did the Father's will. And we thank thee for his imperturbability. The cloud got thicker and thicker. When he said, Now is my soul troubled. Well, thank thee for the words. Let not your heart be troubled. Give us something of his patience, something of his grace, something of his control. Our Father, we pray, and send it away, thankful that we bear the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, in his worthy name.