Moses’ Parents: Faith to Hide a Child (Hebrews 11:23; Exodus 1-2) | Worship Service

The God of mercy hears our fear, see

The God of mercy hears our fear

And strength until glory we'll trust and sing

Holy Judge, here is my heart, what can

I say to you? Where could I reckon this day to you?

The heart of a man is a maze within So come light the way, illuminate sin

Nothing's concealed, all is revealed Jesus, I yield to you

Judge of the secrets of the hearts of men

Hear our surrender and humbly

You've conquered my soul, now be its defense

Judge of the secrets of the hearts

I was condemned, me

I stood accused Conscience agreed,

I was without excuse So how can

I judge the ones who fall? Knowing just like them all

I will confess my righteousness Jesus must rest in you

Judge of the secrets of the hearts of men

My soul, be its defense

Judge of the secrets of the hearts of men

You judge the secrets of my heart and sin

Here is my heart, what can

I say to you? Oh, I'm safe with you

Oh, I'm safe with you, Jesus And my soul

Bless you and praise your name

And on your glorious splendor we will dwell Works, Lord, we'll meditate

Awesome power, we will tell We'll speak of your salvation

And your abundant goodness Because you are greater than we can imagine

You are too beautiful To be praised

Regeneration shall sing your worth

And magnify your mercy and your grace

We'll sing about the Savior who came to earth

To bear the sins of those he came to save You fill our hearts with wonder

We'll worship you forever Because you are greater than we can imagine

You are too beautiful for us to fathom

Great and greatly to be praised

Great and greatly to be praised Higher to be praised

Worship you forever

Worship, worship You fill our hearts with wonder

We'll worship you forever We will worship, worship

Because you are greater than we can imagine

And you are too beautiful for us to fathom

Because you are greater than we can imagine

And you are too beautiful, so beautiful to fathom

Great and greatly to be praised Yes, you are so great

And greatly to be praised You are, you are so great

And greatly to be praised Priceless blood has ransomed me

Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails

And hung Him on that judgment tree Crushed the power of sin and death

Only Savior before the Holy Judge The Lamb who is my righteousness

The Lamb who is my righteousness My Redeemer, my life

He bought My love He owns I have no longings for another

I'm satisfied in Him alone Yes, I look to the

Redeemer His faithfulness, my standing face

Though foes are mighty and rush upon me

My feet are firm held with the

Redeemer Who carries me on eagles' wings

He crowns my life with loving kindness

His triumph song I'll ever sing Ever sing, sing, sing

And I will glory in my Redeemer Who waits for me

His face forever to behold Heats of gold for me

His face forever,

His face forever

We're dead in our transgressions Jesus, You came to bring us back to God Canceled the debt that stood against us

Set it aside, nailing it to the cross

With joy we can proclaim

You took our curse away

There is no safe and safe Lost its sting forever

Because You arose, we do not hope in vain

And every evil power

Disarming them all, burying our guilt and shame

And forever we'll proclaim

You've overcome, You took our curse away

There is no other name by which we're safe and sane

Jesus, Your name alone can save There is freedom, life, and peace

In the name above all names

There is power and peace At the name above all names

In Your name there is freedom, life, and peace

In the name above all is power

Darkness flees at the name above You took our curse away

There is no other name by which we're safe For in Christ, in Jesus, Your name alone can save You've overcome the grave

You took my curse away Jesus, You alone,

Jesus, You alone can save Set the boundaries of life

Hung the stars in the night The face on the moon

Made the planets to move Tells the clouds when to pour

Thunder to roar A maker works

Almighty maker You command heaven Ancients sings of You Glory fills all that You do

Be praised forever Ever and ever

That will save all of man Mercy afloat

Rescuing us Amazing are Your ways

Almighty maker You command heaven

Be praised forever

Maker All creation sings of You Glory fills all that You do

Be praised forever Ever and ever

Glory fills all that You do Things are from You All things are through You, O God The great

I am Things are for You All things are to You, O God The great

I am Maker You command heaven and earth

Be praised forever Creation sings of You Glory fills all that You do

Be praised forever You wore our sins in Your body

As You were hung on a tree So we might die to a rebellion

And live for Him who set us free Suffering, trusting all to Your Father So enemies could know

Your grace We have been healed, justified

Made alive in the life of Christ Righteous blood covers every sin

A risen lamb, heaven's light Crucified and now alive

In Your love, You have drawn us in Like straying sheep, we were wandering

But destitute, You sought us out

Well, good morning, and welcome to Kootenai Church. We're going to open with a psalm. In 117 it says,

Praise Yahweh, all nations. Laud Him, all peoples, for His lovingkindness prevails over us, and the truth of Yahweh is everlasting.

Praise Yah. Let's stand together as we sing this morning, Oh, what a day! We must beat for the victory's won

Oh, what a day! Oh, what a day!

What a glorious day! When You conquered death and rose up from the grave

Oh, the empty tombs,

You will find in here Oh, star, rise!

Heaven waits for us We will never die

Oh, what a day! Oh, what a day!

What a glorious day! When You conquered death and rose up from the grave

Still a day that we're awaiting When the glorious one we love appears

He will take us home with Him forever He will finally wipe away our tears

Oh, what a day! Oh, what a glorious day!

Oh, what a day! Oh, what a glorious day!

When You conquered death and rose up from the grave What a day!

What a day! Oh, what a day! Will You comfort our distress?

How long until the promised rest?

Cry to You from deepest need We're singing our plea

Abba, Father, our Redeemer In this barren land

Be our hope and strength Until glory we will trust and sing

Abba, Father, hear our plea

Rejoin creation's longing bro To take

Your ransomed children home For then the eyes of all will see

The God of mercy hears our plea

Abba, Father, our Redeemer In this barren land

Be our hope and strength Until glory we will trust and sing

Abba, Father, hear our plea

For then the eyes of all will see

The God of mercy hears our plea

Abba, Father, our Redeemer In this barren land

Be our hope and strength Until glory we will trust and sing

Abba, Father, hear our plea Abba, Father, our

Redeemer In this barren land

Be our hope and strength Until glory we will trust and sing

Abba, Father, hear our plea Abba, Father, hear our plea

You may be seated. For the

Scripture reading this morning, will you please turn to the book of Acts, chapter 7. Book of Acts, chapter 7.

And while you're doing that, I just have one announcement for this morning, and that is just a reminder that along the front of our building out there, some of the handicapped parking signs have fallen off and fallen down.

We need to replace those. So just remember, please, to keep everything against the front of the building out there open for those who have handicapped needs.

The signs are not there. I think some people kind of pull up there and use those spots, and we have a few people who are elderly and need some of those spots accessible.

So please remember that. Acts, chapter 7. And find verse 17. A little bit of context.

This is the Deacon Stephen who is giving his address before the Sanhedrin as they are getting ready to stone him.

He has been brought in, and he is reviewing the history of the nation of Israel, recounting God's deliverances and God's goodness to them.

And so this is part of that address as he addresses Moses. Acts, chapter 7, verse 17.

But as the time of the promise was approaching which God had assured to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph.

It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.

It was at this time that Moses was born, and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home.

And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. Moses was educated in all the learning of the

Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. But when he was approaching the age of 40, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.

And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the

Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.

On the following day, he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, men, you're brethren, why do you injure one another?

But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, who made you a ruler and a judge over us? You do not mean to kill me as you killed the

Egyptian yesterday, do you? At this remark, Moses fled and became an alien in the land of Midian where he became the father of two sons.

Will you stand with me as we pray? Let's bow our heads.

Our Father, it is by your great grace and mercy that you have delivered us, your people, for a salvation that is yet to be revealed in the final time.

We thank you that we can, by your grace, long for that final redemption and look forward to the day when you will and have promised to redeem us.

We thank you for the salvation that we have. We gather here each Lord's Day to celebrate your great goodness, undeserved grace and unmerited kindness toward us, that you bestow upon us in your

Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of that mercy that we are saved and that we look to you, that we trust you, that we wait for you to fulfill your every promise and to come and to deliver us, your people.

We thank you for the salvation that we do now possess, that you have set us aside and saved us and that, by your grace, you continue to sanctify us.

And it is our desire, Lord, that you would, according to your own purposes, secure us everlastingly and bring us to that final state.

We can look confidently forward to that, knowing that you will complete the good work that you have begun in us until the day of Christ Jesus.

So we pray your blessing upon our worship and our fellowship, our service to one another, our singing, our preaching, the reading of your word, that you would be honored and glorified through it for the glory of Christ our

Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen. The Church's one foundation

Is Jesus Christ her Lord She is

His new creation By water and the

Word and Son Turned to be

His holy bride With His own blood

He bought her And for her life He died

Elect from every nation

Yet one for all the earth Their charter of salvation

One Lord, one faith, one holy name

She blesses, partakes of holy food

And to one hope she presses With every grace and good tribulation

And to one love her water She weighs the consummation

Of peace forevermore Till with a vision glorious Her longing eyes are blessed

And a great church victorious Shall be the church at rest

And she on earth hath union

With God the Three in One And mystics we communion

With those whose rest is won O happy ones and holy

Lord give us grace that we Like them the meek and holy

On high may dwell with Thee Like them the meek and holy

On high may dwell with Thee In Philippians chapter 2 verses 8 through 11 it says

Being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore

God also highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord to the glory of God the Father Join us as we sing Turn Your Eyes Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face

And the face of earth Will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace

Justice and mercy embraced

Where the Son of God Gave His life for us

And our measureless debt Was erased

Jesus to You we lift our eyes

Jesus our glory and our prize

We adore You, behold You Our Savior ever true

O Jesus we turn our eyes to You Turn your eyes to the morning

And see Christ the Lion awake

What a glorious thought Fear of death is gone

For we carry His life in our veins

Jesus to You we lift our eyes

Jesus our glory and our prize

We adore You, behold You Our Savior ever true

O Jesus we turn our eyes to You Turn your eyes to the heavens

Our King will return for His own

Every knee will bow Every tongue will shout

Adoring to Jesus alone Jesus to You we lift our eyes

Jesus our glory and our prize

We adore You, behold You Our Savior ever true

O Jesus we turn our eyes to You Jesus to You we lift our eyes

Jesus our glory and our prize

We adore You, behold You Our Savior ever true

O Jesus we turn our eyes to You O Jesus we turn our eyes to You Will you open your

Bibles now please to Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews chapter 11 and find your place at verse 23 and let's begin with prayer

Our Father we do now turn our eyes to You and into Your Word and we pray that our time here would be spent well and that You would encourage and strengthen our hearts

We pray that You would increase our faith and strengthen our faith and help us to see You in the pages of the

Word that You have given in the revelation that You have provided We pray that we may see

Christ see Your hand of providence Your hand of goodness and Your promises to us We ask this and Your blessing upon this time in the name of Christ our

Lord Amen Beginning in verse 23 By faith Moses when he was born was healed of his sins because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's edict

By faith Moses when he had grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to endure treatment with the people of God ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt for he was looking to the reward

By faith he left Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is unseen

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land and the

Egyptians when they attempted it were drowned When you get to verse 28 we have moved now from Joseph to Moses and we are going from one prince in Egypt to another prince of Egypt and from one person of royalty to another and there are a number of similarities and I would just remind you that when we get to the end of verse 22 we're dealing with Joseph By faith

Joseph when he was dying made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones and there are a number of similarities between Joseph and Moses There are some interesting connections between the two of them

For instance both of them enjoyed the riches of Egypt They had those riches at their disposal and for their own use they enjoyed high positions of prestige and reputation and honor in the nation of Egypt They both were loved and respected by their kinsmen and their countrymen

The Jews loved and respected Moses and the Egyptians loved and respected Moses and the

Jews loved and respected Joseph and Joseph likewise was loved and respected by the Egyptians Both men forsook the privileges of Egypt for the promises of God Moses ended up doing this in life as he walked away from all the treasures of Egypt and chose instead as our passage says to have ill treatment with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin

So Moses forsook those in life and Joseph forsook the treasures of Egypt in death as he didn't want to be buried and honored in Egypt with a tomb instead he chose to have his bones carried up with him to the promised land when

God would fulfill the promise to bring the nation up Both of them spent their formative years in Egypt Joseph of course was sold into Egypt and Moses was born into Egypt Joseph was dragged into Egypt against his will

Both men worked to preserve the chosen nation of Israel Joseph did so by bringing the people down into Egypt to preserve them from a famine

Moses preserved the nation of Israel by taking the Israelites out of Egypt in the

Exodus to deliver them from slavery Both Moses and Joseph were recipients of divine revelation

Neither of these men though we can attach them to the Jewish nation neither of these men suffered under the slavery that was inflicted upon their

Jewish kinsmen Both of these men enjoyed the treasures and pleasures of a palace and never suffered under that affliction of slavery

Both men knew of God's promises believed God's promises anticipated the reward that was to come and as a result they chose both of them to be identified with the

Jewish people rather than the Egyptian people though each person chose that in a different way and the last similarity between the two of them at least the last that I'm going to bring up today is the fact that both of these men had parents of faith

They both had the blessing and the privilege of a godly lineage and while Moses is mentioned in verse 23 which is our passage for this morning while Moses is mentioned there it is really the faith of his parents that is described so it is not right to consider the faith of Joseph Jacob or Isaac without considering the faith of their respective parents similarly it is almost impossible to understand the faith and the development of Moses apart from the faith of his parents and that's what verse 23 clues us into it's his parents' faith that is mentioned and though we're focusing on Moses, at least the story of Moses verse 23 begins with something of his parents describing at least here his godly lineage verse 23 says by faith

Moses when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king

Zedek that is our passage for this morning though that is not what we're going to address right now, we will do this verse,

I promise you and get through the end of it before our time is over here today but this story is told back in Exodus chapter 1 and chapter 2 so I want you to turn in your

Bibles back to the book of Exodus to chapter 1 and we're going to catch the context of this, see what incident it is that is being described here by the author of Hebrews in Exodus chapter 1, the very beginning of the verse, we're going to catch the story we're just going to go through chapter 1 about the middle of chapter 2, then we'll flip back to Hebrews chapter 11 and we'll go through the entire verse, it sounds daunting but we will get to all of it,

I promise you verse 1 of Exodus chapter 1 now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, we saw that back when we looked at Jacob's faith each one of them with his household

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin Dan, and Naphtali Gad, and Asher, all the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were 70 in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt verse 6,

Joseph died and all his brothers and all that generation and that's where we left off at the end of the book of Genesis in fact, just a couple of verses earlier in your

Bible, Genesis chapter 50 verse 26, the very last verse of the book of Genesis, so Joseph died at the age of 110 years and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt, and that's how

Genesis ends, so now Moses in the first 6 verses reminds us all the children of Israel come down into Egypt they're all there, but then that entire generation died off verse 7, but the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty so that the land was filled with them now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know

Joseph, now there's obviously some time that has passed between Joseph dying and verses 6 and verses 7 and 8 verses 7 and 8 say that there's the children of Israel have multiplied, how much time has passed between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses we don't know exactly and that is because there is some difficulty in nailing down the exact date of the exodus that is due to the fact that the dates vary a little bit, due to the fact that in Galatians chapter 3

Paul speaks of 430 years between the giving of the Abrahamic covenant and the giving of the law, so if we date the exodus from the time, 430 years from the time that God gave the covenant to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, if that's our benchmark for the first of that then of course you have 430 years later that Moses is at Mount Sinai getting the law,

Paul says the law given 430 years does not nullify the first covenant so that compresses all of those events into a very short period of time but if the 430 years or the 400 years describes the time of slavery then of course you have 200 years from the time that God gave the promise to Abraham to the time of Joseph 280 some years and then after that you have a period of time that passes where a king arises who does not know

Joseph and the people multiply, and then you have 400 years of slavery after that, so that stretches out that a little bit, they say can't you just go into Egypt and read the chronicles of Egypt, go to the hieroglyphics and see the point where the

Red Sea is drawn on the cave wall and it shows millions of people passing through that and date the exodus from something you find in Egypt, no you can't because ancient history doesn't work that way it's not exactly not everything that was recorded or happened in Egypt was recorded in Egyptian hieroglyphs and so our understanding of history is a little sketchy, so somewhere between Joseph to Moses is somewhere between 60 years to 250 years depending on how we date that 430 years does the 430 years begin at God giving the covenant to Abraham in Genesis 15 or at the birth of Isaac or at Joseph going down into Egypt or at Jacob going down into Egypt or at the beginning of their enslavement, that's the question so there's a couple of centuries of leeway there that we have to deal with and by the way that's not significant to anything in terms of our understanding of scripture and when we come up with things like this where we say we're not exactly sure how this worked out or when this starts or when this ends, the problem is always with us, never with the text of scripture the fact that we don't know exactly when that is to be dated and how long that that took and exactly how those things fell out that way that is because we lack some kind of understanding about the text or about what the text is describing, it doesn't say anything about the incompleteness or imperfection of scripture at all, however it happened, the exodus begins when

Moses or happens around Moses' 80th year, he's 80 years old at the time of the exodus, so exodus chapter 1 verses 9 -14 he said to the people, behold the people of the sons of Israel are more and 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 depart from the land

Pharaoh began to sit down with some of his advisors and discuss the Jewish problem nothing new under the sun is there began to discuss the

Jewish problem these people are multiplying, we have to do something to deal with these people and notice that Pharaoh's concern is not that the

Jews would multiply to the point where they would be able to overtake them and possess the land of Egypt that was not his concern, his concern is that they would overthrow that rule and get numerous to the point where they would be able to leave on their own,

Pharaoh doesn't want that to happen, it's almost as if the Jews, at least some of the faithful ones had some idea of what

God had promised to them and Pharaoh understood, there are enough crazy people amongst those Jews who think that God's going to give them the land and they're ready to go back there and if they continue to multiply they just might decide to march out of Egypt someday so he comes up with a brilliant plan, brilliantly wicked, verse 11 so they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor, they built for Pharaoh storage cities,

Pithom and 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 the

Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them

Moses is emphasizing something there, you know what it was? Rigor and labor, the

Egyptians set out to make their lives absolutely miserable by the time of the Exodus the nation of Israel probably one of the most conservative numbers that we would be around 1 .5

to 2 million people at the time of the Exodus now how long would it take for the 70 mentioned in verse, what is it, 5 of Exodus chapter 1, how long would it take for 70 people to become roughly 1 .5

million well back then they're living longer, having more children, large families years for that to happen, in fact they could reach that that number of people in a couple of centuries with a population growth rate of about 2 .5

% which is what we had for most of the 20th century worldwide, so it's not astronomical it's not unbelievable for that to happen rapid increase in people and the

Egyptians feared that, chapter 1 verse 15, then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named

Sifra and the other named Pua, and he said, when you're helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son then you shall live population control was

Pharaoh's answer population control is the answer of the ungodly and the wicked always because population control is an anti -life perspective and therefore it is an anti -God perspective, so Pharaoh comes up with basically a sex -selective post -natal abortion philosophy what he said was wicked, what he's doing is wicked, there is no difference between the child that is born and the child that is in the womb that would allow but restrain or refrain from killing the child outside of the womb, there are only four kinds of differences, difference in size difference in level of development difference in environment and difference in degree of dependency, and none of those four differences, size, level of development environment or degree of dependency are morally significant as to the question of whether the life in the womb is valuable and worth saving or not, just because something is smaller than you doesn't mean you have a right to kill it just because something is in a different level of development than you doesn't mean you have a right to kill it just because a four year old is less developed than a fourteen year old doesn't mean we can kill the four year old and not the fourteen year old, just because something is in the womb as opposed to out of the womb doesn't mean we have a right to kill it, just because something has a greater degree of dependency upon its parents does not mean that we have the right to kill it.

A one -year -old has a greater degree of dependency upon its parents than a 10 -year -old does, but it doesn't mean we can kill the one -year -old and not kill the 10 -year -old.

All right, so these four different differences between the person that you are now and the person that you were then does not justify us killing you then, but not now.

So what Pharaoh has advocated here is morally reprehensible, but let's be clear, it is no more morally different, it is no different, morally speaking, than what the bloodthirsty throngs of Moloch worshipers in our own day are demanding the right to do.

It's evil, it's wicked, they want it enshrined under law, they want to use words like choice and privacy in healthcare to sanitize the imagery in our own mind, but it is the same thing.

Pharaoh feared that he had something to lose if these babies lived. They would infringe upon his economic feasibility, his economic viability, it would be very inconvenient to have more

Jews in the land, so Pharaoh is just espousing Margaret Sanger's Malthusian ethics in what he is advocating here.

Margaret Sanger is the founder of Planned Parenthood and she once wrote, the most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it, close quote.

Well, Pharaoh would concur with that. Pharaoh would agree with that. Population control is an idea that is so anti -life and thus so anti -God that every time you hear it espoused, whether it's by Bill Gates or any occupant of the

White House, any time you hear it espoused, you can know that it was belched up out of the deep, dark, demonic bowels of hell itself.

That's what Pharaoh was advocating, verse 17. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had 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? The midwives said to Pharaoh, because the

Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they're vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.

So they disobeyed the king. Then they lied about what they had done to Pharaoh. So to preserve their life and the lives of innocent babies, they lied to Pharaoh about the condition of the

Hebrew women. Meanwhile, they were allowing the women to give birth to these babies, and then they were actively working to preserve the life of these babies.

Verse 20, so God was good to the midwives and the people multiplied and became very mighty because the midwives feared

God. He established households for them. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people saying, every son who is born, you are to cast into the

Nile. And now Pharaoh takes his policy from the midwives and makes it a national kill order upon Jewish baby boys.

He made his program national. And now all the Egyptians are commanded to execute Hebrew babies whenever they are seen by throwing them into the

Nile. They have a license to kill Jewish boys. And of course, this would, in little over one generation, wipe out the entire population of the nation of Israel because people are dying.

And if there are no men to reproduce, it wouldn't take long before you would virtually decimate the entire nation and bring them to extinction.

This is an extinction order. It's gonna take a little bit of time to unfold, but we don't wanna go. We don't wanna go crazy on time.

But if we just kill small bits of them in pieces when they're young, then that would be sufficient.

That is his idea. Those are dark times, right? We live in dark times, not quite that dark.

They are dark. But into that dark period of time, into that dark circumstance,

God brings a deliverer. Chapter two, verse one. Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.

This is a reference to the tribe of Levi, which would probably be tens of thousands of people. So this is not a man marrying his sister of the same household.

No. No. The very fact that you thought I was gonna bring up Clark Fork there is enough.

That was enough. So that's not what happened here, just in case you were born in Clark Fork and you're thinking, see, it's biblical.

It's not at all. Verse two, the woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.

Now that's the verse that the author of Hebrews is referring to. I'll just read to you again. Don't turn back there just yet, but Hebrews 11, 23.

By faith Moses, look at verse two of Exodus. By faith Moses, when he was born, parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

Now that's the reference that verse two is what the author of Hebrews is referring to. How did all of this work out?

Let's just read the rest of the story. Verse three, but when she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch.

Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile with her maidens, walking alongside the Nile. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid and she brought it to her.

When she opened it, she saw the child and behold, the boy was crying and she had pity on him and said, this is one of the

Hebrews' children. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and call a nurse for you from the

Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you? Pharaoh's daughter said to her, go ahead. So the girl went and called the child's mother, that is

Moses' mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages.

So the woman took the child and nursed him. The child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. She named him

Moses and said, because I drew him out of the water. And there's a lot to unpack there that we're not going to unpack. But I just want you to notice how by the providence of God, the faith of Moses' parents ended up preserving him, providentially preserving him, sparing his life and actually restoring

Moses back to his mother so that she could have a hand in raising him even though he became the grandson of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh raged against God and his purposes and God had promised to multiply the nation of Israel, but Pharaoh had set to extinguish the nation of Israel.

And God had promised to take them up out of Egypt and bring them into the promised land. And Pharaoh set his heart on keeping them in the land of Egypt.

Now, when God's promises and purposes are going one direction and some wicked king's promises and purposes are going another direction and these hit at a cross, when these two meet, guess who wins?

Every single one. God does. The kings of the earth can plot and scheme, and they do.

They can conjure up all of their wicked plans and their wicked designs and their wicked legislation and they can set their sights against God and against his people and against the kingdom of heaven.

They can do all of that. But Psalm 2 verse four says, "'He who sits in the heavens laughs, God scoffs at them.'"

That is one of my favorite verses. It should be at the top of whatever news aggregator website you use.

"'The Lord sits in the heavens and he laughs. He scoffs at the kings of the earth.'" So read that verse first and then read all of the crazy, insane headlines that follow underneath of that.

But keep that verse at the top of your banner. Pharaoh thought he had a walk on it.

He had the power, he had the authority, he had the means. And he thought his wicked plans could end up thwarting what

God had promised and purposed for the nation of Israel. And God ended up using Pharaoh's wicked plans to accomplish primarily two things.

Number one, the preservation and deliverance of Israel's deliverer so that, catch this, by the providence of God, Moses ended up being raised right under Pharaoh's nose in his own house.

The very one whom Pharaoh had ordered his execution, his killing, God worked so that he would be raised right in Pharaoh's own home.

God sought to it that the deliverer for Israel would have the same home and be trained in the same schools and live in the same house as Pharaoh, the deliverer in his house.

He never saw that coming, did he? Nobody saw that coming. Second, God used the wicked plans to prepare the

Hebrews to leave. Several weeks ago, I posed the question, what do you do when you have the entire promised line seed, all of those to whom the promise of the land has been given, and they're all in Egypt, and they're enjoying, and they're multiplying, and they're buying land, and they're prosperous there, and it's comfortable there, it's more comfortable and luxurious than they have ever enjoyed living out in tents in the promised land, and then they begin to multiply.

How is it that you get those people willing to leave all of the comforts of Egypt? Here's what you do, you take away all of the comforts of Egypt and make them utterly miserable, and they will long to leave that situation.

How do you get Christians, by the way, to wish to leave this world and pine for the next? You take away all the comforts of this world and pine for the next.

Now, turn back to Hebrews chapter 11. I promised you we'd go back there, and we will. Hebrews chapter 11. Now we're gonna take a look at how the author of Hebrews uses this story to illustrate the nature of faith.

Hebrews chapter 11, let's read verse 23 again. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

You'll notice that Moses' parents are not named. In fact, they weren't named in the passage that we read just in chapter one and chapter two of Exodus.

Anybody know off the top of your head what Moses' parents' names were? Marian, no, it was his sister.

Amram, yeah, somebody did. Yeah, I didn't. I had to go back and look at it. Exodus chapter six, verse 20.

Amram married his father's sister, Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, and the length of Amram's life was 137 years.

Amram married his father's sister, Jochebed. That seems a little odd in our era, in our age, and it is by common.

It was not uncommon in the ancient world. It was not uncommon in the ancient world. In the ancient world, you would marry as far as you could walk.

Do you understand that? You would marry as far away as you could walk. In other words, if you lived in a little village with 60, 80, 100 people in it, and there were no real marriable people of your age that you kind of liked, and then your family decided to take a vacation and walk 12 miles to the next village where 60, 80, 100 people, and you see this cute little girl across the courtyard, and you ask your mom and dad, hey, do you know who she is, who's that?

And they say, that's your cousin. Come out, ooh, let's make it work.

That's my option, that's my option. If I have to marry as far away as I can walk, and that's all

I got, then that's what you choose. So it was not uncommon in the ancient world. You might think that this happened all the time in the nation of Israel.

Yeah, it did happen a lot in the nation of Israel. It also happened a lot in every other ancient culture and custom on the face of the planet, because that's just how those things happen.

So both parents, though they're not mentioned in Exodus, Exodus one and two, both parents had a role in hiding the child for the three months, and putting him in the basket and raising the infant.

The New Testament in verse 23 does involve both parents. So in Exodus one and two,

Moses' father really, who it says comes up with this idea and does these activities, and Moses' father seems absent from the text.

But in verse 23, it mentions the faith of both of his parents who were involved in this. In Acts chapter seven, verse 20, it says, it was at this time that Moses was born, and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home.

So three months is spent in his father's home. Both Moses' father and his mother are involved in this decision to try and preserve him, to protect him, to keep him hidden, and it really could not have been otherwise.

You can't imagine that Moses' mother would have been involved and not his father. So both of the parents, both parents' faith is on display and is involved in Moses' life in those early stages.

And Moses would have been impacted by this, and of course, he had influence from his mother after she got done nursing him.

He would have, she would have been a maid with whom he would have been familiar and probably would have grown up his whole life knowing who his kinsmen were, to whom he belonged, and the story of a lot of this would have been revealed to Moses at a young age.

And you see the godly lineage that we've noticed in Hebrews chapter 11 so far, as we've talked about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, right, we've noticed the faith that goes from generation to generation to generation there, and it's something to note just the impact that a godly parent can have upon their kids.

That's not to say that every godly parent is gonna have only godly children, but it is to say that parents have a significant and important factor in the faith of their children.

And we make the error of assuming that just because we have faith that our children will follow in that, and therefore, we don't have anything to do with it.

We also make the opposite error of assuming that if we have raised our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but they do something to walk away from the faith or make a stupid decision, that we somehow bear the blame for that.

So while parents are an important factor, they are not the sole and determining factor in the faith and the faithfulness of their children.

But in Moses' case, as well as the other patriarchs that we've looked at, the faith of previous generations obviously had something to bear, had a salutary impact upon them, and really, the recognition of this should serve as a motivation to us as parents to do everything that we can to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the

Lord while trusting the Lord to use that to accomplish his purposes in the lives of our children. Notice their action in verse 23.

By faith, they hid him for three months, tried to conceal him, and you can, if you've ever had a newborn child, you know that this would become increasingly difficult.

You can imagine the fearful situations that they would have faced when someone, when they know that there was a kill order issued by Pharaoh, and they're living, and Egyptians are walking up and down the streets, and the baby starts to cry or rustle in the other room.

The fear of that would strike into your heart, right? You can imagine the sort of, your heart would skip a beat when there's a knock on the door in the middle of the night, late at night, or early in the morning, or the middle of the day, or after the baby has finally cried and you've got him settled down, and suddenly somebody knocks at the door.

Or the horror that might strike into your heart, that come into your heart when you hear Miriam and Aaron, who was three years older than Moses, talking about their little brother out with the other

Jewish kids, maybe with an earshot of some Egyptians standing around. Three months to do that.

I mean, you would have to, people would start to catch on as they saw

Amram and two kids out in public, and Jochebed and the two kids out in public, but never

Amram and Jochebed with the two kids out in public. You would have to hide the pregnancy, hide the birth, hide the baby for three months, and eventually it became too difficult for them, and I wish we had more detail back in the

Exodus narrative, but when she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch, and she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the

Nile. This seems to be a last -ditch attempt to do something to curry favor, or at least compassion, amongst some of the

Egyptians. Someone may have been getting wind of the fact that Amram had a baby child, a baby son.

Folks beginning to get suspicious. Makes you wonder, how is it that Aaron escaped this? Because we don't read about this happening to Aaron.

Aaron was three years older than Moses, so how did he escape this? My suspicion, this is just in my sanctified speculation, my suspicion is that Aaron might have been one of the children that the

Hebrew midwives delivered and kept alive, and then told Pharaoh, look, the Hebrew women are very vigorous, and they're able to give birth before we get there.

Aaron might have fallen under that, and then Pharaoh changes his order, and Jochebed gets pregnant again, and now they're faced with a dilemma, because now it's not just the

Hebrew midwives who can keep this unbeknownst to Pharaoh. Now, suddenly, there's a national kill order on all

Egyptian babies. Now, this is obviously an act of faith. The text says it's an act of faith, but let me play devil's advocate for just a second and raise an issue that maybe you are thinking of.

Maybe you're thinking to yourself, how can we call this an act of faith if what

Jochebed did in this situation with baby Moses was the most natural thing in the world for a mother to do?

Not like she would have had to pray about this, not like she would have had to seek the Lord as to what his will would be in this situation.

The most natural instinct that she would have would be to protect her own child and to hide him from risk, even at risk to her own safety, she would be willing to do this.

That is the most natural thing to do. In fact, it is so natural that if somebody did not do this, we would naturally understand them to be narcissistic and irresponsible and self -centered, cowardly, craven, careless, wicked, evil, and a whole host of other words that we would use to describe such a person who didn't do this.

It would be completely unnatural for a woman to give birth to that child, a child that she wanted and conceived and carried for nine months, and then to turn around and hand it over to be executed.

That's an unnatural thing. So it's very natural for her to do this. And notice how different her action is from Abraham.

Abraham's act of faith was made manifest when he was willing to offer up his only son. Jochebed's faith is made manifest when she is willing to go to great lengths to preserve her son's life.

Two entirely different acts of faith under two entirely different circumstances. But what

Abraham did was very unnatural. It went against everything in him. What Jochebed does is very natural and would comport with everything that she would already want to do.

So how is it that we can call this an act of faith? In fact, we would say that unbelievers would do the same thing, wouldn't they?

Wouldn't most unbelieving women be willing to do the same thing? There's something instinctive and natural in that, that you wouldn't have to have great faith in order to hide your child.

Even a pagan should have that kind of natural instinct to be willing to hide the child, protect the child, even at great risk to herself.

So how is that an act of faith? A second devil's advocate point, this is really not a complex thing, is it?

To hide the child. It's not that difficult. I mean, I shouldn't say, it's not that complex. It's difficult, but it's not that complex.

It's really a simple action. It's not a great action, it's not. We tend to think that faith is reserved for the great and magnificent acts of history.

Like we read about down in chapter 11, verse 33. Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword from weakness, were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

To do these things, to do these things are mighty things, but to simply hide your child from threat or danger to its life is the most natural and simple and instinctive thing imaginable.

And a parent, a godly parent, would only see one option, that is to protect their child. So how is that a great act of faith?

It's not the conquering of kingdoms, is it? And three months is really not a long time when you compare it to Abraham.

Abraham waited 25 years in faith. We can see the power of faith for somebody who does something and endures that type of time to see

God fulfill a promise. Abraham, 25 years, and then after that, 100 years total, and he still didn't get the land.

So there you see faith on display over a long period of time, and this is just faith for a very short period of time. It's only three months.

But those three months would feel like the longest three months you had ever lived in your life, wouldn't they?

In fact, if you want three months to feel like an eternity, then you just need to try and hide a newborn from everybody else for three months.

You can do that or ask my mother -in -law to come live with you for three months. Either one of those would make three months feel like forever.

She watches these, so. So it's the most natural thing.

It is a simple thing. It was an easy thing. It really wasn't that long. How is it that we would call that a commendable act of faith?

How is something that really instinctive worthy to be included with all of these other great heroes of the faith?

And here's why. Because faith makes every action it touches eternally significant.

Every action it touches. Every last thing done in faith is significant.

Every last thing done in faith is worthy of a reward because every last thing done in faith, no matter how natural it might seem to us, like protecting a newborn child that is yours, or no matter how contrary it might seem to us, obeying

God for some great thing with belief and in offering up his child, whether it is on either one of those two perspectives and everything on those two extremes and everything in between, all of them are worthy of being commended because all of them are done hoping and looking to a

God who rewards the faithful even in the simplest of things. So that a cup offered in cold water done as an act of faith is worthy of the master's reward.

The simplest thing as well as the most complex thing. It's not just the difficult things. Look, faith is necessary to put foreign armies to flight later on in the passage,

Hebrews chapter 11. That's necessary for that. And it's rewardable and commendable. But faith is also involved in putting your temptations to flight and saying no to your temptations.

Faith is involved in conquering kingdoms in the Old Testament. Yes, it was. It's also involved in conquering your flesh and conquering your lusts and saying no to what you know is wrong and walking in obedience.

It's the same faith that is active in both of those things. And sometimes we buy into the lie of thinking that, well,

I'm really not doing anything in faith unless I'm doing something that is magnificent in front of the eyes of everybody that will be applauded by men forever.

That is not true. The mother who homeschools her kids and the father who faithfully teaches his children the scripture and raises them in the fear and admonition of the

Lord. The husband who cherishes his wife and the wife who submits to her husband and does these things in faith.

All of those things are worthy of reward as well. It's not just the great things. It's the small things.

So before you worry about conquering foreign armies, conquer yourself. Tame your tongue.

Don't worry about taming lions. Tame your own tongue. We shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that only faith is needed for the things that everybody sees and approves.

Faith is necessary for the things that nobody sees and nobody ever knows about. But it is faith nonetheless.

First Corinthians 10, 31. Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Eating and drinking.

Those mundane activities when done in faith glorify God. The simple things.

Romans 14 says without faith it is impossible to please him. That's why Colossians 3 verse 17 says, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the

Lord God the Father through him. Because everything that we do, the small things and the big things, are commendable.

Well, Moses' parents did what they did. As natural as it was, it easy was it for them to make that decision.

It was an act of obedience and courage and therefore it was worthy of God's reward and worthy of our notice.

Notice their motivation, verse 23. Verse 23 says because they did this, because they saw that the child was beautiful.

Now what mother does not think her child is beautiful? Now talk about something that everybody would think, right?

Every mother thinks this. It is the most natural thing to think this. Even if the baby is uglier than a monkey's armpit, it's still, when it's born, the mother will look at that and say, isn't that the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

And you can sort of swallow hard and say, yes, it is glorious and beautiful.

But every mother thinks that this is true. So why does the text mention that, that she did this?

Because she saw that the child was beautiful. Every mother in Egypt would have saw that the child was beautiful. And every mother since Jacobetus thought that their child was beautiful.

So why does the author mention this? It's stated three times in scripture. Exodus two, verse two, the woman conceived and bore a son.

And when she saw that he was beautiful, we looked at that back in the book of Exodus. Stephen in his address to the

Sanhedrin mentions it in Acts chapter seven, verse 20. Stephen adds a detail that I think is a hint to what

Moses and the author of Hebrews is describing. In Acts chapter seven, it was at this time that Moses was born and he was lovely in the sight of God and he was nurtured three months in his father's home.

Literally that would read, he was lovely to God. The word that's translated beautiful or lovely means handsome or charming, attractive, speaks of something that is lovely or proper.

There was something about his appearance that was more than just common cuteness, more than just a common baby's appearance.

And we would need more detail, but there was something that moved Jacobed and Amram to preserve

Moses and it was something about his countenance. It's been suggested that maybe there was a glow or some sort of a remarkable aura that came off of him, maybe a pre or foreshadowing of the

Sinai glory that he would someday see himself. There was something so striking about the child that would indicate,

I think, that he was, it was worth risking even their own lives to preserve his life.

It's worth noting that Moses describes himself like this when he writes Exodus two, verse two. He says he was a beautiful child.

He says also at the end that of all the people on the face of the planet, no one was more humble than Moses so he describes himself as a beautiful child.

So that means that I can maintain my own humility even by describing myself as a beautiful child. What's interesting is Moses wouldn't have had a camera, there was no pictures of him, so he would have written that because his parents would have described something about his countenance that singled him out as being in some way unique because it doesn't say that all women thought their children were beautiful and she was just doing what mothers naturally did.

There was something about when he was born it was so striking and obvious that something was different about this child and we don't have any other details other than that.

Now let me indulge in a little bit of sanctified speculation. I believe that because Moses' parents were faithful,

God -fearing Jews, that they would have understood that their time in Egypt had to have been coming to a close because God had promised to Abraham 400 years and again, they would have had to have known when that marker was going to come to a completion in Egypt.

They had to have known our time in Egypt is coming to a close and I think that likely in this generation among faithful Hebrew parents, there would have been an expectation that probably somebody in the next generation or two is going to be born that will be the deliverer that God has promised to Abraham who's gonna lead us all up out of Egypt into the promised land.

He will take us up. So there might have been this expectation that perhaps they were waiting for this deliverer to show up and then when

Moses is born, they see in his face a divine glory or a divine beauty or a divine aura of some sort that would have indicated to them this one is the deliverer.

I think that that's possible. That again is just only my sanctified speculation.

Acts chapter seven, listen to how Stephen describes Moses as the deliverer. When he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the

Egyptian. Now listen to this statement. Stephen describes Moses this way and he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him but they did not understand.

You see, Moses attacked the Egyptian in defending the fellow Israelite because he thought that it was time to deliver the

Israelites. He thought he would be accepted by them that they would understand that he was their deliverer.

Why did Moses think that everybody else would understand he was their deliverer? I think because there was something about his birth, something that was communicated to him by his parents and by those close to him that said that you were marked from birth as that one.

And Moses grew up, I think, understanding that. Notice their courage. The last phrase is significant.

They were not afraid of the king's edict. They defied the king's edict. Now there are people who could watch what

Jechebed and Amram did and their assessment of it would be that they were not at all acting in faith and what they did was very fearful of the king.

If you just saw the outward expression that they kept this hidden, they were quiet about it and they're hiding this child, not letting anybody know about the child.

They're trying to keep him hidden for three months. It's getting worse and worse and the more this happens, the more diligently they're trying to keep him hidden from anybody that might threaten his life.

People might look from the outside at that and say that doesn't look very faithful at all, does it? That doesn't look like an act of faith.

But here the author of Hebrews is telling us that what they were doing, they were not doing out of motivation by fear. They were motivated instead by faith.

What they were doing was not fearful lack of trust in the sovereignty of God. In fact, it was the very opposite.

It was a faithful belief that because God is sovereign, I can be involved in doing these things in believing that God will reward the activity and the work of the diligent according to his sovereign plans.

It's the exact opposite of what most people think. You can almost hear the Sunday school marm voice in your head.

You've undoubtedly heard it 100 times in your life. Well, that's not very trusting in the sovereignty of God. If you really believe in the sovereignty of God, you wouldn't worry about things like that.

You wouldn't be doing anything. You just take Moses out in the middle of the street and nurse him for everybody to see.

You wouldn't try and hide him. That's not trusting in God's sovereignty. And the exact opposite is the case.

Spurgeon said this. The mother was put to great evasions to hide her child and she used all her wits and common sense.

She did not put her child in the front room or carry it out into the street or sit in the open door and nurse it, but she was prudent and acted as if all depended upon her concealing the baby.

Some people suppose that if you have faith, you can act like a fool, but faith makes a person wise.

Close quote. See, this was not an act of fear and the author is telling us that. You might look at it from the outside and say,

Ed, that person's not trusting in the sovereignty of God. Trusting in the sovereignty of God does not mean that you do nothing.

It doesn't mean that you throw yourself up and say, whatever. Sometimes we can work and be active in our efforts trusting in the sovereignty of God to bring about what he would purpose in those things.

Belief in the sovereignty of God does not bring about indolence, but industry. Trusting God and doing nothing are not synonymous.

Get that in your head. Trusting God and doing nothing are not synonymous. Trusting God and doing something, working diligently, those are not antithetical.

Because we trust in the sovereignty of God, because we believe his promises, we press forward using all means at our disposal to work to accomplish his purposes in our lives and in the lives of other people while we trust him to bring the fruit and the benefit and the blessing from that.

That is an act of faith. And when he says they did not fear the king's edict, he is simply saying that they were not afraid of what the king's edict might mean for them.

They did this not fearing for themselves, but they did this activity in trusting in God's sovereignty and waiting upon God to bless their efforts.

They knew that Pharaoh's plans, his edict, could not thwart God's purposes. They knew that.

God had promised to multiply the people and Pharaoh was trying to extinguish the people. Well, they knew who was gonna win that.

They weren't afraid of that edict. Whatever the king is, whatever he might say, whatever he might decree, whatever executive order he might sign, whatever crazy legislation the

Egyptian Congress decided to pass, and whatever their nine unelected Egyptian judges thought about themselves and about the country and about the future state of the

Israelites and the Jews, she wasn't concerned about any of that. Why? Because she knew that if God's purposes run across of man's intentions and designs,

God is gonna win that contest every single time and it will always be for the good of his people.

Doesn't mean that it will not be painless. There were plenty of Egyptian babies who died under Pharaoh's decree, plenty of them.

There were plenty of families who suffered because of what Pharaoh did, but she did not fear the edict.

She knew that ultimately he could not prevail and that his plans could not prevail. It's not difficult to see how this verse, verse 23, would encourage the original audience, is it?

Because they themselves had faced the king's edict, had they not? We read back in chapter 10 that they had suffered reproach for the name of Christ and shame and imprisonment and they had accepted joyfully the seizure of their own property.

This book of Hebrews is written toward the end of the beginning of the seventh decade in the first century that is probably being written to a group of people who saw

Nero on the throne and were wondering to themselves, I wonder what the king's edict is gonna mean for us.

We're already suffering affliction, but this is a reminder that we need not fear the king's edict and that you and I can face whatever it is the king decrees with faith.

That's the point. If Pharaoh cannot stop God from delivering his people, then neither will

Nero. And if Pharaoh cannot stop God from accomplishing his purposes for his people, then listen, neither can all of the collection of clowns and feckless, wicked, ungodly people in Washington, D .C.

and in Boise and in every other state capital and in every other federal office on the face of this country.

None of them can stop God from accomplishing his purpose. So what is our response? We can be at work to protect ourselves and others.

We can use peaceable means to push back and to endure and to try and do good to other people and to thwart evil designs when it is within our power to do so.

But whatever it is that we do, we must be active and obedient and resolute in our faith, knowing that we need not fear the king's edict, whatever it is.

It has no bearing upon us eternally at all. It's just wind over sand.

In the case of most of them, just hot air. Blowing over sand. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have so worked in history so as to preserve your people and as a reminder to us constantly that you do so for us as well.

Whatever times it is that you have appointed for us, we know that you have appointed us for these times and we know that you have given us the strength and the grace and we know that our faith will prevail and it will persevere to the very end.

It is only the man -made faith, it is only the insincere faith that will not persevere to the end.

But all those whom you have called and justified will persevere, will continue, and you by your grace will strengthen us according to your purposes to accomplish all that you have for us in Christ.

We pray that you would strengthen us and encourage our hearts together again as we reflect upon these things. In Christ's name, amen.

Let's stand and close our service this morning by singing How Firm a Foundation. ♪

How firm a foundation ♪ ♪ How firm a foundation in the hands of the

Lord ♪ ♪ It is laid for your faith in his excellent word ♪ ♪

What more can he say than to you he hath said ♪ ♪

To you for refuge Jesus hath fled ♪ ♪

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed ♪ ♪

I come and will still give thee aid ♪ ♪ I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand ♪ ♪

Upheld by my righteous, submit not to doubt ♪ ♪

Through my retrials thy pathway shall find ♪ ♪ My grace was sufficient, shall be thy supply ♪ ♪

The flame shall not burn thee, I hold thee in sight ♪ ♪

My cross to consume, and my gold to refine ♪ ♪

But so that on Jesus hath laid for repose ♪ ♪

I will not, I will not desert to his foes ♪ ♪

That's all the while ♪ May the grace of the

Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Have a great week.

♪ We're here, his death has conquered death ♪ ♪

Our guilt has disappeared and his forgiveness ♪ ♪

Jesus, Jesus, his death has ♪ ♪

See what God has done, wicked ones ♪ ♪

The innocent is judged on lovely ones I loved ♪ ♪

Our joy is now complete, for death has lost its sting ♪ ♪

And we are called to live life in his victory ♪ ♪

Jesus, he has risen,

Jesus, his death has ♪ ♪

Jesus has done enough, our hope cannot be shaken ♪ ♪

Because God raised him up, we cannot be forsaken ♪ ♪

Jesus has done enough, our hope cannot be shaken ♪ ♪

Because God raised him up, we cannot be forsaken ♪ ♪

Jesus, he has risen,

Jesus, his death has ♪ ♪ Jesus, he's the light of heaven ♪ ♪

Please be in my soul assured, believe my fears that I no more may doubt the love of Christ for me ♪ ♪

That my debt is paid, that I've been made free ♪ ♪

O converter in me, when the tempter speaks, be my faithful guide ♪ ♪

Show your promises for me secure, for the battle be my heavenly sword ♪ ♪

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine ♪ ♪

O wonderful test, glory divine ♪ ♪

With the Savior's light to dispel my thoughts in the blackest night, in darkest hour ♪ ♪

Let my soul reveal the wounds which all my sorrows healed, impress that seed, his image leave ♪ ♪

And by your power to his grace I'll flee, until faith be sight and prayer be praise, when beholding

Jesus face to face ♪ ♪ Blessed assurance,

Jesus is mine ♪ ♪

This my story, this my song, born of spirit, washed in blood ♪ ♪

This my story, this my song, in my

Savior I belong ♪ ♪ This my story, this my song, born of spirit, washed in blood ♪ ♪

This my story, this my song, in my

Savior I belong ♪ ♪ This my story, this my song, born of spirit, washed in blood ♪ ♪

This my story, this is my song, blessed assurance,

Jesus is mine ♪ ♪

I no longer fear the grave, Christ has come, took the sting of death away, through his saving blood ♪ ♪

Jesus lives, and so shall I, I'll be raised from the dust, with Christ on high ♪ ♪

Jesus lives, no more to die, in where he returns, with his blood