Hebrews: Hall of Faith

Well, we're gonna turn to Hebrews in the new been part of the Bible Hebrews chapter 11. We've been doing this series, through this fantastic I think we've been really enjoying it, at least I have. And this is Ben's last sermon. Preach brothers, if this is your last sermon.

Yeah? What? Doubt it. No. Of course, we will.

But this may well be your last summon. Let's preach as if It is your last name. Yeah. That's what I meant, actually. Yeah.

So it's Hebrew's chapter 11 and we're gonna start at verse 24. Nope. 23. Sorry. I'm busy.

You were 23. That's it. No. 24. No.

23. Let's pray. Father, this is your holy word. We wanna we wanna hear what it says, and we want you by your spirit to implant faith in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.

By faith, Moses's parents hid him for 3 months after he was born because they saw that he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of pharaoh's daughter He chose to be ill treated along with the people of god rather than to to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He re regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger, He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the passover and the application of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. Hello, yep, and good morning from me. My name is Ben, if you somehow missed everything I happened earlier, or if you've missed me for the last 12 years. I was 21 years old when I came here. I was a student at Kingston.

I faffed around was looking at other churches in the area. I wasn't really sure what I was looking for, to be honest, but when I stepped into Cornerstone Church, Tom Sweitman met me at the door and took me to where the tea and coffee was. And sat down next to me, even though I had to get up and give a notice about something for the whole service, got my phone number and then invited me back, and I've been here ever since brother. So Tom's sweetman everywhere. I'm sweetman.

Yep. Fantastic. You know, we read that Paul, when he met the Epfusion elders for the last time, was really sad to see them go when they wept together. And I was thinking I've been thinking recently about what is the right way to leave a church? This isn't my sermon, so I better not preach too much, but what is the right way to leave a church?

Right way to leave a church is in a sorrowful way, actually. Yeah. Because you love each other. You are family. But we know we go on in the lord, and we go on, and we're partners in the in the gospel.

And if Andy Broins, Rob Neum, and Taras have taught me anything about this church, you can leave, you know, you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave. There's a there's a there's a there's a bungee cord of love attached to this church, and and partnership in the gospel. And I do really hope that I am a kind of, you know, I pop up every now and again on there giving you updates about how we're getting on and what we're doing in the gospel. So, you know, Paul wept with the infusion elders that they never see his face again, but I'm sure you will see my face again. So you don't have to weep.

Not this time. Anyway, let's pray. Let's ask for the Lord's help. This is his word. He has things to teach us, and we want to we want to listen, don't we, and have hearts that are gonna be changed.

By his word. So let's pray father. Thank you so much for your word. We thank you that, in it, you show us the lord Jesus. And as we see him, you breathe life into us by your spirit.

You cause us to have faith, which saves us, and you grow us more into his image. And I pray that you would do that again today, that you would challenge our hard hearts that you would help us to see where we're going wrong, and you would give us eyes to see Jesus and we would want to be like him. And so we pray this in his name. R men. R men.

I wonder does anyone remember Toys R Us? Does anyone remember that? Yes. Yes. Okay.

Was asking some boys at Contagios this last week if they knew it. They were sort of 18, 19 years old. And I'm surprised that they knew it, because I thought it had closed down long time ago. Is it still going? Can you still find a Toys R Us?

No. Getting some head shakes. No. Anyway, Toys R Us. What an amazing store that was?

I hope you can agree with me. And Paul, Paul, you're nodding your head violently. This is an interesting question. I've been asking people this. What was the aisle you went to in toys are us?

The computer games isle. Okay. Was that like for an atari or something like or whatever it is? PC. Okay.

Great. Who else remembers Toys R Us? Let's have, Katrina. What was what was the aisle you went to? The scooters.

Is there a whole scooter aisle in Toys Arris? Amazing. Do you know if you go to the h mark, the Korean, restaurant, not restaurant, supermarket, up near, where is it? New Molden. Thank you.

There is a whole aisle of just 1 type of, of source. It's amazing. It's just 1, it's just a whole aisle. It's just the whole thing is just anyway. It's my favourite Korean sauce.

So I got very excited when I saw that. Okay. Toys R Us. Toys R Us is is I think very telling about the human nature, okay? Bear with me.

Because when you go into a toys r us, when a child goes into toys r us, They have all these options ahead of them, aisle after aisle after aisle after aisle, but their heart is gonna draw them towards 1 aisle in particular. They're gonna discount every single other aisle, scooters. Now, I'm not gonna go to scooters. Sorry, Katrina games. Yeah, I like that, but that's not the 1 that I went to.

The 1 that I went to was the Star Wars Isle. Yeah? Yes. Yes. I have a fellow Star Wars fan at the back.

It was the star was on, and it wasn't so much the Lego I was interested in. It was like the model kits making the x wing, and, you know, you had to paint it, stick it together, and all of stuff and all the little mini figures. That's the aisle my heart was went to. And if I was left alone, I would just go straight there. My sisters went off that way.

My parents went off that way. I went to the Star Wars aisle. That's where I went. Toys R Us shows us that we have affections that drive us towards doing certain things. That it reveals to us what we value.

And you know, in the great toys r us of life, there are aisles everywhere that we can go after. But we go after the 1 that our hearts go after, don't we? We discount everything else and we say, this is my passion, this is what I want. This is what I want. This is what I wanna go for.

When I was at uni here at Kingston, studied marketing, I learned about, this is gonna work. Cab the next slide, please. I learned about this. This is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the idea is you have basic needs, but as you fulfill those needs, your heart goes to the next thing, and you want the next thing and the next thing. So you start off with physiological needs, so you need air, you need water, you need food.

But once you've got those, your heart wants the next thing. Safety needs personal safety, things like that. But then you want the next level, you want love, and you want belonging. And then the next level is steam, you want to be seen as someone who's respected, you want to be respectable, you want to have a good status, a good title. You want people to know who you are to recognize you, strength and freedom.

And then the very tip of the the the pyramid, that the highest thing apparently that we want as humans is self actualization, which is just where you fulfill your own potential. You do what you were made to do you, are satisfied because you have become self actualized. You've done what it is you wanna do. And that's kind of the human model. You go into Toys R Us, you are heading towards the thing that you want most.

That's we have these desires and we're working towards them in everything that we do. Now what we see here in god's word is that by faith Moses's hierarchy of needs, was radically changed and totally different to the hierarchy of needs that the world has. And that the world goes after. What he has is a conversion. So when he goes into Toys R Us, the aisles that previously were a track to him are no longer attractive, and he's actually going, his heart is going for a totally different isle, all because of faith, and because of how faith transforms him.

And so this morning, if you know that there's a tug of war in your heart between god and this world, between the shiny things that this world can offer between temptations and pleasures and sins. If you're being tugged that way, then listen in. Because what we're gonna see this morning is how faith changes our affections and how we wanna go down a different aisle, when we go into the toys r us of life. Okay. So everyone have a look at verse 24.

Remaining gonna be in verses 24 to 26. If you wanna look down at those again, it says this. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be ill treated along with the people of god rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

Because he was looking ahead to his reward. See, when we see Moses, can I have the next slide, please? Thank you. This was his hierarchy of needs. And it was totally different.

It's totally different to your neighbors, to your colleagues at works. It's totally different to the people on the bus out in Kingston today. This is a radical conversion transformation hierarchy of needs. At the very bottom, and we'll look at these in each, we'll look at these each 1 by 1. Yet the very bottom is the treasures of Egypt, and we'll just spend a bit of time thinking about that.

But above the treasures of Egypt is disgrace I mean, who chooses disgrace? Who when given the options treasures or disgrace would gladly choose disgrace? Who's heart here is drawn towards disgrace? Rather than honor, and yet Moses valued disgrace for the sacred Christ as of greater value because he was looking forward to his reward. That's the hierarchy of needs that Moses had by faith.

This is the hierarchy of needs we have as Christians by faith. So let's think about each of these in detail then. First of all, the treasures of Egypt. The treasures of Egypt. So verse, 26, he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

I mean, the treasures of Egypt will hardly need to tell you about the treasures of Egypt. They're world famous, aren't they? The wonder of the world, 1 of the wonders of the world, are the pyramids, and all the structures that the Egyptians created during that time in the heyday of the Egyptian empire. I mean, it's extraordinary. This this 1 of the 1 of the greatest empires the world has ever seen.

1 of the richest, 1 of the most unlikely in a sense because of where it's placed, but but but 1 of the most powerful and richest empires. I mean, when I was in school, I learned about tutankhamun, I'm sure lots of people know about him. He was a pharaoh. He became pharaoh when he was 9. I mean imagine that having a 9 year old rule over you make decisions about your life.

Who's 9 here? No one's 9 here. Who's 9 in Sunday school? How old is Isaac Langman for you? 10.

Okay. Imagine he was ruling over all of us right now. Yeah? We'd all be supporting what teams is he like again? Manchester United.

We'd all be man new fans clothing red. Anyway, okay, he was 9 years old tooting Carmen, and he he died when he was 19, and his, tomb was was a wonder. So Howard Carter, who was the sort of explorer, discovered it in 19 22. And he writes this about discovering the the treasure trove, which was his tomb. He says this, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold everywhere, the glint of gold for the moment, an eternity, it must have seemed to the other standing by.

I was struck done with amazement. And when lord carnarvon unable to stand the suspense any longer inquired anxiously, can you see anything? It was all I could do to get out the words. Yes. Wonderful things.

That's what he writes. About finding the treasure trove of this tomb, and there were 5398 items found in this tomb. Including the solid gold coffin, and I'm sure you've seen it or can think of what it looks like in your head. The face mask, which was this ornate solid gold beautifully crafted and painted mask that covered his face. There were thrones in there, there's archery bows, there's trumpets, there's little statues, and hilariously, I didn't know this.

They're little what's called gold toasters. And so they would put little gold, sort of coverings on the fingers and the toes to protect them during, the burial. And so the mummy is sort of the, this sort of skeleton wrapped in, cloth and things, but it has these like gold thimbles. On its fingers and its toes. Which I thought was quite cool.

But gold, you get the picture, 5398 items buried in this tomb. That was the wealth and the treasure of Egypt. In its in its in its heyday. And if that's what they would put in the tomb closed up and sealed never to be seen again, can you imagine the glory and the splendor and the beauty of the Egyptian empire for the living, for those who wanted to enjoy the delight and be adorned in gold and live in palaces. It was the the treasure of Egypt.

I hope you can get that and can imagine that in your mind. Well, here is Moses and he is born into the treasure of Egypt. He lives in the treasure of Egypt, everything is at his his fingertips. He has access. He has unlimited money.

He has unlimited potential with things he can do. He has all of that at his fingertips. I mean, we can only dream of that sort of thing, but here is Moses and he has that. Not only does he have access to the treasures of Egypt, but we're told he's the son of Ferrow's daughter. If you read the story, you see how that comes about.

But this is a this is a privileged position. This is the son of Ferrow's daughter. So you're walking around Egypt in all the treasures and all the buildings, and there's all the nobles and the royal people there, and the important people there, and the officials. But here's Moses, He's the son of Ferrow's daughter. He's in the royal lineage.

In fact, He could 1 day if the circumstances worked out right, he could become pharaoh. Not only is the treasure of Egypt at his fingertips but he could rule over Egypt Moses. He could have ruled over the world because of this Egyptian empire. He has everything at his fingertips. He's the son of Ferrow's daughter.

He has royal privilege. I mean, we can only just imagine sort of what this feels like. I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you're given honor for some reason and you're, oh, you're a thingy's kid. Oh, you're a thingy's boy. Oh, yeah.

Come in. Come in. Let me honor you. Let me honor you. That's about as much as we get.

He was son of Ferrow's daughter. Son of Ferrow's daughter. Not only that, but we're told he had access to all the pleasures of sin. So you see that in verse where are we looking. Verse 25.

He chose to be ill treated along with the people of god rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He had every pleasurable sin imaginable available to him. Nothing was off the table for him. Sexual desires and fantasies absolutely satisfied. Slaves and power over slaves, making people do whatever you want satisfied.

Money in inordinate amounts of money and status, people bowing before him and and prostrating themselves before him, worshiping him as a god. He had access to all of that. Pleasures of sin. Sin can be pleasurable. Sin is pleasurable.

But it's fleeting, isn't it? It's fleeting we're told. It's a fleeting pleasure of sin. So here he is, Moses, okay? Get the picture He's the son of pharaoh's daughter.

He has the treasures of Egypt at his feet. He could be pharaoh 1 day. He could rule over everything. He he has the pleasures of sin. He has apt absolutely everything this world can offer.

This guy was at the top. The world could not do any better, for this guy, the, the, the, the Moses. He had absolutely everything. And yet what do we read in verse 26? He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value What?

Moses regarded disgrace? As of greater value than all the treasures of the Egypt, of all the treasures of this world, of everything that could possibly pleasure him and satisfy him well, he would think would satisfy him. He regarded disgrace as of greater value than that. Here's Moses's hierarchy of needs at the bottom, the pleasures of the world, what does he desire more than that disgrace? Disgrace.

Verse 24 says he refused to be known as the son of Ferrow's daughter. He walked down the high every 1 bowed down to him, gave him honor. He refused that. He turned his back on that. He wanted to be counted as child of god, not as a child of pharaoh's daughter.

I mean, sometimes we can find ourselves looking at like people born to rich and famous people. Maybe we do this with the royals, and we're like, oh, wow. What would it be like to be George, you know, born into that family. Never has to work a day in his life. Has everything he could ever want.

Or maybe a a famous footballer has a child and you think, wow, the houses you're gonna live in, mate, the things that you're gonna have access to. I mean, we, our hearts can yearn and wish we were born, with that kind of honor, but here's Moses and he refused to be known as the son of Ferre's daughter. He'd rather have disgrace people looking at him sort of frowning at him and looking down on him and thinking, what are you doing, mate? You're in the dirt. He'd rather have that.

He'd rather be counted with the people of god even, and who were the people of god in this time? What were the people of god doing this doing during this time? They were slaves. They were slaves. He valued being a slave, which could be mistreated, could be killed without question, could be raped, could be abused, could be used however you wanted.

He chose to be that He he rather that. He valued that as higher than all the treasures of Egypt, being known as the son of Ferris' daughter, and then all the pleasures have sinned. Oh my goodness. What? Who is this guy?

Is he mad? What's happened to him? But his heart when he goes to Toys R Us would go for disgrace. I want the isle of disgrace. I don't want all of those treasures.

My heart goes there. Why would he be why would he rather be mistreated along with the people of god? Than have the treasures of Egypt, but it's because he was looking forward to his reward. He was looking forward to his reward verse 26. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.

Because he was looking ahead to his reward. You see at the tip of the of the pyramid for Moses, The thing that his heart wanted more than anything else was his reward, and what is his reward? Well, we're told in verse 26 as well, it's Christ. Moses' heart when he went into Toys R Us went for Christ. I don't want the pleasures of the world.

I don't want that. I'll even go for the I'll have to go through the to get to the Isle of Christ. You've gotta go through the Isle of disgrace. You gotta go through that aisle. You know, it's a bit like IKEA.

You can't get to the end without winding your way around. You've gotta go through the Isle of disgrace to get to the Isle of Christ, and so I'll gladly go through that aisle. Yes, I'll get thrown mother, and yes, I will have to renounce all my titles. And yes, I will be disgraced, but it's because of Christ at the end of it. He's the 1 at the end.

He's the 1 that my heart's going for. See Moses's highest aspiration is not self actualization. It's Christ actualization. God actualization. I wanna see god.

I wanna know god. I wanna be with god. And I will go through the Isle of disgrace to get there. See, in exodus, Moses shows us that this is his heart's greatest desire. He's on the mountain and he's he's speaking to god.

And an opportunity sort of arises for Moses to ask god whatever he wants. And the thing that he asked god to do for him is this, he says show me your glory. Show me your glory. That's what I wanna see. That's what I want.

Don't show me the glinting gold of Egypt. I've seen that. I I wanna see your glory, lord. Show me your glory, reveal yourself to me. And we know that before this interaction with god, Moses is speaking with the lord face face.

You read that in Exodus 33, and we're told he speaks to the lord as as 1 speaks to a friend. But Moses is not content simply to speak to god like on the phone. You know, Zoom is no alternative to seeing you in the flesh, is it? And here is Moses and he's on the phone in a sense. He's zooming god speaking to him face to face, but he's not content with that.

He wants to see god. He wants to walk with god. He wants to live with god, and so he says, show me your glory. Show me the glory, and then the the lord responds with this. The lord said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the lord in your presence.

I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I have compassion, but he said, You cannot see my face, for no 1 may see me and live. Then the Lord said there is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock uncover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back but my face must not be seen.

So Moses sees the back of god in a sense, which is just sort of a way of saying he didn't see his face. He couldn't see his face. He saw the back. He couldn't see the face of god. No 1 may see the face of god and live.

But what does Moses see here? He sees all his goodness on display. That's what the lord says. I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and he said the Lord descended in the cloud. The Lord stood there with him.

The Lord proclaimed his name and he passed before him proclaiming all his goodness. And it says this, this is the lord's goodness. This is what the lord proclaims as he processes in front of Moses, all his goodness. The lord, the lord, the compassionate and gracious god, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, main painting love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin, yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children and their children for the sin of their parents to the third and fourth generation.

So this is Moses, he's standing there The lord causes all of this goodness to pass in front of him, his love, his mercy, and his judgment. How often do we think of god's judgment as being part of his goodness? But the lord says I'm gonna cause all my goodness to pass in front of you. And he says he does not leave the guilty unpunished. That is his goodness.

That is the goodness of god. And so Moses sees this, but he does not see god. His heart's desire, his reward, is still to see god. That's the finish line of his race. That's his highest ambition That's what his heart is yearning after.

And so the question is, how does Moses get his reward? How is Moses gonna see this god who cannot be seen? Have the next slide, please. This is 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6. For god who said let light shine out of darkness made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of god's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

See, the glory of god This glory that we cannot see and live. The glory of the 1 who has been forever and the creator of all things. His glory is displayed in the face of Christ. We can't see god's face and live, but here is Jesus. Here is Jesus, the son of god whose face we can see because he's man.

He was made man and because he's qualified us to look at him in the face and live. That's Jesus. Here is Jesus. The glory of God is in the face of Jesus. And if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the father.

That's what Jesus says. If you have seen me, you have seen the father. And so what is our reward? What is Moses's reward? What is the thing that we desire above all else?

It's Christ. It's the glory of god in the face of Christ. Jesus is the 1 that we desire. Jesus is the 1 that we long for. Next slide, please.

John writes this He says the word became flesh and he made his dwelling among us. Oh, not that 1. Sorry, that's spoilers. John writes this, he says the word became flesh, and he made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory, John writes. A disciple John says we have seen his glory, the glory of the 1 and only son who came from the father full of grace and truth.

And we saw that at Contagious this week. Contagious was a week long Bible camp for young people. It's fantastic. We spent the whole week looking in the gospel of John and we saw the glory, didn't we guys? Over and over again, we saw the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory of the old made new.

The glory of the father and son, the glorious I am, the glory of the death defeter, the glory of the seed that dies, the glory of the foot washer, the glory of the vine of power, the glorious 1 who prays for us, the glory of the king who is our lamb, and we saw the glory of the brand new day over and over and over and over and over and over again. In the book of John, you see the glory of Jesus. And that's what he says. John says, we have seen his glory. And so if you've ever read the book of John or if you've been here for any amount of time and you've heard Jesus preach from the front, you also will have seen the glory of Jesus.

You have seen the glory of Jesus. You have seen it in his word. But finally and completely, we will see the glorious 1 face to face in the new creation. Cab the next slide, please. Revelation Oh, sorry.

I don't have it. My bad. In Revelation 22, John says no longer will there be any curse talking about the new creation. The throne of god and of the lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their forehead.

So Moses Moses, Moses, Moses, you who discounted the treasures of this world and rather would have grace for the sake of Christ because you're looking forward to your reward, you are going to get your reward Moses. You are going to get your reward Moses. You are gonna get that thing that you longed for on that mountain, but you couldn't really receive. Show me your glory lord is what Moses said. And Moses 1 day you will see the glorious face of Jesus Christ, and you are gonna see how his glory outshines the whole universe.

The treasures of Egypt, pathetic, dull, black, soot, coal, ash, dust, the glory of the lord Jesus Christ. Shining forever and ever brighten a thousand stars, brighten a thousand universes, outshining the whole universe. Do you see how when you see what Moses really wanted? It makes sense of why he disregarded the treasures of this world. Yeah?

You think Moses, you're mad. You would rather have disgraced than the treasures of this world, and you are, I see why. I see why. It's because you're longing for a greater treasure. You're longing for a brighter treasure.

You're longing for a treasure that's not fleeting, but that is everlasting. And so you see when he goes into Toys R Us, he gladly runs straight to the Isle of disgrace. He's running and pelting. I want disgrace for the sake of Christ. I don't care about all the other aisles that draw me and try and distract me with their glinting gold or come over here, fleeting pleasures of sin, come and enjoy sin, come and enjoy all the things that I can satisfy you with.

And Moses says, no, I'm running for disgrace for Christ because he's my reward. So what are the treasures of Egypt in your lives today? What gold is glinting at you? Tugging at your hearts. What pleasurable sins are whispering in your ear?

I'm trying to draw you out. Come and come and enjoy this. Come and enjoy this. God is so cruel keeping this from you. God is so cruel.

I can give you this. Come and be satisfied in this sin. Why would god say you can't do this? Come and enjoy this sin. What are the things in your lives?

That are the treasures of Egypt. Cause I don't think much has changed really. I mean, sexual sort of temptations sexual promiscuity, debauchery, still a thing, power over people in situations, still a thing, rich riches to build an empire, still a thing, statues of yourself wanting to be a god to people, still a thing. So let me ask you, what is the highest aim in your life? What is your hierarchy of needs?

Do you do you kind of want Christ a little bit, but I don't want to go through the isle of disgrace? I quite like my title. People respect me. If I said I was a Christian or if I really lived for Christ, I would lose that honor. I'd lose some mates.

Some family members would look down on me. Do you have some staunch atheist friends or family members that just think you're stupid for being a Christian? Are the treasures of this world above disgrace in your hierarchy? Are you actually going for self actualization? And look, if that is you, if you feel Egypt tugging at your heart and if you're regularly dragged off by it, then you know, see here how Moses was changed.

See here how he was converted. See here how the lord dealt with him and changed him. And the answer is through faith by seeing him who is invisible. Look at verse 27. Verse 27 says, by faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger.

He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. So here is Moses. He leaves Egypt. Yeah? He discounts its riches.

He does not fear the king's anger is a greater fear in this life, than the world. And he persevered in all the difficulties that he had in this world, because we're told in verse 27, he saw him who was invisible. That was what changed him. He saw him who was invisible. Now he didn't see his face remember but he saw enough of god, he saw enough of all his goodness to know that just seeing a glimpse of god, the smallest glimpse of god, just seeing the smallest glimmer of gold from heaven is enough to dull every single glimmer of gold in this world.

He didn't see god's face, which is what his heart wanted, but he saw god's goodness, and he saw enough of god to know that just a glimpse of god is better than all the treasure in this world. Jesus tells a parable of a man who finds a pearl of great worth. In a field. So this man, he he probably has a life, a house, a job. He probably has items that he enjoys.

He has hobbies that he likes to do. He probably has a bank account with savings. He has friends that he goes out with and hangs out with. And yet the day he finds this pearl in this field, His whole life becomes dull and unshiny in comparison to the glory of the pearl that he's found And so what does he do? He sells everything Jesus says.

This man sells everything he has. You know, before I was building an extension on my house, I was you know, saving up for a pool in my garden, but I've sold my house now because of this pile. Oh, yeah, I was, you know, I was looking forward to going and doing these things and and being this sort of person, I was working my way up in my career. But you know what? I've sold everything because I found something greater.

And Jesus says, that's the gospel. That's him. And that's what happened to Moses He saw god. He he found the pearl of great worth, and he gladly sold everything he had. He forsook every pleasure.

He gave up every honor and title for Christ, who is the more glorious 1, who is the greater treasure. So as we finish, I just wanted us to look at Jesus. I want us to look at him so that he can change us. So could I have the 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse up, please? Thank you.

This is Jesus. For you know the grace of our lord, Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, I'm not just talking about Egyptian rich now. He was rich beyond compare, we sing. He had the riches of heaven, the riches of an eternal, glorious, god He had those riches that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor. So that through his poverty, you might become rich.

Do you see the hierarchy of needs of Jesus? Do you see Jesus' hierarchy of needs? He has the riches of heaven far greater than the riches of this world, but he became poor and he valued grace, he valued poverty, he valued the judgment of god and death as of greater value. He valued disgrace as of greater value than the treasures of heaven for the reward of a saved people. See Jesus had to go through IKEA as well.

To get to you his reward, he had to go through the isle of disgrace. And through the isle of suffering and through the isle of god's judgment. And we see this when Satan tempts him Satan takes him to the top of a mountain and shows him the glories of the world and says, I'll give you all of this. I'll give it to you that you know it was an empty world. It was a world without you.

And so when Satan takes Jesus to Toys R Us and says you can have glory down that aisle, or you can go through that winding suffering, disgraceful judgment of your father. I'll, he, his heart went that way. He ran to that aisle because he valued disgrace for you as of greater value. Than the treasures. He left heaven.

He forsook his title and honor and glory and died a servant's criminal's death on a cross. To pay for our sin so that he would win you his reward. See, what is Moses's reward? It's Christ. That's the thing at the top of his pyramid.

What's Christ's reward? It's you? You are the top of Christ's pyramid. The treasure of heaven at the bottom, disgrace above that, and at the top, his reward, you. Do you see a little glimpse of the glory of Jesus?

Do you see how in Moses we see Jesus? Jesus is the 1 who will change your affections. So if you're dragged off by sin again and again and again, if a certain temptation in your life looks looks glorious, and you fall for it again and again and again. Look at Christ. Moses persevered.

He left Egypt because he saw him who was invisible. So same for us today. See Christ, and we'll be changed by faith. And so my final parting shot before I leave Cornerstone Church is this. Yeah.

When you step into the great Toys R Us of Life, tomorrow, and you see all the aisles, go for the 1 that says Christ. Will you do that? Yeah? Because he's a treasure. He's the greatest treasure, and he's at the end of it.

And you'll have to go through the Isle of disgrace to get to him. And you'll have to go through the Isle of suffering to follow him. But he's at the end of it. You will see his face and the pleasures of sin are fleeting. We're told, but Christ is everlasting.

And so go for him. See him. Go for him. So we pray? Father, we thank you so much for Moses and how you changed his life radically.

He had the whole world at his feet and yet because he saw you He he valued disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than this whole world. Father, we are so often drawn away by temptation and sin, satan so often lies in our ear and says that the glory of this world is greater than the glory of Jesus Christ, but it is not true. And I pray that you would give us the same heart as Moses, that we would go through the isle of disgrace for the sake of Christ that we might claim him as our reward. Father set our affections on your son, show us him We see would see how beautiful he is. And as we see him, would you make everything else pale and insignificant draw us and our hearts towards him, please, in Jesus's name, amen.