The Christian life can be compared to flying an Airplane.
A) There are times when we encounter smooth
sailing /
things are just flowing / making
progress.
B) There are other times when we encounter
turbulence
the
ride can get a little rocky to say the least .
C)Then there are those times when things get real
foggy it is hard to
see
where you are going .
1)
You
need to come in for a landing , you need to get some rest
but you just can't seem to find the airport.
For those who fly there are four things they teach you to do
when you are in a jam/ when need to get into Airport.
A) Climb - Take the plane up as high
as you can.
1)
2nd
Confess
- let those know
on ground Know you are lost / that
you are
in trouble & need help
B) 3rd Communicate -
Open up lines of communication give coordinates
where you are.
1)4th
Conform-
Do whatever that guy on the ground tells you to do!
C)
These four principles could be taken from the word & are illustrated for us
in many men of faith.
1) Tonight we
will see them in the passage before us in looking at
the faith of Moses.
To
the Jews Moses was the Greatest of Men the Book of Duet. Ends w/ Moses
unparalleled epitaph Ch.34:10-12
10But since then there has not arisen in
Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11in
all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt,
before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, 12and
by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the
sight of all Israel.
Number 12 Hear now My words:If there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a
vision;
I speak to him in a dream.7 Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house.8 I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark
sayings;& he sees the form of the
LORD.
Now
we all know the story of Moses How he was hidden by his parents for 3 months
put in the basket rescued by Pharaohs daughter
A)Cared for by his mother taught him the ways / tradition & history of Jehovah
B) Moses Came to be known as the son of
Pharaohs daughter as he grew up he was trained in all the ways of Egypt
1)
He was being groomed
to be the Pharaoh
C)Acts 7:22
Stephen "he
was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt
/ Mighty in word & deed!
D) Egypt was the most
Advanced, most Powerful, most Intellectual
countries in the world at that time.
1)AND Moses was it's prize pupil
E) Josephus wrote Moses was a mighty warrior &
leader that he
was the commander & chief of the Egyptian army
1) Moses had grown &
excelled in the world of Egypt.
Imagine
being groomed to be the next leader of the world. You would be the most
powerful man alive!
A)Moses had risen to
great heights but in his heart he knew it was in the wrong world ! What would he do? He would Climb V24 -27
B)Moses had risen to great heights in Egypt now he sought
to Climb in another World - God's /
He saw the Lord He realized His calling
C) So
He refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter / he
refused to be considered the heir to the
Throne
1) He forsook Egypt & all its grandeur and chose to suffer
affliction w/ the People of God! Why?
D) v.27 He saw Him who is invisible / his life was forever changed , his
passion became to know God / be & do what God wanted.
1) Paul on road to Damascus "Who are you Lord? " Passion
the
rest of his life / Phil 3 "Lay
aside all know Him.............Dung
That was where Moses was at / He caught a glimpse of God and of heaven and it ruined him to this world!
A)He would later - Climb
the Mountain /to meet w/ God. longed to be on the Mt. Stayed 40 days In
Gods Presence
B) There was a time when
God was going to abandon the people because of their rebellion / send an
Angel
1)
Moses said to God - No
Angel "You or nothing Not You Lord we are
not going"
C) God said ok- Moses said One more thing - SEE GLORY!
Christianity
in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in
its purest form is nothing more than imitating him who we see. To see His
majesty & to imitate him, that is the sum of Christianity.
Something
happens to the person who has witnessed His majesty . One glimpse of the king
& you are consumed w/ a desire to see more of Him & to say more about
Him. SO TRUE!!!!!!
D) Another time God was taking his Presence from the camp Moses Moved the Tab. outside camp
" If the Lord can't be where we are I will go to
Him!
That
is the mark of the man or woman of faith that God really uses is above all else
they want to Climb
A) Draw near to the Lord
to seek His face His leading / they long for nothing else but to fellowship w/
Him & Know Him. Moses' Heart.
B)
I was talking w/ a friend of mine today who Pastors
at another church
1)
Important decisions to make concerning a certain situation met to
talk & pray many different opinions ( Lord saying this that )
C)
They were confused because scriptures being used to contradict
1)
This happened several times Frustrating
D)
Prayer retreat not for any purpose/ No agenda
/ but to Be w/ God
1)
It was in that time that God spoke clear united / Acts 13 thing as
they ministered unto the Lord the Spirit Spoke
Sometimes we really fail in prayer because we
view it as simply a means to an end I need wisdom / I need Help / Better pray
A)There is
nothing wrong w/ that God encourages us to call out to Him ( Those who need
wisdom let them ask of God
.)
B) But sometimes the mistake
we make in Prayer & even in Worship is we view it as a means to an end
instead of the end
1)
Nothing Better than being in the Presence of the Lord
C)
Think of it this way: I love it when my kids come to me w/ their needs
1)
Shoes tied / homework / problem w/ a friend wisdom
But if
that was the only time they came Sad
D)
What I love the most is when they just want to be w/ me !!!! Dad sit watch a
movie / read cuddle
1)Our
Lord is the same way - ( Sometimes He
doesnt answer when we desire because He wants us to keep coming Havent
seen
. Awhile)
Seeing
the Lord affected Moses in another way : He saw the world for what it was,
that it was Passing !
A) V25 Note Sin is
Pleasurable/ but the Problem is
it doesn't last it doesn't satisfy .
B) Why we have drug
addicts / One high isn't enough / More / need to something stronger.
1) Obsessed w/ Sex
2) Making money / never
enough
3) Buying Toys / always something new!
C) The person living for this World will be a
person who lives by Sight , live by what he can See, Touch, Taste.
1)
He will seek for
pleasure & fulfillment in those things But everything
that this world has to offer is fleeting
& Temporary
Moses
had all that this world had to offer but he realized it was passing because he
Climbed / He saw God!
A) As a result V,26 He ESTEEMED the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt because He looked to the Reward
B) Like Abraham &
the Patriarchs we talked about last week Moses was Living for HEAVEN
1)
Contrast Moses w/
those who have so little in comparison yet they resist the Lords leading in
their lives ( Fail to Surrender)
C) Their Hanging on to
things here that are holding them down ( Struggle w/ weights & Sins
-
1) The Way to victory is to Climb: Pilot / Moppet field / Knawing / rat/
Take it higher / rat can't survive in air up there.
D) As we seek to Climb draw near to the Lord / see
sin for what it is & it is dealt
w/ see this world for what it is
Passing.
2nd
thing pilot is to do is to confess "I
am lost , I need help
I don't have it together"
A) This can be humbling / but it is neccesary/
Creates dependency
1)
Now most people we see
the Lord using go through this &Moses no
exception.
B) In Egypt Moses thought he knew God's plan /
realized the Lord had raised him up
to deliver the People.
1)Tried to Take matters in own hands/ Egyptian. / Stop argument
C) Fled into the Desert / Became a shepherd. (
Lowest on the social scale)
1)
There Moses learned
what every man of faith learns / there is a need to
be broken.
D) There is a need to
rid ourselves of all self Confidence Confidence in our ability our
ingenuity Become totally dependent upon God
He
had been trained in all the ways of Egypt / he was schooled to be a great
leader / but God wasn't finished Yet.
A) God
would shape his heart to be a man governed by God!
B) Through his being broken Moses would learn to
be less dependent on his self his
training / more dependent on God!
1) Evident in his
Confession "Lord
I Can't" Once he thought
nothing could stop him / now no one could use him.
C) But then
He heard what he needed to hear the Lord said "I will
go
w/ you I will tell you what to say . Show where to go."
Moses
spent 40yrs in the desert tending sheep and the Lord was preparing him to lead
an even bigger Flock!
A) One that could complain / that could rebel /
one that could be so
temperamental ( What is
God preparing you for right now)
B) In the desert
time Moses was broken / Led to
his Confession
Lord I need help
1)
The attitude of his
heart opened that door of Communication.
Moses longed to hear from the Lord. Be led
by the Lord.
From
this we realize that the man or woman of faith is one
who
is dependent on the Lord!
A) Their life is marked by Prayer. The realize the
Need for communication
The need for constant
communication w/ the Lord / desire for His Presence.
A woman asked
G. Campbell Morgan, "Do you think
we ought to pray about even the little things in life?"
Dr. Morgan, in
his typically understated British manner, replied, "Madam, can you think of
anything in your life that is big to God?"
(Leonard
Ravenhill). "The church
has many organizers,
but few agonizers; many who pay, but few who pray; many
resters, but few wrestlers; many who are enterprising, but few who are
interceding.
A worldly Christian
will stop praying and a praying Christian will stop worldliness.
Tithes may
build a church, but tears will give it life. That is the difference between the
modern church and the early church. In
the matter of effective praying, never have so many left so much to so few. Brethren, let us pray''
Listen the man/ woman who is
living by faith Climb desire to be w/ God Confess see need for God / Communicate Long to be led by God
A)All This results
in the biggest mark of faith is a willingness to Conform.
V28 - By faith kept the Passover!
B)Think about this -
hadn't been done before/ sounded kind of weird definitely gross - Take animal - kill to blood on door
1) Yet there was a willingness to conform -
say - Lord I'll do it your way!
C) That is what we are
saying Rom. 12:1,2 Living Sacrifice Ill conform
Moses
in faith obeyed the Lord
A.)Institution was
formed - picture was created of Jesus final Passover
lamb
Moses'
faith is further seen in his willingness to be led by the Lord!
A.) Military general obviously - he knew territory / but follows the
Lords' lead - boxed in situation!
B.) Red Sea! - the
people knew too!
1.) Often times the
Lord will lead us in ways that make no sense
to us
but - man of faith conforms!
C.) We walk by faith not by sight
1.) The Lord will even
lead us into seemingly - boxed in situations to
reveal His strength power His
provision
D.) Reveal an aspect of his nature and character
we never known! or Our need to
rediscover! Who He is
As we Fly along in our Christian life we will
encounter various conditions / But if we are to be people living by faith we
must Learn:
A) To 1st Climb-
Long to be w/ God / Confess Acknowledge our daily need for God /
B)Communicate Long to be led by God / Conform to the
will & way & plan of God