Many people are living between two worlds without even realizing it, but are you one of those people? Tony Evans says we all have the choice between accepting the reality of our faith or conforming to the pressure of the world. In this lesson, learn to make the choice to experience the reward of God that is so much greater than any treasure of man.

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hello everyone this is dr tony evans

with the urban alternative

and i’m excited to welcome you to join

us on a journey

a journey through hebrews 11

it’s known as the hall of faith

where men and women

discovered what god can do

when

god’s people

learn

to live walk and act

by faith

the beautiful thing is it’s not just

about them

it’s about us

as the author of hebrews writes to new

testament believers

that’s who we are

about how

the lives of old testament saints who

learn to live by faith should challenge

and affect

our lives as we live by faith

so we’re excited to welcome you on this

journey it’s going to be an exciting

trip we’re going to learn a lot

most importantly we’re going to be

transformed by the truth

what it means to be a kingdom hero

who lives by faith

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we make decisions every day

some are minor decisions they really

don’t matter one way or the other

others are medium decisions they matter

somewhat

others are massive decisions they carry

a great deal of weight

i’m sure we’ve all made decisions we

wish we

didn’t make

some we’re glad we did make

some we wish we could take back

because it was just a bad choice

it wasn’t a good decision

when it comes to living by faith it will

involve

choice

you will have to choose when it comes to

living by faith

who you’re going to believe

and who you’re going to obey

who you’re going to follow based on that

belief you’re going to have

to make a choice

and that is what we face

in hebrews chapter 11

verses 23 to 28.

moses

the choices of faith

verse 23 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

eating

of course

the author of hebrews is talking about

the fact that when moses was born

pharaoh made an edict

that all the male children under two

were to be slain

the word came to the hebrews

that their baby boys under two were to

be slain because pharaoh did not want to

see the continued proliferation of the

israelites

and so he made this edict

but we learned in verse 23 by

faith and then he talks about

moses’s mother and father

amram his father and

jochebed his mother

and that they made a decision

in spite of the law of the land about

the killing of the kids

that because their child was a beautiful

child we are not going to be afraid of

the king’s edict

and they made their decision about moses

by faith

moses was born into a faith-filled home

if you want your children to have faith

they need to see faith

and the context of a faith-filled home

didn’t show up when his mama and daddy

were at church it showed up when the

laws of the land

were against their family structure

it said the king made an edict kill all

of these babies

but by faith

because their child was beautiful it

says

they were not terrified by the king’s

edict

now the question is what was it about

the way this child looked beautiful

child

that made them so confident in god

in luke chapter

7 verse 20

says moses was born to his parents

and they saw

this child was lovely in god’s sight

acts 7 20.

so when it talks about him being

beautiful they’re not merely talking

about what he looked like

they were talking about god’s perception

of the child

he was lovely in god’s sight

they looked at baby moses

and because it was a faith-filled family

they said god has a purpose for this

child

god thinks highly of this child

they chose

to believe god’s plan for their children

in spite of what the culture was saying

doing and legalizing

because it was the king’s edict moses

was born in a time of abortion

infanticide secularism

and they had to raise that let me tell

you what they didn’t say it’s so bad out

here we not even gonna have children

it’s so bad in here i’m afraid to bring

children into this bad world

they said in spite of how bad the

culture is

god has a plan for this pregnancy god

has a plan for this birth and we’re not

going to be afraid about how bad it is

out there because we know who we believe

in here up in here up in here

so moses was born into a faith

environment

in fact it was only three months old

when they had to kiss him goodbye

most of us as parents don’t have to kiss

our babies goodbye at three months old

but when they graduate from high school

you may have to kiss them goodbye

they’re going to college going to the

army going to a career

that’s why you want to make sure you

brand them with the faith before you

have to kiss them goodbye

and you want to brand them with the

faith as early as possible

so that when they leave and the secular

world tries to eat them up you’ve given

them enough faith

for them to survive so they put their

baby boy as the book of exodus opens up

and tells us they put their baby boy in

a little basket

and sent him down the nile river

pharaoh’s daughter saw him

pharaoh’s daughter saw he was a hebrew

how did pharaoh’s daughter seeing a new

baby in a basket know he was a hebrew

because the boy was circumcised

only the jews circumcised their boys the

egyptians didn’t circumcise their sons

jewish boys were circumcised on the a

day

circumcision was a sign that i belong to

god and i’m under god’s rule i’m under

god’s covenant

by the way those of you who know the

story from exodus the first few chapters

you’ll see this story

uh

miriam moses big sister

when the parents pushed the

push the little crib so to speak the

basket

uh down the

uh the nile river

she ran along the bank

and she saw

the daughter of pharaoh

pick up pick it up and take it home

she says to the daughter pharaoh hey

don’t you need a nursemaid to help you

take care of you need a night nurse a

day nurse somebody help you take care of

him yeah yeah i’m gonna need a nurse for

this baby hold on i’ll be right back

okay hey mama

uh pharaoh daughter needs a nurse

because she just picked up my baby

brother your son moses from the river

why don’t you apply for the job she goes

down and applies for the job she’s hired

by pharaoh’s daughter so she getting

paid to raise her own baby

guess what

because you’ll never discover what god

can do

until you trust him to do it and he can

do it in ways that will blow your mind

when he sees your faith

by faith it says

but watch this now

verse 24 by faith

moses when he had grown up refused to be

called the son of pharaoh’s daughter

choosing rather to endure 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

let me tell you the second thing faith

does

biblical faith chooses not only god’s

plan over the culture’s plan it chooses

god’s priorities

it chooses god’s priorities

it says that when moses

had grown up

he became an adult

when moses grew up he refused to be

called

the son of pharaoh’s daughter why did it

take moses 40 years

to make this decision

because he’s caught between two worlds

see his mama is raising him

acts chapter 7 says his mother nurtured

him

so his mother’s whispering in his ear

hey

you belong to god

you’re not an egyptian

you are hebrew

you belong to god you’re the offspring

of abraham isaac and jacob you’re part

of god’s divine covenant to israel but

then he got over here he got the

daughter of pharaoh saying hey hey come

on now you come on i want to make you

i’m going to be the smartest the richest

the most powerful man in the world

that’s what i have in store for you so

moses for 40 years is being told by two

different mothers he’s being pulled in

two different ways and it took him to

the age 40 to get right

but at the age 40

it says he made a choice

and he refused

i will no longer be known as an egyptian

i am now going to be known for what i

truly am

i belong to the people of god

verse 25

choosing rather to endure ill-treatment

with the people of god than to enjoy the

passing pleasures of sin

you see the word verse 25 choosing

because faith demands a choice

he made a choice

many of us have not yet made the choice

many have but many have not made the

choice you’re still dancing

between two realities

i’m a ill treatment because you

associate

with your faith

and your faith governs your decisions

so i don’t do that because i’m a

christian

i can’t do that because i’m a follower

of christ

that’s where i take my stand and i know

there may be repercussions

that’s why that first word in the next

verse is so important

because the first word in verse 26 says

considering the reproach of christ

considering means to think it through

carefully

he looked at the pros and cons

and when he looked at the pros and cons

he said instead of enjoying

watch this the pleasures of sin for a

season

now he tells you two things about sin

first of all he says sin is fun

okay

and anybody who doesn’t think sin is fun

hasn’t sinned right yet

but he says the second thing about sin

he says while it is

sin is fun it’s also seasonal he called

it the passing pleasures of sin

it’s seasonal

he made a decision

that it’s a lot of fun being the son of

pharaoh’s

daughter and if i go over here and hang

out with god’s way god’s word and god’s

people i’m gonna be ill-treated like

they are

i looked at the pros i looked at the

cons i looked at the pros i looked at

the cons and moses at age 40 says i have

decided

that i am no longer going to be

identified with pharaoh’s daughter

as the heir apparent to the throne of

egypt

i have now decided at 40 years old i am

going to cast my lot whatever the

repercussions are with the people of god

now the question is

why make that decision

if i know i’m going to get mistreated

you know buked and scorned talked about

showings you born if i if i know that

there could be negative repercussions

why

risk it

that’s the question because he says in

verse 26 considering the

reproach

reproach means the shame the criticism

to bear the reproach means to associate

with jesus christ and your faith

and understand that that will bring with

it some shame

that is shame of rejection like jesus

was rejected

so why do it watch this now

considering verse 26 the reproach of

christ

greater riches

than the treasures of egypt

for he was looking

to

the reward

watch this now

so there was a motivation factor here it

wasn’t just so he was so spiritual you

know he thought this thing through and

what he discovered was

the payoff with christ is better than

the payoff with the world

and he calls it a reward

now what do you get a reward for

you get a reward for something you do

something you do rewards you get a

reward at work or reward

for winning a race you get a reward

because of a performance of some type

he said if i do this thing right even

though i’m really starting it full time

at 40.

even if i do this thing right

i’m gonna wind up richer

than i would if i just settle for what

the world has to offer me in egypt

so the question is what’s the reward

now your first thought may be heaven

and heaven definitely is a reward

because the bible says he’s going to

reward us for our faithfulness down here

but i don’t think that’s the reward he’s

talking about

although that’s a true statement

who’s raising him his mother

who’s whispering in his ear his mother

what is his mother telling him

about his circumcision because that’s

the thing that sets him apart

mo

let me give you a little history boy

um

generations ago our forefather named

abraham

god told him to circumcise his son

and he circumcised his son because god

made this agreement with him this

agreement with your forefather abraham

said that god is going to build a land

and a nation and he’s going to give a

promised land and this promised land is

going to be for his people

and god is going to lead his people into

the promised land

and boy let me tell you something um the

reason why god let you get this

edumacation in the secular environment

being raised by egypt learning all this

highfalutin stuff you learning is cause

guess what

he wants you to lead him there

now just so you know i didn’t make that

up

acts chapter 7 when stephen is reviewing

moses history says

and moses

knowing that god had called him

to deliver israel

so when moses mother was telling him

about moses playing for his life and

said and god transferred that that

covenant from abraham to isaac to jacob

and we just transferred it to you

because god’s got this thing out there

he wants to do to you with you through

you and for you and this thing is so big

boy you gonna be leading a whole nation

don’t you settle for that junk in egypt

and miss out on the reward of god’s

promise

you can fall so in love with the world

that you miss out on god’s plan for your

life

you can fall so in love with the secular

society that you can die with money in

the bank you can dial with your name

order on a big plaque you can die with a

big house and a nice car and a wasted

life

because you never got around to

experiencing god’s plan because you and

i were too in love with egypt

to make the decision that the reward of

god is greater than the treasures of men

nothing wrong with having the car the

house or the job or the money in and of

itself unless you had to give up god to

get in

unless you had to hide your faith under

a bushel to get it

he says that he made the

decision and he made the decision

because he knew that it was going to be

worth it

see but unless you believe that you

won’t make the decision

you’ll hang out with the world because

you don’t buy the fact that to fully

give myself to god means

i lose

you will be mistreated but being

mistreated while you win

he comes to another choice

wow verse 27

by faith he left egypt not fearing the

wrath of the king for he endured as

seeing him who is unseen i need to read

verse 27 again by faith he left egypt

not fearing the wrath of the king for he

endured as seeing him who is unseen

he had faith

in choosing god’s presence

all right

moses made a graphic mistake

he killed an egyptian outside of god’s

will

the reason you need to know that

is because most of us have made mistakes

that is operated outside of god’s will

he blew it

and operated independently of god and

had to run for his life

so on the one hand he refused that was a

good side on the other hand

he was presumptuous that was the bad

side so he had a good and a bad thing

working both but both he was trying to

do god’s will because it says in acts 7

he thought that that the folks would

look at him as their deliverer so so

he’s trying to do good but he winds up

doing bad even though he made the

commitment so this imperfect man

watch this

says he saw that which was unseen

he saw that which was unseen

he saw something you couldn’t see

so when did he see something

you can’t see

at the burning bush

because it says he saw him

who you can’t see

so he saw god but god is invisible so

you can’t see god so he saw the one you

can’t see

now watch this don’t miss this in verse

27 it says he saw him

watch this don’t miss this

after he endured

so there was a gap

between his refusal and his seeing

and the gap between his refusal

to his seeing was endurance

how long did he endure 40 years

it took him 40 years to make the

decision and he had to go through a

40-year process of enduring before he

got to see

the unseen

why

because god was getting him ready for

what he was getting ready to see

let’s go back to the story in the book

of exodus moses is leading the sheep and

it says while he was leading his sheep

because now he’s no longer in egypt he’s

running for his life

he’s leading the

sheep and it says he’s leading his sheep

in the mountain of god

so he’s leading his sheep

in an environment where god is

while leading his sheep in an

environment where god is he looks up

and he sees a bush on fire

that’s not being consumed

that blows his mind

because the leaves are not burning the

land the branches aren’t falling off yet

the

branch is engulfed with flame

so he says to himself self

you got to check this out because you

didn’t seen a lot of fires in the

wilderness you’ve never seen nothing

like this where the bush is on fire the

leaves are still green the branches are

not burning

he said let me turn aside and see this

strange thing

when he turned aside

to see the bush that would not burn

a voice came from outside of the bush

saying moses moses

take off your shoes

you’re on holy ground

oh i love this take off your shoes why

god take off my shoes cause right now

there is a gap between the bottom of

your foot and the ground so you too high

that one that one half inch sole right

there has got you too elevated right now

i’m here take off your shoes and touch

the dirt because right now the creature

is in front of the creator

so you go all the way down to planet

earth because i’m here now and he

doesn’t say y’all he says moses he gets

a personal word from god after he’s

refused after he’s endured he gets a

personal word from god and what’s the

personal word from god he says i want

you go tell pharaoh let my people go now

is the time for me to give you a special

word

with your name on it because i have a

special purpose because you’ve gone

through the process to make yourself

available to me let me tell you how you

know when god is ready to talk to you

when he creates a situation in your life

that doesn’t make sense

see it doesn’t make sense to have a bush

that’s not on fire

that’s a contradiction when god creates

something in your life that makes

absolutely no sense don’t try to figure

it out you’re not supposed to you’re

just supposed to get as close to it as

you can so you can hear when god starts

calling your name even though it makes

absolutely no sense

our time is up finally verse 28.

[Applause]

by faith he kept the passover

and the sprinkling of the blood so that

he who destroyed the firstborn

would not touch them

this is the passover

this is the event that they would never

forget

god said

i’m going to kill every firstborn

in every home of the egyptians and every

firstborn animal who belongs to any

egyptian

i’m going to send the death angel

you tell all my people to paint the

blood of a lamb on the door

and when my deaf angel sees the blood i

will pass over you

i’m going to skip you

that’s why those of us who accept the

christ are going to heaven

because when god looks at me and you he

sees the blood of jesus

we’ve accepted the blood of jesus christ

as our sin bearer

and now have a passport to heaven when

you have a passport that gives you

entrance into another country

my passport is the blood of jesus christ

that gives me entrance into eternal life

it ought to be your passport too and if

you don’t have a passport we’re printing

them today for free

and if you will come to jesus christ for

the forgiveness of your sins and the

gift of eternal life your passport is

stabbed by his blood entrance to heaven

is guaranteed

and so the question today is what you’re

going to choose

will you choose the risk of faith

because faith is risky because often

what faith asked for you’ve never tried

before so that’s a risk

the question is

is jesus christ worth betting on

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so

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life is full of choices

every day we have to make decisions

we’ve all known what it is to make bad

ones and good ones but it’s always

best to make better ones

when we learn how to make choices from

god’s perspective

then we don’t only choose we choose

wisely

and whenever you make wise choices you

make the best possible choices for your

life

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you