WEBVTT - Too Grown To Give Up 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:04.720 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:07.200 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.559 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:12.640 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.440 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.239 Also want to mention a few things that are going 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.760 on in the church. Let's see our e Fam Reunion Tour. 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.680 Our teams have been visiting cities across the United States 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:30.760 this year, and I wonder if they're coming to you next. Now, 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:32.760 put it in the chat where you want our e 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.199 Fam Reunion Tour to come next? Put it in the 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:39.000 chat and why they should come? Give us a good reason. 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:41.920 Do you have good barbecue? Is there a mighty spirit 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.920 of revival brewing in your city? Is there a really 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.360 cool bowling alley? I don't know, but some reason that 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:53.400 we should come. So far, we've been to Tampa, Houston, Atlanta, 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:57.360 and Philadelphia. Over six hundred volunteers have showed up afterward 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:01.560 to serve over one thousand hours. Worse, with our outreach partners, 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:07.400 one hundred and thirty five people have been baptized at 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:14.160 our pop up watch parties. Next week they're headed to Phoenix, 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:17.240 but we don't know where next, so you'll have to 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.360 help us decide. Just put it in the chat where 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:27.480 should we show up next? But I know that whether 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.440 they show up or not, God is right there with 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:35.040 you right now, so we're not waiting for next week. 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.000 Somebody say, I need a word from God right now, 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:44.080 right now, right now, right now, right now, right now. 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.800 I'm excited to share with you today from the scripture 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:54.880 that God has given us in Hebrews chapter eleven. Of 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.120 all of the scriptures that God could have picked for 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.680 us to study, believe he picked this one for us 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:12.239 today in Hebrews eleven twenty three through twenty nine. You 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:20.440 ready by faith. Moses's parents hit him for three months 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:24.680 after he was born because they saw he was no 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:29.800 ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:37.080 By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:41.480 be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:47.360 to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:54.160 than to enjoy check out this curious construction of words, 0:02:54.680 --> 0:03:00.160 the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:07.400 sake of Christ. As of greater value, of higher worth 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:12.399 than the treasures of Egypt. Because he was looking ahead 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.640 to his reward by faith, he left Egypt. Not fearing 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:22.480 the king's anger. He persevered. He persevered because he saw 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:26.400 him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the passover 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.160 and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.840 the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith, 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.240 the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.520 but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.880 Now let me lift these two verses so we can 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.640 get into our topic for today. This a word from 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.760 the Lord today, it says in verse twenty four, by 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:55.280 faith Moses, when he had grown up, and then it 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.800 says in verse twenty seven, moved down, he persevered. So 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.160 the message God gave for today. I don't know if 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:04.960 you like it or not. This is a broccoli kind 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.320 of Bible passage today. This is not briars. This is broccoli. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.200 But if you're mature enough to receive this word, and 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.080 you've got all your molers and you could chew it. 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.200 The Lord told me to talk about too grown to 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:26.440 give up, too grown to give up. We need your 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:30.839 help with this message. Lord, so give them the faith 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:35.400 that they need. The faith comes from you. The faith 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.640 comes from you. Even the faith comes from you, not 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:42.560 just the grace. Even the faith must come from you. 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:47.400 Impart it right now to every believer in Jesus' name, 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:57.960 Amen be seated. Pretty legendary story in our family. Think 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.040 it was about seven years ago. Me and Graham were 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:04.280 watching some music on TV and I told him, if 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.480 you name that song that that man is singing right now, 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.360 I'll give you a thousand dollars. And I was bluffing 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.880 because it was in the middle. It was a Jimmy 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:16.719 Hendrick song and he was already playing the guitar solo 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:18.559 and it wasn't on the screen the name of the song, 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:21.880 so I thought it was safe. And he goes fire 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:30.599 and that was correct. It's great an interesting dilemma, my 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:34.680 integrity as a dad or my money. And then I thought, well, 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.280 maybe there's an option, see, and I was shocked he 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:38.839 got it. I was shocked he got it. I was like, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:41.400 how did you know that the song was called fire? 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:42.840 He said, I just guessed. I still don't know to 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.479 this day how he knew. It's a mystery. But what 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:51.240 happened next is the stuff of legends. I said, what 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:57.360 if I buy you a Clemson jersey instead? And he said, yes, 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.640 I bought him a jersey, and I came out about 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:09.880 nine hundred and sixty dollars ahead. It wasn't a real jersey. 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.479 He was only six. From time to time he will 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:21.520 still say, just out of nowhere, Ah, it's thirteen now. Ah, 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:27.000 I can't believe I took the jersey. I could have 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:30.280 had ten jerseys. Ugh. And I don't know exactly what 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:32.799 stirs it up in him, this deep sense of regret, 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:35.760 this bitterness toward me. But he'll sometimes put it in 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.440 my face as in accusation, some kind of like a 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.440 parental judgment of how could you take advantage of a 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.400 six year old like that? But it's pretty common he'll 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:45.920 bring it up. He'll bring it up all the time 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:50.000 because then he'll say I was too young to know 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.760 what I was doing, and you took advantage of me. 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:56.880 And I'm like, no, I was just teaching you. It's 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:03.400 a lesson. It was actually teaching you to value something. 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:12.520 The problem is sometimes you don't really know what's valuable. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:18.080 You know, the old son that said, don't know what 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.320 you got until it's gone. I would say, you don't 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:26.760 know what you've got until you're grown. You know, you don't. 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:29.680 In the passage that I read you, what got me 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:34.320 thinking about it is that it mentions Moses as a baby. 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.960 And the reason this scripture is so significant in Hebrews 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.960 chapter eleven that this particular book of the Bible is 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:46.920 because the author is writing to an audience of believers 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:51.360 who are in many ways babies in their faith. And 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:55.360 so now he uses the example of baby Moses. I 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:57.040 don't know if you saw that. In verse twenty three, 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.600 let's look at it again. It talks about how when 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.960 he was little, and the Pharaoh had issued an edict 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.160 to kill all the firstborn of Israel because while they 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.760 were living in Egypt, they became very powerful, and he 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.960 knew that if they became too powerful, they would no 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:17.600 longer serve his purpose. Therefore, he set up a system 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:21.560 by which the midwives, when they were delivering these Hebrew babies, 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:28.000 would kill all the firstborn children. Moses' parents had the 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.280 faith to see the purpose of their child, or the 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:34.720 potential of their child, when he was still just a baby. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.200 And that's a beautiful thing. If you've ever had someone 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.000 see potential in you before you saw it in yourself. 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.199 That's a beautiful thing. How many of you ever had 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.520 somebody that you just borrowed some of their belief in you. Yeah, 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:52.360 it's an awesome thing. People like Aunt Jackie who told 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.360 me God has a very special plan for you. He 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.040 has a really special plan for you. And at the 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:00.440 time when she was saying that to me, right, because 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:04.800 that's something that sounds really good, is something that maybe 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.040 you know, if you hear that in your own right, 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.240 you could fill that with your own preferences of what 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.680 that plan is. But she said it to me. But 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.600 the beauty of it was that she saw it in 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:20.320 its baby form. She saw it in its baby form. 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.800 She believed in what was in me in baby form. 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:28.600 And see, Moses's parents had the faith to see the 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:34.000 significance in what was hidden. So I want to spend 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.360 just a moment right now. This is not the whole message, 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.440 but it'll set up the context. I want to talk 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:45.800 about hidden significance, hidden significance and how some of the 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:50.240 things that are most significant are hidden for the very 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:54.480 reason that they are significant. In Moses's case, he was 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.439 hidden until he was three months old, so that he 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:01.360 could stay alive and God all and hides the most 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:05.640 significant things in order to protect the potential of that 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:10.040 thing until the time is right. Now. We know Moses 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:12.600 as the red sea parter. We know Moses as the 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.520 prophet who commanded plagues. We know Moses as the one 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:17.920 who brought water out of the rock. We know Moses 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.200 as the man who saw God face to face. But 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:28.559 his parents saw it his destiny when he was in diapers, 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:34.320 and they had the good sense to hide what was 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:39.079 significant so that it wouldn't be killed before it had 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:44.280 the chance to develop into what it was destined to be. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:47.960 One of the things that I teach my son about 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:51.840 creativity is don't show people things that you're working on 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:57.000 too early while you're working on them. Don't post everything 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.079 that you are creating out of a need for instant validation, 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.440 because it will short circuit your creativity to see what 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.880 it could be. I have this rule about sermons. I 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:11.760 never tell anybody what I'm preaching about ever. The reason 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.840 is because if I show it to them before I 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.560 really know it for myself, the look on their face. 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:20.920 You know, there's this look that people get when you're 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:22.600 trying to tell them, you know, I was gonna talk 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.800 about Hebrews eleven, and you got to grow up in 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.120 all this stuff and Moses and the Pharaoh and all that. 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:28.960 And they look at you kind of like with this 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.200 polite kind of confusion. It's a very specific look they 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.720 get in their eyes, like I'm sure you'll do something 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:36.880 with this. It's like a look that you give to something. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.920 It's like a house that's just like dilapidated, and it's like, 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.040 I'm sure somebody could fix it up. I'm sure the 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:43.800 bones are good, you know, And they look at you 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:45.960 that way. So I taught my son, I said, never 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:55.560 show your embryos. When God is doing something significant in 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:59.080 your life, it is good for it to remain hidden 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.840 for a time. How many would agree Moses was a 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:07.520 significant figure in the history of God's people. Yeah, a 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:13.080 pretty big deal. Maybe the most significant figure in the 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:18.680 history of Israel. Maybe maybe. I mean. Hebrews eleven mentions 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:23.079 a lot of them, mentions Abraham, It mentions Jacob. It 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.160 mentions how you got Enoch who didn't even die. God 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.040 took him up because he was pleasing to God. It says, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.040 without faith, it is impossible to please God because he 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.600 who comes to God must believe that he is. It's like, yeah, 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:39.480 but do you really? And that he rewards those who 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:44.120 diligently seek him. That's an amazing scripture. And the author 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.640 of Hebrews, you have to understand he's giving us a 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:54.280 picture of those who did not quit on what God 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:58.600 called them to do. And to give us a picture 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:02.800 of those who didn't quit, he shows us someone who 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:08.040 was almost killed before he even had an opportunity to 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:16.000 be called. The thing that I want you to know 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:22.240 is that everything significant that I ever did in life, 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:30.520 I was tempted to quit. I am preaching this message 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:37.199 to somebody today who is tempted to quit on something 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:42.080 God called you to do. And I understand how people 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.720 love to take a sermon and put their initials on 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.040 it for whatever they want it to mean. Trust me, 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:53.800 I've seen it happen over and over and over again. 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.760 So you haven't smoked in three weeks. But then I 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.160 preached on don't quit, and you go get a pack 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.200 right after I've reach because the pastor said don't quit. 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:06.679 I know how y'all are. Y'all are real shifty. Sometimes 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.640 with these scriptures real slippery sometimes with these scriptures, real 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:14.880 manipulative sometimes with these scriptures. But please let us reason 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.920 together at the mercy seat. I'm talking about quitting on 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:23.880 what God called you to do. And the picture is 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.680 of a man that God called to deliver a nation, 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:31.480 but he was almost killed before he even had the 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:36.280 opportunity to be called. And this helps me understand why 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.720 some of the people who have the most significant purpose 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.200 to accomplish for the Kingdom of God go through the 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:56.560 heaviest attacks at the formative stages of their life. So 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:01.680 his parents had had the oh Man the faith. It 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:06.040 says they had faith. Everybody shout faith. Now, I'm concerned 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:12.040 in the church that we have confused childlike faith, which 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:16.640 is what Jesus told us to have, with childish faith. 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:24.920 And these Hebrew believers, remember, they were just babies. They 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:31.320 were still being weaned off the sacrificial system that Moses instituted. 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:36.320 See in Moses' sacrificial system. You may know a little 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.000 bit about this. I'm not going to go into great 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:41.560 depth about it. But their sin was atoned for by 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:45.680 the blood of bulls and goats. Their sin was atoned 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.840 for by the offering that was made by the high 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.640 priest who had to do it every year. And so 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.840 the theme of the Book of Hebrews is that Jesus 0:15:54.960 --> 0:16:00.800 Christ is superior to the Mosaic Covenant, to the Mosaic Commandments, 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:06.520 to the Mosaic customs. So we're looking at a group 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:10.360 of believers who are learning a brand new way to 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:16.280 do things and in their embrace of Jesus Christ. You know, 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.320 in order to in order to walk in this new 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:24.480 way of life that Christ offers, it involves a letting 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.640 go of what they have known now that they have 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.960 a new identity. See, they're transitioning their identity from being 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:36.760 justified by the law, which doesn't work. It doesn't work. 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.880 You can't even keep the speed limit. Please don't look 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:42.320 at me like you can keep the law. Be holy 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:45.360 as He is holy. So the law was just designed 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:47.840 to bring us to the place where we would know 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:52.320 our need for grace and receive it right so that 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.760 you would quit trying to keep the commandments in your 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.080 own strength, so that you could receive the grace of 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.200 God the person of Jesus Christ. And this is the gospel, 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.600 and it still works today. And you can be forgiving 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.960 of your sin without a bull without a goat, without 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.160 eternal God. I don't need another high priest. I don't 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.639 need somebody to change their mind about me. Whoever calls 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.679 on the name of the Lord will be saved. You 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:24.159 can be forgiven right now. Not seven steps, not three classes, 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.920 not ten years of sobriety, but right now. He can 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:38.720 save you, right now. And yet they are being tempted, 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.560 as God is birthing the Church into the world, to 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:48.719 return to the thing that they were set free from. Okay, 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:53.000 we talked about hidden significance. Let's talk about conflicted identities. 0:17:57.600 --> 0:17:59.720 It's when you're not used to the new way of 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:05.080 doing things enough so you return to what you knew 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:15.479 knew because what is new in that moment is costing you. 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:23.359 It is costing you. The example of Moses is a 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:31.160 perfect illustration of maturing. Enough can I preach about maturity? 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.919 It seems like every sermon people want to click on 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:39.920 these days is you know miracles? But what about maturity? 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:43.240 What about maturity to know what to do with a 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.080 miracle when God gives it to you, so you don't 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:54.240 mismanage it. And in Hebrews eleven there is a picture 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.200 of a prophet. Moses was a prophet. He's not your 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.560 typical prophet. In fact, I thought the writer Hebrews was 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.359 pretty nice to Moses when he explained his story, And 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:06.159 I want to show you that now, because there's a 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:11.119 lesson even in this. You know, all I'm deciding to 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:13.639 do is figure out what not to tell you today, 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.480 because there's so much good stuff in his So let 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:18.639 me give you a contrast. This will be good in 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:20.919 verse twenty seven by faith Moses when he had grown up. 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:22.440 I read you this, but I'm reading it again. For 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.560 a reason, he refused to be known as the son 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:29.960 of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:33.160 the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:39.040 pleasures of sin. I can't stop there. Twenty six. He 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.600 regarded disgrace for the sake of tribes as of greater 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:45.679 value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:51.720 ahead to his reward. Okay, this is a description or 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:58.000 a picture of maturity. In Acts chapter seven, it tells 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:02.840 us that Moses this was forty years old when he 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:07.960 made the decision to be identified with God's children, not 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:10.840 the Egyptians that were oppressing them. Now, there's a lot 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:13.120 of great stuff in the backstory that won't make time 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.040 to get into the message today about how his parents 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:19.760 floated him down the Nile River in a basket, the 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.920 same Nile River he would turn into blood eighty years later. 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.560 He floated on to survive when he was a baby, 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:32.479 And I thought about preaching faith to float, because sometimes 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.119 you feel like you're floating between two things, waiting to 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:37.000 see what it's going to be. And I thought about 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.040 preaching that, But I have discipline, and I'm only going 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.800 to preach one message today, and this message is about 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:49.360 how one day Moses makes a decision to be identified 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:54.840 not with the Egyptian who raised him, but with the 0:20:54.840 --> 0:21:01.240 parents that birthed them. This is not primarily a racial text. 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:06.600 This is not primarily a nationalistic text. Conclusions could be 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:12.359 drawn in those directions, but what's really happening here is 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:19.600 about Moses choosing what he will be defined by. And 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:22.520 I want you to realize in your life today that 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:27.200 you have a decision about what you will be defined by. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:33.160 Even though his early life was defined by an assassination attempt, 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:39.200 even through the trauma of floating through a basket, some 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:41.960 of us end up in therapy because our pampers were 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:45.160 slightly too tight. This man was floating down a river 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:50.919 in a basket coated with tar. And even though his 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:56.440 life began with trauma, he made a decision in this 0:21:56.520 --> 0:22:03.919 moment that I will not be defined by something that 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:08.119 I have become bigger than. And this is where the 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.760 significance of the text is in the detail It says 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:20.560 when he grew up. When he grew up, I wonder, 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:24.960 are there some things that God is waiting for us 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:30.000 to outgrow that we are praying for him to remove. 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:38.960 And the challenge of Moses's life is, in order to 0:22:39.080 --> 0:22:44.320 become what he really was, he had to outgrow everything 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:47.359 that he had ever known. You see it in the text. 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:50.919 He was raised as an Egyptian, but he was born 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:54.720 as a Hebrew. And yet there came a moment of decision, 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:59.640 I will not be defined by my environment. I will 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:04.119 not be limited by my experience. I will not be 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:07.720 affiliated with the events that brought me to this point. 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:12.359 There is something that God is calling you to outgrow 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:17.520 in this moment, and I wonder what it is. See, 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:22.160 because until you grow past the point of needing God 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:25.480 to change things, until you grow past the point some 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:28.159 of us have to outgrow the need for everybody to 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:35.000 like us or validate us in order to see what 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:42.240 God has really put in us. He chose to be mistreated. 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:50.320 He chose to be lonely. He chose to be a weirdo. 0:23:53.040 --> 0:24:00.360 He chose the uncomfortable space of growth. You know what, 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:09.040 Growth is chosen, not change. Change will slap you right 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:12.120 in the back of your head. Change will kick you right, 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:14.840 you know how, you know anyway? Change will kick you 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:18.880 in the shin. I'm editing as I go, I'm editing 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:23.119 the sermon for consumption for the mass market. But growth 0:24:23.200 --> 0:24:29.119 is chosen. Growth is chosen, And in the moment he 0:24:29.160 --> 0:24:31.719 has a decision to make, and so do you, and 0:24:31.760 --> 0:24:38.040 so did the Hebrew Christians. Do we outgrow what we've 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:45.639 known so we can become who we really are? And 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:49.160 Moses didn't even do it the right way. In fact, 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:52.520 in Acts chapter seven, it tells us that one day, 0:24:52.520 --> 0:24:54.960 when he was forty years old, this is Stephen giving 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:57.920 us this information, he decided to visit his own people, 0:24:57.960 --> 0:25:00.280 the Israelites, and he saw one of the and being 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:03.120 mistreated by an Egyptian. So he went to his defense 0:25:03.359 --> 0:25:07.200 and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Well, that's one 0:25:07.200 --> 0:25:10.919 way to do it. You know, he feels something on 0:25:10.960 --> 0:25:13.640 the inside. He knows that he's not what he's around. 0:25:13.840 --> 0:25:16.000 He understands that there's something different in him than the 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:18.320 people of the culture he's surrounded in. So he does 0:25:18.359 --> 0:25:21.200 something out of his impulse that is really an indication 0:25:21.320 --> 0:25:24.280 of his destiny, and he kills an Egyptian, and verse 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:27.000 twenty five really got my attention. Moses thought that his 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:29.919 own people would realize that God was using him to 0:25:30.000 --> 0:25:35.320 rescue them, but they didn't. So now we understand what 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:43.439 it means to say that Moses chose to be misunderstood 0:25:43.560 --> 0:25:51.560 rather than to give up who he was. Grow up, 0:25:53.760 --> 0:26:01.679 Grow up? Why are we still in seventh grade and 0:26:01.720 --> 0:26:06.159 we are fifty three years old and we still filter 0:26:06.320 --> 0:26:09.520 the majority of our decisions through what will other people 0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:15.600 think about this? We spend money with that filter, we 0:26:15.760 --> 0:26:19.320 say things with that filter. We don't say things with 0:26:19.440 --> 0:26:22.320 that filter. Now, I think it's important to consider what 0:26:22.359 --> 0:26:24.480 others will think about things I do. I think that's 0:26:24.520 --> 0:26:26.680 why you brush your teeth, That's why you make sure 0:26:26.720 --> 0:26:28.720 when you go out in the morning, like there's a 0:26:28.800 --> 0:26:31.000 smile on your face. That's a good thing to think 0:26:31.040 --> 0:26:33.040 how your life is affecting others. But I don't think 0:26:33.040 --> 0:26:37.600 you should be controlled by it. Not as grown as 0:26:37.640 --> 0:26:43.560 you are. Are you really so grown in your body 0:26:44.080 --> 0:26:49.440 but so small in your spirit that one person's opinion 0:26:49.520 --> 0:26:54.720 can move you off your purpose. You are much too 0:26:54.840 --> 0:26:57.959 grown at this stage in your life to be taking 0:26:58.040 --> 0:27:01.560 your cues from a culture that doesn't even know Christ. 0:27:05.720 --> 0:27:07.879 And our growth has been so stunned. And I'm going 0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:10.600 to tell you why, because mostly what we have been 0:27:10.640 --> 0:27:16.240 taught is sin suppression. We have not been taught transformative thinking. 0:27:16.880 --> 0:27:19.720 We have been taught push it down and don't do 0:27:19.840 --> 0:27:22.680 that where anybody can see you, and don't tell anyone 0:27:22.960 --> 0:27:26.400 how it really is. So we push things down, we 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:28.879 never deal with them. We never really know how to 0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:31.240 bring it to Jesus. And we've heard a lot about 0:27:31.320 --> 0:27:38.600 forgiveness of sin, but what about freedom from sin? What 0:27:38.800 --> 0:27:41.040 good is it for God to forgive me of sin 0:27:41.920 --> 0:27:44.400 if I'm gonna live running back to the same thing 0:27:44.440 --> 0:27:49.360 that He brought me out of. So now I want 0:27:49.359 --> 0:27:51.000 to get into a section of the message. This is 0:27:51.000 --> 0:27:53.000 going to go on my YouTube channel as a standalone. 0:27:53.080 --> 0:27:55.080 This is a little mini message within the message I've 0:27:55.080 --> 0:27:56.439 been promising this for a long time, and I'm an 0:27:56.560 --> 0:27:58.000 preach it right now. I want to talk to you 0:27:58.040 --> 0:28:01.360 about sins with benefits. Sit down and listen to this. 0:28:03.200 --> 0:28:07.480 In verse twenty five, it says he chose the reproach 0:28:07.880 --> 0:28:10.800 of God's people, or we could say he chose the 0:28:10.920 --> 0:28:16.320