INTRODUCTION

1. This life is filled with many choices, but there is really only one decision that governs all others.  That decision is whether you will choose God or the world.

2. Moses faced this same decision, and he wisely chose God and His people.  Let us consider Moses' choice as an example to follow for our own decisions.

    

MOSES CHOSE GOD'S PEOPLE

1. Moses was a Hebrew, but he was raised as an Egyptian.

   1. The term "Hebrew" means "one from beyond."  This description was first applied to Abraham (Gen. 14:13), but it later became an ethnic name for all of Jacob's descendants in Israel.

   2. The Hebrews became a great nation while living in Egypt. Fearing their numbers, the king of Egypt (Pharaoh) commanded that all Hebrew sons were to be cast into the Nile River at birth (Ex. 2:22).

   3. When Moses was born, his parents hid him because he was a beautiful child (Ex. 2:1-2; Acts 7:20; Heb. 11:23).  After three months, his mother placed him in a wicker basket and set it in the reeds of the Nile River.

   4. When Pharaoh's daughter was bathing, she found the child. She recognized that he was a Hebrew and had pity on him.  She kept him as her own son and hired his mother as a nurse (Ex. 2:4-10).

   5. Raised as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, "Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds" (Acts 7:22).

   6. Moses was even identified as an Egyptian rather than a Hebrew when he was in Midian (Ex. 2:19).

2. When Moses became a man, he chose his Hebrew people over the Egyptians.

   1. The choice of Moses is described in Hebrews 11:24-26:

      ²⁴By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.

   2. Moses made this choice when he defended the Hebrews against the Egyptians.

      1. Moses' choice is described in Exodus 2:11-15:

         ¹¹Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.  ¹²So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, "Why are you striking your companion?"  ¹⁴But he said, "Who made you a prince or a judge over us?  Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"  Then Moses was afraid and said, "Surely the matter has become known." ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses.  But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

      2. By inspiration, Stephen gives further insight into Moses' choice in Acts 7:23-29:

         ²³"But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.  ²⁴And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.  ²⁵And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.  ²⁶On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, 'Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?'  ²⁷But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge over us?  ²⁸You do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?'  ²⁹At this remark, Moses fled and became an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons."

      3. Moses chose his own Hebrew brethren when he saw their hard labors and their Egyptian oppression.  It was at that time when he was forty years old that he intended to deliver them, and he chose them over the Egyptians.

3. Moses' choice caused him much hardship, but he considered the reward to be worth the difficulty.

   1. As the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, Moses had all the advantages of Egyptian privilege and royalty.  He could have enjoyed the "passing pleasures of sin."

   2. Instead, he rejected the Egyptians and chose "to endure ill-treatment with the people of God."  In fact, he even received ill-treatment from the people of God.

   3. Consider some of the hardships suffered by Moses because of his choice.

      1. He was not only separated from the Egyptians and the "passing pleasures of sin," but he was also initially separated him from his own Hebrew people, who rejected him.  He was forced to flee to Midian, where he lived for forty years.

      2. When Moses returned, he provoked Pharaoh's wrath on Israel and even suffered rejection by his people (Ex. 5:1-23).

      3. When he led Israel out of Egypt, he learned that they were a stubborn and rebellious people who frequently rejected him and God (Ex. 14:10-12; 16:1-3; 17:1-7; 32:1-35; Num. 11:1-14:45).

      4. Moses was not even allowed to enter the promised land because of his sin (Num. 20:9-13; Deut. 34:1-4).

   4. Regardless of the worldly consequences, Moses looked beyond them to the ultimate reward of God.  He considered "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt."

       

THE CHOICE IS OURS

1. We are not born in sin, but we become corrupted in this sinful world.

   1. Just as Moses was not born as an Egyptian but learned their ways in his upbringing, so also we are not born as sinners but we learn the pleasures of sin in this world.

   2. Notice 1John 2:16, which says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."

2. When we reach maturity, we must choose between the kingdom of God and the world.

   1. At age forty, Moses was able to see the truth about the Egyptians who raised him and the Hebrews who were the people of God.

   2. We also must gain spiritual maturity in order see the truth about the world and the people of God, which is that "the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever" (1John 2:17).

   3. With understanding comes a choice, for we cannot have both the world and the kingdom of God.

      1. Moses saw his two options, and he chose to identify with the people of God.

      2. Likewise, we have two clear options as Scripture reveals.

         1. 1John 2:15 -- Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

         2. Matthew 6:24 -- "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth."

      3. How will we choose?

3. Choosing the kingdom of God will cause us hardship, but the reward will be worth any difficulty.

   1. Moses looked beyond the hardships of this world and saw by faith the enduring spiritual reward of God.

   2. The Lord has assured us of both hardships and rewards in this life, but the enduring reward of choosing the kingdom of God is eternal life. Notice Mark 10:29-30:

      ²⁹Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, ³⁰but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life."

       

CONCLUSION

1. Moses made the difficult decision to sacrifice worldly pleasure and comfort for the reproach of Christ.  Because of his choice, his reward in heaven is great.

2. Now we must make the same decision.  Will we choose the passing pleasures of sin or the people of God, the reproach of Christ, and the reward of eternal life?