Good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome everyone here this morning to Northbrook Bible Chapel. And today, I'd like to speak to those raising young families. I'd also like to speak to those of us that are in middle age, and I'd like to speak to seniors, those that are in the sunset years of life.
Because I think we all need the same thing. We all need to be strengthened in our faith as we walk with God in this world. And my goal today is to strengthen your faith as we read the scriptures. I'd like to invite you to turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
2 Corinthians chapter 5. It says in verse 6, we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Catch this verse, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight.
Romans chapter 1, verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God unto salvation. Verse 17, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Galatians chapter two. Galatians chapter two, in verse 20, I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live, in the flesh, I live by faith. In the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 37, for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not, Terry. Now the just shall live by faith.
The just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. I have three questions that I would like all of us to consider today.
Are you living by faith? Secondly, are you making life's choices in faith? And thirdly, will you die in faith? You know, we live in a world that this concept of living by faith is so foreign, so contrary to the great intellectuals in the world today.
The natural man, the unconverted man, does not live by faith. It's a very foreign concept to the average person. Yet the whole Bible teaches that everyone who will enter the kingdom of God will come in faith. The whole Bible teaches that.
And it also teaches that those who are righteous, those who have been made just will live and they will die in faith. There are five times in the Bible that this phrase is used, living by faith. The just, the righteous ones will live by faith. I'd like to share with you today some lessons from the life of Moses.
I don't know if you remember the last time that I spoke, but I spoke about the first lesson that I learned in the life of Moses. Moses had an incredible calling to lead two million people through a desert for 40 years into a promised land. And he was so frustrated as we learnt this morning from our brother David. He struggled with the challenges and the perplexity of life, the frustrations of everyday life.
And yet one day he came to God and he said, God, if this is what you want me to do, who's gonna go with me? How can I do this? And God said, my presence will go with you. And I will give you rest.
The first lesson in the life of Moses was the abiding presence of God in our lives. And the last time that I spoke, I spoke about that, you can take that promise for yourself today. But there's a second lesson that the life of Moses teaches us. Moses had a faith that endured, it endured the tests of time.
And I wanna read about that. I can invite you again to turn to Hebrews chapter 11. And I want to read at verse one, Hebrews chapter 11 and verse one. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for.
The evidence of things not seen. Verse three, through faith, we understand that the world were framed by the word of God. Verse four, by faith, Abel. Verse five, by faith, Enoch.
Verse six, without faith, it is impossible to please God. For him that comeeth to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him. Verse seven, by faith, Noah. Verse eight, by faith, Abraham.
Verse 11, through faith, Sarah. Look at verse 13, on the surface, this is a strange verse. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Verse 20, by faith, Isaac.
Verse 21, by faith, Jacob. Verse 22, by faith, Joseph. Now, here's the section that I want you to concentrate on. Hebrews 11 and verse 23, by faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden.
It was really the faith of his parents. By faith, Moses, when he was born, he was hidden three months by his parents because they saw that he was a fine, a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteming the reproach of Christ, greater riches, than all the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
Notice verse 27, by faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured. As seen, him who is invisible. Through faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned.
Are you living by faith? You know, I'd like to address us in some of the real issues that we deal with today in 2025. We live in a world that doesn't know God. We live in a world that has completely rejected the principles and the laws of God.
And we are strangers, as believers, passing through this world. Some of us are expectant mothers. You're bringing children into this world right now. Some of us have grandchildren that are just newborn.
There's a newborn babe today, praise God. Some of us are challenged in the burdens of day-to-day living. The struggles of finance, the struggles of employment, the struggles of politics, the struggles of society, the burdens and cares of life. Some of us sitting here, all those years are passed.
And you are in the sunset years of life. And you're looking back over a life that has been lived for God. And your time on this earth is short. I have three questions for all of us today.
Wherever you are in that wide spectrum that I have just outlined. Are you living by faith? Are you making choices every day by faith? And will you die in faith?
These are some of the points that I'd like to cover with you today. Faith and your children. Faith and your identity. Who are you?
Faith and your choices. Faith and your sacrifices. Faith and your endurance. Faith and your worship.
Faith and your end. You know, when I look at the life of Moses, I can learn tremendous lessons. And I have been extremely encouraged this past year in my own personal life, looking at the life of Moses. Not to speak about me, but I reflect on three moments of time in my life where I made personal choices that I didn't know the outcome.
I remember in the summer of 1987, I had just graduated from high school. And I went on the strip to Nova Scotia. And I went to this little town, and I fell in love with this little girl. And I remember sitting, I can say this because Janice is not here.
I remember sitting in a red 1981 Datsun 310. At the end of the Pugwash Point Road, and the sun was setting over the water. My girlfriend was in the seat beside me, and I said to her, Janice, I don't know where our life is gonna lead to, but I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you. I had no money.
I had no job. I had very little education. And I didn't know what my life would look like. And 37 years later, here I am, and I look back, and I see how God has led me all the way.
How many of you here that can relate to that experience? Oftentimes, when you're looking forward, it's dark. It's uncertain. You don't know what the future looks like.
And you take that step, and you're stepping out in faith. I took that step. I was 19 years old. I went to the altar, and I committed a vow to spend the rest of my life with Janice.
And God has led me all this way. Praise God. I remember a second moment in my life when the future was very dark. And for me, I was going through some personal trials in my life.
I had been in a church that I was raised in, and the only church that I had ever known, and I was fourth generation in that church. And there was a strong culture. But something inside of me felt God calling me to leave that church. That was a very tough, trying decision.
And the future was very dark. And I felt God calling me to make a move in my life to leave that church. I didn't know what church I was going to go to. I didn't know where this step was going to lead.
I remember getting down on my knees before God, and literally crying and saying, God, what do you want in my life? Where will you lead me? What do you want me to do? And I read this verse in Hebrews 11 about Abraham.
We heard about Abraham last Sunday. You know what it says about Abraham? When he was called of God, he went out, not knowing where he went. That was me.
In 2013, I took a step that was a hard step of faith for me to leave the church that I was at. And I didn't know what the future looked like. Many people told me I was making a disastrous choice in my life. And it was the end of my spiritual journey.
But I took that step in faith. Here I am. I came to Northbrook. And God has led me here.
And God has strengthened me. And as I look back on these experiences in my life, I can see and feel and know the hand of God. February 28th, 2024, last year, a year ago, a couple of days ago, I took another step of faith. I resigned from a position of a comfortable employment, and I stepped out in faith.
I didn't know how all of this was going to unfold. And I started a new business. And I've been walking every day in faith. And God is strengthening me.
And the reason that I refer to this is, I don't know where you are in your life. And I don't know what God is calling you to do. But I would say this, if you feel a sense of God calling you and you're not breaking a scriptural principle, step out in faith and follow God. Faith and your children.
You know what I learned from Moses? I learned something about Moses' faith when I look at his parents. What do you think it must have been like for Amram and Jacobed? They were living in horrific days.
There was a law that was passed, and the king was going to destroy every male child that was born. There was a command, throw them into the river. And Amram and Jacobed, they had this goodly child. And they felt a sense that God had a purpose for his life.
What did they do? They prayed. They were devoted to the Lord. They hid him three months.
They dedicated his life to God. And Jacobed made this little arc to protect him. And she put this baby in this arc, and she dropped it into the river Nile. What kind of a step of faith was that?
And what happened? Well, you know the story. Pharaoh's daughter comes down to bathe, and she sees this beautiful child, and she adopts him. I want to speak to you about faith and your children.
Are you teaching your children biblical values? You know, kids just don't learn the word of God automatically. You need to actively teach your children biblical principles. Are you teaching your children what it says in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 1?
Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Are you teaching your children honor, honor God and his principles? Honor your parents. Are you role modeling the life that you want your children to live?
In Proverbs chapter 22 it says this. It says, raise up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, it will not depart from him. Do you know what I know?
There were things that were instilled into me as a child that I never forgot and are part of me today, and I can't take them away. What's it like, mother? When you take that little toddler on a Monday morning and you watch him, and he goes on the bus, and he's going off to school. What's it like?
Have you committed him to God? Have you prayed for those little ones? Are you steering them in the right direction? Are you building into their heart ambition for God?
Focus, priorities. Have you shared with your children actively the vision that you have for them and their life, a biblical concept? That's what Amram and Jacob did for Moses. So what happens to Moses?
Dial the picture up about 40 years. Moses is raised in the comfort and luxury of Egypt. He's nobility. He eats well.
He's dressed in the finest of clothes. He sits at the table of Pharaoh. He's part of the family. And a crisis comes in his life.
Here's the crisis. Moses says in Hebrews 11 and 24, he refused to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter. There came a moment in Moses' life when he realized, I am an Israelite. I'm not Egyptian.
What a moment of crisis. And he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He most likely remembered the faith of his mother. He most likely remembered his upbringing and what they had put into him in those years when she took care of him.
You know what he realized? I'm a child of God. Can I stop and ask you a question today? I'm glad to be saying that song.
By the way, I didn't request it. I am a child of God. You're living in a filthy, wicked, sinful world. But if you have faith in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God.
We're living in a world where identity is such a crisis. How do you identify? Well, I'll tell you how I identify. I'm a child of God.
And I have a special calling. And so do you. If you are in this church today and you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are a child of God. You are a witness.
You have purpose. You have a calling. Don't waste your life. Here's my identity.
I belong to Jesus Christ. I want to remind you of a verse that's in 1 Corinthians 6. And I think it's about verse 17 or 18. Here's what it says.
Do you not know that your body is the temple, the dwelling place of God? And the very next verse says, you are not your own. You are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, which is the Lord's. Faith in your children.
Raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Teach them biblical values. Be intentional. Build into your children that vision, the priorities of the scripture and the priorities of God.
Faith in your identity. Live who you are. You are a child of God. You have purpose in this world.
You are a witness. You are someone that belongs to Jesus Christ. You are bought with a price. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in you.
Faith in your identity. How about faith in your choices? I could see Moses one day. He probably goes out in his fine Egyptian linen and he's watching.
Oh, here's these slaves. And they are beaten with whips. And they work so hard, so long. And now they lose the bricks and they got to do so much more.
The toil, the suffering, the labor. And Moses is there and he's standing by. Suddenly it dawns on him. Those are my people.
These are my people. What am I doing living in the lap of luxury while my own flesh and blood are slaves over here? You know what? He made a choice.
Let me ask you this question. Have you ever made a choice in faith? Here's what Moses said. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin which are but for a season.
What are your choices in life? Listen, life is short. You're going to come to the end of your road long before you think about it. And as you look back over the years, are you going to want to look at a life that's been lived in the pleasures of sin?
Or do you want to look at a life that was lived to bring glory and honor to God? Only one life. It will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.
Moses chose rather to suffer affliction. You know what he chose? He chose the reproach of Christ, the shame, the rejection, the humiliation of being called a child of God. Are you willing to suffer that affliction?
It might not be that tough today but I'm going to tell you it's going to get tougher. It's going to get a lot tougher. And those of us who are identifying with Christ and make choices to follow him, it's going to cost us more and more just read through what's coming in the book of Revelation. In those days of tribulation that the church will be raptured from, there will be people saints on this earth and they will have to be faithful unto death and God will give them a crown of righteousness.
Faith and your choices. Faith and your sacrifices. Here's what it said about Moses. By faith he forsook Egypt.
He let it go. You know what that is? That's the world. Egypt is the world.
And when you're young, it looks so good. The glitter of all that glory in the world. You know what? It's an empty bubble.
It's like castles in the sand and the water comes in and the castles just dissipate. What a choice that Moses made. He looked at this and he said, I want to suffer affliction with the people of God and I'm willing to forsake Egypt. What else in that choice?
Not fearing the wrath of the king. You know what happens to us in our life? We fear the wrath of those that are in authority. We fear the wrath of those that are setting principles and cringing upon our faith.
We fear those people. Well, here's a principle. Fear God. Fear God.
More than those that are anti-God. Jesus said, I'll tell you who you should fear. Fear not him who can destroy the body but fear him who can destroy the soul and hell. That's who you should fear.
Moses made a choice of eternal reward. He was looking beyond this life into eternity. That is the choice that every believer must make if he's going to be successful in this life. Faith and your endurance.
In verse 27 it says that Moses endured because he saw him who is invisible. Let's say contradiction in terms. It's a paradox. He saw him who is invisible.
Do you know that we see the one who is invisible today? We do. We see the one who is invisible through the eyewitnesses of scripture. It says in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 15 that the Lord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.
When John wrote, he said, the one who is eternal. We touched him. Our hands handled him. The word of life.
The one who is God but became flesh and dwelt among us. When we read the scriptures, we see the invisible God and we see it through the eyes of eyewitnesses. Could I encourage you today in this crazy world, spend an hour with God alone before your day starts or at the end of your day, spend an hour with God in the scriptures. You know what it will do?
It will strengthen your faith. It will give you that endurance to persevere in a wicked, sinful world. Here's what Peter said. He said, your faith is so precious.
He says, whom, having not seen you love, though now you see him not, yet believing you receive the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. There is something incredibly more valuable than everything that you see around you. Heaven and earth will pass away. My word will never pass away.
The things which are seen are temporary. The things which are not seen are eternal. Are you focusing on the temporary? The touchy glitter, the pleasures of sin in this life, Egypt, the world?
It's just a bubble and it's only for a season. The hymn writer said, take the world, but give me Jesus. All its joys are but a name, but his love abided ever through eternal years the same. What a joys.
Moses made the right choice and he endured. One day he said to God, show me your glory. And God took him and hit him in the cleft of the rock, Exodus chapter 33, and showed him his glory. What an amazing thing.
Moses endured. He persevered. There was no quit in him. There was no turning back.
He was committed to the end of his days. Faith and your worship. You know what it says in verse 28? It says, through faith, he kept the Passover.
What is that? Moses never forgot the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. He never forgot the Passover. Can I ask you a question today?
Do you come to the Lord's Supper? We don't keep the Passover, but we keep the remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Passover was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the crucified Lamb, dying on the cross for our sins. Does it mean anything to you today?
By faith he kept the Passover. In 1 Corinthians 11 it says this, as often as you eat this bread and drink this coffee up, you shall forth the Lord's death until he come. And when we gather around that table on the Lord's day morning, our focus is on Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb. Even Christ our Passover was sacri-ficed for us.
And he has brought us into all the wealth of our faith. Faith and your worship. Faith in your end. Look at verse 13 of Hebrews 11.
It says, all these died in faith. Are you going to die in faith? You know what? That's a serious solemn question.
There's two ways to die. And only two ways to die. Number one is to die in faith, covered by the righteousness of Christ, redeemed, cleansed from your sin, and sure of heaven. Number two, you can die in your sins.
That's the scriptural term. John chapter 8 and verse 21, if you believe not that I am he, you will die in your sins. And where I am, you cannot come. Maybe I'm speaking to somebody here today and you've never come to Jesus Christ.
You have the sins of your life and they're on your heart. They're on your conscience. It's a record written down in heaven of all the sins that you've committed. And we sing, have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? You know the most important thing in your life is to be cleansed from your sin.
Is to have faith in Jesus Christ. Because every single one of us are going to die. Apart from the rapture of the Lord's return, every one of us are going to die. You're either going to die in faith in that garment of salvation, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, or you will die in your sins.
You will be naked and you will be exposed as you stand before the judgment thrown of God. And you will be condemned forever in your sin. Why is faith still critical? Because it will determine where you will be for all eternity.
I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. The righteousness of God is revealed from heaven. The just will live by faith.
Faith and your children instill the word of God into the hearts of your children. You'll reap benefits from it years down the road. Faith and your identity. Don't be afraid to stand with conviction.
I am a child of God and I will stand for biblical principles. Faith and your choices. Don't get caught up in the glitter of sin and the short-term temporary pleasures that will take you away from God. Be willing to sacrifice all for Jesus.
Focus on your endurance. I think with sadness of that passage in Deuteronomy chapter 34, Moses has come to the end of his journey. And God said, Moses, we're going to go up the mountain. And I'm going to show you the land.
And then I'm going to bury you. I'm sure that Moses' heart was very saddened as he walked up Mount Nebo. And his eyes were not dim. And God showed him the entire land from Dan to Beersheba.
It's about 400 kilometers. And God said, Moses, look, you can see it, but you're not going to enter in. I'm going to bury you here. These all died in faith.
What's your last end going to be like? Remember what Balaam said? Let me die the death of the righteous. Let my last end be like his end.
I counsel you today. Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The finished work of God at the cross. The resurrected Christ.
The cleansing of his precious blood. And you will be clothed in righteousness. And you will journey through this life in faith. I want to strengthen your hand in God.
Strengthen your hand in faith today as you raise children, as you face the perplexities and struggles of this life. Put your faith in God. And don't ever give up. You will receive the end of your salvation, the salvation of your soul when you see Christ.
Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the word of God. We thank you, Lord, that one day our Lord and Savior is coming. And we thank you, Lord, that these are fearful days.
We're living in days of difficulty. I just pray, Lord, for young mothers and young families and middle-aged and seniors, all of us here today, strengthen our faith in God. Help us, Lord, to remain true and faithful until our last day is taken. And our last step is taken and our journey is done.
We pray that you would encourage us today as we sing this beautiful hymn and part us with your blessing in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing these are the days of Elijah.