The Faith of Moses

(From recorded sermon of Bro. Julius Adewumi; Night Vigil 7/21/95)

I want to speak today about the faith of Moses. Not the faith of Moses which performed wonders which you perhaps might think of. I'll start from the faith of Moses's mother. (Heb.11:23). Remember that "faith is the substance of things hoped for; The evidence of things not seen." (Heb.11:1). Faith is the expectation of what you expect. Something in your heart that gives you a confidence that God is working on your request. Actually God has given it to you!

This aspect of faith of Moses will take a little different look at faith from what you might expect. This will not discuss the faith which he used to divide the red sea. We are not going into that one. "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment." You should say "what is faith in that?" He was born and hid by his parents, when the king of Egypt said "kill all the boys". They were not going to do that. You may say, any parent will try to protect their child in such situation? What is faith in that? Anybody can do that! Let's analyze this faith of Moses' mother. Where did Moses' mother exercise faith? Let's remember what happened in that day: Moses was placed on the river. His mother decided that she would place the baby in a basket and put him on the river. Do you think she did that to get rid of the baby? Then what was it? She must have had a plan! That is where faith comes in! She had a plan. She did not just place Moses on that river to get rid of him. She had a plan! That plan must have been generated by some kind of faith in her. She was believing God for a miracle! Amen! She was believing God that something supernatural must happen to save the baby's life. She believed that this child was a child of prophecy. God has got to save this child by a miracle. She must have received it somehow that this child is the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. That's why the bible said he is a proper child. (A prophetic child). You have to remember that, when God sends any body special into the world, he will not just send him to the world and nobody knows about it. You and I may not know. But most of the time, even when there are no prophets available to prophezy about the child, and no great man of God to testify that the child which is born is a great prophet of God, yet God will still show it somehow. Maybe in the days when Moses was born there was no prophet to testify about the birth of Moses, but God could have revealed to the parents through dreams. God has said , "the Lord God will do nothing but will reveal his secrets unto his servants the prophets" (Amos.3: 7 ). Think about it. God has been known to even reveal the coming of his major messengers through idol worshippers and diviners. The Magis from the east were not exactly prophets of God. But they knew that the great King had been born. (Mat.2:1-2). Most likely the diviners in Egypt knew that a deliverer had been born among the Israelites therefore Pharaoh ordered all the male sons of the Hebrews to be killed. Remember the great work Moses did for God; God doesn't just send special men into the world for fun.

When God sends a special servant into the world, he will declare it even if He has to declare it through false prophets, or idolater's oracles, he will declare it.

Somehow Moses' mother and father knew either by prophecy or by dreams or visions, that the child is

going to be somebody important. That is what they meant by a proper child. They were ready to use faith to protect the child as much as possible. It was the same time Pharaoh's edict came to kill all the male new-born of the hebrews. The faith of Moses' mother was that she actually planned the episode on the river to save Moses' life. She knew that Pharaoh's daughter always went to the same location to

swim or for sight-seeing. The idea came to her or the Lord spake to her heart; it was a revelation to her about how to save the child. She decided to place Moses on the river, believing that Pharaoh's daughter, who usually visited the place, most likely would not let a little baby die if she saw him. That was the plan but that takes faith! Don't you think so? Suppose it did not work? People would ask her: "suppose it doesn't happen the way you think?" That is where faith hangs. Don't let people shake your faith concerning what you are believing for. Let's imagine she was planning this thing, and one of the women saw her dressing the basket, and asked her "what are you going to do?" And she replied "I'm going to place the baby on the river where Pharaoh's daughter usually swim. I'm expecting Pharaoh's daughter, who always come to the water, to carry the baby and save the baby's life". The other woman would say, "this is foolish! Suppose she believes like her daddy. Her daddy, Pharaoh, was the one who made the edict to kill all the hebrew newborn males. Suppose she sees the baby and when she knows he is hebrew she asks her guards to kill him?" Everyone could have given Moses' mother a negative imagination of what would happen to the baby if she pursued the plan. But that is where faith comes in. She did not doubt.

I said she planned it. What about what Miriam, Moses' big sister , did? I'll assume that Moses' mother told Miriam what to do. She must have told Miriam to follow the baby and watch , declaring that "when you see Pharaoh's daughter carry the baby, go quickly and tell her, you can find her a nurse. When she tells you to go get the nurse, come and call me." If she declared that up front, it is faith! Faith confesses what you believe even before you see it manifest. Yea, "women received their dead raised to life again." It's the same kind of faith, believing it shall happen as you have desired! Amen! (Heb.11:35; 2Kgs.4:1-36).

Miriam did exactly what I said above, shows that it was planned by Moses' mother. Faith! Will it work? That was the question against faith when still in preparation. Will it work? That is where faith comes in! Faith is the expectation of what you desire. You should pray "O God, I want it to happen this way!" Then be expecting it to happen the way you have prayed.

Moses was placed on the river for Pharaoh's daughter! It was not by chance! It was faith in action. Just think about it. Moses mother, in the end, got paid to nurse her son by the daughter of the king who wanted to kill her son. A Miracle! Faith usually delivers miracle! What we are saying is that Moses' mother planned the episode, by the unction of the Lord, to place Moses on the river for Pharaoh's daughter. I said before, when prophets of God come into the world, God always reveal it to people one way or another. Even in this generation. I can testify of this personally. Even though I was born among Moslems, but my parents told me the prophecies they received before I was born concerning me, that I would be a prophet of the Lord God. If Moses was a great man of God, what about we who are called to be in the class of the "manchild" of God at this end of the age? Yea, "the 1600" prophecy even said the anointing which is to rest upon this mystery group of God will be in greater dimension more than what was upon Moses and Joshua. Do you then think we will come into the world and God will not show it? God showed those things. Many times we don't know. Or, we are not aware of it. God showed it! He told the parents in many ways. My parents did testify to the call of God upon my life when they were alive, even before I became a minister. So, when I became a minister of the gospel, they were not surprised.

In verse 24, "Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter".

Well, what is faith in that? He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, is that faith? Let's analyze it. This is not the great faith to do miracles, but it is "standing firm on what you believe". Who is going to stand up and be counted for God? Young people, listen! This type of manifestation of your faith is what, in the least, can be said about you: when you can stand up and be counted for God. That is what Moses did in this verse. The great things done by Moses later are not what we are discussing here. We are talking of the simple fundamental faith which you and I can exercise in our own corners. We need such stedfast confession of our faith to gain greater manifestation of faith.

"By faith, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter". He stood up for God. He was ready to be counted with God's people. He was ready to be discriminated against. He was ready to be ridiculed, because that was what would happen when they knew he was one of the slaves. Moses stood up to be counted for God. That is his faith.

Now let's look at how you and me can exercise that type of faith. Will you be able to stand up for God when people around you are mocking the Christians, saying "O, those fanatics who call themselves born-again". Will you be able to say "I am one of them, and I am born again?" That is, can you stand up and be counted for God? That is the question which I am posting to you. Here was Moses: those hebrews were slaves, but he was living in the palace of Pharaoh. And they were calling him the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He began to say No! He was one of those hebrews. Some people will call it foolishness: "how can you reveal that, Moses? they are going to kick you out of this palace." Moses was not afraid. "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a moment." (Heb.11: 25)

Standing up to be counted among the people of God, ready to be ridiculed with them, is another form of faith manifestation. That is, you are standing up for your faith.

When you as a boy can refuse to participate in the bad thing they are doing in your school, when you can refuse to smoke with them and tell them "No, I'm a Christian". Knowing that they are going to ridicule you: "you don't smoke? Ha,Ha,Ha! You don't want to do this? You are not cool!" When you can boldly say "No I don't! I am one of those fanatics for Jesus", then you are standing up for your faith.

You may say in your heart "well bro. Julius, you can say that. You don't know what we go through."

I know what you grow through! I know it's not easy: that peer pressure! But that is why you need to grow up in your faith, grow up spiritually. That is why we are telling you to build up your faith. Faith also cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. As you hear words like these, they build faith in you. You will be able to declare who you are boldly without being afraid. Do you think someone like me will be afraid to tell anyone "No, I don't smoke, I am a Christian, I'm a minister?" You may say, "well, it's because you are not expecting anything from them anymore. But I'm still going through high-school. I need to have friends." I tell you, you will have more friends than you ever think of, when you stand up for God! It is the faith of Moses which we are discussing in this sermon. He stood up for God and was not afraid to be called one of the hebrews (slaves). That is the issue. I said, when you refuse to participate in what the peer pressure is calling you to take part in, then are you standing up for God. I remember the story in a movie ("Where eagles fly") where a Christian boy found himself in a party among his classmates. He said "well, my friend invited me to the party". He should not have been in the party in the first place, but he went. Abstain from every appearance of evil. He was not like them, but he found himself in their circle. Then what happened? They were passing marijuana around . And they passed it to him : "Smoke it!" He was relunctant and finally decided to walk out under ridicule. What we are saying is: when you refuse to do wrong like that example, then are you in this class of Moses who, by faith, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Also for the girls, let's say you come to the age when a young man begin to pursue you saying he will like to marry you; when you as a lady can stand up for your faith and say "yes we can marry, but I will not have sexual relationship with a man until I am married", then are you standing up for God. When you can confess what you believe like that, and not say "but I am going to lose the man if I do not yield to his demand, where will I find another man?" When you can stand up for what you believe, that is standing up and being counted for Jesus. That is what the bible means by "refusing to do wrong".

Moses knew they would ridicule him for declaring to be one of the hebrews, yet he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Some students can have peer pressure in dresses. Maybe there is a new fad in town, or a new shoe. All the boys are buying this latest shoe in the store, and you are also asking your parents to get it for you. Why? Why do you have to buy that latest shoe? You want to look cool like them. You are trying to please them. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a holy nation. (1Pet.2:9) "that you should show forth the praise of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light". Can't you just stand up for God and say, "No, I belong to Jesus. I'm not going to be pulled in by this pressure?"

When you analyze the new craze, you will realize that you are actually trying to be accepted by that niche group in your school. You are trying to please them. But Moses refused. He preferred to suffer affliction with the people of God.

Similarly the type of slangs some students use when they speak in the school which they may say "it's cool!". Yet, those slangs may be curse-words. If you keep participating in such because you want them to think you are also "cool", you must remember who you are. Then you will realize that Christians shouldn't be talking like that. Are you going to stand for God and say "No I don't talk that 'damn' words"? You can identify those teenagers in the street, with their caps backward. They dress and talk in a style which many people can quickly identify as street behavior. Yet every guillible kid wants to be accepted by those rough group. Why? Why will you want to be accepted by the hooligans? Could it be because of fear? Maybe they might beat me up or maybe they might ridicule me! Fear is enemy of faith! If you can first remove the fear of men from you, your faith will be able to stand. Stop fearing men, because if you fear them enough you will participate in the bad thing they want you to do. Remember this: all the things which we listed as not proper for Christians to be pressured into doing, there is somebody behind those things. Satan is behind it all. You can't see him. But he is the one serving them the cigarette, serving them the new fad, serving them the craze for the latest dress and the latest shoe, serving them the curse-words. It's the devil. He is looking for those people who claim to be holy, to give it to them also: let's see if they will take it. If you are wise enough to understand that the devil is behind those evil things, wanting you also to come into the mud, you should then say "No, I'm not going in there." You are to stand up and be counted for God. That was the faith of Moses, when he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Even adults can also be influenced by peer pressures. I remember a cousin who had a business. He told me after I had preached to him that it will be hard for someone like me to do business in the city where he lived. I asked him why is that. He said, because in order for him to get contract from those factories, he had to be ready to give "kick-back" to those purchasing managers. The manager of the corporation who wants to give out the contract will demand that you overcharge his corporation by a substantial amount which you should divert into his private account, otherwise he will not give you the contract. He said "how am I going to get contracts if I do not give the manager the kick-back he demands". That was the order of the day in that city. Now those who want to stand for God will have to stand for God and not be afraid. Fear may tell you "if you don't do as they do, you may have to close down your business, You won't get contracts."

Anybody who is going to stand up for truth and honesty in such environment must be ready to live by a miracle. It has to be miracle that will give you contracts. You must be expecting to live by a miracle. If you cannot live by miracle you cannot walk with God. Those sins are in the world. The devil has polluted the world with such corruption: kick-backs, bribery. In every nation, those corruptions are present. For a saint to be in the world and yet be not of the world, we must be ready to live by miracle. They will not give you the contract, but you are now going to look towards God: "Now Lord, I have done yours; I have refused to give kick-back to that manager. Where will I get contract?" Now wait for God to give you his miracle. Do you think anything is too hard for God? You see, peer pressure is not only against kids; adults also face business pressures such as I have described. Those business men in that society are under pressure to give bribes or give kick-backs to corporation managers in order to win contracts. What I usually tell people is that if you are going to stand for God, you just have to stand, and be ready to be ridiculed and to suffer for God. Then stand still and see the salvation of our God. After you stand for God, God also will stand for you. "He that confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my father and before the holy angels", saith the Lord Jesus. Be expecting to get your own contracts by a miracle. You will receive contract from where you don't expect one. The bible said "I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (Psa.37: 25). You should expect to live by a miracle.

Someone said "if I don't dress like the kids in my school, if I don't talk like them, if I don't do the bad things they do, they will mock me; I won't have friend in the school, I will be a loner in the school." You think so? Now expect a miracle. Expect the miracle from God. That is the Christian! Think about it. That is the life style of those who are going in the rapture: the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the baptist. You must be ready to confess what you believe and be not afraid to suffer for it. Stand tall and be counted for God. Even among women that go to the grocery stores, you want to stand up and be counted for God. We want to be unique and not be carried away by the peer pressure like saying because everybody is doing something we must also do the thing. We are no more our own. We have been bought with a price: the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We are to live for Jesus! (1John 2: 15 ) "Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If anyman loves the world the love of the father is not in him."

James wrote: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4).

If you want to be popular, you must be dancing to the tune of the public. You must be giving something out contrary to the will of the Lord. Watch out! If we are children of God, the Lord Jesus said "if ye are of the world the world will love its own. If they had hated me they will hate you also. If they had kept my sayings, they will keep yours also."

The world is filled with two classes of people: children of Cain, and children of Adam through Seth. If you are a Christian, you better choose your friends from among the children of Seth and don't be pressured by the children of Cain and their evil activities. Their purpose on earth is to test the faith of the saints. Therefore don't try to be accepted in their niche groups. Don't try to please them. Once you have accepted Christ, you are no more your own. (2Cor.5:15). You may think you will not have friends, but I tell you, Christ will draw people like-minded to you.

For example, I went to the campus of Arizona State University one afternoon. That was few years after I had graduated from the same university. In the parking lot, I was giving out gospel tracts to some folks. There was a young lady, a freshman in the college, standing on the road by the parking lot waiting for her mom to pick her up. I drew near this lady and gave her a tract. We began to talk and she expressed to me that she was surprised to find someone like me on the campus, who was still confident to give out gospel literatures. She confessed to me that she was a Christian and had recently become a student at the college. She said because all her roommates were non-religious, she had been hiding her own identity as a Christian since she had been in the college. Folks, it is harder for you to hide your Christianity if Christ is within you than to let it be known who you are in Christ.

I told her that there are people like us in the campus and that she has got to stand tall and be counted for Christ, and don't be afraid if no one else joins her. I have run into Christians on the campus. I told her that the way to know who is a Christian is when you open your mouth and witness for Jesus, then the other believers will come forward. I told her where the campus crusade group meet so that she could go fellowship with them. If you don't look out for true believers' fellowship to associate with, you'll be easy prey for temptation, for anyone in college who finds oneself among unbelievers. The room mates will bring boy-friends or girl-friends into the room and you will be tempted to think you are not enjoying life. Whereas the road which you have chosen is the way to life! "There is a way which seemeth right unto men, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

After I talked to this lady, we prayed together right in the open. When we were about to start the prayer her mother drove up, and she waited in the car when she saw that we were praying. After the prayer she confessed that she felt much better.

The only way to know who is a Christian around you is for you to confess who you are; then the Christians around you will also come forward and shake your hand. If you don't stand up and be counted for God, and you hide your faith, and every other Christian hide their faith, then the devil's crowd will take over the classroom and the Christians will be suffering in silence, listening to their dirty, ungodly talks. Whereas the light in you, when expressed, should have suppressed the darkness around you.

There are young people like that lady who are pushed to a corner because of peer pressure in their high schools and colleges. The solution is for you to be bold to declare your Jesus without fear nor any intimidation. That is why everyone needs the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit anointing is to give you boldness to declare Jesus to the world around you, both verbally and also in your life style. But Christ will only give the Holy Ghost to those who have made up their mind to serve the Lord and are ready to even suffer for Jesus. "He that loveth himself more than me cannot be my disciple."

That is your calling, Christians! We are called not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake. (1Pet.2:21). I pray that the Lord will give you the anointing to stand up and be counted for God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

Bro. Julius Adewumi, Gospel Distribution Ministry,

Box 30387, Phoenix, AZ 85046.