Life of Faith - Part 4
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Faith of the Parents
Times of Reckoning
Crossing the Sea
Faith of the Parents
Parenting is meant to be a walk of faith.
Hebrews 11:23-29
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
Parents are called to have a life of faith in raising their children, pressing in to both understand and cultivate the call of God in their children’s lives.
Hebrews 11:23
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.”
We should ask God for eyes to see that which Christ sees.
By faith, Moses’ parents were not afraid of the king’s threats and hid their child from influence of the king because they saw that he was to be no ordinary child (NIV).
Your responsibility as a parent is not to be a child’s personal chauffeur or Uber driver that they might participate in every activity under the sun.
You are a limited resource - as your children age, the more important it will be to sow into their calling and not just their hobbies.
Nor are your children’s activities to be the way that you vicariously make up for all that you did not experience as a child.
This can create unwanted pressures and negative consequences - your children are not supposed to be you.
Cultivate by faith who God has created them to be.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
This is a call for the children to be taught how to live by faith.
Times of Reckoning
Moses built on top of the faith of his parents.
Hebrews 11:24-28
“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”
Though Moses had been raised in Pharaoh's court as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, a time of reckoning came where he had to decide by whom he would be identified.
By faith, Moses chose to be identified with the people of God, though it cost him his position, affluence and comforts.
The fleeting pleasures of sin will always be available and will be found on easier roads to travel.
The life of sin comes with less resistance and requires less in terms of our daily focus and efforts, but in the end costs more, including our lives.
There is a time in everyone’s development when they need to grow up and not depend on someone else’s faith for their relationship with God.
To leave a life of sin it takes faith - faith in God’s power to free you and faith that the God designed life is better.
*Faith produces endurance, because your eyes are fixed on Christ who’s person and purposes never change.
This allows you to stand, even in the midst of the midst of opposition, because you know the one who wins and rewards in the end.
“By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”
Because of this, by faith, you also keep the rhythms, gatherings and celebrations of God, to honor him and remind you of the centrality of his eternal purposes in your life.
This is why we do not forsake the gathering of the brethren in church.
Hebrews 10:25-24,25
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
In doing so, we perpetually recognize the importance of Christ’s broken body and spilled blood at the cross for the forgiveness of our sins as we continue to bear fruit in keeping with repentance from those same sins (Matthew 3:8-10).
Crossing the Sea
Christ Jesus is the one who enables us to by faith enter into a new life.
Hebrews 11:29
“By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.”
You must live by faith to live in the promise of God to be freed from your old man of sin.
It is only through Jesus that we can walk in the freedom of new life in God.
It is the cleansing of God’s Word (John 15:3), the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb of God for us at the cross and the power of God’s Holy Spirit that enable us to participate in the righteousness of a Holy, perfect God.
When the Egyptians tried to cross the Red Sea in their own strength and without right standing with God, they were drowned.
Through the waters of baptism, by faith we leave the former slavery of our old life and enter into the freedom of new life by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
Let us meet Jesus at the cross and encourage others to the waters of baptism that we might all walk in the freedom and purposes for God for our lives, all by faith!
Second City Church - Pastor Cole Rollan Fisher