# You can’t have Moses without separation

Category: Obedience to God’s Will
Key Passage: Exodus 2:9
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: October 19, 2022

I hope you think about the seriousness of that song. It’s not one you sing lightly, really, if you sing it from your heart. It’s a great song. I sang it this morning, and I had no idea I was going to sing it tonight. Even this morning, I thought, that’s a serious song right there. But a great song. Hope you admit it from your heart. Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Exodus chapter number two.

This is our second Wednesday night on the life of Moses. Third Wednesday now, counting Brother Gregor McCoy. But second for me. Last week we talked about you cannot have a Moses without faith. And tonight, you cannot have a Moses without separation. We will just look at that a little bit tonight. By the way, pray for Brother Marlon Hunter; he has surgery tomorrow—sinus surgery. Pray for him. I think Ms. Stacey hit him just one too many times, and I have been there before. And then Miss Marie Strickland, she had surgery on her back. She is doing good; she fell, but she is doing fairly good. She fell, what was it, Sunday morning, Saturday night, something like that, but she is doing fairly good. So praise the Lord for that. Keep praying for her, though, if you would, please.

Moses’ life can be divided into three parts. Most of you have heard that. The first 40 years, he was, of course, at his biological home, the beginning. He was in Pharaoh’s court for most of those 40 years. Then the second 40 years in the backside of the desert, over in Egypt. And then the last 40 years he was leading Israel out of the promised land.

Now, think about it: God did not begin to use him in a great way until his last 40 years. So when he was 80 years old—now, the average life expectancy in America today, combined, is 79.1 years. If you were to live 80 years old, God did not start using Moses until he was 53. Do not think, well, I am over and done. That is when Moses was used the greatest. Just a thought there before we really get to the subject.

Let me review just to touch on last week. Pharaoh was worried, fearful that the children were getting so powerful, so strong, they were going to take over. So they put them in slavery, but they grew. God blesses His people when they are going through hard times and suffering, persecution, if you will. They kept growing, so Pharaoh said, “All right, midwives, you need to kill all the babies.” Remember the two midwives the Bible mentions? They did not do it. They said the babies were lively, and they were born about the time they arrived. God bless them for doing that. So Pharaoh just said, “Any of the people, if you see those Hebrew boys, they are born, it is a boy, go throw them in the river”—probably the Nile River. Throw them in there, be done with it.

Remember that young, godly couple, both Levites? They already had a girl, maybe six, seven, eight, nine, ten, twelve years old. She sat by the riverbank. Then they had another little boy, Aaron, who was three years old. Then they had another boy named Moses. He was a good little boy, a proper child, as one passage calls him. They said, “We cannot let that happen to this boy.” So remember, they hid him for three months. Three months—man, those lungs were working real good. He was screaming real loud. We cannot hide him anymore.

Remember the story? They made the basket and daubed it with tar and put it in the river, over by the brink there, among the flags, the reeds. Then the sister, Miriam, hung out, and Pharaoh’s daughter comes. She just happened to come at the right time and happened to be taking a bath in the Nile River. Figure that out. Probably the only person, humanly speaking, that could save Moses was Pharaoh’s daughter. Pharaoh made a decree. The daughters, they can get stuff out of you. I mean, my daughter got a McDonald’s coffee out of me today. It is not much, but pretty much every day, it is getting something now. And sure enough, Pharaoh’s daughter—Moses was saved. You know the story we just finished up last week. The sister came running: “Do you want me to get a Hebrew woman that can nurse and take care of this baby?” “Oh, yes. And I will pay her.” That is kind of where we pick it up tonight, all right?

Exodus chapter 2, we are going to be in verse number 9. Exodus 2 and verse number 9 of God’s word.

And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, “Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” And the woman took the child and nursed it. And the child grew. That is very important. That seems light, but it is very important. And the child grew. And she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and she said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Lord, I pray you to help it to be fresh and new to your people. Lord, let it be living and real to them. Give every person to hear what they need—young folk, elderly, all of us, Lord—give us what we need from your word tonight. Lord, help us to look from Moses. Please, Lord, speak to our hearts. We will brag on you for what you do, Lord. We ask for all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I said that verse number 10, “And the child grew,” is important because that represents a lapse of time. We do not know how long that time was. If that nurse—and really we do not know for sure—if that word “nurse” has to do with breastfeeding, then typically they would do that very long during that time to keep infection out, typically two, three years. The Bible does not say exactly when that was over, but the child grew. There is a lapse of time.

If you look back at that verse, verse number 10: “And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.” Almost, if you read between the lines a little bit, almost like he was someone else’s son first. We do not know how old Moses was when he was brought to Pharaoh’s daughter, but most who have researched tend to think there are years involved. Most research suggests at least three years, and some say even up to 12 years, maybe eight. I do not know. But I would venture to say that anyone who has studied this would say that for years, Moses—it was not his name then; we do not know his Hebrew name—was at home with his biological parents.

That is very significant because later on, Moses has to make a decision. He says, “I am going to go back to my roots, to the Hebrews.” Let me just say a word about that. You realize they did not have a written Bible at all. Moses is the one who penned the first five books of the Bible. So it is not like he could learn about Jehovah from the Bible; they did not have one at that time. But he had learned about it. He knew about the Christ, the unknowing, as we read about in Hebrews in a moment. Where did he learn those things from? From his biological mom and biological dad.

Could he study that? Yes. But he would have to have a reason for that. He could study all the religions of the world in the palace, but something about this religion—his roots. It is so important what happens to a child when they are very young. It is crucial; it is vital. An article I was looking at today said, “Personality set for life by first grade.” That is pretty amazing.

I remember when John and Maria had their twins, John and Philip, and we went there when they were maybe two or three days old, still in the hospital. They said it is amazing already; they can tell a difference in the personality. One is a little bit more temperamental and quicker to let you know what they need. The other one is a little bit easier to raise. Just two days! Now, they are born with some of those traits, but I am saying it is so important. By first grade, when a frustrating situation comes on, so many times they have already learned how they are going to handle those things. Isn’t that amazing? Just how important those early days are in a child.

By the way, praise the Lord, we have a bus ministry here, picking up kids that typically would not go to church from the time they are four years old. Especially if they have an older sibling, and that is very important. Why do we do that? Get numbers? No, we want those kids to come. I was telling one of the politicians last night that we try to have outreach, and we pick up unchurched kids. Our people are excellent about loving on them and teaching them the Word of God when they are little. We are doing that on purpose.

Was it not interesting? Mike Sparks, one of the men already in office—he is rerunning. I know he went over time limits, I understand all that, but he stood right by us going through issues in our area. I am not trying to endorse him, but here is what I am saying: Did you hear what he said? He got saved years ago riding a bus to Franklin Road Baptist Church when he was little. He is still in church today; he goes to Parkway Baptist Church.

And it is so important. By the way, praise the Lord, we have a Christian school back there now. They are learning Luke 2 right now and Christmas plays. I hope you come to the Christmas play when it comes around. They are going to quote Luke 2. That is why we have Masters Club. Patch and Pat and all these different ones—they are not bad, none of them—but Masters Club really focuses on Bible memorization. We want that. Get those Bible verses ingrained in their heart.

I thank God that I was born when Dad was in Bible college. Mom and Dad were just young, eager, sold-out Christians. I am not saying they were not for their whole life, but man, they drilled Bible verses in us when we were little. Mom said, “I am not giving you [something] unless you can say John 3:16.” That is why I am skinny. Okay, I need to come to the altar here tonight, for sure. I am thankful for that. It is so important what you do with children, even when they are young. They are learning personality; they are learning how to handle things; they are learning social things. It is vital that they are trained.

Remember that verse we quote so quickly? You know the verse. Say it with me if you know it: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” That word “train”—I wonder how much training we do. “My child is doing this, that, the other.” Have you trained them? Have you trained them what to do? Have you trained them how to do it? Train up a child—that is just so important.

I believe Moses’ mom, Jochebed—that sounds like a dad’s name, but that was the mom—and Amram, I believe they were training Moses as a little fellow. They knew they were going to have to give him up a little bit later on. They knew exactly when, but they knew they had to give him up. Maybe they just worked overtime: “All the time, we’ve got to put truth in him while he’s little. We’ve got to train him what to do. We’ve got to train him to pray. We’ve got to train him about Jehovah.” Later on, he made the right decision. Where do you learn all that from? I think from mom and dad at a young age. It is vital.

That is why it is so concerning that children need to be in Christian homes and have good, godly parents, mom and dad that read the Bible with them and pray with them every night before they go to bed, let them memorize the Bible, and go to church with them. They are training them right—training. Train up a child the way he should go; when he is older, he will not depart. I do not know how old Moses was, but it never left him. Never left him.

Let us look at Moses a little bit later in life. We know they brought him—we are not sure how old, maybe six, maybe three, maybe ten—to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. Now jump over to Acts, if you would please, the book of Acts, Acts chapter 7. I am surprised how much the New Testament talks about Moses; 80 times Moses is mentioned in the New Testament. Acts and Hebrews will bounce back and forth a little bit tonight.

In Acts chapter 7, the Bible tells us what Moses was like as a man before 40 years old. He was a very powerful, educated man. I want you to see it in Acts chapter 7, verse number 22.

“And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds.”

Let me give you a little note. A lot of Jewish people, Israelites, believe this—I do not know that it is true, and they cannot prove it—but many think that Pharaoh only had one child, his daughter. That does not necessarily make her in line for the throne, but it could be. Many think Pharaoh’s daughter did not have any children, which may be some reason why she wanted to adopt Moses. We do not know those things; that is not in the Bible. Many historians and rabbis teach that, but we do not know that.

Let us just say for a second that is true. Can you imagine the training Moses had in the palace? If that is true, he is going to be on the throne. So we have to train him in all the Egyptian ways. We have to give him the best education, the best physical training, the best world knowledge. He has to know military power and might. I tend to think that Moses knew martial arts. I think he killed the guy without a weapon, though we do not know that either. He had been trained in everything available.

The word of God says in verse 22, Acts 7, he was learned in all—notice that “all”—the wisdom of the Egyptians. He had been to Harvard, Yale; he had been to the best educational system they had. He had been tutored by the best in the world power at the time, and he had been trained by them. Then the Bible says he was mighty in words. Later on, we find out Moses said he could not talk right, and some say he was always like that. No, the Bible says he was mighty in words. He could use those ten-dollar words; he could pull them out anytime. He could give a speech. He knew how to handle himself in any country. All the wisdom of the Egyptians, mighty in words, and then, not just words, but in deeds. There is a good chance that Moses had already had some leadership. Maybe he was some kind of governor there in Egypt. He was already mighty in deeds—not just knowledge, not just words, but he was mighty in deeds. He had already done some powerful things. Maybe he was the rising leader.

Let me just say a note before we move to the next thing. Just because someone has tasted of the world—whether it be success, drugs, alcohol, pornography, or whatever—it does not mean there is no hope for them. Do not write them off. You say, “Well, they make good money; they are never going to live for the Lord.” Moses had it, friend. Yet he made the right decision. He had tasted everything the world offered, yet he made the right decision. Just a thought.

Let us keep going. You are there in Acts 7. Let us go down to verse number 23. He is about to reach the end of his first forty years—40 years old. Act 7, verse number 23: “And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.” He knew that was his brethren. Yes, he was probably circumcised, as they were circumcised on the eighth day. But by his wisdom, he knew about them.

He is 40 years old, and something began to happen in his heart. Did you notice how God worded it? When he is 40 years old, “it came into his heart.” What a wonderful thing. Moses, you got the best the world has to offer. You have all of that, but something happened in his heart. Something began to enter in there, began to churn in his heart, making him start thinking about it. Maybe just this thought: “I am not satisfied. I have all the world has to offer. I have all this money and fame, and I am mighty in words and deeds, and I have all this education, but I am just not fulfilled.” Something in his heart began to stir.

Moses maybe thought, “Well, I remember my real mom. I remember she used to talk about a Messiah that is going to come one day. I remember my dad how he said his prayers every night and prayed with me. I remember how they would worship Jehovah. I remember they were dedicated to Him, and I remember, even though they did not have much, they just seemed happy.” Well, maybe memories began to come up in his heart. Something began to happen in his heart at 40 years old. He had all the world had to offer, but something was in his heart. By the way, keep praying for those people—pray that something will enter into their heart, that wayward child, that grandchild, that neighbor. Just pray, “Lord, let something enter into their heart.”

Now let us jump over to Hebrews chapter 11, if you would please. We are going to finish it out tonight. Hebrews 11, verse number 24.

“By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

When he was come to years—I mean when he was grown. This was not just an off-the-cuff, childish decision. When he was come to years, he was a 40-year-old grown man in his prime, and he refused to be called that. Do you realize that to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son, you could pretty much get anything? If you got in trouble, you could flash that card: “I’m Pharaoh’s daughter’s son.” You would get anything. You get a ticket? “Hey, officer, I’m Pharaoh’s daughter’s son.” You would get out scratch-free. You want that steak over there? Medium rare, with onions and mushrooms on top of it, rolls with a little salt and butter, fried okra, black-eyed peas with some vinegar—let’s dismiss, we will go eat right now. Sweet tea over there. Moses wanted that. He said, “Well, I have no money.” That is all right; I am Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. He would just flash that card, and he would get whatever he wanted. But he refused to be called that. He would not even be—no, do not call me that anymore. I am not Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. That is not my biological mother.

He refused to be called that. Now there is more to it than just this family deal here because a little bit later on in Hebrews, we learn there is sin involved—“the pleasures of sin for a season.” So it is a little bit of a sinful lifestyle he is talking about. He says, “I refuse to be called by the world.” If you are, “I am not that worldly person anymore. I am not a lost person. I am not the cool one; I am popular with the world.” I am different. I am a Hebrew; I am God’s child. There was something to doing that. He was separating himself from the world. “I do not want to be a part of that. I refuse to be called that.”

In Hebrews, would you go over to chapter 13 real quickly? Hebrews 13 and verse 13 is a convicting verse along this line here, talking about our Savior who shed His blood for you. If you are a born-again Christian, you are going to heaven only because of Jesus and Him going through the suffering and the shame. Look at Hebrews 13:13: “Let us therefore go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” You cannot be right and think of it all, be the cool, popular one, everybody loves you—good Lord, good heaven, good devil, good hell, everything is good. The world loves you. No, no, no. Christ went outside the camp; He bore His shame and reproach. He said, “Won’t you come out? Be separate,” said the Lord. You cannot get a Moses that God used greatly unless you have a man that has separated himself. He said, “Now I refuse. I will not be called that anymore.” He refused to be called that.

Look, if you will, over in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. It seems that the Corinthian Christians had become pretty popular. They were liked; they were cool cats; they were accepted. Everybody thought, “Well, they are not bad; they are all right kind of people. They are not that weird; they kind of fit in everywhere they go.” Paul, an apostle—the one that God used to lead men to the Lord—said, “Let me talk to them. Let me give you a little warning here.”

Would you look down to verse number 8, please, 1 Corinthians 4:8: “Now ye are full, now ye are rich. Ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.” He said, “Boy, you have everything going.” Not that I wish anything bad against you; I want to see you reign one day with the Lord. But watch this, verse number 9: “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.”

“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are honorable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labor, working with our own hands: Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day.” I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

Let me put it in Tennessee vernacular. Paul says, “Man, everybody thinks you are hot stuff. But can I tell you about the people that pay the cost for you to get saved? We have second-rate jobs; we do not have the income. We work with our own hands. We are called the off-scouring of the world. Nobody really looks up to them. They persecute us; we spend time in jail. Everybody looks down on us.” Hey, we are kind of fighting. He said, “Be careful you do not get too close to the world. So follow the pattern we set for you—follow me, even as I follow Christ.” Friend, be so careful. You cannot get a Moses unless you have a man that has separated himself from the world. A great man of God that would go up in the mountain and meet with God and come down, and it glowed so brightly that he had to put a veil over his face. You cannot get a man like that unless you get a man that has been separated.

We have this where we are just buttered up to the world, and we want to talk and act and smell and look just like the world. You cannot get a Moses and be like that. There has to be some separation. Moses said, “I refuse. I will not be called that anymore.” Different to them—that is Moses at 40 years old. He decided: the world behind me, the cross before me. Two different directions, you see. The world behind me, the cross before me.

Let us go to verse number 25, if you would please. Hebrews 11, verse number 25: “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” It is interesting: choosing rather to suffer. You are always like, “Whoa.” But the Bible does say, remember that Bible verse over there—you know it—“Yea, and all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If I never get any of that, I am not living godly. In our American society, it is so light, so puny compared to what they were going through or what many around the world are going through living in the world. But you have some kind of suffering. Notice he says “suffer,” and Moses chose that. He said, “Yeah, I am going to go that way.”

Last night we had the candidates’ night, and we had Republicans and Democrats and independents, and we had a different crowd here. It was a very good spirit here. But, you know, as a pastor, you represent what we stand for, and I am glad to do that. But some people, in just the wrong way, let me know they are not real happy with me. No big deal, but that is just part of it. If you are going to stand for something, some people are not going to be happy.

I give out a gospel tract—probably not as much as I should, but I try to. I went to Food Lion a little before service to get a gift card I forgot to get earlier in the day. I gave the lady by the cash register a tract. Most of the employees are very good, but there are always a couple who do not seem to like it. You have to have some of that, and that is so light, so puny in comparison to what happens in so many places. But Moses chose that. He chose rather to suffer the afflictions.

Look at the last part of verse number 25: “…choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” God is just being honest with us right here. God honestly said, “All right, there is going to be some enjoyment with sin.” God does not lie about it, but it is for a season. It is so short-lived. If we could be totally open and transparent, every one of us—there are people in here that would say, “Just for five minutes of my life, just five minutes of enjoyment, I will have pain for the rest of my life.” It is a sad deal. Yes, there is pleasure for just a season, but you demand the consequences.

The world is going to suffer too. I would much rather suffer what the Lord allows than suffer cirrhosis of the liver, or divorce, or alimony, or a broken heart, or dying alone and being miserable and mad, or dying in jail. I would much rather suffer what Christians go through than what the world goes through, any day of the week.

You have heard it said: You can choose your sin, but you cannot choose the consequences for it. So many times you are like, “If I had known the consequences,” but it is too late. There is a fellow who has been in our church for years and comes on and off, but he is hooked, and he battles that. He will have a rough time and call or text, being so sad and brokenhearted. Here is the thing: If he never took that first drink, he would not be here, divorced. I have dealt with his wife, and she says, “I cannot take it anymore.” It was just that first drink. Sure, there is pleasure for just a season, but friend, the consequences often last for a lifetime, and you cannot determine what the consequences are.

Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you far more than you want to pay. Moses said, “You know what? Yeah, I could have all the pleasure the world has to offer. I have it all at my fingertips, but I am choosing the affliction, to suffer the afflictions of the people of God.” God worked in his heart. I think so many memories came up. He made the right choice. He did not see all the effect of it until 40 years later. We will talk about that next week.

Look at verse number 26. We are going to wind it down tonight. Hebrews 11, verse number 26.

“Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”

Can I just say a word about that recompense of the Lord? It always pays. There might be moments that it will look like it does not pay, but in the long run, it always pays the servant of the Lord. For all eternity, it will pay the Lord. But I like that. He said “esteem.” I think that is honorable; that is what I want. I lift that up; that is a high thing right there.

I mentioned to you yesterday—usually the devil exaggerates anything and everything. If anybody ever has a bad day out there, I want to see you come on, raise your head if you have ever had a bad day. Do not look at me like that; you have those days too. But man, the devil was writing me, I think it was yesterday, and he was reminding me of over the years: If you stand for something, you have battles. So-and-so is still mad at you because you told them they could not become a member because they are living with someone. If you see them in a restaurant, you know how they—all the bad things—he just brings it all up. I had another incident going on to deal with. Then they came into a candidate’s night. It was a good spirit here, but a few let me know they were not happy with me. It is just part of it. The devil jumps on your back. You know how it is. You tell him, “Get out of here,” and he does for about a split second, and he is back there again.

I left last night and stopped over here at Mapco—I was getting gas. I was bumping along, and I heard a voice. It is the funniest thing; I have not seen this young man in five or six years, maybe four or five or six years. But I knew his voice before I even saw him; it is a distinct voice. I said, “I know that voice.” And he said, “Hey, is that you, Pastor Paul?” I looked up; he is grown now, in his young 20s. It took me a second, but the voice was one of those voices. I was like, “I know, I know,” and I started putting it all together. He said, “You remember me?” And he said, “Well, I am in church today.” He said, “Man, I am in church.” In fact, his job is even kind of like a ministry job. He said, “Man, I am happier than I have ever been.” And he said twice, “You know, I want to say thank you. You were the start of me living for the Lord.” He reminded me when I forgot that I baptized him. Then he started telling me all that, and boy, all those problems—man, I will take problems if I get that every once in a while—a young man living for the Lord. He had just come from a men’s Bible study. He said, “Man, people were saved by the baby.” He said it was awesome, and he is faithfully serving the Lord. And you came over, and he said, “I want to say thank you.” Hey, friend, that is the reward and a whole lot more than that. But friend, there is going to be a decision. He chose to separate from the world, and he chose to go through the suffering because on the other side there was the reward.

Original File: You can’t have Moses without Separation - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Sunday PM 10192022