Posts Tagged ‘Susanna Wesley’

The Power of a Parent’s Faith (Sermon on Moses’ Parent’s Faith)

Posted: January 8, 2013 in Hebrews 11 Sermon, Sermons
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Charles Blondin was the French tightrope daredevil in the late 1800s who was the first to tightrope across the Niagara Falls. He made that treacherous trip 17 times in his life. He crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope extended over 1000 feet at a height of 167 feet above the deadly falls. Each time he crossed, he was more dramatic. He crossed blindfolded, on stilts, pushing a wheelbarrow, and one time he stopped half way across cooked an omelet on a portable stove and then ate it.

On Sept 15th, 1860, Blondin performed his most amazing feat. Before he walked across the three inch manila rope, he asked the crowd of over 10,000 people, “Do you believe I can carry a person on my back across the rope?” The crowd shouted back, “Yes we believe you can!” Then Charles responded, “Who will volunteer?” And the crowd grew very, very silent.

Blondin pointed to a man in the crowd and said, “How about you?” The man replied, “Hardly, you don’t think I am going to risk my life do you?” The man turned, walked away and disappeared in the crowd. Charles pointed to another man, “How about you?” And that one man stepped out of the crowd and said, “I believe, in fact, I have no doubt at all.” Charles said, “Will you trust me?” The man replied, “I will!” The man climbed on Blondin’s back and the two proceeded across the rope.

Children wrapped their arms around their mothers’ legs; women peeked from behind their parasols and several fainthearted passed out. When the two reached the other side the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. The man on Blondin’s back was Harry Colcord, Blondin’s manager. Colcord knew how expert Blondin was and fully trusted him with his life.

Blondin asked his spectator crowd a very important question that you and I need to hear and answer: “Do you believe?” Did they believe when they enthusiastically shouted, “Yes we believe”? No! Only one out of over 10,000 believed when he separated himself from the unbelieving onlookers and actually acted and climbed on Blondin’s back.

Faith is not saying with great emotion, “I believe.” James says, “The demons also believe and tremble.” Faith is acting on what God’s Word says. James asks, “What does it profit, my brothers, though a man say he has faith, and have not works? Can that kind of faith save? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, ‘Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled’; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it profit?” True Bible faith does not stand around with his hands in his pockets. Faith acts, gives, and volunteers.

Moses by faith acted on God’s Word. Thankfully Moses had parents who had faith in God. Faith is a family affair in Hebrews 11.

Enoch started walking with God after his baby boy was born in Hebrew 11:5-6. Noah won his family to the Lord in Hebrews 11:7. Jacob, as a grandparent, blessed his grandsons in Hebrews 11:21. Now we read about the sway of Moses’ parents had on him in Hebrews 11:23.

Moses’ life is divided up into three 40-year periods. Stephen in Acts 7, refers to all three of these stages in Moses’ life. These are actually three phases in the growth of Moses’ faith.

1. The first 40 years in Egypt were years of Preparation.

2. The next 40 years on the backside of a desert were years of Humiliation.

3. The last 40 years were back in Egypt leading Israel out of Egypt and were years of Moses’ Completion of God’s task.

I. The Years of Preparation (Hebrews 11:23-26)

A. The Parent’s Faith in Preparation

1. Moses first prepared in the School of Faith (Hebrews 11:23) (Stephen fills in some details)

Christian parents know God’s Word (Acts 7:17-19).

The parents of Moses knew according to Genesis 15:13, the 400 years of bondage in Egypt were almost up (Acts 7:6). The Pharaoh who knew not Joseph saw Israel’s growing population as a threat to national security and proposed a way to reduce their numbers. Kill the babies. It was in this genocide that Moses was born. In the Exodus account, only the mother is emphasize showing the great influence a godly, believing mother can exert on her children. Augustine writes about the Christian influence of his Christian mother, Monica. The Wesley brothers had Susanna. If you have a godly mother you need to thank God and her.

Christian parents see the potential in their children (Acts 7:20a).

Moses was beautiful to God. They had faith to see the potential in him. They by faith saw the mighty oak in the little acorn.

Christian parents train their children for God (Acts 7:20b-21) at home.

Moses’ parents disobeyed man in order to obey God. Pharaoh wanted all boys thrown in the sacred Nile to be eaten by the sacred crocodiles as an act of pagan worship to appease the gods. Then they made a paper ship and placed Moses in it near where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed each day so she could find him.

Older sister was there with her memorized lines. Billy Sunday said just as soon as Pharaoh’s daughter saw baby Moses that an angel gently pinched him so his whimpers would touch the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter. In the providence of God, Moses was trained by his believing mother. Moses never departed from what he learned at home at his godly mother’s knee.

2. Moses was next prepared at the Secular University (7:22).

Moses was very likely being groomed to be the next Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s daughter, Hatsheput became Pharaoh for twenty years. Moses was trained at what has been called the Harvard of Ancient Egypt in chemistry (their knowledge about mummification still astounds us), math (their expertise in building the pyramids is still a wonder of the ancient world), history, leadership, legislation, and the military. In His providence, God used this secular education. Moses as a historian wrote the history of Israel in the first five books. As a statesman, he led 3 million Jews. As a legislator, he wrote the 613 laws of Israel’s constitution. As a general, he led Israel against enemy nations like the Amalikes.

Someone said, “Behind most men of faith there are parents of faith.”

B. The Child’s Faith in Preparation (Acts 7:23; Hebrews 11:24-26)

1. Moses refusal of faith (Hebrews 11:24-25)

Moses refused this important position of being possibly the next pharaoh (Hebrews 11:24) .The corporation you work for may offer the corner office on the top floor with a six-figure salary, but if it means sacrificing your family and involvement in your local church it is not worth it. Moses refused the wealth (Hebrews 11:25-26). The pleasures of sin in verse 25 are the treasures of Egypt in verse 26. Kent Hughes said the pleasures of sin are like a Chinese meal, no matter how much you eat, you are still hungry two hours later. Egypt was the wealthiest nation on earth. The gold plated tomb of King Tut discovered later revealed this. Jewish legend, according to Alexander McClaren, tells us of the very crown that was intended to be place on his Moses’ head. For this refusal of wealth to serve God, expect reproach.

2. Moses was reproached for his faith (Hebrews 11:26)

The same reproach Christ would receive from the religious but lost nation of Israel, Moses would suffer from the nation of Egypt. Dave Ramsey teaches to get out of debt you have to live like nobody lives so you can live like nobody lives. But you can also expect reproach when you are living off of beans and rice and rice and beans to get out of debt.

3. Moses could give up the vast treasures of Egypt because “he had respect unto the recompense of the reward” in eternity future.

Jesus instructed us how we can also allow the future to transform our living now to living for eternity: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20).

Faith focuses on investing for the future i.e., eternity by sending our treasures on ahead. You can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead when we invest our earthly treasures in God’s work.

Worshiping with Mary’s Heart and Serving with Martha’s Hands, Part 1

Posted: February 20, 2012 in Christ, LIfe of Christ, Spiritual Disciplines
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An elementary teacher was helping one of her kindergarten students get his cowboy boots on before leaving for home. He had asked her for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and pushing, the boots just did not want to fit all the way – they seemed too small. She persisted and by the time she got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, “These are on the wrong feet.”

You know how boots can sometimes be hard to tell – so she looked closely and sure enough, they were. She tugged and pulled and finally pulled the boots off. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on the right feet. Finally, just as she was finished, he said, “You know, these aren’t my boots.”

She bit her tongue rather than scream. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they gotten the boots off, he said, “See, they’re my brother’s boots, but my mom said I could wear ‘em.”

She did not know if she should laugh or cry, but she mustered up what patience she had left to wrestle the boots back on his feet one more time. Finally, she finished. Helping him into his coat, she asked, “Now, where are your gloves?”

He said, “I stuffed ‘em in the toes of my boots.”

In two years, she will be eligible for parole (Stephen Davey’s sermon True Love Part III).

Sometimes our love is tested. In Luke 10:38-42, Mary and Martha, sisters, were getting annoyed with each other, or more accurately Martha was self-righteously ticked with her younger sister, Mary.

Some think this sibling rivalry was the result of a difference of temperaments:

1. Martha was an extrovert, the talker. Mary was the introvert, the thinker.

2. Martha was always busy. Mary was contemplative and analytical.

3. Martha was a Type A with her Things To Do list always in hand. Mary was a Type B, more laid back, always with a book in hand.

4. Martha was the worker. She invites or at least receives Jesus in her home. Mary was the worshipper.

You can see this contrast in personalities again when the two are contrasted at the death of their brother Lazarus in John 11:20-32. When Martha learns Jesus is coming to Bethany, she runs to meet Him while Mary sits and ponders the death of her brother.

The conflict between these two sisters, however, is much more than a clash of personalities. Mary was balanced in her service and worship of God. Martha was not.

First of all in this next event in the Life of Christ we see

I. Laboring and Learning Out of Balance (verses 38-40a)

A. Martha is frantically laboring to prepare a meal for Jesus (v. 38)

When Martha learns that Jesus is coming for dinner, she downs a Five Hour Energy drink and tops it with a Red Bull. She goes into command mode barking orders. She dispatches a servant to the market to purchase the freshest meat and veggies. She Spring cleans her house in a matter of minutes. Martha is the Queen of Multi-tasking. Just as soon as the servant returns she starts chopping food while micromanaging every one else in the house.

Jesus shows up early, about halfway through the preparations, which only added more pressure.

I read that at one time in our nation Americans bought more tonnage of aspirin for headaches than fertilizer. Not more in price but tonnage of aspirin for headaches that in most cases are stress related and not physically caused.

Jim Elliot, modern martyred missionary, said, “I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, crowds…. Satan is quite aware of the power of silence” (Donald S. Whitney. Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1991, 187).

B. Mary who was helping in the kitchen goes and sits at Jesus’ feet (v. 39)

Mary was ready to get out of the same kitchen Martha Stewart was in.

To sit at Jesus’ feet was an official position of a student. Pupils did not enroll in colleges and universities, they hired tutors. In Acts 22:3, Paul’s parents employed the most famous of Jewish rabbis, Gamaliel. Mary was honored to be among a select few to have Jesus as her teacher. Three times Mary is seen at Jesus’ feet (Mark Driscoll’s sermon).

Mary was a serious student at the feet of Jesus’ feet learning His Word and her life reflected it.

Some call this spiritual exercise the Spiritual Discipline of Silence and Solitude. There is virtually a Who’s Who List of Men and Women of God in Church history who valued their time alone with God’s Word:

David Branerd, American missionary to native Americans, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon who said, “I commend solitude.” J. Hudson Taylor, Jim Elliot, A. W. Tozer, the great devotional writher, who recommended, “Retire from the world each day to some private spot, even if it be only the bedroom (for a while I retreated to the furnace room for want of a better place). Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles, had a very large family of 19 children and for many years times of physical isolation were scarce. It is well known that when she needed silence and solitude she would bring her apron up over her head and read her Bible and pray underneath it. Obviously that did not block out all noise, but it was a sign to her children that for those minutes she was not to be bothered and the older ones were to care for the younger” (Whitney, 189).

C. Martha was distracted in her busyness (v. 40a)

Martha was so busy serving Jesus she neglected Jesus. Martha could have prepared a much simpler meal and joined Mary at Jesus’ feet. This is what the writer of Proverbs recommended: Proverbs 15:16, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” It is better to have a vegetable plate with less stress in preparation than a seven course meal that took half a day to prepare resulting in everyone mad because of all the pressure.

In Part 2, we will consider the results and the correction of laboring and learning out of balance.