INTRODUCTION: Have you ever asked yourself, "Why does sin have to be so enjoyable!" Moses faced the same question. There was pleasure in sin for him, and the difficult path if he turned away? How would he respond? How
would you respond?

BODY

I. BY FAITH MOSES SAW THE NATURE OF GODLESS PLEASURE.

A. Moses did not deny the enticing nature of fleeting unlawful pleasure but saw that they were fleeting.

1. Hebrews 11:24_25 "By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,"

2. James 1:14_15 "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full_grown, brings forth death."

B. Some never see the danger of sinful pleasures until it is too late!

1. Daniel chapter 5 - Belshazzer and the drunken feast

2. Christians whom had been lulled to sleep spiritually the things of the world.

a. Revelation 3:17_19 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'; and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; 18 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

3. Our Lord said there would be those who were so enamored by sinful pleasure that they would not remain true to him.

a. Luke 8:14 - "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity."

4. Such individuals are like animals fatted for the slaughter!

a. James 5:5 - "You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter."

C. While there may be passing pleasures in following sin there is true happiness in follow God.

1. Psalm 84:10_11 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

2. Romans 15:13 - "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

II. BY FAITH MOSES SAW THE RICHES OF CHRIST.

A. Moses could look past the gold and glitter of Egypt and see great blessings in following the Lord.

1. Hebrews 11:26a- "esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt..."

2. What was the "reproach of Christ?" Likely it was suffering for God's cause and God's people in the same kind of way that Christ did. 

a. Both Moses and Christ was rejected by his own people, Jesus in being sent to the cross and Moses in being rejected after killing the Egyptian slave driver.

b. Both Moses and Christ chose the path of hardness and difficulty as opposed to ease and comfort.

c. Both Moses and Christ completely emptied his will for the will of God. (Hebrews 5:8-9)

B. So too, must we be willing to suffer for the cause of our Master.

1. 1 Peter 4:14 - "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."

2. Hebrews 13:13 - "Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach."

III. BY FAITH MOSES SAW THE REWARD OF ETERNITY.

A. He was able to see ahead to the end of the journey.

1. Hebrews 11:26b - "...for he looked to the reward."

2. Can we seriously believe that Moses thought that leading a group of complaining, selfish, slaves would have ever approached the glory and honor that would have been his in Egypt.

3. Why did he turn it down and take a stand with the people of God? He, like Abraham and the other patriarchs, could look ahead to a promise of a heavenly reward.

a. Hebrews 11:16, 39-40 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.... And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

B. While Moses and the other Old Testament patriarchs had the promise of a rest not clearly seen, we have the light of day of the New Testament to tell us clearly that we have a better country awaiting us!

1. If we have the wisdom to look ahead we will see that nothing in this world can compare to what God has promised us!

2. John 14:1-3

3. Luke 10:20 - "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

4. 1 Peter 1:3_4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

CONCLUSION: During the War of 1812 the British burnt Washington and bombarded Baltimore and Ft McHenry. It was during the shelling of Ft. McHenry that an American on board one of the British ships, Francis Scott Key, watched to see if the brave fort would hold out. Concerning the shelling he wrote these lines, "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." Let us use the eye of faith to "peer through the night and have confidence in the promises that God has given us!