Decision of the Covenantal Faith (Heb. 11:24-27)

Hello. The title today is going to be Decision of Covenantal Faith. So during the pulpit message we received the message of what the decision of covenantal faith is. And during the message we were told that our decisions are based on what we value.  So, I want to talk to you guys today, the remnants, about what makes a good decision vs. a bad decision. 

Bad = Suffer | Good = Not Suffer

When we talk about what is a good or bad decision, typically, when people talk about it, they say a bad decision causes you to suffer while a good decision causes you to not suffer.  Now, first before we talk about what the Bible tells us is a good or bad decision, I want to talk about what the world tells us.  

World -> your advantage = good =>

Now, the world will tell you that anything that leads to your advantage is a good decision. That’s what it looks like. What does the world tell you is a good thing?  They say education is a good thing, money is a good thing, and they say love is a good thing.  Power, what else? Friends, Justice, what else do people think is a good thing right now?  Kindness, the world tells us that all these things are good things.

There’s also traveling and having fun, parties, family, whatever it is, the world tells you that anything that makes you feel good or is to your advantage is a good thing and anything you don’t like is a bad thing. So if there are people who make you mad, just cut them out. If you don’t like to study, don’t study, if you don’t like work then quit your job and get another job. The world keeps telling you to do the things that make  you feel good.

But do you know how these things are not really good things? Do you know how you can tell that these things are not the answer to your life?  It’s because even with these things, people are still suffering. Even with people getting more education, getting more love, getting more justice, partying, fun and traveling , even if people are getting all of these things, more and more people are getting depressed.

More and more people are becoming anxious, and angry, more and more people are living this life, thinking that life is unfair, and because of that people are turning to violence, addictions, and people are unable to control their behavior. Why? It’s because they are stuck in so much suffering and they don’t know what to do about it.

So, tell me why does this method the world tells you about, why does it lead to suffering? How come even though the world tells you these things are good, it leads to suffering?  It’s because of this whole idea of, “If you like it, it’s good for you,” it comes from Exodus 20:4 where God tells us not to have idol worship, and he tells us, “For yourself do not make an idol.” 

Exodus 20:4 “Idol worship”, “For yourself,” Sin

So, literally the world will tell you, “for yourself, do all of these things,” but the Bible is saying, “For yourself, do not turn to these things. So the world is actually convincing you to do the very specific thing the Bible tells you not to do which is idol worship. For yourself. Now, this “for yourself” thinking you can live for yourself, that’s a sin. Right? Because God says, “Hey, you have to live with Me,” but if you don’t believe that and you think you can live for yourself, that’s a sin. 

And this is actually the same sin Satan has been telling us the beginning of time. Ever since Genesis 3:5 he said, “you can be like God, you can know the difference of right or wrong.” So from the beginning Satan has been telling us, “Hey, do these things for yourself.” And because of this sin, in Isaiah 59:2, it says, “Our sin separates us from God,” it separates us from God so it hides His face from us, and it says he cannot hear us and because we’re separated from God, we end up living under Satan.  

1 John 3:8 says, “Anyone who sins belongs to the devil, because he has been sinning from the beginning,” too. What’s the whole reason he was kicked out of heaven? It’s because he tried to be like God, so for the same sin for which he was kicked out of heaven, he is trying to deceive us. 

But sin, separation, and Satan are our real problem. The reason why all the things the world tells us is good actually leads to suffering is because all the things the world tells us is good are rooted in these things.  because of these 3 problems we have the physical problems we can see. In John 8:44 we are a child of Satan, so we become seized by the thoughts that he gives us and chase the idols he tells us about, and when all do the things of the world doesn’t take away our unhappiness, when it doesn’t take away our depression, when it doesn’t take away our suffering, then we fall toward our mental suffering. 

And the mental suffering turns into physical problems, and generally people live in this hellish life before they go to hell and pass on these problems to their children. But ultimately the way the world tells us to live ends up in suffering and not good because it’s idol worship. So instead we end up living in problems instead of how God created us which is in Genesis 1:27-28, to be with Him and to enjoy the blessings of ruling and conquering over the world. 

He gave us the blessing in Matthew 11:28 of giving us rest. In John 14:27 Jesus says, “I will give you peace, a peace the world cannot give or understand.”  In Romans 14:17, it says the kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, joy and understanding. So the world tells you, “If you want to be happy, if you want to rest, if you want peace, if you want joy, you have to go for all of these things,” but God is telling you, “No I will give you all of those things if you just be with Me.” 

And so in order to enjoy those things, we have to be with God. But we can’t be with God if we are separated from Him because of our sin, and that is why God sent us Jesus Christ. Because in Mark 10:45, Jesus Christ came as a ransom for many, meaning that as the true priest, He was the One Who forgave our sins, and in John 14:6, Jesus Christ says, “I am the way, truth and life.” meaning as a true prophet, He made a way to be with God again. 

In 1 John 3:8, it says the reason the son of God appeared was to crush the devil’s work.  And that’s what He did as a true king, He crushed Satan’s authority. So now that we have Jesus Christ and the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can be freed from our sin, separation from God, and Satan, and because of Jesus Christ we have a way for us to be with God. And because we have a way to be with God through Jesus Christ, what do we do? We are able to make decisions that’s centered on Christ.

Now let’s talk about why. If you don’t have rest or peace then you cannot be centered on Jesus Christ. I’ll give you an example, a lot of remnants think that if they don’t have money, then they are going to fail. They see their parents go through money problems, and so they believe if they have money, all of their suffering will end. And so if they believe that money is going to bring them out for their suffering, then whenever they feel like they’re going to lose that money, they’re going to stress out, and they become anxious because they believe that this money is going to take them out of their suffering.  So, instead, they’re going to make their decision on what they value, which is money. 

Now, we heard Moses received the word and made good decisions. And why did he make good decisions? It says in the Bible passage today, in verse 24 it says, “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” It says he chose to be mistreated along the people of God, he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value.

Enjoy the Pleasures of Sin, Known as Pharaoh’s Daughter/Son | People of God, Disgrace for Christ ] Word of God

So if you look at today’s passage, what Moses considered good, was to be a people of God rather than enjoy pleasures of sin, or be known as Pharaoh’s daughter/son. And then he said “disgrace for the sake of Christ.” 

Now if you look at the words the passage talks about, it says “mistreated people of God” and “disgrace of Christ.” And anybody in the world will tell you that being mistreated is a bad thing, and disgrace is a bad thing. But through true pulpit message we received that this was actually a good decision, and how enjoying the pleasures of sin or to be known as the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter was a bad decision. 

What the world tells you and what the Bible tells you seem to be switched. Now, why does God consider what Moses believed to be a good decision?  It’s because Moses was holding onto the word of God. What word of God was he holding onto? He was holding onto the Word of God that had been given to Abraham, it was the word where God said, “Go to Cannan, because Jesus Christ is going to come from Canaan, and he is going to be the one who solves mankind’s fundamental problems.” And so Moses, holding onto this word God gave to him, went to Canaan.  

It didn’t matter if the world was telling him he was being mistreated, it didn’t matter if he lost all of the pleasures, because he was holding onto God’s Word, and he knew that if he held onto God’s Word, then God is going to give him everything he needs to fulfill God’s Word. 

——–> Save Lives

And so actually remnants, it’s been a while since this happened, but do you remember this?  Tiffany used to draw this arrow a lot. I hope the remnants remember, but this arrow represents the direction of God’s Word and God’s direction has always been the same. And has always been to save lives, and so here, let’s say there’s Abraham, and here, let’s say there’s Jesus Christ, and then there’s all of the people we learned about, there’s Isaac, there’s Jacob, there’s Esau, and there’s Moses. 

So Moses, held onto God’s Word that has been given from here, or even before, starting from Genesis. And he went toward God’s Word  because he knew God will go toward the direction of Jesus Christ, but what about us? Moses followed the direction of God’s Word towards the coming of Jesus Christ, but what about us after Jesus Christ has come and gone? What is God’s direction now? 

-> Evangelism

God’s direction is still saving lives. How do you save lives? It’s through evangelism. Because only telling people of the gospel of Jesus Christ will free them from the problems. And so God’s Word He has given to us now, is Matthew 28:18-20 where Jesus Christ says, “I’m with you, I have all authority under heaven and earth, and I will be with you, so go and make disciples of all nations, go baptize them, go save lives.” And in order to do God’s work, He will be with us. He will give us everything we need. And that is why it’s the good decision, to follow after God’s word, Because if you follow after God’s Word, then God promised to give you everything you need. But instead of following after God’s Word, if you’re following after what you want, what is good for you, what makes you happy, then that decision will bring you suffering. 

Now remnants before we finish, I want you guys to think about this because a lot of people think, “Moses made a life-changing decision.”  So what is this life changing decision I have to make for the covenant? And so you might be thinking “What do I have to do for my career, what major should I declare, or what school should I go to?” But these are not the only types of decisions you can make in covenantal faith. 

You can make tiny decisions in covenantal faith, too.  For example, the decision between having 2 minutes of prayer or 2 minutes of social media videos. Or this is a problem I struggle with a lot, but the difference between deciding to wake up 10 minutes earlier and having summit time, I understand it’s hard because our nature is for us to do whatever we want to do. But what’s why it’s called the decisions of covenant faith. We are deciding to do it because we believe that the gospel is the only way we can come out of our problems. And that only God’s word is what’s going to be the good decision, and we have to have faith in this in order to do it.

But some of you guys think, “I believe it but it’s so hard, I believe it in my head but I don’t believe it in my heart” and that might be true, but it’s okay, that’s why we pray for faith, because even faith comes by God’s grace. So if you guys are unable to come out of this kind of thinking, if you guys are unable to make decisions of covenantal faith, it’s okay. Just realize why you can’t, and take that to prayer, because even praying for faith is in this direction of saving lives. 

And even asking for faith is asking God, “I want to align my heart with Your heart,” then that means He will answer. If you see the spiritual need for why you have to follow God’s Word, then God will give you the faith to follow God’s Word. And to give you an example, I’m going to give you one example and close. 

I’m 33so I’m 3x right now, and by any standard if the world, I’m old. Well because people always ask me, “When are you going to get married and have kids?” And the world tells me in order to find a husband I need to date, I need to meet people and go out to parties. And so every time I tell people, “I’m going to church, I have church after this; I can’t go to happy hour because I have church” people ask me, “How will you meet people? How will you get married?” Right, because the world tells me all of these things are the answers. But instead what I found when I dated in the world, it brought a lot of suffering. It’s the same thing, the world will tell you that you have to find all of these things in order for you to be happy. 

But instead it only brings you suffering, and that’s what makes Satan a liar. He’s not going to tell you something is bad because then you won’t do it, he will always say the opposite, in your day-to-day decisions, in your tiny decisions, “I am going to pray or am I not going to pray?  Am I going to review the pulpit message or not?” See your spiritual state. And see whether you’re holding onto the words of the world or God’s Word. And I hope you guys will make the decisions of covenantal faith. Let us pray. 

Prayer 

Father God, thank You so much for this wonderful time You have given us.  Lord, may You break down the forces of darkness and will you be in this place. Let us hold onto Your Word that tells us all we need to do is be with You. Let us hold onto the Word that in order to be with you we need Jesus Christ and lord I pray that you will give us the faith that Jesus Christ is really the solution to all our problems. Allow us to see past the lies of Satan and the world, and to hold onto Your Word, so that we can make the decisions of covenantal faith. 

Give us the faith in Your Word and may You establish Your Kingdom everywhere we go. Will You be with all the remnants and adults tomorrow on remnant day and I pray that You’ll establish Your Kingdom through our worship. In the name of Jesus Christ we bind all the forces of darkness that will cause distractions among the remnants, and will You let us be imprinted rooted and natured in the Word You will give us for the month.  in Jesus Christ name I pray,  amen. 

Before we sing our last praise, let us pray holding onto the Word we have received, and after praying with the Word we received, let us pray for tomorrow’s Remnant Day. 

Next let’s pray for our missions and evangelism fields, and let’s pray for temple construction, let’s pray for the Sunday message because through us, the work of evangelism will take place, so let’s pray for the Word we will continuously receive, and let us pray for Pastor Park. 

Now let us pray for our church prayer topics, and individual prayer topics, and we’ll go home.