At The Fork In The Road

Introduction

I want to invite you now to get your Bibles, particularly your New Testaments, and go with me to the book of Hebrews. A familiar text in Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, of course, deals with those great men and women of faith. We want to look at just one of those men this morning in Hebrews chapter 11. Uh want to begin by saying, I appreciate your presence here this morning. I know things are very different in our world right now and even in our assembly this morning. And I appreciate the songs, uh the thoughtful songs that Taylor picked out, the words that he said, uh, as well as the thoughtful words of Rob before our partaking of the Lord’s Supper. And I want to convey my appreciation for your patience and understanding through all of this.

Uh the shepherds had some difficult decisions to make, and I want you to know they did not make them lightly. Uh they made them with everyone in mind, with the circumstances on the ground as we know them. And I know that we may have done things differently if it was up to us. So there may be some of you who are thinking this is a big overreaction. Some of you may be thinking we didn’t go far enough in what we did. Uh, but we appreciate your praying patience and understanding, again, as the shepherds did, the best that they could under the circumstances. And these men who have who normally watch over our souls have been tasked with the responsibility of watching over our health as well.

Uh, and we appreciate the thought that they’ve put into this. Please stay informed. Check your email, check our Facebook page, uh, as they will be keeping us updated on what we will be doing going forward. As you know, this is a situation that is changing almost daily. And we’ll be trying to we’ll we will be communicating with you about what will be done for Wednesday night and for next Sunday and things going forward in those plans. But again, thanks for your patience and understanding and thanks for your willingness to be together today to worship together, to encourage one another, and for temporarily at least to refraining from a holy kiss. But we’ll get back to that. Hebrews chapter 11, talking about decisions.

Moses is that man. We want to look at that text this morning as we will see Moses standing at the proverbial fork in the road. That’s become kind of the saying for where we are in a point of decision in our life. And Boyd was Moses standing at a big fork in the road in his life. Let’s read the text to re familiarize ourselves with it, and then we’ll make some points regarding this. Hebrews chapter 11. Let’s start in our reading in verse 23. Hebrews 11, verse 23 says, By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents. Because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward.

By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. And by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. Again, we see Moses in this text doing by faith and being by faith a man of decision. We can see Moses, can’t we? Standing at the fork in the road. And down one path of that road was the life that he had grown accustomed to. The life as the adopted grandson of Pharaoh. And all the trappings of that, all of the power that would feed into his male ego, all of the wealth and the riches and the things that he would have at his disposal and at his fingertips.

To associating and affiliating himself with his Hebrew brethren who were now mistreated and abused slaves. And not only associating himself with these people who were in this lowly status of life, comparatively speaking, but of taking on the mantle of leadership, of risking his life, of his fortunes to deliver these people, and answering the call of God. And we can see Moses standing there, can’t we? Let’s not take lightly the decisions that these men and women of faith made. They wrestled with these decisions, these profound decisions of faith. They wrestled with them the same way that you and I do and would. They had the same weaknesses, they had the same temptations that you and I had. This was not an easy decision for Moses as he stood at this fork in the road.

1. A Time to Step Up and Make a Decision

But the text reminds us over and over again in Hebrews chapter 11 that by faith he chose the proper path. So we want to use this story and the decisiveness of Moses as our lesson this morning. First of all, the first lesson I think we can see from the model of Moses, and by the way, not just Moses, of Joshua and Joseph, of Elijah, of Paul, of countless men and women before us who stood at the fork in the road and made the right choice. But the first lesson that we learn from these great men and women of faith, Moses in particular, is that there is a time in which we must step up and make a decision. Life is full of decisions, isn’t it? Many of the decisions we make with very little thought.

And some of the decisions of life we make have very little consequence to them, but there are decisions in life that have monumental consequences to them. What we might call the big life-changing decisions. I don’t know if you’ve ever contemplated this or not, but most are at least many of those monumental, life-altering decisions that we make in life are made when we’re the youngest.

Make the decisions with the wisdom that I hopefully would have gained in that period of time, and then be transported back in time and live those decisions out. Because you think about it, the decisions, the decisions on whether or not we’re going to pursue education to its extreme. And what avenue of education, what degree we’re going to get, and what job we’re going to take, and whether or not and who we’re going to marry, and what portion of the country or city or world that we’re going to live in, most of those decisions are made by the young. And then there are their spiritual decisions. The decision to serve God. The big decision to become a child of God, to absent ourselves of our own selfish will, and to humbly bow before God in worship and obedience.

And then there are the daily spiritual decisions that we must make. To live for Christ and to forgo temptations and sin, as we see in the example of Moses. Those monumental decisions. And Moses standing at the fork of the road reminds us that when we’re standing at our forks in the road, that it’s time to step up. To borrow a modern day expression, it’s time to man up and make a decision. To be brave and to be bold in making sometimes a costly decision. And to be a leader. Making the decision that Moses would make that’s recorded in our text demanded that he accept the awesome responsibility of the mantle of leadership. One that through his excuses, at least, he felt like he was inadequately prepared to accept.

And the same is true for you and I. Making a decision, stepping up and making the decision at the fork of the road demands that we accept the mantle of leadership. You will be a leader in at least two ways. Number one is though you may never lead a corporation, a family, or a congregation, you are to be a leader of your own spiritual destiny. You may be the corporation of one, but it’s time for us to stand up and to be the leader of ourselves. And like it or not, much like Moses, you will be a leader of other people. Through your example and the influence that you give in making a decisive choice and living that proper godly choice out, you will be a leader.

2. Decisions Involve Both a Yes and a No

So the example of Moses tells us it’s time to stand for something. It’s time to make a choice. To choose our path. Another thing that we learn from the story and the example of Moses is that decisions involve both a yes and a no. I tried to think through this if there were any exceptions, but I guess there’s probably not an exception to this rule, is there? Because if there was only one thing, there ceases to be a decision or a choice, doesn’t there? By virtue of definition, making a decision means we’re saying yes to something and no to something else. That’s certainly true in Moses’ situation, and it’s true in our spiritual situation. Look at what Moses said no to something. Moses said no to be calling the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

That wasn’t just saying no to some familial relationship. That was saying no to all the trappings and all the benefits, monetary power and otherwise, that came with that title. That was a title, not just a family relationship. The son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses said no. Because he understood that he could not say yes to that while saying yes to the challenge that God had placed before him. And so a choice had to be made. What’s interesting if we think of this visual of Moses standing at the fork of the road. Think that centuries later there would be another man who would stand at this fork in the road. The man who encountered Jesus, remember the rich young ruler. And we see him standing at the fork in the road.

And a similar decision is placed before him. When Jesus challenges him, no doubt because of knowing his heart, challenges him to sell all his possessions, give that to the poor, and come and follow Jesus. This rich young ruler stood at the same fork of the road that Moses did. But chose a far different path. Moses said no to being the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He also said no to the passing pleasures of sin, the text says. Couple things we need to make, points we need to make about this is that’s first of all just be honest that sin is pleasurable. If sin wasn’t so fun, there wouldn’t be so many people trying it. And so let’s just admit it. That’s what makes it tempting, doesn’t it?

Let’s be honest with ourselves, and by the way, be honest with our young people in saying, yes, there is something enticing about that pathway. The pathway of temptation, the pathway of frivolity, the pathway of sin. Yes, there is pleasure to be found in that pathway. Be honest. The Bible is honest. Jesus was honest. But Moses said no to that. And he said no to that because surely he understood that it was just a passing pleasure. Look with me. Hold your finger here in the book of Hebrews and turn with me to 1 John. 1 John chapter 2. Why Moses could make this choice and how you and I can make this choice that we’ll talk about just a little bit later, is that surely Moses understood this principle.

1 John chapter 2, familiar text, verse 15 says, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. We read that text often in making this choice and talking about standing at the fork of the road, but we don’t always read the next verse. Look at verse 17. And the world is passing away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. If there’s a theme that runs through, and there are several themes that run through the book of Hebrews, but one theme that runs through the book of Hebrews is the idea of vision of what we look at, of what we focus our attention on.

That theme or that thread certainly runs through the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews, of those who by faith looked, ironically, looked at the unseen, looked at the eternal, and did not focus upon the things of this world. Moses said no.

But Moses also said yes to some things. He said yes to the suffering of his fellow man. He chose to suffer with the Hebrews rather than to be elevated with the Egyptians. He chose the reproach of Christ because, again, go back to Hebrews 11 and notice what he said yes to. Hebrews 11, verse 26. It says, esteeming, Hebrews 11, 26, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. He said yes to the suffering, because sometimes a yes can be a negative. He said yes to the suffering, yes to the reproaches, but he said yes to the reward. He was willing to make that exchange to be able to say no to the temporary pleasures of sin in this world so that he could say yes to the eternal pleasure of his reward in the Road without referencing the statement of Jesus.

Jesus talked about two pathways in Matthew chapter 7. One pathway that’s wide and easily traveled, and one pathway that is narrow and difficult, one pathway that leads to eternal destruction, and one pathway that leads to eternal life. We’ve talked about this before, but let’s repeat it this morning. Everyone chooses one of those two pathways. And by the way, not making a choice is a choice in itself. But everyone is traveling one of those two pathways, and if every occupant of each pathway were forced to contemplate it, they would wonder why the other people chose a different path. Those who are on the wide and easy path may look at those on the difficult and narrow road and say, why would anybody choose a more difficult way through life?

If given the choice, why would you choose a narrow and difficult road when there was a wide and easy road to choose? But everyone on the narrow and difficult road is looking at those occupants on the wide and easy path, and are wondering to themselves, why would anybody choose a road that leads to destruction? And both questions are really answered the same way.

3. Moses Illustrates How We Get This Right

Whether you choose the wide way that leads to destruction or the difficult way that leads to life, that decision is largely made based upon what you’re looking at. If you’re looking at the journey, if you’re looking at the pathway, you’re going to choose the easy path. But if you’re looking at the destination, you’re going to choose the difficult path. Saying yes and saying no. Our last point this morning is Moses illustrates how we get this right. Here is Moses standing, and he’s recorded in Hebrews chapter 11, only because he made the right decision. How did he get it right? And how can I, standing at my fork in the road, how can I make the same decision? Well, let’s think about that just briefly. How did Moses get it right?

Well, in a word, the word of Hebrews 11, in a word, faith. By faith, Moses chose the right pathway. Isn’t that the text leading us to that conclusion? Do not minimize the role of faith. His faith unlocked the treasures of God. His faith allowed him to see beyond the immediate temptation and the instant gratification that this world offers.

And faith allowed him to see the reward. Moses got it right. Because he had a clear eye for distinguishing between right and wrong. Look with me earlier in the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 5. In talking about spiritual maturity, Hebrews chapter 5 in verse 14 says this. But solid food, that’s the solid food of the Word of God. Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. This life is a training ground. Jesus said he who is faithful over little will be entrusted with greatness. This life is a training ground because life is full of decisions, some small, some medium size, some life altering monumental choices. And we make these choices as we practice making choices, making the right choices, saying yes to the right things, saying no to the wrong things, preparing us by reason of use, exercising our senses to determine between right and wrong.

Moses had a clear understanding of what is right and wrong. I’m not saying, I’m not saying there aren’t some gray areas in life. There may be.

Uncompromising decisions that we have to make. And as we stand at the fork in the road, we can make the right choice. We can get this right if we have the clear vision to distinguish between right and wrong. Moses got this right by faith. Because he could clearly see what was of value. Decision making is about determining value. Saying yes and saying no, is about determining value. Of knowing what’s worth our life. You ever watch the TV show, I think it’s on PBS, Antiques Roadshow. I don’t know why that show intrigues me. If it’s on and I’m flipping through, I’m going to stop and watch just a portion of it at least. Where, if you’re not familiar with it, people bring stuff out of their attic, out of their barn, or something that’s been passed down from generation to generation, and they bring it to these experts who will appraise it and tell them that it’s of value or maybe not of value.

And those people, I guess they’re really experts. They are the ones who’d be able to tell. That person many times that owns the object has no idea. Do you know how much this is worth? And nine times out of ten, they’re going to go, no, I don’t. I certainly don’t. If that was a game show, I would lose every time. Because I say, oh, that’s going to be worth a million. And they’ll say, ah, this is $200. I think I wouldn’t have that in my house. It’s ugly. And they’ll say it’s worth $50,000. But here is someone trained in their field with their expertise who’s able to determine the value. That was Moses. Moses stood at that fork in the road and he looked down the pathway of the pleasures of sin, of the trappings of being in the royal family.

And he looked down the pathway that was full of slaves who didn’t have a home. Who themselves didn’t have a plan. But saw the reward. And by faith saw him who held their destiny in his hands. And he determined their value. I want to conclude with one reading. Turn with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 14. As we stand at this fork in the road.

Conclusion

You stand at that fork today. Maybe you stand at the fork of whether to become a Christian, to obey the gospel, to believe, repent, confess, and to be baptized for the remission of your sins. You’re making a decision this morning. And again, not making a decision is in itself a decision. You stand at that fork in the road this morning. Which path will you choose? We encourage you this morning, if you need to render obedience to the gospel, if you need to come back to Christ in answer of a conscience that is tugged by the decision that you need to make this morning. If we can help you in any way, why not come right now? As together we stand and as we sing.