Generational Faith by Brother Curtis Hansen

         Good morning. All people have fears in their life. Now, many of those fears you should not carry as a believer, but, a healthy fear of God is one you need. You should have a fear and reverence towards God. There are fears in this world which are diagnosed and undiagnosed. Some of man's fears are generated by his environment, some are demonic, and some are rooted in sin. The catalyst for fear is in uncertainty. There are many points in our life where we don't need to fear nor dwell on uncertainty but have obedience to the word laid out in the Bible. Faith overcomes fear. Certainty overcomes doubt.

        The question I want to ask this morning to you is what will you have to be faced with? There are many answers depending on your perspective but it is adversity that you will face. Adversity may take different names but it will stand off against you. We are going to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. This chapter is known by many as the heroes of faith chapter. We are going to be reading at verse 23.

        23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

        24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, 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 pleasures of sin for a season.

        The act of faith with Moses was not identifying with Egyptian culture and county with its sin, but to stand out and lead the Israelites. There is a brief set up I would like to take you to in the book of Exodus because for a lot of people they forget how the Israelites became slaves to the Egyptians. They assume that the Israelites were always slaves. Go to chapter one in Exodus and look at verse 8.

        8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph,

        9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

        10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

        Now before he died Joseph had told the Israelites not to stay in Egypt after the 7 year famine had passed. The Israelites didn't heed his request and stayed in Egypt too long. That is human nature at work. Let us go to verse 13 of Exodus 1.

        13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor:

        14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in porter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor.

        15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

        16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

        17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

        What was the fear in this scripture? 1) The Israelites are in bondage. 2) Killing of the first born male. 3) Their taskmasters turn into slave masters. When Moses was born he was hidden for three months by his parents. Why would they defy the king's order? They would had been killed and they didn't fear the king's commandment. Moses was a proper child.

        Moses' parents knew that the deliverer was to be born in their moment. We know this because God had spoken to Abraham that a deliverer would come and in Jewish custom, history was passed down generation to generation verbally. Is a promise to Abraham enough for Moses' parents to defy the kings order? If you are not afraid of something, it is because you have a strong faith in whatever to carry you through. Everyone is given a measure of faith. You have to grow your measure.

        One last stop for us this morning. Go to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 1verse 5.

        5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

        In Paul's missionary travels, Timothy was the closest thing to a protege. Timothy had come from generations of faith in his mother and his grandmother. Without Moses parents you don't call Moses. That faith is passed down. Start digging in your life on parts you need to work on. Each spot in the family has a duty.