Although there are only three meetings for this training for the working saints, I hope to release all the burden I have within me. In the last chapter, we saw that the working brothers and sisters are the backbone of the church life. They are extremely important. This time our subject is, “Give up the world, Christ to obtain.” We should give up the world to obtain the Lord Jesus, who is the all-inclusive Christ.
In the Bible there are two examples. One is Moses in the Old Testament; the other is Paul in the New Testament. Both were willing to give up the enticing, tempting, and entangling world to gain Christ. Soon after Moses was born, he was taken into the house of Pharaoh and became the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, which means he was the heir to the Egyptian throne. However, because he knew God (who was the coming Christ in the New Testament and who at the same time was Jehovah in the Old Testament) he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Heb. 11:24). “Je-” in the word Jesus is a short form of Jehovah. Therefore, Jesus is Jehovah in the Old Testament, and Jehovah in the Old Testament is Jesus in the New. The suffix “-sus” in the word Jesus means Savior. Hence, the name Jesus means Jehovah as Savior. The one who appeared to Moses was this Jehovah-Savior (Exo. 3:15). As far as the world was concerned, it was a rare opportunity to enter into the palace and be a prince. This could be considered as the highest and most honorable place on earth. However, because Moses knew Jehovah, who was simply Christ, he refused by faith to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
Moses chose rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to have the temporary enjoyment of sin (Heb. 11:25). This signifies the enjoyment of Egypt, which is the enjoyment of the world and is sin in the eyes of God. The world is joined to sin. Sin occupies a great part of the world, and sinful things are also joined to the enjoyment of the lusts and the flesh. However, these enjoyments are temporary and transient. Because Moses knew Christ, he was willing to be ill-treated with the people of God rather than to stay in Egypt to have the temporary enjoyment of sin.
Moses esteemed the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt (Heb. 11:26). He made an estimation and reckoned that no matter how noble and precious the treasures of this world are, they cannot be compared with Christ. The last stanza of Hymn #473, says,
Arise! the holy bargain strike- The fragment for the whole- All men and all events alike Must serve the ransomed soul. All things are yours when you are His, And He and you are one; A boundless life in Him there is, Whence doubt and fear are gone.
I hope all the working brothers and sisters would have an esteeming and would consider what is noble and what is base. I made such an esteeming sixty years ago. At that time, I was still young and was as one charging on a great and tall horse into the world, ready to make gains. It seemed as if the Lord just took one look at me, and I fell from my horse. When I fell down, I began to reckon, “Should I choose the world, or should I choose Christ?” In the end, I was very clear that Christ is the best. From that day on, I chose to have Christ.
After Moses chose Christ, he began to have a hope, which was to receive a reward from Him. Because of this, he looked away to this reward (Heb. 11:26b). This is not merely a reward for this life, but one that is for the life to come.
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