Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: He said this, "If anyone is going to come after me, take up his cross and follow me, deny himself." Is that easy to do? No, it is hard. It is delayed gratification. In the scripture, we call it the cross before the crown. Before you get to the payoff of God's blessing, you have to go through the deprivation of saying no to sin. It is the cross.

Dave Druey: When faced with temptation, we are forced to make a choice. Either we can stand strong and resist, or we can simply cave in. Today on Focal Point, Mike Fabarez continues a study in Hebrews chapter 11 and inspires us with courageous examples of Old Testament heroes.

And if you are a new listener, be sure to get your free copy of Pastor Mike's companion booklet, Do the Right Thing. Just reach out online at focalpointradio.org. Well, here is Pastor Mike Fabarez with his message, Courage to Do the Right Thing.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: In Hebrews chapter 11, beginning in verse number 23, and if you have your Bibles, I want you to open there because in this series of examples of the Old Testament, we get to an example of ambitious faith and it hones in on the issue of fighting temptation. Hebrews chapter 11, look at verse number 23 as it says by faith, and that is the issue, and it does take ambitious faith to walk a path of righteousness.

He says, well, let's think of Moses' parents for a minute. They hid him for three months after he was born. That is because Pharaoh had said all baby boys have to be killed. So they said there is no way we can give in to the sin of tossing our kid into the river. We are going to do whatever we can to save him. At the bottom of verse 23, it took them dealing with fear. They weren't afraid of the king's edict. They had to say we are putting that aside because we are going to do the right thing here, which in that case was to save their kid.

Verse 24, the spotlight shifts to Moses as he is grown up. He grew up and refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He is raised in Pharaoh's palace. He knows he is not an Egyptian. He is watching the people of God who are trying to, albeit not perfectly, serve God. He is watching them be ridiculed and mistreated by the powers that be, which he is aligned with. He is the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But he said, "I'm not going to be aligned with you because that's wrong. I'm going to be aligned with them because that's right."

Now that was going to cost him. Did that cost him? Absolutely. He ends up getting kicked out. He has to run because of his premature work to redeem the people out of the land and get them out. But the bottom line is he had to make a decision. The path was clear. He might have liked to keep his job, his expense account, and the education of the Egyptians, but he had to stand with who was right. And who was right in this case were the people of Israel and the people that have Yahweh as their God.

Take a look at it. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God because he knew if he stood with the people of God, he was going to have mistreatment. He chose that rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.

Satan has always got a little carrot out there to give you. Compromise and I will give you some goodies. This will feel good. This will be great. You will get a raise. You will advance. Your reputation will increase. Everything will go okay with you. You will avoid all the pain and the conflict. Just compromise. And he says, "I'm not going to do that."

You and I need to recognize that God calls us to do things that we give in to not doing because of pressure. Jesus said, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you." The Bible says when you stand up and do the right thing, you are probably going to have what Moses had: mistreatment and disgrace. Ridicule is another name for it. Gladly accept the ridicule. It is going to happen and you just need to get ready for it.

Speaking of getting ready, First Peter chapter four, verse one says, "Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body." Why did he suffer? Because he did the will of God in a world that did not do the will of God. Because he was at peace with God and the world was not. Therefore, they were warring against him. Since he suffered in the body, arm yourself. This is the only time that phrase is used in the scripture.

This phrase, arm yourself, really brings us to the picture of Ephesians chapter six because it was the word used in classical Greek to put on your armor, to gear up. You have to get ready. Not with special shin pads, but with an attitude. Arm yourself also with this same attitude. That means that I know I am going to get thumped, so I am going to put on my helmet. I am going to put on the right attitude because I know that he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.

It does not mean I stop sinning, but in my mind, I am done with sin. There are periodic failures. We all sin. First John chapter one says if you say you are without sin, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But in my mind, my resolve is that I am not going to sin. I hope when you leave today you say, and you should say it every day, "God, I'm done with sin." As Paul said, "I'm dead to the world, and it's dead to me."

Will we by 3:00 have to confess some things? Probably. But I am committed to saying I am done with sin. Verse two says the rest of my life is not for evil human desires. I am not out just to do whatever I want to do, but rather my resolve is to do the will of God. I live for the will of God. I want to do what God says.

Then he says you spent enough time in the past doing what the pagans choose to do. You have been debauched and you were full with lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatries. You have done all that. And they think it is strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation. Why don't they go to the same movies we go to? Why don't they party with us? Why don't they do the things that we do?

They do not understand. And when they do not understand, they heap abuse on you. They may not do that to your face, but they do it behind your back. I just witnessed that. We got into some new circles of friends moving up here. Before they even learned I was the Jesus freak pastor of the Bible church, even before that, they were doing this behind my wife's back and mine.

Man, these guys were into the world. We didn't have signs up going, "You're pagans, you're going to hell." But we were like, "No, we don't do that or we don't go there." And within like two weeks they were like, "Here come the Holy Joes." That was before they even knew we were Christians. That happens to all of us, doesn't it? If you don't run into the same flood of dissipation that they do, they go, "Oh, well, okay," because it's a rebuke to their life. They do not like it and they heap abuse on you.

But here is the vindication in verse five. They will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living, that means us at the Bema seat of Christ, and the dead, those that are not saved at the Great White Throne Judgment. He will judge them both. That is the vindication ultimately. What was the vindication for Noah building the barge in the backyard? F-L-O-O-D. That solved the whole question of whether he was crazy. That was the vindication.

What's the vindication for us? Philippians says one day their nose will be down on the ground before the throne of Jesus Christ. The Bible says every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That's what we get nailed for. "Oh, is he your boss, the invisible God you follow? Oh, how cute." Fine. Abuse me if you want. One day your nose will be pressed to the ground saying, "Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord."

Every person that speaks badly about us behind our back because we follow Christ or try to obey him, just remember one day they're going to go, "Wow, I wish I were more like that person. I wish I had woken up to this thing." It will be too late for them at that point, but recognize there is a day of vindication coming for everyone who chooses to stand with the people of God. Heap abuse on us, ridicule us, mistreat us, disgrace us, whatever. I do not like it, but I am going to gladly accept it because I stand in good company and one day it will all be vindicated.

The bottom of verse 25 and 26 of Hebrews 11 helps us see the choice. I am already prepared to not fear the consequences. I will make that resolve and I will accept the ridicule. But here is the real choice spelled out for us. First it says Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin. Sin is only for a short time.

He regarded disgrace in verse 26 for the sake of Christ as greater value than all the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. There are two positives laid out here for us. One is to enjoy the pleasures of sin, which is bad, but pleasure sounds good. And the other thing pitted against it in verse 26 is the reward.

We have two pleasurable things put before us, A and B. The first one is you can enjoy the pleasures of sin. It does not please God and it is only for a short time. Or you can look ahead to your reward, which the Bible says is eternal. Rust cannot destroy it, moths cannot eat it up, and thieves cannot break in and steal it. You will enjoy it forever and it will be better than you could ever imagine.

You can deny yourself. You can live with the deprivation of saying no to what looks like fun because you want to have this thing called reward. To manage the deprivation, you have to be focused on the eternal reward. So the choice is A or B. Fun now, short-lived. Or eternal reward, which is called treasure. I can have pleasure now for a short time and the consequences that go with sin and disobedience, or I can hold out for reward.

If you choose to say no to sin, you're going to have to get used to delayed gratification. You are saying I will pass on the fun now to hold out for the reward that comes with obedience. As A.W. Tozer so rightly says, really we need to hold out the hope of real enjoyment to the next life, which is much more suited for it than this one.

Delayed gratification. We are not real good at that, are we? How about your kids? Are they good at that? Our kids sit there at dinner and they know that there's ice cream that we just bought at Costco and it is in the freezer. And then unfortunately, they are facing the plate of green beans, carrots, and peas. They used to try to make this deal, "Can I have my ice cream first?"

We would never say, "Well, of course, sweetie, we wouldn't want you to wait for the pleasure of ice cream. We want you to have whatever you want when you want it." No. Eat your peas, kid. We will get to the ice cream later. It is work before pleasure. In the scripture, we call it the cross before the crown. Before you get to the payoff of God's blessing, you have to go through the deprivation of saying no to sin.

Is it not the call of Jesus anyway? Luke 14 says, "If anyone is going to come after me, take up his cross and follow me." Deny himself. Is that easy to do? No, it is hard. I get used to a life of deprivation. It is delayed gratification. It is a life that says I am going to handle that. And that is hard for us.

Even as parents trying to make our kids eat their peas before the ice cream. You know why that's hard? Because you and I like to buy it now and pay later. Isn't that how we live today? It takes a lot of discipline to say no. This is not a message on money management or credit, but the point is this: when it comes to sin, just tell yourself, "I better get used to delayed gratification."

You have to know you pay before you get the benefit. You are deprived before you get the payoff. There is a cross before the crown. You do homework before you play. There is work before pleasure. When it comes to the Christian life, just get used to that because that is how it works.

I know how my kids deal with it when I tell them no. They eat with this rebellion. That is not really what I was looking for. I want the kid to recognize we eat the peas to get the nutrition and then we will get to the sugar. I would like them to do it with a good attitude.

Patience is a virtue. But it is only a virtue when you are doing it with a good attitude. You can blow this whole deal by saying, "Okay, fine then. I will say no to sin but I will wait for the kingdom." If you have that attitude, then God is rolling his eyes at you. I just want to take my kid's face and fix it for him. God is looking at us going, "You're not patient if you're not waiting with a good attitude." Do you think God's trying to work patience in your life? Yeah. Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience. Love is patient.

I want to be patient for the reward. I know the Spirit is trying to make me a patient person, which means that we do it with a good attitude. We recognize I am going to say no to sin and all the stuff the world is throwing at us that I know is not right. I am not going to give in to the pressure because I know in the end God is going to pay me back.

How proud are you of teenagers with raging hormones who say no to those impulses and say, "I'm going to wait for the appropriate time with God's sanction and God's blessing?" You waited. You did the right thing. Do you think God is going to reward us richly? Hebrews 10 says, "So do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded." Don't compromise. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

It is coming. God is going to pay you back. I know you're going to have to say no to some parties and some impulses. I will deprive myself now of what I want, the pleasures of sin, to hold out and look ahead to the reward that is coming.

If we do not have the awareness of sin, this just gets filed. You have to feel it. There has to be a sense of awareness in your life that this is needed for you. The only people that do not recognize their sin are dead people. If you do not hold up the mirror of God's Word ever, you don't see it.

But living people are the people that care, who look in the mirror and they say, "Wow, there's some work to be done. I've got to fix a few things." It starts with this prayer from Psalm 139: "Search me, O God. Try me. See if there be any wicked way in me."

I'm praying I have half of you already because you've already been thinking about the temptations that you're falling into. Great. Apply it. But the other half are going, "Oh, I haven't really thought about anything in my life." Now is the time to give God the open door. Just open up your heart to him.

God will tell you. He will point it out because you're not perfect. He's going to say, "I'd really love for you to work on this. Because you fall to temptation here and you don't even see it." Sometimes we are looking for the obvious, like bowing down to golden statues. The temptations are much more subtle in your life.

You and I have to look before God and say, "God, search me, try me. Where do I need to work on this?" You tell God that and then put these things to work. Then you will start to see the path of sanctification improve. You will see yourself saying, "I am more like Christ this year than I was last year." There is nothing more important in God's plan for your life right now than that you walk in step with his Spirit.

Let's talk to God. Let's cooperate with his Spirit and just ask him right now: God, what is it? Where do I need to work on this? What is the compromise in my life? Most of us recognize the need, but what we need is specific direction. What are the things right now that just do not please you about the way we live?

Is it our attitude? Is it transgression? Is it falling short of the glory of God? Is it the things we should do that we do not do? God, help us to see what it is that the Spirit is not pleased with, that he grieves over. We want to get it right. We know we are not earning a place in your family. That is all about grace. But that grace is so overwhelming and motivating that it should drive us with a zeal to say we want to be righteous. We want to say no to temptation.

God, we thank you that no temptation has overtaken us except the stuff that's common to people. That will help us reach out, pick up the cell phone, and call a Christian brother and start talking about how we can together work on this. You are faithful and you will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able. But with the temptation, you will provide a way of escape.

God, we know that way of escape doesn't always feel good. Sometimes it involves deprivation of our desires. But God, if we're willing to accept the ridicule and really step out and not care about the consequences, we'll be able to take that path out more consistently. Free us from the sin that so easily encumbers us and help us to leave today with a resolve to rely on your Spirit to stand up strong this week without compromise. Let it be a growing pattern in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Dave Druey: Finding the courage to stand firm isn't easy, but it is worth it. All it takes is a little ambitious faith, and that is the title of our mini-series from Mike Fabarez here on Focal Point. Today's message is called Courage to Do the Right Thing. If you want to hear it again or share it with a friend, just go to focalpointradio.org and then subscribe to the Focal Point podcast to get every message downloaded automatically.

For even more content from Pastor Mike, be sure to download the free Focal Point app. This month we would like to send you a book called Songs of the Son by Daniel Stevens. Daniel reveals how the Psalms quoted by Hebrews are more than poems. They are songs about Jesus, songs he sang, songs that speak of his kingship, his priesthood, and his humanity. Request your copy of Songs of the Son when you give to Focal Point today. Simply call 888-320-5885 or go online to focalpointradio.org. Well, now let's join Pastor Mike for an important announcement.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Thanks, Dave. I would like to invite you to join me September 19th through the 26th, 2026, on a Christian cruise through New England and Canada. We will sail Holland America's Zaandam, known for its elegance and exceptional hospitality, to historic cities like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City.

We will gather for devotional times in God's Word, followed by thought-provoking Bible teaching throughout our journey. Grammy-winning musicians Keith and Kristyn Getty will lead us in worship. You will enjoy the stunning autumn landscapes as we explore charming coastal villages, all while building friendships with like-minded believers. It is a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and see some of the most beautiful scenery on the eastern seaboard. Space is limited, so don't wait to sign up. Secure your cabin today at focalpointradio.org.

Dave Druey: Just go to focalpointradio.org. What does the Bible have to say when military benefits, a union strike, or a question about your eternal security comes knocking on your door? I'm your host Dave Druey and tomorrow Pastor Mike Fabarez fields real questions from real listeners in a new Friday feature of Ask Pastor Mike Live. Honest questions, biblical answers, Friday here on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. It is an honor to be with you every day, helping you explore the depths of scripture. But I want to be clear, no amount of Bible knowledge is ever going to save you. Be sure where you stand with God. Get in touch with us. We would love to pray with you and for you. Visit us today at focalpointradio.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

Dave Druey: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.