The Priority Question is this: What is really most important? If you're going to be used effectively by God you've got to establish some kind of value system. You clarify your values, your morals, your ethics, your priorities. This is what Moses did. He decided what was important. v. 26 "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward." Circle "regarded" which means I made a moral choice, a value judgment. And circle the word "value". It says he considered, he regarded. The word "regarded" literally means “evaluate”. It's the word that's used of weighing in the balance. It means to judge the value of something. This is not something you do quickly, a snap judgment. You are seriously considering, What is the direction of my life and what are going to be my values?
If you were asked by somebody, "What are the values that you are basing your life on?" Could you name them? You ought to be able to say, These are things that are important to me. You don't lie, you don't steal, those kind of things. Basic values of life. The fact is, if you don't decide what's important in your life, other people will do it for you. They will decide what's important and they will force their values on you.
We, in America, are right now in a values war. Don't let anybody kid you about it. We are in a values war. The media is on the wrong side. When Madonna made the cover of Newsweek of a book that is sheer pornography that says something is happening in our society. They may put down the idea, but there is a values war. And we know who's behind it. (It's not the Democrats.) It's Satan. He is the god of this world and he is trying to warp the world to his value system.
What is the world's value system? The world's value system is summed up in these three verses. The only good thing you can say about the devil is he's consistent. He doesn't have any new tricks. The same three tricks he pulled on Adam, he pulled on Jesus. The same three tricks he pulled on Jesus, he pulled on Moses. They're the same three he pulls on you. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the world, the pride of life. We see these in v. 24, 25, 26. The world's value system.
v. 24 "Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter." He's talking about power and prestige. That's the first value of the world. Power and prestige. One of the values of the world is, I want to be famous, I want to be looked up to. I want power. I want prestige. Why else would people pay fifty bucks for a card that's gold when they can have one that's green that doesn't cost that much. People want to have a certain color card so they can say, I have prestige. I have power.
The second standard of the world is in v. 25. Pleasure. "He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than joy the pleasures of sin for a short time." In v. 24 he rejects the world's measure – they're standard of evaluation, being famous. In v. 25 he rejects the world's pleasure.
In v. 26, he rejects the world's treasure which is possessions. Power, pleasure, possessions. Measure, pleasure, and treasure. "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasure of Egypt." All of the wealth of the world in that day was concentrated in Egypt. And it would have been Moses. He was in line for it. And he walked out the door from a position of prestige (the measure of the world), all the pleasures of the world he could have in the palace of Egypt, and he rejected the world's treasure – the world's value system.
It's ironic. Those things were all offered to Moses and by these standards Moses had it made. But he walked away from it. It's interesting to me that he walked away from the very three things that most people spend their entire lives trying to get. He walked out the door. That's why God used him. He knew that these things don't last.
This is very important. You must understand that as a leader in ministry, in order for you to say, Yes, to God there are things you must say No to. You cannot say Yes to the world and Yes to ministry at the same time. It doesn't work. Jesus said it like this, "You can't serve two masters. You'll either hate one or love the other." The problem with a lot of Christians is not that they're not willing to serve in ministry but it is that they're afraid to say no to the world's value system. Compromising only makes you miserable. It's like trying to sit on a fence. Ouch! You need to learn to say No. I refuse to be sucked in again. I'm going to go against the flow. I'm going to reject what the world says is important.
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