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2. Moses saw something that was invisible to most men — something that was more important than the splendours of the Egyptian Empire. The first thing he saw was his love for his own people — a sort of patriotism, though the Hebrews were then, as now, a nation without a country. There was the call of the blood surging in the ears of Moses. And that was more per- suasive than the call of a foreign luxury. But the next thing he saw was more powerful still, just as it was invisible in an even deeper sense than this call of the blood. This second thing was not a thing at all, but a Being — Moses saw God. And the splendours even of Pharaoh shrivelled into nothing in the pres- ence of God. This is what we have, then, in the text : the most impressive and magnificent things upon the surface of life are not really the most important or the most powerful. When an alien empire is pitted against a slave people that is ours, a slave people wins. It is, after all, the stronger, and the more important. And when luxury and wealth are pitted against God, God wins. He is more real and more powerful than armies, and trusts, and all pleasures. That is, the things that shine and shout upon the surface are not the real or important things of life ; the things that lie deep, and are silent and invisible — these are the real and important things. Now, it is well that we should understand and believe this. For to-day, as at all times, the things on the surface do shine and shout. They seem supremely attractive. They appeal to the mind and the imagination, as well as to the eye and ear. Empire, wealth, pleasure, success — every man can feel their glamour at once. But God, forgiveness, right, heaven — these are invisible. They cannot compete with the other things in the markets of the world. They fill very little space in our news- papers. They do not figure largely in Parliamentary debates. They are not on the surface. They are not seen at first sight. They are invisible. But they are the great things, the important things, the eternal things.
3. In the life of Moses, then, the secret which explains all else was just the sight of the invisible. Faith, when it is directed upon this object, has the attribute of sight. For such belief is, indeed, a second sight ; it is the operation of a new sense opened upon another and invisible world. Moses saw God. This clear
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sight of a living Being who did not meet the eye of sense is a different sort of motive from tliat which has always governed, and still does govern, the greater and the lesser rulers of mankind. The sight of the Invisible means an addition to knowledge which itself is power — power of a very high order, considering who the Invisible is. They who discern beyond the narrow limits of this present existence the outline of an eternal and imperishable world, and Him in whom that world centres — these men see, or hear, in true proportion. They hope for nothing, they are sur- prised at nothing : they are sure that all will be right in the end. They pass, one after another, before us, and away from us, endowed with a calm and majestic strength — a strength which this high vision bestows — having their eyes fixed on the invisible. The text is in two parts —
I. The Secret of Moses' Greatness — " He endured." II. The Secret of Moses' Endurance — " As seeing him who is invisible."
I.
The Secret of Moses' Greatness.
" He endured."
1. It is not by any accident of rhetoric that the word *' endured " is linked with the name of Moses in the text, for, of all the characters in the Bible, or in all biography for that matter, none more fitly illustrates the moral quality of endurance. There may have been men more brave and more eloquent ; but in this homely virtue no man stands nearer the summit of moral great- ness. He came there not by chance. He was not swept there by fortunate circumstances. He aimed at it by deliberate choice ; he attained to it by earnest striving ; he maintained it by prolonged effort. If he had chosen to take life easy few had better opportunity. If he had been content to go with the drift of circumstance he might have possessed the treasures of Egypt and filled the throne of the Pharaohs. He could easily have reached the summit of that kind of greatness, and instead of filling an unknown grave in the wilderness of Moab he miglit have been an embalmed mummy in the museum of Cairo, the ol^ject of the
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pilgrimage of the learned and the curious. But when he came to maturity of thought and moral responsibility, he weighed all these material things, and over against them and above them he saw a moral duty, a moral ideal, something better worth living for.
^ What do you think of yourself ? What do you think of the world ? These are questions with which all must deal as it seems good to them. They are riddles of the Sphinx, and in some way or other we must deal with them. In all important transactions of life we have to take a leap in the dark. If we decide to leave the riddles unanswered, that is a choice; if we waver in our answer, that, too, is a choice; but whatever choice we make, we make it at our peril. If a man chooses to turn his back altogether on God and the future, no one can prevent him ; no one can show beyond reasonable doubt that he is mistaken. If a man thinks otherwise and acts as he thinks, I do not see that any one can prove that he is mistaken. Each must act as he thinks best ; and if he is wrong, so much the worse for him. We stand on a mountain pass in the midst of whirling snow and blinding mist, through which we get glimpses now and then of paths which may be deceptive. If we stand still we shall be frozen to death. If we take the wrong road we shall be dashed to pieces. We do not certainly know whether there is any right one. What must we do ? " Be strong and of a good courage." Act for the best, hope for the best, and take' what comes. If death ends all, we cannot meet death better.^