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I. THE CRITICAL MOMENT IN EVERY HUMAN LIFE. Moses has come to manhood, has passed through all the perils of infancy and childhood, perils in which the prudence and courage of others count for the effective safeguards, to find himself at last face to face with the worst perils that can beset a human life. The edict of a tyrant is not so dreadful an evil as the temptations to self-advancement. The hour of temptation is the hour when all available considerations of duty and interest should be gathered together to fortify the heart. The peril to Moses as an infant was practically nothing; Jehovah's miraculous intervention could come in any moment to shield him. But the peril to Moses as a man was very great when the prospect of high rank in the Egyptian court stood right before his eyes. Nay, more; from Moses we may pass to Jesus. Jesus was in no real peril when Herod sent out his band of destroyers to Bethlehem; but in those after years, when he had to face the prospect of toil and suffering, there was a real peril to his inner man - the pressure of considerations which only the peculiar strength of his nature enabled him to resist.

II. THE SERVICE OF FAITH IN SUCH A CRITICAL MOMENT. The spirit of the world says, "Look at the position which you at present occupy - a position thousands would give anything to attain." Moses is the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and what more can he have but the kingdom? If he gives up his position, what has he left? Nothing, truly, unless he has had the revelations given to faith. And these revelations we are sure Moses must have had in abundance. If Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, had revelations of the coming inheritance and glory of their people, is it credible Moses would not also have revelations such as would effectually strip the aspect of the court wherein he lived of all its glitter? When we have the spirit of faith in us, the discouragements of the present are dwarfed before the attractions of the future. It is seen that the life of faith has joys beside which the joys of the life of sight are poor indeed. What are the Pharaohs of Egypt compared with Moses? Mere names. Whereas Moses has contributed to the coming of Christ, that is, to the uplifting and purifying of the whole world. When the critical moment came, the eye of Moses was so purged that he saw where his own real interest lay. He saw which was the better thing for him to choose for his own sake. He saw that, in choosing affliction with the people of God, he was choosing an exceeding great reward, which would more and more manifest itself as such.

III. THE CONSEQUENT NEED FOR A CONSTANT CULTIVATION OF FAITH. We know not when the critical moment may come, therefore we must be ever ready for it. Men must not leave the making of weapons for the day of battle. The experience of a lifetime makes the physician wise and successful in the hour of disease. We must be assiduous in laying up treasures of faith against the day when the persuasions of this world will try us. - Y.

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KJV: By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

WEB: By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,