“ENDURING FAITH”
Hebrews 11:30-40
January 25, 2009
Pastor John L. Harper
Warden Assembly of God
Introduction: A small boy riding a bus home from Sunday school was very proud of the card he had received, which had a picture and a caption that read: “Have Faith in God.” Then to his dismay the card slipped from his hand and fluttered out the window. “Stop the bus!” he cried. “I’ve lost my ‘faith in God!’” The driver pulled the bus to a stop, and as the lad climbed out and went to retrieve his card, one of the adult riders smiled and made a comment about the innocence of youth. A more perceptive adult observed, “All of us would be better off if we were that concerned about our faith."
Contributed by: John Beehler
I. CONFIDENT FAITH (vs. 30-32)
A. Faith must be persistent
1. Sometimes faith is not rational
a. Marching around the walls for 7 days
b. They marched around in silence (for 6 days) as they followed the Ark of God.
c. They were shout on the seventh day
2. Sometimes faith requires us to do the right thing without seeing the results
(Luke 18:1) And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
(Luke 18:2) Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
(Luke 18:3) And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
(Luke 18:4) And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
(Luke 18:5) Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
(Luke 18:6) And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
(Luke 18:7) And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
(Luke 18:8) I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
a. The Unjust Judge/Persistent widow: she would give the judge no rest.
b. The Unjust Judge did not fear God, but was tired of the persistence of the widow.
B. Faith must be practical
1. We must look for the deliverance of the Lord
2. We must seek the protection of the Lord
C. Faith must be personal
1. Faith is able to give us courage when we fear (Gideon)
2. Faith is able to give us the word of confirmation to fight the battle (Barak)
3. Faith is able to use what is in our hand (Samson) (donkey’s jawbone 1,000 Philistines)
“If Samson had not had a strong faith as well as a strong arm, he had never performed such exploits.”
(Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible courtesy e-sword)
4. Faith is able to overcome our dysfunctional childhood (Jepthah, son of a prostitute)
5. Faith is able to help us overcome the giants in our lives (David)
6. Faith is able to bring power out of barrenness (Samuel, his Mother Hannah)
Application: Are you willing to be persistent in your faith. Keep knocking until the answer comes
II. CONQUERING FAITH (vs. 33-35)
A. Faith to overcome unexplainable situations
1. Righteous people see God bring victory in the midst of the battle
2. Righteous people who know the promise and rest in the promise
a. Abraham obtained the promise of a mighty nation
b. Daniel prayed and found God’s protection in the Lion’s Den
B. Faith to overcome unthinkable situations
1. This power gives us the ability to align our will with God, and see Him work a miracle.
a. Moses held back the fiery hand of God by his prayers made in faith.
b. The Three Hebrew Children obeyed God and trusted Him to deliver them from the fire.
c. Esther delivered God’s people from Haman and certain death by her prayers.
2. This power gives us strength in the midst of the battle
a. Hezekiah was healed from a terminal illness
b. Samson was strengthened in the battle
c. Barak was given courage instead weakness
C. Faith to overcome unacceptable situations
1. The Shunamite Woman whose son died from a head injury. Elijah prayed for the young man and he was raised from the dead.
2. The Widow of Zarephath: after God provided the meal and the oil, her son was dying and Elijah prayed for his resurrection, and it happened.
Application: Faith is not just a badge we wear; it is a powerful weapon in the hand of God.
III. CONTINUING FAITH (vs. 36-40)
A. Faith to endure suffering
1. These saints were tortured. The word for torture has the meaning of being beat like a drum. They would stretch them out on a rack so that the beating would slice deeper into the skin.
a. They didn’t recant their testimony of Christ
b. They didn’t take the easy way out
2. They were stoned: Naboth stoned for his refusal to give Ahab his vineyard.
3. They were sawn in two: Isaiah
4. They were tempted: Job, Elijah, Abraham
5. They were slain by the sword: the priests at Nob by King Saul
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Ten years later, we still remember
It is hard to fathom that shortly after midnight tonight, it will be ten years since Australian missionary, Graham Staines, 58, along with his two sons Philip,10,and Timothy, 8, were burnt alive by Hindu militants as they slept in their station wagon in Manoharpur, Orissa.
At 12.20 a.m. on January 23 1999, a mob armed with sticks, axes and pitchforks surrounded the station wagon. And as they approached the vehicle, they began screaming. Dara Singh struck first, deflating the ties with an axe. Others broke windows and prevented the Staines from escaping. They then set the vehicle alight. No one survived the attack.
In the weeks that followed, Christians from India and around the world were inspired by the faith and forgiveness expressed by Gladys Staines towards the killers of her husband and sons. In a recent interview with AsiaNews, Gladys said, "I cannot express that how I felt when I got the news of my husband and sons being burnt alive. I told my daughter Esther that though we had been left alone, we would forgive and my daughter replied, ’Yes, we will’." http://persecutedchurch.blogspot.com/2007/12/persecution-stories-of-2007.html
B. Faith to endure separation
1. They wandered around, they had no home
2. They didn’t own anything
3. They were tormented for their faith
4. They were considered not worthy of the world by the author of Hebrews
C. Faith to endure setbacks
1. They never saw the promises fulfilled, and yet they endured suffering
2. They were faithful to God so that we would see the promises fulfilled
3. The fulfillment of their promises is through the partnership of our faith
4.
Application: Are you willing to believe even if you don’t see the result, which is true faith.
CONCLUSION: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called an open meeting with the nation’s 30 provincial governors. During the session, an Iranian source told Compass, Ahmadinejad declared that the government needed to put a stop to the burgeoning movement of house churches across Iran.
"I will stop Christianity in this country," Ahmadinejad reportedly vowed.
"This was apparently a green light from the president of Iran to go out and start killing Christians," the source said. http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3396
More than 10,000 Muslims accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour throughout India during the last year. The Bible Society of India publishing thousands of New Testaments for the Muslims with their own terminology and vocabulary in different Indian languages and Tazi language. Pastor Paul Ciniraj Mohamed, the Director of the Salem Voice Ministries is one of the key persons of the Bible translators of the Bible Society of India to reach the Gospel to the Muslims. He is in the midst of persecution. Recently also he was threatened by the extremists to count down his days along with the whole family.
In Iraq, more than 5,000 Muslim converts to Christianity have been identified since the end of major combat operations, with 14 new churches opened in Baghdad, and dozens of new churches opened in Kurdistan, some of which have 500 to 800 members. Also, more than one million Bibles shipped into the country since 2003, and pastors report Iraqis are snatching them up so fast they constantly need more Bibles. (emphasis mine)
Thousands of Muslims turned to Christ and worshipping Lord Jesus in Morocco, Somalia, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Maldives.
Around a million believed in Jesus over the past decade in Egypt. The Egyptian Bible Society used to sell about 3,000 copies of the JESUS film a year in the early 1990s. But last year they sold 600,000 copies, plus 750,000 copies of the Bible on tape (in Arabic) and about a half million copies of the Arabic New Testament. "Egyptians are increasingly hungry for God’s Word," an Egyptian Christian leader told.
’Last Christmas, I had the privilege of visiting the largest Christian congregation in the Middle East, which meets in an enormous cave on the outskirts of Cairo. Some 10,000 believers worship there every weekend. A prayer conference the church held in May 2005 drew some 20,000 believers’, Rosenberg told.
There were only 17 Christians from Islam in Afghanistan on 2001. But there are more than 10,000 believers at present. Every week dozens of baptisms being held there.
In 1990, there were only three known Christians in Kazakhstan and no Christians in Uzbekistan, but now more than 15,000 in Kazakhstan and 30, 000 in Uzbekistan. There were only 500 Christians in Iran on 1979, but more than one million Iranians believing Jesus Christ today, most of whom meet in underground house churches.
In Sudan, more than one million have converted since 2000, and some 5 million have become Christians since the early 1990s, despite a radical Islamic regime and an on-going genocide that has killed more than 200,000. Seminaries are being held in caves to train pastors to shepherd the huge numbers of people coming to Christ. Why such a dramatic spiritual awakening? "People have seen real Islam, and they want Jesus instead," one Sudanese evangelical leader said.
In December 2001, Sheikh Ahmad al Qataani, a leading Saudi cleric, appeared on a live interview on Aljazeera satellite television to confirm that, sure enough, Muslims were turning to Jesus in alarming numbers. "In every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity," Al Qataani warned. "Every day, 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year, 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity."
Stunned, the interviewer interrupted the cleric. "Hold on! Let me clarify. Do we have six million converting from Islam to Christianity?" Al Qataani repeated his assertion. "Every year," the cleric confirmed, adding, "a tragedy has happened."
One of the most dramatic developments is that many Muslims -- including Shiites in Iran and Iraq -- are seeing dreams and visions of Jesus and thus coming into churches explaining that they have already converted and now need a Bible and guidance on how to follow Jesus. This is the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy of Joel, "in the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days....And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." (Joel 2:28-32).
http://www.xanga.com/mcdanell99/560008829/muslims-convert-to-christianity--praise-god/
A missionary in Africa experienced great difficulty in trying to translate the Gospel of John into the local dialect. He faced the problem of finding a word for believe. He continued to do his best, but he always had to leave a blank space when he came to that particular word. Then one day a runner came panting into the camp, having travelled a great distance with a very important message. After blurting out his story, he fell completely exhausted into a nearby hammock. He muttered a brief phrase that seemed to express both his great weariness and his contentment at finding such a delightful place of relaxation. The missionary, never having heard these words before, asked a bystander what the runner had said. "Oh, he is saying, ’I’m at the end of myself, therefore I am resting all of my weight here!’" The missionary exclaimed, "Praise God! That is the very expression I need for the word believe!" And so he was able to complete his translation.
Contributed by: Stephen Wright
