Hebrews: Chapter 11
November 23rd, 2008
Faith Hall of Fame
Heb 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Andrew was one of those guys that was just so happy all the time you almost wanted to smack him, you know? No matter what you said to him he would always smile. I am pretty sure you could punch him in the face and he would just give you a hug. He was possibly the most outgoing loving guy I have met in my life. He would walk up to total strangers give them a hug and tell them he loved them. He was just comfortable around people and he loved everybody. It was funny to hear him tell stories of things that got on his nerves because where a normal person might insult or demean a person that had upset them he would just talk about how he didn’t have the love for them that he should. My senior year of High School I was in an accountability group with some friends of mine from church. We got together every Friday night and young out, talked about life, and just encouraged each other. One of the guys in this group was Andrew. Andrew had just recently became a Christian and his faith was an incredible thing to see. He had an amazing passion for the kingdom of God. Day and night the only thing Andrew wanted to do was to be in God’s presence. Summer of our senior year we had just gotten back from a Christ in Youth conference. CIY is a powerful conference that really connects teenagers with God sometimes for the first time. They have dynamic music and great speakers and they work really hard to create an atmosphere where young teenagers will find a real relationship with God. We had been on this Spiritual high and really excited about life. For Andrew one conference was not enough. He wanted more. So he got signed up to go on another CIY trip with a different church a week after the one he went to with us. While he was gone our accountability group met together and all the guys stayed over at my house that night. The next morning we got a call from the youth minister. He asked me to get all the guys from our accountability group together to pray. They were trying to get a hold of Andrew but they hadn’t been able to yet. Apparently Friday night Andrew’s mom who was his best friend in the world had an asthma attack in her sleep and with no one around to help her she died before the paramedics could get there. We were all devastated. I remember thinking how hard it would be to see Andrew without that big loving smile on his face. They finally got a hold of the youth minister Andrew was with and they say him down to tell him that his mom had died and they were going to fly him back early to be with his family. The first words out of Andrew’s mouth were: “Well, God must want me to witness to someone on the plane.” His mother and best friend had just died without warning and when he finds out the first thing Andrew does is praises God and has faith that God has a plan through all of this. Can you imagine having such faith in God that tragedy didn’t even shake you? Do you have a faith like Andrew?
Heb 11:2 This is what the ancients were commended for. Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
What is faith? Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Does anyone remember what the word impossible means? Is this it is really hard to please God? No. Is this you can please God but only hypothetically? Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE-there is no way, there is nothing that you can do, it is impossible to please God. I want to break down a common lie from the world this morning. Especially with those who consider themselves intellectual people consider faith to be blind. They look at faith as an illogical belief in something despite a lack of evidence. Just because faith is being certain of what we do not see does not mean however that it is blind. Faith comes not from ignorance it comes from evidence. Faith is trust. Faith in God is merely trusting Him to be faithful to His word. This is not something that is done blindly. Throughout our lives we see God at work. We see His nature, we see proof of His existence and we believe. We have faith in God because we have experienced God and we know that He is real and the Bible is truly His inspired word to us. We do not believe in ignorance and our faith is not blind. Our faith is based on historical evidence, from the lives of real people. We have seen how God has worked the past. We have seen the things He has done and so our faith is not blind. Truthfully we have seen in our own lives the power that God has. We have felt His presence. We have felt Him pull on our hearts. We know that God is real for the universe serves as a witness to its creator.
Abraham was an old man when God promised him he would have descendents. Yet Abraham despite the seeming impossibility of the promise believed God. This belief that God would do what He said He would do, this faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. You see our righteousness is not dependent on our ability to follow the law. Our righteousness is not based on our church attendance or our offering percentage. Our righteousness is not based on the amount of times we pray in a day or the how long we spend reading the word of God. Our righteousness is not based on how many people we have baptized or how many times we have shared our testimony. Our righteousness is based on our faith in God. When we trust Him not just with our words but with our actions we have faith in God. Romans 1 tells us that faith leads to obedience and Romans 6 tells us obedience leads to righteousness. That is the purpose of faith. We do not know what God is going to do but we know what He is working towards. We do not know exactly what God has planned for our lives but we know that He has a plan. We do not know how He will bring that into effect but we know how He has worked in the past. We know that God is faithful. We know that God fulfills His promises. We know He has promised us life and rest and that He will be with us for as long as we live. Faith isn’t mindless belief it is trusting that God will do what we know He does even when we don’t know how or when He will do it. It is not faith that is blind but disbelief. With all the evidence and all the incredible things that God has done in this world and considering the existence of the universe itself refusing to believe in God requires that you make yourself blind to the world around you. Faith is not blind it is the only thing that truly sees.
Hebrews 11 shows us all the incredible things that have been done through faith. By faith Noah believed God and before it ever rained he built an ark. As a result of his faith he became an heir to the righteousness that comes from faith. By faith Abraham left his life behind to live as a foreigner in a strange land. By faith He believed that God would give him a child even though he was very old and his wife was barren. By faith he was willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. By faith Abraham received what was promised and became the father of many nations.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons. By faith Moses’ parents hid him from Pharaoh for three months and by faith Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter and was mistreated with God’s people. He chose to be disgraced for the sake of Christ rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin. By faith he left Egypt. By faith he delivered God’s people from captivity. By faith he led Israel across the Red Sea. By faith the walls of Jericho fell and by faith a prostitute Rahab was spared and later became a part of the bloodline of Jesus. This is of course not to mention the faith of a great portion of the Old Testament characters. In verse 32 he continues:
Heb 11:32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, Heb 11:33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, Heb 11:34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Heb 11:35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
In writing to a group of people who need encouragement our author focuses here on faith. He shows them the lineage of faith that they have so that they can understand the purpose of enduring. He mentions these heroes of the faith as example to remind his audience of men and women who endured hardships and were delivered by the hand of God. David was delivered from the hands of King Saul, Daniel was delivered from the lion’s den, Elisha was delivered from the hands of Delilah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were delivered from the flames of the fire. Our author reminds his audience that God has delivered so many of His children in the past. There is always hope for those who have faith in God. No matter what the world has or how severe the danger stacked against us there is nothing in all creation that is greater than God’s ability to save. Our God is mighty and powerful. He is strong and courageous. Our God is mighty to save. Not only does He have the ability but throughout the history of His people He has proved that He is willing to save. Our God is not just capable but He desires to save. We must remember however that the ultimate salvation that He desires for us is not salvation from troubles of this life but the salvation from sin that leads to death. We have hope in knowing our God is able and willing to save but we in knowing this we must recognize that He doesn’t save everyone every time. The cry of our hearts should be the same as that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:
Da 3:17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. Da 3:18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Faith may cost you everything. Faith may cost you home, your job, your life, abuse, your reputation, your personal comforts. A life of faith considers the very real possibility that faith may cost you all of those things but chooses to hold on anyway. The book of Hebrews is written to produce mature Christians who have faith in God despite the consequences for that faith. This list of people here who were delivered by God from extreme circumstances is not a list of the standard operating procedure. God is a deliverer. He is a savior. But His primary concern is not temporary deliverance or temporary salvation. His concern is the eternal life of His children. Hebrews 11 shows us the faith hall of fame. We must remember however that Abraham, Moses, Noah, David, these men that were delivered because of their faith are not the rule, they are the exception to the rule. Faith may lead to your being flogged, chained, put in prison, stoned, beaten, saw in two, killed, mistreated, or burned alive.
Heb 11:36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. Heb 11:37 They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— Heb 11:38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Heb 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. Heb 11:40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
When we know that God is mighty and able to save we have hope despite circumstance. We can have faith that God is able to save but must trust Him enough that even if He does not you will still obey Him and trust that He knows what is best. We must persevere in the faith and hold on to what we believe. We must not let go of our relationship with Jesus Christ. In the epilogue of Hebrews 11 we see our authors final encouragement on this issue:
Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Heb 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In a race you focus on what is in front of you. You don’t look back. If you focus on the past you trip on what is in front of you. Everybody has a history. Everybody has had problems in their lives. The past is not what is important. What matters is what lies ahead. And down the road that we are on is the finish line. If we can persevere until the end then we will receive the crown of life. In order to persevere you need a vision. You need to be able to see the end, to see the goal.
It is hard to press on when you do not know what is ahead. It is hard to keep running when you don’t know what you are running for. So here the author of Hebrews tells us what to run for. We are to run for Christ. We are to look to the one who endured so much pain and hardship so that we may not lose heart. For Jesus is our example.
Want to know where we are going? We are going to the place God has prepared for us. If we finish the race we will enter into eternal life with him. That is where we are going. But, let us not run alone. For me, it is much easier to run with someone else than by myself. When I run by myself and my muscles start to ache, and my chest tightens up, sometimes I will just stop and give up. But when I am with someone else who runs with me, I press on. So let us run towards Jesus together as a family. Let us bring others in, and have them run with us. But let us never lose the perseverance we have. The race has been hard. But you have been faithful so far. You may be tired, and sore, but rest is just around the bend. If we stick together, run as a team, encourage each other, and learn to live and commune together in harmony then we can find rest.
