A RESPONSE Of SAVING FAITH-X—Hebrews 11:3-40
Attention:
Lost Loot
A little boy came home with a $10 bill he claimed to have innocently found.
“Are you sure it was lost?” asked his mother.
“”Oh yes Ma’am, I’m sure,’ said the boy. “I saw a man looking for it!”
The boy’s ‘faith’ had convinced him that the money was his!
Faith’s response to life’s challenges
We indeed bring something of value to the table when we are saved!
The Hebrews writer sought to encourage & exhort his readers(hearers) by recounting the very practical responses which faith had wrought in their forebears/ancestors.
Saving faith yields practical responses to life, which encourage others.
What are some practical responses to life by saving faith?
How does saving faith respond to life?
In previous weeks we have observed 11 Responses to Life’s Challenge afforded by Saving Faith. These responses have focused upon the “elders”(:2)(patriarchs) but their application is for us.
We have found that Saving faith meets life’s challenge with...
1. A Particular WORLDVIEW(:3)—Concept presented 05/20/2012 with 10:39—11:3 as FELLOWSHIP
2. OFFERINGs Of PECULIAR QUALITY(:4)
3. DESIRE For GOD’s PLEASURE(:5-6)
4. CONDEMNING TRUST(:7)
5. A Particular PLACE(:8-10)
6. A Particular OUTLOOK(:11-12)
7. A Particular VISION(:13-16)
8. A Particular CONCLUSION(:17-19)
9. A Particular BLESSING(:20-21)
10. A Particular PREPARATION(:22)
Regarding Moses:
11. A Particular BOLDNESS(:23)
12. A Particular FEARLESSNESS(:24-27)
13. A Particular DISPLAY(:28)
14. A Particular PASSAGE(:29)
15. A Particular CONQUEST(:30)
16—Saving faith meets life’s challenge with...
A Particular RELIANCE(:31)
Explanation:(:31)
:31—“By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”
From events recorded in Joshua 2:1-24 & 6:17, 20-25(READ).
Important to understanding the significance of Rahab’s faith is the fact that she was known & recognized as “the harlot Rahab.” Every Jew knew this but probably did not consider(as do many Christians) the reality of such salvation.
A Harlot/Whore/Hooker/Mistress/Call girl/Escort—The amount of money exchanged is irrelevant to the moral implications, which erase any euphemistic consolations by which people placate themselves.
Regarding the Salvation of such immoral people:
Mat. 21:23-32—“Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests & the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, & said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered & said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus & said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, & he came to the first & said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ “He answered & said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it & went. “Then he came to the second & said likewise. And he answered & said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors & harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, & you did not believe him; but tax collectors & harlots believed him; & when you saw it, you did not afterward relent & believe him.”
Ezek. 33:11—““Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way & live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”
Lk. 15:10—““Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””
Mat. 7:21—““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Mat. 12:46-50 “While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother & brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother & Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered & said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother & who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples & said, “Here are My mother & My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother & sister & mother.””
Are you a mother &/or sibling of Jesus?
Mat. 18:1-4—“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, & said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted & become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
A young son/daughter Relies upon his/her parents above all other people! We therefore must turn away from our own direction & Rely upon God in Christ thru “faith”!
“Harlot”—pornh—1) A woman who sells her body for sexual uses—1a) A prostitute, a harlot, one who yields herself to defilement for the sake of gain, 1b) Any woman indulging in unlawful sexual intercourse, whether for gain or for lust; 2) metaph. An idolatress.—2a) Of "Babylon" i.e. Rome, the chief seat of idolatry. Strong—A strumpet; figuratively--An idolater.
“Perish/Killed”—sunapollumi—1) To destroy together; 2) To perish together (to be slain along with). Strong—To destroy(middle voice or passively, be slain) in company with. Used 1X.
“Did not believe/Disobedient”—apeiyew—1) Not to allow one's self to be persuaded—1a) To refuse or withhold belief, 1b) To refuse belief & obedience; 2) Not to comply with. Strong—To disbelieve(willfully & perversely). Eng.—‘Apathetic.’
“Received/Welcomed”—decomai—1) To take with the hand; 2) To take up, receive—2a) Used of a place receiving one, 2b) To receive or grant access to, a visitor, not to refuse intercourse or friendship, 2b1) To receive hospitality, 2b2) To receive into one's family to bring up or educate, 2c) Of the thing offered in speaking, teaching, instructing—2c1) To receive favorably, give ear to, embrace, make one's own, approve, not to reject, 2d) To receive. i.e. to take upon one's self, sustain, bear, endure; 3) To receive, get. The words decomai & lambanw overlap & distinctions often disappear; yet the suggestion of a welcoming or appropriating reception generally cleaves to decomai. Strong—To receive (in various applications, literally or figuratively).
“Spies”—kataskopov—1) An inspector, a spy. Strong—from kata(intensive) & skopov(in the sense of a watcher); A reconnoiterer. A military term. Used 1X.
“Peace”—eirhnh—1) A state of national tranquillity—1a) Exemption from the rage & havoc of war; 2) Peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord; 3) Security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace & harmony make & keep things safe & prosperous); 4) Of the Messiah's peace—4a) The way that leads to peace (salvation); 5) Of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, & so fearing nothing from God & content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is; 6) The blessed state of devout & upright men after death. Strong—probably from a primary verb eirw(to join); Peace (literally or figuratively); by implication--Prosperity.
Argumentation:
Rom. 12:6-8—“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
2Kgs. 18:17-25, 28-35; 19:1-36—“Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, & the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up & came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went & stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, & Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? “You speak of having plans & power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? “Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand & pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places & whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, & said to Judah & Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?”’ “Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, & I will give you two thousand horses--if you are able on your part to put riders on them! How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, & put your trust in Egypt for chariots & horsemen? Have I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, & destroy it.’””.....“Then the Rabshakeh stood & called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, & spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ “Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present & come out to me; & every one of you eat from his own vine & every one from his own fig tree, & every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; ‘until I come & take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain & new wine, a land of bread & vineyards, a land of olive groves & honey, that you may live & not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” ‘Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath & Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim & Hena & Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’””.....“And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, & went into the house of the LORD. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, & the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, & rebuke, & blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, & will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’” So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, & he shall hear a rumor & return to his own land; & I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’” Then the Rabshakeh returned & found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ‘Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; & shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan & Haran & Rezeph, & the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, & the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, & Ivah?’” And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, & read it; & Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, & spread it before the LORD. Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, & said: “O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven & earth. Incline Your ear, O LORD, & hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, & see; & hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations & their lands, & have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands--wood & stone. Therefore they destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone.” Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’ “This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, Has despised you, laughed you to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Has shaken her head behind your back! Whom have you reproached & blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And said: “By the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, To the limits of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars And its choice cypress trees; I will enter the extremity of its borders, To its fruitful forest. I have dug & drunk strange water, And with the soles of my feet I have dried up All the brooks of defense.” ‘Did you not hear long ago How I made it, From ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, That you should be For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins. Therefore their inhabitants had little power; They were dismayed & confounded; They were as the grass of the field And the green herb, As the grass on the housetops And grain blighted before it is grown. But I know your dwelling place, Your going out & your coming in, And your rage against Me. Because your rage against Me & your tumult Have come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back By the way which you came. This shall be a sign to you: You shall eat this year such as grows of itself, And in the second year what springs from the same; Also in the third year sow & reap, Plant vineyards & eat the fruit of them. And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, And bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, And those who escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.’ “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, By the same shall he return; And he shall not come into this city,’ Says the LORD. ‘For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake & for My servant David’s sake.’” And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the LORD went out, & killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred & eighty-five thousand; & when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses--all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed & went away, returned home, & remained at Nineveh.”
God’s people Rely upon the God of Scripture thru faith in the Cross Work of Christ.
Do you believe God can do things such as described above?
And if He chooses not to deliver...Are you comfortable in continuing to serve Him. Do you still believe Him, Trust Him, Love Him?!
Jude 24-25—“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory & majesty, Dominion & power, Both now & forever. Amen.”
During a siege—it was prophesied that mothers would be so desperate to preserve their own lives that they would actually eat their own newborn children as they died.
Deut. 28:52-57—““They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high & fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; & they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons & your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege & desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The sensitive & very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, & toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege & desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. The tender & delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness & sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, & to her son & her daughter, her placenta which comes out from between her feet & her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege & desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.”
Can you imagine the following conversation?:
2Kgs. 6:24-29—“And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver. Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” And he said, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ “So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.””
Their Reliance was far from True North. It was on ‘life at any cost.’
You & I were there too!
1Cor. 6:9-11—“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus & by the Spirit of our God.”
Illustration:
Not long after my New Birth(being born again) I began to forsake my usual fleshly activities/I didn’t revel in going to bars & watching certain things on TV or at the movies/I began measuring my decisions & examining my life by Christ...by God’s desire rather than my own/I began the process of turning my life over to God/Saved people allow themselves to be changed by the Spirit of God/This why baby Christians may still hold to some obviously fleshly ways or habits—They are simply dealing with trusting God little-by-little—Gradually but eventually allowing Him full control/A Particular RELIANCE
Husband & wife stay together thru thick & thin & for better or for worse/RELIANCE
F.R.O.G.—Fully Rely On God
Application:
?Does your life evince A Particular RELIANCE in God?
?How do you Respond to life’s challenge?
?Is yours a Response of Saving Faith?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Little boy w/ lost' $10 bill— "I saw a man looking for it."
Action:
Saving faith meets life’s challenge with...
16. A Particular RELIANCE(:31)
Presented 02/03/2013am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
