TITLE: Building A Memorial: Those Who Have Gone Before
SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 11
Hebrews 11:1-40 (KJV) 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. 24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
INTRODUCTION:
Do you know the difference between Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day?
• Veterans Day is celebrated every November 11, while Memorial Day takes place on the last Monday of May.
While that is true, that is not the difference I was referring to.
• Veterans Day honors all former members of the US military, whether or not they served in wartime or died in battle.
• Memorial Day honors military personnel who died in service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle.
But how does this relate to us in faith? From Jamestown to Plymouth; from the French and Indians to the struggle for independence; from the wars to end all wars to the resent battles in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, millions have laid down their lives to make us free. And several of those great freedoms we enjoy are significant to our freedom to worship, witness and win the world to Jesus.
Not only that, but it reminds us of the many who have fallen to death in the faith to bring us to where we are today and have set examples of faith that we should follow and build upon. We are clearly reminded of this in our text. So let’s celebrate spiritually today as we remember not only those who have fallen in battle for our freedoms, but also by memorializing those who have gone before us in faith.
The First And Foundation To The Memorial We Are Building Is…To Understand What Faith Is! (v. 1)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is a common denominator of life. Everyone has faith and exercises faith almost every moment of every day. You walk into a building and immediately exercise faith in a score of ways—faith in the architect who designed the building, faith in the contractor and the workmen who constructed the building, faith in the quality and durability of the materials that make up the building—and you never give it a thought. When you mail a letter, make a bank deposit, or read a page of the newspaper, you exercise faith in the post office, the bank. You feel sick and go to a doctor who prescribes some medicine. You take the totally illegible prescription to the drugstore and watch the druggist pour an assortment of pills into a small container. “Take one of each three times a day,” he says, and you do. You exercise faith in the doctor, in the drugstore, and in the mysterious capsules, the content of which you know nothing about.
Faith is a common denominator of life. No one can live a single day without exercising faith—faith in men. Salvation is on the same principle. God has thus made it available to all men everywhere, without regard to education, physical ability, social status, national origin, or native talent. For everyone has faith. The main and basic difference between the faith exercised by the individual in the daily round of life and the faith exercised by that same individual to the saving of his soul is the object of his faith.
The Muslim puts his faith in the Koran and in Muhammad; the idolater puts his faith in his graven images; the humanist puts his faith in himself; the philosopher puts his faith in his own ideas; the materialist puts his faith in his money; and the religionist puts his faith in his own good works. None of these can save, because the object of faith, in each case, is wrong. Saving faith is faith that rests upon Christ. The Holy Spirit, having brought enlightenment to the soul, insists that we personally put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. He and He alone can save. As Peter bluntly told the members of the Sanhedrin, “Neither is there salvation is any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Again, The writer begins by giving an explanation of what faith is (11:1). “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence [the proving] of things not seen” (11:1). Faith gives substance to the unseen realities. The believer hopes in these things and proves their reality in his personal experience by faith. Faith is a kind of spiritual “sixth sense” that enables the believer to take a firm hold upon the unseen world and bring it into the realm of experience. All our senses do this. The eye takes hold upon the light waves that pulsate through space and make real to a person the things he sees. The ear picks up the sound waves and translates them into hearing.
But there is a whole spectrum of waves beyond the range of the senses. We cannot see them or hear them or taste them or smell them or feel them. But they are real, nevertheless, and, with the aid of modern instruments, we can pick them up and translate them into phenomena that our senses can handle. Faith reaches out into the spiritual dimension and gives form and substance to heavenly and spiritual realities in such a way that the soul can appreciate them and grasp them and live in the enjoyment of them, even though we do not possess them all tangibly.
Our text gives a beautiful example in verses 24-26…
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Moses was living in his present time as if he already had the full promises of God in his possession at that moment.
The Second Part of The Memorial We Are Building Is… The Demonstration Of That Faith.
We see this demonstrated in Two arena of time…
First the writer mentions the Present Demonstration. (v.3.)
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Note the word “we.”
It is of interest, surely, that “we” head the list—“through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (11:3a).
We must not lose sight of the author’s immediate audience, but what a tremendously relevant statement this is for us today.
WE have had many down through the years who have fallen to death on the road of faith. Many who have helped develop and mature our faith. From parents, to SS teachers, pastors, faithful church members like sister Katherine, who served this church faithfully in so many capacities through the years. We remember them today and express our gratitude to them as they have gone before us.
These are like the Bridge Builder described in Will Allen Dromgoole’s poem The Bridge Builder.
An old man going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
Through which was flowing a sullen tide
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head;
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followed after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”
And we are to be bridge builders for the future generations who come behind us after we are gone. We have a present part in the Being a Hero of Faith to others as many have been to Us!
The Second arena of time we see this Faith Demonstrated is in the Past. (vvs. 4-40.)
I could preach from now till Jesus Comes on these heroes and heroines of faith. But time will not allow. So I just call your attention to…
11:4 Abel: Giving God the First and Best Portion
11:5-6 Enoch: Believing God’s Goodness
11:7 Noah: Heeding God’s Warnings
11:8-10 Abraham (1): Following God’s Leading
11:11-12 Abraham (2): Believing God’s Promise
11:13-16 The Patriarchs: Longing for Heaven
11:17-19 Abraham (3): Unquestioning Obedience to God’s Commands
11:20-22 Isaac, Jacob, Joseph: Trusting God with the Future
11:23,27-28 Moses and His Parents: Fearing God Rather Than Man
11:24-26 Moses: Identifying with Christ and his People
11:29-31 Red Sea, Jericho, Rahab: Trusting in God’s Deliverance
11:32-38 Old Testament Believers: Triumphant in Victory & in Suffering
11:39-40 New Testament Believers: Something Better for Us
And then the Final Block to our Memorial we are Building to Thos who have Gone Before is…Not only remembering those who have died in faith building the bridge of faith for us, not only those who have died on the battle fields of physical warfare for our freedoms, but today and every Sunday we Remember the One Who Died in the Spiritual Battle For Our Spiritual Freedom and Salvation…JESUS!
Without Jesus giving His Life for Ours we would have no hope of true freedom or salvation.
You see, As the ole Hymn goes…
He Paid A Debt He Did Not Owe,
I Owed A Debt I Could Not Pay,
I Needed Someone To Wash My Sins Away;
And Now I Sing A Brand New Song,
Amazing Grace All Day Long,
Christ Jesus Paid A Debt
That I Could Never Pay.
He Paid A Debt At Calvary,
He Cleansed My Soul And Set Me Free,
I’m Glad That Jesus Did All My Sins Erase.
I Now Can Sing A Brand New Song,
Amazing Grace All Day Long,
Christ Jesus Paid A Debt
That I Could Never Pay.
One Day He’s Coming Back For Me,
To Live With Him Eternally,
Won’t It Be Glory To See Him On That Day!
I Then Will Sing A Brand New Song,
Amazing Grace All Day Long
Christ Jesus Paid A Debt
That I Could Never Pay.
God’s Holy, Precious, and Infallible Word tells us…
Matthew 20:28 (KJV) 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45 (KJV) 45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Literally…the Son of Man did not come to be served. Instead, he came to serve others. He came to give his life as the price for setting many people free.”
Galatians 1:4 (KJV) 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
CONCLUSSION:
So we see that Faith has enabled people in the past and enables us in the present to overcome.
And even as we remember those who have helped purchase our liberties and freedoms as a nation, We are truly grateful for their sacrifice.
The real Memorial goes not only to those who have gone before us in faith, But to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself a ransom for my spiritual freedom and salvation. It was Jesus himself who said…
John 15:13 (KJV) 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus did this…He laid down His Life for You!
Do you know Him today? Is He your Savior, Redeemer and Friend? He wants to be!
