Dead Men Talking.
“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.”
I have preached several funerals these last few years. Some are easy and some are hard. And at the beginning of the service we read the obituary. It is an ABRIDGED version of a person’s life. Basically just a short biography.Where and when they were born and to whom. The relationships in their life. Who they were married to.
We talk about their children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces.
We go into their close friends and anymore we even talk about their pets. We talk about hobbies and the things they enjoyed.
JOKE: My old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and cackling, “You’re next!” After a while, I figured out how to stop them. I started doing the same thing to them at funerals!
No seriously now WHY DO WE DO THIS?
BECAUSE THEY CAN’T DO IT FOR THEMSELVES. THEY ARE DEAD!!!
THEY CAN’T SPEAK ON THEIR OWN BEHALF. THEY ARE DEAD!!!
AND THERE ARE THINGS THAT PEOPLE WILL NEVER KNOW ABOUT THE PERSON IF WE DON’T TELL THEM.
ILLUS: I can’t tell you how many funerals I’ve been to that I LEARN something about that person that I never knew before.
WE AS SURVIVORS WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THESE THINGS. WHO THIS PERSON REALLY WAS AND THE THINGS THEY STOOD FOR.
There are some things in this passage that GOD wanted us to know. He wanted the WORLD to hear and so He chose some men to speak to us even though they are long gone. You might say they are DEAD MEN TALKING. TALKING to you and I today. Let’s go ahead and pray.
Brother _______ would you lead us in prayer.
I. The first thing these fellows are gonna teach us is the IMPORTANCE of FAITH.
Verse 1 starts out by giving us a definition of FAITH. —the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
You know what? I am STRONGLY CONVINCED that the things that God has promised to me through Jesus Christ, THE THINGS I HOPE FOR, are going to come to pass. I BELIEVE HIS PROMISES.
It is NOT some particular piece of evidence I can show you.
It is NOT DNA proof.
It is NOT a DUSTED SET of fingerprints.
But I will tell you what it is. IT IS FAITH.
IT IS THE EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY from the Old Testament Prophets that are listed further on down in this chapter.
Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the list goes on.
DEAD MEN testifying of the EXISTENCE of the One True Living God.
THIS WORD OF GOD GIVES US THEIR TESTIMONY!!!!
It’s also eye witness testimony from men and women who walked and talked with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. THE NEW TESTAMENT Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Jude
They saw His Miracles. Lame, Deaf, Blind, Dead brought back to Life.
They saw His miracles, they heard His teaching, they saw Him die and then they saw Him after His resurrection.
WHEN I READ THIS BOOK AND I TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE MEN WHO PUT IT DOWN ON PAPER……I BELIEVE IT ALL. When I feel His Holy Spirit working in my life I BELIEVE IT ALL!!!
Abraham would have never left his family behind if he wouldn’t have had FAITH that God would lead him.
Noah would have never cut ONE SINGLE BOARD if it weren’t for FAITH that God would destroy the earth and save him and his family by building the ARK.
BY FAITH Moses refused to be called the Son of Pharoh’s daughter. Without this FAITH he could NEVER have led the C of I across the Red Sea on dry ground.
Rahab hid the spies there in Jericho and saved their lives. ALL BECAUSE SHE HAD FAITH.
By FAITH Peter stepped out of that boat and began walking to Jesus on the water.
By FAITH Paul started churches all over the known world.
By FAITH Steven died as he saw Jesus standing at the R/H of God.
Verse 6 tells us without FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.
IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD BEFORE CHRIST CAME, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT DAYS, AND IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD TODAY WITHOUT FAITH.
I have great HOPE in Heaven.
I have great HOPE of seeing my loved ones again.
I have great HOPE in seeing Jesus and praising Him for all eternity.
Do you have this HOPE today?
That is what FAITH is. We hope for something. And then we BELIEVE it will come to pass by the POWER of God.
Salvation comes by putting your FAITH, HOPE and TRUST in the Lord Jesus Christ.
THESE ELDERS, these great men have a good report today, ALL THESE YEARS LATER, because of their FAITH. We can look back on them and we can say they had FAITH. We can look at the different things that they did and it all comes down to the fact that they had FAITH in God or they wouldn’t have done what they did.
There are all kinds of reasons people attend church.
The SOCIAL aspect of it. You meet new friends and socialize. Fellowship. Fellowship is good.
The BUSINESS side of it. You might get some new clients down at the church. Especially a rich church. I had a guy tell me that once.
There’s the ENJOYMENT side of it. Now I think most of us would say that we enjoy coming to church but that shouldn’t be the main reason we come.
I HOPE you are here today because you have PUT YOUR FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ and you are here to praise and worship Him.
Verse 3 tells us by FAITH we believe that GOD is the One who created this WORLD. Most people actually believed this until Charles Darwin came along and wrote his book “On the Origin of Species.” Though it has NO BASIS in FACT, it began to cast doubt on who created the world and it gave an outlet for those who did not want to put their faith in God.
Though there is a lot of Physical Evidence that the Biblical account of Creation is TRUE it still takes FAITH to believe that God is the One who created ALL of this.
II. Then in Verse 4 the writer of Hebrews, most people believe it to be Paul, talks about the first fellow who lived by FAITH. His name was ABEL. Abel had never lived in the Garden of Eden. Sin had entered the world before him and his brother Cain had been born. But there came a time for Abel and Cain to offer a sacrifice.
Cain brought grain that he had harvested. Maybe he thought it was good enough.
Maybe he thought God would just have to settle for what he brought.
Maybe he thought that God would overlook the fact that no blood had been shed.
BUT HE DIDN’T. God refused to accept his sacrifice.
Abel brought a BLOOD SACRIFICE. He brought a little lamb from his flock, and he shed the blood of this lamb and his sacrifice was accepted. BY FAITH Abel brought this sacrifice.
You see, I believe that both Cain and Abel KNEW the right thing to do.
I believe Cain had a herd of sheep just like Abel. He at least had access to a lamb.
I believe Cain could have brought a lamb as a sacrifice but because of a lack of OBEDIENCE he did the wrong thing.
You see, OBEDIENCE is FAITH.
ILLUS: As a kid growing up I obeyed because I had FAITH in the fact I was gonna get a whipping if I didn’t OBEY.
Vice versa… DISOBEDIENCE is a lack of FAITH. Let me just say this. There are WAY TOO MANY children today with a lack of FAITH. They are not too worried about getting a spanking for disobeying. Whose fault is that?
Well we know what happened. Cain became angry and jealous and he murdered his own brother Abel. But yet thousands of years later, even as a DEAD MAN, ABEL still speaks to us. His LIFE, his SACRIFICE, his DEATH is still a WITNESS that he was RIGHTEOUS. This doesn’t say that he was RIGHTEOUS on his own but that he was RIGHTEOUS because of his FAITH to do the RIGHT thing. To OFFER the RIGHT sacrifice to God.
You and I will NEVER be righteous on our own.
In Isaiah 64, the first 5 verses speak about how MIGHTY, GREAT and RIGHTEOUS God is but then in verse 6 it tells us how RIGHTEOUS we are.
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
There is only one way for us to be RIGHTEOUS. That is by FAITH.
Romans 3:20-24
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
The LAW brought KNOWLEDGE but it didn’t bring RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Abel was counted RIGHTEOUS NOT because he offered the RIGHT sacrifice but because he had FAITH to be OBEDIENT.
What does verse 22 tell us? Righteousness of God comes by one thing. “By faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.”
Once again “FAITH” is part of the equation. Faith in Jesus Christ.
ILLUS: I was reading about a man several years ago who stepped up to the counter of a local drugstore in Brooklyn NY. As he was about to pay a police detective put his hand on his shoulder and told him he was under arrest. He said, “What for?” The detective said “You know what you did. You escaped from the Albany penitentiary several years ago. You went west, got married, and then came back here to live. We've been watching for you since you returned."
Quietly the man admitted, "That's true, but I was sure you'd never find me. Before you take me in, could we stop by my house so I can talk to my family?"
The officer agreed. When they got to his home, the man looked at his wife and asked, "Haven't I been a kind husband and a good father? Haven't I worked hard to make a living?"
His wife answered, "Of course you have, but why are you asking me these questions?" Her husband then proceeded to explain what had happened and that he was now under arrest. He apparently had hoped that his record as an exemplary husband and father would impress the officer. Even so, he was still an escaped criminal. Though he was "right" with his family, he was all wrong with the state of New York.
So many people are “RIGHT” with their families, their neighbors, their job, their friends but they are NOT RIGHT with God. Only through FAITH in CHRIST and His shed blood can we be RIGHT with God.
III. Verse 5 tells us about a fellow named Enoch who, BECAUSE OF FAITH, DID NOT DIE but went straight on up to Heaven.
Genesis 5 tells us that Enoch was the Great Grandfather of Noah and the father of Methuselah. Though he has been GONE, not DEAD, for thousands of years, he still speaks to us today. He has a TESTIMONY. THIS IS HIS TESTIMONY. “That he pleased God.” Wow. Think about it. As a created being he PLEASED the VERY ONE who had created him.
In Jeremiah 18 Verses 1-6, we find a GREAT ILLUSTRATION of God the Creator.
“The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
After God was finished creating the World. The sun, moon and stars. All the animals of the earth and the oceans. All of the plants. He created man out of the dust of the ground. He BREATHED into him the breath of life.
Then He gave this CREATED BEING a free will. A choice to serve HIM as the CREATOR or serve himself. We all know what happened. The devil tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit and her and Adam BOTH SINNED. God was displeased. They both DIED SPIRITUALLY. They were forced out of the Garden of Eden and they both began to die PHYSICALLY.
You may be saying, “Where are you going with this?”
I want you to get this. We have a choice. We can please God or we can NOT please God.
The people of the Old Testament had a choice to make. BY FAITH they could obey the Law, the Commandments of God AND PLEASE GOD OR they could worship the IDOLS of all the others around them and NOT please God. It was up to them.
In Joshua 24 Verses 14 and 15, Joshua stands before the people and he says this to them,
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
By FAITH you and I today can accept God’s plan of salvation and PLEASE HIM or we can reject it and NOT be saved.
I want to be that piece of CLAY in the Potter’s hands.
I want God to mold me and shape me into something that is pleasing to Him.
I want my testimony to be that BY FAITH I pleased the Lord.
After I am DEAD and GONE, whether it’s a week from now or years from now, I HOPE MY LIFE WILL SPEAK. I HOPE MY ABRIDGED BIOGRAPHY, my OBITUARY, tells people..…
THAT BY FAITH……
He obeyed the Lord
THAT BY FAITH…….
He became RIGHTEOUS
and THAT BY FAITH…….
He was pleasing to the Lord.
But the MOST IMPORTANT, I want the Lord to say, “ Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been FAITHFUL over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
ILLUS: I read this obituary a while back and I thought I would share it with you today.
My name is Sonia Todd, and I died of cancer at the age of 38. I decided to write my own obituary because they are usually written in a couple of different ways that I just don't care for. Either, family or friends gather together, and list every minor accomplishment from cradle to grave in a timeline format, or they try and create one poetic last stanza about someone's life that is so glowing one would think the deceased had been the living embodiment of a deity.
I don't like the timeline format because, let's face it, I never really accomplished anything of note. Other than giving birth to my two wonderful, lovable, witty and amazing sons (James and Jason), marrying my gracious, understanding and precious husband (Brian), and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior - I have done very little. None of which requires obit space that I have to shell out money for.
I also didn't want a bunch of my friends sitting around writing a glowing report of me, which we all know would be filled with fish tales, half-truths, impossible scenarios, and out-right-honest-to-goodness-lies. I just don't like to put people in that kind of situation.
The truth, or my version of it, is this: I just tried to do the best I could. Sometimes I succeeded, most of the time I failed, but I tried. For all of my crazy comments, jokes and complaints, I really did love people.
The only thing that separates me from anyone else is the type of sin each of us participated in. I didn't always do the right thing or say the right thing and when you come to the end of your life those are the things you really regret, the small simple things that hurt other people.
My life was not perfect and I encountered many, many bumps in the road. I would totally scrap the years of my life from age 16 to 20 ... OK, maybe 14 to 22. I think that would eradicate most of my fashion disasters and hair missteps from the '80s. But mostly, I enjoyed life. Some parts of it were harder than others, but I learned something from every bad situation and I couldn't do any more than that.
Besides there are some benefits to dying youngish, for example, I still owe on my student loans and the jokes on them cuz I'm not paying them. Plus, I am no longer afraid of serial killers, telemarketers or the IRS. I don't have to worry about wrinkles or the ozone layer and/or hide from the news during election season.
Some folks told me that writing my own obituary was morbid, but I think it is great because I get a chance to say thank you to all the people who helped me along the way. Those who loved me, assisted me, cared for me, laughed with me and taught me things so that I could have a wonderful, happy life. I was blessed beyond measure by knowing all of you. That is what made my life worthwhile.
If you think of me, and would like to do something in honor of my memory do this:
- Volunteer at a school, church or library.
- Write a letter to someone and tell them how they have had a positive effect on your life.
- If you smoke - quit.
- If you drink and drive - stop.
- Turn off the electronics and take a kid out for ice cream and talk to them about their hopes and dreams.
- Forgive someone who doesn't deserve it.
- Stop at all lemonade-stands run by kids and brag about their product.
- Make someone smile today if it is in your power to do so.
Then the obituary finished up with the time and place of her service.
I like the fact that she put ACCEPTING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS HER PERSONAL SAVIOR as one of her greatest accomplishments.
So when you are no longer alive and are a DEAD PEARSON TALKING, what will your life say about you? That’s something to think about. What will your life say? He was a good guy or a good gal. A great employee. A good husband or wife. A good father or mother. Nothing wrong with that. But will it also say BY FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HE WAS MADE RIGHTEOUS? Think about it. Let’s Pray
