September 11, 1994 -PM
WHAT THE CHURCH NEEDS NOW
Hebrews 11:20-22
INTRO: (1) Are you about to lose your faith? Don’t give up ye Remember the author of the 77th Psalm ? He had sun so low that all hope seemed gone. He was so troubled h he couldn’t sleep. He was so depressed he couldn’t even talk about it. That’s what he was-depressed! Down! Blue! H was so low that the fleas of the field had to get on their knee to bite him. But then something happened. He thought how his forefathers had gone through similar troubles before the Lord delivered them, and his faith was renewed. Looking back can restore hope and give us reason to look ahead. Let me illustrate. After a long and hard winter, the bright and balmy days of spring are suddenly invaded by þ renegade polar air mass. You think winter is starting all over again. Cabin-fevered housewives start to panic. Shovel worn men slump back into their chairs and begin to worry about the impact of the storm on the heating bill. But nobody concludes that the age-old order of the seasons has come to an abrupt end, or that the solar system has reversed its cycle Looking back reminds you that late-season storms have happened before and reassures you that spring will come. So too, the Bible shows us that men and women of God have seen hard times before. It reminds us that many times the sky has been dark and cold just before the Lord responded with the warmth and power of His love. So don’t give up yet. Look back. Then look ahead. The people of God have walked this way before. The forecast of faith is always bright: -M.R.D. II
Great is Thy faithfulness. 0 God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not þ
As Thou hast been. Thou forever wilt be.
- Chisholm
Do not judge God’s love by His providences but by His promises.
(2) 52.32
(2) Some needs will always be present in the world. Where those needs are resident, the believer has a portable and adaptive tool available to him.
PROP: FAITH WILL ALWAYS BE RELEVANT!
TRANS: Hebrews 11:20-22, show us three modern needs met by faith.
I. Today the Church Needs a Means for BLESSING its Mainstay Generation (Hebrews 11:20).
A. See Genesis 27:28-40
B. Jacob and Esau were the mainstay generation by the time Isaac formally blessed them. They had a life of “holding things together” to look forward to. Everyone grows up and is expected sooner or later to make the contribution of their years of strength and experience that makes society and family life stable. Someone has said that the years between 35 and 57 are the least encouraging in life. Those are roughly the “mainstay years.” What one hears most during these times is criticism -- from those older because they aren’t doing things the same way, and those younger because they want things done differently.
Isaac blessed his sons at this point in their lives. It was a formal affair. The norm of the culture and their relationship to the Lord dictated this. What we need today, in the church, is some way to do the same thing. We need a way to give our mainstays something to look forward to.
II. Today the Church Needs WORSHIP that Persists to the End of Life (Hebrews 11:21).
A. Joseph arrived in Egypt as a slave when h was seventeen years old. He became entrenched in the Egyptian life-style, yet amid all the influence and authority granted him in time, he never forgot his roots. Faith in God was deeply entrenched in !Joseph’s heart, and he displayed it as he responded to his brothers who mistreated him. He not only reiterated the promise of God, that the Lord would take care þ them and bring them from Egypt to the land promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob [Gen. 50-2Q), but by faith Joseph could also foresee the events of the future. He knew that for t promise to be fulfilled, an exodus would eventually have to transpire. Although Joseph was an Egyptian without, he was : Hebrew within and did not want t0 be lost [among the politics of] the Egyptians" He commanded that he be remembered and that his bones be returned to their rightful place of rest. Joseph’s faith held no compromise. SWINDOLL -- (16) #9-32
B. Jacob was tenderly affected in view of the goodness of God, and of the assurance that he would be conveyed from Egypt when he died, and buried in the land of his fathers. Deeply impressed with this, nothing was more natural than that the old man should lean reverently forward and incline his head upon the top of scan, and adore the covenant faithfulness of his God. Such an image is much more natural and probable than that he should " bow upon his bed’s head-a phrase which at best is not very intelligible. If this be the true account, then the apostle does not refer here to what was done when he “ blessed the sons of Joseph," but an, act expressive of strong faith in God which had occurred just before. The meaning then is, “ By faith, when’ about to die he blessed the sons of Joseph þ and by faith also he reverently bowed before God in the belief that when he died his remains would be conveyed to the promised land, and expressed his gratitude in an act of worship, leaning- reverently on the to of his staff þ, BARNES -- 227.87/BA
C. Jacob carried on the practice introduced to him by his father. He blessed his grandsons. For him, it was a part of worship. At the very point of death, his worship still had enough importance to be worthy of a portion of Jacob’s final strength. Leaning upon his staff, he worshipped. What we need today in the Church is lifelong worship. For some they at least have the sense to rush to the Lord’s side when they realize that life is soon to be taken from them, but others grow away from the Lord’s companionship as they grow older. Worship becomes boring and trivial. It should develop strength in priority so that it is among the last things one does in life. Francis Schaefer, on his final day of life, turned on the music from Handel’s Messiah, and died listening to the praise of his Savior. A life lived as a champion in Christian intellectualism, reserved final strength to enjoin the praises of the Lord. That’s what the church needs today.
D. DEAR ABBY: Who changed everything when I wasn’t looking? I’ve noticed lately that everything is farther away than it used to be. It’s even twice as far to the corner - and they have added a hill! I’ve given up running for the bus; it leaves earlier than it used to. It seems to me they are making the stairs steeper than in the old days, and have you noticed the smaller print the newspapers are now using? And there’s no sense in asking anyone to read aloud anymore, as everyone speaks in such a low voice, I can hardly hear them. The material in dresses is so skimpy now - especially around the waist and hips - it’s almost impossible to reach one’s shoelaces! Also, the sizes don’t run the way they used to. The 12’s and 14’s are so much smaller. Even people are changing. They are so much younger than þ- they used to be when I was their age. On the other hand, people my own age are so much older than 1 am. I ran into an old classmate of mine the other day and she had aged so. much, she didn’t recognize me! l I got to thinking about my poor dear friend while I was combing my hair this ,morning and in so doing, I glanced at my own reflection. Really now - they don’t even make good mirrors like they used to!
- ROSE LA MONICA, PHILLIPSBURG, N.J.
(1) 138.31
E. Silent Worship
I sat and gazed in silence at the azure sky
overhead
In the glory of that moment, a simple
prayer was said.
1 thanked God for ail the grandeur, for
His beauty everywhere,
I praised the Great Creator as I sat in
silent prayer.
I found an inspiration and a peace within
my soul,
I took the time to worship and I felt
þ myself made whole.
Lois Anne Williams
(1) 128.4
III. Today the Church Needs CONFIDENCE in the Face of the Future (Hebrews 11:22).
A. When Joseph died he expressed faith by leaving his last will: a commandment concerning his bones. To do this, he had to believe what God said about the deliverance of His people from Egypt -- which was some time yet in the future; he had to believe someone would remember to do it when the time came; he had to do so even though he was not going to be here; and he had to see some importance in such an act. In short, he had to have confidence in the face of the future. He had to believe that God’s people would accomplish God’s will, in time, without Joseph. That is what the Church needs today. We need confidence in the God Who holds the future, when the future does not look promising. We need people who realize that their lives and deaths leave behind a testimony -- and in so knowing, they look forward with confidence.
B. I arise today, equipped and fortified to meet life’s problems, with-
God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s wisdom to guide me
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way of life before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me. -Selected (16) #19-145
C. Christ makes the uplook good and the outlook bright. (50) 132.85
CONCL: (1) When you were little babes, if you had had no milk, no clothing, a rest, you would not have lived very long. You are now the result of fathers’ and mothers’ care. When a man is born in the family of God, h life; but he needs food. "Man doth not live by bread alone." If you do not feed upon God’s promises you will be of no use in God’s service. Then you need exercise. If you only take food, and do no work, you soon suffer from what I may call spiritual apoplexy. When you get hold of a promise, go and tell it to others. The best way for me to get help for myself trying to help others. There is one great promise that young disciples should never forget: "He that watereth shall be watered also himself (Proverbs 11:25).
-Marcus Rainsford (591) #14-15
(3) Feed your faith and starve your doubts.
Old Union Reminder
(19) 132.88
(4) FAITH . . .
Develops the impartation of BLESSING
Strengthens WORSHIP
Inspires CONFIDENCE
