5-QUALITITES EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD HAVE
Hebrews 11:13-16
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.
American novelist Thomas Wolfe once wrote a novel entitled: “You Can’t Go Home Again.” But boy was he wrong… Often we gather in church for a time of Fellowship, Fun, Singing & Devotion. As Christians - We look forward to spending time together away from the cares of this world. As Christians - We enjoy coming together, forgetting for the moment, in the least, all of our troubles. All too often, this world can cause us, times of; Pain, Heartache, Sufferings, Sorrow, Disappointments & Even Death. We drag our heavy hearts in to the altars of the church only to return yet again out into the realities of this world. But no matter what we go through in this life, we should live as if we are indeed, “headed home!” You see, we will encounter hardships, but we don’t have to live in them… For the Christian - There’s more good-times ahead! For the Christian - We are headed to an Eternal Home!
I would like to remind you that this is not all there is! Some of you reading this manuscript may be feeling defeated. Listen, you may be down, but there’s no reason to stay down… I would like to give to you a can’t miss on how to recover during such times…
Now then, I speak to you today out of Hebrews Chapter 11. This particular chapter is one of my Favorites. Not only does it strengthen my Faith, it also gives me many lessons for the Christian life… It appears that the Hebrews writers too had an audience. One in which had: Been discouraged; Even had Considered turning back from the Christian Faith. And he is trying to motivate them into regaining their Spiritual Strength.
I recall as a young boy, not being too great in Baseball. I recall how bad I felt when a little fellow even smaller than myself had more success hitting the ball than I. And I remember how I felt trampled / like giving up playing at all. Have you ever felt like you had been trampled by someone or something in life? Maybe, the Boss Trampled over you Maybe, someone that you thought was your Friend, Trampled over you Perhaps, your Spouse Trampled over you and made you feel small, insignificant. The writer of the Hebrews apparently had ran into such people. So he gathers the names of some who had; Faithfully endured this world to the end. Who had kept the Faith in spite of their circumstances. He talked about great Men & Women such as;
Abel - Who offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
Enoch - Was translated that he might not see death
Noah - Who predicted rain though it had never been seen
Abraham - Who went out not knowing where he was going
Sarah - Who in her old age conceived and birthed a child
Isaac - Who blessed Jacob & Esau concerning things to come
Jacob -Who worshiped though he leaned upon his staff
Joseph - Who dying, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
Moses - Who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Rahab - Who perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Gideon
Barak
Samson
Jephthah
David
Samuel
The writer says, he couldn’t mention them all that kept their faith in spite of the great sacrifices that they had to endure… They all, each of them had to endure some tough times. But in this list of the Faithful, the writer gives us 5-qualities that is manifested in their lives. 5-Qualities they each had in overcoming all in which they encountered…
Verse 13..,
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.
The first Quality they each had was;
CONFIDENCE!
We must have confidence!
13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
All of these heroes died with an unfulfilled dream, but confident that God would keep His word because they died, not in rebellion, but in the faith.
They all had an unfilled Dreams
Abel - suffered at the hands of his own brother
Noah- faced ridicule from those who was around everyday
Moses - had to wonder in the desert for some 40 yrs
Listen; There “Confidence” came from, not turning from God, but trusting in him! Despite their Suffering! Despite their Hardships! Despite their Pains of this World! A person of Faith has this Confidence! I have Confidence that no matter how bad times may get, they are going to get better! Listen, they may; Take the Ten-Commandments from our Court Houses, but it’s going to get better! Take Under-God out of our Pledge of Allegiance, but it’s going to get better! Rip these pages out my KJV-bible, but it’s going to get better! Stop us from preaching in the streets, but it’s going to get better! Promote “Queers,” “Lipstick,” and “Dresses” into our Pulpits as “Pastors,” but hey, it’s going to get better! Although it often becomes worse before hand, it does and it will get better for the believer!
If you are going to make it to Heaven; If you’re going to make it; You too must have this same Confidence! (The one shown here in Chapter 11 of Hebrews) Hold on to your Hope! Don‘t turn from God! Keep your Trust in Him! Persist in the faith and Die if neccassary in the faith with a Determined, Confident mind! This, is the Confidence needed! This is a Quality that every Christian here must hold on to!
Secondly, we must have their Witness!
WITNESS!
We must have their Witness!
Verse 13...,
…, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
These heroes and heroines were in conflict with the cultures around them. Their values and priorities were not the same as the other nations among whom they lived. You see, they didn’t get too comfortable with this life.
Friends, I urge you today to stay away from sinful desires that war against your soul! The enemy is out to get you with whatever it will take! And let me remind you, he has a lot of Temptations to offer you.
You may say, “He doesn’t have anything to offer me,” oh yes he does.. Satan has a temptation for us all…. For some; Financial, Sexual, Emotional, Habitual, Physical, Professional. But for sure, he has one just for you…
But just because he Tempts us, that is not a reason for us to give in to that temptation! We are to be a Witness to those around us! An example to others of living the Victorious Christian Life! People of Faith have a Clear Witness. People of Faith may enjoy life while in this World, but have an eye for the Eternal World! I say, Lord, let us exude that WITNESS with our lives
Tell you another Quality that is found here…
A QUEST
Thirdly, they had A QUEST which they were on…
Verse 14...,
14. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
These Exiles; These Strangers; They were seeking a Country! Their Hearts were set on Heaven! Their QUEST was what motivated them! From Genesis on, the Scriptures never allow us to loose sight of the idea of traveling or the journey! From Genesis on, the Scriptures places us on a QUEST for Heaven! Yea, sure, life may deal us some hard blows now… But this is not the end! It’s not hard to understand why I get a little excited just putting these messages together! It’s because I’m on A QUEST! How about you! Are you on that QUEST! Oh, we may spend a few quality moments together with one another while here. We may get together with one another in our churches. And yes, it may end very shortly. But, once our QUEST here is complete, there will be no more end! We will arive in Glory! Only Joy & Peace Forevermore!
There’s another Quality found here in the scriptures…
DISCERNMENT
They had Discernment
Verses 15,16
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…
They did not just merely anticipate heaven; they evaluated the things of earth. Listen; Looking at the things that were seen, they quickly discerned that to give their lives to these things was a waste… The simply never looked back… People of Faith have this ability to distinguish between the Temporal and the Eternal… What’s now and what’s forever.. We are to have a Quality of Discernment of what is most important.
Coming to my 5th & Final Quality now is this;
The Fifth Quality they shown was;
SECURITY
They were secure in their redeemer…
Listen to verse 16..,
16. …,wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
It was a done deal! And it still is! I am secure in my Redeemer! A lot of times, those who come into our country as Illegal-Aliens suffer hardships. If they’re caught crossing the border they are often carried back. But those of us who trust in God can be “Secure” of his Blessings & Provisions… He will no wise cast you away! Some may say, “Brother James, you mean believe in Eternal Security?” Yes, I sure do.. If you will: Believe in Him, And Endure unto the end.., You can live a Secure life!
Listen, for the Christian, one of our 5-Qualities should be “Security!” Security in God that he will meet our ever need! The Hebrew writer was persuading his readers to, not turn back but to keep pressing on!
And I want to encourage you today, whatever Hardships you’re facing, keep pressing on! Whatever Battles you’re confronted with, Keep pressing on! Whatever comes, you just be Secure, and keep pressing on!
Hebrews 11...,
Great Men - Great Women - Great Examples of how we should live today… Though we may feel Trampled at times; We should be so CONFIDENT in the one whom we serve. We are to be a WITNESS to those around us. Our Minds should be on a QUEST for Heaven. We should DISCERN that this World offers nothing worth losing Heaven over. We should be SECURE that we are going to finish this race in which we’ve started.
These are 5-Qualities each Christian should have…
© 2003 by James W. Bryant
Finished Tuesday, 10-21-03 @ 6:52pm
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