WEBVTT 00:00:00.260 --> 00:00:03.980 Folks, we are going to turn to God's Word now, so let me invite you to grab your Bibles 00:00:03.980 --> 00:00:11.380 and turn to Hebrews chapter 11. So this is the third week where we've been in this section 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:18.600 of Hebrews, and we're in tonight at one of the most wonderful chapters in the whole of 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:25.019 Scripture, the series that we've called Running the Race with Perseverance, the Christian 00:00:25.019 --> 00:00:31.239 life. So Hebrews chapter 11 is where we are, and as you're turning there, let me tell you 00:00:31.239 --> 00:00:36.359 about a friend of mine at university, and for argument's sake, we'll just call her Carol, 00:00:36.820 --> 00:00:41.980 okay? I was at Aberdeen University in Halls, and there was a group of us when we first 00:00:41.980 --> 00:00:46.939 moved in, all went out for a drink to get to know one another, and I'm sitting around a 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:52.120 table, and I'm chatting to Karen for the first time. I said her name was Carol, didn't I? 00:00:52.299 --> 00:00:54.879 Never mind. I'm giving it away. Okay, careful. 00:00:56.020 --> 00:01:01.940 Carol. And I'm getting to know her. She's telling me her story, where she's from, right? What 00:01:01.940 --> 00:01:05.680 she's studying, why she come to Aberdeen, what does she hope to achieve? She's telling 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:09.340 her my story. She turns to me and says, what's your story? And I start telling her my story, 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:17.820 and she finds out I'm a Christian, okay? And she comes out with the phrase, she says, I wish 00:01:17.820 --> 00:01:24.340 I had your faith. I wish I had your faith, right? And in an instant, somebody came into the 00:01:24.340 --> 00:01:29.340 conversation, somebody else, and that moment was gone. And I often think to myself, how 00:01:29.340 --> 00:01:35.760 would I have answered Carol if I had my time back again? Have you ever had that question 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:39.300 in your life before when somebody says, I wish I had your faith? And you're thinking to 00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:45.939 yourself, I wonder what you mean by that word faith. How would I help Carol understand it 00:01:45.939 --> 00:01:52.959 if I had my moment back with her again? Maybe that's you here today. What is this thing called 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:58.099 faith? What is the Christian faith? Maybe it's a question that you've been asked. What do you 00:01:58.099 --> 00:02:06.839 say when somebody asks you that question? Okay? This is what Hebrews 11 is all about. 00:02:07.979 --> 00:02:13.319 Okay? This is exactly what the writer of Hebrews wants his readers to understand. This is what 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:20.639 biblical faith is. And what he does is he reaches right down through the ages, right down through the 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:25.879 corridors of the Old Testament, and he pulls out person after person after person after person, 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:34.019 and he lays it on the table and he says, here's what biblical faith is. Here is the pattern of faith. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:40.579 Here is the walk. And he's aiming to show them that faith is not some kind of New Testament 00:02:40.579 --> 00:02:47.900 construct. It's not a BC idea, but rather this is the way that it's always been for God's people. 00:02:47.900 --> 00:02:58.020 Walking by faith. Walking by faith. Every day, walking by faith and not by sight. Allowing what God has 00:02:58.020 --> 00:03:06.520 said is true about the future to make sense both of what you see and how you live in the present. 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:13.200 So let's read this together. This is Hebrews chapter 11. Now this is, there's a lot of verses here, 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:17.879 here's what I want you to do. I want you to really try and engage with what's going on here. Okay? 00:03:19.239 --> 00:03:24.799 Try and engage with this, because this is really worth the effort. What is faith? Okay? What is faith? 00:03:24.859 --> 00:03:33.060 Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 00:03:34.339 --> 00:03:40.679 This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:50.300 at God's command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith, Abel brought God a 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:59.080 better offering than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:07.400 offerings. And by faith, Abel still speaks even though he is dead. By faith, Enoch was taken from this life so 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:14.980 that he did not experience death. He could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he 00:04:14.980 --> 00:04:22.120 was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith, it is impossible to please God 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:29.500 because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek 00:04:29.500 --> 00:04:37.280 him. By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen in holy fear, built an ark to save 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:44.859 his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping 00:04:44.859 --> 00:04:51.119 with faith. By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, 00:04:51.559 --> 00:04:57.000 obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith, he made his home in the 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:03.000 promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:10.259 heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose 00:05:10.259 --> 00:05:18.040 architect and builder is God. And by faith, even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:25.079 bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:32.979 and he is good as debt, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the 00:05:32.979 --> 00:05:39.300 sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive 00:05:39.300 --> 00:05:45.159 the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were 00:05:45.159 --> 00:05:52.299 foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country 00:05:52.300 --> 00:05:58.319 of their own. If they'd been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:06.520 return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed 00:06:06.520 --> 00:06:14.639 to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:21.960 offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:27.279 his one and only son, even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:33.699 be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead. And so in a manner of speaking, 00:06:33.799 --> 00:06:40.879 he did receive Isaac back from death. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 00:06:41.719 --> 00:06:47.240 By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and worshipped as he leaned on top of 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:54.220 his staff. By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt 00:06:54.220 --> 00:07:02.639 and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. By faith, Moses, Moses' parents hid him for 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:10.180 three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:17.120 king's edict. By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:23.860 Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather to enjoy the fleeting 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:33.139 pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:39.560 Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith, he left Egypt not fearing the king's anger. 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:46.939 He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover and the 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:52.500 application of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:00.079 By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. But when the Egyptians tried to do so, 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:06.920 they were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell after the army had marched around them for seven days. 00:08:06.920 --> 00:08:14.100 By faith, the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:20.840 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samthon and Jephthah, 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:27.900 about David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice and 00:08:27.900 --> 00:08:35.620 gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:43.799 sword, whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:49.440 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:57.679 refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:03.639 flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning. They were sawed in two. 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.879 They were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:16.439 mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and 00:09:16.439 --> 00:09:25.080 in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith. Yet none of them received what had been 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:33.240 promised, since God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:40.560 be made perfect. Amen. And as we were thinking this morning, as God's word goes forth, 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:48.000 he will accomplish his purposes. So, friends, there is so much in there. Let me encourage you to go home 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:53.820 and to dig into these characters, these people of faith in your own time. This is a bit like when 00:09:53.820 --> 00:10:00.620 somebody comes to the UK, arrives in London, day in London, up to Edinburgh, down via the Lake District, 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:04.299 to Cardiff, back to London, and says, hey Presto, I've seen the British Isles. Okay, this is what 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:08.820 we're going to try and do in 20 minutes this evening. So, go home and invest in this chapter. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:13.820 It is quite incredible. But here's what I want us to understand when it comes to biblical faith. 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:19.340 Okay, I've tried really hard this week to try and condense this and to think about what is it that 00:10:19.340 --> 00:10:25.600 connects all these people? What is their confession? Right, here's what I want to tell us this evening, 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:33.159 that biblical faith, it confesses three things. Okay, three things. First of all, faith says that 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:39.540 I'm obeying something better. So, here's the word that keeps coming up in this section if you've got 00:10:39.540 --> 00:10:44.879 it there. Right, it's the word promise. Did you catch it as we went through it? Promise. Verse 9, 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:56.559 Abraham went to the land of promise. Jacob, heir of the same promise. Verse 11, Sarah considered him 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:04.939 faithful who what? Promised. And verse 13, verse 17, verse 33, verse 39, all bringing attention to the 00:11:04.939 --> 00:11:12.620 fact that the God of the Bible speaks. He speaks and things happen. He declares things to be true. 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:17.820 We're thinking about it this morning, weren't we? The God of the Bible makes promises. Promises. 00:11:19.060 --> 00:11:23.080 You know, I find that when we're looking for a tradesperson to come into our home and 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:28.720 do a job, right? The kitchen sink's plugged, the fuse box is out, the toilet keeps overflowing. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:34.039 We've got questions in our mind. We've got a job we know we want to be done. What is it we do? We think, 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:40.620 who can we trust? Right? Who can we trust? Who's going to turn up in time? Who's reliable? Who will 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:45.940 deliver? I got asked recently to give somebody a review on this thing called Trust Pilot, right? 00:11:45.940 --> 00:11:51.379 Have you ever been on Trust Pilot? You go on there and people are awarded a star based on how people 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:57.120 have rated them, okay? Do we trust people? We always make that decision in our lives, don't we? 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:02.039 Here's the point that the writer to the Hebrews is making. God makes promises 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:12.279 promises and he's got a track record of always delivering on his word. Always. Every time. 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:25.240 And so the text asks us the question, do we know the promises that God has made? Do we know them? 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:33.879 Right? Are we familiar with them? Are we spending good time listening to and obeying what God by his 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:43.560 incredible grace has said is true? Right? Are our noses in our Bibles? Are we speaking them to one 00:12:43.560 --> 00:12:50.000 another? Presumably that's the reason, if you think about this, right? As you journey with Israel through 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:56.960 the desert, due to Ronnie, right, we get that command that they're commanded to what? Write God's law on 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:02.299 the doorposts of their homes, right? Bind it on their foreheads. I did this recently in our home 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:07.700 looking for a nice bit of decor for our hall. Trying to get a Bible verse up there to help you 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:14.580 remember this. It says, give thanks in all circumstances and pray continually. Give thanks 00:13:14.580 --> 00:13:18.460 in all circumstances and pray continually at the end of Thessalonians. Why do we need those 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:23.660 reminders? Because I walk out the door every morning and I forget to give thanks and I forget 00:13:23.660 --> 00:13:32.100 to pray because I've forgotten who God is. Knowing the promises that God has made. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:38.300 Our proneness to forget. I love this. People used to joke about John Bunyan. You know the guy who wrote 00:13:38.300 --> 00:13:43.600 Pilgrim's Progress? And they used to joke about his peers, that if you cut him anywhere, the guy would 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:52.680 bleed Bible. It's a cracking nickname, isn't it? The Bible bleeder. Are God's promises pulsing through 00:13:52.680 --> 00:13:59.399 us? That's what it asks us, right? Come with me. Verse 7. I'll try and do this with each of the 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:07.840 points. Just bring in one person as a little case study. Verse 7. Here is Noah. What did God do? He, 00:14:08.160 --> 00:14:13.019 seeing the text, he warned Noah. So he spoke to Noah about what was going to happen. What did he tell 00:14:13.019 --> 00:14:19.600 him to do? He told him to build a boat. Why? Because God was going to send a flood to judge the world 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:26.939 because of the world's wickedness. If you do the maths around Noah's age, okay, he's building that 00:14:26.939 --> 00:14:34.220 thing for something like a hundred years of his life. That's what I call a long-term project. 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:39.879 Imagine some of his peers. What are you up to today, Noah? I'm building a boat, right? Why are you building 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:45.159 a boat? Because God's going to send rain. What's rain? That's another question. Why are you building 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:50.620 a boat? Because God's going to judge us for our sin against him. And the only safe place for you and I 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:57.840 to be is on this boat. Noah, that's one of the most offensive things I've ever heard anyone say. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:05.940 You see, friends, walking the path of faith won't see us met with a bunch of cheerleaders on the side. 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:09.580 The world is not going to provide cheerleaders for the life of faith following Christ. 00:15:11.220 --> 00:15:16.080 Saying, I love it. Tell me again. Tell me again. How does it go? And the world will not say that. 00:15:16.160 --> 00:15:21.420 What does the world want to hear? It doesn't want to hear truth. The truth of Jesus Christ. And you 00:15:21.420 --> 00:15:26.740 know that song from the 80s? What was that again? Tell me lies. Tell me lies. Tell me sweet little lies. 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:32.180 That's what the world wants to hear. Just tell me what I want to know. Tell me what I want to hear. 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:39.959 Noah told people of his generation what God had said was true. What will that mean? It will mean 00:15:39.959 --> 00:15:46.000 mocking. It will mean scowling. It will mean jeering. It will mean hostility. And yet what did Noah do? 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:55.399 He kept on building. He just kept on building. Plodding along in a life of faith. Why did he do it? 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:59.399 And this is really important for us to see in the text. Why did he do it? He did it out of what? 00:15:59.399 --> 00:16:06.939 Do you see these two words? Reverent fear. In other words, he knew that not only is God good for his words, 00:16:07.319 --> 00:16:16.639 but that God is holy. Okay, he's holy. And though he may be incredibly kind and patient with sin, 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:23.939 ultimately he cannot tolerate it and finally tolerate it, which means that there will be an 00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:30.460 expiry date for all the existence of all the evil in our world. All the injustice and all the oppression 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:37.260 and all the abuse and all the pride that stems from mankind's rebellion against him that is at odds 00:16:37.260 --> 00:16:41.660 with who he is. He will judge it. Friends, do you not feel it in your heart when you look at what's going 00:16:41.660 --> 00:16:47.460 on in China? Apparently at the minute, the people being taken away to concentration camps. Is it not wrong? 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:55.420 And we feel a sense of huge injustice at that. Is it not right that the God of the universe would feel 00:16:55.420 --> 00:17:05.620 the same thing? That is to say that I doubt that Noah got many birthday cards each year as his life 00:17:05.620 --> 00:17:13.380 progressed. In a hundred years in which he's building the ark. But you know what? Faith says that I am 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:18.440 obeying something better. Here's the second thing it says. It says that I'm journeying somewhere better. 00:17:20.060 --> 00:17:24.280 Okay, the constant destination in this chapter that we're drawn to, do you see it? 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:31.060 Is the place that God has prepared for his people. As modeled, and here's our second case study, 00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:35.880 verse nine, modeled by this guy called Abraham, this pagan worshiper. We're thinking about him this 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:39.860 morning, weren't we? This pagan worshiper who God calls for no other reason than just God is gracious 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:44.559 and he's going to work his promises through this man. Calls him to come and follow him. 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:53.019 Abraham responds to God's call to get up and go, to act on the promise of God, to not make your home 00:17:53.019 --> 00:18:00.240 in the land, your home, your permanent destination, your permanent postcode, but follow me as I take you 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.919 to the promised land. This is what God pronounces over this guy's life and he had a lot of stuff. 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:12.720 And God says, go, follow me. And he went, verse 10, do you see how he's looking forward 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:22.180 to a city whose designer and builder is God's? It's one for the architects among us, isn't it? 00:18:22.560 --> 00:18:29.340 Whose designer and builder is God. Reiterated again, verse 16, Abraham has his eyes set on a better 00:18:29.339 --> 00:18:36.019 heavenly city. Love the story of the Bible starts in the garden and what we told at the end of 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:42.859 Revelation will come down out of heaven, a city. The gates are always open. Why? Because there's 00:18:42.859 --> 00:18:50.879 perfect peace. And when there is no sun, why? Because God himself is the city's light as he dwells 00:18:50.879 --> 00:18:57.259 with his people. Think about this for a minute. This is home. If you're a Christian here today, 00:18:57.259 --> 00:19:07.599 this is home. This is our future. This is our great reward and turn to the gospels. And this is 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:14.879 where Jesus tells us to store up treasure for ourselves. This home. This is our real home. This 00:19:14.879 --> 00:19:20.220 home. Right. I don't know if you remember the past family. It used to be a number of years ago, 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:24.359 we're part of our church family here and they were here for three years, moved across from Sydney, 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:31.759 Australia, to Edinburgh for three years. I had to give up a permanent address over there. Couldn't 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:36.839 store stuff, had to sell everything, get rid of everything and move over. Okay. Normally we'd think 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:40.339 it might be leave Scotland to go somewhere sunny, but no, they left somewhere sunny and came to 00:19:40.339 --> 00:19:46.539 Scotland. Their call. Okay. Remember Kate, mum, wrote something for the Gospel Coalition website. 00:19:47.659 --> 00:19:51.539 And the question was, what has God been teaching you in this time as you've moved, 00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:56.339 is you've moved absolutely everything to come over to a different content, different part of the world. 00:19:56.420 --> 00:20:03.159 And she wrote, first of all, that decluttering is good. And second of all, she wrote, God is reminding 00:20:03.159 --> 00:20:08.619 us as we've had to just get rid of stuff, how life is not about accumulating possessions. 00:20:08.619 --> 00:20:18.639 And we're content. Because we're called to store up treasure in the next life in the heavenly city, 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:25.219 where Jesus tells us to store up life, to store up stuff. Investing there, investing there. 00:20:27.219 --> 00:20:33.819 What does the author say here about Abraham? And this is a lovely word. Okay. What did Abraham do? 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:41.700 He acknowledged who he was. Okay. He wasn't just unaware of this. He acknowledged this, right? Verse 13. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:50.179 What did he acknowledge? And here's a Facebook profile status for you, right? Who are you? What was Abraham? 00:20:51.899 --> 00:20:54.659 He was a stranger and an exile on the earth. 00:20:56.500 --> 00:21:00.919 Is he it? He's seeking a homeland. He's seeking a better place. 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:08.600 And the truth for those who are wedded to Christ by faith is that this is where we're heading, 00:21:08.800 --> 00:21:10.420 this resurrection future. 00:21:12.300 --> 00:21:15.440 And it was C.S. Lewis who famously once remarked that if you read history, 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.220 you'll find that the Christians who did most for this present world 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:21.220 were precisely those who thought most of the next. 00:21:23.420 --> 00:21:26.259 Faith says, I'm journeying somewhere better. 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:30.140 And thirdly and lastly, it says, I'm embracing someone better. 00:21:31.420 --> 00:21:33.379 Okay. Verse 23. Here's our last one. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:37.140 Here is Moses who talk about being born with a golden spoon in your mouth. 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:39.019 Here's this guy. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:40.660 Grows up in Pharaoh's palace. 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:42.039 The privilege is his. 00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:44.220 The title is his. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.379 The resources are his, 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.119 which I don't imagine if you think about Egypt in this day 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.519 and a few bits of loose change stored up somewhere, 00:21:51.659 --> 00:21:53.859 which I hope was really called the banks of the Nile. 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:54.199 Okay. 00:21:56.519 --> 00:21:57.659 What did he choose? 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:01.279 Do you see in the text it says he chose to be mistreated with the people of God 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:06.119 rather than embrace idolatry, the fleeting pleasures of sin. 00:22:07.139 --> 00:22:07.719 Do you see it? 00:22:07.959 --> 00:22:09.559 Whatever that meant in that context, 00:22:09.659 --> 00:22:11.479 perhaps worshiping the gods of Egypt, 00:22:11.619 --> 00:22:12.819 following their customs, 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:14.359 abusing their slaves, 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.119 just thinking, right? 00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:18.379 Quite literally walking like an Egyptian. 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:19.640 That was his choice. 00:22:19.840 --> 00:22:19.940 Okay. 00:22:20.020 --> 00:22:20.860 But what did he choose? 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:23.240 He chose the path of suffering and poverty 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.440 over the path of ease and luxury. 00:22:25.560 --> 00:22:27.060 Now, why would anyone do that? 00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:33.380 Well, surely it's only if a deep work of God in your life 00:22:33.380 --> 00:22:36.800 has revealed to you the greater treasure that God has in store for you. 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:43.100 And that treasure is worth sacrificing for 00:22:43.100 --> 00:22:44.980 because God is good for his words. 00:22:44.980 --> 00:22:48.240 And in some way, right? 00:22:48.360 --> 00:22:49.759 If you come with me, verse 26, 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.180 I'm trying to really wrestle with what this means. 00:22:53.940 --> 00:22:54.099 Okay. 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:57.740 As Moses sides with the Lord, 00:22:58.440 --> 00:23:02.720 he foreshadows and embraces in some way 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:05.799 the life of Jesus Christ. 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:09.700 See, the author just bring attention to that there at that point. 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:14.759 Who didn't count equality with God something to be grasped. 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:21.779 Who didn't live his life for the praises of man, 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:25.319 rather for the smile of his heavenly father, 00:23:25.399 --> 00:23:29.259 who humbled himself even to death on a cross. 00:23:29.259 --> 00:23:34.819 The great treasure of every Christian believer. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:35.660 Right? 00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:36.680 Not stuff. 00:23:37.879 --> 00:23:38.779 But Christ. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:42.559 Because here is what these Hebrew believers 00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.119 are being led to understand. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:45.299 Because think about it, right? 00:23:45.319 --> 00:23:47.000 All these people in this chapter 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:48.359 find themselves living where? 00:23:49.299 --> 00:23:49.579 Okay? 00:23:50.379 --> 00:23:50.720 BC. 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:52.220 For Christ. 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:54.940 And these believers find themselves living when? 00:23:56.299 --> 00:23:57.259 AD, right? 00:23:57.259 --> 00:23:58.379 After Christ. 00:23:59.220 --> 00:23:59.980 And the thing is to see, 00:24:00.059 --> 00:24:02.220 although it might be two testaments in our Bibles, 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:04.879 although there might be a blank page in your Bibles, 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:06.220 physically in the middle there, 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:08.160 make no mistake that this is one story. 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:11.900 This is one story about one God 00:24:11.900 --> 00:24:14.059 calling out for himself, 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:15.279 one people of faith, 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:16.859 who are heading to one place 00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:19.119 because of his sheer grace, 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:21.359 because of the person and the work of one 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:24.299 crucified and risen Savior. 00:24:24.740 --> 00:24:24.920 Right? 00:24:24.980 --> 00:24:26.099 It is one story. 00:24:26.099 --> 00:24:27.779 This is what he wants them to see. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.539 This is always how the life of faith 00:24:31.539 --> 00:24:33.019 has been for God's people. 00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:34.779 They stand, 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:35.480 sorry, 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:37.379 they stood where they stood in the story 00:24:37.379 --> 00:24:39.219 and fast forward 2,000 odd years later 00:24:39.219 --> 00:24:40.099 and here we are. 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:42.500 We stand 00:24:42.500 --> 00:24:45.119 in God's great story. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:48.199 And we are invited, 00:24:48.199 --> 00:24:49.779 just like these guys are, 00:24:49.899 --> 00:24:53.259 to keep running on the conveyor belt of faith. 00:24:54.459 --> 00:24:56.419 Keep persevering for the reward 00:24:56.419 --> 00:24:57.879 which is ours in Christ Jesus. 00:25:00.179 --> 00:25:01.779 And in the words of verse 40, 00:25:01.899 --> 00:25:02.339 we too, 00:25:02.439 --> 00:25:04.079 if we persevere to the end, 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:05.599 will be made perfect 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.619 with every name on this list 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:10.379 and every Christian through the ages. 00:25:10.500 --> 00:25:10.599 Right? 00:25:10.659 --> 00:25:11.719 Get your head around that one. 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:12.660 Okay? 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:14.660 Martin Luther, 00:25:15.620 --> 00:25:16.579 William Tyndale, 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:17.640 right? 00:25:17.860 --> 00:25:18.620 Rico Tice, 00:25:18.860 --> 00:25:19.440 Ruby Matthew. 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:20.940 You just keep on going. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.160 The saints that have gone before us, 00:25:23.660 --> 00:25:25.140 some of the saints that are still living now, 00:25:25.259 --> 00:25:26.059 running the life 00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:27.660 of faith, 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:28.640 the race 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:29.940 of faith. 00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:30.160 Friends, 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:31.519 let me just give you two really quick things 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.160 that encourage me from this passage this week 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:33.700 and then we're done. 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:33.960 Okay? 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:37.559 How do you feel as you respond to this? 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:38.840 Here's how I feel. 00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:39.920 Okay? 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:41.720 I don't feel like a hero of the faith. 00:25:42.819 --> 00:25:43.220 Right? 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:45.180 I feel like a zero of the faith so often. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:46.980 But we have to understand 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:48.840 that these people aren't listed here 00:25:48.840 --> 00:25:51.420 because they were morally outstanding people. 00:25:51.539 --> 00:25:52.720 You check this 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:53.180 and they just, 00:25:53.299 --> 00:25:54.779 they made mistake after mistake 00:25:54.779 --> 00:25:55.860 after mistake. 00:25:57.340 --> 00:25:58.660 But here's what I want you to see. 00:25:58.779 --> 00:25:59.400 Verse 34, 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:00.720 these people aren't commended 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:02.140 for the strength of their faith. 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:04.840 They are commended by their faith 00:26:04.840 --> 00:26:05.960 in who their God is. 00:26:06.120 --> 00:26:06.300 Right? 00:26:06.420 --> 00:26:07.140 Verse 34, 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:07.960 they were what? 00:26:08.040 --> 00:26:09.400 Made strong out of weakness. 00:26:11.060 --> 00:26:12.220 And that gives you and I 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:13.180 a hope encouragement 00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:15.900 as we run the Christian race. 00:26:16.540 --> 00:26:17.180 And yet, 00:26:17.240 --> 00:26:18.160 here's the second thing to see 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:19.100 how does God feel. 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:20.720 Okay? 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:21.320 Verse 5, 00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:25.220 Esau commended because he pleased God. 00:26:25.840 --> 00:26:26.880 You see it in the text. 00:26:27.100 --> 00:26:27.700 Verse 6, 00:26:28.360 --> 00:26:30.740 without faith it is impossible to please him. 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:32.799 You flip it around, 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:33.160 right? 00:26:33.220 --> 00:26:34.140 Meaning conversely, 00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:36.440 with faith it is possible 00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:37.620 to please this God. 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:41.319 And that God rewards 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:43.400 those who earnestly seek him. 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:44.579 Isn't that a wonderful thought? 00:26:44.920 --> 00:26:45.980 I was thinking of it this way. 00:26:46.059 --> 00:26:46.180 Okay, 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:47.299 I remember my little girl Chloe, 00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:47.920 she was two, 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:49.180 she swam one length 00:26:49.180 --> 00:26:49.880 in the baby pool. 00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:51.000 Right? 00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:52.220 At the swimming pool. 00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:53.160 I say swam, 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:53.839 Alex, 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:54.220 my wife, 00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:55.339 carried her the whole way. 00:26:56.420 --> 00:26:56.640 Okay? 00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:57.480 She came home 00:26:57.480 --> 00:26:58.240 that night, 00:26:58.240 --> 00:26:58.980 toddled in 00:26:58.980 --> 00:27:00.620 with a tadpole badge 00:27:00.620 --> 00:27:01.440 that she'd won. 00:27:01.779 --> 00:27:01.960 Right? 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:03.900 She's flung it on the floor 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:04.960 and she went and did something else. 00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:05.440 Honestly, 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:06.880 I was the proudest dad ever. 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:08.000 My little girl's won what? 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:09.019 She's won what? 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:09.819 She swam what? 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.200 She got the tadpole badge? 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:13.360 Beaming with pride. 00:27:13.460 --> 00:27:14.180 That's my girl. 00:27:16.819 --> 00:27:17.759 Think about it this way. 00:27:17.819 --> 00:27:18.440 Verse 16, 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:19.500 those who walk by faith, 00:27:19.620 --> 00:27:19.860 God, 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:20.740 our heavenly father, 00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:21.440 here it is, 00:27:21.860 --> 00:27:23.079 is not ashamed 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:24.279 to be called our God. 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:28.000 Meaning that when we make much 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.160 of all that he promises 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:30.660 to be for us 00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:31.759 and when we take 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:32.920 even the baby steps 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:33.539 of faith 00:27:33.539 --> 00:27:34.240 and obedience 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:35.480 walking in light 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:36.680 of who he is, 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:39.180 he's proud to be our God. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:43.460 Faith says to the world, 00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:46.480 I'm obeying something better. 00:27:47.379 --> 00:27:49.279 I'm journeying somewhere better. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:52.259 And I'm embracing someone better. 00:27:52.259 --> 00:27:54.420 And so verse 39 of chapter 10, 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:55.759 here's where we come full circle. 00:27:56.980 --> 00:27:58.099 But we do not belong 00:27:58.099 --> 00:27:59.500 to those who shrink back 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:00.279 and are destroyed, 00:28:01.059 --> 00:28:03.059 but to those who have faith 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:05.000 and are saved. 00:28:06.099 --> 00:28:06.519 You see, 00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:07.180 here's what I learned 00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:08.779 about my friend Carol at university. 00:28:09.879 --> 00:28:10.879 As I got to know her 00:28:10.879 --> 00:28:12.359 and her story over the days 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:13.119 and the weeks and the months 00:28:13.119 --> 00:28:14.279 that followed in halls, 00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:16.059 as I understood it 00:28:16.059 --> 00:28:17.859 at the time, 00:28:18.779 --> 00:28:19.859 what she said that night 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:20.960 wasn't the remark 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:22.660 of an inquisitive onlooker, 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:23.019 thinking, 00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:23.940 oh, that's interesting. 00:28:24.059 --> 00:28:24.740 What's your faith? 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:26.860 Actually, again, 00:28:26.900 --> 00:28:27.840 as I understood it 00:28:27.840 --> 00:28:28.420 at the time, 00:28:28.860 --> 00:28:29.720 she was asking it 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:30.180 as somebody 00:28:30.180 --> 00:28:31.180 who had kind of flirted 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:32.120 with the Christian faith 00:28:32.120 --> 00:28:32.620 at school, 00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:34.340 had been on the SU scene 00:28:34.340 --> 00:28:34.960 for a while 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:36.740 and had got to the end 00:28:36.740 --> 00:28:37.620 of sixth year university 00:28:37.620 --> 00:28:38.240 and decided, 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:39.680 it's not for me. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:41.740 It's too hard 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:42.779 following Jesus. 00:28:43.840 --> 00:28:44.880 Standing for a 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:46.680 Christian sexual ethic 00:28:46.680 --> 00:28:47.319 in a world 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:48.259 that says you're mental, 00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:49.180 no, 00:28:49.180 --> 00:28:50.200 not for me. 00:28:50.920 --> 00:28:51.640 Saying that there's only 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:52.560 one way to God 00:28:52.560 --> 00:28:54.060 when we live our lives 00:28:54.060 --> 00:28:54.600 in a world 00:28:54.600 --> 00:28:55.940 that says there's many ways, 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:57.920 you make up your own way, 00:28:58.680 --> 00:28:59.759 to say that there's one way, 00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:00.019 no, 00:29:00.080 --> 00:29:00.680 it's not for me. 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:04.160 It's hard following Jesus 00:29:04.160 --> 00:29:05.380 and you've got to understand 00:29:05.380 --> 00:29:06.600 that these Hebrew Christians 00:29:06.600 --> 00:29:08.400 who are reading this 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:09.060 for the first time, 00:29:09.120 --> 00:29:10.160 that's exactly the question 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:10.960 in their minds. 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:12.299 Is it worth it? 00:29:12.299 --> 00:29:13.460 Is it worth it going on? 00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:14.080 You've got to understand 00:29:14.080 --> 00:29:14.560 that they are 00:29:14.560 --> 00:29:16.100 most likely rejected 00:29:16.100 --> 00:29:17.220 from their Jewish community 00:29:17.220 --> 00:29:18.480 that they've grown up with, 00:29:19.259 --> 00:29:20.920 ostracized in their community, 00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:22.900 nobody on our side, 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:24.720 ridiculed in the public arena 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.440 for standing 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.220 for a crucified man 00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:28.680 and they're saying, 00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:29.700 is it worth it? 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:32.140 And so the writer here 00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:32.940 in Hebrews 11 00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:35.259 isn't giving them this 00:29:35.259 --> 00:29:36.519 to satisfy some kind 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:38.220 of academic itch in them. 00:29:38.220 --> 00:29:40.500 This is the passionate plea 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:41.839 from a pastor 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:46.059 to keep on running 00:29:46.059 --> 00:29:47.059 for Jesus, 00:29:47.579 --> 00:29:50.519 to keep on cracking on 00:29:50.519 --> 00:29:51.500 for Christ 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:53.919 and to finish the race 00:29:53.919 --> 00:29:55.839 and win the reward 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:58.059 that is ours in Christ Jesus. 00:29:59.459 --> 00:30:00.259 And we'll think about that 00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:01.079 more next week. 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:03.599 But for now, friends, 00:30:03.639 --> 00:30:05.799 we will stand as children 00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:06.639 of the promise. 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:08.779 We will fix our eyes 00:30:08.779 --> 00:30:09.319 on him 00:30:09.319 --> 00:30:10.399 our souls 00:30:10.399 --> 00:30:11.559 reward. 00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:13.639 Till the race is finished 00:30:13.639 --> 00:30:15.039 and the work is done, 00:30:15.859 --> 00:30:17.279 we'll walk by faith 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:19.119 and not by sight.