Remember God's Servants

MAY 28, 2023 STUDY NOTES MEMORIAL DAY BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES REMEMBER GOD’S SERVANTS INTRODUCTION Memorial Day is an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day Which was a day of remembrance for those who died while serving in the U.S. Military It was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by Gen. John Logan following the Civil War And was first observed on May 30, 1868, by placing flowers on the graves of soldiers The graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers were honored at Arlington National Cemetery It became an official holiday in 1971, when congress passed the National Holiday Act of 1971 Today, for many Americans, it is more of a holiday than a Memorial Day Yet, throughout America, many will take time to remember those who sacrificed all for all of us Our nation called upon its citizens in time of need and men and women came to answer the call We need to remember those soldiers who gave their all for all other soldiers to return home We need to remember those Americans who died in-order for other Americans to live freely in our day Take time to remember your friends, family members, and loved ones who died serving our country In the message today, I want us to turn our attention to some who were called by God to serve Throughout the ages God has called men and women who came forth to serve God and mankind They committed their life to living for God and many-faced martyrdom because of their commitment Since the beginning of the Church Age many have died for the cause of Christ, and still do today In many countries today Christians are being persecuted and even killed because of their faith There are many reasons to believe that the Bible is God’s written Word One good reason is the history of Christianity and those who have served God under persecution No religion has faced the persecution equal to that of Christianity and survived Christianity is alive today because God is the One and Only True God and His Word is alive, Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The Bible records the birth, life, calling, service, success, and failures of God’s chosen men and women If it was a record written by man you would not read of their failures, you would only hear of success The point is, God can and will take those who have failed and by His grace make them successful We read of the life they lived, the message they proclaimed, and the witness they left in death They are examples of faith, examples that we are to remember, they are a witness to us, Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (The O.T. saints of chapter 11 are the cloud of witnesses that we are to look at) Hebrews 11 identifies many of them for us, I will only share a few we need to remember ABRAHAM When God wanted a nation for fulfillment of His future-plans, He called Abraham Page 1 of 6 By faith Abraham obeyed, Heb 11:8 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. Abraham is a classic example of what it means to live by faith, his story is well known The name Abraham is found 73 times in the N.T., 10 of which are found in Hebrews By faith Abraham trusted the promises of God and the purpose of God for his life Abraham believed that God would work all things together for good for him and his family Sometimes it is hard for us to accept the promises of God and believe He has a purpose for our life By faith we must believe, Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. We often want to determine our own purpose for life instead of putting faith in God’s purpose We must trust God for today which will prepare us for that which-is yet to come We are told that Abraham was a pilgrim on his way home, we too are pilgrims on our way home In Hebrews 11:8-10 Abraham manifested his faith in three ways: 1. He obeyed the call of God to move (vs 8) 2. He sojourned in the Promised Land (vs 9) 3. He looked for a city (vs 10) The call of Abraham is presented as one of the most important events in history Through the lineage of Abraham came God’s chosen nation, God is not through with Israel Through Israel came the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord, Jesus is not through yet MOSES When God wanted a deliverer, He called Moses, Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. God called Moses and revealed to Moses who was calling him (Exodus 3) God revealed Himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Moses left Egypt on two occasions, two important events in his life The first time he fled because he killed an Egyptian and Pharaoh was going to kill him Forty years later Moses left Egypt leading the Exodus without fear of Pharaoh During the time that he was away from Egypt God prepared him for his ministry of deliverance He was no longer afraid of the king’s anger his faith was in the “King of Kings” Even though God was unseen, through faith he could see the unseen, Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. His strength came from his obedience to God’s will for his life Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, but Pharaoh pursued them with an army The Red Sea was in front of Moses and the Israelites and Pharaoh’s army was behind them Moses knew that God was with them, he listened to God and once again exercised faith in God God instructed Moses to lift-up his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea, by faith Moses obeyed, Exo 14:21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. By faith the children of Israel followed Moses, Exo 14:22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Pharoah and his army were not traveling by faith in God, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians, Exo 14:28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. Exo 14:29 But the Page 2 of 6 children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Here we have a message for us today, Exo 14:31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses. JOSHUA When God wanted a guide, He called Joshua, and instructed Joshua to be strong, Jos 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. (Prosperity comes through obedience to God’s Word, Josh 1:8; Psalms 1:1-3) The author of Hebrews does not cover the 40-year journey of Israel in the wilderness Which was the time-period between Egypt and the Land of Canaan Which was a time-period that Israel was not obeying God by faith, another lesson for us today Because of their disobedience they perished in the wilderness, is God judging America today? Joshua and Caleb were the only two who stood by faith in God and His Word All others who were 20 years or older died in the wilderness Joshua was the successor of Moses and received God’s promise to possess the land Joshua and the Israelites who remained put their faith in God and crossed over Jordan Israel could not advance any further into the Promised Land because of Jericho Advancement into the Promised Land now seemed humanly impossible, and it was But God had promised Joshua, Jos 6:2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. Their only hope was to obey God, God gave them an unusual battle strategy, Jos 6:3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. They were told to march around the city once a day for six days (they didn’t question God, they obeyed) Seven priests were to march in front of the ark carrying rams’ horns, Jos 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. The seventh day they were to march around seven times with the priests blowing their horns, Jos 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. For six days they had marched around the city, and nothing had happened (they continued to live by faith) On the seventh day they did exactly what God had instructed them to do When the priests sounded their final blast, all the people were to shout, Jos 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. They conquered Jericho by faith in God and obedience to God’s Word, Heb 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. There are many more servants of God that we could remember, you can read of them in Hebrews 11 When God wanted a preacher of righteousness to preach to the world, He called Noah When God wanted a warrior, He called Gideon. When God wanted a judge, He called Samuel When God wanted a king, He called David. And there are more examples in the OT, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Amos, and many more Page 3 of 6 In the New Testament there is “JOHN THE BAPTIST” Literally, “John the baptizer,” the forerunner of Jesus Christ, Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. His miraculous birth was foretold by an angel sent from God, who also assigned him the name John, Luk 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. John began to preach, Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The same message must be preached today because the fulfillment of prophecy is “at hand” His message attracted a great multitude from Jerusalem, Mat 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, Mat 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. (Baptized because they had confessed their sins, baptism was a testimony of obedience to God) Jesus came to John the Baptist and requested to be baptized, Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. Which John did not understand, Mat 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? But Jesus explained to John, Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. Jesus’ baptism symbolized His ministry as the Messiah, His death, burial, and resurrection as our Savior The ministry of John the Baptist was to present the Messiah who had come as the “Savior,” Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The message that must be preached today, Jesus will forgive you of your sins and give you a new life Because of his faithfulness to his message, John was put in prison and beheaded, Mat 14:10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. Christians are being persecuted throughout the world today, persecution will continue until Jesus returns Hebrews tells us to remember “JESUS CHRIST” Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Thank God we can “look unto Jesus,” to look at Jesus means to trust Him, to put your faith in Him “Looking” means to fix your eyes on Jesus and to fix your mind on Jesus, which should be daily Watch the athletes who run in a race, they look straight ahead, their focus is on the finish line They do not look at their feet, they do not look to one side or the other or behind them When they look to the side or behind it slows them down and they lose the race They don’t look up at the crowd to see who is cheering for them, they keep their eyes upon the finish line When bull riders nod for the gate to be opened they are looking straight at the bull’s head When that bull leaves the gate, they must keep looking straight at that bull’s head When they look towards the ground, they are going to land on the ground, right where they are looking If you look away from Jesus in your daily race of faith, you will fall right where you are looking Don’t fix your attention upon anything that will turn your attention away from Jesus’ finish line for you Which gives us another thought to this word translated “looking” The thought of looking to determine how something is going to turn out How is a life of faith in Jesus going to turn out? The answer to that question is found in Hebrews 11 Page 4 of 6 But Jesus is greater than any example found in chapter 11, Jesus is our supreme example (Hebrews 12) Jesus is the “author” of our faith, He is the supreme model of faith, the pioneer of our faith Jesus is the “finisher” of our faith, the work of redemption is complete, from the cross Jesus said, Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Joh 19:29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. We can exercise faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, there is victory in faith “Our faith” is the “joy that was set before Him” as He endured the cross Our faith is first-of all salvation faith, and then the life of faith we live because we are saved Jesus “endured the cross” in order that we might be saved and live for Him He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross for the salvation of sinners, even for me and for you Which is not a shameful experience, Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. The evidence of our salvation is, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, a most important Biblical truth This is the fifth time in the book of Hebrews that we are told that Jesus sits at the throne of God An important message to the saved, Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. One of the most exciting chapters in the Bible is Revelation 5, you must read it Today there is a “Seven Sealed Scroll” in the right hand of God (vs 1) The “Seven Sealed Scroll” is the title deed to the earth or the book of redemption which will be fulfilled It contains God’s claim upon that which is rightfully His and explained in the book of Revelation It is sealed with “seven seals,” seven being the number of completion, fulness, and finality The question is asked, who is able to open the scroll and fulfill the details of each seal? (vs 2) The search was made, no one in heaven or earth or under the earth was able to open the book John began to weep greatly (vss. 3-4) then one of the elders said to John, “Stop weeping” (vs 5) There is one “who is worthy,” He is the “Lion from the tribe of Judah,” the “Root of David” He has overcome, He is the “Lamb standing” as if slain, yet though He died, He lives (vs 6) Then verse 7, one of the most exciting verses in all-of the Bible, Jesus will return to fulfill all promises When the “Living Lamb” takes the book, the heavenly court fall-down before the Lamb and worship (8) They sing one of the greatest songs ever heard (9-10) At that point one of the greatest worship services ever begins (11-14) The seven seals are the conditions that must be met before the scroll can be opened (Rev 6) When the seventh seal is broken, the scroll is opened, and the Day of the Lord will begin (Rev 8). I believe that the day Jesus will stand up to fulfill all prophecy is fast approaching Today is the day that we must stand firm in the faith, 1Co 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. (Quit you like men means to “man up,” it’s time for Christians to “man up”) In the last days some will not “man up” but depart from the faith, 1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (Which is the common lifestyle among many Americans today) We must have Christians today who can say with Paul, “I have kept the faith,” 2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Hebrews 11 presents to us the truth of faith, the heroes of faith all had one thing in common They had all put forth full confidence in God and in God’s Word Regardless of the trials and troubles of their life they continued to put their trust in God We must remember them, they are our examples, we must follow their path of faith, Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before Page 5 of 6 us, Hebrews 12 reveals that we as “Heavenly Citizens” are to run the “Race of Faith” We are in a battle competing against Satan and the citizens of this world Today we face the danger of terrorist attack anywhere at any time, Satan is the leader of those attacks Old Testament saints had to stand firm in the faith as they faced opposition and persecution Christians today must stand strong in the faith as we face the attacks of demonic forces That is why we are told to consider Jesus, to keep our eyes on Jesus, faith in Jesus is the victory for today Hymn #426, “VICTORY IN JESUS” Page 6 of 6