God's great plan the new covenant (living by faith)

God’s great plan: The New Covenant Part 6 (Living by Faith)

Hebrews 11:7-16

Introduction: Last week, we talked about faith, and we understand that biblical faith is trusting and obeying. It is both a noun and a verb. Faith is not passive, it is active. Faith changes my heart, my mind, my soul. True biblical faith is transformative.

The importance of perseverance in the life of a believer. Faith, and belief are focused upon the same greek work and we realized that Faith is both a noun and a verb. As believers we are called to have a living and active faith. Faith is not something that simply happened in the past, but it is the present reality of a believer and the constant interaction of life.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful. 12 Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.13 These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. 14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

____________________________________

1. Noah’s Faith: Steady in the storm. (Hebrews 11:7)

The foundation of Faith… Faith that is unsinkable (Reverential fear) (the fear of the Lord) ( awesome surrender) Believe it before you see it… The confidence of faith… the call of faith… step out on faith.

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family.

“It is a great thing to have faith in the presence of a terrible trial, but the first essential is to have faith for ordinary everyday consumption." - C.H. Spurgon

Consider Noah. When God told him to build the ark, it wasn’t raining, it wasn’t in the middle of a natural disaster that God called Noah to begin building the ark. God called Noah to place his faith in God: Act counter-cultural. Noah was to place his faith in God for a very long time. When things seemed normal and uneventful, Noah obeyed God. Noah believed God, and Noah followed God.

Genesis 6:22 And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him.

We can trust in God’s words despite the limited perception of our senses.

Matthew 24: 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Noah walked with God. He didn’t just trust God when the rains came and when the flood rose. He didn’t just trust God in the storm. He Trusted him Day in and day out.

36 “Now concerning that day and hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son[q] —except the Father only. 37 As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 38 For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.

ILL: When I say “steady in the storm,” I am not referring to the wind and the waves, I am talking about everyday life. Noah lived in a time of great wickedness, and evil prevailed. Noah walked with God by faith despite the storm of political and social problems. Despite the sin that was everywhere, despite the immorality that was all around him. Noah walked with God.

Christian, I want to encourage you to remain steady. Steady in the storm that you face. Teachers and students, you are getting pressured to conform to the ideas of this world, but do not be conformed to this world but retransformed by the renewed mind in Christ Jesus.

LOOK INTO “Godly fear” This is a phrase that is rarely used in scripture, but the concept is very prevalent. The idea is that Noah stood in reverential awe, he acted according to the reality that he knew that God would act according to his words. Noah believed that what God said would happen.

ILL: The reverential fear of the father… “Just wait till your father gets home”

Why else would you spend years and years preparing for a global catastrophe. Noah obeyed God despite the physical indicators. Noah trusted God.

“By faith he condemned the world.” How did Noah condemn the world? It’s not that Noah sat in an official capacity as judge over the antediluvian people. Rather, whenever an individual lives in obedience to God against the immorality of the world, that individual condemns the rest of the world in its unrighteousness Think of it this way: What happens when you put a light in a dark room? The light stands out from the darkness, and what had previously been unseen is revealed for what it truly is. Often we do not even recognize how dark our environment has become until someone shines a light in it. By the same token, the obedience of a righteous man both reveals and condemns the disobedience of the world.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., Exalting Jesus in Hebrews (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), 176.

Yes we are to have faith in the midst of the storm, but are you preparing your faith in the days of sunshine?

Are you cultivating your faith today?

I don’t know what sort of trials you have been through or are going to go through, but I can tell you this for sure, you need to walk in faith during the days of sunshine in order to prepare for the days of rain.

When the winds blew, and the rains came, and the fountains of the deep opened up and the waters of the earth began to rise do you think that Noah was panicking? I don’ think so. Why, because he had been prating faith for years and years. He walked with God by faith day in and day out, so when the storm clouds blew in, his faith was already sure. It was already rooted in God. He already had a strong, unwavering faith in the Lord.

Noah Walked with God…. Noah Believed God's word

the outward expression of inner obedience

2. Abraham's faith: Steadfast Obedience. (8-10)

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

‌Abraham is an example to those who trust God’s promises for the future without knowing exactly how they will be fulfilled “He went out, not knowing where he was going.”

ILL: I like to have a plan. As a little kid, Emma always wanted to know the plan. What are we doing today, mom. She wanted to know the exact detail of the day so she knew what to expect even as a 3-year-old. I like to have a plan as well. I like to plan for the future, I like to prepare for events, make budgets, and get teams together. I love it when a good plan comes together.

But, God didn’t tell Abraham the plan. “Abraham was called, Abraham obeyed.”

God called Abraham out of a people and a nation in order to create a nation that was separated and different. God called Abraham out to be separate and to be different from the other nations. He wanted a people who were set apart. He called Abraham out. And notice once again the timespan that took place from the team that God called Abraham to leave his family until the time that the Israelites took possession of the land. Around 2000 BC. God called of Abraham around 1400 BC. That is around 600-700 years from the time that God promised Abraham the new land until his descendants took possession of the land.

But the truth is this

‌There was always a greater reward than the dirt surrounding the Jordan. Abraham spent his life following God in obedience to him in a foreign land because he trusted God’s promises. Abraham believed the promise that lasted beyond what the eye could see and what the ear could hear. Abraham believed in God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.

ILL: If this were a human story, then we would end the story here and say when Abraham left his homeland, he lived happily ever after. He had an easy life. He lived in the land with his children and his grandchildren for all their days. His descendants never faced war, sorrow, famine, pledge, or hunger again.

But this story is much greater than anything that you or I could ever imagine, Abraham followed God despite the limited vision of his human eyes, Abraham looked to the eternal future. He looked with his inward eye upon the promises of God for assurances of the future.

‌

But neither Abraham nor his immediate descendants ever took possession of the land.

‌The promise was a city, but he lived in tents.

‌The only land that Abraham ever owned was a cemetery, a field with a cave where he buried his wife Sarah.

yet his faith looked beyond this life. Abraham trusted God to fulfill his promises even beyond the veil of death. even beyond what his eyes could see, Abraham's faith was strong in the Lord.

Jesus talked about the faith of Abraham in the book of John. John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

Abraham was looking to the eternal city that had been revealed to Him. But we do not get a glimpse of the eternal city until we see its description in the book of Revelation 21

Revelation 21:9 Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 He then carried me away in the Spirit, to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

Abraham walked in faith by setting his hope on the fact that God would act and bring about eschatological salvation. Abraham was not just looking forward to inheriting the land of Canaan; he was looking beyond Canaan to what it foreshadowed—the city of heaven coming to earth and God’s restoration of creation. Abraham was faithful in the present because of his confidence in what God would do in the future.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., Exalting Jesus in Hebrews (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2017), 178.

II Corinthians 4:18-5:2 "So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our temporary, earthly dwelling is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. 2 Indeed, we groan in this body, desiring to put on our dwelling from heaven,”

Just as Abraham was called out to be separate from the other nations, so you and I are called to be separated from the world; we do not walk according to the world, and we do not participate in worldly activities. We remain focused on the heavenly calling we follow Christ every single day because we do not focus on what is seen but upon what is not seen. Just as Abraham walked by faith every single day looking to the promise of God and our eternal dwelling place so you and I look to Christ and long for our heavenly home.

3. Sarah's faith: Submission to God (11-12)

Hebrews 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful. 12 Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.

God didn’t bless until Sarah trusted.

Sarah was 90 years old when she became pregnant with Isaac. And Abraham was 100

Maybe Sarah believed that she was the chosen one, the promised vessel, maybe she became proud or arrogant….

What do we know about Sarah? She was extremely beautiful even when she was very old she was beautiful…. Sarah liked to take matters into her own hands. When she thought that God had forgotten about his promise, she decided to take matters into her own hands by taking her servant Hagar and giving her to Abraham in order to have a child with her. This was not the plan of God. This was not an act of faith…

God had to do a work in Sarah before he could do a work through Sarah.

Sarah’s heart was not in a position to receive the blessings of God. For years and years Sarah and Abraham had waited for children. But at the time when all hope was lost when the birth of a child seemed completely impossible. That is when God did a work in Sarah’s heart.

Sarah had to believe in God’s words for the impossible. Not until it was true faith Did God allow Sarah to conceive. Isaac was never intended to be an ordinary child, he was a child of the promise. He was the child of the father who would represent faith and hope to all nations.

Because of her faith, she received the power that was of supernatural origin. She was able to do something that would have impossible on her own. Sarah was given the ability to lay the foundation to the nation of Israel.

Hebrews 11:11 (note) By faith even Sarah herself received ability to Lay the foundation for the family of God, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised;

You may consider yourself to young or to old be use of the Lord. Look at Sarah, All it required of her was faith. Once you place your Faith in God alone and not in your own abilities, or talents, or gifts, then God can use you.

God Doesn’t work on our time frame, and he is not limited by your gifts or my gifts, your resources or my resources. God can do all things, We simply need to trust Him and allow Him to work in our lives.

Read the story of Abraham and Sarah. 11:11-12

4. The family of faith: Secure Future. (13-16)

These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. 14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

At this point in the book, the author takes a moment to recall the entire congregation not people whom he has just spoken of, and recalls the reality that they all have lived and died in Faith.

The promise of the heavenly future is what the ever-present driving reality of these individuals.

Quite simply: They were homesick, but they were not homesick for their earthly home, their hometown, home country, or their old stopping grounds; they were homesick for a place that they had never seen. They looked on with eager expectation the promise of God’s eternal home where he promised them a city that was not constructed by men or by angels but by God himself. They looked forward to a time when death would no longer be a reality. They looked forward to a time when Sin would be abolished forever. They looked forward to a promise that even though they knew they were about to end their journey here on this earth, they still looked forward to the promises of God. They still believed that God’s words were true, Abraham still looked forward to the day when his family would possess the promised land, and Sarah looked forward to the day when she would see the reality of her seed being a great nation. And God’s great plan would be made a reality.

Death does not nullify the promises of God. Death confirms the promises of God through the resurrection.

God has proved a city for them. He has promised a dwelling place for all those who believe his words. Not only does he promise a dwelling place for Abraham, and Sarah, and their descendants, he promises a homeland to you if you place your faith in Jesus Christ.

Salvation in Christ and in Christ alone. You must believe; you must act in faith. You must live by faith. You must walk in faith.

Noah believed the words of God and it was so. He believed that the world was condemned due to the great wickedness that filled the earth. And just as the days of Noah, so to we live in a day where sin is ever present. If you don’t believe me then turn on the news for 2 minutes. Sexualimmorality is not only accepted in our culture, but it is being praised and exalted. Sin is put on public display for the world to see and the people who practices such things rejoice in their wickedness.

God does not mix words, and neither will I. What is celebrated in the world today is evil in the sight of God. The world is sinful and in desperate need of a savior. Will you be swept away by the storm of the culture or will you walk by faith in Jesus Christ?

Abraham believed God’s promise. He was called apart, he lived different from is family and birds, because God called Him out. I can only. Imagine the number of times that Abraham remembered his home town, and considered turning back, but he remained faithful because he was not focused upon the events of today, but he looked to the eternal future.

Sarah was used by God when she submitted to God. She received the great blessing because the placed her faith and trust in the word of God. These individuals point to the reality of Faith in God’s words and serve as proof that God’s words are trust worthy.

How about you? Are you living by faith? Are you a man or a woman who lives by faith? How do you do that shell the first thing you must do is you must believe what God Says is true.

And here is the simple truth. We are all sinners in desperate need of a savior. Each of the individuals we talked bout today are also sinners, but they placed their faith in the Lord. They trusted Him at his word and allowed them to direct their life. Have you done that? The bible says for all have sinned. That means that every person who ever has or ever will live on this earth is a sinner.

But God sent a savior. Jesus Christ came to earth nearly 2000 years ago. He was born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, and He died on the cross in order to take the punishment of the sins of all man kind. 3 days later he rose again. Jesus is not dead he is risen. And 40 days after Jesus rose for the grave, he assented to the father where he is now seated at God’s right hand.

Jesus offers forgiveness. All. You must do is believe. You must place your faith in Jesus Christ and trust in Him and Him alone to save you.

Will you place your faith in Jesus today? Will you live by faith? Will you walk daily with Him?