re-fried faith

Intro:

Today is the final message in our series on living by faith or “beyond the limit”

Setup

This is the most FAITH centered letter in the bible.. The author (probably Paul) writes to Jewish people about to ditch their faith. Today, we are gonna read the lead up to the most famous scripture of all when it comes to faith, Hebrews 11, called the “Hall of Faith”

Hebrews 10:32–39 (ESV)

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For,

“Yet a little while,

and the coming one will come and will not delay;

but my righteous one shall live by faith,

and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

prayer:

Story: clearing out the fridge, having a super honesty time regarding what needs to be thrown out

Transition: When the writer of Hebrews is saying don’t throw away your confidence, you could say it “don’t toss your faith out!”

We don’t want to be in a position where we think that our faith in Christ serves no purpose..

1. fresh baked Faith

— The writer is telling us that early on, when his audience had the joy of salvation, they were ready to suffer.. They had faith.

— They were so revived, so passionate in their relationship with God, that carried them through the furnace of rejection by the Jewish religious system, through prison, through all sorts of challenges.

— In those days, they were expelled from church. Their kids were removed from synagogue school, they would have challenges getting work..

— Some were thrown in jail… In that time frame, they didn’t have the most accommodating penal system. You don’t get extra clothes, you may not even get food… they throw the key away..

— These early Christians would suffer, and they would provide to others that were in jail..

— They either suffered themselves, or put themselves at risk by helping those who were suffering.

— They were willing to give up their possession!

— God grant us fresh baked faith! Get us back to our first love!

2. faltering faith

— They were on a knife’s edge in terms of just throwing in the towel on their faith.

— They were about to turn back to Judaism, they were about to turn their back on what Jesus had done

— The whole point of the LAW of Moses was to prove unequivocally that people can’t follow rules enough on their own to save themselves!

— They were in a precarious situation, back up to

v. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

— These are people that put their trust in Jesus! What started out as them putting their faith in what Jesus did on the cross, receiving grace, trusting Jesus on not their works!!

— NOW, they were gonna say, no I just need to go backwards.. I need to trust my own works..

— The bible is saying, there is no coming back from that… There is no sin you can’t come back from, no sin that Jesus can’t cover (that’s not a license) but making a choice to turn away from Jesus and go back to works was spiritual suicide..

— You may not be able to relate to rejecting Jesus and turning back to Judaism.. But many of us have decided to put our trust in other things:

— Losing our faith in Christ these days is putting our trust in OURSELVES, our finances, our political party, our jobs, our relationships, our ingenuity..

— These things can’t save us. We tend toward anxiety and stress, because nothing in our world was engineered to be able to capacitate the full weight of our greatest needs! And they will ultimately let us down..

— Putting your ultimate trust in anything other than Jesus is a fatal condition..

— So, the author of Hebrews loosely quotes Habakuk, then practices FAITH himself by saying,

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

— You know what your back slidden kids need to hear? “You are those who have faith and preserve their souls”

— I’ve got enough faith for the both of us!! Then he gets them to:

3. “refried” re- FIRED faith

— Now the author launches into stories to fire up their faith! The very next chapter starts with, 11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.

— And chapter 11 is known as the hall of faith…

1. Abel - “...brought a better offering than Cain did” (v. 4).

2. Enoch - “...commended as one who pleased God” (v. 5).

3. Noah - “...when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family” (v. 7).

4. Abraham - “...obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (v. 8). “...offered Isaac as a sacrifice” (v. 17).

5. Isaac - “...blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future” (v. 20).

6. Jacob - “...when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff” (v. 21).

7. Joseph - “...spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones” (v. 22).

8. Moses’ parents - “...hid him for three months after he was born…” (v. 23).

9. Moses - “...chose to be mistreated along with the people of God…” (v. 25). “...kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel” (v.26).

10. The Israelites - “...passed through the Red Sea as on dry land…” (v.29) “...the walls of Jericho fell…” (v.30).

11. Rehab (saved because she helped the Israelite spies).

12. Others: Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets

— The author is telling us through these various stories to TRUST in DEPEND on Jesus.

1 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

and to take him at his word;

just to rest upon his promise,

and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."

Refrain:

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!

How I've proved him o'er and o'er!

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!

O for grace to trust him more!

2 O how sweet to trust in Jesus,

just to trust his cleansing blood;

and in simple faith to plunge me

neath the healing, cleansing flood! [Refrain]

3 Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus,

just from sin and self to cease;

just from Jesus simply taking

life and rest, and joy and peace.

FRESH BAKED BREAD.

— My daughter wrote a song this past week, one of the lyrics was “Baked bread”

— I thought that was a little out there.. But, it got me thinking!!

— We knew someone who built a pizza restaurant, and they explained that the build on the oven for the wood fired pizzas was super specialized and specific and expensive!!

— But the end product was worth it!

— I think of the faith that God is building in you! It seems over the top! But the result is gonna be so good!

— The other thing I think of with baked goods is HOME.

— your FAITH is connection with Him. We trust Him because we are home.. We connect over a meal with our perfect Father. Who provides everything we need..

— He gives us Manna, He gives us Jesus who is our bread of Life!!

— So let us not separate what we GET from who HE IS. We don’t just get stuff from GOD. We get Him!

TRUST HIM FOR:

— Salvation

—from that song, “just to trust his cleansing blood;” Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

— And, if we begin to trust, depend on Him for salvation, then what about everything else in our lives?

—++ Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

—Spiritual warfare

— That His work on the cross has defeated the enemy. We have power and authority over darkness!

— A story about a man whose son would be thrown into fire by a demonic entity:

— Mark 9:22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

— Sanctification

— Your walk in holiness, we went over this scripture a couple of weeks ago..

— Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

—Spiritual Walk

— He will give you direction!

++ Prov. 3: 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

6  In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

—Struggles

— your health? Your financial woes?

— I appreciate that Jesus didn’t let His disciples drown! HE was in it with them! He is in it with you!

—Spiritual destiny

— The people of faith had their sights on their ultimate home.. Their eyes were fixed on Jesus. The ultimate prize:

— Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

APPLICATION:

How to grow our faith:

Forward movement. What is God calling you to? I look at people like the Steves on worship and Dani and many of you who are stepping into things that help grow your faith.. The Problem with the Hebrews was that they stopped moving forward..

Friends with Faith. There is something about other peoples faith! The author here is getting us acquainted with other peoples faith.. IT rubs off on us, the heat of others faith transfers to us!

Fresh Bread every day.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

What area do you need to trust Him more?