Fake Runners

Do you remember us reading this: Hebrews 3:12–14 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

The Pastor that wrote Hebrews has helped us understand that sometimes it’s easy to have faith

But sometimes it is very hard to have faith.

And the Pastor said to us, that when the hard times come and someone falls away, they never had faith in the first place.

Oh they can pretend, but they don’t have saving faith

And that’s a tragedy beyond what we can imagine.

This last section in chapter 11 gives us insight on what makes a faith an enduring faith.

And it all boils down to what you see.

Turn with me in your bibles to Hebrews 11:32-40.

While you are looking that up, let me speak to all of the kids for a moment.

Kids, look up here at me.

I’ve baptized a few of you - God willing before I retire, I’ll get to baptize more of you.

One of the things I ask you before I’ll baptize you is, do you realize that the commitment you are making to follow Jesus is for all of your life?

Remember to a couple of you I said, even when you are old like your mom and dad and really old like me

You’ll still be following Jesus?

That’s the commitment we make when we get baptized

We’re going to follow Jesus no matter where He goes for the rest of our lives

Because we know that one day we are going to live with Him in the new heaven and the new earth.

That’s got to be real to you.

That’s got to be something that your mom and dad sees too.

What we are going to talk about today is this

Sometimes it’s easy to follow Jesus

And sometimes it’s not.

But all the time, following Jesus is the best thing to do.

Listen to the number of times I mention Jesus in the message today.

There is nothing more important than Jesus.

Now, with your Bibles open to the book of Hebrews, hear now the word of the Lord from Hebrews 11:32-40

Hebrews 11:32–40 ESV

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

Let us pray:

Dear Holy Spirit,

Our hearts are hungry to hear about Jesus.

Fill us full to overflowing - each and every one of us.

In Jesus’ name - Amen.

Sometimes following Jesus is exciting

Look at Hebrews 11:32–36a “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.

If you got a copy of the note taking guide this week, I’ve included the scripture reference for each of the folks the Pastor named.

When you get a free minute, it might be fun to read their story and then read this text again and see how it all fits together.

What I find particularly interesting about these guys, is they were all flawed folks.

Gideon came from a very poor family - he’s actually described as coming from the poorest family in the tribe of Manasseh.

His faith that God would do what He said was so flimsy that He asked for a sign from God

Twice - remember the story kids?

He took some fleece and laid it on a threshing floor and told the Lord, “Judges 6:36–37 “Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.””

And it was so wet the next morning, they filled a bowl full of water from the fleece.

But that didn’t satisfy Gideon Judges 6:39 “Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.””

And the next morning the fleece was dry and the ground was wet.

The Lord was patient with Gideon and he took the zero and made him a hero.

Barak was such a great warrior that he wouldn’t go into battle without a woman judge by the name of Deborah.

Samson had Delilah.

Jephthah made a ridiculous vow to the Lord if the Lord struck down his enemies as if the Lord needed bribery to do what He had promised to do.

King David had Bathsheba and he murdered her husband.

Samuel - he was mostly a good guy except he raised bad kids and instead of appointing someone else as priests, he appointed his sons and Israel suffered for it.

Every one of them was flawed

And yet, they all are heralded as people of great faith.

And, And, every one of these folks got what they asked for - that’s pretty exciting.

They conquered kingdoms

Imagine Gideon with his 300 men wandering through an enemies camp that was 100 times as big as theirs

Yet they won.

That’s the unranked team beating the number 1 ranked team.

They saw justice being done.

They saw God delivering on His promises right before their eyes.

David, Samson and Daniel stopped the mouth of lions

Should have been eaten - but weren’t.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fiery furnace not even smelling like smoke.

Lots of folks escaped being killed by the sword

Lots of people who had no courage ended up being stronger than they expected

Wars were fought and the underdogs won.

Even two widows had their child resurrected from the dead - one by Elijah, one by Elisha.

Now, if you had been there for any of this - would it not have been the most exciting day of your life?

Wouldn’t it be easy to stand up and shout, “praise God!”

“Look at what the Lord has done! Hallelujah.”

Exciting stuff.

People getting baptized - joining the church - coming to Sunday school

Reaching out and helping other folks - bringing new folks in

Making a difference in the community.

Yeah, baby! That’s what this is all about.

It’s easy to follow Jesus when you keep seeing Him work.

It’s exciting.

Sometimes, God’s plan isn’t exciting

This is where it gets hard to follow Jesus

And this is where our faith really gets proven.

Look at verses 35b-38 Hebrews 11:35–38 “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

I watched a man get martyred a couple of weeks ago.

When President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, all we had was the grainy, 8mm Zapruder film.

On Wednesday, September 10th, a hundred or more 48 megapixel iPhone cameras were pointed at the stage where Charlie Kirk was debating college kids.

At 2:20 pm EDT, as assassins bullet killed Charlie in glorious technicolor, posted on X for his children to see for the rest of their lives.

I don’t have words.

Charlie Kirk was 31 - “with so much life in front of him” people said.

He was a self professed Christian.

He debated from a conservative Christian worldview.

And he was ‘killed by the sword.’

On July 7th of this year in Yaribori, Nigeria, a church was having services.

Islam militants burst through the door and killed the Pastor Emmanuel Na’allah and his friend Samaila Gidan Taro, a convert from Islam.

They kidnapped one of the pastor’s wives.

Because they preached Jesus.

Neither of those events took God by surprise.

In fact, in my worldview, both of those events, as tragic as they were, are a part of God’s plan.

You can argue with me 10 ways to Sunday and I won’t change my mind.

If these things are events that God didn’t see coming, we need to be very worried.

But He did see them coming.

The apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:1–5 “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

Sometimes God’s plan is not exciting, the end times don’t sound so exciting.

Honestly, this is one of my fears.

God can do what He wants - what if He chooses me to endure something like this?

I know He will give me whatever I need to do it - I know that

But I know me

And I have to trust the Lord more than I trust me.

Because I know who I am.

And I know who we are.

I don’t think we really get Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

It’s been said so much that it’s just a verse we say yes to.

Even the Baptist Faith and Message sounds tame.

Article 3 on Man says in part, “Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation.”

Under condemnation - that’s sanitary.

Actually, the condemnation humans are under is the wrath of God

His anger, His fury.

I mean, think about this, Deuteronomy 4:24 says

Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Is this the God you want to trifle with?

Is this the God you want to assert your autonomy in the face of - “I don’t need you!”

Tell Him He made a mistake at your birth

Tell HIM you are going to do life “your way”

And then expect to go to heaven when you die?

All of this is in the Pastor’s mind when he tells us to not fall away.

All of this is in the Pastor’s mind when he reminds us of how many people have suffered so much for the faith.

The suffering you stand in today because of your faith is nothing compared to the suffering for eternity if you turn away.

The suffering you stand in today because of your faith is nothing compared to the glory you will see if you stand firm.

His encouragement is simple.

Yes, you know who you are.

Yes, you are afraid for your life.

Yes, you are afraid you’ll fall away.

So were all of these heroes of the faith.

But they didn’t fall away.

And neither will you if…

Here’s the guarantee.

You will stand firm if you see beyond this life

Look at verses 39 & 40 Hebrews 11:39–40 “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

“Since God has provided something better for us…”

What did He provide? He provided Jesus.

Jesus is better.

The Hebrews were tempted to go back to their former way of life.

No one cared about the Jews.

“Be a good Jew. Nobody cares.”

“But you can’t be a Christian.”

If you are - you’ll be attacked, you’ll be - do I need to read the list again of the things people have done to the people of God.

Only Christianity is a threat to Satan - no other religion is.

How do you stand in the face of that?

You stand because you can see the future.

Stephen got stoned to death in Acts 7 because he preached the gospel

He saw beyond this life

He was convinced at his very core that he was a citizen of another country

That he belonged somewhere else

And he had to live by the rules of the somewhere else and not the rules of the here.

When they rushed forward to kill him, he didn’t run.

He didn’t water down what he said.

He didn’t say, “Guys, I don’t think you understood what I was saying.”

He didn’t say, “It’s ok for us to believe different things.”

He preached Jesus.

He knew that if he didn’t tell them about Jesus, he was condemning them to eternity in hell.

But if he did preach Jesus, there was a chance they could be saved.

So he stood firm.

It cost him his life.

But it planted a seed in the heart of a man named Saul.

It was God’s plan all along.

Brothers and sisters,

We will never be strong

We will never be bold

As long as we consider ourselves residents of the world.

I listened to a motivational speaker the other day who said we needed to get ourselves in gear for this life is short

And we need to do all we can before it’s over and I’m telling you he’s wrong.

This life in the flesh is short

But the work we are to do isn’t aimed at this life.

But if you have Jesus

If you have confessed the wickedness of your heart before him

If you have felt the shame and guilt of your sins and you have implored the Lord to forgive you and remove that guilt and shame.

And if you have committed your life - every intention of your life - to following Him no matter where He leads

Jesus will replace your dead heart of stone with a living heart of flesh

He will plant His word deep in your heart.

He will guide you day by day

He will reveal His plan for your life little by little

He’ll give you the courage to stand in the face of whatever He requires.

And you’ll be able to do it

Because you will be able to see the new heaven and the new earth.

The words of the Bible will come alive to you

You’ll hear them as love letters from God, as encouragement, as motivation.

You’ll understand what it means to be free in Jesus.

You’ll find your times of worry and stress will be tempered with thoughts of

“This world is not my home.

“One day, I’ll be at home with Jesus.

“One day, this trouble will be done

“One day, Jesus will make me new.”

Hebrews 11 has 40 verses telling us, we are not alone here.

People have persevered through much harder times than we have and stood firm in the faith.

We can it

We will do it

The old hymn doesn’t lie

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus

“Look full in His wonderful face”

“And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

“In the light of His glory and grace.”

I want to invite you to join Jesus.

I want to invite you to beg His forgiveness and turn your life over to Him.

I want to invite you to be made brand new.

We’ll pray and sing.

I’ll be down front to talk to anyone who wants to know about Jesus.

Let’s pray.

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