Faith - tested by God/trusting in God
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Faith - tested by God/trusting in God
Faith - tested by God/trusting in God
During the course of our lives/life experience and education most of us continue to ask ourselves whether tests and exams are valid ways of assessing knowledge and application of that knowledge.
Are there better more comprehensive ways of learning and assessing how well we have retained and applied what has been learned?
When we ask ourselves, “Is everyday life devoid of tests and exams?”. The answer to that is, of course it is not! Every day each of us is faced with tests of one form or another.
How we treat each other.
Whether we take time to read the word and pray.
How we carry on our work.
How well do we handle the impact of COVID 19
Are we able to trust in our Lord? Can we see down the road a ways?
How well do we handle changing situations - new stop signs at Zellwood Station - compliance in no way predictable or consistent.
Because everyday life always includes tests that indicate what has been learned and applied, it should not surprise us that God also tests our faith. Some might question this testing of faith. I would humbly respond for those whose faith is vital saving faith, that faith is at the core of all of that they are. It is their rudder, their stabilizer in a time of buffeting storms. That being the case, we need to be very sure that our rudder, our stabilizer is all that it should be.
I fairly sure that God does want each to unfold with the express purpose that all we see are the daunting tests or trials. Even is using both words - testing and trials - we need to remember, remind each other and allow the word of God to encourage us and remind us that the tests that God allows as part of life are to affirm that our faith is true/genuine AND to strengthen our faith.
So first of all this is not about God tempting us.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
As we remind ourselves of that we also do well of to remind ourselves that the very same life situation that God allows as a test, Satan sees as something that we will approach in our own strength and very limited human wisdom, with the result that we fail.
“The Screwtape Letters” - C.S. Lewis - series of letters - written to my dear Wormwood signed “Your affectionate uncle Screwtape” - tongue in cheek communication between demons in their attempts to prevent Christians “your patient” from trusting God who is referred as the Enemy.
Jesus conversation with and promise to Peter should be a great help to us. Jesus had told all the disciples that they would deny Him. Peter and all the disciples responded that they would not.
For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Lk 23:
Lk 22:
Decades later Peter those to whom he wrote,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Pet 1:
In the 14 verses that we will consider this morning, the writer of Hebrews would remind us that those whom he referenced faced what they faced, did what God called them to do BY FAITH. In these 14 verses, BY FAITH is repeated 11 times.
These 11 BY FAITH references seem to have 2 concentric people groupings. The first grouping involved Abraham and his immediate descendants. The second grouping focused on Moses and the children of Israel whom God brought out of Israel to the land that He had promised Abraham more than 400 years before. In that second grouping, we are reminded that faith is not only about Israel, it is about those who come to God by faith - Rahab.
Abraham, his children, grandchildren & great children - FAITH THAT WAS TRUE TRUSTED GOD.
By faith, Abraham trusted God and was in the act of offering of offering up Isaac - 11:17-19
This is not the time for us to review and study all of the details of when God called Abraham to offer his son.
Nor can we note this reference to what BY FAITH Abraham trusted God to do when he walked up Mount Moriah and having placed Isaac on the altar that they had made and raised his hand to kill Isaac.
recorded for us earlier steps of “faith” that Abraham had taken. SOME OF THESE WERE VERY SHAKY!
Ur to Canaan
Received God’s covenant promises - land and a people
Eliezer and Ishmael born of Hagar
In fear for his own life and the life of Sarah, he lied misrepresenting her his sister.
Even God’s visitation and promise that within one year a son would be born to Sarah -
Those to whom the writer of Hebrews wrote would have remembered that. And we should remind ourselves as well, especially what we are reminded of - 11:8-12
In these few verses please notice the truths that God had imbedded in Abraham’s heart and Abraham believed, embraced and acted on by faith.
Only son :
Isaac was not the only son that Abraham fathered - Ishmael/Hagar
Only - term refers to someone that is unique - one of a kind - term used by John re Jesus, the Word, the unique Son of the Father.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Isaac - the only son born according to God’s promise and thus the only heir to God’s promise - quote
But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. The Apostle Paul understood and emphasized that. Paul’s context was clear. Being Abraham’s child was not about the flesh and physical but about faith.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
Rom
Even raise him from the dead
By faith, Abraham believed and understood that God’s promise through Isaac was unconditional. No matter what ever else happened, no matter what ever else God commanded, God would keep His promise.
EVEN IF THAT INVOLVED GOD RAISING ISAAC FROM THE DEAD
Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
Gen
Figuratively speaking - same word as , which some translations is rendered - parable or symbolic
Abraham received Isaac back from the dead. In Abraham’s mind Isaac had been figuratively slain.
By faith, Isaac & Jacob trusted God and invoked future blessings - 11:20-21
Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau
Saw his father by faith living
By faith applied in his own life and commended to his 2 sons
ALSO - like Abraham
INVOKED future blessings - blessed KJV - more than bless - eulogew - different from re God blessing us
FUTURE BLESSINGS -concerning future - things to come
God has blessed me, as He promised. And as He promised, He will bless you, This is a matter of faith. For sure Abraham is my father and your grandfather, BUT this is about FAITH
Yes we have so much because of our father Abraham, but by faith we have so much when BY FAITH we trust and rest in the promises of heavenly Father.
BY FAITH, Jacob blessed each of the sons of Joseph.
From Jacob not Esau were the 12 tribes
Esau was entitled to the birthright but sold it - - for “mess of pottage - lentil stew - Gen 27:1-39
that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
“Esau desired God’s blessing but he did not want God. He regretted what he had done, but he did not repent. Esau is an example of those who willfully sin against God and who are given no second chance and because of their exposure to the truth and their advanced state of hardness - ; . Esau was an example of the unholy person.” (MacArthur Study Bible - Heb 12:16-17)
Heb 12:15-17
That is not to deny his blessing his other sons - Gen 49
BUT looking to the next generation, Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons - Manasseh (first born )& Ephraim - ; , , - Jacob was blind and asking which on the head of which son his hand was being placed.
The boys were young - on Joseph’s knees -
Jacob switched his hand to bless the younger with the blessing that would have been expected for the oldest son. When Joseph gently tried to straighten this other, Jacob that he was well aware of what he was doing.
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
Gen 48:
Included in that blessing was giving to Ephraim a section of land he had taken by conquest. While this event was not elsewhere in Genesis, it obviously happened and was a known accepted fact of what he had done by faith. By God’s grace and enabling most of us have claimed territory for which there is no public record.
Staff versus bed - same consonants in Hebrew but different vowels - original Hebrew manuscripts did not include vowels - LXX 3rd century BC rendered this staff, while later 3rd to 6th century AD Hebrew manuscripts added vowels for bed.
By faith, Joseph trusted God’s promises - 11:22
Made mention of the Exodus and gave direction concerning his bones.
Facing death, Joseph ‘s faith still strong.
Hebrews: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 30: Faith that Defeats Death (11:20–22)
Matthew Henry said, “Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout the Christian’s life, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its great work to do at the very last, to help believers to finish well, to die to the Lord so as to honor Him, by patience, hope and joy so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God’s Word and the excellency of His ways.”
Although Joseph had spent most of his adult life in Egypt and had not returned to Canaan.
And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Gen
Moses, those whom he led and who he impacted - FAITH THAT WAS TRUE TRUSTED GOD.
In one verse, the writer of Hebrews shifted the foci and hearts of his readers to a point about 350 years later in their history.
Joseph on his death bed - about 1804 BC
Exodus - about 1445 BC
Birth of Moses - 80 years before Exodus - about 1525 BC - 280 years after Joseph die
NOT ONLY WAS ABRAHAM A MAN OF FAITH, SO WAS MOSES.
Lived most of his life before Sinai - 10 commandments, rituals
Decisions made by faith because his faith was right
Although in the minds of most Jews then and now - and most people - Moses was not one who lived by the law - commandments, rituals and ceremonies, religious requirements and works of the Old Covenant, he was a man who lived by faith.
Hebrews: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 31: Moses: The Decisions of Faith (11:23–29)
Because to the Jews Moses ranks as one of the most respected Old Testament figures, to show that he lived by faith, not legalism, is one of the most powerful arguments possible to convince Jews that God’s way has always been the way of faith.
By faith, Moses’ parents hid Moses - 11:23
By faith for Moses did not begin with something that by faith he believed or did, but rather something that his parents did for him BY FAITH.
To stem the population explosion among the Hebrew slaves the Pharoah ordered that all Hebrew male babies were to be drowned in the Nile -
Not Pharoah’s first attempted tool to weaken and decrease the Hebrew slaves who were increasing in number and strength - probably supernaturally with God’s blessing.
Taskmasters were to inflict the Hebrews slaves with heavy burdens
Midwives to Hebrew women to kill male babies - BUT FEARED GOD - God dealt well with the midwives and the Hebrews - Hebrews further multiplied and became strong - midwives given families
General command - DROWN EVERY HEBREW SON/NEWBORN BABY
BUT parents of Moses - Amram & Jochebed - not named - not afraid of the king’s/pharoah;s edict
Ignored the pressures and threats of the world when they conflicted with God’s way - hid the baby Moses for 3 months BECAUSE:
Saw that the child was beautiful - proper KJV - no ordinary child - favored. We have no way of know what they were thinking. In Stephen’s testimony we are reminded of another aspect. They had a sense that Moses was beautiful/special before God.
At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house,
With what we read in , it is clear that other parents feared God and circumvented Pharoah’s directive. We have every reason to think that other parents might have taken special step to save their baby boys.
The efforts to which Amram & Jochebed and even Miriam went to were significant. They did their best and trusted God -
With God’s intervention - Moses rescued by Pharoah’s daughter, named by Pharoah’s daughter & by Pharoah’s entrusted to Moses’s mother to be raised and eventually lived as the son of Pharoah’s daughter
Moses’ parents not afraid of Pharoah’s edict because they entrusted themselves to their sovereign all powerful God.
By faith, Moses trusted God - 11:24-28
It’s probably a bit too simplistic to expect the statement that Moses lived by faith to begin to summarize what it meant for him and us to live by faith. But in the 7 choices mentioned that Moses made - 3 things accepted by faith/4 rejected by faith - there was the expectation on the part of the writer to the Hebrews and for the matter by the Holy Spirit as we allow the word to speak to us that we will allow the word pictures and events referred to to fleshed out and refreshed as we prayerfully consider what it meant, what is mean to live by faith.
Refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter
Education - read & write hieroglyphics, heiratic and probably some Canaanite languages plus Hebrew
Power, position & fame
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
Acts
Age of 40 - refused to what seemed like everything for seemingly nothing.
Baron Justinian von Weltz renounced his title, estates, and income, and went as a missionary to what was then Dutch Guiana. Today his body lies there in a lonely grave, and he is forgotten by the world. But we can be sure he is not forgotten by God. As he was preparing to go into missionary service he said, “What is it to me to bear the title ‘well-born,’ when I am born again to Christ? What is it to me to have the title ‘lord,’ when I desire to be the servant of Christ? What is it to be called, ‘your grace,’ when I have need of God’s grace? All these vanities I will away with and all else I will lay at the feet of my dear Lord Jesus.”
Rejected the fleeting pleasures of sin.
No one would ague. Sin is often fun - feeds pride, desires and appetites BUT passing.
Job saw that.
Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
Their offspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.
So did Jeremiah the prophet.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Hebrews (pp. 350–351). Chicago: Moody Press.
Righteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
Jer
As did the Psalmist.
Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
Ps 73:12-13
Moses like Job understood what would happen and invested in what lasts
They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.
Job
Considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt
No question re the wealth of Egypt and the rulers of Egypt.
Moses chose to be identified with God’s people who were in Egypt because they we led there by God. They were increased in number by God’s favour. They were kept by God. If entrusting himself to God and the promised Messiah meant suffering, so be it.
Hebrews: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Faith Rejects the World’s Plenty
That is, Moses suffered reproach for the sake of Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, because he identified with Messiah’s people and purpose long before Christ came to earth. Every believer since Adam’s fall has been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, no matter in what age he has lived. It is also true, therefore, that any believer at any time who has suffered for God’s sake has suffered for Christ’s sake. In a sense, David suffered just as surely for Christ’s sake as did Paul. In one of his psalms, David says, “The reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me” (Ps. 69:9). From the other side of the cross Paul made a similar statement: “I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17).
BY FAITH - left Egypt - not because he feared the king/pharoah but he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
BY FAITH - kept the passover and sprinkled the blood.
By faith, others also trusted God - 11:29-31
By faith, crossed the Red Sea as on dry land
By faith, encircled the walls of Jericho so the walls fell down
By faith, Rahab gave the spies a friendly welcome
Faith that is true and trusts God must be integral for every believer in every successive generation, every era and every setting until our Lord returns. To that end we need to ask ourselves and each other:
What are we willing to give back to God that from our perspective seems at the core of who we are in Christ and His calling in our lives?
By faith, what are we saying in word and deed to our children and grandchildren?
By faith, what choices have we made? Whom do we trust/not fear?
By faith are there any limits to what we will trust God to do in us and through us?