Hebrews 11 - What's the Big Deal About Faith Part 5
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
*Recap first several messages
Tonight we continue with our tour of “The Hall of Faith”
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
Moses was fortunate to have believing parents named Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6:20). This powerful act of faith is recorded in …
1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Stephen’s defense as he faced the Sanhedrin and the High Priest explains God’s redemptive plan beginning with Abraham …
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family.
Acts C. Moses and Deliverance (vv. 17–38)
The phrase no ordinary child might be more accurately translated “beautiful to God.” Obviously Stephen’s audience knew all this very well, so it was only necessary to touch on high points as he made his way to the conclusion.
How much of God’s plan for their son did Amram and Jochebed know, we do not know but they did know that God had a special call upon his life.
Who influenced your faith? (a parent, grandparent, an older mentor?)
Warren Wiersbe:
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: Faith—The Greatest Power in the World (Hebrews 11)
Though godly parents cannot pass on their faith as they do family traits, they can certainly create an atmosphere of faith at home and be examples to their children. A home should be the first school of faith for a child.
This faith translated to Moses. He must have know that God called him to a special yet difficult task that he would leave the life in the Egyptian courts …
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Stephen continues to summarize Moses journey in Acts 7:20-44.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: Faith—The Greatest Power in the World (Hebrews 11)
The mayor of a large American city moved into a dangerous and decayed housing project to demonstrate the problems and needs of the minorities. But she also kept her fashionable apartment and eventually moved out of the slum. We commend her for her courage but we have to admire Moses even more.
As one Pastor (J.D. Greer) put it …
It wasn’t like he left one position of power for another.
It wasn’t like he traded the presidency in Egypt for the presidency of Israel. (40 years later)
He left the halls of power to go feed sheep in the desert and wait on God.
The Apostles suffered for their faith. Men and Women of God still suffer today for their faith in Jesus Christ.
If reproach is an evidence of true faith, I wonder how much true faith there is in Western Culture?!
The Beacon Bible Commentary
“True faith always gets us out of Egypt … It never stays!”
“True faith always gets us out of Egypt … It never stays!”
One other important item before we move on …
27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
Hebrews 3. The Faith of Moses When He Left Egypt (27)
Moses’ natural eyes could see the danger from Pharaoh, and understood the danger in remaining anywhere near Egypt. Yet his eye of faith could see Him who is invisible, and he understood that God was a greater fact in his situation than an angry Pharaoh was.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
Moses not only believed God in faith by keeping the Passover, but it was a tremendous undertaking not to mention a great sacrifice for many due to Egyptian oppression. (Exodus 12:21-28)
**Imagine having to explain to your Egyptian neighbors that you must kill one of your lambs and take it’s blood and paint it on your doorframe to avoid the Angel of Death. (try explaining tithing … keep the devourer away)
Moses knew that there would be no escape from Egyptian bondage or the Egyptian darkness of death without the sprinkling of blood.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: Faith—The Greatest Power in the World (Hebrews 11)
Dr. Vance Havner said, “Moses chose the imperishable, saw the invisible, and did the impossible.”
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
The children of Israel trusted God to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and then they came to the Red Sea and had to believe God to rescue them from an “impossible situation.”
In Exodus 14 we read the account of the Exodus. As the Egyptians pursued the Israelites, they grumbled to Moses and this is his response …
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Then we fast forward to the account of Joshua (Joshua 1) after the death of Moses, God calls Joshua to take down the city of Jericho (the first fruits of the promised land) in Joshua 6
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
**This one always gets me … imagine the conversation with God: “Ok, God, what’s the strategy? We’re going to run the old circle and shout method!” What!!
These 2 verses are unusual … they contain a startling omission (Joshua) and a startling inclusion (Rahab).
Gentile (Canaanite)
a woman
prostitute
Her name is remembered in a positive way (Matthew’s genealogy - Matthew 1:5) and …
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
Another thing that is remarkable the progression of faith. When Israel set out, they relied completely on the faith of Moses. And now, they are beginning to walk in their own faith. (perhaps this is why the author of Hebrews omits Joshua’s name)
Finally we have two groups … (Hold up a finger for group one and two for group two)
32 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— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 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. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
Gideon
Barak
Samson
Jephthah
David
Samuel
Prophets
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 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— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Mocking
Flogging
Chains
Imprisonment
Stoned
Sawed in two
Killed by the sword
What group do you want to be a part of? Some who received a great deliverance and others died with nothing on Earth that really validated their faith.
If you require earthly validation of your faith, you won’t make it very far on the journey!
If you require earthly validation of your faith, you won’t make it very far on the journey!
Some days you feel like the Psalmist in Psalm 63
1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
C.S. Lewis said in “A Grief Observed” that the depth of our faith is revealed only when it is a matter of life and death.
C.S. Lewis said in “A Grief Observed” that the depth of our faith is revealed only when it is a matter of life and death.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Takeaways ...
1. Faith is a Response to God’s Revelation
1. Faith is a Response to God’s Revelation
Faith is relatively simple. It believes that God exists and that obeying Him is worth it.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
2. Faith is Action
2. Faith is Action
Noah built
Abraham left
Jacob blessed
Joseph instructed (bones)
Moses chose
Joshua fought
Faith is not believing the rope will hold you; it is leaning back on that rope.
Faith is not believing the rope will hold you; it is leaning back on that rope.
Extra Material:
Are you living a life of faith? In Cairo there is a small, dusty grave in an out of way location. I’ve never seen it, but I heard that you’d never in a millions years know it was there—it’s all overgrown with grass. In it lies the body of William Borden, the heir of the Borden milk company. He gradated from Yale in 1909 and had a life of luxury and power laid out for him. Borden is still a big company, but then it was one of America’s biggest. He had become a Christian as a teenager, and told his parents that he was giving his life to bring the gospel to Muslims. Refusing even to buy himself a car, Borden gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions. After only four months of zealous ministry in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of twenty-five, on a ship en route for medical help. Someone asked him right before he died what he thought about his decisions, and he said simply, “No regrets.” On his tombstone in Cairo is a brief description of his sacrifices for the kingdom of God and for Muslim people, followed by the simple phrase, “Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.”
Taken from Randy Alcorn, Treasure Principle.