The Beginning to The End of Faith
Notes
Transcript
Asked yourself - How did that happen?
Car sitting on the barrier rails around the first roundabout on the M58/M6 junction - 2 women sitting in the grass in front of their Mercedes
How did the car get there?
As we look at the incredible stories in this portion of Hebrews 11; often we look and say? “How?!”
The Beginning of Faith
The Beginning of Faith
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
As we look at these amazing events in history; each and every one of them had a common starting point:
And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
God said
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
The LORD spake
And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
The LORD said
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
The LORD said
The beginning of faith is always the same place - upon the word of God
There is power in God’s words!
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
The power of God’s word is without fathom to us! Man may be able to direct with words an army, a company, an employee, or a friend, but our words cannot create like God’s word can!
God’s word bring life where no life was before
The Lord’s words create where nothing existed before
The voice of God carries the unstoppable power of God
The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
LAMED. For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.
The Word of the Lord is established forever. It does not change!
Faith ALWAYS begins with God’s Word!
The Action of Faith
The Action of Faith
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
Forsook
Kept the passover
Passed through the Red Sea
The walls were compassed about seven days
Faith - HOPE & BELIEVE
Faith is what moves us to action
All of these incredible saints of God; knew God’s Word, hoped in His Word, believed His Word, and then acted upon God’s Instruction
Hear instruction, and be wise, And refuse it not.
He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: But he that refuseth reproof erreth.
As God shows us instruction and righteousness in His Word; faith moves us to follow what God’s Word has instructed
The End of Faith
The End of Faith
What does faith do?
Saves
Saves
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Rahab chose to act upon her faith - It brought salvation to her and her family
A relationship with God would be built
Her great, great grandson would be David
Eph 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Hope in Jesus
Believe in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection
Through faith
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Call out to the Lord and ask Him to save you
Manifests the Word of God
Manifests the Word of God
And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
God’s Word through faith:
Moved Gideon’s band of 300 hundred men to defeat the enemy of Israel
Strengthened a man beyond what man has ever seen
Delivered a giant into the hand of a young man
Gave a young boy to be raised with God’s judge
Delivered those who lived by faith from their foes - Vs 33-35
Delivered those who lived by faith to their foes - Vs 36-38
God in His Divine knowledge and will - saw fit to allow the physical bodies of those living by faith to suffer
King Manasseh - put Isaiah in a hollow tree and ordered the tree to be sawn down
These dear people may have been allowed to suffer for a moment, and God would use their testimony to help people like Saul get saved and give the martyrs a life with Him in Heaven for eternity!
God manifests the power of His Word through faith!
Faith begins with God, exercises faith in Who God is, and watches God reveal Himself through faith.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.