Faith That Conquers
TEXT: Hebrews 11:1-7
TOPIC: Faith that Conquers
Pastor Bobby Earls, First Baptist Church, Center Point, Alabama,
Sunday Morning, March 5, 2006
Share the article, “God Wants You!”
(Read Hebrews 11:1-7)
1. FAITH THAT CONQUERS SEES WHAT OTHERS CANNOT SEE - MOSES
Hebrews 11:1-3 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. 2 Men of God in days of old were famous for their faith. 3 By faith—by believing God—we know that the world and the stars—in fact, all things—were made at God’s command; and that they were all made from things that can’t be seen. (LB)
King George III of England wrote in his Journal on July 4, 1776, (kind of an important date), “Nothing happened today.”
They asked Helen Keller once if anything could be worse than being blind. She said, “Yes, having eyesight and not being able to see.”
That’s why the Apostle Paul prayed, “That the eyes of our hearts might be open.” In other words, He was praying that we would have the ability to see the things of God.
Hebrews 11:23-27
23 Moses’ parents had faith too. When they saw that God had given them an unusual child, they trusted that God would save him from the death the king commanded, and they hid him for three months and were not afraid. 24 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the grandson of the king, but chose to share ill-treatment with God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought that it was better to suffer for the promised Christ than to own all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the great reward that God would give him. 27 And it was because he trusted God that he left the land of Egypt and wasn’t afraid of the king’s anger. Moses kept right on going; it seemed as though he could see God right there with him. Moses overcame the hazards of commitment because his vision was clearly defined. (LB)
Bill Bright, Founder and President of Campus Crusade for Christ says,
“Study the attributes of God. Once we understand how awesome God is, we will not hesitate to believe great things for God’s Kingdom.”
Faith that conquers sees what others cannot see.
2. FAITH THAT CONQUERS OFFERS A MORE EXCELLENT OFFERING - ABEL
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; (NKJV)
3. FAITH THAT CONQUERS PLEASES GOD – ENOCH
Hebrews 11:5-6 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
4. FAITH THAT CONQUERS ATTEMPTS THE IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD – NOAH
Hebrews 11:7 It was by faith that Noah built an ark to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about something that had never happened before. (NLT)
A.W. Tozer said, “God is looking for those through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we settle only for the things that we can do ourselves.”
Never tell a person that something cannot be done. God may have been waiting for centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.
Aren’t you glad that Noah didn’t say to God, “I don’t do boats.”
Aren’t you glad that Mary didn’t say to God, “I don’t do virgin births.”
Aren’t you glad Jesus didn’t say to God, “I don’t do crucifixions and resurrections.”
My father placed in me an indomitable ambition by reminding me again and again, “There’s no such word as ‘can’t.’” In fact he would often say this, “Can’t never could until he tried.”
I’ve often said of the church today, “We’re too busy saying we can’t to realize God can.”
Arthur Rubenstein, famous concert pianist was once asked if he would like to attend church while in New York City, he responded, “Take me to a church that will challenge me to attempt the impossible.”
Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you.” I call this the Faith Factor.
There are many factors that influence our ministry as a church over which we have no control: our background, history, our location, the make-up of our membership, our giftedness. But there is one important factor that we do have control over: how much we will choose to believe God! Our faith.
ILLUSTRATION: Teacher hoping to help her Sunday School class of second graders better understand the story of Christmas, the wise men, the star, and the baby Jesus, gave them the assignment to go home and count the stars one night and come back and share how many stars they saw the next Sunday. The next Sunday the responses of the children ranged from 149 to millions. Except for one little boy--Jimmy. I only saw 3. Why? “Well, the only thing I can figure is that we have an awfully small back yard.”
Too many churches and too many people have back yards that are way too small when it comes to faith in God.
5. FAITH THAT CONQUERS NEVER GIVES UP
Biblically I think of two who showed courage and faith to accomplish a task God had assigned:
Nehemiah
1. He had no official authority with the Jews or experience building walls.
2. There was a strong vocal constituency who criticized the work.
3. He faced the barrier of a task that his generation had never done before.
4. His workers were volunteers who were preoccupied with self-interest.
5. Most of his help wanted to quit half-way through the project.
6. He built despite constant threat of attack from the opposition.
Moses
1. He had no official role or authority among the Hebrew slaves.
2. He had failed once already in bringing justice to a Jewish man.
3. He had been missing for 40 years due to his fears.
4. He had a history of ease in the palace with which no Jew could identify.
5. He could not speak well by his own admission and he lacked the self-confidence
and the desire to do the job.
Other than that, no problem.
Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7
Mother Teresa says, “Faith keeps the person that keeps the faith.”
The diary of Christopher Columbus sounds very repetitious. Often he wrote, “This day we sailed on.” What he did not say was, “this day the waves and the storms were buffeting the ship.” He said, “This day we sailed on.” The Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta, sailed on. He did not say, “Today, hunger, sickness, fever, and disease are ravaging the crew.” He said, “This day, we sailed on.”
What a motto for the church! When Columbus left Spain on August 3, 1492, few believed in him or his cause. “You’ll fall off the edge of the earth,” they said. “There’s nothing beyond the Pillars of Hercules.” But Columbus sailed on. At 2:00 a.m., on the morning of October 12, they spotted the glistening white sands of the Bahamas and took possession of a new world.
Hudson Taylor, the founder of the first inland mission to China, was born in 1853. On his way to China to serve as a missionary, the sailing vessel in which Taylor was a passenger was becalmed in the ocean.
For days the wind didn’t blow and vessel couldn’t move. In desperation, the captain, who was not a Christian, went to Taylor and said, “Mr. Taylor, I want you to pray that God will send the winds so that we can begin to move again.”
Taylor said that he would be glad to pray on the condition that the captain first lift the sails. But the captain refused. “Why, my men will think that I’m crazy if I raise the sails in this calm.”
“Then,” Hudson Taylor said, “I will not ask God to send the wind. If I am to pray for wind, I must have the faith to raise the sails.”
Only then did the missionary go below and pray for God to send the wind. And it wasn’t long until God answered Taylor’s prayer, filling the sails with wind and speeding the ship on its way.
PRAYER – God, send the winds called faith to our church and fill our sails that we may begin to move again. And as You do, help us to just sail on. There are new worlds for our church yet to discover. Give us a faith that conquers. So that we like Moses, we can see by faith what others cannot see. And that we like Abel, may offer a more excellent sacrifice. Or like Enoch, may please God. Or like Noah may we attempt the impossible for God. And like Nehemiah, give us a faith that does not give up.