By Faith (Pt. 2)

Big Idea

Tension: How does the author of Hebrews seek to instill a lifelong faith in his audience?

Resolution: By mainly pointing them to the theological trajectory of those who trusted God, culminating in Christ, for examples.

Exegetical Idea: The author of Hebrews seeks to instill a lifelong faith in his audience by pointing them to the theological trajectory of those who trusted God, culminating in Christ, for examples.

Theological Idea: God has given his people a great cloud of witnesses, culminating in Christ, to understand and to imitate their faith.

Big Idea: Let us look to the heroes of our faith, and especially Christ, to strengthen our faith today.

Outline

Introduction: I would contend that deep down in the heart of each person, there is a longing, a desire to be in a relationship with God.

Faith

God is therefore not ashamed to be called their God. This is the language of covenant. (Ex 29:45)

Who is “their”? “Their” is all those who have faith.

Faith in Hebrews (Heb 4:1-3, 6:9-12, 10:19-22, 37-38). Faith is a dogged, daring trust that God really do what he says, that Christ really has died and risen and ascended, that the Spirit really is working.

Faith is evidence and substance of things hoped for

What makes our faith different than the faith of other people? Faith as affection and love and desire for Christ even in the midst of suffering. So the faith that the Bible speaks of, the faith that Hebrews 11 is talking about is a faith that loves Christ despite the difficulties ahead.

Faith is willing to die without receiving the promise

Faith acknowledges our identity as Exiles, and it doesn’t turn back

We have a better homeland, a heavenly one

Abraham

He’s already told us to imitate the example of Abraham in chapter 6:11-15. Abraham is the chief prototype of a believer that we are to look at with faith and patience in the promises of God. In fact, we’re told that Abraham obtained the promise of God by faith.

Going out (vs. 8-10)

Gen 15:6

Abraham was living in Ur, in Mesopotamia. We know from Joshua 2:2-3 that Abraham was an idolater before God called on him. And God called him to leave his father’s house and his father’s idols.

Abraham obeyed God - It was Abraham’s faith that led him to believe. It wasn’t that Abraham’s good works earned him salvation before God, rather, it was Abraham’s faith that led him to go out of his land

It was Abraham’s belief that he would receive an inheritance. He was going to receive a land that he had never seen as his inheritance. Why would he do that? Because he believed in the promises of God.

It was this same belief in the promises of God that Abraham passed onto his children, to Isaac and to Jacob (vs. 9). They became heirs of the same promise of Abraham because like Abraham, they had faith.

What we see is that ultimately, Abraham’s promise was not just the physical land of Israel, but it was “a city that has foundations, whose founder and builder is God.” Abraham left the city of man to enter the city of God. Abraham knew that the offering of Canaan was just a sign, just a token, of the New world, the new creation, the curse undone, that God was goign to accomplish.

Endurance and Conception of Isaac (vs. 11-12)

Here we see that Sarah is actually the one in view here in vs. 11. She believes the promises of God, though she was past her age.

But we also see here that Abraham is said that he is “as good as dead.” But this translation, which is not wrong, is not quite as strong as the original. The word here is a perfect, so it’s the idea that he has already died. And that’s the point, Sarah’s past her age, and Abraham is already dead.

Yet, by faith they receive the promises of God. Why? Because they thought that he who promised was faithful.

And just like Enoch prefigured the ascension, and Noah prefigured the judgment of Christ, and Abel prefigured the death of Christ, here Abraham prefigures the resurrection of CHrist. And this should clue us in to the fact that Christ is the ultimate example of the faithful Messiah.

Sacrifice of Isaac (vs. 17-19)

It was Abraham’s faith that led him to offer up Isaac. Again what we see is that Abraham’s great act of obedience all gives evidence or proof that he really did have faith.

So here’s the faith of Abraham. He knows what God has promised, as we see in vs. 18, and yet, he believes God.

So, he thought, if God is asking me to sacrifice Isaac, it must be because he is planning on raising him from the dead.

And here we see, “figuratively” he did receive him back from the dead. And again, this is pointing us forward to the resurrection.

So here’s what I want us to see with Abraham and Sarah. God made some audacious promises to Abraham and called him to do things that seemed impossible. he told him he’d give him an inheritance, that he’d give him a son, that he’d raise his son, and it wasn’t because of Abraham’s morality, it was because Abraham had faith. And what was their faith in? It was in the fact that they believed he who promised was faithful.

The Other Patriarchs

Isaac - Blesses Jacob and Esau (vs. 20) What we see here is that all of Abraham’s children have the same kind of faith. Isaac believes that God will indeed keep his words, so Isaac blesses his kids because of the promises that are coming.

Jacob - Blesses Joseph’s sons (vs. 21) - And just like Abraham and Isaac, Jacob as he was dying, blessed both of Joseph’s sons. He gives them the promises. Because he indeed trusts the promises of God.

Joseph - Looking forward to the Exodus (vs. 22) - And finally, just like Abraham, just like Isaac, just like Jacob, Joseph too has faith in the promises of God. So, he too, gives instructions concerning his bones, that when Israel will come out of the Exodus.

So too, all this is pointing forward to Christ, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising hte shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Just like Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph and Moses, and Enoch, and Abel and Noah, Christ believed that God would raise him from the dead and so he endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. And maybe you want to say, “WEll, I want to be like Christ, I want to have that kind of faithfulness, that kind of endurance” and Christ would say, “You want to imitate me, you want to be like me, you want to follow my example? then be like Abraham, be like Isaac, be like Jacob, be like Joseph.” not that any of these people are perfect, but they give us a window into the faithfulness of Christ. And therefore, in having a firm and steady faith in Christ, like Abraham you can take hold of the promises of God. Because they had faith, God was not ashamed to be called their God. And if you and I have faith, God is not ashamed to be called our God, and Christ is not ashamed to be our Savior, and the Spirit is not ashamed to be called our helper.

Application

Pharisee

Now, remember when we became Christians, and we just fell in love with Jesus. He was everything to us. And so we wanted to do everything that would serve him because of all that he’s done for us. But hte longer that we’ve become Christians it is easy to mix that up. It’s easy to think, “okay, God will do all this for me if I do all this for him”. It’s easy to think, “God will be good to me because I’ve been so good to him.” And the easier it is to think, “Look at those morons over there, they have no idea how they’re messing up. But God is happy with me because I’m such an amazing person.” And in those cases, almost always pride goes before the Fall. And usually, it’s this person, who really has a legalistic heart, who begins to hide the biggest sins.

So here’s what you need to see in this today. None of these characters from Genesis, not Abraham, not Sarah, not Isaac, not Jacob, not Joseph, none of them are perfect. Joseph taunted his brother because he was dad’s favorite, Jacob tricked his brother out of his birth right and tricked his father into giving him his blessings, Isaac played favorites with his kids and treated his wife like she was his sister, and where do you think he learned that from? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Sarah laughed at the promises of GOd at first. Abraham tried to play off his wife as if she were his sister twice, Abraham had an affair with his wife’s servant, Abraham failed God. Each of these characters was imperfect. But God was not ashamed to be called their God.

Why? Because they had faith. Listen, the only way any of us will get to eternity is by clinging onto the goodness of God for dear life. If we ever start to slacken the grasp of our faith, we imperil our souls.

Tax Collector

Endure Suffering to gain God.

Conclusion: