Heb.11:8-22 The Faith of the Patriarchs
Intro:
"True faith is deaf
to doubt , dumb to discouragement blind to impossibility/ no matter what the
circumstances it sees the promised success.
A) Heb. 11 Hall of faith .....men & women who exercised faith
in the Lord / tough circumstances, trials & situations
B) The life of faith has
some specific ingredients that are pointed out in the passage before us - reflected in life of Abraham
1) Abraham is a composite of God's pattern of faith/ He
reveals in totality the true faith life, and the ingredients that constitute
it!
C) Paul uses Abraham as
an example of SAVING FAITH in Romans 4
/ Abe was Justified by Faith -
1)
Abe believed in the
Lord – God accounted it for Righteousness / Abe was saved the same way as we
are – Believing in the word of the Lord
D) James uses Abraham as
an Example of WORKING FAITH – James 2 / True saving faith will be evidenced by
works / by actions
1)
Not saved by our works
but our faith is a faith that works
E) But here in Hebrews
the writer outlines for us some Characteristics of the LIFE OF FAITH –
evidenced here in the life of Abe
Tonight
I want us to Note 4 Characteristics of this life of Faith that Abe is an
example of : Promise / Patience, Perception, Proof
A)End tonight by making
a few Comments about Isaac / Jacob / Joseph
B) 1st PROMISE of Faith : Gen 12:1-3
1Now the LORD had said to Abram:“Get out of
your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I
will show you.2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And
make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.3I will bless
those who bless you,
And I will
curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.”
4So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to
him,
and Lot went with
him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
C)
Abe’s story begins in Gen.12 living in Ur of
the Chaldeas / nice place Luxurious place / when God calls him to leave
1) Go to this land that God was going to show him
D)God directed Abe to do
only one thing LEAVE – in turn God would do 8
wonderful things for Abe – 8 = # of New Beginnings
1) His Faith was based upon these promises that God had given to
Him
E) 8 Blessings were promised to Abe – but in order for him to experience any of it – He
had to step out of His Comfort Zone
1)
Same w/ us – God given
us certain promises only realized as we step out in Faith – Trusting in the
Word of God
In
v.8 - we read that Abraham obeyed when he was called - left Ur to go
to place God would show him!
A)This is amazing to me
- Wasn't given a place just a direction - He didn't know where going! Just left.
B) Jan 1989 –God calling us to leave Vista – waited
for Direction/ July Oregon / 2yrs later – Silverton
1)
It was a step of faith
– but at least we knew where we were going to live/ Stewarts { Baja / house/
Church}
C) Imagine packing
everything up – heading off / just in a direction –
1)
That is
what Abe did – AMAZING - People must
have thought he was nuts!
D) Plus - part of deal
the Lord said - make him a great nation, from seed nations will be blessed!
1) Problem?
Abraham is in his 75 and Sarah is in her 65 - no children!
Not
the age to start a big journey; let alone a family!
Abraham
had no game plan! Just a promise and a
direction!
A.) God called him - he believed the promise -
believed God was faithful to deliver
and he went!
B) Saying "I believe it when I see it" / But
The Life of faith, life of believer -
is "Believe it (step out) then you'll see it!"
C) Step out – Trust in
the Lord / His word – watch what happens
1)
Wives in Submission –
Watch husbands – take leadership
D) Witnessing : Power of
the word – Believe it share – watch
I was
fortunate to be a part of the First CC mission trip to Eastern Europe/ Trip I
will never forget
A.) Sports background! Like game plan - Brian busy -on the plane - game plan? Where going? Where staying? Who's picking us up?
B)Not the way I like to
operate/ Get there; 8 people - 20 pieces
luggage and band equipment - all
crammed into WV van!
1.) On way going -
almost got lost; ran out of gas - arrive in / middle of
night - split up - no one spoke
English
C) Beginning to wonder
if ever see my family again
1)
God blew our minds!
D) Now when we go on
trips although we do make travel arrangements & accommodations / we don’t
necessarily plan all activities –
1) Lets go see what opens up – Start on the street – watch what
God does
Now
there were 2 Characteristics that marked the fact that Abe was living by the
Promises of God
A)1st v.9 They dwelt in TENTS -Abraham
became a pilgrim and sojourner in a foreign land
B)
God said lead you to this land – wasn’t going
to set up permanent housing until he arrived
1) So He and his descendants for close to
200 years - dwelt in tents / those Tents characterized their attitude toward
the world!
C) This world or
wherever they were was not their home/ Camping / not house on wheels
1)
I enjoy tent camping
for about 4,5 days – Old - boxes and suitcases
Once lived out of suitcases 3 weeks – imagine 30 yrs
D) Why did they do that
? V.10 They were living with heaven in view! "Looking
for a city with foundations - - builder maker was God!
We
are called as Christians to live with the same mindset - pilgrims and sojourners
- heaven is our home!
A.) Not overly attached to this place!- Living
for eternity!
B.) Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
1.) Lit. - don't let
the world squeeze you into it's mold
C.) The mold that this
world seeks to conform us to is a mentality that says to live for that which is
temporal
1.) That which is going
to fade away! That which is primarily meant
to
please self
D.) Don't be
conformed to this world! See beyond
this past the temporal to the eternal
1.) Not seeking to
please self - But the Lord!
2nd thing -
marked them in pilgrimage was - built altars
A.) Wherever they went - altars! Revealed not just their desire to follow the Lord but their devotion to the Lord!
B.)The Altar was used for worship - want to live for the next
life - with heaven in view - be worshiper
1.) Worship gets my eyes off of this place Sees the Lord
– Heavenly
perspective – Tonight – Worship / today –
put aside
C) That is why As often
as possible - enter into holiest - be before the Lord!
Focus will change - language will change!
D) Listen person living
by sight - be a complainer! a lot going
wrong here
1.) Person living by faith with eternity in view will be
a worshiper!
Focus is on the Lord
So first we see the Promise of Faith – Faith in the promises of God
Note
2ndly - Patience of Faith - Patience must accompany true faith!
Always
a gap between Promise & the Performance
A.) V.10 - says they waited
for a city ...
B) 25 yr gap between –
Promise & performance – Never made it to that city
1) Why were they able to have patience?
V.11 - Answer - they judged Him faithful who
promised! Just believed
God would come through on Promise!
C) Sarah’s faith in the
Promise of God actually Gave her the strength bear that Child – Isa. 40 those who wait …. Shall renew strength ….. not faint
1) What promise are you
holding on to? Don’t grow weary in waiting
D) Know this - our Lord is faithful! His
time frame is different!
1) Encouraged by the hearts of many of you
concerning building thing
Now here is
what A person can be waiting but not showing patience!
A)My son - classic
example - always asking
B)Some people - waiting
but not patient - freaking out, worried, their stressed.. Trying take matters into my own hands
1) That's not patience - not faith!/
The
type of faith that waits on God in patience is that which carries on - perseveres! & Fruit is born out of that
perseverance!
A.) The bee has been aptly
described as "busy". Consider to produce one pound of honey,
the bee must visit 56,000 clover heads. since each head has 60 flower
tubes, a total of 3,360,000 visits are
necessary to give us that pound of honey for the breakfast table.
Meanwhile, that worker bee has flown the
equivalent of three times around the world.
To produce one
tablespoon of honey for our toast, the little bee makes 4,200 trips to
flowers ( Think you have been
persevering)
Leonardo! Da Vinci
worked on "The Last Supper" for 10 years, often so absorbed he forgot to eat for whole days.
B) How many blessings are not discovered because people quit to
soon / people give up
It is said that Thomas
Edison the famous inventor made thousands of trials
before he got his celebrated electric
light to operate.
One day, a workman to
whom he had given a task said, "Mr. Edison, it
cannot be done."
"How
often have you tried? "About
two thousand times. " Edison
responded, "Go back and try two thousand times
more; you have only found that there are two thousand ways in which it cannot
be done."
This is the same man who also said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine
percent perspiration."
In Western Africa, it was fourteen years before convert was received into the church. In
East Africa, ten; in New Zealand, nine years before one baptism in Tahiti, it was sixteen years before the
first harvest.
William Carey labored seven years before the first Hindu
convert was baptized.
In Burma, Judson toiled
for seven years before he had one, he wrote this letter to his sending church
in England
I Beg the churches to have patience. If a ship were here to
carry me to any part of the world, I would not leave my field. Tell the
brethren success is as certain as the promise of a faithful God can make
it."
Emerson - " A man is a hero - not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is brave for 10
minutes longer
C.) These heroes of faith - lived as pilgrims in
this life. eye on heaven! Heart for God / Patience
in His promises!
Here's
neat thing - Abraham and Sarah's patience wore out - their faith faltered - you
know story 1st Egypt
A.) 2nd Hagar
- Ishmael's born – God doesn’t mention that / this side of Calvary - Heb 6 Abe patiently
endured………..
B.) All the Patriarchs
had their moments of failure / but they never gave up on the Lord & He
never gave up on them
1) In NT.. God forgives and forgets!
Move
to talk about the Perception of Faith – v.13-16
A) Spent a whole Sunday
on this section 2 Sundays ago – make a few quick observations
B) Perception deals w/ Vision how things are being viewed
&
how that directly affects my life , way I walk / live / worship!
"Vision that looks inward becomes
duty. Vision that looks
outward becomes aspiration. Vision that
looks upward becomes faith."
C) Abe’s eyes were on
the Lord / & that affected his perception of everything else
We Noted 5 things concerning
the Perception of their faith
A)1st V13 Faith sees the promises afar off! It is the vision to see what is up
ahead! It is to factor God into the
equation
2ndly
Not only sees .......; but is assured of them!
A) Assurance = Confident
1) Abe was 100yrs old Sarah was 90 Rom.4:21 " He was fully
persuaded
that what promised he was able to perform!"
3rd They
embraced them !
A) Embrace is not talking about a cold formal
reception / but a
warm hearty welcome .EMBRACE!
1) Away from Denise / handshake?
4TH They confessed they were
strangers & Pilgrims
A) Their confession was evidenced by their
lifestyle – Randy & Janet
5th V15 They
didn't look back ! In fact it says they didn’t
even call to mind the old days / life / if did reason to return
A) Evidence that
confession was real / they didn't look back from where they came !/ Didn’t
think about / didn’t talk about
B) Hand to the plow – no
looking back
C) Promise / Patience /
Perception
4th
Characteristic Abe’s Life of Faith
Proof of Faith : Faith is always tested
A)The test came for Abe
after his beloved Isaac was born & He was somewhere in the age of 18 God
said Sacrifice
B) Purpose was to test
Abe’s Love for the Lord – How much He feared God
1) God Knew – what He would do – God knew
Abe’s heart / He wanted Abe to see His heart
C)
God knows us inside & out – But at times He will put our faith to the test
so that we can see our hearts – Encouraged by our strength /
1)
Or see the areas where
we still need to grow
D) I can’t believe how I
made it thru that
The
insight that we gain here Concerning Abe’s Obedience & the evidence of his
faith is really interesting
A)Basically we are told
in v. 19 that Abe was willing to offer up Isaac because he believed that should
he follow thru / God would raise him
B) Abe had grown so much
in his ability to trust in the word of God – He just believed that – If God has me do this / He will change it
1) Because thru the seed of Isaac the world
was going to be blessed the Messiah was going to come
C) In fact – Gen 22
interesting insight 3So Abraham rose early in the morning and
saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son;
and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place
of which God had told him. 4Then on the third day Abraham lifted his
eyes and saw the place afar off. 5And Abraham said to his young men,
“Stay here with the donkey; the £lad and I will go yonder and
worship, and we will come back to you.”
The Main pt. In
mentioning Isaac Jacob & Joseph here is that – They blessed their kids
& Joseph instructed concerning his bones based on the belief that God was
going to lead them to this Promised land
A)They acted on faith –
concerning the Promises of God even in their dying day
B) That was faith - Couldn’t see it –
C) Writing a will that –
Aaron my son would be the groundskeeper of the New Church building –
Believing in the Promise
of God –