HALL OF FAITH Hebrews 11:1-12:13 INTRODUCTION Right Let s get into the message today! Today s passage is a rather famous one It is the famous faith passage in Hebrews... Known by some as the hall of fame of great men and women of faith. So today s message is called The Hall of Faith There was a song that came out not so long ago called the hall of fame by the band The Script a real feel good song about getting out there and becoming who you want to be in life and ending up Standing in the hall of fame ooooohhh and the worlds gonna know your name Catchy song. But at its core it s really all about you becoming famous! The world knowing my name in the worldly hall of fame. But what I love about the passage we are going to be going through today, is that these individuals who we are going to read about seem more interested in God s fame than theirs! For these great men and women of faith they desire God to be highlighted as the truly famous one They are more interested in the glory of His name. And it is through their courageous faith, that God chose to highlight them for all eternity, as examples for us. Men and woman of great faith. 1
And it feels quite timeous for me Having just been in China where I was blessed to rub shoulders with some modern day great men and women of God, who could also fit very well on this list. For example This great guy on my left. (Picture on screen) I won t mention his name but he is a truly a remarkable man of God who is doing such a good thing in China. He is not doing it for his fame, or so the world get s to know his name, no. He just wants to help more people come to know Jesus. And there are many others... (Picture of team with monks) Some of the people I met in China, are simply incredible men and women of faith reaching people that the world does not really know or care about. It s incredible. So today we are going to look at some heroes of the faith people who have persevered in following and obeying God, sometimes even through persecution and tough times. But first 1. WHAT IS FAITH? What is faith? I realize not so long ago we dealt with a series called daring faith, but this is the next passage in front of us today in Hebrews, so we are going to be speaking about faith again! Because the first part of today s passage deals with what faith actually is, here we go Hebrews 11:1-3; Prepare yourself, we ve got a big chunk of scripture to go through but it s good that we read scripture together we re not going scripture light today, we re going scripture heavy So here we go Hebrews 11:1; Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. You see, Faith accepts that what God says will happen will happen. Faith is a hope based on God s character and understanding of who He is He IS trustworthy He IS in control. It is not wishing for something to happen it is solid and it is dependant on God. Faith takes seriously what God has to say and acts upon it even when the results are not yet seen. We live in such an impatient and instant generation we want what we want right now! When you order stuff online you now get the option of next day delivery. It s amazing and its getting even more intense and fast paced The big company, Amazon, are now researching drones, can you believe it, to see if they can speed up the delivery process even further! Who knows, in the not too distant future you will place an order online and a grocery back will come flying into your front yard in less than 30min! But here s the thing about faith Faith still trusts God even when there is a wait involved. Even when you don t have an immediate answer. 2
Friends, I know some of you are waiting and trusting in faith, for God to come through for you with something. Don t give up trusting in Him. He s not like Amazon or takealot. He answers IN HIS TIME. Not ours. But here s the next thing we see Faith pleases God Now hear me You cannot EARN God s love as He already loves you perfectly based on who HE is not on who YOU are but we are told here that faith pleases Him. Hebrews 11:4; By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: He could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith here it is without faith. it is impossible to please God why? because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Friends Abel pleased God by making a HEARTFELT offering by giving him his BEST. Enoch pleased God by WALKING WITH HIM. What about you? Does your faith please God? It s a challenging and interesting question to ask yourself. Does your faith please God? Or does it displease him? It has now been one year since I have been serving as Pastor here at King of Kings and the first time I ve felt the weight of a financial deficit on my shoulders During this time, I often wondered, will God be pleased by my faith, or displeased? And we ve all got things we need to trust him for. King of Kings, let s be a church that has faith that pleases God! Amen? Halleluljah! But Faith not only believes what God says, it also acts on it Faith obeys God Hebrews 11:7; By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith. 8 By faith Abraham when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance obeyed and went even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. You see God asked Noah to do some incredible things and the people thought he was mad! Build a huge boat and gather every kind of animal for there is a flood coming but there was not even a cloud in the sky!!!!! Yet He obeyed and acted on God s specific instructions even when he was mocked. 3
Abraham s family must have wondered about him too to just pack up your life based upon God s instruction and to set out into the unknown, that s pretty out there but that s what many missionaries have done. Their obedience was a sign of their faith in God. But here s another thing we learn about faith Faith trusts for the impossible Abraham not only trusted God and obeyed Him he also trusted God to bring about the impossible!!!!! One of God s promises to Abraham was that his descendants would be a great nation and at that stage, having not been able to have children, and with Abraham and Sarah already past the age of child bearing, that was not looking so possible! Hebrews 11:11; And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man and he as good as dead came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. Faith believes faith trusts in God s power to do the impossible. Can I get a louder amen to that? Amen. One of the things we do as a church to support missions is Faith Promise Giving it both helps us exercise our faith in trusting God to provide for our commitment over and above our normal giving but also shows our support, and cheers on our missionaries! So I want to ask you to begin praying about what you will commit to faith promise giving this year. There will be an opportunity in this coming month to make your commitment to faith promise. But faith also believes even when the results are slow in coming Faith believes in promises, even when not yet fulfilled Look at verse 13 Hebrews 11:13; All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. In 1912, a medical missionary Dr. William Leslie went to live and minister to tribal people in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After 17 years he returned to the States a discouraged man he believed he had failed to make an impact for Christ, and He died nine years after his return. But in 2010, a team led by Eric Ramsey, with Tom Cox World Ministries, made a shocking discovery. They found a whole network of reproducing churches hidden like 4
glittering diamonds in the dense jungle across the Kwilu River from Vanga, where Dr. Leslie had been stationed. It is so easy to get discouraged and to lose faith when the results don t come quickly like we want but faith sees that God has a bigger picture in mind and I am only one small part of that sometimes it will take generations to see God s promises fulfilled. Faith trusts God even when the results are slow at coming in. But now it gets a little tougher because true faith is also resilient, even when it s not easy Faith stands under testing Verse 17 Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son 18 even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. You know the old saying When the going gets tough, the tough get going! So often we make the mistake that tough times are a sign that God does not love us or He is displeased with us but often they can be God testing our faith making us step out of our comfort zones and learn to lean on Him alone. It would have been so easy for Abraham after Isaac s birth to just sit back, and chill faith wise and the promise was fulfilled in him finally having a son but God still wanted His faith to grow and His trust to grow so He tested Him. It s also important to see that Faith is for the long haul Hebrews 11:21; By faith Jacob, when he was dying blessed each of Joseph s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. Often we just think of faith that is needed to become a Christian but faith is also needed for the long haul it s one thing to trust God for our salvation it s another thing to trust him for our daily lives. Our walk with God is not a short one but an ultra-marathon will your faith go the distance? And then of course the great enemy of faith fear. And here s the thing we learn about this Faith overcomes fear Take a look at what it says in verse 23 5
Hebrews 11:23; By faith Moses parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt not fearing the king s anger he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so they were drowned. There are a lot of scary things in this world, a lot of things that make us fearful and anxious. Moses mother must have been so scared yet she has faith to save her baby. Faith does not take the scary things away from our lives, but it helps us to face them and see a way through. Here s another great lesson about faith Faith is not just for the religious Verse 30 Hebrews 11:30; By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the army had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies was not killed with those who were disobedient. We often think that faith is for the religious professionals for the mega church pastors and missionaries Yet Rehab who was not from a Hebrew background and to be completely frank was a prostitute. This amazing women showed great faith in God by helping the spies from Israel. You see, faith is not an exclusive trait for the religious super elite it is for everyone, the ordinary sinner, like you and I. The passage starts to sum things up now... and reminds us of the final big thing I want you to see about faith Faith enables you to endure tough times Follow along from verse 32 Hebrews 11:32; And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead raised to 6
life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. I think we have become a people of faith who are very comfortable. Our biggest concerns as the gathered people of God are whether our coffee after the service was hot enough if the sound volume was to our liking and if my favourite parking space was available. Look at the stuff the people of God endured in the past Verse 36 36 Some faced jeers and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning they were sawed in two... they were killed by the sword They went about in sheepskins and goatskins destitute persecuted and mistreated. 38 the world was not worthy of them... They wandered in deserts and mountains living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. The world was not worthy of them They were commended for their faith King of Kings what legacy will we leave? What legacy will you leave? Will you be commended for your faith? There are so many heroes of faith that the writer if this letter could list many people who took steps of obedience regardless of their scary circumstances. Faith gives courage. The theme of our Mission s week is Courageous. I am amazed at the courage of our missionaries to do the things they do and to go to the places they go. Yet if you talk to them most will tell you that they are not naturally courageous people their courage comes from their faith in God. One such couple is Paul & Simone Weaver! And we thought it would be great to get them up front today to share a little bit about what God has done in their lives, and where they are at now I believe that Simone is going to be sharing (Paul & Simone Weaver) Thank you Simone... So as I begin to wrap up this message Here s the question for us 2. HOW TO KEEP YOUR FAITH IN TOUGH TIMES The next few verses really speak into this Firstly Be encouraged by the faith of others who have endured Take courage from other s stories from the Hall of faith listen to their stories and understand that faith is not based on easy circumstances Hebrews 12:1; Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. 7
We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Men and women of faith who have gone before us so don t let anything hold you back! Disentangle yourself from sin it holds you back So many are living a live focused and bogged down in sin that Faith has not chance to grow. Jesus has already set you free from sin let it go, cut it off, stop dragging it around with you. Can you imagine trying to do the Comrades dragging a fishing net of junk around your feet? That is how many of us are trying to walk the Christian walk. But here s another thing we must do Focus on Jesus! Look at the second part of verse 1 Hebrews 12:1b; And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Many of us are so easily distracted we focus on our sin, on our circumstances we spend so much time navel gazing at our own lives. If you want to run, run to Jesus take the focus off yourself and on to Him. Tight rope walkers will tell you that if you look down and look at your own feet you will fall you have to focus on something ahead of you. Look to Jesus He is the one we have faith in. And in doing that Accept that God is a loving Father Verse 5 Hebrews 12:5; And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, My son do not make light of the Lord s discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. This is a tough one for many too often we measure God s love based on our feelings do we feel His loves? do we feel His presence? Yet there are times when God is disciplining us making us stronger in our faith and we don t like it. But a loving father disciplines the ones he love. So Let God refine you through discipline Verse 7 Hebrews 12:7; Endure hardship as discipline God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not 8
disciplined and everyone undergoes discipline then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Faith trusts that God has a plan and purpose for everything in our lives. The world seems like it is out of control, but faith sees that God is in control. Therefore God can use all things in our lives for His glory. So what s the final challenge? Soldier up and press on! Verse 12 Hebrews 12:12; Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Too often we feel helpless, paralysed by our circumstances. It must have been like that for the Hebrew Christians persecuted by the Romans and rejected by the Jews. It must have been easy to think let s just give up! But God is greater than all these circumstances and problems. I ve done some half marathons and cross country runs in my life I ve done a few Argus cycle races. In every race there is a point, or actually multiple points where you get really tired and feel like you want to throw in the towel at that point you need to give yourself a little lecture You have to snap out of it man up and gather your strength and press on for the reward. As I close today. If you feel like you are lagging behind, if you feel like your spiritual arms are feeble and your knees are weak Press on and keep your focus on Jesus. Don t give up and don t stop having Faith in Him who is in control, who is able to do the impossible, who keeps His word. Amen! Let s pray together We want to pray for you, we want to minister to you, if you need prayer, for any area of your life, we are going to sing one more worship song today. During this worship song, our ministry prayer team leaders will be ready up front here, if you want prayer, for any area of your life, you just come. Perhaps you ve never given your life to Jesus. Don t put that off. Perhaps you realize your faith has been displeasing to God, and you need him to help you trust more deeply in His promises. In a moment, we will all stand, and when we stand, you step out, come to the front, and let us pray for you. 9