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Part 1: The Faith of Heroes Proved
by Samuel E. Ward
View PowerPoint Slides @ http://www.slideshare.net/samward1/stand-firm-carry-your-cross-part-1
Introduction
There is a phrase in the lyrics to America, the Beautiful, that is used to describe the love and devotion of patriot soldiers. It says, "O Beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self, their country loved and mercy more than life."
And there are those who faithfully fought a different kind of war, a spiritual one, who became heroes in God's eyes because they, too, loved Him and the righteousness of His kingdom more than life.
(Heb 11:36-38 NIV) Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. {37} They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death 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, and in caves and holes in the ground.
What kind of person is so willing to suffer loss, comfort, status, possessions, and even life, for God and His kingdom? I submit to you that it is someone who has discovered that the will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you. Perhaps hearing the words of the complete poem from which these lines are taken will be even more encouraging.
The Will of God
Author Unknown
The will of God will never take you,
Where the grace of God cannot keep you.
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the power of God cannot endow you.
The will of God will never take you,
Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.
The will of God will never take you,
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.
The will of God will never take you,
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.
I begin a series of messages on Christian endurance which I believe will become a necessity sooner, rather than later, for brothers and sisters in Christ. The world, including our own nation, are seeking to marginalize and suppress the Christian gospel and the values it represents.
Already soldiers and even chaplains are being threatened with court martial for sharing their faith with those who are the most desperately in need of it—those whose very lives are brought to the precipice of eternity by enemies who seek to take their lives.[1] A teacher is fired in New Jersey for simply "giving Bible to an inquisitive student."[2]
It is a time for Christians to stand firm and carry their crosses. We should not stand belligerently for what we believe, but firmly and unwilling to yield to the idea that the authority of any man or nation who might tell us to stop preaching and testifying concerning Christ and His gospel is subservient to the God who commands us to "…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mat 28:19-20 NIV)
We are not to do this by coercion with swords, guns, or bombs, but with the offering of the message of hope and redemption for the world through Christ. If some choose not to believe, that is their prerogative, but Christians cannot be remiss in offering the opportunity. God has a plan of redemption for all humanity. The world need not fear any harm from any true believer in Christ for choosing something else for themselves. We leave it to God alone, without any assistance from us, to judge. That is His right alone; for only He can judge rightly and according to absolute truth.
That being said, even the presentation of the gospel will be offensive to the world and Christians may be—will be—called upon to stand firm and carry their crosses rather than be silenced. Fortunately, we have been given many examples from Scripture of those who did just that. They bore their testimony faithfully and many paid the price by suffering and even death.
I begin by surveying the faith of heroes proved as presented in Hebrews 11.
The Faith of Heroes Proved
I. The Description of Faith, Heb 11:1-3
(Heb 11:1-3 NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of 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.
A. Hope Requires Faith in God to Keep His Promises about Things We Cannot See Happening Right Now, Heb 11:1.
This is how the "ancients" lived their lives. They believed that God would reward their obedience with the keeping of His promises to them concerning things in the future for themselves or their succeeding generations. Abraham is a prime example of such faith.
B. Creation Requires Faith in God's Ability to Make What Is Seen Out of That Which Cannot Be Seen.
We should understand that scientific facts are the same for everyone. It is how they are interpreted that produces the different views concerning how the universe came to be. Neither the creationist nor the materialist can claim any eye-witness observers to the beginning of the universe. Either scenario—a universe that has always been in some form or God who created it out of nothing—requires an extrordinary amount of faith.
What follows in Hebrews 11 are several examples of faith expressed in terms of believing in the promises of God. Some lived to see the keeping of the promises while others did not, leaving others to experience the completion of the promise. From these, we will be able to see various expressions of faith that God commends which also serves to show several aspects to faith that can guide us in our experience and expression of biblical faith.
We begin with . . .
II. The Practice of Faith, Heb 11:4-38
A. Abel: Faith Offers God Want He Asks for and Not What One Is Only Willing to Give, Heb 11:4.
(Heb 11:4 NIV) By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Note the negative example of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-4.
(Acts 5:1-4 NIV) Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. {2} With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. {3} Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? {4} Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
B. Enoch: Faith Lives to Please God and Not Self, Heb 11:5-6.
(Heb 11:5-6 NIV) 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 it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Nowhere is this taught more clearly than in Rom 8:6-8.
(Rom 8:6-8 NIV) The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; {7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
C. Noah: Faith Takes God's Warnings Seriously and Does What God Demands for Deliverance, Heb 11:7.
(Heb 11:7 NIV) 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 comes by faith.
Observe the stern warning of Heb 2:1-3.
(Heb 2:1-3 NIV) We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. {2} For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, {3} how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
D. Abraham: Faith Is Willing to Leave One's Comfort Zone to Go Places and Do Things Simply Because God Said to Do It, Heb 11:8-10.
(Heb 11:8-10 NIV) 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.
Understand the necessity and reward of being willing to forsake all else for the sake of the kingdom of God, Luke 18:29-30.
(Luke 18:29-30 NIV) "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God {30} will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
This would certainly be an extreme situation, but God must be sovereign in one's life and no one or nothing else should have a claim so strong upon one that it would supersede God's claims whether it be a home, wife, brothers, parents, or children. It is my by belief that where a wife, brother, parent, or child is involved, they would probably be unbelievers opposing the believer practice of their faith in God. However, my experienced has shown that even believers can work to hinder another's desire to fulfill follow Christ.
The Great Commission will not be completed unless there are those who are willing to do what Abraham did and go to foreign places and unfamiliar cultures. What a sacrifice for families to let their children go with their blessing to such places and know that their contact with them and future grandchildren will be rare. This in addition to the worry and anxiety that they will have to leave at God's throne of grace in prayer.
(Mat 28:19-20 NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
The comforting promise for both Abraham and Christians who take the gospel to the ends of the earth is the same—Christ will go with you.
E. Abraham: Faith Is Believing that God Can Do the Impossible to Accomplish His Will in One's Life, Heb 11:11-16.
(Heb 11:11-16 NIV) By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren--was enabled to become a father because he 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. {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. And they admitted that they were aliens 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.
We each have potential that we know nothing of because God is the One who puts it in us by His empowering Spirit. See Luke 1:30-31, 37 and Luke 18:24-27.
(Luke 1:30-31 NIV) But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. {31} You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. . .{ 37} For nothing is impossible with God."
(Luke 18:24-27 NIV) Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! {25} Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." {26} Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?" {27} Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
Weakness and perceived inadequacy is no problem with God.
(Exo 4:10-12 NIV) Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." {11} The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? {12} Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
(2 Cor 12:9-10 NIV) But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. {10} That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
All God needs is someone like Isaiah who heard the burden of God for His people and responded with . . .
(Isa 6:8b NIV) "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
F. Abraham: Faith Is Not Holding Anything Back from God No Matter How Precious It Might Be, Heb 11:17-19
(Heb 11:17-19 NIV) By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received 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 raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
If He takes something away, we either don't really need it, or He will replace it with something better, or He will give it back. In Abraham's case, he believed that God was able to raise his son from the dead. Abraham's faith became the hallmark by which all faith can be judged. God Himself would identify with Abraham's experience when He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins of humankind.
(John 3:16 NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Remember Job 42:10-12a and 1 Cor 2:9-10.
(Job 42:10-12 NIV) After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. {11} All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. {12} The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.
(1 Cor 2:9-10 NIV) However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-- {10} but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
Conclusion: Proofs of Faith
1. Faith offers God want He asks for and not what one is only willing to give.
2. Faith lives to please God and not self.
3. Faith takes God's warnings seriously and does what God demands for deliverance.
4. Faith is willing to leave one's comfort zone to go places and do things to advance the kingdom of God.
5. Faith is believing that God can do the impossible to accomplish His will in one's life.
6. Faith is not holding anything back from God no matter how precious it might be.
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