The Just Shall Live by Faith — Hebrews 10-11

0:00 Morning everyone. Good morning. Welcome to my Sunday School class. My two favorite students, and I'm their favorite teacher by the way. Is Jim here?

0:10 And They'd probably tell you the same thing. Out here paying attention to their teacher. That's the downside guys to preaching during that month. I can't spend that time together with you. It's really been a good month, hasn't it?

0:30 You guys ought to try Sunday school teaching sometime. This won't surprise any of you but Justin, not Justin, Mason not only is good looking but he recently his parents recently got a letter from the school telling them that he's gifted, which is not surprising at all. And Logan says he doesn't get the letters because he doesn't want to embarrass his siblings. And so regularly, the administration of the school has them in to tell them how good he is. So it's a privilege to teach such fine young men and to share the class with the rest of you.

1:10 So that's that's it for the dry dry humor today. I'm sorry. Hebrews chapter 11. Bruce Henning took us through the first half of the chapter and I'm going to try to take us through the second half. Let's just offer a word of prayer again.

1:28 Father, we thank you for your great grace upon us. We, as we were reminded this morning, we're dead in our trespasses and sins but you are rich in mercy. Help us father as we keep moving forward in this life to remember to keep our eyes on lord Jesus. It's so easy to get distracted and we do get distracted regularly but thank you that you always welcome us back. We've just asked and offer help as we open your word that you'll encourage us the testimonies of many that have gone before us that have that have found your favor because of their faith and we pray these things in our lord Jesus name.

2:06 Amen. Over the recent days and weeks, I've often as dinner time conversation, engage my family and giving me help on on Hebrews chapter 11 and last night, I asked the children in ascending order to give me their definition of faith. And Mary said, unconditional trust And rather than embarrass any of the next two, I will not tell you who said them. The next reply I got was believing what you don't see. And the third reply I got was I don't know.

2:52 And I'll explain why I like that answer as much as the other two. I don't know. Before we start in Hebrews chapter 11, let's turn back to Hebrews chapter 10. Toward the end of the chapter, Verse thirty seven and thirty eight, which include the phrase, The just shall live by faith. That was spoken to Habakkuk by God.

3:24 And it was quoted by Paul in Romans chapter one. It was quoted again by Paul in Galatians. And then here in Hebrews 10, it's cited again, not by Paul but by somebody else. Verse 37, for yet a little while and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

3:59 One of the challenges of faith is that it's a daily thing. We don't just have it and we're done with it and we're good the rest of our life. And it often involves waiting. Our timetable is often not what God's timetable is and that's a challenge for many of us, waiting. And I had to chuckle at those words for yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry.

4:49 You gotta do something, Lord. And what about these these other nations, these wicked nations? They're you're not going to use them, are you? How can you do that? There's they are just it wouldn't be right, lord.

5:06 And in chapter two, after he calms down a bit, he says, I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see what he will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected. That last phrase of that first verse is just very interesting to me. So, Habakkuk is being still and I know that's hard for us to do. Be still but he's being still and he he knows the lord is going to give him an answer. He's just not sure when.

5:39 And he and and to me a very ironic way. He says and he's pondering what he's going to say to the lord when he's corrected. So, I don't know how that would correlate to us. Maybe we're going to get an answer from the lord that we won't don't like and then we have to decide how we're going to respond to it. And then reading the next couple verses, then the lord answered him, write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it.

6:09 For the vision is yet for an appointed for an appointed time but at the end, it will speak and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Like I said a few minutes ago, we don't like to wait, but the Lord uses times of waiting to accomplish His purposes. In verse four, Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith. So in other words, the Lord is saying to Habakkuk, just trust me.

6:43 I can handle it. But the first part of that verse, in contrast to the just, are those who are proud, whose soul is not upright. That's why I like the answer as a definition of faith, I don't know. When we think we know everything, when we are proud, when our soul is not right within us, that's when we can't hear from the Lord. But if we admit to the Lord we don't know, then he can work with us.

7:13 So let's turn back to Hebrews chapter 11. That is my introduction to this chapter of those who, through very difficult circumstances, lived by faith. And we're going to start right with verse 23. Now I'm sure all of you have your Bibles open which isn't going to help you because my question is who can tell me the parents of Moses? Who thinks, well I won't ask you for a audible answer but who thinks they can tell me the parents of Moses?

7:50 Okay. This is this is Bingham. I know she, I'm not surprised. But they're not household names. Moses' dad was Amram and his mother was Jochebed.

8:03 And the remarkable thing about it is we don't read a lot about them in scripture. In fact, she's only mentioned twice and he's a dozen or so times in genealogies. But here's some obscure people and most of us are obscure people. I know in the decades to come, my son in school kids will not be obscure. They're going to be out there in front leading, leading.

8:32 But here's two obscure people that made a big difference because they had faith in god and if you remember the circumstances and I'm sure most of you are familiar with them, the the the king, the pharaoh in Egypt had said that all male children must be killed when they're born. They must be thrown into the River Nile. And that would be a problem for for the Israelites not only is or for anybody We might like to throw our kids in the river later on like when they become teenagers. But even but a a baby born is a special thing. And even even people that don't know the Lord are going to love that child.

9:18 But besides the fact of the regular parental love for a child, it was against God's ways. You can't just kill your child because someone says you have to. So they hid their child for three months, and then they were no longer able to do that so they came up with a plan to put them in the river. Guess they didn't just throw them in, placed them in a basket that they prepared. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

9:51 Let me state a couple four different components to their faith that I think we see in that episode where they place them in that basket upon the waters of the Nile. Their faith had the component of hope. It had the component of courage, also of rational thinking, and unconscious cooperation with God. I got those four descriptions from G Campbell Morgan. He was I really enjoyed reading him on this chapter.

10:23 And he explains that even though they were slaves in a foreign land and even though the pharaoh had said all male children must be killed, they had hope in him because they knew that he was almighty God. And we have that same heavenly father. I think of those verses coming up in Hebrews chapter 13. Five, the end of verse five and verse six, for He Himself, God Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?

11:03 Even though circumstances were difficult, they had hope because they had the Lord. They also had courage to go against the king's or the pharaoh's instruction. I don't know what the penalty was for that. But they had courage to do that. And the fact of their preparation of preparing that little basket for their son demonstrated rational thinking.

11:29 They had a plan. It wasn't just a haphazard or a desperate behavior but it was rational thinking. And then the unconscious cooperation with God. They didn't know how it was going to work out. Moses sister Miriam was there watching but they were entrusting to god their child in a real sense and their faith was greatly rewarded And Moses became one of the biggest human figures of scripture.

12:10 It reminds me of of Paul's remarks in Ephesians chapter three that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think. So that was the faith of Amran Amran and Jacobed, Moses' parents. Now let's look at the next several verses that speak about Moses. By faith, Moses, verse 24, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward.

13:40 He had the benefit of the Egyptian education which was really would have been quite impressive. But he refused to accept that opportunity to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Humanly speaking he would have had it made. He wouldn't have had to worry about anything. But he knew better because of his parental influence.

14:09 Think of the one he would have had to make that decision when he was still a younger man. I'm sure the temptations were real to him. But he refused that. In verse 25, by refusing that he was choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. And that is the merit and the answer that faith is believing what you can't see.

14:41 He knew that life was not just about this present world. He was looking down the road. So his refusal to be the stepson to Pharaoh's daughter had a real cause. He was going to throw his lot in with his own people and to suffer for it. And suffer he did.

15:02 Rather, in the end of that verse, rather to enjoy than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Sin is indeed pleasurable but only for a time whether it's a second or a month or a year or even a lifetime but at the end of life sin will will reap its consequences. Those verses in James one, let me just read those briefly since we're so close, talks about that in graphic terms. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, James 12, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone.

15:50 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Sin might look attractive at first glance and it and it is enjoyable but it brings will bring it to death and separation from god. Verse 26.

16:21 So Moses made this decision because he is a New King James puts it because he was esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of in Egypt. The word esteeming there and some of your translations might use the word accounting. It was a a deliberate consideration. It was not a not a sentimental decision to to stay with his family. He thought it through and he weighed the options and he decided that he'd rather suffer the reproach of Christ in this life than enjoy the treasures in Egypt.

17:06 And the explanation there is perhaps given at the end of verse 26 where he is looking for the reward. We need to be doing the same, looking to the future where we we know that when we meet the lord, it'll all be worth it. We're never going to regret in that final day that we didn't do more for the lord. We might regret that we didn't do more. We won't we won't regret that we did too much.

17:35 So that's what Moses said. He was looking to that coming day. Verse 20 verse 27. By faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who was invisible. He wasn't afraid of what the king would say.

17:58 He was more concerned about what the ultimate ruler, the lord would say. Think about that for a minute. Here he was. He was he was probably somewhat of a novelty and probably as a young child in Egyptian court. The king, I'm sure, had an interest in him and the king probably thought he was nuts to have that opportunity and then when he becomes of age he decides to go back to his own people.

18:30 But he saw him who was invisible. Verse 28. He also repudiated the religion, I would suggest, of the Egyptians. By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. I don't know when and how he did that, but he clearly did not align himself with the religion of Egypt and it was probably at a cost to him.

19:05 Perhaps it was perhaps he would even go back to his people for worship rather than go through the motions of whatever type of worship the Egyptians had. Okay, moving on toward the end of the chapter now. After they left Egypt, by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. And I mentioned this earlier that the thing about faith that is so tough is that we need to have it every day. We can't use yesterday's faith today necessarily.

20:25 This was kind of encouraging to me in a in a bad way. Sometimes when my faith is weak, I can... I realize other people had the same problem. They were complaining for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians and that we should die in the wilderness. In verse 13, Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the lord which he will accomplish for you today.

21:04 For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you. Some of our victories will be forever and some of them will have to fight each day. But the Lord will be faithful to us. Okay, verse 30.

21:28 I'm just going to review some of these things that are mentioned briefly, making some comments, and then we'll wrap up with the conclusion. The Walls Of Jericho. By faith, the Walls Of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. I appreciated what Josh shared in the in the first meeting about and from from Proverbs chapter eight, the wisdom of god by wisdom was with the Lord when he was creating the world. Sometimes I ponder whether or not the Lord all you know the father son and spirit had gone to the chalkboard to figure things out with formulas of what would be the best way to to make something.

22:19 But no, they just spoke and it was right. It was perfect. And here we see the creative nature of of God again. They come to the fortified city of Jericho. And how did the Lord deliver that into their hands?

22:35 They would march around it once a day for seven days. Then the seventh day, they marched around it seven days. They blew their trumpets and the walls fell down. Again, it was all god working and they were simply following his instructions. I don't see my daughter Mary.

22:58 She go to Sunday school? She... A week ago, she frantically ran out of the house and I I had a good idea why she was frantically running out of the house. I said, Mary, wait a minute. She says, no, I can't wait.

23:10 I have to go. She had forgot to put the turkeys away. But I had been out and I noticed it, so I put them away, which is another story I'll tell you guys. It was pretty funny. And she came back in the house a minute later all relieved.

23:27 And sometimes that's how we get. We get all excited because we're afraid of something that's going to happen when we can just trust the Lord. Also an interesting side note to this Jericho conquest is is this woman Rahab and it reminds me that god can save anyone. We don't know how she was saved and we don't know when she was saved but we do know that she was saved and she passed the test when the spies came to spy out the land. She assisted them and and hid them so that they could not be found out.

24:01 Maybe she was, who knows? She was probably risking death if one of her neighbors turned her in or if somebody found her out. Verse 32, the writer of Hebrews says, And what more shall I say, for time would fail me to tell of, and then he goes on to tell of a few more things. I think it was Bruce that mentioned that he understands Hebrews to be a sermon that was given. And that of course is always the challenge for preachers to to that we run out of time.

25:16 Yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn into, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of whom the world was not worthy.

25:31 They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. I know many of us know many of these figures but I want to just review some of the highlights the next few minutes. Gideon. He had an army of over 30,000 men and God said, That's too money. Remember Gideon had been hiding in his threshing floor trampling out the wheat in a wine press so he wouldn't be discovered and the Midianites wouldn't come and steal it.

26:07 But God raised him up, gave him an army of 30,000 men, which perhaps Gideon didn't maybe didn't think was enough, but God told him to to prune his troops and through different means, he ended up with an army of 300 men to take on the Midianites. And he was victorious. Not because of his great skills but because God was with him. Barrack, he was a less than confident fellow who needed the help of a woman. God gave him a job to do and he said, please send Deborah with me and to his credit, he went and and the lord prevailed but he still makes it into the chapter here of of having a commendable faith.

26:53 Sampson, not a person without some issues, but at the end of his life, instead of giving in perhaps the self pity or despair, he cried out to God and in the strength of his faith perhaps had his finest moment. Jephthah, another example of the grace of God who came from bad circumstances to be used of God. So don't discount your circumstances as being available or useful to the Lord. David, he's a... That's a study in itself.

27:36 But the scriptures say that he had a whole heart for the Lord. Samuel, who was Israel's last judge and first prophet, was a child that was given to the Lord by his mom. His mom was without child and she she asked the lord for us us a child that he she might give him back to him that he might she might devote him, consecrate him to the lord and look what happened. The life of Samuel. The prophets, god's spokesman to ungodly Israel who because of their faith would rather die for giving the message of god than to lie and to and to be and to go free or as McDonald puts it, to go to heaven with a good conscience rather than rather than stay on earth with a bad one.

28:36 Verse 33, stop the mouths of lions. I know most of us would automatically think of Daniel but Samson also slew a young lion and David as well defended his sheep from lions. Worked righteousness. Perhaps that's a reference to different kings. The good...

29:00 The few good kings, Solomon and Asa and Joash, Hezekiah, Josiah, who were like us human as well who had who had flaws, but they were still used of God because of their faith. Verse 34, quenched the violence of fire, perhaps speaking of the three men that were cast into the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar was so mad at these guys for defying him that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter. And even the valiant soldiers who were used to cast them into the to push them up the ramp into the furnace were killed by the heat. But these three men didn't even have the smell of smoke on them.

29:46 And in fact, the fire just served to loosen their bonds and they were free. Remarkable story of the power of faith. Out of weakness made strong, ordinary people did extraordinary things and McDonald offers suggestion of the woman jail who killed the king Cicera who was hiding in a tent by driving a tent peg through his head. Out of weakness made strong. I don't know how that would happen but she did it.

30:25 Or Samson killing killing a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Valiant in battle, Joshua comes to mind first. Turned armies to flight, perhaps that was Gideon. Women received their dead raised to life. And I know of two of them, the widow of Zarepath in one Kings 17 and the woman of Shuman in two Kings four.

30:59 Think about that. A life that had died was raised to life again. We've seen some remarkable healings in our in our lifetime but we've never seen the dead raised and their faith. Accomplished that. Although on the flip side, also in verse 35, faith also enabled others to to endure extreme persecution, beatings, the imprisonments, Joseph went to jail rather than sin.

31:37 Jeremiah was imprisoned. Saul in two. A lot of people think that refers to how Manasseh dispatched Isaiah and put him into a hollow log and then cut the log in half. Others experienced extreme temptation. Perhaps pressure to deny the Lord, but they did not and they were slain.

32:07 One of the components of our prayer meeting is to pray for the persecuted church, and there's a number of people that are in prison now for their faith. Asia Bibi in Pakistan and some fellows in Iran because of their faith. They could probably be released if they would just renounce the name of the lord but they refused to do that. Verse 38, of whom the world was not worthy. Now the world didn't think these people were worthy, but the spirit of God who inspired scripture sets the record straight.

33:26 And we haven't seen him directly either, but we have that history laid out before us. We know many more details than they did about the Lord Jesus. Then the spiritual blessings we have in him as being part of the body of Christ. But all their labors that were done in faith as part of God's plan parallels our responsibilities. There are opportunities as well to labor as part of God's plan.

33:53 We don't know how it's all going to turn out or we don't know, understand how it all fits together, but we each have a role to play and when we are faithful in it, God's will will go forward effectively. Recently I heard of some conversation about Adoniram Judson. He had labored for, I think, I read his biography a year and a half ago, I think he labored about thirty five years in Burma, which is now Miramar. And most of his labors were specifically to get the word of God translated into their language. And in that regard he was successful.

34:43 But as far as the number of converts, there weren't weren't too many. I think I think several dozen or a couple of score in the years that he was there. And he certainly lived by faith. It's very encouraging biography. But because of the part he played during his generation, millions have come to Christ through the written scriptures in their language.

35:10 So, apart from us, they should not be made perfect. They too are waiting for the rapture where the dead in Christ shall rise and then, we who are alive with him will will go gather will together with them meet the lord in the air. I want to turn back to chapter 10 of Hebrews for our conclusion. I'm not going to go forward to chapter 12 where it says, therefore, We'll let Josh pick that up next week. But let's go back to chapter 10 to glean some components for how we can live by faith and receive the Lord's approval.

35:58 Verse... Let's start at verse 19. And these are some of those blessings that we have. We we know these things in fuller detail than those before Christ came. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God.

36:24 The finished work of Christ has enabled us to, verse 22, draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. I'm sure the... I'm sure this Old Testament saints had lots of doubts, and there was a lot fewer details in their scriptures than we have. We have a fuller picture now. Not that it's easier for us to have a mature faith, but it arguably should be.

36:55 Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some but exhorting one another in so much to more as you see the day approaching. So, just remember just remember a couple of phrases. Let us draw near. We can draw near to the lord because of the work of Christ and our motives are can be pure.

38:21 Let's appreciate the body of Christ for the opportunities that it provides for us to build each other up, to bear one another's burdens, and to, as the scriptures say, exhort one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. That day that Moses looked forward to that enabled him to say no to Egypt, he was looking for that reward. That can be our motivation as well. So as we're in the trenches of raising children or whatever other trench you find yourself in, press on and let the Lord work through you for He is able if when we let him. Let's pray.

39:52 Responsibility of holding fast and the and the privilege and opportunity to encourage one another. We pray father that it'd be characteristics of us as individuals and also us as the body here that you are at work in. And we pray these things in our lord Jesus name. Amen.