Good morning. It is a good day.
The psalmist says I was glad when they said to me let's go
into the house of the Lord. Today's beautiful day to
worship. It's the best thing we can be
doing to today and that's because if you had a good week
this week the hope of being here and looking up is it only gets
so much better? If you had a good week this is
nothing compared to the hope and the promises that are ahead.
If you had a rough week, if you had a bad week and put you down,
there's hope. There's Hope Beyond this day
that there's better days to come.
And there is hope Beyond this life.
There is so much better of a life to come.
So it is a good good day to be here.
This morning we're also rejoicing because we have a new
brother in Christ brother. Eric, Sanchez was baptized on
Thursday night. The Lord is still working.
The Lord is still saving souls and people are still soft to
hear the gospel taught and, and to have the fruits in their
hearts of that. So we are Joyce in this morning
is a wonderful day and we're going to study Hebrews chapter
11 together this morning. I am determined to get through
the rest of this chapter so we are going to finish up hopefully
versus right around verse 23. We left off with with Abraham
Isaac and Jacob. And now we're going to be
picking up with Joseph and let me get the exact verse for us.
In verse 22, Hebrews chapter 11. So if you want to turn with us,
there will be in this section of the chapter.
And I've kind of given us the theme for this section that
every responsibility and every hope is still in front of you.
Yes, if you are, if you are old, if you're a young, no matter.
If you feel like you were feeble or or or weak or strong,
everything is still in front of you and we're going to See that
by faith and Hebrews chapter 11. Now As we've gone through this
section of Hebrews 11 talking about their Heroes of Faith.
Remember where we're trying to see are the Riders trying to
help the Jews, see how they are not separate from their
forefathers that they looked up to.
It's not like now that they are under this new Christian age
that they can just leave behind all the examples of Faith.
No, it's not two separate things, it is a walk of faith
that was different in the Old Testament but now it has a has a
savior has Redeemer that they follow into the news.
He's connecting them. He's making a bridge for their
faith and as we've noticed, these people haven't been
perfect that a reference in Hebrews.
But the only thing that talks about is the good things.
Okay? Is that because it's trying to
make it seem like everyone who has ever served.
God Faithfully is just the perfect person.
Absolutely. Not that the Bible is full of
good things. And then a lot of bad things
about even, these people, we've talked about so far and the
people were going to talk About. But the point is sometimes you
need to focus on the good to see that it can be done to see that
faith can be had in our lives. And that these things that we're
going to read about were real. And the things that we can do
today on real, the things that we read about then were
recognized by God and just like today, we can have a faith that
is recognized by God. And that these things that they
did are repeatable today in our own walks of Faith.
So let's get in to verse 22, Hebrews chapter 11, By faith
Joseph, when he was dying made mention of the departure of the
children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his
bones. So Joseph eventually they were
led into they wouldn't to Egypt, you know, it was for a time they
went into Egypt for Safety and Security from the famines in the
issues of the land. But pretty soon that wasn't what
they really needed anymore. They needed to go back to the
land of promise to the land of Canaan.
And so Joseph, when he was He was not able to get back to the
land of promise. You didn't get to go back to
himself but he told them God has a Promised Land waiting for you
and Kanan and he's gonna get you back there.
He made mention of that departure and gave instructions
concerning his bones. And Genesis 50:20 for where this
is talking about. It says Joseph is saying God
will surely visit you and bring you out of this land of which he
swore to Abraham Isaac and to Jacob.
And Joseph made the Israelites weren't oath and said, God will
surely come to your Aid and then you must carry my bones up from
this place and Joseph died, being 110 years old, he was
embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.
So as we consider Joseph, you know, we consider his walk of
Faith. It's strange to me.
No, he would have been embalmed like the Egyptians we read
about. Maybe he's putting a
sarcophagus. One of those nice caskets.
They made the kids because he was a high up ruler, maybe he
got one of those and they carry that thing around for a long
time and you know, it's strange for me that the Bible points out
his faith in his dying days to look forward to see a time when
God's promises will be fulfilled, because I look at
this and I think Joseph is one of the most incredible Bible
characters to me. If you look at his walk of
Faith, he was beaten down a lot and he would make his way up
through faith. And then you get drop down
again. He make his way up.
And then you get, somebody would swipe his legs out from
underneath him. He had some 40 Years of
faithfulness as he worked to recover from his brothers.
Abandoning it abandoning him and selling him into slavery.
He rose up the ranks and Egypt as a slave to second.
Command in the world's greatest nation.
Some Scholars, say that the Egypt at this time, would have
been the greatest nation in the world.
We have been a nation that had the most power and resources.
A lot of people came from everywhere during the famine.
And so they got the fruits of that, they took over a lot of
land and people he overcame Temptation by pharaohs wife, the
man himself. Pharaoh his wife came and tried
to seduce him but no he can't, he overcame that he literally
ran out. Building.
He overcame false accusations and unfairness this process of
being approached by the advances of pharaohs wife.
She ended up turning on him and falsely accusing him and he got
sent to prison all when he was doing the right thing and he he
had a prophecy and decision making during the famine.
So when he had been in prison for a while, he was called up to
make a pro to make an interpretation of the dreams.
If the Pharaoh is having and in this process, he proved his
faithfulness, his understanding, and his connection to God and in
this and this new relationship he would provide advice.
That would lead the the Egyptians to their even greater
power. Under his guidance, they taxed
the people around them and so they became an even greater
Nation because of the wealth of the people who would send their
taxes to them. We that's a tax system we use
today is what Joseph and Eyes during that time, he sustained
his nation and his family. So during this famine, God, God
provided the prophecy to know that, hey, there's going to be a
time of Plenty. And then there's going to be a
time where there's a famine in the land.
And so he prepared his Nation for that time, he said, store
things up, make a provision for what's going to happen and it's
a, he was able to save his family that came in, to the land
of Egypt later on when he reconnected with them, he
overcame bitter. Ernest or his family members
that literally got rid of him. His brothers sold him into
slavery and when they came back and they were in need, he
welcomed them with open arms and he received them.
This is what I think of when I think of Joseph.
But that's not what the Bible pointed out.
The Bible said. By faith Joseph, when he was
dying, he made mention of the departure of the children of
Israel. He had Faith, he believed God's
promises. He knew they were true and he
believed that God was going to get them back.
It's a statement of faith. The statement of faith to know
is something though. It seems unlikely as going to
come to pass and God's will. And you know what his his
sarcophagus or whatever, his coffin was that was above
ground. Some 400 years before it got
After that promised land, that means that for 400 years, he was
a Silent Witness. So that when people would say,
why in the world would carry around this dead guy, shouldn't
he be buried by? Now, we're carrying around this
coffin with this dead, man. And he's really well preserved.
Its kind of freaky for 400 years.
People would have been able to see.
We still have hope this man. Showed hope that.
We are going to get back to a Promised Land.
We are going to get to a place that God has prepared for us.
It was a symbol of his faith in God's promises.
It didn't really matter where his bones were.
It wasn't like his bones are here.
He's going to heaven wasn't like that.
It was a symbol of Hope in the promises verse 23.
Next is Moses, it says by faith, Moses.
When he was born, was hidden three months by his parents.
So almost reads like, it's Moses has Faith.
It's not just parents. We were hardly read anything
about Moses parents but could have anything happened in Moses
life without them. He was hidden three.
I suppose parents because they saw, he was a beautiful child
and they were not afraid of the King's Command.
So, during this time, in order to try to manage the growth of
the people, the Israelite people, the king ordered that
all the young boys, be murdered and killed so that they would
not, you know, come up and take over the land.
But his parents had faith, and they hid him for three months
and then they delivered him in faith and do the river.
That's what the name. Moses means to be drawn out of
the water by faith. They hit him, they took care in
those dangerous. That was risky.
And then they sent him off in faith down the river where he
would eventually be picked up by none other than the daughter of
pharaoh amazing faith and sometimes we Overlook the
parents. And sometimes there's people in
the church. Sometimes, there's people in
your life who are overlooked because of the background roles
that they play. And setting up some great things
that happen because of their faithfulness, because of their
constants, and their willingness to take risks and to step out,
even when it might not be the primary role, The Upfront roll.
His parents are recognized for their faith.
And their role in his life. She could have seen a million
things that could go wrong with this, his mom and his, dad could
have seen all the danger that could have come to them.
But really the point was she saw no other option.
She was going to preserve her lying.
She was going to preserve this child Moses.
How many of us? See our work as Christians, see
our faith, and the need for our faith and continual effort, and
service and risk. As something that there's no
other option, but to take that risk as Christians, we have to
understand that there's a world and there are people around us
who are dying and lost. And there is an example that we
need to say that they may not see anywhere else, and if we
don't take that risk, if we don't step out of our comfort
zones, and hold on, to our faith, and to grow in our faith,
there is great risk with that. There is no other option, but to
serve God in this life. We can't see mediocrity in our
faith, as an option laziness in our faith as an option Comfort
zones. As an option, she saw there was
only one option to save this child through faith.
And we only have one option in our faith and that's to serve
God and step out in faith. Verse 24 by faith, Moses, when
he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter. So, when he got old enough, he
made his own decision and he would not be one of them.
It says that he chose 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, so he made it. Decision.
We all have a point in our lives, where we become old
enough, where we become aware enough, where it's on us to make
a choice, what are we going to do?
And he chose to suffer Affliction with the people of
God, to take the risks that he needed to take and in doing.
So it says that he took on the reproaches of Christ like when
the world Christ wasn't born for a long time after this, how does
this have anything to do with Christ?
They weren't there together. It's a pattern.
It's an example of faith and doing this, that he went beyond
what he could have felt comfortable in the passing
Pleasures. The Comforts of sin because he
saw that the reproach of Christ was better riches than the
treasures in Egypt for you. Look to the reward, that's the
theme of faith. You overcome one desire, you
overcome one desire to stay the same to never change and
exchange for something. You believe is greater and have
the faith to see something greater beyond your present.
Circumstance is the example of Moses and later on of Jesus who
who suffered for us. Because he looked to the reward.
And by the way, when it says it's going to tell us this again
in chapter 12 but Jesus saw us is that reward.
Do we see Jesus as that reward? That's greater than that's
greater and worthy enough to be waited on and worked and have
faith in indefinitely verse 27 by faith.
He speaking still have Moses, forsook Egypt, not fearing the
Wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
He saw God Through The Eyes of faith and he endured that
enabled him to overcome. This situation is in the Sin and
the snares that were around him. What would happen if we could
really see God in our lives? Because sometimes we say, if God
could see us in this situation it's got was in this room with
us. But the reality is he is God is
here, God does. See us Jesus is there but do we
see him? It says that Moses did see him.
Who was invisible? He took these big leaps of
Faith, okay? He went out and he forsook
Egypt. He had to pull off that really
difficult, Band-Aid of leaving, may be the richest area ever,
and he was sitting there in his cushy seat in the palace.
He took that big step, but he also followed the Little Steps
in verse 28 By Faith. He kept the Passover and the
sprinkling of blood lest, he who destroyed the firstborn should
touch them. So when Moses was leading them
out of the land, Egypt God sent those plagues to to beat down
the Egyptians and pharaoh and part of that involved the
Passover God said, I'm going to kill the firstborn of every
family who doesn't have the blood of the Lamb on the
doorpost. And so this is called this is
the institution of the Passover because if they put the blood of
the of the Lamb on the doorpost, a symbol of Jesus's blood later.
Then the death angel, that was going to kill.
All the firstborn that Death Angel would pass over and by
faith, he kept that, that required an attention to detail,
a focus on God's commands lest Hugh destroyed, the firstborn
should touch them. So he took the big leaps and he
took the small steps. Of Faith.
Once they got out by faith, they passed through the Red Sea.
Now, they here's referencing the nation of Israel.
So here is kind of Shifting to God's people as a whole.
It was leaving Egypt by faith. They passed through the Red Sea
as by dry land, whereas, the Egyptians attempting to do so,
were drowned. So as the, the children of
Israel made it across that took a lot of faith, you read that,
the heart of the Red Sea is something like it's over.
Feet deep. So you had these 5,000 foot
walls of water on either side and they just had the faith to
walk through there. We read a lot of bad things
about these people but this Hall of faith is recognizing the good
things that they did. He's recognizing that they had
moments of Faith. These are repeatable you're like
what? That wasn't that big of a deal.
They just walk through. That's the whole point of the
book of Hebrews. That's the whole point of the
New Testament. It's in faith.
It's the weight that they did,
what they did. They had their moments verse 30
by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were
encircled for seven days. So we're kind of getting
snapshots of the Old Testament as we go through and when the
children of Israel went through to take on the promised land,
they had the land of Jericho to take on Jericho was a walled
City. And if you're a nation of
Nomads, people walking around with tents and animals, all over
the place, taking on a nation that has giant walls as a pretty
daunting task. Okay?
So the way that they did that is God took matters into his into
his own hands. He said, I want you to March
around the city seven times and on the seventh time you're going
to shout. You're going to yell and the
walls that City you're going to fall down and that's exactly
what happened. It's hard to picture that, but
they had to have the faith to just keep walking around the
city day after day for seven days.
And once they did that for the seventh time, they yelled they
shouted. But it took an obedient patience
and anticipating faith. To follow through with God's
command in this regard. Now to make this all happen
though, they had to have this spy, they had to have these
spies that went in and communicated with the member of
the city. Whose name was Rahab.
Now, Rahab was a prostitute Rahab was a harlot.
So as we read through this whole Faith, there's another person
who is not a good individual overall, but you know what?
She didn't have perfect Faith. She didn't have complete faith.
And she sure didn't have everything all together, but she
had a commendable Faith by God. She took her Leap of Faith.
By faith Rahab, the Harlot did not perish with those who did
not believe when she had received the spies with peace
and Joshua chapter 2 verse 11. She says he is the God in heaven
above, and on the earth beneath. She had that Faith to get her
started to recognize who she was dealing with this step out in
faith. She had a commendable faith.
And I think one of the themes of our meeting, we just have had is
this concept of not extreme or awesome ability?
But availability to do God's will.
God proves throughout the Bible, he doesn't need the person who
has everything together, he doesn't need the person who has
these great accolades and these great reputation.
He needs people who are not especially able but, especially
available to him and his, selecting his service and his
plans. Are you available to God?
Am I available to God with our young, with our old?
My available to God, verse 32 were moving through.
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell
of Gideon and Barack and Samson. And jeptha also, David, and
Samuel in the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms
were to righteousness. Obtained promises stopped, the
mouths of lions, quenched, the violence of fire escaped, the
edge of the sword out of weakness were made.
Strong became Valiant battle term, the flight Armies of the
aliens women received their dead raised to life again.
So we had a list of people that we're not going to take too much
to dive into because I think we've kind of slow down the
author's momentum enough as it is.
We're going to cover one more and that's Gideon but let's
remember the theme is connecting them to people of Faith before
them. So he says, I'll have time to
even talk about all these other people.
The last one we're going to talk about is getting it now.
As a summary of Gideon's good things, he boldly destroyed
idols and he mightily used mightily used by God to defeat a
much larger Army of the midianites, okay?
So the Bible's talking about the good things, this is the good
things but to help us understand a little bit about Gideon more
because he's kind of a, we might not know a whole lot about him.
Let's dive in for a minute, in Judges chapter 6, through 8.
About this man Gideon. It says in verse 1 of chapter 6,
then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Okay. So this is going to set up the
rest of the the plot that's going to happen.
God's people did not follow his commands.
So the Lord delivered them into the land of Midian for into the
hand of Midian for seven years and the Hand of Midian prevailed
against Israel because of the midianites, the children of
Israel made for themselves dens. Caves and strongholds, which are
in the mountains. Not exactly a picture of awesome
faith. Not exactly a picture of
strength, right? So, it was whenever Israel had
sown, you know, they had got their crops together.
Midianites would come up. Also, amalekites in the people
of the East will come up against them, then they would camp and
Camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth, as far
as Gaza and leave, no sustenance for his.
Rayul neither sheep nor ox or donkey.
Okay. So these people were getting
bullied. Now, the funny thing is, the
midianites were relatives of the Israelites, but because of all
the divisions and the family's got bigger and separated.
Now, the midianites are just bullying, the Israelites, and it
made their life real rough. And it all started with them not
following God's commands, Okay? So that's a kind of a important
key caveat and they were hiding So, Israel was greatly
impoverished because of the midianites wiped out their
economy and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.
And it came to pass when the children of Israel cried out to
the Lord, because of the midianites that the Lord sent a
prophet to the children of Israel who said to them.
Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I brought you up from
Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage.
I got you out of this before and I delivered you out of the hand
of the Egyptians and I heard the hand of all who oppressed you
And drove them out before you and gave you their land.
So, they finally got to the promised land and back in verse
1, they stopped following God's commands.
And also, I say to you, I am the Lord, your God, do not fear the
gods of the amorites and there's and in whose land you dwell, but
you have not obeyed my voice, okay?
So the big picture of this is, these people are crying out to
God, like, you know, gobbler suffering and all this.
So God sent the prophet to clarify why they're suffering,
okay? We don't always suffer because
of some raw. But oftentimes, we suffer the
result of sin and the result Things in our life that are
causing problems, okay? That is the case of these people
and the prophet came to show them.
You guys aren't just suffering because I'm not good.
God, because I'm not taking care of you, you're suffering because
you have not obeyed my voice. You know, sometimes I think we
need to look out for ourselves. We are complaining to God.
When we are looking to God, you know, why am I going through
this? Are we taking responsibility for
our own actions that get us in the situations that we're
worried about? Now we're stressed about.
So God wants to clarify, you know, the reason why you're in
this position, right? So he goes on to say, now the
angel of the Lord of you a few verses later came and sat under
the terebinth tree which was in ofra.
So God's told this broad message to the people, now he's going to
a specific person in a specific place.
So this place were belonged to joash buys right while his son
Gideon, threshed wheat in the winepress in order to hide it
from the midianites. Okay, so we're getting a
snapshot, we're zooming in on this greater microcosm of Asus
Stomach problem and Israel. They're beat down their low.
They are being trampled by the midianites and here as you zoom
in. Here's this guy Gideon.
He's a threshing as we, in a wine press.
Now, a wine press, look, something like this.
It is a low place where you go to press the grapes to get the
juice to collect in a low place. This man is in the epitome of a
low spot. It's a symbol it's not just
where he's at physically. It's where he's at in their
society where he's at his own life, it seems.
So he's thrashing wheat in here and if you know, understand what
about how they would first thresh wheat, you're like, why
in the world is he doing? Because when that, what they
would normally do is, to take care of the wheat to make the
wheat edible? They would take the Harvest of
wheat that they cut the stalks off of.
Maybe they cleaned it up a little bit, but you still had
run the seed pods. You had this chap, it was like
the dead, the dead shells around, and things like that.
So they take their big pile on top of a mountain where it was
the most windy. You take it up on.
Movement. When you stick your fish, your
Pitchfork in there, you throw it up in the air and the wind would
blow off the chaff the extra the dead stuff, the husks.
And down the heavier stuff, the pods the seeds that you could
eat would fall. So they thresh the wheat, threw
up in the air, and the good stuff would fall.
The bad stuff would blow away. So God comes to this man, whose
threshing wheat and hidden place at the bottom of a wine press.
He's hidden, he's hiding, he's scared and he is in a low place.
When he normally should not be down in a spot like that
threshing, the wheat and the angel of the Lord appeared to
him and said, the Lord is with you.
You mighty man of Valor He's basically talking to a guy who's
in the lowest of the low in a place.
That's hello. And who's gonna say I'm the
lowest of the low of the low and God says to him, You mighty man
of Valor, God is with you. Do you realize that this is a
message that God sees the best in you, when you and others
around? You do not see the best in.
You do not see the potential in, you do not see the ability to
serve God, and to fulfill his plans and to be doing great
works for him. God picks him up and talks to
him this in this low place and identifies the strength that he
sees in him. God does not see you the way you
see yourself the way others, see others?
See you. The Lord is with you, mighty man
of Valor. Okay, so after this, it doesn't
look good. Still getting basically says, I
am the lowest man in the lowest tribe of Manasseh.
So, I'm the youngest, I'm just a lower, and lower and lower.
And our country is being oppressed and more lower, and
lower, and lower. And he starts out by question.
God, why are we in this situation?
Okay. God's already told them you're
in this situation because you have not obeyed the Lord, so
questions. God, then he puts out excuses
and then, you know, and these excuses that he has, maybe these
were something that he was internally circulating, maybe
it's something that is society was circulating.
Maybe it's something that his family was circulating or
telling him. We can have lies.
We can have self-imposed lies that we tell ourselves.
Other people tell us that make us have a perspective that is -
that is Discouraging. And often sometimes it can come
from our own family members as the midianites, where their
family who is beating them down. He came up with excuses and
these were problems that he needed to work out.
And so he starts by responding to God by, okay, I'm going to
ask you for a sign. So when I wake up, I'm gonna put
this wall on the ground and I won't, there be do all around it
and but the wool is dry so they don't know that you're really
with me. Okay, God does that then he
says, okay now I want the opposite to happen.
I want the world to be wet but the ground around it be dry.
When I wake up in the morning God does it again.
He's asking for signs to prove that God is really with him,
when God just God told him. I'm with you, but his faith is
weak enough to where he doesn't just occur.
Have to and follow in service to God.
Okay, so we eventually takes Goddard his word, he goes, and
he is told to take down an idol and his father's house and he
does, he goes in tears down her Idol and then the saga
continues, that's the beginning of Gideon's, good things he
takes down the idol. Then and chat in verse 19 of
chapter 7. God calls him to go up against
into to deliver them from the midianites, they're going to go
after him. Now, they're going to fight back
and remember, in Old Testament, studies, biblical Warfare was
because this was a Theocratic Nation.
Meaning, they were governed by a religious organization.
It was their government. It was the religion.
It was altogether today. We are a king, a spiritual
Kingdom. We don't fight people.
We don't attack people physically.
Okay, so keep that in Verse 19. So Gideon and the hundred men.
So I need to explain how they got here.
This is the situation with a going up against the midianites.
God said, get your people together, he gets 30,000
together, okay? So Gideon's got this Army.
The ready to go. God basically says, that's too
many people because God's trying to prove that it's his work.
That's going to deliver them and not just the strength of their
army. So, he says anyone who's afraid
tell them to go home? So 10,000 people leave and go
home from the Army, the original army, then he says, you're going
to go up to Water and whoever kneels down and drinks out of
the water by just sucking straight out of the water.
You're going to use them. The people who would kneel down
and get a handful of water and drink it.
You're going to send those people home.
Okay? So God is just trying to trim
down this Army until they have 300 people to fight the
midianites. And it says that those people
were like locusts, they were just everywhere.
It was a massive Army, they're going to fight with 300 people.
That 300 men. Why?
Because God wants to show them that by faith.
They're going to win this battle by faith and not their own
victories of Might they're going to overcome these people.
So Gideon in the hundred men who are with Him, came to Outpost of
the camp at the at the beginning of the middle watch, just as
they had posted the watch and they blew the trumpets and broke
the pictures that were in their hands.
Then the three companies, blew the trumpets and broke the
pictures, they held the Torches in there.
Tens and the trumpets in the right hands for blowing and they
cried the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.
And every man stood in this place all around the camp and
the whole Army ran and cried out and fled.
So, what's happening? The the midianites Army is, is
in this kind of basin Gideon takes, looks like a hundred men
here. 100 men there. 100 been here and they just yell blow
trumpets, smash their pictures and the median are the
midianites Army. Loses it, they lose their minds.
They Ran and cried out and fled, and the night, when the 300 blew
the trumpets, the Lord set, Every Man's sword against His
companion, throughout the whole camp, and the Army fled to Beth,
Acacia towards are raw, as far as the border of Abel Noah by
Tabitha. So, they started getting
confused. God sent to confusion among them
to where God's people didn't have to do anything, they all
start turning and killing each other.
Then they pursue them as they started to flee.
The point of this, God Is the Victor.
He uses people who are available to him, people who will stand up
and do what he says, and follow them in faith because they won
this battle, they won this fight and it wasn't even them doing
it. The Lord did it.
The power is with the Lord. And they captured Two Princes of
the midianites or of and Zeeb they killed or about the rock of
Horeb and Z. They killed at the winepress of
Zeeb. How how fitting this is to go
full circle that they God found Gideon in this low place and a
wine press. And he helps them defeat the
midianites at a wine press. When all is done, always taking
care of God, brought it full circle, Back in Hebrews chapter
11. So we know who Gideon is, we
know what he did. And what more shall I say?
For time, would fail me to talk about all these people who
subdued kingdoms obtained promises, who out of weakness
were made strong. That's Gideon, who became
Valiant battle who turned to flight the armies of the aliens
Gideon. Goes on to say, others were
tortured, not accepting Deliverance, not accepting to be
freed from the problems that they were in dealing with
because Faith required them to stand in to hold on.
That. They might obtain a better.
Resurrection still others had trial of mockings and
scourgings. Yes, of chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned. They were sawn.
And two were tempted, were slain with the sword.
If you read about some of the things early, Christians went,
It's awful, it's terrible. They were tempted were slain
with the sword. They wandered about in
sheepskins and goatskins being destitute Afflicted and
tormented of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of
the Earth. And all these having obtained.
A good testimony through faith did not receive the promise God,
having provided something better for us.
That they should not be made. Perfect.
Apart from us, this is finishing up the chapter You know you say
you know, how did they not receive the promise?
So many of them made it to the promised land?
We learned early in Hebrews that they look for a better?
That is a Heavenly country. They weren't there yet, they had
not achieved it. That's something that's being
prepared is for us. It's for all of us to go
together. It may have seemed to these Jews
that the writer is talking to, like, the Glory Days were behind
them. Like Gods, great works.
And God's great faith, that they understood were comfortable with
and had Then that's behind them. But know what he's trying to
tell him is that these days like all the others in the history of
God's people require Faith to fight a spiritual battle.
They didn't look at their walk of Faith, like it was worth
their time. Almost, it's like me and go
back, you know, this isn't what we thought.
But just like, Gideon needed Faith to step out.
They needed Faith to step out, and hold, and grow, and there's
Christianity. And the same is true today.
The Glory Days are not behind us.
The best days of your faith. The faith of the church are not
behind us. It's going to take Faith to
fight this spiritual battle. The challenges of this
generation may be different than the last America.
Might not be a storehouse of biblical knowledge, am I not
look that good but we cannot dwell on only the problems of
Our Generation but seek to provide the solution that Christ
offers to this generation to the world that we live in to our
church and the people who are here And it's going to like the
Hebrews, it's going to require faith on our behalf.
It's gonna require faith on behalf of the people who are,
who are going to reach with the gospel.
It's going to take Faith, just like these Hebrews needed to
step out and to follow him. And it helped me understand how
I see this incorrectly when I thought about this question.
Does it feel like we can just never attain to biblical
achievements of faithfulness or a faith?
I have a subconscious bias that these people people raised from
the dead. People walk through an ocean.
People walk through on dry land, on a seat.
Moses, led a children out of bondage and you're telling me I
can do something. That is Repeatable commendable
by God. Just because God has chosen to
work differently in this dispensation of time or Christ
has come. We don't have Miracles today.
No God has God provides I believe for us but he doesn't
heal people like that from a raising from the dead.
So just because God has chosen a different way to work through us
do we really think that it's any less and this generation and
your life that God can't do great works of Faith through you
and your situation if you're young Gideon I had excuses.
Do you feel like you're too young?
You feel like you're too old. Do you feel like you're too
mediocre to in between? Do you feel like you're in a
world? That's not just not fit for it
anymore? The point of this section of
Hebrews is to show them that all of this is still in front of
them in Christ. In Christ, we can have a walk of
faith. That is mirroring the faith of
people who have gone before us who have done incredible Works.
God's just choosing to do it in a different way.
Don't look down. Don't despise the challenges
that are in front of you like snow.
It's not worth it. It's not worth it.
It's hard. It's not going to be fruitful.
God is always work through his people and shame on me.
When I think that my work of faith is any less than Moses
leading the children about his out of Israel.
Shame on me when I don't see my work as valuable as raising
people from the dead because that's what saving Souls isn't
it? Pete, bringing people from Death
to life through the power of Christ.
Don't look down on what's in front of you, or what's around
you. Because the Hebrews had the same
issue and they needed Faith to overcome for themselves and for
the people that they would bring to Christ all these having
obtained, a good testimony through faith.
They did not receive the promise God having provided something
better for us. That they should not be made a
part. May be made perfect.
Apart from us. They did not run the last lap of
Faith. They did not even require the
reward of their faith. We are still in this today.
Ephesians 4:1 says therefore the prisoner of the Lord I beseech
you to walk worthy of the calling which with with which
you were called with all lowliness and gentleness with
long-suffering bearing with one another in love endeavoring to
keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of Peace.
There is one body and one Spirit just as you were called in one,
hope of your calling one Lord, One Faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you
all this heavenly this Lying is a Heavenly calling from God, but
a Heavenly calling never comes without a response to it.
These acts of faith. As we read in Hebrews chapter
11, you could say in one sense that they were great.
But in another sense, they've been somewhat simple and
day-to-day action Abel offered his sacrifice people made
sacrifices for years, but it said by faith.
He did it. He knock.
It says he pleased. God, Noah built a vote.
He worked a blue collar job for a long time.
Trying to keep his small family safe.
It was in a, it was a pretty extravagant thing when we read
about it. But that's what he did every
day. He worked a blue collar job with
faith for a long time. Trying to keep his little family
safe. Abraham set out on a nomadic
lifestyle. A lot of people were Nomads at
the time. But he walked in faith and he
did all these things in faith. Sarah.
Yes, she was old but she had a baby.
It's not necessarily an uncommon thing.
God can take our normal works and make them fruitful for his
kingdom. First, Colossians 3:23, whatever
you do. Workout it wholeheartedly.
This is I think this is the NIV you work at it.
Wholeheartedly as though you are doing it for the Lord and not
merely for people. Don't let the value of your
work. Diminish, it's hard to do.
It's hard to keep your Your Mind Set On The Lord's service.
When people around you might not necessarily make, you feel like
it's worth your time. It's like you're serving the
lord, whether it's at your job, whether it's in the church,
whatever it is. I can't stop.
I have to give you a couple verses the beginning of Hebrews
12 and then we'll be finished. Because this is this flow of
thought? Therefore because of all this,
since we are surrounded by so great.
A cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin, which so easily ensnares us and let us run with
endurance, the race that is set before us endurance.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Who for the joy that was set before him.
Joy that was set before him is the Salvation of our souls.
God created us to be in his world and we decided to not be a
part of his kingdom. We decided to rebel and sin but
Jesus knew that the joy of God the joy of our savior would be
and saving us. And for that joy, that was set
before him. He endured the cross, he
despised the shame. Now that we're despised, it
doesn't mean necessarily hated it.
It's like an Timothy when he says, don't let people despise
your youth, it means don't let people look down on it.
Don't let people look at it. Like it's not worth anything.
He says, Jesus despised the shame, meaning he looked at it,
like it wasn't anything, he went through, it was difficult, but
Jesus looked at it. Like it was nothing compared to
the joy of our Salvation that was set before him.
He despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of
the Throne of God. For consider him who endured
such hostility from Sinners against himself, lest you become
weary and discouraged in your souls.
You have not yet resisted to Bloodshed, we have a walk of
faith for not being. We're not being sawn into, we
got this striving against sin and you have forgotten the
exhortation, which speaks to you as Sons.
Okay. I can't keep on, we're going to
close their let's look to Christ the Author and finisher of our
faith and light of all the examples of Faith.
This is still in front of us. This can still be done today.
We can still serve God Faithfully with what God has put
in front of us to do today. We thank you for listening to
our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
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