June 24, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for July 7
Remain faithful to God, no matter what happens
____By Bobby Broyles
__Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-22, 39-12:3, 12-13
___11:1 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. ...
___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.
___11 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.
___17 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.
___20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
___21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshipped 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 about his bones. ...
___39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
___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, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him 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 sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. ...
___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.
___When teaching the 11th chapter of Hebrews, one might feel a little hypocritical. None of us has been asked to build a boat for years with no rain in sight or have a child after the age of 90, and certainly we have not been asked to sacrifice our child on an altar. When compared to that kind of faith, most of our faith would seem quite shallow.
___Fortunately, the Bible also is honest in its appraisal of these heroes of the faith. Noah had the episode with his sons, Sarah laughed at God's proposal and Abraham lied at least twice about Sarah being his wife in order save his own skin. The others in this chapter had their difficult moments as well.
___Praise the Lord! If we did not know that God uses sinful people to carry on his work, we would all be in trouble. But the great message of the Bible is that, because of God's grace, he has decided to enter into a faith contract with us. He has done his part through Christ; he simply asks us to have faith that he is in control.
___Verse 4 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Since we all desire to please God, knowing what faith means and how to practice that faith is essential. Is the kind of faith that pleases God the faith that trusts him for big bank accounts, good health and happiness? Or is the kind of faith that pleases God a faith that trusts him when we have none of these?
___The readers of Hebrews were having a difficult time believing that faith in the saving work of Christ was the only essential for a person to be saved. They were evidently slipping back into Judaism. The writer was warning them that going back to the law is futile. Christ is superior to Moses, the giver of the law (Hebrews 3:1-6). Christ is the High Priest, and faith in him was their only hope of heaven (Hebrews 6:9-20).
___Foundational faith
___In this beautiful first verse, the writer tells us "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The word "assurance" can mean a building, a contract or a promise. Robertson says it carries with it the idea of a foundation or title-deed. We find similar language in Ephesians 1:13-14, where Paul reminds us we were "... marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession."
___The Christian knows that placing all of one's hope in God and "things not seen" is far better than trusting the rewards of the world. This is a hope that is absolutely certain. The Christian does not have a shallow hope that simply wishes something to be true. The Christian is sure that what God says in his word will happen.
___This kind of faith is what allowed Abraham to take Isaac up that mountain. It was that kind of faith that caused Noah to build a boat. It is this kind of faith that sends missionaries to a foreign land. And it is this kind of faith that causes Christians all over the world to sacrifice time, talents, money, fame, pride and all the rest for God.
___Always implied in this business of faith is that God has revealed himself. God's revelation must be the foundation of one's faith or faith can become trivial. A shallow-faithed person believes God exists for his/her benefit. God is concerned about our lives, but what does he think of the person who "prays believing" for a close parking place at the grocery store or cafeteria while thousands in our world go to bed hungry every night. Yes, God wants us to pray "believing," but do we pray with him as the center and source of all life or do we pray as if we are the center of the universe?
___Evidently many are healed in faith-healing services, but why don't the faith healers go to the chidren's hospitals and take care of those kids? Surely, if told they would be healed, they would have enough faith.
___The mystery and tension of our faith and God's response is something Baptists have traditionally lived with. One cannot know all the answers, but we do know our greatest hope of pleasing God is faith. These heroes did not simply live for the passing moment; they realized there was far more to life than the immediate and temporary scene. Life was a journey. They knew that, because God had revealed it to them; there were better things ahead.
___Persistent faith
___God did not abandon Sarah (vv. 11-12). When Abraham told her she was going to have a baby, Sarah laughed. Something she had waited for so long and something she had long given up on might now be a possibility. Certainly this was impossible because, in her mind, she was as good as dead (v. 12).
___There are people today who may feel as good as dead. The failure of a relationship, the loss of a child, the inevitable effects of aging, the horrible consequences of sin--all may cause a person to believe God no longer can use them. Thankfully this is not true. The God who made the womb of Sarah alive can bring to life the most devastated and defeated person.
___God asked Abraham for the supreme sacrifice (vv. 17-22). It seemed ridiculous that God would ask Abraham to sacrifice the son that was supposed to be his promised gift to carry on his linage--"through Isaac shall your descendants be named." Was God going back on his word? Abraham did not let the apparent conflict deter him from what God had told him to do. He refused to limit his own obedience or God's power. His faith held strong, and God supplied the need.
___In the life of faith, sacrifice will be required. Whatever sacrifice one makes, it cannot compare to the eventual reward. The Hindu girl whose father beat his head on the floor when told of her conversion to Christianity has remained strong in the faith in spite of the loss of family relationships.
___Faith is the ability to believe that in our weakness he is made strong. "With God all things are possible, and, therefore, the word "impossible" is a word that should have no place in the vocabulary of the Christian and of the Christian church," William Barclay wrote.
___Strangers looking for a home
___Exiles were not viewed with favor in the ancient world. They were suspected of being criminals banished from their country of origin. One man in that day wrote that he was despised because he was a foreigner. Another wrote that "it is better to live at home than in a foreign country."
___But God was not ashamed to be called their God. What others thought of them had no bearing on God's will for their lives. He knew where they were. He knew what they needed. He was prepared to never leave them or forsake them.
___These heroes of the faith persevered even when they did not receive what was promised (v. 13). The object of their quest was not an earthly one at all, or they would have found their way to it. The promised land is not a piece of property in the Middle East; it is a glorious land we can now only imagine. A land where we will see the fullness of God. Paul exerts that "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God had prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
___Augustine believed "man's city was ruled by passion and pride. It was a city that lacked true foundation." He believed the city of God and Christ was marked by purity and love. "It shall never pass away because it has a sure foundation, 'whose architect and builder is God' (v. 10). These two cities are radically different, yet they intersect in time. In the end, the Living God shall forever separate the two cities. Until that time, Christians need to understand the differences between the two cities. Living the Christian life well depends on this understanding" (Augustine's City of God, Broadman & Holman 1998).
___Christians, though finding Christ, still long for a home beyond. Christian citizenship is in heaven; that is where believers have set their hope. Christians have a great advantage in that we have the knowledge of Christ. What a shame when we do not persevere. We simply do not fit in here.
___In Hollywood, we're not pretty enough; on Wall Street, we are not big enough; in academia, we are not open-minded enough; and with religious fundamentalists, we are not strict enough. We live in a world of grief and pain, greed and power, guilt and persecution. But ultimately, for the Christian, we know this world is not our home. We desire a better country.
___Faith passed down
___Through the lineage of Abraham we see a faith that was passed from generation to generation. Literally thousands of years were affected by their faith. They considered the One who endured for them. Their paths were made straight by a loving and merciful God. Though not in this life, they were perfectly healed in the great City of God.
___Bobby Broyles is pastor of First Baptist Church in Earth
Questions for thought and discussion
___If you were composing a compendium of the heroes of the faith you have known in your life, who would they be and what were the circumstances that allowed them to show their faith?
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