Damein Schitter: Hello everyone.
Damein Schitter: This is Pastor Damein.
Damein Schitter: You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando.
Damein Schitter: At New City, we believe all of us need all of Jesus for all of life.
Damein Schitter: For more resources, visit our website at newcityorlandocom.
Damein Schitter: Thanks for listening.
Damein Schitter: Good morning.
Joshua Esquivel: Please join me, God of mercy.
Joshua Esquivel: The covenant promises in your eternal word do not change.
Joshua Esquivel: Holy Spirit, enable us to respond to your gracious promises with faithful and obedient hearts Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Joshua Esquivel: Amen.
Joshua Esquivel: Our scripture today comes from Hebrews 11, 1 through 3, 32 to the 40.
Joshua Esquivel: Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it the people of old received their commendation.
Joshua Esquivel: By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Joshua Esquivel: And what more shall I say For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah and David and Samuel and the prophets who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of a weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Joshua Esquivel: Women received back their dead by resurrection.
Joshua Esquivel: Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life.
Joshua Esquivel: Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.
Joshua Esquivel: They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.
Joshua Esquivel: They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.
Joshua Esquivel: And all these, though, come in through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us that, apart from us, they should not be made perfect.
Joshua Esquivel: This is God's word.
Benjamin Kandt: Thanks be to God, you may be seated.
Benjamin Kandt: General Charles Gordon was a legendary British commander in the 19th century.
Benjamin Kandt: Winston Churchill described him like this said he is a man careless alike of the frowns of men or the smiles of women, of life or comfort, wealth or fame.
Benjamin Kandt: How was he so free from the fear of man?
Benjamin Kandt: Well, there's this story actually Once he was on a peacemaking mission and General Gordon was held prisoner by the King of Abyssinia and the King said to him like this do you know, gordon, that I could kill you on the spot if I liked?
Benjamin Kandt: To which Gordon replied I'm perfectly well aware of it.
Benjamin Kandt: Your majesty, do so at once.
Benjamin Kandt: If it is your royal pleasure, I am ready.
Benjamin Kandt: The king said wait, ready to be killed?
Benjamin Kandt: He said certainly, I'm always ready to die.
Benjamin Kandt: Then my power has no terrors for you.
Benjamin Kandt: Gordon replied none whatsoever.
Benjamin Kandt: And the king left the room amazed how did he have freedom from the fear of death?
Benjamin Kandt: After Gordon's death during the siege of Khartoum, his friend John Bonar wrote about him and said this what always struck me was the way in which Gordon's oneness with God ruled all his actions.
Benjamin Kandt: I love that language.
Benjamin Kandt: Gordon's oneness with God ruled all his actions and his mode of seeing things.
Benjamin Kandt: I never knew one who seemed so much to endure as seeing him who is invisible.
Benjamin Kandt: That's how.
Benjamin Kandt: That's how he did it and that's a direct quote, actually, from Hebrews 11, 27, our text.
Benjamin Kandt: This morning and last week we saw that the object of our faith is far more important than the strength of our faith.
Benjamin Kandt: But this week I want to see that the strength of our faith does matter.
Benjamin Kandt: I quoted DL Moody last week saying that a little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul.
Benjamin Kandt: So how do we do that?
Benjamin Kandt: How do we get heaven in our soul?
Benjamin Kandt: How do we strengthen our faith?
Benjamin Kandt: That's the question I'm really asking, and I've got one point which is the answer, which is that faith feeds on the knowledge of God.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith that faith feeds on the knowledge of God.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith feeds on the knowledge of God If you walk away with one thing.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what I want you to have.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith feeds on the knowledge of God.
Benjamin Kandt: If you have a Bible or a device, go ahead and open to Hebrews 11.
Benjamin Kandt: You have the worship guide.
Benjamin Kandt: It's here as well, but I'm gonna go back a little bit into the text so we can look at the whole scope of this chapter.
Benjamin Kandt: In Hebrews 11, verse 32, it says this and what more shall I say?
Benjamin Kandt: I'm gonna pause there.
Benjamin Kandt: Hebrews was likely a sermon that was written down.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what I think it was.
Benjamin Kandt: And so this is a preacher and he's like, hey, what more shall I say?
Benjamin Kandt: And he's about to go on and recap everything he's been saying.
Benjamin Kandt: But up to this point the author has spent verses three through 31 proving his point that faith is this conviction, this insurance of the things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen.
Benjamin Kandt: So he spent the whole chapter trying to prove that, to show that, and in order to do that, he shows it from the lives of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Rahab, and how they were all commended for this faith.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith shows up in this chapter 24 times in the Greek text, and so faith is clearly this significant piece, and I want to just kind of backtrack a little bit in the passage and do a flyover of this, what's been called the hall of faith.
Benjamin Kandt: Look with me at verse 11.
Benjamin Kandt: I'm sorry, hebrews 11, verse eight.
Benjamin Kandt: It says this by faith, abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, faith requires risk.
Benjamin Kandt: Abraham left everything behind at the call of God.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what happens in this text here.
Benjamin Kandt: And so listen, if you want adventure, faith will invite you to live on the redemptive edge.
Benjamin Kandt: If what you're after is excitement and adventure in life, live by faith, you'll get it.
Benjamin Kandt: I promise you that.
Benjamin Kandt: Andy Crouch says that what happens is that people have to risk a lot to be successful in business, but once they get successful, they're tempted to de-risk.
Benjamin Kandt: But once they get successful, they're tempted to de-risk.
Benjamin Kandt: And he actually says that that makes sense.
Benjamin Kandt: But really, if you wanna sacrificially bless others, you actually have to re-risk.
Benjamin Kandt: You've gotta sign up again to risk in a new way.
Benjamin Kandt: Why would you do that?
Benjamin Kandt: Why would anybody re-risk?
Benjamin Kandt: Because by faith we know that God brings creative restoration through sacrifice.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, in this situation, abraham was about 75 years old.
Benjamin Kandt: He's about to sail off into his sunset years.
Benjamin Kandt: He's probably going to retire and get a place on the coast of the Gulf of America and as he's doing that, rather than de-risk, he risks everything at the call of God, everything at the call of God, everything.
Benjamin Kandt: At the call of God, he went out not knowing where he was going and he became the father of faith.
Benjamin Kandt: The text goes on.
Benjamin Kandt: I'm sorry, paul the apostle, in another passage in Romans 4, he talks about Abraham and this is what he says about him.
Benjamin Kandt: He says no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God.
Benjamin Kandt: To which I reply, paul, have you read about Ishmael?
Benjamin Kandt: You know that guy Hagar Seems like there was some wavering here.
Benjamin Kandt: We'll get to that in a moment.
Benjamin Kandt: No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, faith feeds on the knowledge of God.
Benjamin Kandt: So how do we grow strong in our faith?
Benjamin Kandt: According to this passage, we give glory to God.
Benjamin Kandt: That's how we do it.
Benjamin Kandt: Now I want to break that down a little bit.
Benjamin Kandt: If faith feeds on the knowledge of God, praise and thanks, acknowledge God for who he is and what he's done.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what I think this is so.
Benjamin Kandt: Said differently to acknowledge something is to show one's knowledge of it.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what I think this is so.
Benjamin Kandt: Said differently to acknowledge something is to show one's knowledge of it.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what that means, and I wanna just submit to you that we believe little because we praise little.
Benjamin Kandt: Our trust is low because our thanks is low.
Benjamin Kandt: But what Abraham's life shows us is that as we receive the knowledge of God who he is and what he does and as we respond to that knowledge by giving praise to God for who he is and thanks to God for what he does, faith grows, it's strengthened.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what just happened here in the first half of this worship service.
Benjamin Kandt: I love sitting in the front because I can hear you all.
Benjamin Kandt: I can hear your voices.
Benjamin Kandt: This is the voice, this is the sound of those who love you.
Benjamin Kandt: Right, and I can hear that.
Benjamin Kandt: And faith grows, it strengthens that way.
Benjamin Kandt: And so as we give glory to God, fully convinced that he's able to do what he said he can do, our faith is strengthened, it grows in that regard.
Benjamin Kandt: But it's not always a success story.
Benjamin Kandt: Look at Hebrews 11, 13.
Benjamin Kandt: It says this Look at Hebrews 11, 13.
Benjamin Kandt: It says this these all now this is referring to Abraham, sarah, isaac, jacob these all died in faith.
Benjamin Kandt: Not having received the things promised, these all died.
Benjamin Kandt: Is this a tragedy?
Benjamin Kandt: No, but it is biblical realism, and that matters, because, no matter how good your life gets, you will not receive the full benefits of your faith here and now.
Benjamin Kandt: There was a book that was on the New York Times bestselling list for a couple years, called your Best Life Now, and here's the thing if you have your best life now, that implies you're going to hell.
Benjamin Kandt: That's a big deal, okay, and so what that means, though, is that, if you belong to Jesus, the best is yet to come.
Benjamin Kandt: You haven't fully realized all that God has in store for you yet, and that's how they act In verse 13,.
Benjamin Kandt: It says they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Benjamin Kandt: Listen, when you become a Christian, when you become a believer in Jesus and you put your faith in him, you become a stranger and an exile on earth.
Benjamin Kandt: The world doesn't know you anymore.
Benjamin Kandt: It doesn't think like you, act like you value the things that you value anymore, so you become a stranger and an exile here.
Benjamin Kandt: This is why, listen, faith often feels like homesickness, like you know.
Benjamin Kandt: You're doing it right if you feel homesick from time to time.
Benjamin Kandt: This is the way CS Lewis said it the settled happiness and security which we all desire, god withholds from us, by the very nature of the world, but joy and pleasure and merriment he has scattered abroad.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, the security we crave would teach our hearts to rest in this world and it would pose an obstacle to our return to God.
Benjamin Kandt: Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant ends, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
Benjamin Kandt: Verse 14 says for people who speak thus, like CS Lewis just spoke, people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
Benjamin Kandt: If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, then they would have opportunity to return.
Benjamin Kandt: But as it is, they desire a better country.
Benjamin Kandt: That is a heavenly one.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, many of us here desire a better country.
Benjamin Kandt: Don't you Like?
Benjamin Kandt: In your peak moments, you're aware of how fleeting that moment really is?
Benjamin Kandt: Don't you desire a better country?
Benjamin Kandt: In your valley moments, you're aware of how fleeting that moment really is?
Benjamin Kandt: Don't you desire a better country In your valley moments?
Benjamin Kandt: You're aware of how painful those moments really are?
Benjamin Kandt: Don't you desire a better country?
Benjamin Kandt: This is what it says in verse 16.
Benjamin Kandt: Therefore, god is not ashamed.
Benjamin Kandt: He's not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, faith feels like homesickness, but it's also a coming home.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith feels like homesickness, but it's also a coming home.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith feels like homesickness, but it's a faith that feeds on the knowledge that God is not ashamed to be called our God.
Benjamin Kandt: Another way to say that is is that faith is coming home to a father who loves you even when he's not impressed with you.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what faith feels like.
Benjamin Kandt: It's this coming home, and home is this place where we don't deserve it or earn it.
Benjamin Kandt: It's just a place of safety and joy.
Benjamin Kandt: It's a place where, while faith is a risk, it's also a refuge.
Benjamin Kandt: It's coming into a safe harbor.
Benjamin Kandt: It's experiencing the rest that we all deeply desire.
Benjamin Kandt: That's what faith is.
Benjamin Kandt: Faith is a coming home because it seeks a homeland, a place where we'll finally be at rest.
Benjamin Kandt: The text says that faith desires a better country that is a heavenly one.
Benjamin Kandt: Now here, listen, there's an accusation that flies around this topic, and it's usually something like this you are so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good.
Benjamin Kandt: You know, it's a fine saying, but the only problem with it is reality.
Benjamin Kandt: This is the way CS Lewis puts it.
Benjamin Kandt: If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.
Benjamin Kandt: All who left their mark on earth did so precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven.
Benjamin Kandt: It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.
Benjamin Kandt: One Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.
Benjamin Kandt: Aim at earth and you will get neither.
Benjamin Kandt: Wilberforce fought slavery, corrie, ten Boom forgave Nazis.
Benjamin Kandt: Nelson Mandela led post-apartheid South Africa beyond vengeance.
Benjamin Kandt: Mlk dreamed of justice rooted in heaven.
Benjamin Kandt: All of them, they aimed at heaven and they brought change to earth.
Benjamin Kandt: So, yes, we are seeking a better country, we desire a new homeland, that's true.
Benjamin Kandt: But that doesn't mean we don't get to work here and now to see our father answer the Lord's prayer on earth as it is in heaven.
Benjamin Kandt: Now to our actual sermon text.
Benjamin Kandt: Look with me at verse 32.
Benjamin Kandt: And what more shall I say for this, for time would fail me to tell of Gideon, barak, samson, jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
Benjamin Kandt: Now listen.
Benjamin Kandt: Hebrews 11 is about to do this thing, where the preacher speeds up and goes rapid fire on this kind of tour to faith, and in the process.
Benjamin Kandt: I wanna do a quick sidebar here, Because if you slow down, you'll notice something interesting.
Benjamin Kandt: Just look at the first four men listed here Gideon, barak, samson, jephthah.
Benjamin Kandt: If you read the book of Judges you'll realize those men all have significant flaws and many of them, just straight up, don't believe God at certain points that really matter.
Benjamin Kandt: Like I use the story of Samson when I'm sitting down with like a 20 something year old guy and he's digging the chili of some woman who doesn't believe in Jesus and I'm like, listen, I'll listen to you as you talk about how you're missionary dating or you're gonna flirt to convert or all this stuff.
Benjamin Kandt: But after I patiently listened for a little bit, I turned to Judges 14.
Benjamin Kandt: I'm like, bro, it doesn't end well for you.
Benjamin Kandt: Samson gets his eyes plucked out and like a building falls on him.
Benjamin Kandt: Is that what you want?
Benjamin Kandt: I know she's a honey named Delilah, but it doesn't go well.
Benjamin Kandt: I use Samson as an example of how not to live.
Benjamin Kandt: What is he doing in the hall of faith?
Benjamin Kandt: Like you got to ask that question.
Benjamin Kandt: Sure, all believers sin.
Benjamin Kandt: But these are some significant disqualifying character flaws in this text, in these people's lives.
Benjamin Kandt: But faith feeds on the knowledge that God is a better storyteller.
Benjamin Kandt: There's a psychologist named Dan McAdams who created something called narrative identity theory.
Benjamin Kandt: This is it in a nutshell who you are.
Benjamin Kandt: Your identity is wrapped up in the stories you tell about yourself.
Benjamin Kandt: And listen, there's only two stories really.
Benjamin Kandt: He sums it up.
Benjamin Kandt: He says really only two stories you can tell about yourself.
Benjamin Kandt: He calls them redemption stories and contamination stories.
Benjamin Kandt: He's not a Christian, as far as I know.
Benjamin Kandt: Redemption stories go from bad to good.
Benjamin Kandt: Contamination stories go from good to bad Two stories you can tell about yourself.
Benjamin Kandt: That defines who you are, maybe more than anything else, is that story.
Benjamin Kandt: So when we get to some of these people in Hebrews 11, who've done some messed up things like deception and cowardice and sexual sin and murder and polygamy, even unbelief, what do we do with this?
Benjamin Kandt: Well, listen, that's not the story that God tells about their life, nor is it the story he tells about your life.
Benjamin Kandt: There's some lies that you can believe in about your identity, but two of them are this I am nothing more than my worst moment.
Benjamin Kandt: Another one would be I'm nothing better than my.
Benjamin Kandt: I'm nothing more than my worst moment.
Benjamin Kandt: Another one would be I'm nothing better than my.
Benjamin Kandt: I'm nothing worse than my best moment.
Benjamin Kandt: These lies about our identity can be actually upended if we, by faith, let God tell a different story about our life.
Benjamin Kandt: Verse two says it like this by faith, the people of old received their commendation, not condemnation, commendation.
Benjamin Kandt: God speaks well of them.
Benjamin Kandt: Why?
Benjamin Kandt: Because they earned it, because they did enough to offset the scales kind of in their favor, because they finally kind of outweighed their bad with their good.
Benjamin Kandt: No, because they trusted God.
Benjamin Kandt: They trusted God, and faith feeds on the knowledge of a God who can justify the ungodly.
Benjamin Kandt: That's why they're in this story.
Benjamin Kandt: And God justifies the ungodly, not by ignoring sin, but by writing your life into the story of his son.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, jesus's story went from good to bad, so that yours could go from bad to good.
Benjamin Kandt: Jesus's life has enough redemption in it to swallow up the contamination of your life.
Benjamin Kandt: That's why God can speak about these people.
Benjamin Kandt: That's how grace works.
Benjamin Kandt: And then faith just simply lays hold on that grace.
Benjamin Kandt: Matthew Henry said it like this the grace of God fixes upon the undeserving to do great things for them and by them.
Benjamin Kandt: What a difference between God's judgment and man's judgment Sidebar over, believe it or not.
Benjamin Kandt: That was all just a little excursus.
Benjamin Kandt: Look at verse 33 with me.
Benjamin Kandt: Verse 33 says this, and I want you to feel this.
Benjamin Kandt: There's something rhetorical happening in this text who, through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Benjamin Kandt: Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so they might rise again to a better life.
Benjamin Kandt: Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.
Benjamin Kandt: Do you feel this?
Benjamin Kandt: Do you feel this shift?
Benjamin Kandt: Verse 37 says they were stoned.
Benjamin Kandt: Some of you are like that doesn't sound so bad.
Benjamin Kandt: It's not what you think.
Benjamin Kandt: It means they were stoned.
Benjamin Kandt: They were sawn in two.
Benjamin Kandt: They were killed with the sword.
Benjamin Kandt: They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.
Benjamin Kandt: Do you see those halves?
Benjamin Kandt: Do you see what happened there?
Benjamin Kandt: You see the first part of this.
Benjamin Kandt: There's nine verbs of victorious faith where all they do is win.
Benjamin Kandt: But then there's a transition in verse 35 where it says some, and in verse 36 where it says others.
Benjamin Kandt: You see the first half, verses 32 through 34,.
Benjamin Kandt: It's about faith for death to life.
Benjamin Kandt: But the second half verses 34 through 38, is about faith for life to death.
Benjamin Kandt: You need faith for both, and so here's the question I ask when I read this text what do I do when I'm not sure which testimony I'm gonna have?
Benjamin Kandt: What do I do when?
Benjamin Kandt: Will I be the one who escapes the sword verse 34, or is killed by the sword verse 37?
Benjamin Kandt: Which story of faith is gonna be recorded on my life?
Benjamin Kandt: How do we handle this?
Benjamin Kandt: You see, faith feeds on the faithfulness of God.
Benjamin Kandt: That's how we handle it, and we get a hint from one of these stories in particular, where it says that faith quenched the power of fire in verse 34.
Benjamin Kandt: And many of you kids know this story.
Benjamin Kandt: This is the story of in Daniel three, where Nebuchadnezzar, the most mighty emperor in the world at the time, demands worship at the point of death and Shadrach, meshach and Abednego who, by the way, were likely teenagers, probably 14 to 17 years old.
Benjamin Kandt: That's actually really important.
Benjamin Kandt: They look at Nebuchadnezzar and they say no, that's it.
Benjamin Kandt: So Nebuchadnezzar orders that the furnace be as hot as his fury and then to have these three teenagers thrown into it, and they don't flinch for a moment.
Benjamin Kandt: In fact, there's this moment where they look at him and they say okay, Nebby, listen, that's not what it says, that's my version of it.
Benjamin Kandt: Okay, nebby, listen, we don't need to defend ourselves to you If you throw us in.
Benjamin Kandt: Our God, we serve, is able to deliver us, and he will deliver us from your hand, oh king.
Benjamin Kandt: Then these next three words but if not, but if not, let it be known to you, o King we still won't serve your gods or worship the image you set up.
Benjamin Kandt: Do you hear that confidence in the faithfulness of God, our God, will deliver us from this fiery furnace.
Benjamin Kandt: But if not, we still have confidence in who he is.
Benjamin Kandt: We're not gonna worship some idol, some man, some emperor.
Benjamin Kandt: There's a clue there for us.
Benjamin Kandt: Don't you want your teenagers to be able to stand up to tyrants like that?
Benjamin Kandt: Student community meets tonight at 6 pm at the New City offices.
Benjamin Kandt: Six-week series called Teens vs Tyrants how to have Punk Rock Faith, something like that.
Benjamin Kandt: None of that's true, but I wish it was.
Benjamin Kandt: They do meet tonight at 6 pm.
Benjamin Kandt: Listen, shadrach, meshach and Abednego were 14 years old.
Benjamin Kandt: They're thrown into the fire, and the fire was so hot that it killed the men who threw them in.
Benjamin Kandt: And suddenly Nebuchadnezzar jumps to his feet.
Benjamin Kandt: He looks and he's astonished at what he sees and he says wait a minute.
Benjamin Kandt: Didn't we throw three young men that are bound up?
Benjamin Kandt: Didn't we throw three men into the fire?
Benjamin Kandt: They say, of course, king.
Benjamin Kandt: He says but I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire, unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.
Benjamin Kandt: You see, what happened in this moment is they didn't have a specific promise of rescue.
Benjamin Kandt: God didn't promise to deliver them from this fire, but God promised to be God to them, to be faithful to them, to meet them where they are, to be with them in the fire.
Benjamin Kandt: And they had confidence, because faith feeds on the faithfulness of God.
Benjamin Kandt: Verse 38 says says this and all of these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that, apart from us, they should not be made perfect.
Benjamin Kandt: You see Hebrews 11, it is a hall of faith, but it's also a character reference for God.
Benjamin Kandt: The whole story, the pattern of Hebrews 11, is that God gives a promise, people hold fast to that promise and then God delivers on that promise.
Benjamin Kandt: But sometimes you don't have a promise, like there's no promise that you won't remain single your whole life.
Benjamin Kandt: There's no promise that your kids won't suffer.
Benjamin Kandt: There's no promise that you won't get an unexpected diagnosis this week.
Benjamin Kandt: So what do we do?
Benjamin Kandt: Well, faith has to learn to feed on the faithfulness of God.
Benjamin Kandt: We trust, like verse 40, that God has provided something better for us.
Benjamin Kandt: We, like Sarah, consider him faithful.
Benjamin Kandt: Who promised verse 11.
Benjamin Kandt: Like Abraham, we believe God could even raise the dead verse 19.
Benjamin Kandt: Like Moses, we endure as seeing him who is invisible.
Benjamin Kandt: I had a friend who texted me this week and asked to pray for him because he was going in for a biopsy that was potentially cancerous.
Benjamin Kandt: And after he went in, he texted me and he said my father knows what they're going to find and he is good and trustworthy and is working out a plan about which I am on a need to know basis.
Benjamin Kandt: That's faith.
Benjamin Kandt: That's faith that feeds on the faithfulness of God.
Benjamin Kandt: Even when you don't have a promise for your circumstance, faith looks to God to come through somehow some way, because we know who God is.
Benjamin Kandt: We know this God some way.
Benjamin Kandt: Because we know who God is, we know this God.
Benjamin Kandt: We have an awareness that God hasn't promised safety and security or pleasure and peace.
Benjamin Kandt: But God has promised himself, and when we cannot trace his hand, we can trust his heart.
Benjamin Kandt: And so we believe, even when it hurts like hell.
Benjamin Kandt: Verse 40, god has provided something better for us.
Benjamin Kandt: What is that something better?
Benjamin Kandt: Well, that's something better.
Benjamin Kandt: Throughout the entire book of Hebrews up to this point is Jesus, it's Jesus, and it's everything that's found in Jesus.
Benjamin Kandt: It's his faithful life, it's his victorious resurrection, it's his willing death on our behalf.
Benjamin Kandt: It's his joyful presence for eternity.
Benjamin Kandt: This something better is a sinless, painless existence, forever in the presence of our king, not some disembodied spiritual existence where we float around, but one where we dance and we march and we hug and we embrace and we eat and we drink in the kingdom of God and all of our deepest longings are fulfilled and all of our greatest sorrows are swallowed up.
Benjamin Kandt: What could be better than that?
Benjamin Kandt: And that's what we're in for, and nothing less, because God has provided something better for us.
Benjamin Kandt: Let's pray, jesus, we pause before you.
Benjamin Kandt: Now, here we are, your people, those who have laid hold of you by faith.
Benjamin Kandt: Be the one you've promised to be.
Benjamin Kandt: We trust you, we look to you.
Benjamin Kandt: Holy Spirit, I'm asking that you would grow faith, strengthen faith, create faith, even in some of our hearts.
Benjamin Kandt: Give us eyes to see, not our surroundings or our circumstances, but to see you.
Benjamin Kandt: By faith, we wanna endure as seeing him who is invisible.
Benjamin Kandt: Help us, lord.
Benjamin Kandt: We can't do this on our own.
Benjamin Kandt: It's for your beautiful name we pray amen.