WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.719 Return with me in your Bibles to Hebrews 11, which is on page 1007 in the Pew Bible. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:13.359 And we're going to read verse 1 and then 13 through 16 and then 39. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.160 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:27.920 We'll turn to 13 through 16. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:39.520 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:43.920 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:50.159 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.560 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:00.159 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.280 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised. 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:31.040 Thank you, Chad. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:38.319 It is for Jane and me a great privilege, really, to be able to be here this weekend. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:40.400 We came in on Friday. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.719 Chad texted me and said that I brought the sun with me, I guess. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:52.480 And we're leaving, and there's supposed to be snow tomorrow, so not exactly sure what conclusion you should draw from that. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:06.159 Our goal here this weekend is to continue the process of seeking what uh God's will is for us as we consider the next phase of life in ministry. 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:16.400 And indeed, we want to talk a little bit more about that this evening, give you a bit of a background of who we are as people and the path that God has had us on. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:25.759 And uh but this morning I would like to uh to really it's all working, look at that. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:30.000 I'd like to not focus on myself. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:32.240 Thank you. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:37.599 She also tells me when it's time to stop. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:43.439 But after 43 years of marriage, I've learned to ignore that at times. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.199 So uh 46 years of marriage. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.080 We've been married 46 years. 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:53.680 43 of them have been wonderful. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:00.400 No, I'm just um where was I? 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:12.800 Uh what I'd like to do this morning is to uh to look at this chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, which hopefully is very familiar to us. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:20.879 And I'd like to just highlight, as it were, uh just a couple of verses in this chapter. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:42.000 I had Chad pull out several, three different verses, because as you will see, as you follow along in your Bible and as you listen, and if I can communicate effectively, you will see that the whole question of faith, which is so central to us and to our experience, we are men, we are to be men and women of faith. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.159 Men and women of faith. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.439 And we better know what that involves. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.800 This church is faith, evangelical free church. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:04:01.439 We better know what faith means, what it involves, what it is to be a man or a woman of faith. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:27.439 And in this chapter, we find portraits, we find pictures, as it were, a whole bunch of pictures, a whole series of people who are set forth as examples of men and women who took God at his word and arranged their life and made decisions and lived accordingly. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.480 And that is the key element of faith. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:52.879 By God's grace, we learn to take God at his word and to live accordingly, to make life decisions, to structure our lives, to spend our money, to raise our family, to carry out whatever particular job you have, to live in a way that reflects who God is and what he has said. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:54.720 We take God at his word. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.319 God has spoken and he has not stuttered. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:00.480 The question is not, has God spoken? 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.560 The question is, are we listening? 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:11.199 And as we listen, the people of faith take him at his word and they live their lives in accordance with that. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:30.319 And we have a gallery, as it were, of individuals, and interestingly enough, we won't have time to go through all of them and certainly not their life stories, but these are real, simple, fallible, sinful people just like you and me. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:35.279 One of the dangers with a chapter like this is we see them as heroes. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.959 We see them as somehow or another different than we are, and that's absolutely not the case. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:45.199 These are all people just like you and me. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:58.720 Nothing special about them except, except perhaps the fact that they have learned to take God at His Word and to live their lives in accordance with that. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.800 We're going to be looking at three basic principles involved in that. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:16.959 Uh as we go through this, we're going to be seeing that those who are men and women of faith have a confident assurance of things that they have not seen. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:19.680 Seeing is not believing. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:27.279 Believing is having confident assurance of that which we have not yet seen, tasted, touched, and felt. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:35.519 Believers live their life on the basis of realities that we have not yet seen. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:45.120 We read about them, we hear about them, we walk in their direction, but at the essence, as we'll see, it has to do with things unseen. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:07:06.560 We'll also see that faith, the person of faith, the man and woman of faith, the young person, the child of faith, begins to have his or her desires, his longings, our affections, our yearnings become fixed on a place that we have not been. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:08.160 Home. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:10.319 This is not our home. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:16.560 And men and women of faith are so focused on home that they live differently. 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:23.040 They take God at His Word and they live in accordance with that, and we are drawn homeward. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:33.839 And we'll see thirdly that men and women of faith eagerly await that which we have not yet experienced, or only experienced in part. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.319 Just a foreshadow, just the tip of the tongue and the spoon. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:45.920 And so we take God at His Word on the basis of things unseen, and we live our lives on that basis. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:08:02.079 We find our affections and our desires focused on a place that we've never been, and we wait eagerly in faith for that yet which we have not yet fully experienced. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:07.839 Now, we're not going to take the time to look at all of these people. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:25.040 What I see as I read this, that the author highlights three particular principles and then gives us many examples of that, many portraits of what faith looks like based upon the believers in the past. 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:31.759 And so we have this wonderful chapter which gives examples to us of what faith is like. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.639 And this chapter begs for us to ask the question. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:50.879 For me to ask the question of myself, and for you to ask the question of yourself, what is it that God wants me to do or be as a person of faith? 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:53.600 It begs for a response. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:09:00.320 I didn't have Chad read the follow-up verse to chapter 11, and it's the beginning of verse 12. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:02.639 If you have your Bibles, please look there. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:12.080 Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, that's all these portraits of people in the past who have been men and women of faith. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:24.000 Since we have these examples, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race set before us. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.600 This demands a response on our part. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:33.840 We must never read the Word of God simply with our intellect. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:40.080 We must never sit under the teachings of the Word of God only to fill our notebooks. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:42.960 We are called to a life response. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:48.559 And not just any response, the response that scriptures present for us. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:10:01.120 So we need as we approach uh the teaching and preaching of God's Word, we have to approach it with an expectation that God wants a response from us. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:09.279 I got to thinking about this matter of portraits uh a while back. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:12.559 I guess I have to turn this on to be able to control the world here. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:21.120 It helps if I use the switch to control it. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.440 Do you have any problems with using the remote to your TV? 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:29.840 Or I should say the remotes, you know, four or five of them that clutter the area. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.120 Supposed to simplify life, they befuddle most of us. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:34.080 Anyway. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:43.919 Um a while back, Jane and I uh had occasion to be at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:50.080 Uh we were there, we have a uh a son and his family who live in Washington, D.C. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:58.720 And uh Kara, our daughter-in-law, desperately needed some time with their second child, so we took their first child for the day. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.600 It was arduous grandparent service. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:14.799 Um we were Kara suggested that we take little three-year-old, five-year-old, I don't remember what she was at the time, Annalise, to the National Gallery of Art. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:23.039 Because we were told that there is a particular painting there that she really uh enjoys. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:32.720 And it is a a renoir painting, uh a French impressionist painting, very famous of a little ballerina. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:38.000 Now, I don't know how many little girls uh want to go to the Museum of Art, but this little girl did. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.919 So we we went there. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.679 The National Gallery uh is an impressive building. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:45.440 It's located in an impressive place. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:53.600 It's on Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues at that intersection on the National Mall, directly across from the Smithsonian. 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:59.279 You look one way and there's Capitol Hill, you look the other way and there's uh there's the White House. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:03.840 And there in the middle is this uh National Gallery of Art. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.720 It is a very large building. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:14.000 Uh in art galleries, there aren't just one or two paintings or works of art or sculptures, but many. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:19.440 And they're organized in galleries, big rooms with many pictures. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.519 And in the National Gallery, there are many big rooms with many pictures. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.639 And finding this one was no small matter. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:44.720 But we were on a mission, uh, so we were looking for Renoir's uh the ballerina, and we wound through gallery after gallery after gallery, and we finally came to the French Impressionists. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:49.200 And that was a huge gallery, and then we finally found this picture. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:58.320 Um and what struck me was how many portraits, how many paintings there are, and I got thinking about the book of Hebrews in this chapter. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:10.240 Um, what we read in Hebrews is just a small portion of the examples of men and women in faith throughout the centuries. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.120 And there is a place for us. 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:19.759 There is a place for you in God's gallery of faith. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.320 Uh, you'll have to forgive me for a moment for being a proud grandfather. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:29.759 Um Jane took Annalise, and there's the ballerina, picture of the ballerina behind her. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:37.600 What struck me is across from that was another Renoir painting, a very famous impressionist painting of a little girl with a watering can. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:42.080 And what struck me is that Renoir used our granddaughter as a model. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:48.799 Um, or at least Kara dressed her in that particular dress, which surely inspired the. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.679 Okay, that has nothing to do with this passage, it just has everything to do with being a grandfather. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:10.559 What I want to suggest is there are portraits of faith in this passage, and there is a place in God's gallery of faith for each of us. 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:19.919 I'd like to hang in that gallery. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.159 This is not just for them, this is for us. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:35.519 This is to motivate us to be men and women of faith who take God at His Word and live their life accordingly, and I want to hang in that gallery. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:46.960 Wouldn't it be wonderful if Faith, Evangelical Free Church had a whole corner of that of a whole corner of a gallery? 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:49.840 There's the faith gallery of faith. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.320 Portraits, pictures, yours. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.080 Good, bad, indifferent, ugly, attractive, whatever. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.080 These were just normal people. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:02.960 But I want to live my life in such a way that that's where it stands. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:07.840 And I would love to hang there, and I would love to hang with you. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:15.759 Wouldn't it be wonderful to hang together in God's gallery of faith? 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:26.320 So, what I want to do as we are going through all of this is to just help you realize this is not for them alone. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:56.000 They are examples of how we are to be, and we are to aspire to be so characterized by taking God at His Word and living our life accordingly, that we live on the basis of things we've not seen, our desires are firmly fixed on a place where we have never been, and we eagerly wait for that which is to come, which is better by far than here. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:02.000 That is what faith results in in believers. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:18.639 So if the Lord were to lead for us to come and have you be subjected to my words and so forth over time, um, you just need to know that my own desire is to hang in God's gallery of faith. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:26.159 And my deep desire would be that together we would find a place of our own. 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:33.679 There is a picture frame waiting for you in God's gallery of faith. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.320 This is not for others, this is for us. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.879 And so that's what I want to think about this morning. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:42.879 We're gonna look at these uh three verses. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.679 Chad has already read them, I've already touched them. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:51.279 Uh verse one focuses on a confident assurance of realities that we've not yet seen. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:17:08.880 Verses 13 to 16 focus on desires, uh longings that have been that are growing within us for a place that we've never been, and then to eagerly wait with anticipation for that which we've only begun to taste. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:10.880 So let's take a look at that. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:17.200 First one of chapter 11, and uh I always use the ESV, I believe that's what you have in the pew in front of you. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:18.319 That's great. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:26.720 Um Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:30.559 And we really ought to just spend the rest of our time with that. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:39.519 It is faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and what we hope for we don't yet have in full. 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:50.880 The writer of the book of Hebrews, in talking about faith, was really very similar to what Paul was talking about throughout his epistles when he talked about hope. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:53.279 And hope that is seen is not hope. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:55.599 We hope for things we have not seen. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.240 I hope it doesn't snow today. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.319 The weatherman tells me it will. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:05.519 The weatherman is not infallible, but I don't know whether it will or not. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:07.920 So I hope it doesn't. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:12.240 We use hope for things that we would really kind of like to see happen. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:19.920 The Bible uses hope and faith to talk about things that are absolutely sure and certain. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:25.440 And the reason we know they're sure and certain is because God has said so. 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:26.720 Full stop. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:29.200 It's very interesting to me. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:33.680 The very first example of faith comes at verse 3. 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:43.680 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. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:44.799 Very interesting. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:51.440 When he's wanting to help us understand what faith is, he immediately talks about something that you have never seen. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:56.720 I can rest quite confidently assured that you were not there at creation. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:13.920 And we believe that God created the heavens and the earth not because we can disprove evolution, not because uh intelligent design has a great deal of power and is logical and makes a great deal of sense. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:24.319 We believe in the creation of the world by God for one reason, and that is because God says so. 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:27.279 He's very explicit in the scriptures. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:37.279 And we may be encouraged by intelligent design, we may be suspicious of evolution, but we don't believe in creation because of any of that. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:43.599 We believe, even though we've never seen it, that it's true because God says so. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:49.920 And when God speaks, he neither studies, stutters, nor misleads. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:58.720 So, right away in talking about faith, the writer marshals something that we've never seen and says, How do you know it? 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:00.720 Because God has said it. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.519 And that's at the essence of faith. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:05.599 Um, there's other aspects of this. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:10.880 We're not going to look at all of these, but let's look for a moment at verse 7, Noah. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.640 Um the Lord said to Noah, Build me an Arkee, Arkee. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.200 Uh isn't that how many of you know that? 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:22.880 I won't Lord said to made it out of hickory barkey barkey. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:31.359 Um by faith, verse seven, Noah being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen. 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:33.039 You notice that? 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:49.440 Events that were future, that were not yet seen, and in reverent fear, out of utter respect for God, he constructed an ark for the saving his household, and by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:53.440 In what way was this an act of faith on Noah's part? 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:59.440 Noah did not build the ark because he saw the dark clouds on the horizon. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:08.640 He did not build the ark because he saw and had tangible proof that it was going to rain. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.319 He built the ark because he trusted God. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:17.440 He took God at his word, and so he acted in accordance with that. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.839 Now, Noah was for his countrymen a great fool. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:23.039 A great fool. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.920 Noah, what in the world are you doing? 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:27.519 Well, I'm building an ark. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:29.200 Why are you doing that? 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:30.960 Because God said so. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:37.680 That is the defining characteristic of a man or woman or a young person, a child of faith. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:49.440 We do what God says, not because it makes sense, not because it's tangible, not because we can prove it, not because we can feel it, taste it, touch it, measure it. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:55.440 We do what God says because God says, and we've learned that God is utterly faithful. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.359 He's true, he does not mislead, he can be trusted. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.720 So we take him at his word. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:10.640 Or verse 29 and following, talking about the Israelites who stepped into the Red Sea. 00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:13.200 Great true story. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:21.680 By faith, people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:28.960 And, you know, Cecilby de Mille has helped mislead us a little bit, perhaps with, but you know, picture that. 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:31.359 The armies of Egypt are behind them. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.599 There's nothing but water in front of them. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.160 And God said, step out. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:44.720 And the water parted because God told them to act, and he was trustworthy. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:50.640 Maybe a simpler example for us to relate to is Peter stepping out on the water. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:53.359 Why in the world did he do that? 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.400 Because Jesus said, Peter, come here. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:59.759 And he stepped out and it made no sense. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.119 It was risky. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:04.400 It was pretty bizarre, and it was an act of faith. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:07.599 And those are often characteristics of acts of faith. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:17.519 Things that don't make a whole lot of sense at a certain level, things that involve a certain amount of risk that put us potentially in a dangerous situation. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:25.200 Verses 36 and 38, another portrait, an example of this, be in the middle of verse 35. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:29.279 And at this point, like me, his time was running out. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:44.720 He said in verse 32, Time would fail me to talk of Gideon and Barak and Jamson, Samson and 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 the fire. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.039 Skip down the middle of verse 35. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:56.799 Some were tortured, refusing to accept, some were tortured, refusing to accept release, even though they could have been released. 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:08.400 But they chose instead to remain in that situation so that they might, knowing that they would rise again to a better life. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.240 Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:37.039 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with a sword, they went about in skins of sheep and goats and destitute, afflicted, mistreated, people of whom the world was not worthy, men and women of faith who did things that was not safe, did things that were not logical, did things that were not did not lead to security, did things on the basis of things they could not see. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:50.000 So what we find that the walk of faith, and I wish I had the time to tease this out a little bit more, but Jane is looking at me rightly so. 00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:53.279 The walk of faith seems foolish. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.079 We skipped over Jericho. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.240 How is this for a battle strategy? 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:03.119 You march your troops around Jericho seven times and then you toot your horn. 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:05.599 That is crazy. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:07.680 That makes no sense. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:10.880 That is no battle strategy whatsoever. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:16.880 But it was the people of Israel living their life in accordance with what God had said. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:19.440 God told them to do it, and it didn't make any sense. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:23.119 It seemed foolish, seemed radical, seemed reckless. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:33.359 These people who were tortured, they could have been released, but they allowed themselves to be mistreated, knowing that God has something far better for them. 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:41.200 They were people, all of these, who believed the unseen, namely what God said. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:48.960 The question for us is: are we willing to live that way? 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:57.759 What is there about your life and mine that puzzles or confuses or perhaps disturbs the unbeliever? 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:04.480 You see, the walk of faith always sets us apart from those around us. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:12.319 The person who lives by faith and organizes their life that way, makes decisions that way, is not normal. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.200 You are, God willing, not normal. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:25.759 Just a little aside here, uh we just bought a house in Indianapolis. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:26.640 We just moved. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:40.079 We've been there about six weeks, and we're thinking that God may well be calling us to come here of all strange places. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:42.240 We just bought a house six weeks ago. 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:44.079 We don't even have things unpacked. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:45.920 Why would we do that? 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:57.279 Uh the the people in the neighborhood that I've explained that, you know, this is you know, we're probably gonna be gone for a year or two, they just kind of scratch their head and say, they don't say it. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:02.160 They don't know me well enough to, or don't have the freedom to say, but are you nuts? 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:03.039 Why would you do? 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:09.119 And really, why in God's name would you do something like that? 00:27:09.599 --> 00:27:11.680 Well, if God says it, we do it. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:21.759 We act on the basis of the fact that God is good, God knows what he's doing, he does what he will, and what he wills is good, and so we live that way. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:29.039 What is there about our lives that puzzle, confuse, and perhaps disturb unbelievers? 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:44.000 Are our choices in life based on what is safe, what is responsible, what gives us security, and is as risk-free as possible? 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:51.200 You see, as people of our world, we are driven for safety, for security. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:28:01.359 We tend to make choices based upon what makes sense, what's logical, what provides us with safety and security, and we want to minimize risk. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.480 And God says, you don't get it, folks. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.000 He says that to me. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:08.079 I think he says it to you as well. 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:18.319 Because the walk of faith is not all about being as secure as possible, having the biggest nest egg possible, making decisions that protect our assets. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:19.839 I'm not saying we be foolish. 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:27.519 I say we be men and women of faith, that we make our decisions based upon what we believe God is saying to us. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:39.359 And men and women of faith often find that they are asked to do things that are foolish, potentially bizarre, dangerous, and not without risk. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:45.200 Those whose portraits hang in the gallery are characterized by that. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.200 They walk by faith and not by sight. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:53.440 Seeing is not believing. 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:56.640 Seeing is not believing. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:03.359 Faith is the confident assurance of things we do not see, but we believe because God says it. 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:07.599 We know God, his faithfulness, and his goodness. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:17.039 We're not going to get to all of my points, but I trust whatever point it is that God wants to make in your heart, we will get to this morning. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:18.880 Another characteristic of faith. 00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:24.400 We find our desires firmly fixed and focused on a place that we've not yet been. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:32.000 Read with me if you would, verses 13 to 18, talking about all of these people, the patriarchs, a whole bunch of people. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:33.839 They died in faith. 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:54.960 Now listen, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, people who speak this way make it clear that they are seeking to go home. 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:57.599 They are seeking a homeland. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:03.119 If they had been thinking of the land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:15.279 But as it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly country, and God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:26.319 We find ourselves drawn forward, not driven forward, but drawn forward to a place we have not yet been. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:30.000 A couple of the many examples here. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:32.240 Verses 9 and 10, Abraham. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:42.079 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. 00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:49.119 He didn't know where he was going to end up, and he was the great example of faith. 00:30:49.279 --> 00:31:01.920 But he knew God was faithful, he knew God was true, he knew God was trustworthy, and he made decisions based on not on what he saw, but he moved forward based on what God has promised. 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:07.839 He saw something from afar, he acknowledged that he was a stranger and an alien. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:13.200 He went to live in the land of promise, but he didn't live there as his homeland. 00:31:13.359 --> 00:31:18.720 It was the land of promise, but he lived there as an alien and a stranger. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:21.119 He was not home here. 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:23.680 This is not our home. 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:26.480 This is not our home. 00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:30.960 Our home is heaven, and heaven is better by far. 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:41.920 And we don't, the men and women of faith, don't just settle down and try to get as comfortable as possible, as secure as possible, and as risk-free as possible. 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:51.519 And Abraham never got in this life to the place of possession that he was called to. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.640 He was there as a stranger and an alien. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:32:09.039 Moses, Moses, I won't take the time, verses 24 and 27, intentionally chose mistreatment because he saw with an eye of faith something far better, better by far. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:13.039 And so he is an example of faith. 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:17.759 Many, many, many others, I won't take the time to go through it. 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:20.799 A fixed focus on home. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:22.480 Homeward bound. 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:26.000 That is not a movie about fuzzy little cute dogs. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:32.160 Homeward bound is the direction of our lives as we walk in faith. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:33.839 It transforms everything. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:42.240 The way we arrange our lives, the choices we make, how we spend our money, how we spend our time, and the things that we value. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:51.359 Jim Elliott, famous missionary, quote, it's not just for the missionaries, folks, it's for you and for me. 00:32:51.759 --> 00:32:57.759 He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:07.359 You cannot keep your house, you cannot keep your health, you cannot keep your children, you cannot keep your job, you may not even be able to control your bladder before it's all over. 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:09.279 You will lose it all. 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:12.799 And if we live for that, we are fools. 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:16.079 We are to live for that which is to come. 00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:18.720 This is not our home. 00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:26.640 And when we begin to feel comfortable here, we're missing the reality of the walk and life of faith. 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.079 We learn to willingly sacrifice. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:45.519 Sacrifice means, and Lord willing will have a chance to work this out in the future, we willingly give up things that we love and cherish for things that we've learned to love and cherish more. 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:48.319 There's nothing wrong with a home. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:54.240 There's nothing wrong with security, there's nothing wrong with a bank account, but there are things that are far more important than that. 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:57.839 And so we willingly do things that are foolish in the world's mind. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:05.279 We give up things because there's things that we love and cherish more than the things that we have. 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:09.840 Reputation, respect, the list goes on and on. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:17.679 I want to keep my desires firmly fixed on home. 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:20.960 I'm a man who wants to go home. 00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:24.159 The sooner, the better. 00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:31.119 Because God says home is better by far. 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:42.159 The most wonderful, the most fulfilling, the most beautiful, the most satisfying things in this life, and there are many things that are wonderful and beautiful and satisfying. 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:47.199 They are not worthy to be compared to that that we look to. 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:55.199 And the worst things of this life, the worst trials we go through, that's as bad as it will ever get. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:35:04.480 The best, the best is yet to come, and I want to go forward in faith. 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:16.159 I want my picture to hang in God's gallery of faith, and I want to hang together there with you. 00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:29.119 The question for us is what does God want us to do as we begin to unfold and understand what faith involves? 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:39.119 Focused on things unseen, zeroed in on that which is to come and eagerly awaiting that. 00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:44.159 If I had another hour and a half, I would uh flesh this out a little further. 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:54.960 What I really want to say, folks, is what is it that God wants from you as a man or a woman of faith? 00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:56.639 Would you pray with me? 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.280 Heavenly Father, this passage demands a response. 00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:04.559 You demand a response. 00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:07.840 Lord, I want to be a man of faith. 00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:17.760 I want to be so believing who you are and what you have said, that there's things about my life that just don't make sense to most normal people. 00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:27.679 I want to be so focused on somewhere else that I'm not immeshed and entrapped and bound by the things around me. 00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:35.280 And I don't want to get distracted from that which lies ahead, which I've only barely begun to taste. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:38.079 Oh Lord, may I be a man of faith. 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.360 May my brothers and sisters, the folks here, be people of faith. 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:44.960 Lord, what would you have us do? 00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:47.679 We ask in Jesus' name. 00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:50.400 We're gonna uh sing