The Endurance of Faith (Overlooking Life’s Hardships)
Hebrews 11:32-40
February 28, 2016

Well this morning we come to final leg of
This famous 11th chapter of Hebrews.

The writer has been carrying his readers on a very important journey.
He has been stressing the importance of faith.

And with good reason…
These Hebrews were contemplating losing faith
And shrinking back from Jesus.

The writer has been imploring them
To be people of faith; not people of fear.

We saw THE REWARD OF FAITH
Abel, Enoch, Noah all earned God’s approval and received righteousness because of their faith.

We saw THE FOCUS OF FAITH
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph all stayed focused on God’s promise even though none of them received it this life.

We saw THE COURAGE OF FAITH
Amram, Jochabed, Moses, Israel, and Rahab all demonstrated the courage it takes to face life’s scariest moments and push through anyway.

This morning we come to final point
And the examples come even more rapidly.

This morning we see THE ENDURANCE OF FAITH
And the importance of Overlooking Life’s Hardships

LET’S FACE IT, LIFE IS HARD.
Ever since the fall in the garden
Man has been subject to a life of extreme difficulty.

God told Adam
Genesis 3:17-19 “…Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

God told Eve
Genesis 3:16 “To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

And that is just the basic expectation for all humanity.

I’m always reminded of Jacob’s estimation of life when he stood before Pharaoh.
Genesis 47:9 “So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.”

Or the sunny outlook of the writer of Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 9:3 “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.”

Life is hard.
It doesn’t come easy for anyone.

In addition to that we have the promise that this world
Will pursue a life of sensual lust and pleasure
And will hate anyone who challenges that desire.

If you try to live this life in a manner that convicts the world
Then you can expect to have persecution added to your list of difficulties.

Jesus said:
Matthew 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”

I think you get the point – LIFE IS HARD

You literally hear it at every stage.

It’s hard to be kid
Too little to do what you want, families are guaranteed anymore

It’s hard to be a teenager
Temptation at every corner, busyness, the pressure to succeed

It’s hard to be a young adult
Out in the world for the first time, find a job, who are you going to marry?

Marriage is hard
It takes two people being unselfish; meeting one another’s needs

Having a baby is hard
You don’t sleep, They’re needy

Raising a teenager is hard
Rebellious, demanding, ungrateful

Letting your children leave the nest is hard
Turning them loose on the world, hoping they make good decisions

Getting old is hard
The body doesn’t respond or heal like it used to, doctor’s visits, medication
THERE IS NOT AN EASY PHASE OF LIFE – IT’S JUST LIFE

And one thing you’ll have to learn if you are going to participate is ENDURANCE

James said:
James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

This is such an important point to have driven into our brains.
There is no way to live this life, especially for God
Without faith and the endurance it produces.

Adrian Rogers said:
“Men are like rivers, they grow crooked by following the path of least resistance.”
• You can’t just always take the easy way out.
• You can’t just always run.
• We are called to endure, to push through, to face the difficulty.

And it requires faith to do that.

Well that type of faith is what seems to be on display
Here in the final section of this faith chapter.
(Only here the writer speeds up even more.)

1) THE MIGHTY WARRIORS
2) THE MIGHTY MARTYRS
#1 THE MIGHTY WARRIORS
Hebrews 11:32-34

Obviously everyone on this list filled that “mighty warrior” role.
They represent some of our favorite victory stories from the Bible.

“Gideon” was a judge in Israel.
• During his days the Midianites oppressed Israel
• Midian was said to be like locusts…innumerable
• Because of the Midianites, the Israelites had actually abandoned their homes and begun living in caves and holes in the side of the hills.
• Midian would come in and destroy all the produce.

And God raised Gideon up to face these Midianites and be a deliverer.

Judges 6:11-16 “Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The LORD looked at him and said, ” Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” But the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”

He is most famous for the whole “lay out a fleece” concept.

Judges 6:36-40 “Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.” And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God, ” Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.”

My whole life people have been using that as a “good example”,
But Gideon wasn’t walking by faith there.
Gideon wanted proof (twice)

Now granted God obliged Gideon’s request and calmed his fears,
But God did not let Gideon escape the necessity of faith.
You may remember that God forced him
To whittle his army down to nearly nothing.

Judges 7:1-8 “Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. The LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘ Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.'” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. Then the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.” Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” So the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.”

God may have answered the fleece request, but God still required faith.
Gideon gave it and God used him to defeat the Midianites.

“Barak” was a military man in Israel.
• Deborah was the judge.
• In their day Israel was oppressed by Sisera, the king of Canaan who had an enormous army containing 900 chariots.
• For 20 years Sisera had oppressed Israel.

Until God decided to deliver and bring that deliverance through Barak.

Barak gathered 10,000 men and God used this warrior
To defeat Sisera and deliver Israel.

Most of you are familiar with “Samson”
• Samson was a judge of Israel when Israel was oppressed by the Philistines.
• God had given Samson incredible strength.
• Samson basically went around picking fights and then finishing them and thus through Samson God was delivering Israel.

Samson did have some hiccups in his life,
But primarily he is seen as a man who trusted that God would deliver through him and thus Samson typically fought alone.

“Jephthah” was also a Judge in the days that the Ammorites afflicted Israel.

• Jephthah trusted that God had given this land to Israel and by faith in God he defeated the Ammorites.

Jephthah is probably most remembered for promising to sacrifice to God
The first thing that walked out of his house when he got home
(many wonder if he came home yelling the name of his mother-in-law)
It was his daughter and Jephthah carried out his vow.

None the less, Jephthah walked by faith in defeating the Ammorites.

The stories of “David” are everywhere.
• Most notable was his confrontation with the giant Goliath in which David boldly defeated this unthinkable foe with nothing but faith a sling and a stone.

David famously saying:
1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

It was a victory of faith.
David would go on to be king and subdue many nations which surrounded Israel.

“Samuel” was the last judge and the first prophet.
• It was Samuel who anointed both Saul and David.
• Samuel was a man with an intense view to obedience and holiness.
• He is remembered as the man who “hacked Agag to pieces” after Saul had disobediently spared his life.

And the common threat is that
All of these men faced mighty battles in the name of the Lord.
• They faced giant opponents
• They faced innumerable armies
• They faced terrifying opponents
• But they faced them in faith and God gave victory.

Of them and people like them, the writer says:
(33-34) “who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

They are remembered because their faith
Produced some of the greatest victories in all the Bible.

• Certainly Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah “conquered kingdoms”
• Samuel “performed acts of righteousness” like hacking Agag to pieces
• David no doubt “obtained promises” that God had made him regarding his reign as king.

Implied by the list would also be people like:
• Daniel who “shut the mouths of lions”
• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego who “quenched the power of fire”
• Esther who “from weakness [was] made strong”

It is a list filled with the most amazing victories
From the most amazing warriors.

The common thread is that every one of them had faith.

They are the types of victories that teach us to look at our OBSTACLES
As tremendous OPPORTUNITIES for God to do something amazing.

We wouldn’t remember any of those stories if the odds hadn’t looked overwhelming.
• If Gideon’s army had numbered 1 million…
• If Barak’s enemy had only had 20 chariots instead of 900…
• If Goliath had only been 5’ 6”
• Of if Daniel had only been threatened with a night in solitary confinement.

Those stories remind us that there is no enemy too big for our God.
And that with God anything is possible.
From them we learn to view the most difficult moments of our lives
As opportunities to express faith and see God do great things.

They are the Mighty Warriors

But they aren’t the only ones listed here.
#2 THE MIGHTY MARTYRS
Hebrews 11:35-38

While the first segment was one victory after another,
This segment is a little more sobering.
This segment represents one tragedy after another.

It is true that the first one ends well
“Women received back their dead by resurrection”
• We are reminded of the Shunamite woman whose child died
• And Elisha raised him from the dead.
• That one did end well, but the woman still had to endure the agony of losing a child.

But in this list, that is the only one that seems to end well.

“others were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;”

These were people who could have been free
Had they only denied the LORD, and yet they refused to do it.

They stood through horrific circumstances but would not deny the faith.
They were looking at the next life, not this one.

“and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.”
• Who could forget the type of ridicule that Jeremiah endured at the hands of Israel? And Jeremiah never saw relief.

“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

These are much less popular stories.
1 Kings 18:1-4 “Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.” So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. Ahab called Obadiah who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly; for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.)”
It’s just a foot-note in Scripture.

How many prophets lost their lives under the wicked reign of Jezebel?
• 400 survived and were forced to flee to caves.

They aren’t the glamorous stories
They aren’t the stories we read in our children’s Bible story books
They are the ones that look like tragedies
AND YET THE STORIES ARE TRUE AND GENUINE AND REAL.

These are the Mighty Martyrs of Scripture.
• Multitudes of people who faced opposition just as terrifying as
those in the first part of this list,
• But people who were not delivered in this life.

It would be like:
• Gideon battling the Midianites and losing…
• Or Barak or Samson or Jephthah not being granted victory…
• It would be like Goliath killing David…
• Or the Hebrew boys perishing in the fiery furnace…

The outcome would not have changed the fact that
Their faith was genuine.

In fact, do you remember those Hebrew boys?
Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

I’m sure they were grateful for the favorable outcome,
But their faith was there regardless.

How many more had faith just as strong and yet weren’t delivered?

Many times I’ve heard people mention the apostle Paul as
“The greatest Christian who ever lived.”

(and certainly I’ve got no complaint against Paul,
nor would I even come close to measuring up)

But what about Stephen?
• A man with just as much faith
• A man with just as much boldness

Both were stoned, God just delivered one.
But both had faith.

And where we look at that First Group of people as a reminder that our greatest obstacles could be great opportunities for God to deliver…

We look at this Second Group and remember that
Faith is just as necessary when things aren’t going as we hoped.

The charismatic movement today has tried to teach people that
Faith is only real if it ends in miraculous victory.

After all, if the healing doesn’t come or the miracle doesn’t happen,
Then the problem must have been that your faith was too weak.

Try telling that to the people represented by this list.
Their faith was so real their deeds were mentioned in the faith hall of fame
And yet they didn’t get the great deliverance.

BUT THE POINT TO BOTH OF THESE LISTS IS THE SAME:
LIFE REQUIRES FAITH

In life you face all sorts of situations.
• Hard things
• Painful things
• Scary things
• Unexpected things
• Unexplained things

There is no way to live this Christian life apart from exercising faith.
• There are promises to believe
• There are dangers to face
• There are hardships to endure
• There are decisions to be made

If you think you can skate through life as a Christian
And never have to walk by faith
YOU ARE SORELY MISTAKEN.

That is the point that the writer is making to these Hebrews.
• Where they in a tight spot? Yes
• Was it hard? Yes
• Was it unexpected? Most likely

But this was their time and this was their battle.
It was time to endure; it was time to have faith.

CAN I ENCOURAGE YOU HERE AS WELL?
• Do you suppose that your life or the struggles you face is some sort of mistake?

Listen to the sovereignty of God:
Psalms 139:16 “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

Acts 17:26 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

When you live and where you live and what you face
Is not some sort of accident.

You are a modern day Esther
Esther 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

God knows what He is doing.
He knows all about the things you will face.
He is asking for faith in the midst of it.

That is the message to these struggling Hebrews.
• Do you suppose your situation is any harder than Gideon’s?
• Do you suppose you are any more afraid than David before the giant?
• Do you suppose your struggle is any greater than those who were sawn
in two?

They didn’t shrink back, they didn’t give up, they had faith…
And that is what God wants from you.

He wants THE ENDURANCE OF FAITH

Then the writer brings out his most powerful point of the chapter.

(39-40) “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”

The “all these” here does not just refer to those most previously listed.
The “all these” refers to the entire chapter, going all the way back to Abel.

Every person listed in Hebrews 11 have two main things in common.
• Every one of them “gained approval through their faith”
• Every one of them “did not receive what was promised”

You won’t find a single person in the history of the world
Who ever pleased God apart from giving Him faith.
It is the universal requirement for pleasing God.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Every person on this list gave God faith.
Some of them had some pretty significant hiccups in life too,
But God wasn’t measuring them by their failures,
He was measuring them by their faith.

The other thing is that not one of them received “what was promised”
• But didn’t Noah see the flood and survive?
• Didn’t Moses see deliverance from Egypt?
• Didn’t Joshua get the land?
• Didn’t Jericho fall?
• Didn’t David kill the giant?

Some of them received the promise didn’t they?

SOME OF THEM DID HAVE GREAT VICTORIES,
BUT NONE OF THEM RECEIVED THE MAIN THING.

The writer alludes to the promise he is referring to
By telling you the outcome of the main promise.

At the end of verse 40 he tells you what the main promise does. He is talking about God’s promise that would make everyone “perfect”.

He wasn’t talking about land or descendants or a victory in battle.
God had a promise of how He would make His people perfect.
God had a promise of how He would justify His people.

That promise was of total salvation.

And if you’ll remember that promise was never fulfilled in the O.T.

Do you remember earlier in the book of Hebrews?
Hebrews 10:1 “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.”

Hebrews 10:4 “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

All of these people had faith,
But none of them were ever made perfect before God.
That was a future promise that none of them received in their life.

Not one “received what was promised”

And here is why.
“because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”

GOD KNEW SOMETHING BETTTER WAS COMING

Peter said it like this:
1 Peter 1:10-12 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look.”

God wasn’t about to let any of those people settle
For land or descendants or victories.
If those where the rewards then God sure blessed some and overlooked others,
For they didn’t all receive those things.

God’s view was always to “something better”
• Something the Spirit indicated
• Something prophets searched for
• Something angels were mesmerized by

God had the ultimate prize still to come.
There was “something better” on the way.

Even Jesus said:
Matthew 13:16-17 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

God was asking those saints of old to trust Him and to believe that
One day they would see why it was worth it.

Of course that “something better” was Jesus
And His atonement on the cross.

On the cross Jesus provided the perfection
That Old Testament saints trusted God for and had not yet received.

To a certain extent their faith had not paid off until the day when Christ died,
And all of a sudden it was all worth it.

BUT HERE IS THE WRITER’S POINT.
• We are here on the backside of the cross.
• We know exactly what benefit we receive from trusting God.
• We know that we are declared righteous
• We know that we are forgiven
FAITH SHOULD BE EASIER FOR US

If the people in this chapter could offer God such great faith,
Then certainly you and I can.
BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN THE BENEFIT
We know what the Hebrews were facing
(prison, poverty, persecution)
But surely they could trust God
Because they could see what they received in return.

They could see Jesus, they could see what He accomplished.
• The One greater than the prophets
• The One greater than the angels
• The One greater than Moses
• The One greater than Joshua
• The One greater than Aaron
• The One who was a sufficient sacrifice
• The One who brought a new covenant

If David can face a giant without knowing who Jesus was,
Then surely we can face our struggles having known who He is.

The implication then is huge.
You have received the greatest promise God ever made,
And now you are contemplating walking away from it.

(The saints of old certainly never did that)

• By all means stand firm…
• By all means have faith…
• By all means cling to Jesus…
DON’T WALK AWAY FROM HIM

It reinforces what he said to end chapter 10.
Hebrews 10:36-39 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

Be a person of faith.

The Sermon of Elihu – part 1
Job 32-37 (32:1-10)
February 21, 2016

Tonight we enter a difficult section of the book of Job.
We begin looking at the sermon of Elihu.

Let me tell you what makes this section difficult,
And then we’ll begin looking at it.

There are a couple of things:
1) WE DON’T KNOW WHERE HE CAME FROM

If you will remember Job’s friends were introduced early on.
Job 2:11-13 “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.”

We saw Job’s three friends arrive, and yet all of a sudden Elihu starts speaking and we didn’t even know he was present.

2) NO JUDGMENT IS GIVEN REGARDING HIS ADVICE

We know what God has to say to Job’s friends at the end of this letter.

Job 42:7-9 “It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has. “Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.”

God clearly states that Job’s three friends were wrong.
But Elihu is not mentioned in this list.
God neither endorses nor condemns what Elihu has to say.

We are sort of forced to read what he says
And discern whether or not we agree with him.

Regardless of what you think of Elihu
There will be passages that give you trouble.

If you think he is right, there will be passages that you won’t agree with.
If you think he’s wrong, you will have the same trouble.
And if you think it is somehow a mixture of both, then you’ll have trouble finding any authoritative consensus on what you should take and what you should keep.

In short we have to determine if he speaks truth or error
So that we know what to do with him. And this is not easy.

Part of this I chalk up to the difficult nature of Job.
We all know by now that much of the book is written in a sort of poetic form which leaves a lot of our understanding up to sort of reading between the lines.

Because of that there are in almost every chapter
A few verses that give us a bit of trouble
(they do me anyway) (and honestly they do most of the commentaries I read too)

And the statements of Elihu are no different.

That being said, it is best to read Elihu as though he is right on target.
• Because his words are recorded in Scripture
• Because God does not specifically identify them as incorrect,
We believe he speaks truth.

So let me tell you what to do with Elihu.
ELIHU IS OPERATING IN THE ROLE OF A HERALD.

He is like a John the Baptist who was preaching that people had better “make straight the way of the Lord”

Elihu is coming to announce God’s presence.

In fact it is almost a theatrical scene that begins in chapter 36.
• In Job 36:27, Elihu starts talking about rain
• In Job 36:29 he speaks of the spreading of the clouds and the thunder
• In Job 36:30 he speaks of the lightning
• In Job 36:33 he speaks of the movement of the cattle who sense a storm
• In Job 37:2 he says, “listen closely to the thunder of His voice”
• He begins speaking of the thunder and the lightning
• In Job 37:8 he mentions the animals running for cover
• In Job 37:9 he almost points at a storm coming from the south
• He talks of a vicious storm cloud moving about, hurling out lightning, rain, thunder, even ice and snow.
• In Job 37:14 he says, “Listen to this, O Job, stand and consider the wonders of God.”

It almost paints the picture of a prophet calling up a mighty storm,
It is really an awesome display.

And then:
Job 38:1-2 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”

We find then that Elihu is literally setting the stage for the arrival of God.
He comes and pleads with Job
To drop the attitude before God shows up.

It is a very similar roll to that of John the Baptist who said things like:
Luke 3:7-9 “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Now let me give you some facts about Elihu’s preaching
Before we start working through it,
Perhaps this will help you as you read through on your own.

1) HIS INSPIRATION IS DIFFERENT FROM JOB’S OTHER FRIENDS.

Job’s other friends routinely referred to history, old age, and experience as their credential for offering advice. Elihu does not.

Elihu says that his credential is the Spirit of God within him.

Job 32:8-10 “But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. “The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice. “So I say, ‘Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.’”

Job 33:1-5 “However now, Job, please hear my speech, And listen to all my words. “Behold now, I open my mouth, My tongue in my mouth speaks. “My words are from the uprightness of my heart, And my lips speak knowledge sincerely. “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. “Refute me if you can; Array yourselves before me, take your stand.”

2) HIS PURPOSE IS DIFFERENT FROM JOB’S OTHER FRIENDS.

It became clear very early on what the desire of Job’s friends was.
They wanted to find out Job’s sin so they could protect themselves.

Every time Job denied having sinned they actually treated him
Like a sick man who wanted to infect everyone around him.

They were angry at Job and attacked and condemned.

This is NOT Elihu’s purpose. In fact Elihu is angry at them for this.
Elihu’s purpose is to defend God.

Job 36:1-3 “Then Elihu continued and said, “Wait for me a little, and I will show you That there is yet more to be said in God’s behalf. “I will fetch my knowledge from afar, And I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.”

Elihu is not angry at Job for
Refusing to acknowledge some sin in front of his friends.
Elihu is angry at Job because he has taken his righteousness, compared it to God’s, and has accused God of being the one who is unjust.

Job 32:2-3 “But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.”

3) HIS DESIRE IS DIFFERENT FROM JOB’S OTHER FRIENDS

Job’s friends sought only to condemn Job.
They wanted to expose his sin and nail him to the wall with it.

This is not the desire of Elihu.
In fact, we never once heard Job’s friends even call him by name,
Elihu does on several occasions.
It paints the image of one who is intimate and truly concerned.

ELIHU’S DESIRE FOR JOB IS TWO-FOLD.

1) He desires to justify him before his friends:
Job 33:7 “Behold, no fear of me should terrify you, Nor should my pressure weigh heavily on you.”

Job 33:32 “Then if you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you.”

2) Elihu’s other desire is to persuade Job to stop this horrific pity-party he is throwing.

Job 33:8-12 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your words: ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent and there is no guilt in me. ‘Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. ‘He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’ “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, For God is greater than man.”

It is obvious Elihu is upset with Job,
But it is not as though he wishes to see Job condemned.

4) HIS EXPLANATION IS DIFFERENT FROM JOB’S OTHER FRIENDS

Job’s 3 friends all held firmly that suffering
Was a form of punishment for the wicked.
(we’ve been all through it)

Elihu’s explanation is that suffering is NOT for the purpose of punishment, but rather for the purpose of purification.

He holds that God uses affliction to lead men away from sin
And thus to save their soul from death.

Job 33:29-30 “Behold, God does all these oftentimes with men, To bring back his soul from the pit, That he may be enlightened with the light of life.”

So Elihu DOES hold that suffering is in part God’s answer to sin.
Only Elihu says suffering is meant to prevent it and purify,
Not just as a means of punishment against it.

5) HIS JUDGMENT IS DIFFERENT FROM JOB’S OTHER FRIENDS

Job’s 3 friends certainly held firm to their belief that Job was a sinner.
At times they even took shots in the dark
To try and name what they thought those sins were.

Elihu however passes judgment on Job’s sin
And he names it as the sin of pride.

Now, that is a bit difficult for us since
God was very clear at the beginning of this book in saying that Job was a righteous and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.

And so we do want to be careful in how we examine the life of Job.

However it is also true that
God is about to lower the boom on Job for precisely this issue.

God will not blast Job for immorality or greed or idolatry or some other deed,
But God will blast Job for his pride.

And so, it would seem that Elihu is right on target here in this sermon.

Now, as I said, there will be verses that are still difficult to handle,
But when looking at the sermon over all
There is a strong indication that Elihu arises here as God’s spokesman.

SO…
HOW DO WE READ ELIHU?
Elihu finally provides us with the example that we’ve been so desperately looking for.

Thus far we have had to read all of the discussion of Job’s friends
With sort of a backward mentality.
“See what they do and do the opposite”

BUT FROM ELIHU WE ARE GOING TO GET A POSITIVE EXAMPLE.
And that is good since if you put all the sermons of Job’s friends together, none of them has more to say than Elihu. His message outdistances them all.

• In him we find a heart for God
• In him we find a heart of compassion and yet conviction
• In him we find a definite desire for Job to reconcile
There is gentle correction and there is honest confrontation

It may very well be that Elihu represents
Exactly what type of counselor we are to be
When we deal with those in affliction.

So let’s begin working on this sermon of Elihu.
What we are going to do is identify the key attitudes or convictions
That Elihu carries that make him a successful counselor for God.

#1 HIS CREDENTIALS
Job 32

This first chapter doesn’t really get in to Elihu’s counsel yet,
It is a chapter devoted to explaining why he has stepped up on stage.
We see why he was hesitant to do so and why he finally felt compelled.

And this is very good information for us
Because many times we have found ourselves
Caught in that very same circumstance.

Do I speak or do I stay silent?
• We see something…
• We hear something…
• It may even be counsel from someone else

And we wonder should I step up and speak up?

This was Elihu’s exact dilemma,
Tonight we look at this first chapter and see what drove him to speak
And why he was more than qualified to do so.

We are going to look at HIS CREDENTIALS.

We can divide this down into 5 attitudes he had which made him qualified.
1) HOLY ZEAL (1-5)

As we said we have already seen that Job has silenced his friends.
• Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad could not match wits with Job.
• They could not answer his wisdom.
• They could not refute his logic.

They in effect were forced to throw up their hands in defeat.

Job had won the argument regarding the reality of suffering,
But in doing so Job had made some pretty severe accusations about God.

Job all but accused God of being unfair, unjust, and uncaring.

And Elihu has been listening to all of this.
And these first 5 verses merely carry us inside the heart of Elihu.
He says nothing here,
The writer is just allowing you to see what is taking place internally.

And I think the writer makes it abundantly clear what Elihu is feeling:
BURNING ANGER

4 times in these 5 verses the writer mentions it.
(2-4) “But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job. Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were years older than he.”

It is safe to say that Elihu is hot.

Two main reasons are given.
1) Job “justified himself before God”
2) Job’s friends “found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.”

In short, Elihu absolutely hates the injustice that he sees.

• You have three men who are ready to pass out condemnation on a person when they have absolutely no clue what he has done wrong.

• And you have a suffering man who is beginning to maintain that he and not God is the righteous one.

Both of these positions do a tremendous disservice to God.
One misrepresents God, the other maligns Him.

And therein lies the anger of Elihu.
HE CANNOT STAND IT ANY LONGER
TO WATCH GOD BE SO MISREPRESENTED AND MALIGNED.

And because of this Elihu’s “anger burned”

Now this is not to say that only angry people should be counselors.
Certainly not.

Anger can get you in trouble many times and in many ways.
James said:
James 1:19-20 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.”

But anger is not always bad.
Paul said:
Ephesians 4:26 “BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,”
It is not the anger that is in itself bad.
There are many verses in the Bible that speak of God in fact being angry.

The issue of course is the MOTIVE behind it and the REACTION to it.
• If you are angry for the wrong reason (like Jonah who was upset over the plant and because Ninevah wasn’t being destroyed)
• Or if you have proper anger, but respond poorly (like James and John wanting to call down fire on the Samaritans)

Obviously then the anger is wrong.

But honestly, any time we see God being misrepresented or maligned it ought to produce a holy anger inside of us.

There ought to be a fire that burns with zeal for God.

John 2:13-17 “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

This was the holy zeal of Jesus,
And it is clear that the same fire is burning in Elihu.

HIS PRIMARY CONCERN IS THE EXALTATION OF GOD.
• It is not that he may be respected
• It is not that he may win the argument
• It is not that he may gain popularity

This motivation must be on point before we rise to speak for God.

The first credential – holy zeal
2) SPIRITUAL WISDOM (6-10)

We already saw it in verse 4 that Elihu didn’t want to speak because he was the youngest, here he actually voices that issue.

(6-7) “So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said, “I am young in years and you are old; Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. “I thought age should speak, And increased years should teach wisdom.”

Elihu had a bit of a complex about speaking,
And it wasn’t totally misguided.

• There is nothing in the world wrong with giving precedent to the older and more experienced.
• There is nothing wrong with giving way to someone who should know more about the issue than you.
• There is nothing wrong with yielding to someone who has done this sort of thing more than you have.

THAT IS WHAT ELIHU WAS DOING.

The problem was that these so-called “experts” were way off the mark
And no truth was being proclaimed.

This (coupled with Elihu’s zeal) was threatening to
Force Elihu into the argument, and initially he didn’t want to.

“I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think. I thought age should speak, and increased years should teach wisdom.”

If you’ve ever been in one of those situations where you didn’t feel qualified to speak on a subject even though you knew what you were hearing was wrong, then you understand exactly where Elihu is.

So what do you do?

You must at this point understand what makes a person truly qualified.
• It is not age
• It is not experience
• It is not charisma

It is the indwelling of the Spirit of God and thus true spiritual wisdom.

(8-10) “But it is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding. “The abundant in years may not be wise, Nor may elders understand justice. “So I say, ‘Listen to me, I too will tell what I think.’”

We are looking for wisdom
(which Job already reminded us comes only from fear of the Lord)
Not experience.

THAT IS THE CHIEF QUALIFICATION.

Jesus taught us about the Holy Spirit in John 16.
• It is the Holy Spirit who comes to “convict” the world.
• It is the Holy Spirit who comes to “guide” into all the truth.
• It is the Holy Spirit who comes to “glorify” Jesus.

So obviously anyone who seeks to convict sinners
Or explain truth or glorify Jesus without the indwelling Holy Spirit
Is an absolute lost cause.

This means that only those who are filled with God’s Spirit
Are truly qualified counselors.
1 John 2:26-27 “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”

If you are filled with Him, then you are in fact qualified.
It doesn’t matter what your other limitations are.

Elihu was young, but that did not disqualify him.

The psalmist said:
Psalms 119:97-104 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:12-16 “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

Timothy had the truth
Timothy had the spiritual gift
Timothy had the charge

It did not mean that his age would not be an issue,
Paul just told him it wasn’t a relevant one.

You understand then what makes a person qualified.
If he has a holy zeal and spiritual wisdom these go a long way.

3) GENUINE HUMILITY (11-14)

This is such an important balance here.

It is really easy to be so full of fire and venom…
It is really easy to have spiritual conviction dripping out of you…
THAT YOU THINK YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE LIKE THAT

Honestly, this is a lesson that
God has had to teach me on several occasions.

There was a time in my life (particularly after all the battles at my previous church) where I began to feel like Elijah.
Remember his complaint to the Lord?
1 Kings 19:14 “Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

There was a time when I really felt like no one else was going to stand, no one else was going to fight, I was the only one who would.

And that sort of thinking can quickly lead to spiritual arrogance.
It can quickly lead you to think that every situation requires your input.

God used some very difficult issues in my life
To teach me that I wasn’t the only person who loved God;
And that I wasn’t the only person who would stand on the truth.

I actually was reminded of this at youth camp this past summer.
The band was terrible, (doctrinally) and were really spewing some things that I couldn’t handle. I had that burning anger thing going on, and I wasn’t alone.

So I started praying about how to handle it. Should I interrupt the service? Should I march our youth out?

And I felt a real encouragement from the Lord to just pray.
And when the preacher got up, he did a great job, he even very humbly refuted much of what the band leader had said, and God worked.

In short, God didn’t need me busting up the camp,
He had it all under control.

The zeal in Peter to protect Jesus was correct,
Taking the sword and swinging for the guy’s head was out of line.

You get the idea.

And Elihu seems to have a real grasp of this.
(11-12) “Behold, I waited for your words, I listened to your reasonings, While you pondered what to say. “I even paid close attention to you; Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words.”

Elihu wasn’t quick to want to jump in there
And add his “two cents” to the argument.

He was just as content to sit in the prayer room
As he was to stand behind the pulpit.
That is a very good attitude to have.

You may remember that this was actually the problem with
The church at Corinth.
They had a lack of love and as a bi-product; an enormous amount of ego and arrogance.
They all wanted the microphone.

1 Corinthians 14:26-33 “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”

Paul was asking who would be willing to sit down and take a back seat?

Now granted there are plenty of people in the church who have no fire and no conviction and no courage who are more than willing to sit idly by,
THAT IS NOT WHAT WE ARE PROMOTING.
(we’ve already seen how they probably aren’t going to be good counselors)

What we are learning however is that for those who do have that fire and that conviction, to make sure and balance it with humility.

So Elihu waited.

(12-14) “I even paid close attention to you; Indeed, there was no one who refuted Job, Not one of you who answered his words. “Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom; God will rout him, not man.’ “For he has not arranged his words against me, Nor will I reply to him with your arguments.”

These so-called wise men had no wisdom for Job.
They could not refute him.

So Elihu told them, “Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom;”

And this reality literally thrust Elihu behind the pulpit.
It was fire mixed with humility
It was conviction mixed with meekness

And this is required for those who would be effective counselors.

That’s all the time we have tonight, We’ll go further next week,
But hopefully you are seeing what God is requiring.

Holy Zeal
Spiritual Wisdom
Genuine Humility

The Courage of Faith – part 3 (Overcoming Your Fears)
Hebrews 11:23-31 (30-31)
February 21, 2016

Someone once noted that there seems to be 4 kinds of faith.

There is the faith that RECEIVES
It is the kind that comes to Jesus empty-handed for salvation.
There is the faith that RECKONS
It is the kind that counts on God to do things on our behalf.
There is the faith that RESTS
It is the kind that sits back with confidence in the midst of hardship or pain.
There is the faith that RISKS
It is the kind that moves forward in God’s power daring to do the impossible.
(sited in: MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews, Moody Press, Chicago, Ill. 1985] pg. 362-363)

Obviously we are currently dealing with
The type of faith here that RISKS

We are discussing the type of faith that requires great courage.

The writer of Hebrews is writing to a group of Jews
Who are literally risking everything to follow Christ.

We already read back in chapter 10
• How some were in prison
• How some were ill-treated
• How some had their property confiscated.

THAT IS RISK.

We can almost hear the logic of the nay-sayers in that situation.
• You better not become a Christian you could lose your farm.
• You better not become a Christian you could go to jail.
• You better not become a Christian, you’ll be a laughing stock.

Throughout history the risk of following Jesus has always been very real.

And indeed you face very real risks for following Jesus even today.
Granted, you may not be thrown in prison or have your home seized
If you decide to follow Christ; at least not yet.

• But I’ve seen firsthand the call for some to go and live as missionaries in
countries where that could happen today.

• I’ve seen men and women choose to follow Christ and their unbelieving
spouse not share that desire, and life becomes difficult.

• I’ve seen men and women and teenagers wake up every day and go to work
places or school filled with non-believers who seemingly crave the
lowest forms of depravity and carnality and suffer the antagonism and
reproach that comes with not going along with the flow.
THERE IS ALWAYS A RISK INVOLVED IN FOLLOWING JESUS.

Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 10:21-22 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

And that means that if you are going to be serious about following Christ then YOU WILL NEED COURAGE.

You will need the type of courage that COMES ONLY from genuine faith.
And that is what we are currently talking about
Here in the 11th chapter of Hebrews.

• We’ve seen the REWARD OF FAITH
• We’ve seen the FOCUS OF FAITH
• We are currently looking at the COURAGE OF FAITH

To illustrate it the writer has taken us back to a time of slavery.
He has taken us to a time when God asked the weakest of the world
To defy the most powerful nation on earth and move on to a new land.

Everything asked of those people
Would require the courage that only comes from faith.

We’ve seen a few already
#1 THE CHOICE OF A SLAVE
Hebrews 11:23-26

• We saw Amram and Jochabed defy a king’s order and spare the life of their son simply because they saw God’s hand on the child.

• We saw that child 40 years later choose to leave the comforts of the king’s palace and embrace the life of a slave simply because he believed the reward of God to be greater than the reward of this life.

They were both scary decisions and yet these had the faith to make them.

Last week
#2 THE COMMITMENT OF A SERVANT
Hebrews 11:27-29

• There we saw Moses, 40 years removed from Egypt, be commanded by God to go back and confront Pharaoh.

Moses was obviously afraid, and yet he overcame his fear and
Stood before Pharaoh 12 times before he actually led the children of Israel out.

• We saw that nation partake in the Passover and maintain the faith that if they would paint the blood on the door post then God’s death angel would pass over them.

• And we saw that nation have the courage to walk through the Red Sea even though the sight must have been terrifying.

God’s salvation required facing their fears and walking by faith,
And that is precisely what they did.

They didn’t give up just because it was scary,
They pressed on and saw the Lord’s deliverance.

This morning we move on to the third example of the courage of faith here.
#3 THE COMPLIANCE OF A SOLDIER
Hebrews 11:30

• The first example dealt with a time of slavery
• The second dealt with the event of the Exodus
• Now we have obviously moved on to the Conquest

For those of you who know the history of Israel,
You know that the writer has again fast-forwarded 40 years.

And the reason he had to do that
Was because again there was a hiccup that occurred.

If you’ll remember he also skipped 40 years between verses 26 and 27.
In verse 26 Moses walked out of Pharaoh’s court.
In verse 27 he stood before Pharaoh and demanded Israel’s release.

But there was 40 years between those two events
Because Moses acted in fear.

He took matters into his own hands and killed an Egyptian and then ran for his life.
It delayed the deliverance of God for 40 years.

Here we find that history has repeated itself.
Israel demonstrated great faith by leaving Egypt and passing through the Red Sea, but then they also operated in fear.

• God led this nation directly to the border of this new land of promise.
• And when they reached the border God commanded that 12 spies be sent out
to survey the land.

When the spies returned, here is what they said:
TURN TO: NUMBERS 13:25-33

It is not hard to recognize the fear that swept over the nation of Israel.
“we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

They threw their faith out the window and decided to shrink back in fear.

We learned in Ch. 10 what God thinks about those who shrink back.

Hebrews 10:38 “BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.”

And God was true to His word.
His response to their fear was severe.

Numbers 14:20-23 “So the LORD said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it.”

God caused Israel to wander in the wilderness for 40 years
Until that entire congregation died off.

We were even warned early on in the book of Hebrews
Not to be like those people.
TURN BACK TO: HEBREWS 3:7-4:2

The faith they showed initially was great,
But the fear they fell in to was extremely costly.

Well, here we are once again back at the border of the Promised Land.
Once again they are facing the giants.

I shouldn’t have to tell you that courage is required.

In fact, listen to the charge given to Joshua as their leader.
Joshua 1:1-9 “Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. “From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. “Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Did you pick up on the encouragement?
“be strong and courageous”

GOD DID NOT REMOVE THE GIANTS.
God promised to deliver them when they faced the giants.
Courage would be required.

Well, here we are.
40 years later facing the same challenge
That caused their parents to run in fear.

Israel entered the land and the first challenge they faced was JERICHO.

You all know about Jericho’s infamous wall.
Jericho was a frontier type city and so a wall was a necessary line of defense.
Historians have told us that this wall was thick enough to drive two chariots
on it side by side.

Defeating this town (if possible) would take years.
Typically the means was to surround a city like this,
Cut off their supply, and starve them out.

And that only worked if you actually had the manpower to win the battle.

This was not the opponent they were hoping to meet
Right off the bat.

(Because we know people)
Don’t you know everyone had an idea as to how they were to defeat them?

But God has His own plan.
Joshua 6:1-5 “Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. “You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. “Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. “It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.”

THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT
Anyone remember how much trouble this congregation gave Moses?
• They grumbled at everything.
• No leader in the history of the world was second guessed more than Moses.

And now you have a new leader.
• He’s just now trying to earn his stripes.
• He’s the man with the plan for taking the Promised Land.

And his first plan is to march around this city for 7 days and the walls will fall down?

Do you think it took courage to pitch that idea?
IT CERTAINLY TOOK COURAGE TO OBEY IT.

Listen, circling a wall was not a safe thing to do.

Perhaps you remember this story:
Judges 9:50-53 “Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it. But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower. So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire. But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.”

That incident became notorious in Israel.

Later when David was on a mission to make sure Uriah died in battle:
2 Samuel 11:18-21 “Then Joab sent and reported to David all the events of the war. He charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the events of the war to the king, and if it happens that the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ‘Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ — then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'”

In order to make sure Uriah was killed in battle, Joab drew near to the wall,
But it caused the death of many other soldiers.

Joab expected to have such a tactic questioned,
Because frankly it wasn’t good military procedure.

And that’s the point.
Not only is this command far-fetched, it is dangerous.

And yet the writer of Hebrews reveals
The faith of Joshua and the children of Israel.

(30) “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.”

These soldiers obeyed the commands of God.

OBEYING GOD TAKES COURAGE.
When God says “go and make disciples of all nations” it takes courage.

Jesus told His disciples:
Matthew 10:16-20 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. “But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. “For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Think about your relationships:
1 Peter 3:1-7 “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external — braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear. You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.”

• Peter there speaks of a Christian woman married to a disobedient man.
• He speaks of a Christian man married to a contentious woman.

He asks the wife to submit and
The husband to lead in an understanding way.
That takes enormous faith and courage to obey commands like that.

What about when God asks you to give sacrificially?
What about when God asks you to confront a sinning brother?

Remember a couple of weeks ago Paul telling Timothy that he left him in Ephesus to stop those men from teaching strange doctrines…courage.

2 Timothy 1:6-8 “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,”

There was nothing easy about what Paul asked Timothy to do.

Faith is absolutely necessary if you are going to obey God.
Because obedience is often times a scary proposition.

Now think about these Hebrews who were receiving this letter.
What they faced was scary.
And the writer asked them to face it anyway.
You must demonstrate the courage of faith.

The Choice of a Slave
The Commitment of a Servant
The Compliance of a Soldier
#4 THE CONFIDENCE OF A SINNER
Hebrews 11:31

I have to tell you that of all the stories listed in the faith chapter
This one probably blows my mind more than any of them.

That is not to make light of Noah’s boat building or Abraham’s excursion
Or even Moses’ rejection of Egypt.
But I must say I am really amazed at this story.

We have here a woman known as “Rahab the harlot”

Just let that name sink in for a moment.
We don’t even know her last name.
Imagine being known by the worst sin you’ve ever committed

Well, that’s “Rahab”. She is “the harlot”

She is a prostitute.
She is a woman who makes her living off of sexual immorality.

And to make matters worse she is a harlot in a “disobedient” city.

She lives in a city full of sinners and she is one of the worst.

Jericho, as you know, had the wall.
You may not have known that they were a pagan city who worshiped false gods.
They also placed live babies in jars and mortared them into the wall as sacrifices to the wall gods.

They were backward, they were corrupt,
And Rahab was a hooker in that city.

Well Joshua, prior to the siege of Jericho, had sent spies into the land.

And the writer of Hebrews reminds you that Rahab
“welcomed the spies in peace.”

Not only did she welcome them, she hid them.
TURN TO: JOSHUA 2

(READ 2:1-7)

It is one thing to welcome these men,
But she actually put her life on the line in order to hide them.

One might wonder why she would do such a thing.
Her answer is remarkable.
(READ 2:8-11)

Did you catch her motivation?
• She had heard about God.
• She had heard about what God did.
• She had an enormous amount of fear regarding Him.

And she found herself caught in a moment of decision.

She could either give in to her fear of God and help His spies,
Or she could give in to the fear of the men of Jericho and expose them.
SHE FEARED GOD MORE

This fear also led her to an enormous request:
(READ 2:12-14)

This is amazing to me.
She was one of the most immoral people in a notoriously immoral city
And yet she stepped out in faith that this God who had ravaged Egypt
Would be merciful to her.

Scripture reveals that the courage of her faith paid off.
“Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient”

When faced with a scary dilemma she chose to fear God more.

It is from incidents like this that we get the concept of being
“God Fearing”

“He was a God-Fearing man” or “She was a God-Fearing woman”

Well I think I can confidently say that in our world today
This is a disappearing sentiment.

Romans 3:18 “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

In Romans 1 Paul said:
Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

It is one thing to be immoral.
It is quite another thing to know God disapproves and still not care.

There is a level of audacity and arrogance there
That is absolutely unthinkable.

To know God strictly forbids something and yet simply not care.
To know God promises to punish something and yet do it anyway.

That is what it means to not fear God and our society dwells there.

BUT NOT RAHAB.
She feared God more than those around her.

And it was actually her fear of God
That gave her courage to face a scary situation.
She was so afraid of God that she no longer feared men.

Jesus spoke to this type of attitude:
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

Do you hear Him remind you that the Son of Man is coming to judge?
• Yes you will lose this life, but that isn’t what you should fear.
• He is telling you what you ought to really fear.

Listen to His parables on the kingdom.
(we read a couple two weeks ago)

Matthew 13:36-43 “Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Matthew 13:47-50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Both of those are parables of certain judgment.
• The tares may currently think they are safe, but they don’t even realize judgment is on the way.

• Those fish are already caught in the dragnet and it is already being pulled to land, the fish just don’t know it.

JUDGMENT IS COMING.
Jesus asked people to understand and fear judgment more than hardship.

RAHAB DID

She feared God and this caused her to throw herself at His mercy.
And it payed off!

Is it hard? Yes.
Is it hard to turn your back on your culture? Yes
Is it hard to be the lone person of faith in your city? Yes

But the courage of faith is required.
1 Peter 4:1-5 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

Peter could have been writing that to these very Hebrews here.
He could have been writing it with Rahab in mind.

Yes it’s hard to leave a life of sin, other sinners tend to frown on it.
But have courage, fear God more, run to Him in faith.

And so this morning, we conclude this section on the courage of faith,
AND I’M ASKING YOU TO DEMONSTRATE IT.

• TRUST GOD’S PLAN like Amram and Jochabed even when obedience could be costly.

• CHOOSE GOD’S REWARD like Moses, even if it means leaving the comforts of this world behind.

• TRUST GOD’S SALVATION like the children of Israel did when the painted the blood on the doorpost and walked through the Red Sea, even when God’s salvation could prove to be costly.

• OBEY GOD’S COMMANDS even when they don’t seem to make sense, or seem like it could put you in danger.

• FEAR GOD’S JUDGMENT more than you fear the wrath of humanity, knowing that God rewards those who trust in Him.

This is what the writer of Hebrews wanted from the Hebrews
And it is what God wants from us.

It takes courage to live for Jesus in the midst of a corrupt society.
Place your faith in Christ
And demonstrate the courage that comes along with it.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

Job’s Final Word – Part 2
Job 26-31 (29-31)
February 14, 2016

Well tonight we are going to hit a rather large portion of the book of Job.
We are in the section that we are calling “Job’s Final Word”

LAST WEEK we saw that Job finally silenced his friends.
They had no more answers for Job’s logic or his questions.

And when Job realized he had silenced his friends
He really pointed both barrels at them and let them have it.

He let his friends know:
• They didn’t understand comfort
• They didn’t understand God
• They didn’t understand integrity
• They didn’t understand judgment
• They didn’t understand wisdom

It was no wonder they were such sorry counselors to Job.
They showed up with worldly wisdom and a limited theology
And accomplished nothing for Job.

And Job let them know it.

Well tonight Job is finally able to get back to the very thing
He first set out to do and that is to air his lament.

You will probably remember that
As soon as Job’s initial suffering was completed he sat among the ashes for a while and when he finally did open his mouth it was simply to air his complaint.

He wanted to lament
He wanted to grieve
He wanted to express his pain

His friends quickly interrupted him and so he was forced into a debate,
But now that they have been silenced Job resumes the lament he began.

You will see as we read through this segment that
Job’s words are not difficult to understand.

What makes the passage difficult to preach is that
Job really doesn’t offer any theological or practical application here.

These chapters don’t tell you what to do or how to do it.

They are just chapters filled with the honest complaint of a righteous man
In the midst of his suffering.

But man will read these chapters and identify with Job’s statements.
I don’t think any of us would claim to have suffered to his degree,
But there are many who will know exactly where he is coming from.

What we also know is that when Job is finished
God is in fact going to answer him and it won’t be pretty.

So we can easily say that Job did not deserve his suffering
But he will deserve the coming rebuke.

And as I’ll show you tonight,
It is not uncommon for people to respond to suffering
In such a way so as to receive a rebuke from God.

It happens much more than you think.
Throughout the Bible in fact we find instances of people who suffered and responded with such an attitude that God had to correct them.

SO, while we may not gain any instruction from Job tonight,
We are going to look at a few other examples of people who responded like Job and see precisely where they got it wrong.

It is going to be a large portion of text tonight,
But as I said, it isn’t difficult and it will go rather quickly.

So last week we saw the first point to Job’s final word.
#1 JOB REBUKES HIS FRIENDS
Job 26-28

Tonight we move on to the second point.
#2 JOB RESUMES HIS LAMENT
Job 29-31

And we can obviously break this down a little further.
Each of these three chapters in fact makes a specific point.

1) MY SUFFERING WAS UNEXPECTED (Job 29)

(READ 1-11)

One can easily hear Job here talk about “The Good Ole Days”
He remembered what it was like before all this started.
He really felt like God was pleased with him.

Well, there is an explanation for that.
God was pleased with him, and the enemy was kept away from him.

Remember what Satan said to God?
Job 1:9-10 “Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”

The only difference now is God is still pleased with Job,
But the enemy has been allowed to afflict him.

But Job remembers those good ole days.

HE ALSO REMEMBERS THAT:
He didn’t use prosperity as a means to grow apathetic (as many of us do)

Job actually used his prosperity as a tool for ministry.
(READ 12-17)

• Job knew that God was for him and he was for God.
• God was allowing him to prosper and he was using his prosperity for God.

Job felt like he and God were in really good relationship,
And were tracking in the same direction.

And that leads to this very telling statement:
(READ 18-20)

“Then I thought…”

Job looked into the future and saw how he expected things to turn out.
He had no reason to assume that
It would be anything but more of the same.

• God was pleased with him
• God was prospering him
• Job wasn’t giving God any reason to change His mind
• So God probably won’t
I’ll go to my grave in peace and prosperity

And incidentally, Job wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Everyone recognized this about Job and so
It is no surprise that they sought out his counsel and advice.

(READ 21-25)

I mean it is clear that Job saw absolutely no warning signs
That his life was headed for this at all.
JOB’S SUFFERING WAS UNEXPECTED

Maybe you can identify with it in your life.
You would have expected a little suffering if you had been running against God, but you were doing everything in your power to please God.
You might have expected persecution from the world,
But you certainly didn’t expect affliction from God.
That was Job.

2) MY SUFFERING IS UNEXPIRED (Job 30)
That is to say, IT WON’T LET UP.

Notice here the suffering Job speaks of IS PRESENT SUFFERING..
• He doesn’t lament the loss of his livestock
• He doesn’t lament the loss of his children
• He doesn’t lament the pain of his boils

Job has a whole new adversity now – IT IS REPROACH

(READ 30:1-15)

Job speaks of worthless men.
• Men who have no right to reprove anyone.
• Men who have no right to look down on anyone.
• Job speaks of the dregs of society.

And the problem?
(9) “And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them.”

It is true that Job’s initial pains and problems have not gone away,
But Job is now experiencing even new affliction.

And notice what he has to say about it.
(READ 16-31)

Do you hear him?

(20) “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. You have become cruel to me;”

(24) “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?”

Do you hear Job?
• Why won’t you help me?
• Why won’t you deliver me?

(26) “When I expected good, then evil came; when I waited for light, then darkness came.”

Job is not there talking about his initial affliction.
He is talking about how he expected God
To come to his aid after his affliction and God didn’t do it.
I was hurting
I was in pain
And I cried out to God and I expected Him to come through, and He didn’t.

• My suffering just keeps on going
• My pain just keeps on happening
• It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse
• God has not shown up to help

And we’ve talked about this many times as well.

Sometimes it’s not the initial suffering that is the hardest.
Many of us have come to understand that we live in a fallen world that is prone to the curse and so we know that bad things sometimes happen.

What gets difficult for us to understand is
When God doesn’t just swoop in and instantly make it better.

I mean, after all, our child may fall and scrape their knee, but as soon as we see it and hear their cry, we instantly swoop down and pick them up and try to make it all better.
And it confuses us that God doesn’t seem to do the same.

Sometimes it feels like we fall and are crying
And God just sits there and watches us.

That is what Job is saying.
Not only was my suffering expected,
But it is also unexpired; it just keeps on going.

3) MY SUFFERING IS UNEXPLAINED (Job 31)

And this is another difficult one for us.

If we did something stupid and suffered for it,
At least we’d know why it happened.
What confuses us is when we suffer and don’t know why.

We will rack our brains looking for the reasoning.
That is what Job does here.
You can actually hear him crossing off all the things that he knows it isn’t.

(READ CHAPTER 31)

Do you hear him?
• Am I liar? (no)
• Am I immoral? (no)
• Am I a thief? (no)
• Am I an adulterer? (no)
• Am I unjust? (no)
• Am I stingy? (no)
• Am I greedy? (no)
• Am I without mercy? (no)
• Did I fail to be hospitable? (no)
• Was I a hypocrite? (no)

It’s as though Job is saying, “If I’d been any of those things, then I’d fully understand why God was doing this to me, but I wasn’t.”

And try as he may he could not get an explanation from God
Regarding why all this was happening.

HIS SUFFERING WAS UNEXPLAINED AND THAT BOTHERED HIM.

And again you can probably identify.

Most believers I know, when suffering hits,
Almost immediately go in search of what they did to make God so angry.

They’ll examine themselves like crazy to find it.

That’s what Job was doing,
And he couldn’t come up with anything.
And it bothered him that God wouldn’t explain this suffering.

THIS IS JOB’S LAMENT.

He is upset because:
• His suffering was unexpected
• His suffering is unexpired
• His suffering is unexplained

Now, we aren’t to God’s response to all of these complaints yet.
That is coming in a few weeks.
However Job is not the only person to have these frustrations.

So tonight I want to just quickly examine some others with these exact same issues and see how God answered them.

So, if you’ve felt the same way, you can know what God expects.

FIRST – WHEN SUFFERING IS UNEXPECTED

TURN TO: MATTHEW 11:1-6

You are familiar with this person.
He is none other than the greatest man born of woman.

This is John the Baptist.
This is Mr. SoldOut himself.

No one in the history of the world
Had ever been more devoted to God than this guy.
(Not Job, Not Abraham, Not Joseph, Not Moses, Not David, No one)
Jesus said John was the greatest.

All John ever did was exactly what God expected.
• He turned his back on the world
• He turned his back on the comforts of life
• He stared heresy in the face and boldly confronted it

If there was ever a man who was going in the same direction as God,
It was John the Baptist.

AND HERE WE FIND JOHN IN PRISON
And while John was in prison he heard about all that Jesus was doing.

And John has a question for Him.
(3) “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

There you have it.
John wasn’t getting what he expected.
It just didn’t add up for John.

Now Jesus, in His compassion, quickly worked all the miracles that needed to be seen for John to know Jesus was exactly who He said He was.

And then Jesus had a rebuke for John.
It’s subtle, but a rebuke none the less.

Jesus says, “blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

Another way to read it:
• “Happy is the man who doesn’t fall away on account of Me”
• “Happy is the man who doesn’t stumble because of following Me”

John wasn’t expecting that his life of obedience
Would end up in prison.

Jesus said, “Don’t let your hardship cause you to turn on Me”

And that is really good advice for us all to understand.

Suffering can be shocking
Suffering is most certainly hard

But there are no circumstances
Where we can ever let our suffering cause us to question
If we should continue to be devoted to God.

“Whatever you do, don’t fall away, just because it’s hard”

Suffering can indeed blindside us at times,
But our hardship does not change who God is, or what He deserves.
SO WHEN SUFFERING IS UNEXPECTED, PUSH ON

SECOND – WHEN SUFFERING IS UNEXPIRED

That is to say how we should respond when
Our suffering goes longer than we thought it should.

For that we look to the man named Jeremiah.

Now you should know that JEREMIAH COULD NOT CLAIM
That his suffering was unexpected.

God made that clear to Jeremiah out the outset.

Jeremiah 1:14-19 “Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north the evil will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land. “For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD; “and they will come and they will set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the cities of Judah. “I will pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. “Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”

From the day the LORD called Jeremiah he knew difficulty was on its way.

Jeremiah’s problem was that he thought it was lasting a little too long.

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 15:15-21

You can hear Jeremiah talk about the hardship
And it even reads like he was ready for it initially.

But in verse 18 he asks, “Why has my pain been perpetual and my would incurable, refusing to be healed?”

It wasn’t the presence of suffering that bothered him,
It was the continuation of it.

He couldn’t figure out why God didn’t just swoop in and take care of it.

God’s rebuke of Jeremiah is pretty intense.
“extract the precious from the worthless”
If you want to be My prophet.

In short, you’d better let go of the pity party and get over yourself.
This mission you are on, is not about your comfort,
It’s about My glory and you’d better get your head right.

I’ve read that passage on numerous occasions because I am prone to the pity party.

I don’t mind sitting down and feeling sorry for myself,
But you had better know that God will not have it.

God had every intention of taking care of Jeremiah,
But whining about it was not the answer.

James said:
James 5:7-11 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”

And so the advice in the midst of suffering that never seems to expire?
PERSEVERE

What about WHEN SUFFERING IS UNEXPLAINED?

Here we look at a man named ELIJAH.

Remember him?
• He was just certain that revival was coming.
• He’d seen God’s fire fall from heaven
• He’d seen the 450 false prophet of Baal slaughtered
• And he just knew God was doing big things.

But instead of revival he found a death threat
And Elijah took off running into the wilderness
Ultimately ending up a Sinai ready to give God a piece of his mind.

TURN TO: 1 KINGS 19:9-18

There you hear Elijah basically asking God what He thinks He’s doing.
• I’ve been faithful
• I’ve been zealous
• WHY IN THE WORLD IS THIS HAPPENING?

And God’s answer is profound.
(READ 15-18)

I’m doing something bigger than you here.

We are often prone to think that we are the center of the universe
And God’s total redemptive plan revolves around our life and ministry.

Not so.

God was in the process of purifying Israel
And Elijah was but a piece of the process.

God’s answer was basically for him to get over himself
And realize that He had a plan and Elijah should just trust it.

So when suffering is unexplained – PERCEIVE
Perceive that God just might be up to bigger stuff than you could comprehend.

That was certainly true in Joseph’s life wasn’t it?

Many times we are just told to
Rejoice in suffering or to embrace suffering
Simply knowing that God is up to things that we may not understand.

And all of these pieces of advice would have worked for Job.
• I know your suffering was unexpected – PRESS ON
• I know your suffering is unexpired – PERSEVERE
• I know your suffering is unexplained – PERCEIVE that God is doing something bigger than you.

And there is our answer.

We often feel the same frustrations as Job,
But God directs us regarding how we are to handle it.

• Happy is the man who doesn’t fall away because it is hard.
• Extract the precious from the worthless and do your job.
• Trust that God knows what He is doing and it’s bigger than you

There is the answer for suffering.

The Courage of Faith – part 2 (Overcoming Your Fears)
Hebrews 11:23-31 (27-29)
February 14, 2016

We have finally returned to our study of the book of Hebrews.
And we are currently in the middle of what is called “The Faith Chapter”

The writer is doing everything he can to encourage struggling Jews to not shrink back from their commitment to Christ.

He wants them to cling to Jesus,
To endure for Jesus,
And to encourage others to do the same.

The only possible way they will succeed here is if they exercise their faith.
• The immediate cost is high
• The immediate danger is real
• The immediate opposition is intense

It is precisely what Jesus promised:
John 16:32-33 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus told His followers that it would soon get rough.
But in the midst of these hardships they were to “take courage”
And trust that He had “overcome the world.”

John said:
1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”

And that is precisely where we are in this study.
The writer is asking them to live by faith
And he is giving one example after another
Of precisely what that faith looks like.

We saw the saints of old and THE REWARD OF FAITH.
Namely that God grants righteousness in response to faith.

We saw the patriarchs and THE FOCUS OF FAITH.
These who continually looked past their present circumstances to the promises of God.

And now we are looking at the THIRD SET OF EXAMPLES in this chapter.
We are looking at the slaves of Egypt and THE COURAGE OF FAITH

Many times our church has had the privilege
Of serving on mission in Zimbabwe.
And in doing so we have seen the reality
Of people living under a godless dictator.

• This man has seized farm land from some and given it to others only to require
them to sell it to him at his price.
• This man has threatened and beaten and murdered and maimed people who
opposed him politically.
• This man has wrecked the economy and impoverished his nation only to live in
the lap of luxury.

Some have wondered why his people don’t revolt.

But if you look at the situation you would have so say, “With what?”
• He controls all the resources
• He controls all the military
• He controls everything

Are these people to rise up with sticks and take back their country?

WELL THAT IS A SIMILAR SITUATION TO WHAT WE FIND IN EGYPT.
• Joseph is an afterthought.
• His reign has ended nearly 400 years ago.
• No one remembers and no one cares.

Now Joseph’s descendants are enslaved.
• Pharaoh controls the resources
• Pharaoh controls the military
• Pharaoh controls everything

Are these helpless Israelites supposed to rise up and defy Pharaoh?
That is exactly what God is about to ask them to do.

What manner of courage would be required
To defy the most powerful man in the world?

It had better be courage rooted in faith that God is on your side,
Because otherwise you are sunk.

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE COURAGE OF FAITH.

We actually saw the first point last week.
#1 THE CHOICE OF A SLAVE
Hebrews 11:23-26

It was really the choice of three slaves.
The first was Amram and Jochebed (Moses’ parents).

• These people adamantly defied Pharaoh’s specific order to kill all male Hebrew children.
• Certainly they had to know they would face severe and most likely lethal discipline for such a decision.
• But when they looked into the eyes of their baby boy they could see that the hand of God was on him for something great and they chose faith over fear.

God certainly rewarded them.
• Not only by protecting them from Pharaoh, but also by protecting the baby and even allowing that baby to be given back to his mother for a time until he was weaned.

• Beyond that God obviously rewarded this couple with another son (whom they also spared) because Moses has a brother named Aaron.

The next choice was seen when that baby grew up at the age of 40.

THAT WAS NONE OTHER THAN MOSES.
• Moses wasn’t a slave.
• He was raised as a child of Pharaoh’s daughter.
• He had ever luxury and privilege that he could imagine.

MOSES CHOSE SLAVERY.
Moses chose to leave Egypt and join his people all because he could see that reward of being a child of God was greater than all the riches of Egypt

It would take courage to make a decision like that, but Moses made it.

WE SAW COURAGE IN THEIR FAITH.
This morning I want to move on to the next examples the writer of Hebrews gave us.

The Choice of a Slave
#2 THE COMMITMENT OF A SERVANT
Hebrews 11:27-29

The first point of this segment dealt with a period of slavery.
This segment obviously deals with the event known as THE EXODUS

And it begins also with Moses.
(27) “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.”

Now I need you to understand this verse clearly
So that you gain the proper perspective here.

The common consensus is to read this verse and to want to apply it to
The day Moses left Pharaoh’s court, killed the Egyptian
And then fled into the wilderness.

That is NOT the even the writer is referring to.

Yes it took faith for Moses to leave Pharaoh’s court,
We already talked about that up in verse 24.

But this is a different event.
IT IS NOT WHEN MOSES LEFT EGYPT THE FIRST TIME.

That event was actually not about faith at all.
Scripture is clear that Moses’ first leaving was all about fear.

Exodus 2:11-15 “Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?” But he said, “Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.” When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.”

Did you catch Moses’ response when he realized that his murder had been discovered?
“Then Moses was afraid…”

That fear then drove Moses out into the wilderness
And delayed the deliverance of God by 40 years.

That is actually an example of the danger of following fear instead of faith.
If you’ll recall the children of Israel would later delay their entrance into the Promised Land by 40 years because they also operated by fear instead of faith.

MOSES FLEEING FROM EGYPT WAS NOT AN ACT OF FAITH.

The event the writer is referring to in verse 27
Was the SECOND TIME Moses left Egypt.
That event required enormous faith.

Think about it for a moment.
• Moses decides to leave Pharaoh’s court.
• He takes matters into his own hands and kills an Egyptian.
• He is found out and flees for his life.

40 years (count them FORTY YEARS) passes.
That’s a lifetime.
I’m supposing that Moses never intended to return.
He had found a new life in Midian.

But what happened?
TURN TO: EXODUS 3:1-10

God tracked Moses down (not that he was ever lost)
And told him that he was going back to Pharaoh.

Imagine the emotions this would conjure up in Moses.
I can guarantee you Moses was afraid.
Not many fugitives are asked to go and confront the authorities.

Moses was not excited:
Exodus 3:11 “But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

That’s Moses’ way of saying, “Wouldn’t you rather send someone else?”

And you’ll remember there was quite an argument that took place between God and Moses.
• (Exodus 3:13) but I don’t know Your name
• (Exodus 4:1) what if they won’t believe me
• (Exodus 4:10) but I’m not a good speaker
• (Exodus 4:13) please send someone else

And to this God grew angry.
Exodus 4:14-17 “Then the anger of the LORD burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. “You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. “Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. “You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

God told Moses he was going.

But do you see where Moses will have to overcome an enormous amount of fear to pull this off?
• Return to Egypt
• Tell the Israelites I’ve heard from God
• Tell Pharaoh to let you go
• Then lead you all out

THERE IS ENORMOUS FEAR THERE

You can even hear the “what ifs” of Satan attacking Moses’ faith.
• But what if they want God’s name?
• But what if they won’t believe you?
• But what if you have to speak?

It is that fear which is always the opposite of faith.

And honestly to make matters worse God promised Moses that
Pharaoh wouldn’t be too keen on the idea.

Exodus 3:19-20 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.”

Are you filling in the blanks?
• This is going to be hard.
• It is going to take a great deal of courage to pull this off.
But Moses went back to Egypt and he stood before Pharaoh.
And the battle was on.

TURN TO: EXODUS 5

(READ 1-4)
Moses tells Pharaoh and Pharoah says “NO” and then he makes work even harder on the people and if you’ll remember the people became angry at Moses.

And if you’ll remember Moses was ready to quit again.
(READ 22-23)
• God then reminds Moses that He is the faithful God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and he will surely deliver the people.
• And God tells Moses to go tell the people of Israel that God is going to deliver them.
• But the people won’t listen to Moses.

And Moses is still afraid
(READ 6:10-13)
• Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
• You can feel his struggle
• It is fear vs. faith all the way.

(READ 6:28-30)

LOOK HOW MANY TIMES MOSES HAS TO GO.
• In 7:20 Moses goes back to Pharaoh again and turns the Nile to blood, but Pharaoh won’t listen.

• In 8:1 Moses returns to Pharaoh again and promises frogs.

• In 8:8 Moses is called back to Pharaoh to make the frogs stop and Pharaoh says you can go, but in 8:15 Pharaoh changed his mind.

• In 8:16 God sent gnats throughout Egypt and Pharaoh wouldn’t respond.

• So in 8:20 God sent Moses to Pharaoh a 4th time to warn him about insects.

• In 8:25 Pharaoh calls Moses back to stop the insects and says you can go worship and in 8:28 Pharaoh again changes his mind.

• In 9:1 God sends Moses before Pharaoh again with a promise to kill livestock. And Pharaoh ignored it.

• In 9:8 God sent boils across Egypt and in 9:13 God sent Moses before Pharaoh a 7th time to warn him about hail.

• In 9:27 Pharaoh called for Moses to make the hail stop and promised they could go and in 9:34 Pharaoh changed his mind.

• In 10:1 God sends Moses to Pharaoh a 9th time and warns Pharaoh about a locust invasion.

• In 10:8 Moses was called before Pharaoh to stop the locusts and promised they could leave, but in 10:11 Pharaoh changed his mind.

• In 10:21 God sent darkness and in 10:24 Moses is called before Pharaoh for the 11th time with a promise they can leave and in 10:27 Pharaoh again changed his mind.

Only this time the stakes were raised.
Exodus 10:28 “Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!”

And of course you know what is coming next.
The death angel and the Passover.

But what you need to see is the tremendous endurance it took
For Moses to continually stand before Pharaoh.

• This is not something Moses wanted to do.
• He was afraid.
• But he chose to walk by faith and do it anyway.

When the writer says in verse 27 “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king”

He was talking about the entire situation.
That Moses had to stand up to Pharaoh 11 times in order to be able to leave.

And it would be on the 12th time that Moses stood before Pharaoh t
Hat he actually succeeded.

Exodus 12:31-33 “Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said. “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.” The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.”

Do you see the tremendous amount of courage that was required there?
Do you see the tremendous amount of faith?

• We are amazed when David stands before that giant…
• We are amazed when Esther goes before the king…
• We are amazed when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse to bow before Nebuchadnezzar…
• We are amazed when Daniel continues to pray…

But do not overlook that this Moses stood before Pharaoh 12 times
Before he was allowed to leave Egypt.

HOW DID MOSES DO IT?
(27) “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.”

Moses knew that Pharaoh wasn’t the biggest king in the room.

Many have commented on the David and Goliath incident
And noted how David looked past the giant to see a giant God.

That is precisely what Moses did.
He feared God more than he feared Pharaoh.

Jesus said:
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

And Moses chose to trust God.
That is faith that overcomes fear.

And yet that isn’t the only thing Moses did.
(28) “By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.”

• I already read to you how the last time Moses had seen Pharaoh that Pharaoh had threatened to kill him.

• We already know that the children of Israel are not real keen on listening to Moses since they reckon that he has only made their lives harder.

But that doesn’t stop Moses from issuing a command
To the children of Israel and obeying it himself.

He had to overcome fear just to obey it.
But he also had to walk by faith to obey it.

TURN TO: EXODUS 12:1-13

The wrath of God was coming.
Now some would instantly want to know:
Why the children of Israel were in danger.

I mean God was delivering them, it looks like God would have just said,
“Stay indoors and you’ll be fine”

Why the blood?
Because the holiness of God was about to walk through that land and God’s holiness is absolutely impartial.

God doesn’t just judge sinners He doesn’t like
And spare sinners that He does like.
You know in west Texas we sort of have this “good ol boy” mentality.
• so an so may not go to church
• He may cuss a little
• He may drink a little
• He me mess around a little
• But he’s hard worker and a good ol’ boy

And some even think that for some strange reason good ol boy sinners
Are more acceptable to God than the real thuggy sinners.

There is no such distinction.
• When God’s holiness enters the equation every sinner will die.
• When God’s holiness enters the equation every sinner must die.

The only thing that would save the children of Israel
Was if they smeared blood on their doorposts.

WHY BLOOD?
Because the life of an animal is in it’s blood.

Blood signified death.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”

The only thing that is going to cause the holiness of God
To pass by is when sin has been paid for.

Moses was told to take the blood of a lamb and paint it on the door post
And this would appease the wrath of the death angel.

(28) “By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.”

And there is obviously an application to us there as well.
• We identified last week as Moses was called to choose between the
comforts of this life or the benefits of the next.
• We saw that Moses forsook this life that he might obtain the reward of God.

Here we learn that like Moses we not only must choose to follow Christ, but we are also in desperate need of Christ.

That blood on the doorpost was a picture of Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:7 “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.”

Jesus is in fact our Pass-Over.
It is His blood shed on our behalf
That protects us from the wrath of a Holy God.

We take His sacrifice and place it on the door frames of our heart.
We trust in His sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God.

It’s not just that we must choose which life we want to pursue,
If we don’t choose correctly we will be under the wrath of God.

Do you see what happened in Egypt?
• Moses chose to leave Egypt and identify with Israel.
• But 40 years later do you see what God did to Egypt?

What if Moses had chosen Egypt?
What if Moses had chosen not to leave the courts of Pharaoh?
He would have been dead.

Today we offer Jesus to people as a sort of choice.
In some sense we give them the choice of whether or not they want to follow Christ, but the reality is there is no choice.

You either follow Christ or you suffer the wrath of Holy God.

That is what Jesus meant when He said:
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it…”

Moses understood and he walked by faith.

AND WE SEE HIS COURAGE CONTINUALLY.
• He had the courage to choose slavery over Egypt.
• He had the courage to confront Pharaoh continually.
• He had the courage to trust God’s provision totally.

Now, there is one more example here regarding
THE COMMITMENT OF A SERVANT.

Moses wasn’t the only servant of God who had to be courageous.
God required that same courage from the entire nation of Israel.

• After the death of the firstborn Pharaoh finally did let Israel go.
• In fact Israel even plundered the Egyptians as they left.
• So Israel packed up to leave.
• But God hardened Pharaoh one more time and Pharaoh pursued Israel where they stood trapped at the banks of the Red Sea.

• The people grumbled at Moses
• Moses prayed to the LORD
• The LORD parted the Red Sea

Exodus 14:21-22 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.”

The writer of Hebrews said:
(29) “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land;”

And our immediate response is, “what’s so courageous about that?”

Think about it
• Half of you in here won’t ride a ride at Six Flags.
• Could you imagine what this must have looked like?
• Could you imagine the perceived danger?

If you are confused about the danger, read the rest of the verse:
(29b) “and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.”

THIS WAS DANGEROUS.
BUT…
THIS WAS THE LORD’S SALVATION.

If Israel was going to be delivered from the hand of Pharaoh this is what had to occur.
• Two slaves had to agree to defy a king and spare their baby.
• That baby had to choose to leave the comforts of the palace and accept the life
of a slave.
• That slave had to overcome his fear and agree to stand once again before
Pharaoh (which he would end up having to do 12 times)
• These slaves would then have to trust the ordinance of God through the
Passover so that God would not kill them.
• And in their deliverance they would have to obey one of the scariest forms of
deliverance the world has ever seen.

THE POINT?
FAITH REQUIRES COURAGE

And make no mistake about it, it takes courage to follow Jesus.
Being a Christian is not for the faint-hearted.

In fact Jesus spoke of those type of IMPOSTERS.
Matthew 13:20-21 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”

Those are the type of people who run to Jesus when it is easy and run from Him when it is hard and they prove that their faith is not genuine.

In fact, listen to what is said about people in hell.
Revelation 21:7-8 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

We kind of expect the unbelieving and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and liars to be on the list…
But did you notice the very first person? “the cowardly”

It is those who let fear overcome their faith.

Is this not what the writer of Hebrews has been warning against?
Hebrews 10:36-38 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.”

Don’t be one of those who lets fear keep him from Jesus.
Don’t be one of those who lets fear turn him from Jesus.

I KNOW IT’S DANGEROUS, I KNOW IT’S SCARY
BUT THIS IS THE LORD’S SALVATION.

YOU MUST HAVE FAITH AND YOU MUST HAVE COURAGE.
After all, courage is a bi-product of genuine faith.

John MacArthur wrote:
“Faith is the source of courage. We do not have great faith by having great courage, we have great courage when we have great faith.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews; Moody Press, Chicago, ILL, 1985] pg. 361)

And this is precisely the point to the recipients of this letter.
You claim to have faith in Jesus.
You claim to believe.

SO WHERE IS YOUR COURAGE?
Because if your faith was real then your courage would be evident.

And so we come back here this morning and once again ask:
Where do you stand with Jesus?

• Forget that these Hebrews might go to prison for Jesus.
• Forget that these Hebrews would have their property seized for Jesus.
• Forget that these Hebrews would be ostracized for following Jesus.

Today we have people who won’t follow Jesus
Simply because they are afraid of what people might think.

This sort of fear is unacceptable to God.

Matthew 10:22-39 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

Do you hear Him calling you to overcome your fears and trust in Him?

Because as we found with Moses, it’s really not a choice at all.
Someday this life will come crashing down just like Egypt did.

Today you must face your fear and choose Jesus
Before God’s wrath is poured out on all who don’t.

It really is that simple.
Have faith.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”