He had some success; there were those who were willing to accept Greek culture, Greek drama, Greek athletics. Though heaven and earth may pass away, Your Word is something You will keep forever. That story left an indelible mark upon the memory of Israel. As a Christian I am now free, by God's will, to go in peace and assurance of His love into the holiest of all yes, now. (2.) He goes out, deliberately and knowingly, just at the time of life when a man is most sensitive to the value of a grand sphere of influence, as well as exercise of his powers, wherein, too, he could have ordinarily exerted all in favour of his people. Faith enabled him to picture the exodus already. (2.) If he put out his hand and touched the jewels, that would prove that he was so wise that he was a danger; if he put out his hands and touched the coals, that would prove that he was so witless that he was no danger. II. Let us hold fast the profession of our hope [for so it should be] without wavering (for he is faithful that promised); and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." These evidently are the elders of olden times. (Verses 1-7.). What she did by her faith: She received the spies in peace, the men that Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho, ; Joshua 2:6-7. But we read here that it was through absolute faith in the word of God that Abraham was willing to go through this whole experience, believing so powerfully in the word of God that he knew that God would, if necessary, raise Isaac from the dead in order that He might fulfill His word, "Through Isaac shall they seed be called. Now Joseph gave this order, not that he thought his being buried in Egypt would either prejudice his soul or prevent the resurrection of his body (as some of the rabbis fancied that all the Jews who were buried out of Canaan must be conveyed underground to Canaan before they could rise again), but to testify, [1.] When Joseph was near to death he made the Israelites take an oath that they would not leave his bones in Egypt but would take them with them when they went out to possess the promised land, which in due time they did ( Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32). He seemed to have forgotten how God had determined the matter at the birth of these his sons. And he sprinkled likewise with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. The man with the wanderlust is lured on by the thought of the countries he has never yet seen. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet ( Hebrews 11:7 ). He insisted that we must take the long view. They must be very great, suitable to the greatness of the trial: He accounted that God was able to raise him from the dead, Hebrews 11:19. Lord, we thank You for the gift of faith, that you've given to each man a measure of faith. In other cases the epistle to the Hebrews speaks of sanctification by God's call, and Christ's blood. Do you not discern in this striking combination the distinctive features of Christianity? "Oh, He'll tell me. So should we all do. It is extraordinary how Rahab became imprinted on the memory of Israel. (2.) That is, he sought carefully with tears the blessing given to Jacob; but there was no room left for repentance, simply in the sense of change of mind; for, I suppose, the word here has that sense, which sometimes, no doubt, it has. The Christian believes in the spirit rather than the senses. A true believer is desirous, not only to be in covenant with God, but in communion with the people of God; and is willing to fare as they fare. It means that God loved Enoch so much that he removed him before age and degeneration descended hand in hand upon him. This was also a grand point of distinction. The preservation and safe passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, when there was no other way to escape from Pharaoh and his host, who were closely pursuing them. For he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt ( Hebrews 11:26 ): So on the one side you have the son of Pharaoh's daughter, with all of the glory of the royal palace. 3. What was this "better thing"? In short, there is. It ( ) means "testament" as well as "covenant." He says that it is an act of faith to believe that God made this world and adds that the things which are seen emerged from the things which are not seen. That, from the beginning, there has been a remarkable difference between the worshippers. . Great man of faith, marvelous spiritual insights. Second, to see the abode of the wicked so that he might know what the punishment of the evil was like. 3 by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of god, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. In short, the word in itself may mean either; but this is no proof that it may indifferently or without adequate reason be translated both ways. After this chapter on faith, only the rhetorical culmination (12) and closing matters (13) remain. The pleasures of sin are and will be but short; they must end in speedy repentance or in speedy ruin. Would he give up Isaac? The promise is made to believers and their children, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. God said that He was going to cause it to rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. When God judges, he will overcome; and it is plain that the destruction of sinners is of themselves. He blessed them; that is, he resigned them up to God in covenant; he recommended God and religion to them; he prayed for them, and prophesied concerning them, what would be the condition, and the condition of their descendants: we have the account of this in Gen. xxvii. And their relation to their leaders he puts forward in various forms. I speak, of course, of our entrance there only in spirit. She was wealthy and beautiful but she had lived in lonely mourning since her husband Manasses had died. It was because of faith that the men of old time had their record attested. You may give yourself over to indulgence. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. The story is told in Exodus 14:1-31. But 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 diligently seek Him. The Old Testament story of Noah is in Genesis 6:1-22; Genesis 7:1-24; Genesis 8:1-22. Antiochus had an interest in Egypt. His goodness consisted in the fact that he took God at his word. If he takes to himself the title of their God, he will fully answer it, and act up to it; and he has prepared that for them in heaven which will fully answer this character and relation, so that it shall never be said, to the reproach and dishonour of God, that he has adopted a people to be his own children and then taken no care to make a suitable provision for them. The powerful success of the prescribed means. We may be fully assured of his existence, of his providence, and of his gracious and powerful presence with us. These two last verses bear witness to the grace of God in redemption. No Jew could or ought to pretend to such purgation as its result. "Just have enough faith and you'll never be sick. Had the energetic activity of faith been first noticed, it would have made more of man; but when the heart had been disciplined in quiet endurance, and lowly expectancy from God, then he could be clothed with the energy of the Spirit. Such is a main point, not ofHebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 4:1-16 only, but of the epistle. Their deliverance was very glorious. There is no necessity for considering anything else, but that the Spirit of God, forecasting the future, was pleased to conceal the line of Melchisedec's parentage, or descendants if any, of their birth or death. When they offered their sacrifices unto the Lord, the Lord accepted Abel's sacrifice, but He rejected Cain's. "God," said Epicurus as a first principle, "does nothing." Christ has gone into the presence of God," having obtained eternal redemption." God said . God calls his people to an inheritance: by his effectual call he makes them children, and so heirs. He believed the message which God sent him. Which in this particular case was forty years old. Though I have never seen God, the evidence of His existence creates that faith in my heart.As we pointed out this morning, there are many things that we believe in that we don't and haven't seen. Others went through scoffing and scourging, yes, and chains and imprisonment. Some must hazard their own lives to preserve their children, and they were resolved to do it; they knew the king's commandment was evil in itself, contrary to the laws of God and nature, and therefore of no authority nor obligation. His mother bade him be quiet and not push questions too far; but already Abraham's thoughts were reaching out to him who is the God of all. So Joseph died, being 110 years old. Are they both true of you? She said to her father: "What hast thou done? "For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator." The agents of Antiochus had gone to a town called Modin and had erected an altar there to make the inhabitants do sacrifice to the Greek gods. Observe, (1.) He answered; "He that has something ayont (beyond) need never weary." Popilius took the stall which he was carrying and drew a circle in the sand round about Antiochus. God is the God of all true believers; faith gives them an interest in God, and in all his fullness. The difficulties of Sarah's faith, which were very great. when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones: As Joseph was dying, he showed his faith like his father, Jacob, by calling his sons to him and telling them about the future when they would leave Egypt and return to Canaan. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. There was, no doubt, a very heavy moisture blanket around the earth as God divided the waters above the firmament from the waters beneath the firmament. Read full chapter Hebrews 11:22 in all English translations Hebrews 10 Hebrews 12 New International Version (NIV) So when they died they did not enter in to the heavenly kingdom, but they had to wait for the promise of God to be fulfilled. Death is a metamorphosis. Thus the chain of blessedness is complete. Beyond question the Lord is regarded as the completer of the whole walk of faith in its deepest and, morally, most glorious form. And now by faith Joseph, when he was about ready to die, he was in Egypt, had great authority and power in Egypt, but he knew that one day the people of God must go back and possess the land that God had promised to Abraham. In Luke's gospel, the sixteenth chapter, Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man, who fared sumptuously every day, and there was a poor man that was brought daily and laid at his gate, covered with sores, and the dogs would come and lick his sores. He sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country.This was an exercise of his faith. All these died before the final unfolding of God's promise and the coming of his Messiah into the world. He was sold into Egypt. (2.) (1.) That though he had lived and died in Egypt, yet he did not live and die an Egyptian, but an Israelite. 11:11-12 It was by faith that Sarah, too, received power to conceive and to bear a son, although she was beyond the age for it, for she believed that he who gave the promise could be absolutely relied upon. The word is used of the Jews when they were captives in Babylon and in Egypt. Observe, [1.] To Moses belonged the faith to attempt what appeared to be the most insurmountable fences in the certainty that God would help the man who refused to turn back and insisted on going on. So that God did not recognize Abraham's work of the flesh. Those who have been marked out must ever remember and acknowledge free and distinguishing grace. Sprinkling on the lentils and the doorposts, interestingly enough, gives you the sprinkling in the shape of a cross. God has prescribed means and ways wherein he may be found; to with, a strict attention to his oracles, attendance on his ordinances, and ministers duly discharging their office and associating with his people, observing his providential guidance, and in all things humbly waiting his gracious presence. With reverence and obedience Noah took God at his word and so in the destruction of the world he was preserved. He honours the work of Christ, according to His estimate of its efficacy, as it is only according to His counsels about us for Christ's glory. Jericho was a strong city, barred and fortified. "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice in the place that I will show you" ( Genesis 22:2 ). God saved his family for his sake; it was well for them that they were Noah's sons and daughters; it was well for those women that they married into Noah's family; perhaps they might have married to great estates in other families, but then they would have been drowned. And He led the captives from their captivity; opened the prison doors to those who had been bound.It is through Jesus Christ that the door has been made open into heaven. He was brought up in all luxury. Made mention of the departing of the children of Israel - Margin, remembered. The meaning is, that he called this to their mind; he spake of it. But here he was seeking communion with God when sin was in his heart. There is nothing to divert the heart from Christ, the great High Priest in the heavens. They had looked for advance and triumph and peace and prosperity everywhere; on the contrary, they had come into reproach and shame, partly in their own persons, partly as becoming the companions of others who so suffered. To every task he came out from God's presence. Even more than Abel and Enoch, Noah stands out as a man of faith. Interesting! Now here Moses conquered the riches of the world, as before he had conquered its honours and pleasures. The pleasures of this world, and especially those of a court, are too often the pleasures of sin; and they are always so when we cannot enjoy them without deserting God and his people. Rend. God said, "Let the earth bring forth herb yielding seed after its kind." Hence the apostle applies the type distinctly now, as far as the "order" of the priesthood goes. Salute all your leaders, and all the saints. 11:32-34 And what more shall I say? I don't have time to tell about Gideon [now we're in the book of Judges], Barak, Samson, Jephthae ( Hebrews 11:32 ); These are all men from the book of Judges who became judges of Israel and who through their faith delivered the children of Israel from their enemies.Going on from the book of Judges to. Now truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned ( Hebrews 11:14-15 ). They were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy ( Hebrews 11:37-38 ): What a statement, remarkable statement, concerning these men. Abraham saw Christ's day, when it was afar off, and rejoiced. They cared not to engage much in it. Being a man of faith doesn't mean that you will always going to have healing, you're always going to have victory, you're always going to drive a Maserati, you're never going to have any trouble. And here also we consider. Herefused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter lest he should undervalue the truer honour of being a son of Abraham, the father of the faithful; he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter lest it should look like renouncing his religion as well as his relation to Israel; and no doubt both these he must have done if he had accepted this honour; he therefore nobly refused it. These two things, the cross on earth and glory on high, are correlative. The ground of Noah's faitha warning he had received from God of things as yet not seen. But mark another striking and instructive feature of this chapter. He will provide Himself a sacrifice. (ii) We must believe that God is interested. The Isaac story, told in Genesis 22:1-18, is that most dramatic account of how Abraham met the supreme test of the demand for the life of his own son. It was a figure and earnest of the glorious resurrection of all true believers, whose life is not lost, but hid with Christ in God. Here we may observe, (1.) There is an unwritten saying of Jesus: "The world is a bridge.