1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,440 All right, welcome everybody. 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,440 We are going to start a little series, a little short series. 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:15,360 We're going to talk about faith this Sunday night and the next few Sunday nights. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,280 Just kind of go through Hebrews chapter 11 kind of quickly. 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:24,680 There are a lot of great biblical figures to look at there that are celebrated for their 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,280 faith and while we're not going to go through in great detail and look at them, we will 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,200 look at some of the strengths of these people and maybe learn from their examples and maybe 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,200 even some of their failures. 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,520 So we're going to open up with a prayer and then we'll jump into Hebrews chapter 11. 10 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:42,520 Let's pray. 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,800 God, I pray that you would just bless this study as we go through the book of Hebrews. 12 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:52,160 I pray that you would help me to do a good job to preach and teach your word and to present 13 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:56,280 in a way that helps us to grow in you, dear Lord. 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:02,240 I pray that we can learn from these people that we read about, that they would be examples 15 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:07,920 to us both in how to have faith and even on some things not to do, dear Lord. 16 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:12,640 God, as we look at this list, these are not a list of perfect people, but God, they were 17 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:14,400 not saved because they were perfect. 18 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,400 They were saved because of their faith. 19 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,840 So dear Lord, let us look at our own failures and struggles and sin and not give in to those 20 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:27,720 things, not be discouraged by those things, but dear Lord, let our faith prevail just 21 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:28,880 as theirs has. 22 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,760 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,560 Amen. 24 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:35,280 Hebrews chapter 11. 25 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:40,240 Now we've gone through Hebrews now for quite some time and what we have seen in the book, 26 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,680 just to briefly recap, is that the audience are Jewish Christians. 27 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:51,040 These are Jewish people who had grown up under the law, but they had come to faith in Jesus 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:52,040 Christ. 29 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:53,560 They heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. 30 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:59,560 They were living for Jesus Christ, but some type of persecution had come in their life. 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:05,760 They were facing some intense persecution, which was causing them to want to turn back 32 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:13,440 from their faith in Jesus and turn to the old system, to turn back to the old way of 33 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:14,440 doing things. 34 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:20,240 And the author of Hebrews has been making his point throughout the whole book using 35 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,160 a lot of Old Testament scriptures, what we would call Old Testament scriptures, to make 36 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:30,160 his point and to remind his audience that, look, these people in the past that you celebrate 37 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:36,160 that were those who did the old ways, the old system that you want to go back to, it 38 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:37,840 wasn't the old system that saved them. 39 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,600 There was something greater that God had in store. 40 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:47,720 Now the law and the sacrifices, those all served a purpose, but their purpose was to 41 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:53,840 be a shadow of what was to come, ultimately the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 42 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:55,560 Now Jesus has come. 43 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,440 By this point, Jesus had come. 44 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:03,240 He had been crucified, buried, and resurrected, and this audience who's receiving this book 45 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,320 had come to faith in Jesus Christ. 46 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:12,520 But now in the midst of persecution, they're being tempted to go back to the old way. 47 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,900 Now maybe they felt like life was going to be easy under Jesus Christ. 48 00:03:15,900 --> 00:03:20,560 Maybe there were other Jewish people who were saying, look, you need to go back to the old 49 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,880 way of doing things this way about Jesus isn't right. 50 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:29,940 Maybe they were facing a lot of pressure from other Jews who were not Christians. 51 00:03:29,940 --> 00:03:35,760 For whatever reason, they were beginning to doubt and beginning to have difficulties in 52 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:41,920 their walk with God, and some, it appeared, had turned away from Jesus Christ. 53 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:47,680 So the author of Hebrews, after giving them some strong warnings throughout the book, 54 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:54,640 comes to Hebrews chapter 11, where he reminds them of these men and women of faith in the 55 00:03:54,640 --> 00:04:02,000 Old Testament, and he's using this as an encouragement to encourage his audience to say, look, don't 56 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,920 give up. 57 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:05,360 God has not forgotten about you. 58 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,160 You may be going through difficult times, but don't give up. 59 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:10,320 God still cares about you. 60 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:15,840 The message of Jesus Christ is true and it is right and it's the only message that brings 61 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:17,840 salvation. 62 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:19,440 Don't give up. 63 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:24,760 And then he proceeds to tell them of a whole list of Old Testament figures, of heroes of 64 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:30,480 faith, if we can call them that, to encourage them in the midst of their trials to say, 65 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:35,280 look, there were those who came before you and some failed in sin and some faced great 66 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:36,560 opposition. 67 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:43,320 It was not always easy for them to serve the Lord, but they remained persistent in their 68 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:44,320 faith. 69 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:49,440 And not just on what they saw and what they knew of what we see in the Old Testament, 70 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,140 but they were looking forward to something further down the road. 71 00:04:53,140 --> 00:04:56,760 Even the Old Testament saints were looking forward to Jesus. 72 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,400 They didn't know what the Messiah would look like. 73 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,240 They didn't know what God's plan would look like, but they were looking forward. 74 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:08,320 They knew that there was something better to come that was going to come after them. 75 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,000 And that's what we see in Hebrews 11. 76 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:16,520 Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1 through 3 tell us what faith is. 77 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:23,240 Now, faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 78 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,620 For our ancestors won God's approval by it. 79 00:05:26,620 --> 00:05:31,820 By faith, we understand that the universe was created by God's command. 80 00:05:31,820 --> 00:05:38,880 So that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible. 81 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:40,120 So what is faith? 82 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,120 Faith is the reality of what is hoped for. 83 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,400 Now, what do we hope for? 84 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,080 Well, we hope for more than what we see in this world. 85 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,440 And what we see in this world is pain and sorrow and heartache. 86 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,240 We look around at our own country. 87 00:05:55,240 --> 00:06:00,340 It seems that our country is so divided and so full of hatred. 88 00:06:00,340 --> 00:06:05,800 And as Christians, what we hopefully desire is that people would love one another, that 89 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,240 people would love God and that people would love our neighbor as ourselves. 90 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,360 That's what the Bible commands. 91 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:18,760 But yet we are faced with conflicts and wars and pain and suffering and sickness and just 92 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,520 the stresses of life. 93 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,140 But we hope for something better. 94 00:06:24,140 --> 00:06:27,840 We hope for a day that we can be delivered of this, from this. 95 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:33,880 We hope for a day that we can escape our sickness and our pain and our stresses and all of the 96 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:40,160 hatred and the evil of this world will be gone and there will be healing and restoration. 97 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:46,600 And the Bible promises just that, to bring healing and restoration to us, those who have 98 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,260 put their faith in Jesus Christ. 99 00:06:49,260 --> 00:06:55,440 And so our hope, when we speak of hope, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' 100 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,120 blood and righteousness, as the song says. 101 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,960 So we come in this room as Christians and we have hope. 102 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:10,060 Now those in the world who only see what the world has to offer, they are hopeless. 103 00:07:10,060 --> 00:07:12,040 Because what hope does the world have to offer? 104 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:16,240 Well, the world may offer some wealth, some material gain. 105 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,440 The world may come with promises of health or prosperity. 106 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,880 The world may come with promises of fame. 107 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:29,140 But ultimately people that have these things, wealth, our health, our fame, find that they 108 00:07:29,140 --> 00:07:31,580 are still unsatisfied. 109 00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:33,480 They still feel hopeless. 110 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:34,900 Why? 111 00:07:34,900 --> 00:07:37,800 Because the world still crumbles around them. 112 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:39,160 Because sickness still comes. 113 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,240 No matter how much money you have, you can't escape it. 114 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:43,360 Hard times still come. 115 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,540 No matter how much money you have, you cannot escape it. 116 00:07:47,540 --> 00:07:52,120 No matter how famous you may be, you still have stresses and struggles, maybe even more 117 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:53,400 so. 118 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,640 And so what our world sees is hopelessness. 119 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:03,880 Because there's nothing in our world that can offer us any help whatsoever, our deliverance, 120 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,700 from the things that we go through. 121 00:08:06,700 --> 00:08:08,920 But God's Word offers hope. 122 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,160 And that hope only comes from one person. 123 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,460 It comes from Jesus Christ. 124 00:08:13,460 --> 00:08:19,200 And so what we hope for is peace and love and forgiveness of sins. 125 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,120 We hope for justice. 126 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:23,520 These are the things that we long for. 127 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,360 We don't see these things in our world. 128 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:31,240 And so our faith is the reality of what is hoped for. 129 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,460 Now we don't see heaven before us today. 130 00:08:34,460 --> 00:08:36,840 We don't see Jesus standing beside us today. 131 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:42,320 We don't see Jesus seated at the right hand of God in a physical sense. 132 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,040 But that's where faith comes into the picture. 133 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,960 Because we see the Word of God and it tells us that Jesus is the Son of God. 134 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:55,440 It tells us that the only way that our sins are forgiven, that we receive eternal life, 135 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,520 that we are in the presence of God and escape all the myths of this world, is through Jesus 136 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:01,520 Christ. 137 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,320 That is our hope. 138 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:09,000 And faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the book of Hebrews tells us. 139 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:15,020 So if someone asked me today, prove to me that God exists, I couldn't prove to anyone 140 00:09:15,020 --> 00:09:16,200 that God exists. 141 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,640 I can read to you the Word of God. 142 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,180 I can show you the creation of God. 143 00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:24,480 But for many people, they've seen both of those things. 144 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:25,600 They've seen the Word of God. 145 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,880 They've seen the creation of the universe. 146 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,760 They look and they see the stars in the sky and the trees on the earth and the fish in 147 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:32,760 the sea. 148 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:34,280 And that's not sufficient evidence. 149 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,240 Well, that's all the evidence that I can give. 150 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,320 I can't give any more evidence than what God has created. 151 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:47,920 I can't give any more evidence than the Word of God that tells us who Jesus Christ is. 152 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,720 But the Bible doesn't call us to trust in Jesus based on evidence. 153 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:56,040 The Bible doesn't say, once you get enough evidence, then you can trust in Jesus and 154 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:57,280 everything will be okay. 155 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,840 No, the Bible calls us to faith. 156 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:04,040 And what you'll see when you read the stories of people who come to Jesus and healed, you 157 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:10,320 will, and are healed, you will almost always see, if not always, that it is their faith 158 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:11,840 that made them well. 159 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,360 The people that came to Jesus, they were healed because of their faith. 160 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:21,200 Both Jew and Gentile, whoever it was, those who came to seek out Jesus with a strong faith 161 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:22,200 were healed. 162 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:23,200 Why? 163 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,640 Because they had faith. 164 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:31,480 Because they heard about who Jesus was and they trusted that He was who He said He was, 165 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:35,840 that He was who they heard He was, that He had the power to do the things that they had 166 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:36,840 heard. 167 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:42,520 And so we read God's Word and hopefully we believe that Jesus was who He said He was, 168 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:47,680 that He's the Messiah, that He's the Son of God, that He has the power to do great things. 169 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:52,520 Most importantly, the power to forgive our sins because He died for our sins, the power 170 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:57,120 to raise us up from the dead because He was raised from the dead, the power to restore 171 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:02,560 us for eternity to the presence of God, to be in His presence. 172 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:07,440 These are things that we don't necessarily have any solid proof that we can give anybody. 173 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:09,560 Now, the proof is in the Word of God. 174 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:11,960 I think that's sufficient enough. 175 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,440 But I read that proof and I have to decide, well, I have faith in this even though I haven't 176 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:21,120 seen all of these things come to be, even though I can't prove without a shadow of a 177 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,320 doubt that all the things in the Old Testament were true. 178 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,040 I believe they're true. 179 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:32,160 I may not have physical, tangible evidence, but I believe 100% that every word in the 180 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,000 Word of God is true because I have faith. 181 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,840 And so it is faith that's going to save us and we need to remember that. 182 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,240 And we need our faith to be strong because there are times in life that our life gets 183 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,920 difficult and we may be tempted to say, man, is God listening? 184 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:52,320 Does God care? 185 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,160 Has God forgotten about me? 186 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,480 And our faith may begin to waver. 187 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,280 And that sounds like what's going on with the Hebrew audience in this book is their 188 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:03,640 faith was wavering. 189 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:09,760 And so the author reminds them, faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of 190 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,680 what is not seen, the proof of what is not seen. 191 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:18,000 And so our faith is the proof that God exists. 192 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,120 And that's sufficient proof for me. 193 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,280 It goes on to say for our ancestors, one, God's approval by it. 194 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,840 Now he's setting up for listing off some of these ancestors. 195 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,200 Hey, you want to know what faith is? 196 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,400 Look at these people who came before you. 197 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:35,820 They believed the promises of God and they had to wait hundreds, thousands of years before 198 00:12:35,820 --> 00:12:40,920 these promises ever came to be and they were long gone before the promises of God often 199 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:42,200 came to be. 200 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:47,280 But nonetheless, our ancestors were approved by their faith because they believed what 201 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:48,280 God says. 202 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:54,440 Now, do we believe what God says to us, that God loves us, that he will take care of us, 203 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,760 that he'll never leave us or forsake us, that we will be with him for all of eternity, that 204 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,600 if we are faithful to confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us our sins. 205 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:09,320 These are the things that we must believe in faith so that we may be approved by the 206 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,120 same faith that those who have come before us were. 207 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:18,000 By faith, we understand that the universe was created by God's command so that what 208 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,740 is seen has been made from things that are not visible. 209 00:13:22,740 --> 00:13:26,080 This idea that God has created all things. 210 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,620 And in one sense, we say, well, we can't see God around us. 211 00:13:29,620 --> 00:13:34,120 But in another sense, we say, we see God everywhere around us. 212 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,120 We see God when we look into the sky. 213 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,440 You see countless stars. 214 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,440 You can't even count them. 215 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:41,840 The number goes up and up and up. 216 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,880 The stronger the telescopes we get, the more of the universe we can see, the more of the 217 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,820 number of stars and planets that we determine there are. 218 00:13:49,820 --> 00:13:52,180 Perhaps there's a countless number. 219 00:13:52,180 --> 00:13:55,880 Perhaps they go far away, further than we will ever be able to see. 220 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:00,720 And we see the greatness of the galaxy and we see the greatness of this beautiful planet. 221 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,040 There's such beautiful and miraculous things in this planet. 222 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,600 Now, I don't believe that these things were a result of a big bang. 223 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:18,120 I think they are a result of a God who is a creative God, who places these things and 224 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:23,920 makes these things just as they should be and puts them just where they should be. 225 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:30,400 And he's even so wonderful that he gives us an opportunity to see the beauty of this world. 226 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:36,480 And so, as the scripture says, by faith we understand that the universe was created by 227 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:42,900 God's command so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible. 228 00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:49,000 So even though God is not visible in one sense, we see him everywhere in another sense because 229 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:54,100 the fingerprints of God are all over the universe. 230 00:14:54,100 --> 00:14:59,880 And so, he gives us this definition of what faith is at the very beginning of the book. 231 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:05,780 Now, let's look at the first few people in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. 232 00:15:05,780 --> 00:15:08,440 The first one we're going to look at tonight is Abel. 233 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:14,440 Now, he might not be one that we would think about when we think about a man of faith. 234 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,960 If we were making a list of great men or women of faith in the Bible, Abel may not be one 235 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:24,080 of the first names that would come to our mind, but yet the author of Hebrews finds 236 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,200 it important to mention Abel here. 237 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:32,920 In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4, it says, By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice 238 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:34,520 than Cain did. 239 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:40,440 By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts. 240 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:45,480 And even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. 241 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:50,040 Now, if you've never read the story of Cain and Abel, you can go back in the Old Testament 242 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,360 and you can read that in Genesis chapter 4. 243 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:54,640 But the story is simple. 244 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,800 We don't know much about Cain and Abel other than that they both brought a gift to God. 245 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:07,560 Abel's gift was accepted by God and approved by God, but Cain's gift was not. 246 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:14,400 Now, what we see here in Hebrews chapter 11 is that Abel offered to God a better sacrifice 247 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:15,960 than Cain did. 248 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,040 And it says this is because of his faith. 249 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:24,760 By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts. 250 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:29,040 Now, what was the difference between Abel and Cain's gift? 251 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:34,240 Well, if we look back at the story, it may not be obvious at first that there's much 252 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:36,220 of a difference at all. 253 00:16:36,220 --> 00:16:41,560 We read that it says that Cain gave some of his fruits to the Lord. 254 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:47,200 And then it says that Abel gave some of his firstborn, some of the best of the best, some 255 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,400 of the first fruits, so to speak, as the Bible would say. 256 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,160 That is to say the best of the best. 257 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:58,360 So there seems to be a difference between what Cain gave and what Abel gave. 258 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,760 There seems to be a change in their heart here. 259 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,160 It seems as though maybe Cain just gave whatever was left. 260 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,760 Okay, I need to give something to God. 261 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:10,520 Whatever's left, I'm going to give it to God. 262 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,720 As to where Abel, it appears, gave God the best of the best. 263 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,920 He gave him the first, the best of the best that there was to offer. 264 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,240 He gave to God before he took any from himself. 265 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:29,880 Now, what that shows us is that Abel's heart certainly recognized and respected God and 266 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,800 wanted to honor God with his gift. 267 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:38,720 As to where Cain, perhaps it was just an afterthought or something that was done out of obligation. 268 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:44,880 Now, Hebrews 11 says that Abel's gift was given by faith. 269 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:49,520 And so here we see what it means to give in faith. 270 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:57,320 That Abel in faith loved God, wanted to honor God, wanted to worship God, and in doing so 271 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,120 he gave God the best of what he had to offer. 272 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:02,120 But what about us? 273 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:08,480 If we want to be men and women of faith, are we giving in faith like Abel gave in faith? 274 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,920 Are we giving with a joyful heart? 275 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,720 Are we giving because we really want to serve God? 276 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:20,000 Are we giving because we use this as a way to worship God and to give back to God what 277 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,520 God has given to us? 278 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:23,920 Or is it just something we do? 279 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,600 I really don't want to get rid of my money this month. 280 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,080 It's been a hard month or there's this thing I want to buy and if I put this extra money 281 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:34,040 in the church or help with this ministry, I won't have the money to do it. 282 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:38,560 And so I'm going to take care of what I want first and I'll just whatever's left, I'll 283 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:39,560 give it to God. 284 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,160 Well, that's not really a heart that's giving in faith. 285 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:49,800 And so what Abel teaches us is that we need to be those who give in faith. 286 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:51,480 What else does it say about Abel here? 287 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:57,040 It says, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. 288 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:01,080 Now our faith is going to outlive us in a sense. 289 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,480 Or our lack of faith might outlive us in a sense. 290 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:09,480 If we are men and women who have faith and we live by our faith and that's evidence in 291 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:13,600 how we live, then that's going to have an impact in the kingdom of God. 292 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:17,720 It's going to have an impact maybe in the work of the kingdom of God, maybe in those 293 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:22,160 that we encounter and even still tonight we're reading about Abel. 294 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,660 His faith still speaks through him. 295 00:19:24,660 --> 00:19:27,840 We are learning about his great faith. 296 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,480 Is that something that can be said of us? 297 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,360 That people look at our life and say, hey, he's got great faith. 298 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:36,840 She's got great faith. 299 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,240 Maybe they do or maybe they don't. 300 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,400 You've probably encountered people like this in your life. 301 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:47,400 Maybe you are one, but people who just, they just, they go through the worst of the worst 302 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,760 times and it's just horrible. 303 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,000 And everybody else, you know, we go through that stuff and we're just complaining and 304 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:54,280 we're just depressed. 305 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,800 And then you meet people and they're just going through the worst time ever. 306 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,280 And they just say, man, I just praise God. 307 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:00,880 I'm in the midst of the sickness. 308 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,520 I'm in the midst of this hardship in life. 309 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:04,920 Everything around me is falling apart. 310 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,160 And some people say, but God is so good. 311 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:08,600 And I just praise God. 312 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,040 And I know God's going to be with me. 313 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,920 And you say to yourself, maybe, man, how do they have that kind of faith? 314 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:20,840 Man, I wish I could be more like them because sometimes maybe you're like me and your faith's 315 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,520 not very strong. 316 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:23,600 The worst thing happens. 317 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,440 You get depressed, you get down, you get afraid, you begin to worry. 318 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,040 And in the midst of all that, we forget to praise God. 319 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:37,120 But some people's faith is so strong that they seem unwavering even in some of the worst 320 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,080 of the worst situations. 321 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:45,040 And man, we see people with faith like that and we should say, I want a faith like that. 322 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,760 But what we see here with Abel is that he has a faith that even though he is dead, his 323 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,120 faith still speaks. 324 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:56,480 And I bet you can think of saints that have gone on to be with the Lord, brothers and 325 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:00,320 sisters in Christ, and you probably remember their faith today. 326 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,640 We want to be those who have a strong faith. 327 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,920 And like Abel, we want to be those who give by faith. 328 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:06,920 All right. 329 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,000 The next thing we're going to talk about is walking by faith. 330 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,260 Hebrews chapter 11, verses 5 through 6. 331 00:21:13,260 --> 00:21:15,680 This little section talks about Enoch. 332 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,800 Now we don't know much at all about Enoch. 333 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:24,900 Pretty much everything we know about Enoch is found early on in the book of Genesis, 334 00:21:24,900 --> 00:21:26,840 and it's not very much. 335 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:33,160 And then we see a little bit about Enoch here in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5. 336 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:39,360 Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5 says, by faith, Enoch was taken away so he did not experience 337 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:43,800 death and he was not to be found because God took him away. 338 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:49,440 For prior to his removal, he was approved since he had pleased God. 339 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,960 Now what do we know about Enoch? 340 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:57,720 Well, not a whole lot other than that he walked by faith. 341 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,080 We see that in the scripture, that he walked by faith. 342 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:05,760 If we go back and we look at Genesis and we take what we see here about Enoch, we don't 343 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,360 know anything about him. 344 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:12,680 We know that it tells us a little bit of his family tree, who his father was and who came 345 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:13,800 after him. 346 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,960 But we don't know very much about Enoch, but what little we know is sufficient for the 347 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:24,760 author of Hebrews to say, this guy is worth looking at and paying attention to. 348 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:32,440 Now what we know about Enoch is one, he walked by faith and two, he did not experience death. 349 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,520 Now that may be what most people remember Enoch for. 350 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:40,240 There's only two people in scripture that it says did not experience death. 351 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:45,040 One is Elijah that the Lord took up to be with him without dying. 352 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:50,520 And the other one here is Enoch who it says did not experience death. 353 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:58,120 And that's all we know is that Enoch walked by faith and he was approved by God because 354 00:22:58,120 --> 00:22:59,800 he walked by faith. 355 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:04,600 And because he walked by faith, God took him home to be with him. 356 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,240 And that's all we know about Enoch. 357 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,960 But perhaps that's enough for you and I too. 358 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,380 Do we have that kind of faith in our life? 359 00:23:13,380 --> 00:23:17,400 Would it be said of us that we are those who walk by faith? 360 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,920 Are there areas in our life that we see that we do not walk by faith? 361 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,640 How would other people describe your life? 362 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:26,200 How would other people describe you? 363 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,380 That's a scary thing to think about. 364 00:23:28,380 --> 00:23:32,460 We may describe ourselves as a good man or a good woman. 365 00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:37,440 We may describe ourselves as one, a strong faith who serves the Lord and loves the Lord 366 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,640 and is just good all the way around. 367 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:46,560 What if you ask somebody on the street, what would people say about you? 368 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,120 Do your actions show that you're a man or a woman of God? 369 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,820 Do your actions show that you live by faith? 370 00:23:54,820 --> 00:23:57,440 Maybe they do or maybe they don't. 371 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:02,180 Maybe it could be said of us that we walk by faith and we're approved by God because 372 00:24:02,180 --> 00:24:07,280 of our faith in Jesus Christ and that we are faithful to follow his commands. 373 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:10,140 But then again, maybe we need to do some work in our life. 374 00:24:10,140 --> 00:24:12,840 Maybe we're nothing like Enoch at all. 375 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,060 Maybe we don't walk by faith. 376 00:24:15,060 --> 00:24:20,320 But we need to walk by faith because it's our faith that's going to save us. 377 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:25,480 And Enoch walked by faith and as a result, God took him home to be with him. 378 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:30,360 And that's the ultimate desire for us is that we leave this old world that's not our home 379 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:32,920 and go to be in the presence of God. 380 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:39,520 Now, it's highly unlikely that God just is going to take any of us up at just any given 381 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,680 moment that God's going to look down and say, you are such a great man or woman of faith, 382 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:44,680 I'm going to take you up. 383 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:45,680 He could. 384 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:46,680 He's God. 385 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:47,680 He can do whatever he wants to. 386 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,560 But it's likely that you and I will live out our lives. 387 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,440 Now, maybe Jesus will return and take us home with him. 388 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:57,400 Or at the very least, what's going to happen is we're going to take our last breath in 389 00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:58,400 this world. 390 00:24:58,400 --> 00:24:59,680 Now, we may be 30 years old. 391 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,240 We may be 120 years old. 392 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:07,000 But at some point in time, we're going to take our last breath in this world. 393 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:12,120 And at that point, if we have been those who have walked by faith, God is going to carry 394 00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:16,040 us home to be with him just like he did Enoch. 395 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:21,520 Verse six, now without faith, it is impossible to please God for the one who draws near to 396 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,960 him must believe that he exists and reward those who seek him. 397 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:28,200 Isn't that something? 398 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,760 Now without faith, it is impossible to please God. 399 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:37,920 Now in the context of Hebrews, this is important because the audience of Hebrews was wanting 400 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,800 to go back to the Old Testament sacrificial system. 401 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:47,440 They didn't, they were given up on Jesus and they were wanting to go back to the old way. 402 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,920 In a sense saying, okay, we're going to be saved by doing the old thing. 403 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,760 We're going to be saved by offering sacrifices. 404 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,420 We're going to be saved by the blood of goats and bulls. 405 00:25:58,420 --> 00:26:03,240 But the author of Hebrews has already been making the point repeatedly that the blood 406 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:09,400 of goats and bulls is not sufficient for the sacrifice, for the forgiveness of sins. 407 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:15,680 It's only the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which is sufficient to take away our sins 408 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,340 once and for all. 409 00:26:17,340 --> 00:26:21,760 And so there's nothing that we're going to do that's going to please God or earn God's 410 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:26,680 favor or earn God's approval or earn the forgiveness of our sins. 411 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:32,480 Now we're probably not sacrificing animals to the Lord today to atone for our sins. 412 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,060 If you are, you need to come see me after the service tonight. 413 00:26:36,060 --> 00:26:37,920 We're probably not doing that. 414 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,460 But are there other ways that we try to please God? 415 00:26:41,460 --> 00:26:43,720 Maybe we live in a little bit of sin, a little more than we want to. 416 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,320 And we say, oh, well, I'll just level out the scale. 417 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,840 Oh, the sin's getting kind of heavy. 418 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:53,480 So I'll make sure to go to church this Sunday and I'll even go to Sunday school or I'll 419 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:58,000 make sure to put a little extra money in the plate or I'll make sure to sing in the choir 420 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,520 or whatever it may be. 421 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:04,280 There are things that we do sometimes, maybe if we're honest, that we think we need to 422 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:05,280 level out the scale. 423 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:09,560 Oh, I've sinned a little bit this week, so I better do a little bit more for God this 424 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,360 week to level it out. 425 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:13,180 But that's not the way it works. 426 00:27:13,180 --> 00:27:16,400 Our sins are not atoned for by our actions. 427 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,040 It is our faith that approves us before God. 428 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:25,920 It is our faith in Jesus Christ that results in the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus's 429 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:28,400 righteousness and not our own. 430 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:34,440 So whatever acts we are trying to do to please God and earn God's favor are never going to 431 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:35,720 be sufficient. 432 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:41,820 There is only one way that we get in right standing with God, and that is through faith 433 00:27:41,820 --> 00:27:43,520 in Jesus Christ. 434 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:49,080 And without faith, it is impossible to please God. 435 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:55,160 And so it says, for the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and rewards 436 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,640 those who seek him. 437 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:58,640 So what about you and I today? 438 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,120 Are we those who seek Jesus Christ or not? 439 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:03,520 Well, Enoch was. 440 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,720 Enoch was one who walked by faith. 441 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:11,880 And that's the call of God's word for us today is that we would be men and women who would 442 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:13,480 walk by faith. 443 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:18,840 Okay, so we've seen Abel, one who is an example of giving by faith. 444 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:23,120 We've seen Enoch, who is an example of walking by faith. 445 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:26,680 And the next example we're going to look at is living by faith. 446 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:32,000 Hebrews chapter 11 verse 7, living by faith. 447 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,560 Now we talk a little bit about Noah in this section. 448 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,080 Now Noah, you may have heard of before. 449 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:45,520 He's pretty, pretty popular character in the Old Testament, especially his story about 450 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:46,680 building the ark. 451 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:51,080 This is a pretty important story if you've gone to church in your life as a kid, you've 452 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,880 probably heard this story. 453 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:59,480 And maybe even if you're completely unchurched, you may have even heard of the story of Noah 454 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:00,480 in the ark. 455 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:06,000 Well, in Hebrews chapter 11, Noah is one of the characters that is talked about because 456 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,080 of his faith. 457 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:16,240 In verse 7, it says, by faith, Noah, after he was warned, what was not yet seen and motivated 458 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:21,320 by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. 459 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:27,000 By faith, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by 460 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,000 faith. 461 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,960 Now, the Bible tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. 462 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:38,440 Now Noah is a great example of living by faith. 463 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:45,480 Now it says that after he was warned about what was not seen and motivated by godly fear, 464 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,960 built an ark to deliver his family. 465 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:54,760 Now sometimes God may put things on our heart that we don't understand. 466 00:29:54,760 --> 00:30:00,960 Now imagine Noah here for a second, that God says, I want you to build this huge ark, about 467 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:01,960 450 foot long. 468 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,520 I mean, this is a big deal. 469 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:09,240 If you look, I don't remember all the measurements off the top of my head, but it was a huge 470 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:10,240 thing. 471 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:15,320 You can look at the ark, the museum that you can go visit in Ohio or Cincinnati, wherever 472 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,400 it is, somewhere in that area. 473 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:19,400 You can look at the ark, you can look it up online. 474 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:24,660 This is a real life replica of how big the ark was. 475 00:30:24,660 --> 00:30:26,800 This was a huge thing. 476 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:31,920 And God tells Noah, one, I'm about to destroy the earth because of all of its wickedness. 477 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:39,040 And here Noah is supposed to build this ark to be able to escape when this flood comes. 478 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,000 And this took Noah a long time to do this. 479 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,200 This would have taken a lot of faith. 480 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:49,680 One, to be able to be a preacher of righteousness in that time that was full of evil. 481 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:54,200 Certainly people probably didn't want to hear anything that Noah had to say. 482 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,320 And two, you're building this huge boat because, oh yeah, God's going to flood the whole world. 483 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,320 Well, it's not like this is something that had ever happened before. 484 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,040 And so Noah has to have a lot of faith. 485 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,480 One, to believe that God's going to do what he says he's going to do. 486 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:12,460 And two, just to stand up to those who may be opposing him and coming against him. 487 00:31:12,460 --> 00:31:16,440 But nonetheless, it says that Noah was a man of faith. 488 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:17,600 But what does it say? 489 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:21,400 It says that he was motivated by godly fear. 490 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:22,400 Now he didn't see. 491 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,480 It's not like God had shown him and taken him into the future and shown him these things. 492 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:28,360 No, they were unseen. 493 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:30,180 He didn't see the flood that was coming. 494 00:31:30,180 --> 00:31:31,720 He didn't see the boat finish. 495 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:33,880 God just says, here's the plans. 496 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:34,880 Make the boat. 497 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:36,240 Get ready for the rain. 498 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:40,460 And it says that he was motivated by godly fear. 499 00:31:40,460 --> 00:31:42,440 Now what about you and I? 500 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,520 Do we fear the Lord? 501 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:48,440 Well, how motivated are we to serve the Lord? 502 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:53,820 If we're not very motivated to serve the Lord and follow his commands, then we likely don't 503 00:31:53,820 --> 00:31:55,560 have much fear for the Lord. 504 00:31:55,560 --> 00:32:02,580 The more we fear the Lord, the more we are going to be obedient to his commands. 505 00:32:02,580 --> 00:32:04,580 And obviously Noah was. 506 00:32:04,580 --> 00:32:07,320 He celebrated for that, for his faith. 507 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,740 He was motivated by godly fear. 508 00:32:09,740 --> 00:32:12,720 And so he did what God said. 509 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:14,400 And what was the result of that? 510 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:19,200 He was able to build an ark and deliver his family. 511 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:24,080 And so Noah is a good example of living by faith. 512 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:29,460 When God tells you to do something, even if it doesn't make sense, even if you face opposition, 513 00:32:29,460 --> 00:32:34,280 even if you can't even imagine how it's going to work out, how would the world even possibly 514 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:35,320 be flooded? 515 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,100 How am I going to make this huge boat? 516 00:32:37,100 --> 00:32:38,640 This is going to be a huge task. 517 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:44,680 I mean, these are all legitimate questions that we ask sometimes when God calls us to 518 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:48,080 do something that seems bigger than us. 519 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:52,080 And oftentimes what God calls us to do is bigger than us. 520 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:53,780 But that's where faith comes in. 521 00:32:53,780 --> 00:32:59,060 We say, okay, God, I know that what you're calling me to do is difficult. 522 00:32:59,060 --> 00:33:01,040 It seems impossible to me. 523 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,520 I don't know how, God, you're going to use little old me to do any of this. 524 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,440 But God, I trust you and saw I'm going to live by faith. 525 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:14,600 I'm going to live in obedience to your commands and I'm going to trust you in everything that 526 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,440 you call me to do. 527 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:22,700 And Noah is a great example of what it means to live by faith. 528 00:33:22,700 --> 00:33:28,240 So these are just three examples that we've seen in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. 529 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,460 Abel, one who is giving by faith. 530 00:33:31,460 --> 00:33:34,360 In Enoch, we see one who is walking by faith. 531 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,760 And in Noah, we see one who is living by faith. 532 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,880 And these are all people that we could talk a lot more about. 533 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,320 And you should study more about these if you have them. 534 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:50,420 Now again, in the story of Enoch and Abel, we don't have much information about them. 535 00:33:50,420 --> 00:33:56,580 But even what little information we have is celebrated by the author of Hebrews and recognize 536 00:33:56,580 --> 00:34:00,080 that these were men of faith. 537 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:04,800 Now what I want to do is we look at these biblical examples and some of them we're familiar 538 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,960 with, maybe some more than others. 539 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:14,200 But also even in more modern times, we see great examples, great men or great women of 540 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:15,200 faith. 541 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,520 And so every week we're going to look at one of these men or women of faith. 542 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:24,720 And so tonight, a more modern example closer to our time of a man of faith is a man by 543 00:34:24,720 --> 00:34:26,800 the name of George Mueller. 544 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,240 Has anybody ever heard of George Mueller? 545 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:31,240 Okay nobody. 546 00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:32,240 Okay. 547 00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:33,240 Well, good news. 548 00:34:33,240 --> 00:34:35,360 We're going to talk about George Mueller tonight. 549 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:41,740 George Mueller is somebody that you probably should study because he was a great man of 550 00:34:41,740 --> 00:34:42,740 faith. 551 00:34:42,740 --> 00:34:47,360 Now, when George Mueller was a teenager, he was a pretty bad guy. 552 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:49,480 He wasn't good at all. 553 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,040 He was alive back in the 1800s. 554 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:58,560 His father was going to send him to a Bible school to learn the Bible so that he could 555 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:04,480 be a preacher, not because George had any desire to be a preacher or because his father 556 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:06,340 was some great Christian man. 557 00:35:06,340 --> 00:35:08,600 It was just a good way to make a living back then. 558 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,960 You could make a lot of money if you were a clergy. 559 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,000 And so George was going to go to this Bible school and he was going to learn to be a preacher 560 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,200 and he was going to make money and that was going to be it. 561 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:25,560 However, when he went to this school, he went to a Bible study one night and he went totally 562 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:29,640 wanting to just go mock the other Christians that were there and make fun of them. 563 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:35,320 But what happened was he heard the word of God and when he did, he put his faith in Jesus 564 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,600 Christ and that changed his life. 565 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:42,000 Ultimately, he went to be a missionary for a period in his life. 566 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,720 I believe he went to be a missionary to the Jews for a short period. 567 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:50,960 And then as he come back home, ultimately, I'm summing up a lot of the story here in 568 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,680 the life of George Mueller, please look him up. 569 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:59,280 But ultimately, as he was back home, he would see children on the streets and he became 570 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:04,220 very kind of heartbroken for these kids, these orphans that were on the street. 571 00:36:04,220 --> 00:36:09,440 And so he decided, he felt like that he needed to open an orphanage. 572 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,360 And so he did just that. 573 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:18,680 But one thing George Mueller decided very early on is he was going to be a man of faith 574 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:25,000 and that he was never going to ask anyone but God for anything that he ever needed. 575 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:30,280 That God would be the only one that he would tell of any of his needs, that he would totally 576 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:35,360 and completely trust in God and God alone to provide for him. 577 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,640 Now this takes a lot of faith. 578 00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:43,960 Well he began to gather up these kids and ultimately his orphanage throughout the years, 579 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:45,560 he had 10,000 kids. 580 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:50,680 He had multiple buildings, big buildings that were full of orphanages. 581 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:56,000 And as you read through the stories of George Mueller, you see that God continues to bless 582 00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:00,440 him and that George Mueller stays true to his promise. 583 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:04,520 And he continues to only ask God for his needs. 584 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:09,280 Let me give you one example, one of the most famous stories of George Mueller. 585 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:14,120 There was an occasion where there were several hundred kids and the orphanage was completely 586 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:15,120 out of food. 587 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,960 Now this was not uncommon for them to run out of things they need or to run out of money 588 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:20,520 to pay the bills. 589 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,280 And George Mueller never said a word to anybody. 590 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:28,600 He always prayed, God give me what I need to meet the needs. 591 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:30,720 And God always did. 592 00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:34,360 One morning George got up and there were all the kids and they were getting ready for breakfast 593 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:39,360 and they were all hungry and the kitchen staff came to George Mueller and said, George we 594 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:43,080 don't have any food or anything to drink. 595 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,280 We are completely out of food. 596 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:47,840 George, what will we do? 597 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:53,440 George said, have all the kids sit down and get ready for breakfast. 598 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:55,960 And they did just that. 599 00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:03,420 And George Mueller told the kids, let us pray to God for our breakfast and thank God for 600 00:38:03,420 --> 00:38:05,640 what he's going to provide us with. 601 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,420 Now I should have refreshed myself on the story. 602 00:38:09,420 --> 00:38:11,200 Look it up, it's a great story. 603 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:16,640 So he and the kids pray for the food that God's going to bless them with and no sooner 604 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,280 than he gets through praying, there's a knock on the door. 605 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,320 Now he's got hundreds of kids here, not a drop of food. 606 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,720 Nobody knows it, nobody has prayed about it, but George and he's totally been seeking 607 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:32,320 God, he and the kids here waiting for this food. 608 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:34,320 There's a knock on the door. 609 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,320 It's the bread man, it's the baker from down the street. 610 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:41,880 He says, George, in the middle of the night last night, God put it on my heart to bake 611 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:43,760 bread for these children. 612 00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,520 He said, so I got up in the middle of the night and I've been baking bread all night 613 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,120 and I've brought it here for the children. 614 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:54,400 No sooner than the bread man brings the bread, there's a knock on the door. 615 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,000 It's the milkman. 616 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:01,520 The milkman says, George, my cart of milk has broken here in the street in front of 617 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:06,080 your orphanage and I have no way to get the milk back before it spoils. 618 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,200 I need to get rid of it or it's going to spoil. 619 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:13,000 Could you and the children use this milk? 620 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:19,800 That's one example, one of many in which God provided for George Mueller and the kids of 621 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:21,120 that orphanage. 622 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:23,000 It came at just the right time. 623 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:27,520 That's what we have to remember is that when we pray to God and when we seek him is God 624 00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:30,020 doesn't always do it as quick as we want. 625 00:39:30,020 --> 00:39:33,200 Now we'd probably panic, we'd say, okay, I'm going to pray that God would send milk 626 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:37,720 and bread and we'd pray for a couple of hours and if it didn't come, we'd say, well, I guess 627 00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:38,720 God's not going to provide. 628 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:40,520 Then we'd run out and try to do it on our own. 629 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,120 We'd run and get some milk and get some bread or do whatever we could or beg our neighbors 630 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:47,280 or ask our friends, but not George Mueller. 631 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:53,360 He was a man who trusted and said, God is going to provide and God always provided. 632 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,760 God always gave just the right amount of money that would randomly come in. 633 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:58,400 He never asked anybody. 634 00:39:58,400 --> 00:39:59,840 He never said, oh, I need this money. 635 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:00,840 I got this bill. 636 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:01,840 I can't pay this bill. 637 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:02,840 I don't have this food. 638 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,560 He only prayed, God, would you meet my need? 639 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,920 And God always did. 640 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:14,600 Sometimes it was at the last second from the most unexpected places, but God always met 641 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:19,040 the need of George Mueller and those orphans. 642 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:23,360 And that's a more modern example of someone closer to our time who has been one who has 643 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,480 lived by faith. 644 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:28,720 Can we say that about ourselves? 645 00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,160 Do we trust in God that much? 646 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:38,160 We say we have faith, but maybe our faith's not quite as strong as we want it to be. 647 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:41,360 Maybe we look at people like George Mueller and say, man, I wish I could have that faith, 648 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:42,360 but I just can't. 649 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:46,520 Well, maybe that's part of our problem. 650 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,200 Maybe we are men and women that are sometimes weak in the faith. 651 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,120 Maybe we say, man, I wish I could see God work like that in my life. 652 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:58,320 Well, maybe we could see God work a lot more in our lives if we were men and women of faith, 653 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:03,360 if we had faith like this and trusted that God was going to do things on his time in 654 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:08,960 his way, then maybe we'd be a lot better off. 655 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,760 But we like to get in there and kind of do it ourselves. 656 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:15,880 Part of that is because our faith is weak. 657 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,800 The author of Hebrews reminds us, A, what faith is. 658 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:25,320 And as we saw tonight, he taught us how to give by faith, how to walk by faith, and how 659 00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:27,180 to live by faith. 660 00:41:27,180 --> 00:41:29,360 We see that in examples in scripture. 661 00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:33,000 We see that in examples in the recent past. 662 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:38,600 We see that in examples of brothers and sisters in Christ around us today. 663 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:43,360 But let us seek to be like these men and women of faith that we study about. 664 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:48,800 Let us seek to trust God above all else, to earn God's approval, not because of anything 665 00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:54,360 that we've done, but to know that we are approved by Jesus Christ. 666 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,200 We are approved by our faith. 667 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,580 We are approved by his righteousness. 668 00:41:58,580 --> 00:42:04,200 We are approved when we humble ourself before God and say, God, I put my faith in Jesus 669 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:05,800 Christ. 670 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:11,920 And then when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we need to be those who live by faith in Jesus 671 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:12,920 Christ. 672 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:13,920 Let's pray. 673 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:15,600 God, we thank you for your good word. 674 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:20,600 I pray that you would help us to be those who live by faith in our life, dear Lord. 675 00:42:20,600 --> 00:42:25,540 We have good examples of faith in our life, maybe some that live around us today. 676 00:42:25,540 --> 00:42:27,120 Maybe it's these we see in scripture. 677 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:31,160 Maybe it's other historical figures, but dear Lord, there are certainly many men and women 678 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:35,440 of faith that we can learn from, dear Lord. 679 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:40,160 I pray that you would help us never to doubt you, that we don't always see how you're working, 680 00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:43,600 when you're working, but we have to trust that you are. 681 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:48,880 We have to trust, dear Lord, that you are in control and that everything you do is right 682 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,220 and the time you do it is the right time. 683 00:42:51,220 --> 00:42:55,280 So help us, dear Lord, to be those who give you the best of the best from what you've 684 00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:59,920 given us, that we would give by faith like Abel did, that we would be those who are like 685 00:42:59,920 --> 00:43:05,480 Enoch, that it could be said of us that we are men and women who walk by faith, and we 686 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:09,080 look forward to the day that you carry us home to be with you like Enoch. 687 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:13,200 God, let us be those who live by faith, that what you call us to do while we're still on 688 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:17,960 this earth, that we don't question you, but that we trust you and are obedient to your 689 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,880 commands no matter what opposition we face, no matter how crazy it may seem, dear Lord, 690 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:27,200 we call us to do things that we don't understand, but God, I pray that you would help us to 691 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:31,240 be men and women of faith that trust you in everything. 692 00:43:31,240 --> 00:43:53,600 I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.