1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,360 All right, welcome everybody to Fall About Faith, 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:05,660 week two. 3 00:00:05,660 --> 00:00:08,700 Last week, we kind of introduced ourself 4 00:00:08,700 --> 00:00:13,180 into the topic of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. 5 00:00:13,180 --> 00:00:16,340 We talked a little bit about what faith is, 6 00:00:16,340 --> 00:00:20,300 and we looked at a few of the Old Testament figures 7 00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:23,180 that the author of Hebrews focuses on. 8 00:00:23,180 --> 00:00:24,380 We looked at Abel, 9 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:27,820 we talked about what it means to give by faith. 10 00:00:27,820 --> 00:00:29,300 We also looked at Enoch, 11 00:00:29,300 --> 00:00:33,460 we talked about what it means to walk by faith. 12 00:00:33,460 --> 00:00:34,860 We looked at Noah, 13 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:37,620 we saw what it means to live by faith, 14 00:00:37,620 --> 00:00:40,200 to trust in God and do what God says, 15 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,420 even if it may not make any sense, 16 00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:44,860 even if everybody else is around us, 17 00:00:44,860 --> 00:00:47,380 we wanna be those who have a strong enough faith 18 00:00:47,380 --> 00:00:49,740 to do what God calls us to do. 19 00:00:49,740 --> 00:00:52,420 So those were our Old Testament figures 20 00:00:52,420 --> 00:00:55,500 that we looked at last week from Hebrews 11. 21 00:00:55,500 --> 00:00:56,660 But also every week, 22 00:00:56,660 --> 00:00:59,420 we're gonna look at a more modern example 23 00:00:59,420 --> 00:01:02,020 of someone who lives by faith, 24 00:01:02,020 --> 00:01:03,420 who walks by faith. 25 00:01:03,420 --> 00:01:07,740 And so last week, we talked about George Mueller, 26 00:01:07,740 --> 00:01:10,280 and we talked about him being a man 27 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,900 who really gave everything to serve the Lord, 28 00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:17,740 and particularly in the area of serving orphans. 29 00:01:17,740 --> 00:01:19,860 He started some orphanages 30 00:01:19,860 --> 00:01:24,020 and served thousands of kids in his lifetime, 31 00:01:24,020 --> 00:01:26,660 but he always trusted God with his needs 32 00:01:26,660 --> 00:01:30,860 and never made his needs known to anyone other than God. 33 00:01:30,860 --> 00:01:33,900 So that's a good example of someone, 34 00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:36,700 a little more modern, that walked by faith. 35 00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:40,940 And so tonight we're continuing on in Hebrews 11. 36 00:01:40,940 --> 00:01:43,340 We'll start in verse eight, 37 00:01:43,340 --> 00:01:47,420 but before we do, we'll pray, and then we'll jump in. 38 00:01:47,420 --> 00:01:50,360 God, we come to you, we thank you for this series. 39 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,020 I pray that it would help strengthen our faith, dear Lord, 40 00:01:53,020 --> 00:01:55,740 that we would be men and women who walk by faith 41 00:01:55,740 --> 00:01:59,060 and who live by faith, that we would trust you, dear Lord, 42 00:01:59,060 --> 00:02:01,300 that even when times get tough, 43 00:02:01,300 --> 00:02:02,340 that we wouldn't doubt you, 44 00:02:02,340 --> 00:02:04,740 that we wouldn't just cave in, dear Lord, 45 00:02:04,740 --> 00:02:07,100 but that we would be men and women of faith. 46 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:11,100 And to be men and women of faith means that we do hold firm, 47 00:02:11,100 --> 00:02:13,660 that we don't give up on you, that we don't doubt you, 48 00:02:13,660 --> 00:02:15,980 but that we trust you even in the most difficult times. 49 00:02:15,980 --> 00:02:18,420 So I hope that our faith will be strengthened 50 00:02:18,420 --> 00:02:20,260 through looking at these biblical figures 51 00:02:20,260 --> 00:02:22,580 and others that we talk about 52 00:02:22,580 --> 00:02:26,100 that have been such great examples of what faith is, 53 00:02:26,100 --> 00:02:28,500 that they would be great examples to motivate us 54 00:02:28,500 --> 00:02:30,700 to be men and women who live by faith. 55 00:02:30,700 --> 00:02:32,600 I pray that you'd hide me behind the cross 56 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,380 as I preach and teach that it would be for your glory. 57 00:02:35,380 --> 00:02:39,660 And I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. 58 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:44,580 All right, Hebrews chapter 11, verses eight through 10. 59 00:02:44,580 --> 00:02:46,180 This first section here, 60 00:02:46,180 --> 00:02:49,500 we're going to talk about going by faith. 61 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:51,300 We're talking about Abraham. 62 00:02:51,300 --> 00:02:55,940 Abraham is a pretty important figure in the Old Testament. 63 00:02:55,940 --> 00:02:59,860 Abraham started in the Ur of the Chaldeans, 64 00:02:59,860 --> 00:03:04,140 which would be Mesopotamia back in those days in that area. 65 00:03:04,140 --> 00:03:06,140 That's kind of where Moses's, excuse me, 66 00:03:06,140 --> 00:03:08,500 Abraham's story starts. 67 00:03:08,500 --> 00:03:13,500 And the Bible says that Abraham and his family go to Haran. 68 00:03:16,140 --> 00:03:20,260 And there God reveals to Abraham this promise 69 00:03:20,260 --> 00:03:21,660 that he's gonna bless him, 70 00:03:21,660 --> 00:03:23,980 that he's gonna take him to a land 71 00:03:23,980 --> 00:03:26,500 that's gonna be his descendants 72 00:03:26,500 --> 00:03:29,620 and that all nations are gonna be blessed through him. 73 00:03:29,620 --> 00:03:34,260 And so Abraham goes from Ur of the Chaldeans up to Haran 74 00:03:34,260 --> 00:03:37,260 and then down into what at that time was Canaan 75 00:03:37,260 --> 00:03:39,220 and made his way into Egypt. 76 00:03:39,220 --> 00:03:44,220 But in this journey, it's when God reveals to Abraham 77 00:03:44,220 --> 00:03:45,860 what's going to take place. 78 00:03:45,860 --> 00:03:47,340 And it says in the scripture 79 00:03:47,340 --> 00:03:50,340 that Abraham believed what God said 80 00:03:50,340 --> 00:03:55,340 and it was credited to him for righteousness. 81 00:03:55,500 --> 00:04:00,500 So here we see in Hebrews 11 verse eight, it says this, 82 00:04:00,700 --> 00:04:03,060 by faith Abraham, when he was called, 83 00:04:03,060 --> 00:04:05,060 obeyed and went to a place 84 00:04:05,060 --> 00:04:07,900 he was going to receive as an inheritance. 85 00:04:07,900 --> 00:04:11,140 He went out not knowing where he was going. 86 00:04:11,140 --> 00:04:14,180 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, 87 00:04:14,180 --> 00:04:17,620 living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs 88 00:04:17,620 --> 00:04:19,180 of the same promise. 89 00:04:19,180 --> 00:04:21,580 For he was looking forward to the city 90 00:04:21,580 --> 00:04:26,580 that has foundations whose architect and builder is God. 91 00:04:27,420 --> 00:04:30,100 Now, we don't see too much information 92 00:04:30,100 --> 00:04:34,500 about those events here other than Abraham had faith. 93 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:35,420 What does it say? 94 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:38,420 When he was called, he obeyed 95 00:04:38,420 --> 00:04:40,940 and went to a place he was going to receive 96 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:42,180 as an inheritance. 97 00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:43,500 But then listen to what it says. 98 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:46,220 He went out not knowing where he was going. 99 00:04:46,220 --> 00:04:48,020 Now, I don't know about you guys 100 00:04:48,020 --> 00:04:50,060 but I like to know where I'm going. 101 00:04:50,060 --> 00:04:52,220 I want to know where I'm going, 102 00:04:52,220 --> 00:04:54,140 what's gonna happen when I get there, 103 00:04:54,140 --> 00:04:55,620 what are the arrangements gonna be, 104 00:04:55,620 --> 00:04:57,220 where am I gonna be staying? 105 00:04:57,220 --> 00:04:58,460 Well, I wanna know everything. 106 00:04:58,460 --> 00:04:59,700 How safe is the place? 107 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:02,020 How close is the closest hospital? 108 00:05:02,020 --> 00:05:03,620 How long will I be there? 109 00:05:03,620 --> 00:05:06,900 I wanna know all kind of information about a place 110 00:05:06,900 --> 00:05:09,420 before I go to a place. 111 00:05:09,420 --> 00:05:12,740 But oftentimes when God wants to use us 112 00:05:12,740 --> 00:05:15,780 and God calls us to serve, 113 00:05:15,780 --> 00:05:19,060 God doesn't give us all the information. 114 00:05:19,060 --> 00:05:21,260 He didn't give Abraham all the information. 115 00:05:21,260 --> 00:05:23,700 He told Abraham to go. 116 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:25,740 Go to a land that I'm gonna show you, 117 00:05:25,740 --> 00:05:28,620 you just go to this land, you just trust me. 118 00:05:28,620 --> 00:05:31,100 Now that takes a lot of faith 119 00:05:31,100 --> 00:05:34,980 for God to tell us to go somewhere and for us to go. 120 00:05:34,980 --> 00:05:38,260 Now, oftentimes God may call us to go somewhere. 121 00:05:38,260 --> 00:05:40,700 He may call us to go minister to somebody 122 00:05:40,700 --> 00:05:42,420 that's two doors down from us. 123 00:05:42,420 --> 00:05:43,980 And we don't even wanna do that. 124 00:05:43,980 --> 00:05:45,900 That's too scary for us. 125 00:05:45,900 --> 00:05:48,300 And so we sometimes may like to think 126 00:05:48,300 --> 00:05:51,900 that our faith is strong and maybe in some areas it is. 127 00:05:51,900 --> 00:05:53,420 But maybe in other areas, 128 00:05:53,420 --> 00:05:56,780 our faith is not nearly as strong as it should be. 129 00:05:56,780 --> 00:05:59,620 Especially when you look at these examples 130 00:05:59,620 --> 00:06:01,200 that we see in scripture, 131 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,900 that these people really did have to trust God. 132 00:06:04,900 --> 00:06:07,940 Here Abraham was told, go. 133 00:06:07,940 --> 00:06:09,660 And what did Abraham do? 134 00:06:09,660 --> 00:06:12,300 In faith, he went. 135 00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:15,100 And sometimes we need to remember that in our life. 136 00:06:15,100 --> 00:06:17,500 That there may be times that we just really feel 137 00:06:17,500 --> 00:06:19,500 like God telling us to go. 138 00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:21,460 And we may think of a lot of excuses. 139 00:06:21,460 --> 00:06:24,180 Well, God, it's gonna take a long time to get there. 140 00:06:24,180 --> 00:06:26,100 It's gonna be expensive to get there. 141 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:28,940 I don't know what kind of situation I'm getting into. 142 00:06:28,940 --> 00:06:30,980 I don't know the language of where I'm going 143 00:06:30,980 --> 00:06:33,480 or I'm gonna face difficulties when I get there. 144 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,260 We come up with a lot of reasons, 145 00:06:35,260 --> 00:06:36,940 but there may have been times 146 00:06:36,940 --> 00:06:39,140 and maybe even right now in your life 147 00:06:39,140 --> 00:06:42,220 that you really feel God calling you to something. 148 00:06:42,220 --> 00:06:44,940 That you don't know what God wants you to do. 149 00:06:44,940 --> 00:06:47,060 You don't know how he's gonna use you. 150 00:06:47,060 --> 00:06:49,900 You don't feel qualified for whatever it is, 151 00:06:49,900 --> 00:06:52,500 but there's something in your spirit 152 00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:55,360 that God is speaking to you in your soul 153 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,980 that you feel like God is saying, go. 154 00:06:58,980 --> 00:07:01,520 And so instead of making excuses 155 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,860 as to why we can't go or shouldn't go 156 00:07:03,860 --> 00:07:07,020 or God, you're gonna have to give me more information. 157 00:07:07,020 --> 00:07:09,140 We need to be more like Abraham 158 00:07:09,140 --> 00:07:13,260 and we need to be one who goes by faith. 159 00:07:13,260 --> 00:07:15,860 Now God had great plans for Abraham 160 00:07:15,860 --> 00:07:18,980 and God was going to bless Abraham and his descendants 161 00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:22,260 and all of us and all of the nations of the world 162 00:07:22,260 --> 00:07:27,260 through him if Abraham was going to go when God said go. 163 00:07:28,860 --> 00:07:30,540 What about you and I? 164 00:07:30,540 --> 00:07:33,220 Are there ways that God may want to bless us 165 00:07:33,220 --> 00:07:34,900 and bless those around us 166 00:07:34,900 --> 00:07:37,220 and bless those who will come after us 167 00:07:37,220 --> 00:07:41,280 if we would just do what God calls us to do? 168 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:42,960 Now it may be scary. 169 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,540 It may take us to places we don't necessarily want to be. 170 00:07:46,540 --> 00:07:49,660 It may put us in situations that are very scary. 171 00:07:49,660 --> 00:07:51,260 It may put us in situations 172 00:07:51,260 --> 00:07:53,500 where we experience a little discomfort, 173 00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:56,420 where we don't get to experience all the luxuries 174 00:07:56,420 --> 00:07:59,420 that we have here in these United States. 175 00:07:59,420 --> 00:08:02,180 But nonetheless, there may be times in our life 176 00:08:02,180 --> 00:08:06,060 that we really feel that God is telling us to go. 177 00:08:06,060 --> 00:08:07,220 And if that's the case, 178 00:08:07,220 --> 00:08:09,520 then we need to be men and women of faith 179 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:14,520 and we need to be willing and able and ready to go. 180 00:08:14,860 --> 00:08:18,000 Even if we don't understand why God's calling us there, 181 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,200 even if we don't feel like we're the man or woman 182 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:21,580 for the job. 183 00:08:21,580 --> 00:08:23,900 If God's picked you for the job, 184 00:08:23,900 --> 00:08:26,180 then you're the man or the woman for the job. 185 00:08:26,180 --> 00:08:28,360 And who are we to argue with God? 186 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:33,360 So we want to be those who like Abraham go by faith. 187 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,820 All right, the next scripture we're gonna look at 188 00:08:36,820 --> 00:08:38,980 as we go on down Hebrews chapter 11, 189 00:08:38,980 --> 00:08:43,980 verses 11 through 12, we're gonna talk about waiting 190 00:08:44,980 --> 00:08:45,960 by faith. 191 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,980 Now we're gonna talk about Sarah here a little bit. 192 00:08:48,980 --> 00:08:53,820 And Abraham too, this idea of waiting by faith 193 00:08:53,820 --> 00:08:56,340 involved both Sarah and Abraham. 194 00:08:56,340 --> 00:08:59,580 And we see in Hebrews 11, verse 11, 195 00:08:59,580 --> 00:09:03,580 by faith even Sarah herself when she was unable 196 00:09:03,580 --> 00:09:08,380 to have children receive power to conceive offspring, 197 00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:11,160 even though she was past the age, 198 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,280 since she considered that the one who had promised 199 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:15,780 was faithful. 200 00:09:15,780 --> 00:09:20,740 Therefore from one man, in fact, from one as good as dead, 201 00:09:20,740 --> 00:09:25,140 came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven 202 00:09:25,140 --> 00:09:30,140 and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore. 203 00:09:31,740 --> 00:09:35,780 Now here we see Sarah looked at and kind of a good life. 204 00:09:35,780 --> 00:09:37,000 And what does it say? 205 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,900 That she had faith that the one who had promised 206 00:09:40,900 --> 00:09:43,100 to give her and Abraham offspring, 207 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:47,300 that God was able to do what he had promised. 208 00:09:47,300 --> 00:09:49,620 Now, when we go back and read the story 209 00:09:49,620 --> 00:09:51,820 about Sarah and Abraham, 210 00:09:51,820 --> 00:09:55,420 there does appear to be some doubt in Sarah's life. 211 00:09:55,420 --> 00:09:59,060 After all, when she hears this message, she laughs. 212 00:09:59,060 --> 00:10:01,140 And then when God calls her out on it, 213 00:10:01,140 --> 00:10:03,840 she says, oh, I didn't laugh, but she did laugh. 214 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,020 So obviously there was some doubt there, 215 00:10:07,020 --> 00:10:08,860 but what we see here in Hebrews 216 00:10:08,860 --> 00:10:10,660 is that there was some faith there. 217 00:10:10,660 --> 00:10:13,420 And obviously her faith was pretty strong. 218 00:10:13,420 --> 00:10:16,540 Even though there may have been some momentary doubt, 219 00:10:16,540 --> 00:10:20,100 there was faith in her heart that she believed 220 00:10:20,100 --> 00:10:22,660 that God could do what he said he could do. 221 00:10:22,660 --> 00:10:27,660 Now, Sarah and Abraham were very old when all this took place. 222 00:10:28,500 --> 00:10:29,860 They were getting on up there. 223 00:10:29,860 --> 00:10:32,420 They were 90, 100 years old. 224 00:10:32,420 --> 00:10:35,500 They were very old. 225 00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:37,780 You don't have children when you're that old. 226 00:10:37,780 --> 00:10:40,020 Obviously not even in those days. 227 00:10:40,020 --> 00:10:42,100 Now, we go back and look at the scriptures. 228 00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:44,260 We see that people were living a lot longer 229 00:10:44,260 --> 00:10:45,700 back in those days. 230 00:10:45,700 --> 00:10:48,460 But nonetheless, by the time we get to Abraham, 231 00:10:48,460 --> 00:10:50,620 those lifespans have shortened. 232 00:10:50,620 --> 00:10:55,060 And even by the time we get to Abraham and Sarah's age, 233 00:10:55,060 --> 00:10:57,140 that's an old age to have a child 234 00:10:57,140 --> 00:10:59,940 when you start getting on up close to 100. 235 00:10:59,940 --> 00:11:02,660 When Abraham first received this promise, 236 00:11:02,660 --> 00:11:04,700 he was 75 years old. 237 00:11:04,700 --> 00:11:08,460 And so 25 years went by before Abraham 238 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:12,140 actually received the child of the promise. 239 00:11:12,140 --> 00:11:16,460 And so can you imagine God making such a wonderful promise 240 00:11:16,460 --> 00:11:21,460 and then having to wait and wait and wait? 241 00:11:21,460 --> 00:11:23,900 And maybe sometimes we question God. 242 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:26,460 Maybe there are times that, like Abraham, 243 00:11:26,460 --> 00:11:30,500 God tells us to go and we joyfully go. 244 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:32,740 And we think, okay, God's gonna do this great thing. 245 00:11:32,740 --> 00:11:34,900 He's gonna work in this great way. 246 00:11:34,900 --> 00:11:37,260 And then all of a sudden we wait. 247 00:11:37,260 --> 00:11:39,860 And it doesn't really seem like anything's happening. 248 00:11:39,860 --> 00:11:42,100 It may even seem like things are getting worse 249 00:11:42,100 --> 00:11:43,740 than they are better. 250 00:11:43,740 --> 00:11:45,820 And so maybe we begin to question God and say, 251 00:11:45,820 --> 00:11:47,220 well, maybe I need to, 252 00:11:47,220 --> 00:11:49,100 maybe there's something I'm supposed to be doing. 253 00:11:49,100 --> 00:11:51,660 Maybe I need to help God out a little bit. 254 00:11:51,660 --> 00:11:55,220 Well, that's exactly what Sarah and Abraham did. 255 00:11:55,220 --> 00:11:58,700 You may recall the story where Sarah decided, 256 00:11:58,700 --> 00:12:00,780 I'm getting old, I need to have a child. 257 00:12:00,780 --> 00:12:02,300 Oh, here's what I'll do. 258 00:12:02,300 --> 00:12:07,260 I'll tell Abraham to sleep with my servant girl. 259 00:12:07,260 --> 00:12:11,100 And then she'll have a child and then that'll be my child. 260 00:12:11,100 --> 00:12:13,100 But that was not God's plan. 261 00:12:13,100 --> 00:12:16,100 God's plan was that Sarah and Abraham 262 00:12:16,100 --> 00:12:19,460 were going to have their own child. 263 00:12:19,460 --> 00:12:21,220 And indeed they did. 264 00:12:21,220 --> 00:12:24,900 But waiting was the hard part. 265 00:12:24,900 --> 00:12:27,420 And sometimes like Sarah and Abraham, 266 00:12:27,420 --> 00:12:30,900 we don't do so good at waiting, especially now. 267 00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:33,380 You look at our world now. 268 00:12:33,380 --> 00:12:36,260 We have smartphones, everything is so quick. 269 00:12:36,260 --> 00:12:38,860 We got the drive-through window 270 00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:41,140 at the fast food restaurants. 271 00:12:41,140 --> 00:12:43,020 You go to the speaker, you tell them what you want, 272 00:12:43,020 --> 00:12:45,340 you pull around and in 45 seconds, 273 00:12:45,340 --> 00:12:47,420 you've ordered food, you've picked up food, 274 00:12:47,420 --> 00:12:49,660 you're driving down the road, eating your food. 275 00:12:49,660 --> 00:12:52,260 You need to contact somebody, you pick up the phone, 276 00:12:52,260 --> 00:12:54,020 you contact them in a matter of seconds. 277 00:12:54,020 --> 00:12:55,940 Something happens around the world, 278 00:12:55,940 --> 00:12:57,700 you know about it in a matter of minutes. 279 00:12:57,700 --> 00:13:01,940 It does not take long for us to get the things that we want. 280 00:13:01,940 --> 00:13:04,260 Nowadays, there's Amazon distribution centers 281 00:13:04,260 --> 00:13:05,100 all over the world. 282 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:07,740 You order something that used to take two weeks to get here. 283 00:13:07,740 --> 00:13:10,220 Now it gets here in a day or two. 284 00:13:10,220 --> 00:13:13,380 And so we are really spoiled with modern technology 285 00:13:13,380 --> 00:13:15,900 that we get everything really quickly. 286 00:13:15,900 --> 00:13:18,460 And as a result of that, as a society, 287 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:19,940 we don't like to wait. 288 00:13:19,940 --> 00:13:21,620 We're not very patient. 289 00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:23,260 We want everything right now. 290 00:13:23,260 --> 00:13:24,980 We want our phone to load right now. 291 00:13:24,980 --> 00:13:26,980 We wanna get our stuff that we want right now. 292 00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:30,540 We don't like to wait on anything. 293 00:13:30,540 --> 00:13:32,620 But oftentimes what we see in scripture 294 00:13:32,620 --> 00:13:35,180 is that God does not act quickly, 295 00:13:35,180 --> 00:13:38,820 at least by human measurements. 296 00:13:38,820 --> 00:13:43,820 Oftentimes God's plans take a long time to unfold, 297 00:13:43,940 --> 00:13:48,940 years and years, maybe even decades to unfold. 298 00:13:48,940 --> 00:13:51,060 So what we have to remember 299 00:13:51,060 --> 00:13:53,660 is that if we're going to trust God, 300 00:13:53,660 --> 00:13:57,220 that we are going to have to wait by faith. 301 00:13:57,220 --> 00:13:58,580 We are going to have to know 302 00:13:58,580 --> 00:14:02,260 that God is always working things together 303 00:14:02,260 --> 00:14:04,460 for the good of those who love him, 304 00:14:04,460 --> 00:14:06,500 that God has a plan for his kingdom, 305 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:08,980 that God has a plan for souls to be saved, 306 00:14:08,980 --> 00:14:11,260 that God has a plan for you and I, 307 00:14:11,260 --> 00:14:14,260 how he wants to use us to build his kingdom 308 00:14:14,260 --> 00:14:15,620 and to serve him. 309 00:14:15,620 --> 00:14:17,500 And sometimes God's gonna call us 310 00:14:17,500 --> 00:14:19,580 and gonna wanna use us in some ways. 311 00:14:19,580 --> 00:14:23,540 And sometimes we're just going to have to wait on the Lord. 312 00:14:23,540 --> 00:14:26,700 We're going to have to trust the Lord in faith. 313 00:14:26,700 --> 00:14:27,700 And we're gonna have to say, 314 00:14:27,700 --> 00:14:30,020 look, I'm trusting in God. 315 00:14:30,020 --> 00:14:31,200 I have faith in God. 316 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,380 Therefore, I'm not going to rush into anything. 317 00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:36,300 If I feel that God wants to use me, 318 00:14:36,300 --> 00:14:38,140 if I feel that God is calling me, 319 00:14:38,140 --> 00:14:40,060 if I feel like there's something in my life 320 00:14:40,060 --> 00:14:41,380 that I'm praying for, 321 00:14:41,380 --> 00:14:45,900 that is something that maybe is God's will, 322 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:48,180 well, I'm just gonna wait and I'm just gonna trust him. 323 00:14:48,180 --> 00:14:52,020 And if it is his will, then it will occur. 324 00:14:52,020 --> 00:14:54,380 And we wait by faith. 325 00:14:54,380 --> 00:14:57,860 And at times we will probably fail. 326 00:14:57,860 --> 00:15:00,300 Maybe more times than we'd like to admit. 327 00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:02,580 We'll be like Abraham or we'll be like Sarah 328 00:15:02,580 --> 00:15:04,340 and we want it now. 329 00:15:04,340 --> 00:15:05,300 We want it our way. 330 00:15:05,300 --> 00:15:08,180 We want it the way we think and we want it now. 331 00:15:08,180 --> 00:15:12,300 But God says, no, I'm gonna do it my way, the way I want. 332 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:16,620 And it very well may be years and years down the road. 333 00:15:16,620 --> 00:15:20,680 So we can learn from Sarah and from Abraham here 334 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,900 that we need to be those who wait by faith. 335 00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:26,900 Now, in the next section of Hebrews, 336 00:15:26,900 --> 00:15:30,300 Hebrews chapter 11, verses 13 through 16, 337 00:15:30,300 --> 00:15:32,340 kind of taking a little bit of a break here 338 00:15:32,340 --> 00:15:35,200 from kind of the way we've been looking at it, 339 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:36,640 we see another section here 340 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,420 that speaks of some better promises. 341 00:15:39,420 --> 00:15:42,520 So he gives us a list so far of a few people 342 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:43,980 from the Old Testament. 343 00:15:43,980 --> 00:15:46,040 And then he takes a second to talk about that, 344 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,100 look, these people were waiting for something better 345 00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:50,020 than what they saw. 346 00:15:50,020 --> 00:15:52,020 They were looking past their time. 347 00:15:52,020 --> 00:15:53,100 They were looking to something 348 00:15:53,100 --> 00:15:54,900 that was going to come in the future. 349 00:15:54,900 --> 00:15:56,920 And what they were looking to, 350 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,540 whether they really realized it or understood it 351 00:15:59,540 --> 00:16:00,780 in the way that we do, 352 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:03,020 is they were looking to Jesus Christ. 353 00:16:03,020 --> 00:16:05,300 Now, how much God had revealed to them 354 00:16:05,300 --> 00:16:08,420 or what they knew at that time, I don't know, 355 00:16:08,420 --> 00:16:10,220 but they knew something 356 00:16:10,220 --> 00:16:12,780 because they were looking forward to something 357 00:16:12,780 --> 00:16:16,300 even bigger than the things that God had promised them. 358 00:16:16,300 --> 00:16:19,820 And in Hebrews 11, verse 13, it says, 359 00:16:19,820 --> 00:16:21,940 "'These all died in faith 360 00:16:21,940 --> 00:16:24,460 "'without having received the promises. 361 00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:27,660 "'But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, 362 00:16:27,660 --> 00:16:29,760 "'and confessed that they were foreigners 363 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,060 "'and temporary residents on the earth. 364 00:16:33,060 --> 00:16:35,640 "'Now those who say such things make it clear 365 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,100 "'that they are seeking a homeland. 366 00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:41,340 "'If they were thinking about where they came from, 367 00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:44,880 "'they would have had an opportunity to return. 368 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:49,580 "'But they now desire a better place, a heavenly one. 369 00:16:49,580 --> 00:16:54,220 "'Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, 370 00:16:54,220 --> 00:16:57,940 "'for he has prepared a city for them.'" 371 00:16:57,940 --> 00:17:00,460 Okay, so these all died by faith, 372 00:17:00,460 --> 00:17:01,960 looking for the promises, 373 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,360 but never really receiving the promises. 374 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:06,340 Take Abraham, for example. 375 00:17:06,340 --> 00:17:08,460 God said, look, I'm gonna bless you. 376 00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:11,940 Your descendants are gonna be established in this land, 377 00:17:11,940 --> 00:17:13,860 and I'm gonna bless all nations through you. 378 00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:17,240 Well, Abraham never saw that come to fruition 379 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:21,780 in his lifetime, not in the way that it ultimately would be 380 00:17:21,780 --> 00:17:26,120 when God's people would come back into the promised land 381 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:27,620 after getting out of Egypt. 382 00:17:27,620 --> 00:17:30,180 And then ultimately in Jesus Christ, 383 00:17:30,180 --> 00:17:32,460 when Jesus Christ would come, 384 00:17:32,460 --> 00:17:34,820 but nonetheless, they still had faith 385 00:17:34,820 --> 00:17:37,900 that God was going to keep his promises. 386 00:17:37,900 --> 00:17:41,940 And so they were looking forward to better things, 387 00:17:41,940 --> 00:17:45,980 not just the earthly land that was going to be given to them, 388 00:17:45,980 --> 00:17:50,620 but it says that they were temporary residents on the earth. 389 00:17:50,620 --> 00:17:54,620 Even these of faith realized that there was something else 390 00:17:54,620 --> 00:17:56,100 that was far better. 391 00:17:56,100 --> 00:17:58,780 Even if God was going to give them a promised land, 392 00:17:58,780 --> 00:18:00,680 even if God was going to bless them, 393 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,860 they understood and recognized that the promises of God 394 00:18:04,860 --> 00:18:07,860 were better than just the earthly things. 395 00:18:07,860 --> 00:18:11,060 Now, the earthly blessings were fantastic for God's people, 396 00:18:11,060 --> 00:18:14,620 and God still blesses us in many ways today, 397 00:18:14,620 --> 00:18:15,820 praise the Lord. 398 00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:17,580 But there are better promises 399 00:18:17,580 --> 00:18:20,020 that come through Jesus Christ. 400 00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:23,700 And even Abraham, even these Old Testament figures, 401 00:18:23,700 --> 00:18:27,380 it said that they looked forward to something better 402 00:18:27,380 --> 00:18:29,020 that was to come. 403 00:18:29,020 --> 00:18:31,220 What does it say at the end of verse 16? 404 00:18:31,220 --> 00:18:34,180 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, 405 00:18:34,180 --> 00:18:38,140 for he has prepared a city for them. 406 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:41,120 So we see this idea earlier in this passage, 407 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,940 this idea of them seeking a homeland. 408 00:18:43,940 --> 00:18:45,660 But the author of Hebrews says, 409 00:18:45,660 --> 00:18:47,660 yeah, they wanted to go home, 410 00:18:47,660 --> 00:18:51,340 but they realized that home was not somewhere in this world. 411 00:18:51,340 --> 00:18:53,740 He says, look, they could have gone back to where 412 00:18:53,740 --> 00:18:54,940 they came from. 413 00:18:54,940 --> 00:18:57,160 If Abraham wanted to go home, 414 00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,940 he could have just went back to the Ur of the Chaldeans. 415 00:18:59,940 --> 00:19:03,540 No, they're not looking to go back home in this earth. 416 00:19:03,540 --> 00:19:06,020 They're looking to go to a better homeland 417 00:19:06,020 --> 00:19:09,540 to go home and be with the Lord. 418 00:19:09,540 --> 00:19:13,100 And it says that he has prepared a city for them. 419 00:19:13,100 --> 00:19:14,600 Now, we saw that same language 420 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,580 when we talked about Abraham. 421 00:19:17,580 --> 00:19:19,800 If you want to flip back to that passage 422 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,580 that we first started with, 423 00:19:21,580 --> 00:19:25,180 it says in verse 10, Hebrews 11, verse 10, 424 00:19:25,180 --> 00:19:27,820 for he was looking forward to the city 425 00:19:27,820 --> 00:19:32,780 that has foundations whose architect is the builder, God. 426 00:19:32,780 --> 00:19:37,040 So Abraham was looking forward to a city, 427 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,300 but not necessarily an earthly city, 428 00:19:39,300 --> 00:19:41,860 a city that's established by God. 429 00:19:41,860 --> 00:19:44,820 He recognized that there was something better 430 00:19:44,820 --> 00:19:47,920 and there was something bigger that was to come. 431 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,460 Much greater and much bigger than anything in this world. 432 00:19:51,460 --> 00:19:53,220 So the author of Hebrews, 433 00:19:53,220 --> 00:19:55,580 he talks about these heroes of faith, 434 00:19:55,580 --> 00:19:57,700 and then he pauses for a second to say, 435 00:19:57,700 --> 00:20:01,140 look, these didn't fully receive and see 436 00:20:01,140 --> 00:20:04,460 and understand everything that God had promised them. 437 00:20:04,460 --> 00:20:06,340 Yes, God had made promises to them, 438 00:20:06,340 --> 00:20:09,100 and they trusted God based on what they saw, 439 00:20:09,100 --> 00:20:11,620 but even what they saw wasn't everything 440 00:20:11,620 --> 00:20:14,260 that God was ultimately gonna give them. 441 00:20:14,260 --> 00:20:16,700 But yet they died in faith. 442 00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:19,060 That is to say they didn't turn from their faith in God 443 00:20:19,060 --> 00:20:20,700 because they didn't understand it 444 00:20:20,700 --> 00:20:22,700 or because God was taking too long. 445 00:20:22,700 --> 00:20:26,700 No, they stood on whatever promises they had, 446 00:20:26,700 --> 00:20:27,900 whatever truth they had, 447 00:20:27,900 --> 00:20:30,980 they stood on those knowing that God would fulfill them 448 00:20:30,980 --> 00:20:34,300 and knowing that ultimately there would be something better 449 00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:36,620 than they could imagine that would come. 450 00:20:36,620 --> 00:20:39,620 Now in the context of Hebrews, this is important. 451 00:20:39,620 --> 00:20:41,420 He's telling his audience this to say, 452 00:20:41,420 --> 00:20:44,660 look, these died in faith. 453 00:20:44,660 --> 00:20:46,420 You need to be like them. 454 00:20:46,420 --> 00:20:49,460 You don't wanna be those who give up on your faith 455 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:54,180 and die apart from God, those who die in disbelief. 456 00:20:54,180 --> 00:20:57,660 You want to be those who hold to the faith like they did. 457 00:20:57,660 --> 00:21:01,720 Now, the author is writing to people in Hebrews 458 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,720 that are facing persecution in difficult times, 459 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,860 but he's telling them there's better promises for you. 460 00:21:07,860 --> 00:21:09,460 Those that came before you, 461 00:21:09,460 --> 00:21:11,320 they had to go through hard times. 462 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,080 They didn't always understand it, 463 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,060 but they stood firm in the faith, 464 00:21:15,060 --> 00:21:19,220 and therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God 465 00:21:19,220 --> 00:21:20,940 because they stood by him. 466 00:21:20,940 --> 00:21:23,180 And therefore, for you and I, 467 00:21:23,180 --> 00:21:26,180 we need to be those that God would not be ashamed 468 00:21:26,180 --> 00:21:31,100 to call our God, that we would be those who don't give up, 469 00:21:31,100 --> 00:21:34,580 but that we hold on to the faith all the way until the end, 470 00:21:34,580 --> 00:21:37,980 that we would be those who die in the faith. 471 00:21:37,980 --> 00:21:40,860 All right, last section we're gonna talk about tonight, 472 00:21:40,860 --> 00:21:45,860 Hebrews 11, 17 through 19, 473 00:21:46,460 --> 00:21:50,420 we're gonna talk about being tested in faith, 474 00:21:50,420 --> 00:21:51,900 tested in faith. 475 00:21:51,900 --> 00:21:55,500 Now, the only way that we can ever really know 476 00:21:55,500 --> 00:21:59,780 that our faith is indeed faith is to be tested. 477 00:21:59,780 --> 00:22:01,380 That's the bottom line. 478 00:22:01,380 --> 00:22:05,580 We can say all day that we have faith, and maybe we do. 479 00:22:05,580 --> 00:22:07,600 We can say all day, I'll stand for God 480 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:08,940 if something bad ever happens, 481 00:22:08,940 --> 00:22:12,260 if somebody calls me to stand for God or die, 482 00:22:12,260 --> 00:22:15,900 I'll have faith in God and I'll do it, and maybe we will. 483 00:22:15,900 --> 00:22:19,400 But the only way that our faith can ever be proven 484 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,540 is for it to be tested. 485 00:22:21,540 --> 00:22:24,740 Now, you could be a teacher, and you could teach your kids 486 00:22:24,740 --> 00:22:27,060 all the things that you want them to know, 487 00:22:27,060 --> 00:22:29,960 and you could assume that they know everything. 488 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,300 And you may ask them, are y'all getting this? 489 00:22:32,300 --> 00:22:34,420 And they may all say, oh yeah, we're getting it. 490 00:22:34,420 --> 00:22:35,740 But how do you know? 491 00:22:35,740 --> 00:22:37,500 Well, you test them. 492 00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:38,900 You give them a test. 493 00:22:38,900 --> 00:22:42,340 Maybe they all get 100, but probably not. 494 00:22:42,340 --> 00:22:44,120 Some of them are going to fail. 495 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:44,960 Why? 496 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,900 Because they don't really know the material. 497 00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:49,980 Maybe they thought they knew it, but they really didn't. 498 00:22:49,980 --> 00:22:53,420 The test is what reveals what is known 499 00:22:53,420 --> 00:22:57,180 and what is not known, what is true and what is not true. 500 00:22:57,180 --> 00:23:00,820 And so the only way that our faith can be discovered 501 00:23:00,820 --> 00:23:05,020 or whether or not it's a true faith or not is to be tested. 502 00:23:05,020 --> 00:23:08,340 And if we go through hard times and we give up on God 503 00:23:08,340 --> 00:23:10,340 and we stop trusting in God, 504 00:23:10,340 --> 00:23:13,780 then our faith was not really faith at all. 505 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:17,260 And so faith is tested. 506 00:23:17,260 --> 00:23:19,220 And sometimes we go through those tests. 507 00:23:19,220 --> 00:23:22,980 And sometimes, sadly, we fail those tests. 508 00:23:22,980 --> 00:23:24,500 And maybe that's why God allows us 509 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:28,360 to go through those times, so that we can grow in God. 510 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,700 When we fail, it's an opportunity for us to say, 511 00:23:30,700 --> 00:23:32,260 man, my faith was pretty weak. 512 00:23:32,260 --> 00:23:35,500 I really, God, I thought I was ready to stand for you 513 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:36,380 and I wasn't. 514 00:23:36,380 --> 00:23:39,140 God, forgive me and help me to be strengthened. 515 00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:40,940 But when we don't fail the test, 516 00:23:40,940 --> 00:23:44,060 when we go through hard times and we don't give up on God 517 00:23:44,060 --> 00:23:45,260 and we trust him all the more, 518 00:23:45,260 --> 00:23:47,780 then we come out our faith as a little stronger. 519 00:23:47,780 --> 00:23:50,160 And so every trial, it proves, okay, 520 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,620 yet we really are who we say we are. 521 00:23:52,620 --> 00:23:55,240 We really are those who trust in God. 522 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,380 And the more we trust in God, the stronger our faith gets. 523 00:23:58,380 --> 00:24:01,580 Now, in Hebrews 11, 17 through 19, 524 00:24:01,580 --> 00:24:06,580 we see this story of Abraham's faith being tested. 525 00:24:07,300 --> 00:24:08,540 In verse 17, it says, 526 00:24:08,540 --> 00:24:12,980 "'By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. 527 00:24:12,980 --> 00:24:15,880 He received the promises, 528 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,140 and he was offering his unique son. 529 00:24:19,140 --> 00:24:21,300 The one it had been said about, 530 00:24:21,300 --> 00:24:24,740 your seed will be traced through Isaac. 531 00:24:24,740 --> 00:24:26,620 He considered God to be able 532 00:24:26,620 --> 00:24:29,380 even to raise someone from the dead. 533 00:24:29,380 --> 00:24:34,060 And as an illustration, he received him back.'" 534 00:24:34,060 --> 00:24:36,060 Now, this is an interesting story, 535 00:24:36,060 --> 00:24:39,020 and we're not necessarily gonna break this story down 536 00:24:39,020 --> 00:24:42,740 and maybe what all it means and what all it's talking about, 537 00:24:42,740 --> 00:24:45,680 some of the difficulties of it in this study. 538 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,140 But what we are going to talk about 539 00:24:48,140 --> 00:24:51,460 is what it's talking about here in the context. 540 00:24:51,460 --> 00:24:54,940 And that is Abraham's faith was tested. 541 00:24:54,940 --> 00:24:59,940 God tested his faith by calling him to offer up Isaac. 542 00:25:00,020 --> 00:25:01,820 Now, it tells us something here 543 00:25:01,820 --> 00:25:03,620 that it doesn't tell us in Genesis 544 00:25:03,620 --> 00:25:05,600 when this story takes place. 545 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:10,140 Now, Abraham was fully willing and able and ready 546 00:25:10,140 --> 00:25:11,740 to do what God called him to do. 547 00:25:11,740 --> 00:25:13,900 Now, that takes a lot of faith 548 00:25:13,900 --> 00:25:17,260 if God says, I want you to sacrifice your son. 549 00:25:17,260 --> 00:25:19,220 Now, Abraham, knowing full good and well 550 00:25:19,220 --> 00:25:20,280 that this was the son 551 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,700 that the promise was gonna come through. 552 00:25:22,700 --> 00:25:26,180 So why does it say Abraham was willing to do it? 553 00:25:26,180 --> 00:25:28,800 How did Abraham have faith during this? 554 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,340 Well, verse 19 tells us the answer. 555 00:25:31,340 --> 00:25:34,340 It said he considered God to be able 556 00:25:34,340 --> 00:25:38,900 even to raise someone from the dead. 557 00:25:38,900 --> 00:25:42,420 So Abraham trusted in God so much 558 00:25:42,420 --> 00:25:44,660 that he knew Isaac was gonna be the one 559 00:25:44,660 --> 00:25:46,520 that the promise was gonna come through 560 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,860 and his descendants was gonna come through 561 00:25:48,860 --> 00:25:53,380 that Abraham said, look, whatever God tells me to do, 562 00:25:53,380 --> 00:25:54,460 I'm gonna do it. 563 00:25:54,460 --> 00:25:56,740 Even if that involves killing my son, 564 00:25:56,740 --> 00:25:59,520 God will be able to raise him from the dead. 565 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,580 Now, again, this is a story that really we can talk 566 00:26:03,580 --> 00:26:06,140 and look a lot at the things that go there. 567 00:26:06,140 --> 00:26:07,820 But what we wanna see is, 568 00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:10,940 is that when Abraham was tested in his faith, 569 00:26:10,940 --> 00:26:14,240 even in the most difficult situation, 570 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,420 he was fully willing to trust God 571 00:26:18,420 --> 00:26:19,980 all the way up to the fact of saying, 572 00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:23,540 look, God is able to raise someone from the dead 573 00:26:23,540 --> 00:26:25,060 should he choose to. 574 00:26:25,060 --> 00:26:27,340 Now, this story is certainly a beautiful story 575 00:26:27,340 --> 00:26:29,700 because in a lot of ways, 576 00:26:29,700 --> 00:26:32,660 it's foreshadowing Jesus to his to come. 577 00:26:32,660 --> 00:26:34,540 It's pointing us forward to the fact 578 00:26:34,540 --> 00:26:37,740 that God is going to give his only begotten son, 579 00:26:37,740 --> 00:26:40,120 that God is gonna provide the sacrifice. 580 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:43,220 In the story of Abraham, God stopped him. 581 00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:45,440 He said, look, don't sacrifice your son. 582 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,500 I'm gonna provide the sacrifice. 583 00:26:47,500 --> 00:26:49,740 Well, that's exactly what God did for us. 584 00:26:49,740 --> 00:26:53,800 God gave his only son who was the sacrifice, 585 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:55,760 who was the lamb of God. 586 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,900 God took care of all of those things. 587 00:26:59,900 --> 00:27:02,100 And so in the illustration 588 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:04,600 of what faith looks like for Abraham, 589 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,940 even there it's pointing us forward 590 00:27:06,940 --> 00:27:10,280 to Jesus Christ who is to come. 591 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,620 And that's the important thing about faith. 592 00:27:12,620 --> 00:27:15,840 It's not that we just have faith in anything, 593 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,980 but that we have faith in Jesus Christ. 594 00:27:18,980 --> 00:27:20,940 A lot of people in the world have a lot of faith 595 00:27:20,940 --> 00:27:22,060 in a lot of things. 596 00:27:23,060 --> 00:27:26,420 You're sitting at the red light, your light turned green. 597 00:27:26,420 --> 00:27:27,540 Will you just go? 598 00:27:27,540 --> 00:27:28,380 Why? 599 00:27:28,380 --> 00:27:31,380 You have some faith that the other light is turned red 600 00:27:31,380 --> 00:27:33,100 and that the people aren't gonna hit you. 601 00:27:33,100 --> 00:27:35,260 You may be keeping an eye out to make sure, 602 00:27:35,260 --> 00:27:37,980 but a lot of times you just be bop on down through there 603 00:27:37,980 --> 00:27:41,020 because you have some level of faith and trust 604 00:27:41,020 --> 00:27:43,380 that the light is gonna hold everybody off 605 00:27:43,380 --> 00:27:44,740 and you're gonna be safe. 606 00:27:44,740 --> 00:27:46,420 There are a lot of people that have a lot of faith 607 00:27:46,420 --> 00:27:48,020 in a lot of things, 608 00:27:48,020 --> 00:27:50,380 but a lot of faith in a lot of things 609 00:27:50,380 --> 00:27:52,700 is not what's going to save our soul. 610 00:27:52,700 --> 00:27:54,820 It's our faith in God. 611 00:27:54,820 --> 00:27:57,500 It's our faith in Jesus Christ 612 00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:00,580 that's going to bring about forgiveness of our sins. 613 00:28:00,580 --> 00:28:03,340 That's the type of faith that Abraham had. 614 00:28:03,340 --> 00:28:05,380 That's the type of faith that was tested. 615 00:28:05,380 --> 00:28:07,460 Are we willing to do anything 616 00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:10,260 and everything that God calls us to? 617 00:28:10,260 --> 00:28:11,940 Are we willing to trust God 618 00:28:11,940 --> 00:28:15,460 even in the most difficult situations? 619 00:28:15,460 --> 00:28:18,440 This is the kind of faith that God calls us to. 620 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,740 This is why we read the scriptures. 621 00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:23,580 This is why we talk through series like this 622 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:26,660 so that we can see these examples of faith 623 00:28:26,660 --> 00:28:29,420 so that when our faith is tested, 624 00:28:29,420 --> 00:28:31,700 that we would be one who would say, 625 00:28:31,700 --> 00:28:33,220 God, I'm gonna serve you. 626 00:28:33,220 --> 00:28:34,820 It's hard, I'm afraid. 627 00:28:34,820 --> 00:28:36,160 I don't understand it, 628 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,660 but God, I'm gonna trust you to do what you call me to do. 629 00:28:39,660 --> 00:28:43,540 And we wanna ask God to help us to pass those tests. 630 00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:45,660 When we fail those tests, 631 00:28:45,660 --> 00:28:48,620 we wanna ask God to forgive us for our failures 632 00:28:48,620 --> 00:28:49,980 and help us to be strengthened 633 00:28:49,980 --> 00:28:53,260 so that our faith can be like that of Abraham 634 00:28:53,260 --> 00:28:54,700 and these other heroes of faith 635 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:58,020 that we see in Hebrews 11. 636 00:28:58,020 --> 00:29:00,900 So those are the ones that we're gonna look at tonight 637 00:29:00,900 --> 00:29:02,740 from Hebrews 11. 638 00:29:02,740 --> 00:29:04,140 Now we're gonna take a second 639 00:29:04,140 --> 00:29:06,540 and we're gonna look at a more modern example 640 00:29:06,540 --> 00:29:08,720 of a hero of faith. 641 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,100 That is a guy by the name of Hudson Taylor. 642 00:29:12,100 --> 00:29:15,300 Now, has anybody in here ever heard of Hudson Taylor? 643 00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:16,420 Okay, nobody. 644 00:29:16,420 --> 00:29:18,520 Well, he's an interesting guy 645 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,180 and you need to look him up and read about him. 646 00:29:21,180 --> 00:29:23,300 We're only gonna briefly talk about him tonight, 647 00:29:23,300 --> 00:29:25,140 but you may wanna give him a look 648 00:29:25,140 --> 00:29:27,680 and learn more about him this week. 649 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,420 But Hudson Taylor was a missionary from Great Britain. 650 00:29:31,420 --> 00:29:35,000 But to really understand kind of the situation, 651 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,060 you need to understand what was going on 652 00:29:37,060 --> 00:29:38,260 in the world at this time. 653 00:29:38,260 --> 00:29:42,060 Now this was in the early to mid 1800s 654 00:29:42,060 --> 00:29:45,060 when all of these things were taking place. 655 00:29:45,060 --> 00:29:47,940 Now Hudson Taylor was from Great Britain 656 00:29:47,940 --> 00:29:50,580 and he was a missionary to China. 657 00:29:50,580 --> 00:29:51,980 But there was a lot going on 658 00:29:51,980 --> 00:29:55,200 between Great Britain and China at the time. 659 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,580 They were trading with one another 660 00:29:57,580 --> 00:29:59,980 because Great Britain wanted all of the things 661 00:29:59,980 --> 00:30:01,900 that China had. 662 00:30:01,900 --> 00:30:04,940 Long story short, I'm really summarizing this here. 663 00:30:04,940 --> 00:30:07,300 Ultimately what happened is the thing 664 00:30:07,300 --> 00:30:10,420 that Great Britain was going to trade with China 665 00:30:10,420 --> 00:30:12,740 was going to be opium. 666 00:30:12,740 --> 00:30:16,340 And so they started getting this opium from India, 667 00:30:16,340 --> 00:30:18,220 which was a lot closer to China 668 00:30:18,220 --> 00:30:20,220 and a lot easier for them to get 669 00:30:20,220 --> 00:30:22,640 and just to take on over to China 670 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,620 to trade for whatever it was they were going to get. 671 00:30:26,620 --> 00:30:31,620 And so Great Britain began to pour tons of opium into China. 672 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,500 Well, you can imagine what happened. 673 00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:37,940 The Chinese became hooked on opium 674 00:30:37,940 --> 00:30:41,340 and this was not a good situation for the Chinese. 675 00:30:41,340 --> 00:30:44,460 All of its citizens becoming hooked on opium 676 00:30:44,460 --> 00:30:47,300 and Great Britain using that to their advantage to trade 677 00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:49,460 and to get all of these great materials 678 00:30:49,460 --> 00:30:51,140 and things from China. 679 00:30:51,140 --> 00:30:53,100 And so this led to a war. 680 00:30:53,100 --> 00:30:55,900 There were a couple of these wars in the 1800s. 681 00:30:55,900 --> 00:30:58,220 They were called the opium wars. 682 00:30:58,220 --> 00:31:01,600 And the government of China really was fighting 683 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,340 against Great Britain and ultimately was able 684 00:31:04,340 --> 00:31:07,140 to win that battle, but there was a lot of damage 685 00:31:07,140 --> 00:31:09,360 that had been done to the Chinese 686 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,600 because of what Great Britain had done 687 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,640 in pouring all of this opium into the country. 688 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,140 So you have Hudson Taylor, 689 00:31:19,140 --> 00:31:21,300 who was a man from Great Britain, 690 00:31:21,300 --> 00:31:24,980 who decided he was going to go into China 691 00:31:24,980 --> 00:31:28,100 to be a missionary and to tell them about Jesus. 692 00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:30,140 So you can see why this was a problem. 693 00:31:30,140 --> 00:31:33,780 The Chinese did not like the people of Great Britain. 694 00:31:33,780 --> 00:31:37,700 So Hudson Taylor was not really that well received. 695 00:31:37,700 --> 00:31:41,000 There was a lot of tension between these two countries. 696 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,420 Nonetheless, Hudson Taylor was persistent in serving God. 697 00:31:45,420 --> 00:31:48,300 And so he realized real quickly 698 00:31:48,300 --> 00:31:52,220 that the Chinese were not paying him any attention 699 00:31:52,220 --> 00:31:54,940 because he was dressed like a man from Great Britain. 700 00:31:54,940 --> 00:31:57,580 He dressed like a man, he looked like a man. 701 00:31:57,580 --> 00:32:00,380 And so that was an instant turnoff for the Chinese. 702 00:32:00,380 --> 00:32:04,380 And so Hudson Taylor decided to dress like the people 703 00:32:04,380 --> 00:32:06,280 he was ministering to. 704 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,020 He began to dress in Chinese clothing. 705 00:32:08,020 --> 00:32:12,780 He began to put his hair up like a Chinese man would, 706 00:32:12,780 --> 00:32:16,380 dial Osbert black so that he would look more 707 00:32:16,380 --> 00:32:19,340 like the people he was trying to minister to. 708 00:32:19,340 --> 00:32:24,340 And so Hudson Taylor began to minister to the Chinese. 709 00:32:24,380 --> 00:32:26,980 Thousands and thousands of Chinese 710 00:32:26,980 --> 00:32:28,980 heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. 711 00:32:28,980 --> 00:32:32,900 And many of them put their faith in Jesus Christ. 712 00:32:32,900 --> 00:32:35,220 Now, during this time, in the years 713 00:32:35,220 --> 00:32:38,620 that Hudson Taylor was serving in China, 714 00:32:38,620 --> 00:32:42,100 he lost a child, he lost a wife. 715 00:32:42,100 --> 00:32:44,820 It was a difficult time for him. 716 00:32:44,820 --> 00:32:48,260 But nonetheless, he loved the Chinese people 717 00:32:48,260 --> 00:32:50,860 and he was faithful to serve the Lord. 718 00:32:50,860 --> 00:32:52,940 Even in the midst of adversity, 719 00:32:52,940 --> 00:32:55,700 he is a good example of one who went 720 00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:57,760 where God called him to go. 721 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,780 Even when it was a dangerous place, a dangerous time, 722 00:33:00,780 --> 00:33:03,220 he could have said, look, God, those people hate us. 723 00:33:03,220 --> 00:33:05,660 I'm not going into China anywhere else. 724 00:33:05,660 --> 00:33:07,140 But that's not where his heart was. 725 00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:09,540 That's not where he felt that God was calling him to go, 726 00:33:09,540 --> 00:33:10,540 was anywhere else. 727 00:33:10,540 --> 00:33:13,820 He felt God called him to China. 728 00:33:13,820 --> 00:33:14,840 That's where the need was. 729 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:15,980 That's where his heart was. 730 00:33:15,980 --> 00:33:19,500 And so he's a good example of one who went by faith. 731 00:33:19,500 --> 00:33:22,500 He's a good example of one who all of that time, 732 00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:23,940 year after year, he waited. 733 00:33:23,940 --> 00:33:25,740 He continued to do the Lord's work. 734 00:33:25,740 --> 00:33:28,260 He didn't give up in the face of opposition. 735 00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:31,300 He didn't give up even when it was difficult 736 00:33:31,300 --> 00:33:35,020 and there was death of people he loved. 737 00:33:35,020 --> 00:33:38,140 Hudson Taylor continued to serve God 738 00:33:38,140 --> 00:33:40,900 and to do the work that God called him to do. 739 00:33:40,900 --> 00:33:45,780 He's a good example of what it looks like to serve by faith. 740 00:33:45,780 --> 00:33:50,000 We see another good example that most of you in the church, 741 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:51,780 if not all of you are familiar with, 742 00:33:51,780 --> 00:33:54,460 maybe some listening online are not familiar with, 743 00:33:54,460 --> 00:33:58,700 but there's a group that we've been helping support 744 00:33:58,700 --> 00:34:02,580 and praying for for quite a few years now, 10 or 12 years. 745 00:34:02,580 --> 00:34:06,420 And the name of that group is the Free Burma Rangers. 746 00:34:06,420 --> 00:34:09,060 If you've never heard of them, look them up. 747 00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:13,060 Now, the situation in Burma may not be well known 748 00:34:13,060 --> 00:34:15,740 to a lot of people in this country, 749 00:34:15,740 --> 00:34:19,740 even though this situation has been going on for decades now. 750 00:34:19,740 --> 00:34:21,460 It's been going on forever. 751 00:34:21,460 --> 00:34:25,460 But what happens is there's a group of people in Burma 752 00:34:25,460 --> 00:34:27,700 that the government says, 753 00:34:27,700 --> 00:34:30,820 these people are not people of Burma, 754 00:34:30,820 --> 00:34:33,420 therefore they can't stay here. 755 00:34:33,420 --> 00:34:35,460 And so they're trying to run them out of the country 756 00:34:35,460 --> 00:34:37,100 and they run them to Thailand 757 00:34:37,100 --> 00:34:38,940 or whatever other countries are around. 758 00:34:38,940 --> 00:34:41,380 And they say, well, these people are not here. 759 00:34:41,380 --> 00:34:44,740 They're Burmese, they need to go back to Burma. 760 00:34:44,740 --> 00:34:46,740 And so there's a whole group of people 761 00:34:46,740 --> 00:34:48,620 that really have nowhere to call home. 762 00:34:48,620 --> 00:34:51,300 They're being shifted back and forth. 763 00:34:51,300 --> 00:34:54,460 And as a result of the government of Burma 764 00:34:54,460 --> 00:34:56,620 not recognizing them as citizens, 765 00:34:56,620 --> 00:34:59,060 they're constantly attacking these people. 766 00:34:59,060 --> 00:35:02,540 The Burma Army is constantly attacking these folks. 767 00:35:02,540 --> 00:35:03,980 They'll set up a village, 768 00:35:03,980 --> 00:35:07,500 they'll try to set up buildings and grow crops. 769 00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:09,340 And no sooner than they get established, 770 00:35:09,340 --> 00:35:11,780 they are just constantly bombed and shot 771 00:35:11,780 --> 00:35:13,740 and attacked by the Burma Army. 772 00:35:13,740 --> 00:35:17,300 This has been going on for decades. 773 00:35:17,300 --> 00:35:19,820 Now, back to the Free Burma Rangers. 774 00:35:19,820 --> 00:35:22,820 Well, there's a guy by the name of David Eubank 775 00:35:22,820 --> 00:35:24,940 who knew about this situation 776 00:35:24,940 --> 00:35:28,580 and who felt like that God wanted him to go there 777 00:35:28,580 --> 00:35:30,460 to serve those people. 778 00:35:30,460 --> 00:35:33,420 And I think it was about 30 years ago when he first went, 779 00:35:33,420 --> 00:35:37,780 he went there and he began to serve the people of Burma. 780 00:35:37,780 --> 00:35:40,140 Now, he was a former Army Ranger. 781 00:35:40,140 --> 00:35:41,260 So this guy's pretty tough. 782 00:35:41,260 --> 00:35:45,460 He's knowledgeable in these types of situations. 783 00:35:45,460 --> 00:35:47,780 He goes to Burma, he begins to minister 784 00:35:47,780 --> 00:35:49,060 and to serve those people. 785 00:35:49,060 --> 00:35:51,620 And after he goes, he begins to get other people 786 00:35:51,620 --> 00:35:54,380 that get involved more and more. 787 00:35:54,380 --> 00:35:55,580 And their group is formed, 788 00:35:55,580 --> 00:35:57,700 it's called the Free Burma Rangers. 789 00:35:57,700 --> 00:36:00,540 And what they do is they go into the jungles, 790 00:36:00,540 --> 00:36:04,300 they find these people who have been blown to smithereens, 791 00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:06,900 who are on the run, who are fleeing from their life. 792 00:36:06,900 --> 00:36:08,300 And they try to help them. 793 00:36:08,300 --> 00:36:10,100 They try to get them the things that they need. 794 00:36:10,100 --> 00:36:13,220 And they try to serve them as best they can. 795 00:36:13,220 --> 00:36:16,380 They, of course, they can see the love of God 796 00:36:16,380 --> 00:36:19,020 through the acts that David and the others 797 00:36:19,020 --> 00:36:21,380 who were part of the Free Burma Rangers have. 798 00:36:21,380 --> 00:36:23,180 And they've been doing this for years. 799 00:36:23,180 --> 00:36:27,740 They've become so good at this in these war zone areas 800 00:36:27,740 --> 00:36:30,380 and what they do, that they've actually been sent 801 00:36:30,380 --> 00:36:33,740 to other areas where there's conflict and war, 802 00:36:33,740 --> 00:36:36,500 where there are people who are displaced. 803 00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:39,020 And they go right in the middle of the war zone. 804 00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:42,000 They take water, they go in, they try to rescue folks. 805 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:43,620 They even love on the enemies, 806 00:36:43,620 --> 00:36:45,460 the ones that are trying to blow them up. 807 00:36:45,460 --> 00:36:47,740 I mean, there's beautiful stories 808 00:36:47,740 --> 00:36:49,900 of how they're serving those who were in need 809 00:36:49,900 --> 00:36:53,860 and even trying to serve those who were the enemies 810 00:36:53,860 --> 00:36:55,600 of those who were in need. 811 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,660 So if you haven't ever heard of the Free Burma Rangers, 812 00:36:58,660 --> 00:36:59,860 you can look them up online. 813 00:36:59,860 --> 00:37:02,780 And there's even a documentary movie that came out, 814 00:37:02,780 --> 00:37:04,760 I don't know, probably two or three years ago. 815 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:05,940 It's worth a watch. 816 00:37:05,940 --> 00:37:08,080 But this is another example, 817 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,180 talking about an example of go, 818 00:37:10,180 --> 00:37:12,100 of going to a place that's scary, 819 00:37:12,100 --> 00:37:14,940 that's on the other side of the world, 820 00:37:14,940 --> 00:37:16,860 that's gonna be difficult to go there 821 00:37:16,860 --> 00:37:18,620 and to live there and to serve there. 822 00:37:18,620 --> 00:37:21,740 Yet David Eubank is a great example 823 00:37:21,740 --> 00:37:25,680 of one who was a man of faith and who went by faith. 824 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:29,540 And these are just two more modern examples 825 00:37:29,540 --> 00:37:32,220 with Hudson Taylor and David Eubank. 826 00:37:32,220 --> 00:37:35,620 But nonetheless, there are still men and women of faith 827 00:37:35,620 --> 00:37:36,580 in our world today. 828 00:37:36,580 --> 00:37:40,820 We read about these guys that are from hundreds of years ago, 829 00:37:40,820 --> 00:37:42,660 thousands of years ago. 830 00:37:42,660 --> 00:37:45,020 And yes, these are great men and women of faith 831 00:37:45,020 --> 00:37:45,860 in scripture. 832 00:37:45,860 --> 00:37:47,980 But even today, we still see it. 833 00:37:47,980 --> 00:37:50,580 You even probably know some people in your life 834 00:37:50,580 --> 00:37:53,740 that are around you that are just a great man 835 00:37:53,740 --> 00:37:55,580 or a woman of faith. 836 00:37:55,580 --> 00:37:59,620 And that's what we need to strive to be, 837 00:37:59,620 --> 00:38:02,300 are men and women of faith. 838 00:38:02,300 --> 00:38:04,780 That we would be those that it could be said of us 839 00:38:04,780 --> 00:38:07,780 that we have been faithful to serve God 840 00:38:07,780 --> 00:38:08,980 and what he's called us to. 841 00:38:08,980 --> 00:38:10,780 Not that we want any recognition. 842 00:38:10,780 --> 00:38:13,420 It's not that we want somebody to say our name 843 00:38:13,420 --> 00:38:15,260 in a faith series 30 years from now. 844 00:38:15,260 --> 00:38:16,700 That's not what we want. 845 00:38:16,700 --> 00:38:20,500 We just wanna be faithful to God and let God do the work. 846 00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:23,420 And so we've seen some good examples tonight in scripture 847 00:38:23,420 --> 00:38:27,380 and some more modern examples of how God shows us 848 00:38:27,380 --> 00:38:31,480 what it means to go by faith and to wait by faith 849 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,300 and even to be tested by faith. 850 00:38:34,300 --> 00:38:36,620 That we would be those who would pass the test, 851 00:38:36,620 --> 00:38:38,860 that we would be those who would serve God 852 00:38:38,860 --> 00:38:40,820 and grow in our faith. 853 00:38:40,820 --> 00:38:42,260 Let's pray. 854 00:38:42,260 --> 00:38:44,160 God, we thank you for your words. 855 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,460 I pray that you would help us to really examine our lives. 856 00:38:47,460 --> 00:38:49,780 God, I know we like to think that our faith is strong 857 00:38:49,780 --> 00:38:51,140 and maybe it is dear Lord. 858 00:38:51,140 --> 00:38:53,740 Maybe for some of us, our faith is really strong. 859 00:38:53,740 --> 00:38:55,380 Maybe in some areas it's strong 860 00:38:55,380 --> 00:38:57,160 and other areas it's weak. 861 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,100 God, maybe we would be ready to stand for you tonight 862 00:39:00,100 --> 00:39:01,420 whatever may come our way. 863 00:39:01,420 --> 00:39:04,900 Or God, maybe the truth is if we were really tested, 864 00:39:04,900 --> 00:39:08,460 maybe we wouldn't be as strong as we think we are. 865 00:39:08,460 --> 00:39:09,700 But I pray that we would be, 866 00:39:09,700 --> 00:39:11,060 that you would strengthen our faith, 867 00:39:11,060 --> 00:39:14,180 that we would be those, God, that trust you, 868 00:39:14,180 --> 00:39:16,340 that go where you call us to go, 869 00:39:16,340 --> 00:39:18,320 that wait on you, dear Lord, 870 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:21,900 to do the works that you want to do through us. 871 00:39:21,900 --> 00:39:23,860 And I pray, dear Lord, that we would be those 872 00:39:23,860 --> 00:39:26,260 that would pass the test, 873 00:39:26,260 --> 00:39:28,940 that whatever ways that our faith may be tested, 874 00:39:28,940 --> 00:39:30,300 that we would never doubt you, 875 00:39:30,300 --> 00:39:31,660 but that we would always trust you, 876 00:39:31,660 --> 00:39:34,220 that we would follow these examples from Hebrews, 877 00:39:34,220 --> 00:39:36,980 we would follow these modern examples that we've looked at 878 00:39:36,980 --> 00:39:38,460 and the men and women around us 879 00:39:38,460 --> 00:39:40,100 that we know in our daily lives 880 00:39:40,100 --> 00:39:42,740 that have lived a strong faith in you, 881 00:39:42,740 --> 00:39:45,460 God, that we would be those to follow those examples, 882 00:39:45,460 --> 00:39:47,660 that we would be men and women of faith tonight. 883 00:39:47,660 --> 00:40:10,660 And I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.