August 21, 2016
Morning Service

Heb. 11:7-40

 

            So far in Hebrews we have seen how that the N.T. covenant is far superior to the O.T. covenant, or law of Moses.  The N.T. covenant is open to whosoever will let him come to God for salvation, which was purchased by the blood of God’s Son, Jesus of Nazareth.  It tells us that after His atoning work on Calvary, that Jesus is now sitting on the right hand of God in heaven, interceding for His people, and waiting till the last enemy is put under His feet.

1Co 15:25-26  For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet.  (26)  The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.

Last Sunday we discussed faith.  Letting the scriptures tell us what faith is, and how important it is to have great faith.  (Heb. 11:1-6)   Quote.

The writer used different things, and people to show the importance of faith, such as:

1.      Creation.

2.     Cain, and Abel.

3.     Enoch.

 

Now let’s see who else he uses, to encourage us, to have great faith.

 

Heb 11:7-40  By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 

·        Have we been warned of things not yet seen?  Sure we have.

1.      The falling away from the church.

2.     The man of sin being revealed.

3.     The church being taken out of this world.

4.     The wrath of God coming on the children of disobedience.

5.     The battle of Armageddon.

6.     The four horseman of the Apocalypse.

And is it moving us to Godly fear, as it did Noah? 

(8)  By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.  (9)  By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:  (10)  for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 

·        This is basically what we are doing.  Christians have been promised an inheritance.  We have stepped out by faith, looking for the city whose builder and maker is God, Heavenly Jerusalem.

(11)  By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised:  (12)  wherefore also there sprang of one, and him as good as dead, (because of his age, 100)  so many as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand, which is by the sea-shore, innumerable. 

·        Abraham had two sons, Ismael, from the handmaid of Sarah, Hagar, and Isaac, the promised son from Sarah.  Each of these men ended up with 12 sons of their own, and as we can see, multiplied as the sands of the sea.

 

 

(13)  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  (14)  For they that say such things make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own.  (15)  And if indeed they had been mindful of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.  (16)  But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city. 

·        The writer is explaining to us that these people had faith that they would one day have a place built for them in heaven, and that this old world was not their home, but they looked for the heavenly home built by God. BUT THE WRITER SAYS THEY DIED WITHOUT RECEIVING THE PROMISES.

·        If anybody deserved dancing on the streets glory, and being with God, it was these people.  BUT THEY DIED WITHOUT RECEIVING THE PROMISES.

·        So, what do we know about death?  The Ecc. Writer, Solomon, says this; 

Ecc 3:19-21  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.  (20)  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.  (21)  Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?

·        Ecc 12:7  and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.

·        The thing we must remember is that Jesus redeemed our whole body, not just our spirit, which is the breath of God.  ( I Cor. 15 ).  At the resurrection we will be raised with a new glorified body, like Jesus had when He left for Heaven.  Paul teaches this very clearly in IThess. 4:13-18; and in ICor. 15. 

·        Now let’s go back to the beginning of time, the creation of man.

·        Gen 2:7  And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Then God made Eve, out of Adam, and then, the process of birth, as we now know it.  But the soul is not immortal, and this is what explains everything.  Again in the beginning: 

Gen 3:22-23  And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever--  (23)  therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

You see eternal life, or immortality is what we receive when we accept Jesus as our savior.  Man does not possess eternal life until he does.  The Scripture says this;  Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

            Now let’s look at how our writer lets us know this.  All these great people of faith died not receiving the promise.  Now we jump past several more great people of faith, and we may come back to some of them later.  But notice how the writer finishes this chapter;

(39)  And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise,  (40)  God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

            This can only mean, that we will all be made perfect, and receive the promises together at the resurrection.  They that have done good into life, and they that have done evil, the lake of fire.

ALMIGHTY GOD, THANK YOU FOR THIS HOLY BOOK OF REVELATION OF YOUR WILL, AND WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR YOUR PEOPLE.  AMEN.