So this past week marks one of the highlights
of my year and it happens every year, but
it usually is one of the kind of hallmarks
of my year.
It's when the first pitch is thrown out in
major league baseball.
Very, very important time.
It's by the grace of Jesus that we have major
league baseball, and I'm thankful for that
grace that He has shown to us.
But this year in major league baseball is
a very important year.
It's a significant year.
Here's why.
Because on April 15th, just next week it will
mark April 15th, 1947 so it will be 70 year
anniversary where Jackie Robinson broke the
color barrier in major league baseball.
Seventy years.
Now, when he did that he started a baseball
game on April 15th, 1947 for the Brooklyn
Dodgers and he started at first base, even
though he wasn't a natural first baseman actually.
He started at first base in that game.
And if you didn't know this, Jackie Robinson
was a Christian.
Jackie Robinson loved the Lord and his faith
was center to who he was and what he did.
And also, the man who was the president of
the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, was also
a Christian.
And Branch Rickey decided that he wanted to
break the color barrier, but he knew that
it was going to require a man of really, really
solid faith to be able to do that, because
of all that was going to be thrown at a man
like Jackie Robinson.
They shared a same denomination, they were
both Methodists, and they held a faith in
Christ and would talk about the Scripture.
And Branch Rickey actually said to Jackie
Robinson, I need to know that you are strong
enough in character not to fight back, because
it's the only way that we'll be able to get
done what we need to get done.
And Jackie Robinson said, by the grace of
God I'll be able to do that.
And so he faced all kinds of criticism, all
kinds of harsh treatment, all manner of terrible
things were said about Jackie Robinson.
But today in every single major league organization
his number, number 42 is retired.
No one can wear his number anymore in any
major league organization.
And it hangs in every major league stadium
as a retired number.
And the only time anybody gets to wear it
is when on one day of the year, all of major
league baseball and every player wears number
42.
It's really pretty extraordinary, I think
in terms of the level of impact that Jackie
Robinson's life had, and you know, when I
read and I've read some of the biographers
who've written about Jackie Robinson because
I'm interested in baseball and I'm interested
in guys like that.
And some of the biographers chronicled, and
I'm paraphrasing a bit, but they chronicled
what Jackie Robinson did to be able to do
what he did.
And he talked about, Jackie Robinson talked
about the people that he considered the people
that went before him who endured such trial
and tribulation based upon their race and
all those kinds of things, he would consider
them when he was having to do what he did.
He would also, obviously at the center of
everything for him, at the core he would consider
Jesus, because he knew what Jesus had walked
through, and he knew what Jesus had called
him to and what kind of life He called him
to lead.
And then he would consider those that may,
by his faith and what he would be able to
do by the grace of God, he would consider
what the future might be able to look like
for other people as a result of what he did.
So he really had this idea that he considered
those that went before, he considered Jesus
in the now for strength and he considered
what the future would hold if he walked by
faith.
And I'll be honest with you, his faith inspires
me and his commitment and his character inspires
me and encourages me.
Significantly encourages me.
If you think about it, what Jackie Robinson
did, he did one year before President Truman
actually desegregated the military.
He did eight years before Rosa Parks sat on
that bus.
He did sixteen years before Martin Luther
King shared the "I have a dream" speech at
the Washington mall.
This was a really seminal moment from a man
whose character was shaped by his faith in
Christ and his life, his life of faith really
encourages me.
You know, we could all use some encouragement,
couldn't we?
In the world that we live in, in the day-in-age
that we live in we could all use some encouragement.
I mean life is challenging.
The world that we live in is challenging.
And I can promise you that the writer of Hebrews
is trying to affect that very thing.
He is writing to try and encourage struggling
Hebrew Christians that are facing hardship
and trial and tribulation and persecution
because of their faith in Jesus, and he's
writing to encourage them.
What he does in chapter 11 that we've been
studying week after week after week and if
you have a Bible that's where we're going
to be again today.
And I'd encourage you to pull it out, whether
that's a paper copy or whether that's a digital
copy, it doesn't matter.
But this Hebrews chapter 11 where we've been
walking through all of these examples of faith,
they are meant to encourage us in our faith.
That we would share the same kind of faith
in the object of their faith, God Himself
specifically in the person of Jesus, that's
exactly what the writer of Hebrews is trying
to do in Hebrews 11 into Hebrews chapter 12.
And I would suggest to you that what the writer
of Hebrews is doing is similar to what Jackie
Robinson did.
In fact, I don't know if Jackie Robinson might
have been influenced by the writer of Hebrews
or not, it's possible.
I have no idea, but what the writer of Hebrews
does is he calls us to a place of faith to
encourage us.
But if you'll see what we'll see in the text
today, we'll see what faith calls us to.
You can write it down.
You've already heard it.
Faith calls us to consider them, in other
the ones who've gone before, to consider Him,
the power of Jesus in the present and to consider
then, what might the future look like as a
result of this.
That's what we're going to see in our text
today, so what I want to do is just unpack
it in this way.
I want to take each of those in order and
I want us to kind of we'll land in a place
that I hope that at the end of this message,
if there's anything that I want to happen
today it's this: For everyone who names the
name of Christ, for everyone who calls upon
His name who is a child of God, I want you
today, hopefully by the power of God's Spirit
to leave encouraged in your faith.
That the breath of God would breathe on you
and you would be actually encouraged in your
faith.
Because that's really what the writer of Hebrews
is trying to get at in all of these stories.
That's what he's trying to get at.
So I want us to do this first.
Let's consider "them".
In other words, some of the ones who have
gone before, that's kind of the first piece.
We're going to consider "them".
Now where will we begin.
Here's where we'll begin.
In Hebrews chapter number 11 beginning in
verse 35, the second portion of the verse
it says: "There were what?
Others, isn't that interesting?
These people are unnamed, right?
There were others who were tortured, refusing
to be released so that they might gain an
even better resurrection.
Some faced jeers and flogging and even chains
and imprisonment.
They were put to death by stoning; they were
sawed in two; they were likely killed by the
sword.
They went about in sheepskins and goatskins,
destitute, persecuted and mistreated, what
a line here.
The world was not worthy of them.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, living
in caves and in holes in the ground."
What an extraordinary testimony of these people
that we simply know as "the others".
That's who they're referred to here, "the
others".
Now what we know about these others is that
they are just like the ones that have come
before them in this sense.
That they are people who have existed and
lived by faith before the time of Jesus.
Because what Hebrews 11 is doing is painting
a picture of all those who have come before,
and then in chapter 12 we focus our attention
on Jesus.
He's kind of the ultimate fulfillment of what
a life of faith really looks like and we'll
get to that in just a moment.
So these were people just like the ones that
came before them, that had lived their lives
prior to the time of Jesus but had lived by
faith.
So who are these others?
Well, I don't know for sure, it could be a
number of different people could fit these
descriptions but I think if we look closely
at the text, we might be able to pick up some
clues as to who they were.
In fact, in the very beginning in verse 36
and 37 of our text, it says: "Some faced jeers
and flogging and even chains and imprisonment.
They were put to death by stoning;" If you
read much about the life of the prophet Jeremiah
you would find that this is fitting because
he faced jeers and flogging and imprisonment
and he also was killed by stoning according
to tradition.
So that may very well have been referencing
the prophet Jeremiah.
As we continue on in verse 37 it says "they
were sawed in two;" there were others that
were sawed in two.
You may or may not know this but tradition
holds that the prophet Isaiah was actually
killed this way, that he was cut in half.
And that he was sawed in two.
And I think that's probably what the writer
of Hebrews is referencing here.
He's pointing out that prophets like Jeremiah
and prophets like Isaiah are part of these
"others" who walked by faith.
But then it goes on in the third portion of
verse 37 to say: "they were killed by the
sword."
Now if we stayed in this same vein we very
well could be talking about, and this could
be lots of people for sure, but we could also
be talking about somebody named Urijah.
Urijah was a contemporary of Jeremiah and
he was a prophet just like Jeremiah was.
Interestingly enough, Jeremiah escaped the
sword of Jehoiakim, but Urijah was killed
by the sword Jehoiakim.
And if you want to read about Urijah you can
read in Jeremiah 26 and find out about him.
That may have been referencing him.
And then toward the very end of that passage
it says this: "they went about in sheepskins
and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-the
world was not worthy of them.
They wandered in deserts and mountains, living
in caves and in holes in the ground."
This could have been fitting for a number
of people.
It could have been fitting for Elijah.
He did that.
Elisha, he did that.
Isaiah, he did that.
Ezekiel, he did that.
It could have even been talking about in the
time of the intertestamental period when there
was a Maccabean revolt, that you don't read
about in your Bible, but happened after the
Old Testament but before the time of Jesus
and the New Testament from about 167 to 160
BC that these people revolted against the
oppression of Rome, and some of them were
true believers and had faith in God, and they
were scattered all over the place and they
were living literally covered in animal skin
and living in caves, and having to hide out
and those kinds of things.
It could have been referring to any number
of these various people, but what we know
about the others is that they walked by faith.
But what's interesting about the others that
we read about is that they're in distinct
contrast in terms of what happened when they
walked by faith to what happened by some other
people when they walked by faith just a few
verses before that.
It's a big contrast because all these people
that are called the "others", you're going,
this doesn't seem really good, right?
They're suffering, they're persecuted, they
get sawed in two, they get stoned to death,
you know, all of these things, right?
They're wandering around everywhere.
But the ones you read about just before them?
Not like that.
In fact, look what it says, if you back up
a few verses in Hebrews 11 to verse 32 it
says: "What more shall we say?
I do not have time to tell you about Gideon,
Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and
Samuel and the prophets, who through faith
conquered kingdoms, administered justice,
and gained what was promised; who shut the
mouths of lions, who quenched the fury of
the flames and escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength; and
who became powerful in battle and routed foreign
armies.
Women received back their dead, raised to
life again."
Now some of you are thinking to yourself sign
me up for the first half.
I want that kind of faith, the kind of faith
that conquers, but I don't know how interested
I am in the second half of that faith, the
faith that suffers.
You see, depending on what we see when we're
reading as Hebrews 11 comes to a close talking
about all of these people of faith, what we
see is this.
Sometimes we see faith in their conquering
and sometimes we see their faith in their
suffering.
You see, if we were kind of summarizing some
of what's been happening all along the way
in this sermon series, and what we now see
coming to the conclusion of Hebrews 11, here's
what I can tell you about faith.
Faith doesn't promise comfort, but faith does
promise reward.
Faith does not promise comfort, but it does
promise reward.
You see, sometimes our faith is going to allow
us to conquer and we're going to be able to
be seen as people of faith because of what
we've been able to do in the power of Jesus'
name and sometimes faith is going to be seen
in our suffering and how God allows us to
walk in the midst of that still trusting Him
all the way and people can view that.
Sometimes we see people's faith when they
are trusting God and God chooses to heal them
of their affliction or their disease, and
other times we see their faith as they walk
through the affliction and disease and still
choose to trust God all the while.
You see, that's what happens, and by the way,
I think that it's possible that some of the
others that we're talking about in this passage
of Scripture, they may have actually fit in
both categories.
Remember, I told you that it would have been
very fitting for Elijah and Elisha who wandered
around clothed in goatskins and sheepskins
and lived in caves and were destitute and
that was a fitting picture of them when you
read their lives.
So they were on the suffering end, right?
But they were also on the victory side because
when the passage that we read in the first
set of verses that said women received back
their dead, they were given their children
back, right?
They came back to life?
Well, Elijah did that in Zarephath and Elisha
did that in Shunem and these were all by faith.
See sometimes ladies and gentlemen, our faith
is going to be seen in our conquering, sometimes
it's going to be seen in our suffering, and
sometimes it's going to be seen in both at
the same time.
Faith doesn't doesn't promise us comfort but
it does promise us reward, right?
We read about that earlier in Hebrews, that
without faith it's impossible to please God,
because whoever comes to Him must believe
that He exists and that He is a rewarder of
those who diligently seek Him, right?
So when we're considering those who have gone
before us, we have to take into account the
reality that their faith can encourage us
because we see their faith, and sometimes
we see the victory in it, and sometimes we
see the suffering in it, but we're encouraged
because we see the outcome, that they continued
to trust God in the midst of whatever the
circumstance was, they continued to trust
God.
You see, the writer is trying to encourage
us.
That's why he actually says in Hebrews chapter
12 verse number 1 notice what he tells us.
He says: "Therefore", in other words with
all these things in mind, "since we're surrounded
by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles.
And let us run with perseverance the race
that is marked out for us."
We're surrounded by this group of witnesses.
Now sometimes we get this all backwards because
we pull Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 out of
it's context and we make it say maybe something
that it's not necessarily intending to say.
Because we like it, right?
And we remember, okay, well, I just pulled
it right out of chapter 12 verse number 1
but chapter 12 verse number 1 is there because
chapter 11 is there.
That's why it begins with the word "therefore",
right?
Therefore.
Whenever you see a therefore in the Bible
you ask the question "what is it there for"?
It's there for the fact that Hebrews chapter
11 is telling us this whole story about all
these people that have come before.
We are considering them that have gone before
and so the writer says therefore since we
are surrounded by such a great host, or a
great cloud of witnesses, boy that's a great
statement, isn't it?
Sometimes when we talk about this great host
or this great cloud of witnesses we end up
talking about how all of these people that
have gone before us are kind of looking over
the banister so to speak of heaven and they're
watching our lives.
Now that may or may not be true, I really
have no idea, I don't know how much interest
they'd have in some of our lives but they
might.
And I'm not really sure if that's the case
or it's not, it's a little beyond my pay grade.
We'll know when we get to the other side,
you won't even have to ask me.
Pastor Jerry, was wondering, you won't have
to do that.
I won't have to answer any of those questions.
So can they see us or can they not, I don't
really know.
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think that's
really the point of this passage.
I think the point of this passage is that
we're surrounded by such a great cloud of
witnesses, listen, the great cloud of witnesses
is not there so they can look over us, they're
there so that we can look back at them.
That's why they're there.
You see, this is about encouragement.
This is about the writer saying I want you
to see their lives.
And by the way, if you look around you're
going to find out that you're completely encircled
by all of these people.
You're surrounded by people who have chosen
to walk by faith in their greatest victories
and in their greatest suffering, they have
chosen to do that, so look around and think
about and consider those who have come before
you so that you can begin to be encouraged
by what I want to call you to be about.
So he says be encouraged, right?
Consider Him, Jesus, that's what we'll get
to in a moment, but before we get there, when
we're considering them, "therefore since we're
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders us
and the sin that so easily entangles us and
let us run with perseverance the race marked
out for us".
What are the things that hinder us?
What are the things that entangle us?
What is the sin that overwhelms us and weights
us down?
Certainly I think this may be talking about
specific what some in past ages would call
a besetting sin.
In other words, that sin that you just can't
seem to get by.
That sin that you just can't seem to get over.
Maybe it's the issue of some type of addiction
or maybe it's some issue related to pride
or to lust or to whatever, right?
You could just name it.
And I think that that certainly applies in
this context.
I don't have any doubt that that is a part
of what the writer is writing to us by the
power of the Spirit.
But when it says let us throw off everything
that hinders us and the sin that so easily
entangles us, I think that probably the sin
that so entangles us is unbelief.
You see, what we're talking about is faith.
And anything that would be not consistent
with faith this idea of unbelief, no matter
how it manifests itself is really what we're
talking about.
The sin is really unbelief, that we're choosing
not to walk by faith but somehow we're walking
in our own power and our own strength or we're
allowing these things to pile on and weigh
us down.
I don't know about you, but we've all got
a race to run, don't we?
We have a race that's marked out for us.
Listen carefully.
We've all got a race to run and the race that
we're running is all the same, but we run
in different lanes.
Everyone of us is running the same race and
it's a race of faith.
That we are pursuing, actively walking and
pursuing Jesus.
That's the race that we're in.
We are racing by faith, trusting in Jesus
so that He can work out what He wants to do
with us.
But, everyone of us, we're kind of in our
own lanes, right?
Here's the problem.
Sometimes we have lane envy.
Lane envy.
We have people that are in this lane that
want to be in this lane because they think
for whatever reason this lane is a lot sexier.
That's what they think, right?
It's okay, bud.
They just think that this lane is better,
right?
I want to be in this lane.
And then this person looks over at this lane
and they want to be in this lane, right?
Here's the bottom line.
We are all walking by faith.
It's not as if we look back on all those that
have come before and say you know what I'm
doing when I leave here?
I'm going to wear sheepskin and goatskin and
I'm going to live in caves.
I think you've missed the point.
The idea is to walk by faith and whatever
that brings you to, that's your lane.
That's what you've got to run in, but it's
not about trying to copy the lives of people
in terms of what they did because that's their
specific lane.
But it is about trying to, listen to this,
share their faith in the same object of their
faith.
That means that whatever God calls us to,
regardless of what that looks like for us,
that's what we're called to do.
So we share the same race, but we are running
it in our own lanes.
Life is hard enough and the race is challenging
enough and there are enough obstacles in our
life of faith enough to start throwing stuff
on our shoulders like sin and unbelief.
That's not going to be an asset to you or
I at all.
It's going to hinder us.
So, I ran in this race, it's one of those
adventure races this past August.
It's one of those stupid idiot races where
you like, you know, it's like ten or twelve
miles and it's so muddy and it's hilly and
there's obstacles like twenty-something obstacles
in there.
Stuff like you have to climb walls and you
know, swim in water that's you know, grossly
freezing and get electric shocks and right,
stupid stuff.
Only stupid people would do this.
But I got talked into it by a friend of mine
who also attends this church and is actually
sitting in the room.
Which means if they talked me into it, maybe
they're more stupid than me!
Except I'm the one who said yes I'll do it,
which makes me more stupid than them.
But it's fair to say both of us, very stupid
people.
So, now that I've settled that, he's in there,
he's right, no I'm kidding he's not.
I pointed.
Here's in this race, I don't know how long
it was into the race, right?
We're doing all these mud hills and all this
stuff and I don't even want to walk ten or
twelve miles.
Like if somebody says yeah, it's ten or twelve
miles away, great, I have keys.
And I have a vehicle.
That's what I want to use it for.
I don't want to put anymore tread on this,
I just want, so I don't want to do that, right?
And so I'm far enough into this race, I don't
remember how far we were into the race, you've
gone over all these obstacles, you're tired,
you're you know, you're just like come on,
ah.
And then you get to this spot and this dude
goes, oh, hey guys, glad you made it here.
The next part of the race is you have to throw
someone on your back and keep going.
Oh, okay, yeah, that's stupid.
And you sir, are stupid.
I didn't say that out loud, because I'm a
pastor but I thought it.
Or if somebody would have put it on a piece
of paper I would have signed my name.
But I didn't say it.
Put someone on my back?
And of course what most people do is they're
just standing there waiting for the 4'2" eighty
pound girl to come running around the corner,
right?
Throw her on your shoulder like a milk jug
and just start running, right?
But no no no, I'm there with the guy that
I'm running with.
He's 6'10", 400 pounds.
I'm kidding.
He's not.
But he felt like it when he got on.
Hops on my back, and I'm thinking, this is
what I needed as a 46 year old.
I'm really making some headway.
And then of course then he's got to carry
you, you know, and all of that.
I'm a little heavier actually than he was,
but nonetheless.
And significantly stronger I am than he is.
He's in the room by the way, just telling
you that.
And it's not true.
He's stronger.
Here's the thing.
The last thing I needed was to throw somebody
on my back in a race that already had tremendous
obstacles, was way more difficult than I anticipated
it was going to be.
The last thing I needed was to throw something
else on my back.
I didn't need additional weight loading me
down.
And we don't need that in our life of faith.
Whatever that looks like for you.
We look back at those who've come before us
and we realized they were able to strip aside
and to put aside those things that would hinder
them in saying yes, and following God with
all of their hearts and all of their faith.
And I don't know what it is for you, but I
can tell you this.
It is not helping you run the race of faith
when you start loading yourself down with
things that are based in unbelief.
So the reason I tell you all this is because,
when we look back at those who've come before
us, we see lives of faith, and it encourages
us.
Consider them.
But also consider Him.
We're talking specifically about Jesus when
we talk about that.
And in fact, in Hebrews chapter 12 verse number
two, it says this: "fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider Him who endured such opposition from
sinners, so that you will not grow weary and
lose heart.
You see, when we start talking about the nature
of Jesus and considering Him, we've already
seen in our survey of the book of Hebrews
in the very first message that we did, we
already saw that Jesus is superior to so much,
to so many, right?
We've already seen that.
And just as a reminder, we saw that Jesus
is superior to the prophets, to the angels,
to Moses, to Joshua, to Aaron, to the Old
Covenant, to the tabernacle, to the law.
We saw that.
And thats painted all the way through the
book of Hebrews.
Jesus is superior to all of those things.
Why?
Because he is the one who has been perfect
in his faith.
He is the faithful one.
That's what Hebrews 10 taught us.
We read this in our first message.
And it says this.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we
have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way opened for us through the curtain, that
is, his body, and since we have a great priest
over the house of God, let us draw near to
God with a sincere heart and with the full
assurance that faith brings, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience,
and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.
And then notice what it says after this.
And let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds, not giving
up meeting together as some are in the habit
of doing, but encouraging one another and
all the more as you see the day approaching.
You see, when we can encouraged by those who
we consider those who've come before us, and
we're encouraged by their example, and we're
surrounded by their witness all over the place.
And you know what it causes us to do?
To look to Jesus.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus.
And when we begin to consider him, do you
know what enables us to do?
We then consider how we can begin to encourage
others.
That's what the passage is actually teaching
us.
When we consider Jesus, it enables us to consider
how we might be able to spur one another on
toward faith.
Notice what Jesus, when we consider him, notice
what the passage actually says that he is.
Look again in Hebrews chapter 12 verse two.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the what?
Pioneer.
That's an interesting word.
In some of your translations you see it may
be registered differently, right?
Fixing our eyes on Jesus the author - is maybe
what it says in some of your translations.
But the word there is a great translation
for pioneer.
If you remember a number of weeks back when
a friend of mine Tim Hawks was here, he talked
about being a pioneer, you know, or a settler,
right?
He talked about one of those two things.
That's taken from the text itself.
The pioneer idea is one that means to trailblaze,
or to go before.
So, listen carefully.
The Bible says that Jesus is our trailblazer.
He's the one who has gone before the people
of God.
Now I want to pause you here for just a second.
If you're like me, and you begin to think
logically about the text, you may or may not
be, but if you begin to think logically about
the text, your kind of wondering to yourself,
wait a minute.
All of these people, right, in Hebrews chapter
11 that we've been studying, it all comes,
here they all are, right?
We're considering them.
And then it leads us to Jesus.
And it seems as if Jesus is late in the process
of the line, not the first, right?
It seems as if Jesus is is not the pioneer
of the people of God, but instead is just
one of, when you look at that.
But the writer wants to make sure that we
understand he's the pioneer trailblazer.
Why?
Because even the New Testament teaches us
that Jesus has always been the leader of the
people of God.
He's always been that.
Listen to Jude verse 5.
It says, now I want to remind you, although
you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved
a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed those who did not believe.
Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt.
Then you do remember when that was all occurring,
right?
In the time of Moses.
One of those guys that we talked about his
parents last week, right?
Jesus was the one helping lead the people
out.
And guess what?
When the people were wandering in the wilderness,
do you know who it was it was leading them?
Paul talks about in first Corinthians 10.
They all ate the same spiritual food, and
they drank the same spiritual drink; for they
drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied
them, and that rock was Christ.
Jesus has always been the leader of the people
of God.
And he serves as our pioneer trailblazer in
what it looks like to perfectly walk by faith,
and to lead us in the way of the faith of
God.
But the Bible also says something else.
It says that in verse number two.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and
perfecter.
Or maybe your translation says the finisher.
In other words, Jesus is the one who has perfectly
accomplished what faith actually looks like
in God, and as a result of that, listen to
this, we can be encouraged.
Now I want you to listen as close as you can
listen, alright?
Most of the time, we get into a we kind of
lapse into this idea.
We look at Jesus' life just like we look at
all of the other lives of faith in Hebrews
11.
Here's what we do.
We look back and we go man, Jesus just really
inspires me.
It's a real inspiration what he did in his
life.
And we leave it there.
Just like we could say you know, Abel's life
really inspires me.
Abraham's life really inspires me.
And then we'll say and Jesus' life really
inspires me.
Now listen.
His life does inspire us, without question,
because he is the perfect, faithful one.
But he does more, listen, he does more than
encourage us in faith.
He empowers us in it.
You see, we fail to sometimes remember that
Jesus Christ is not just an example, he is
the living Lord of all.
And because of our faith in him, he not only
encourages us in our faith, he actually empowers
us by his life in us that we can live out
his life, and the faith that he has.
This is what it looks like to walk by faith.
It's not just about an encouraging example,
as encouraging as his life is.
It is about his present presence living in
us, and actually empowering us to live lives
of faith.
If we think that our life of faith is only
going to be in looking back and being inspired,
that is going to last for just a period of
time.
But if we recognize that the living Lord Jesus,
the pioneer trailblazer, has torn the curtain,
that he has invited us into the presence and
power of God, that we are filled with his
life, and that he, when we surrender to him,
lives his life out through us, that's a different
thing indeed.
We are no longer living in our own power and
in our own strength, and trying to will ourselves
toward faith.
We are surrendering ourselves to the life
of God in us.
And it is empowering us to live out the reality
of that life.
That is a huge difference in the minds of
those who claim faith in Jesus Christ.
And we have to be reoriented to what he wants
for us in that.
So we have to consider them.
We consider Him as we look to Him.
But we also consider then.
So I want to pause for a second as we do that,
as we look to the future and consider then.
I want us to pay attention to what Hebrews
11 verses 39 and 40 say.
It says, these were all commended for their
faith, yet none of them received what had
been promised, since God had planned something
better for us, so that only together with
us would they be made perfect.
God has actually planned something the Scripture
says better for us.
Now this word better, you're going to have
to just stay with me for a second.
I know I'm loading you up with Scripture.
But I'm going to try and really land this
plane in a second, and try and encourage you.
This word better is really important to the
writer of Hebrews.
He uses it all over the place.
In fact, when we start looking through Hebrews,
I want to just show you a couple of places,
alright?
I want you to pay attention to this.
He talks about a better hope in chapter 7.
For the law made nothing perfect, and a better
hope is introduced, by which we draw near
to God.
Then he also talked about in chapter 7 a better
covenant.
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the
guarantor of a better covenant.
In chapter 8, he actually talked about a better
promise.
But in fact the ministry Jesus has received
a superior to theirs as the covenant of which
he is mediator is superior to the old one,
since the new covenant is established on better
promises.
Then he talks about better sacrifices in chapter
9.
It was necessary, then, for the copies of
the heavenly things to be purified with these
old sacrifices, like blood and of bulls and
goats, but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these, the blood
of God's Son, the Lord Jesus.
Then it talks about better possessions.
You suffered along with those in prison and
joyfully accepted the confiscation of your
property because you knew that you yourselves
had better and lasting possessions than what
we just had here on the earth.
Then he talks about in chapter eleven a better
country, right?
It says, instead they were longing for a better
country - a heavenly one.
And then later in chapter number 11, it talks
about a better resurrection.
Remember when we read, women receive back
their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing
to be released so that they might gain an
even better resurrection.
You know, the better resurrection, really
apparent isn't it?
These women were given their children back
who died.
But those kids would ultimately live however
long they lived, and they would die again.
But the better resurrection in Jesus is that
when we die, we die never to die again, but
that we will live with him.
It's a better resurrection.
Now, all those said, the writer says here
that God planned something better for us.
So in addition to those better promises that
we get in chapter 11, he tells us then that
there's still something better.
What is that?
Don't you want to know?
I do.
Okay, you don't?
Good.
We're done.
You want to know?
It's in the text.
Let's look at it again.
These were all commended for their faith,
yet none of them received what had been promised,
since God had planned something better for
us so that only together with us would they
be made perfect.
Only together with us would they be made perfect.
Now, we have, listen to this, we have experienced
what the Old Testament saints that we have
studied by faith, we have experienced what
they looked for.
They looked for Jesus, and Jesus has come.
And that fulfillment is a reality to us.
But what the Bible is also clear about is
that Jesus promised to the Old Testament saints
a new and better country.
And he has promised to those of us who have
put our faith in Jesus a new and better country.
Jesus has something better for us all.
Because only together with us will they be
made perfect, or fulfilled.
Only together with us.
What does that look like?
Well I have to untangle something in our minds
before I tell you what I'm talking about.
Because sometimes the way that we have talked
about the idea of heaven has caused our minds
to be a little bit tangled.
Let me stop for a second and explain what
I mean.
We have friends, family members, those who've
gone before us, those that we read about in
Hebrews chapter 11.
They have died by faith, and they have now
found themselves in the presence of God.
And so when we talk, we're like this.
Well I can't wait until I die and I go to
heaven.
I look forward to so and so, fill in the blank
right?
Sarah.
Abraham.
Whoever.
My mother.
My grandfather.
I look forward to seeing them.
And and they'll even be my tour guide.
They'll show me around the place.
Okay.
As far as that goes, okay.
But here's what I want you to understand.
That only together with us will we all get
this something better.
So those Old Testament saints are not experiencing
the something better yet, because we're not
with them yet, we're not all the way there
yet, because we haven't all been made complete
yet.
They don't have that yet.
Now they're in heaven, don't get me wrong.
To be absent from the body is to be present
with the Lord.
That means that our soul goes in to the presence
of Jesus and is loved and is cared for and
is comforted.
Jesus even talked about this place being a
beautiful place.
He says, I go and prepare a place for you.
In my father's house, there's many rooms.
You say, well that's heaven.
That's a stopping point.
It is heavenly in its beauty.
It is a stopping point.
When you read the Greek language about what's
being described there, it's the same language
that's actually used when you talk about a
temporary hotel on a journey.
Same language.
You see, this place that's being described
there, the father's house with many rooms
is a holding spot.
Some of you right now are just going what
is happening, right?
It's a holding spot.
Stay with me.
It's a wonderful place.
So that when we die, and we've had our faith
and trust in Jesus, we are in a place in soul
that is wonderful and glorious and with Jesus
and all of those things.
I don't even know what all that reality looks
like.
But it's not the final spot.
Because to say that it is is to misunderstand
the whole outworking of the resurrection of
Jesus.
Because Jesus in His resurrection ascended
back to the Father, and then he made sure
that his disciples knew that I'm going to
return.
Now until I do I'm sending the Spirit, and
he's going to lead you, so that so that my
own spirit lives in you, and you can walk
out this life of faith, and the life of God
can live in you.
But I'm actually going to return.
And when I do, I am going to get up all of
my people who have put their faith in me.
Those who are from way back here and those
who are from now, and I am going to resurrect
them in immortal, imperishable bodies, and
usher in the new creation, the new heaven
and the new earth.
Here's what that means.
It means that you don't need somebody to show
you around the new heavens and the new earth,
because we will all be going in arm in arm
at the same time, and experiencing the something
better of God for our lives!
Here's what that means.
That means on that day, Abel, and Enoch, and
Noah, and Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and
Jacob, and Moses' parents, and Moses, and
Joshua, and Rahab, and others will be there.
It means Paul, and Silas, and Lydia, and Eunice,
and Lois, and Timothy will be there.
It means Watchman Nee, and John Wesley, and
Charles Spurgeon, and Corrie Ten Boom, and
Martin Luther King, and Jackie Robinson will
be there.
It means your friend who trusted Jesus, but
has gone on before will be there.
Your grandmother or your grandfather that
loved the Lord will be there.
Your mom, your dad who loved Jesus will be
there.
Your son, your daughter who loved Jesus will
be there.
One of my best friends that I lost this year
will be there.
We will all get the something better together,
as the people of God, as the Bride of Christ,
as the body of Christ, entering in to experience
what it actually means in all His fullness,
for God to be among us, and we with God.
We will be his people, and he will be our
God.
This is the testimony of faith.
This is what should encourage us.
And not only will all of those people whose
names we know be there, but every person who
has put their faith and trust in Jesus whose
name we have never known, they'll be there.
That man who trusted in Jesus and God turned
his life upside down, who is in Cambodia knocking
down the doors of brothels and saving young
ladies from the sex trade.
He'll be there.
The husband and wife like Lamech and Jasmine,
who were just with us in this last service,
who are serving among the slums of India because
of their faith in Jesus, and wanting to see
the image of God that is broken and banished,
be restored in the faith of Jesus Christ,
they will be there.
It doesn't matter if we've heard the names
or we haven't, because every one of us that
are there will be calling out the same name.
It's Jesus!
It's the one we fixed our eyes on!
It's the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from
sinful people, so that you will not grow weary
and lose heart, because in your struggle against
sin, you have not yet resisted to the point
of shedding your own blood like he has.
Be encouraged.
You are surrounded by all of those who have
come before you.
Look to their example, and share their faith.
But when you look backwards, it will cause
to look upwards, because you will consider
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
And when you do that, you will look forwards,
because you will trust into something better
that he has prepared for us.
So let me ask you this question.
Is your life of such a faith that other people
can look to you and be inspired to look to
him?
That's what we're talking about.
This is the encouragement I want you to receive.
Be encouraged as you walk by faith.
Because I'm telling you even today, on Palm
Sunday, in Egypt, they blew up two churches
where all of these Egyptian Christians had
gathered to worship.
Thirt-two people killed.
But they knew that they live in a country
that persecutes believers.
And they still chose to gather, and they still
chose to walk by faith.
They'll be there.
They'll be there.
Let the witness of every person of genuine
faith inspire you to turn your attention to
the one in whom they have put their faith.
And may your life be so attuned to the one
in whom you've put your faith, that other
people would look at you, and as a result,
would want to look to him.
Let's bow our heads together.
Before we're dismissed, I want to thank you
for your kindness and listening through the
whole of this series, and even today.
And if you're here and you've never come to
a place in your own heart where you've turned
from your sin and you put your faith and trust
in Jesus, would you let us talk with you about
that?
Just right when we dismissed, would you come
across the atrium into the Fireside Room,
and just say you know what, I need to to surrender
my life to Jesus by faith.
We'd love to have a pastor or a prayer partner
talk with you about that.
Because some of you under the sound of my
voice, and I say this lovingly.
You are so weighted down with pride, thinking
that you can somehow manage your own life
and your own eternity better than the Lord
Jesus.
That must be thrown off, so that in humility
you can lay your life before him, and allow
Him to strengthen you and empower you, and
teach you what it means to walk by faith.
So we'll be here for you.
We'd love for you to come by.
And for those of you who have settled that
heart decision, I know there may be things
that are weighing you down in your journey
of faith.
Be willing to throw them off.
Because listening to Jesus and doing what
he says, even though it may not be comfortable.
Faith is not promised that it will be comfortable.
But we will be rewarded.
There is no question about that.
Listen to his voice.
Do what he says.
Father, I pray that you would make us a church
that trusts you by faith.
We realize God that we are frail and we are
human, and that we are prone to wonder, and
sometimes even prone to unbelief.
But by the power of the resurrected Jesus,
would you strengthen us, and allow us to live
lives of faith.
So much so, that people around us, and the
world around us, might look at our lives and
as a result, they would look to Jesus, because
they would see that's where our trust lies,
where our faith lies.
So by the power of your Spirit would you breathe
encouragement into the lives of people today
to walk by faith.
I trust you to do that because you're trustworthy.
And I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ,
the faithful one.
Amen.
Bless you.
See you Good Friday and Easter, alright?
