This week we’re considering Hebrews 11:23-40.
The passage was written to motivate Christians. With faith in our God everything is possible!
But there’s a lie that comes to us when we read it that can rob us of that inspiration. Today I give you 3 strategies to fight it.
But first…
I asked you to send in videos showing yourself singing the songs so as to encourage others and you responded!
Before I get into the verse for the week I want to share with you Rhon-Paul’s video.
Rhon-Paul is one of the most encouraging brothers I know. He’s really supported and encouraged me in this work and when I got his video it lifted my spirit to see and know that the songs had made a difference.
He’s singing the first song in the Isaiah 53 series: Surely.
Feel free to send a video of yourself as well.
This week’s song!
I’ll upload to SoundCloud later to allow for downloads.
If you hate the ‘tags’ (“Konshens representing!!” etc) — same here. Consider whether you’d like to help me buy these beats so I can get them untagged!
The fruits of Faith
In Hebrews 11:23-40 we see faith-produced fruit that are as plentiful and varied as you’d find in a tropical market.
Big and bright fruit like crossing the Red Sea, stopping the mouths of lions and resurrecting the dead.
You see also sour, bitter fruit, like people being stoned, sawn in two, killed with the sword.
Faith for family, friends and others
You see faith in every generation and group of God’s people:
We see faith in parents for their children.
Moses was hidden for three months by his parents. (v23)
We see faith in children for their parents.
Rahab’s “father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her…” were saved from death because of her faith! (Joshua 6:23).
We see faith in leaders for their people.
The people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but we see in Exodus 14:10-18 the people didn’t have a drop of faith — it was Moses who believed.
They said to Moses:
11…“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
And Moses seeing the same Red Sea told them:
13… “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.”
Faith we don’t usually think about
As Timothy Keller put it in his sermon, A Better Resurrection, we see two broad categories of faith on display: that of the glorious conquerors and the others.
So in verses 33 and 34, for example, we see the kind of faith we love, the movie hero version. Those who by faith:
conquered kingdoms,
enforced justice,
obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the power of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword,
were made strong out of weakness,
became mighty in war,
put foreign armies to flight.”
But, then the passage goes on to show that faith, even faith that God smiles on and blesses and holds up as exemplary for us to imitate, wasn’t always ‘rewarded’ in that way.
Verses 36 and 37 tells us of “Others” who:
suffered mocking and flogging,
and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned,
they were sawn in two,
they were killed with the sword.
They went about in skins of sheep and goats,
destitute,
afflicted,
mistreated—
Not only did they endure all that and still believe in God, it was their faith in God which gave them the strength to go through it.
They are a great example for us too because, guess what, we don’t know what life has in store for us.
The biggest danger we face after reading Hebrews 11
It is so easy to believe the subtle lie of the enemy that Hebrews 11 was about different time and about a different kind of people.
When we think like that we kill the power of the chapter to motivate and inspire us!
There are three things to keep in mind to combat that mindset and get the full benefit of the chapter:
1. Don’t be misled by the word Hero.
The writer wrote about ordinary people who through their faith in a big God did extraordinary things!
We call them ‘heroes of the faith’, sure, but their heroism wasn’t like Usain Bolt winning the olympics.
A runner has her own strength. These weak people however did what they did simply by trusting in God. We shouldn’t minimize their role but we must also see that God is the hero in all their stories.
So, just like the faith of Moses’ parents or of Rahab, God can use your faith and mine to save the lives our kids, parents and other people around us.
2. Think: if they could then, how much more can we do now?
The writer wrote his book to ordinary Christians, like you and I, to encourage them in a very hard time.
Again and again he argued:
If Daniel had faith to stop the mouths of lions (though he lived before the coming of Christ and before the giving of he Holy Spirit), how much more should you have faith to tackle whatever you face?
If these people listed could do these great things like crossing the Red Sea and resurrecting people from the dead, being sawn in two etc — how much more then should you have faith for the painful but much less dramatic things you’re facing?
In a way the idea that they were in a different time is true…but it’s all to our benefit. We Christ, the Holy Spirit, the bible, and their example plus much more!
The argument still challenges us today. God hasn’t called you to cross the Red Sea. Your challenges are great but people of faith have faced much greater and endured.
If they could, then you can also hold on.
3. Consider other passages that make the same argument (these were ordinary people like you and I).
James, one of the most down to earth writers in the New Testament, talking about prayer, said basically: ‘listen, its the nature of your prayer that matters, not whether you’re some great person because at the end of the day we are all the same.’
To prove it he pointed to the example of Elijah, who many would consider one of the greatest Prophets in the bible.
James 5:17
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
Let’s remember this when we come to pray then!
It’s not about what we can do, but what God may do through us if we come to him with faith!
Update on the Project
I am sorry to be late with these posts. First my daughter got sick, then I was sick and my wife was away and then she came back and she was sick and did I mention I smashed my iphone, damaged my macbook, was lent a phone and it fell and crack and so on and so on!
I have alot going on in my life and honestly it sapped my energy.
But…
This is the very thing Hebrews 11 is about: perseverance. Amazingly, this chapter has been part of my recovery to keep going.
I think I may have taken on too much with the video podcast, well I know it was too much from the start but I wanted to get it done. That being said, I find the songs and posts are done and the pod is what holds me up, so I may cut it or just detach it from these posts (post on two separate dates).
I’d love to hear from you on this.
This lie kills Christian motivation. Here are 3 strategies to fight it.