By Captain Michael Ramsay
Do you remember the old ‘Peanuts’ comics by George Shultz with Snoopy, Linus, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Woodstock and the gang? I don’t know if they are still in the comic strips or not but I found an old comic here that I would like to share with you.
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” They have this running theme in ‘Peanuts’ where Lucy holds the football and Charlie Brown -after much convincing- decides to put his faith in the idea that he may actually get to kick the football. This happens many, many times in the comic strip until one day Charlie Brown actually gets Lucy to promise that she will let him kick the ball.
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Charlie Brown had faith enough in Lucy’s promise – against all the evidence – but to no avail. There is another time where Lucy actually gets a legal document citing that Charlie Brown would be permitted to kick the football. Charlie Brown’s faith is buoyed….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTUy_mlpgy4
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Charlie Brown put his faith in Lucy. He put his faith in legal documents. He put his faith in promises and each time he fell flat on his back. But he still had faith that someday he would kick that football.
Chapter 11 tells us of some people in the Bible who had faith in God – let’s see how they fair.[1]
Remembering that faith here is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1).[2]
Abel had faith. He offered up a better sacrifice than Cain and he, instead of winding up on his back like Charlie Brown, Verse 4 says he actually wound up, well, dead (Genesis 4; but see Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51).
Okay, well, there is also Enoch, Verse 5. Remember Enoch, he had so much faith that – well he died too, and after he died no one ever found his body (Genesis 5:18-24).[3]
Abraham, what about Abraham? Verses 8-12 and 17: He had faith that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land (see Genesis 15). He had faith that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:12; Genesis 22:17) and stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5, 22:17, 26:4); He had faith that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3) but before any of this happens of course – before Abraham sees any of this happen – he dies. He is even told in advance that – when the promise is made – that he will be dead for about 400 years before any of this happens (Genesis 15). Can you imagine? It is like you win the lottery this week somehow (someone buys you a ticket)[4] but you are not allowed to collect the prize until the year 2409, 400 years after today’s date… it is the same thing. And Abraham, shortly after Abraham was promised this, what did he do? He prepared to kill his son, Isaac, his son of the promise (Genesis 21-22; 25:5).
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And of all the people we’ve mentioned so far from Hebrews Chapter 11, the preacher of the sermon to the Hebrews says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance” (Hebrews 11:13).
There is more though: Moses is in the list of the heroes of the faith here (Hebrews 11:23-29). God asks Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and this is interesting (Exodus 3): where and when God asks Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses is not in the heart of Egypt. God meets Moses on top of Mt. Sinai, which is in the desert outside of the direct control of Pharoah's Egypt and He asks Moses to go all the way back to Egypt, get His people and then come all the way back again to Mt. Sinai. Moses asks God for a sign before he is going to go to all this effort and God says that the sign He will give him is this: He says that AFTER he is done what he is told to do, then he will get the sign. After you lead the people out of Egypt, God says, then you will worship me here on this mountain (Exodus 3:11-12). God doesn’t grace him with a sign in advance. He says you’ll get your proof after it is done. That would be like Charlie Brown asking Lucy for proof that he could kick the football and her responding that the proof will be that after you kick it, you will do a victory dance – that would seem to be no proof. But Moses has faith and he does it and then you know what happens just before the people enter this Promised Land, Moses dies.
Hebrews 11: 1: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
What about some of the other people in the list? Isaac was the intended sacrifice that his dad tied up to kill and he even continued along his dad’s trajectory (Hebrews 11:17-18). His son Jacob was a liar (Hebrews 11:21-22). Rahab was a prostitute who is visited by 2 foreigners who intend to have her city destroyed– they visit this prostitute and this prostitute entertains them (Hebrews 11:31; see Joshua 2:1-21, 6:17-23). Samson, in this list, was also known to visit prostitutes and killed people in anger (Hebrews 11:32; See Judges 13-16). There is more. There is David who – among other things - sleeps around and then when the woman he commits adultery with gets pregnant he tries to hide it by killing her husband (Hebrews 11:32; see 2 Samuel 11&12 and 1 Kings 15:5). Jephthah was a mercenary who offers to sacrifice his only daughter, which may or may not involve her execution (Hebrews 11:32; see Judges 10-12).[5] Gideon kept asking for a sign to alleviate his apparent doubt (Hebrews 11:32). These are some of the heroes of the faith? These are some of the heroes of the faith.
Faith is not only what we do. Faith is more than that.[6] Faith and faithfulness are definitely intertwined[7] and Hebrews 11: 1&2: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
This is important because God is faithful (Romans 3:3,4; see Psalm 51:4). Even when some of these heroes of the faith stumbled God picked them up. God carried them through the bonds of their covenants. Indeed what if they were unfaithful, would that nullify the faithfulness of Christ. Paul says in Romans 3:3,4, emphatically, No! And even when we do slip up and act in ways inconsistent with faith, we can repent. God can forgive us, rectify things, and set us straight and we also can be heroes of faith.
It was only through the Grace of God that these normal people sought God in faith and we even now experience the blessings of that. It was through the faithfulness of God and the faith and faithfulness of every one of these people in this list that God blesses us here today. Walking the path blazed by those who went before us, we experience the blessings we were promised through them just like our children will experience the blessing of a nation dedicated to God provided that we are faithful and reclaim our nation as a nation dedicated to Christ.
It was through God’s faithfulness and Abraham’s faith and faithfulness that the world was ultimately blessed through Jesus Christ (Genesis 12:1-3). It was through Moses that God gave the people of Israel that rest, that Hebrews 4 addresses, in the Promised Land (See also Deuteronomy 1 and Numbers 14). It was through David’s faith and faithfulness that God built His house (2 Samuel 7; see also 2 Sam. 23:5 and Psalms 89:3, 28-29; 110:4), His dynasty which culminates through Jesus – who is the Christ, the wonderful counselor, mighty God, the Prince of Peace whose government will never stop ruling and being peaceful (Isaiah 9:6). God’s government is a peaceful government.
Abel and Enoch were taken to be with the Lord and remembered forever as examples of faith (see Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51). Enoch himself never had to experience death (Genesis 5:24). Like Elijah later (2 Kings 2:11), he was avoided the pain of that transition between here and there.
Faith is not just what we do; it is that and more. Hebrews 11: 1&2: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
My kids and I try to read the Bible every night: not too long ago we were studying Daniel and in the book of Daniel you see prophecies that are recorded hundreds of years into the future and almost - if not all – are fulfilled already by the advent of Christ. This is the same with Jeremiah. This is the same with Isaiah. That which these people of faith in Chapter 11 could not see in their lifetime actually came to pass. After these people died, the promises to them were fulfilled; they were vindicated. Now we know for sure what they believed to be true. We have seen what they had faith would come to pass. That they didn’t experience the complete blessing of their promises in their lifetime didn’t dissuade them of the reality.[8] They weren’t as blind as atheists who when faced with a darkened room put on sunglasses of disbelief to obscure the view even further (see Romans 14:23). We, like the crowd of witnesses recorded in Hebrews chapter 11, put on the glasses of faith that are sitting on the table in front of all of us. They are more than glasses, they are like night vision goggles and the heroes of the faith pick up these glasses of faith and see through those glasses what is right in front of our eyes (see 1 Corinthians 13:12).[9]
And as the book of Daniel says that with the resurrection of the dead we will all see the result of their faith and we will all see the result of our faith (Daniel 12:13).[10] Paul in his letter to the Romans says that at that time every knee will bow and every tongue confess whether we want to or not, we will all see what is in front of us then (Romans 14:11). At the resurrection of the dead we all will see the results of our faith. At the resurrection we will see the ultimate results of the faithfulness of Christ, the faithfulness of God. But it is only those of us who persevere who will celebrate it (see Hebrews 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27).
Hebrews Chapter 10 records Habakkuk’s prophecy and the warning that not all will persevere (Habakkuk 2:3,4; see further Matthew 24:9-12; Luke 8:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:15, 4:10; Hebrews 2:1-14, 3:12; 6:4-8,10:25-27, 31-39; 1 John 2:18-19; 2 Peter 2:17, 3:17). Some who suffer the persecution that we spoke about last week will even dawn the dark sunglasses of disbelief and join the apostate; they will not join us as victors at the resurrection of the just.[11] A different fate awaits them.
“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” (Hebrews 10:39- 11:2). This is our hope too.
Charlie Brown, in his seemingly misplaced faith, persevered and I found this clip on-line where somehow Charlie Brown finds himself invisible and…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6J1MhmQRV8
…Even Charlie Brown persevered and even Charlie Brown had his reward and so much more can you and so can I, and so can everyone who puts his/her faith not in things of this world but in Jesus Christ. God can make a way where their seems like there is no way.[12] Hebrews 10:35-37, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay…(see Habakkuk 2:3,4).”
Christ is faithful therefore we can persevere. We too can celebrate the victory with Christ as we just have faith. But we do have a choice and Chapters 10 and 11 plainly set that choice before us.[13] Our choice is like when Moses was on the precipice of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). He said to the people, today you can either choose death or you can choose life. A generation of people then followed Joshua into the promised life. Today, as the preacher of the sermon to the Hebrews said, that promise is still open to us (Hebrews 4). Let us not forsake our Faith and die but let us rather choose life and celebrate forever at the resurrection when alongside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and the others through of Christ’s faithfulness, we shall all be made perfect (Hebrews 11:40; see also Hebrews 7:19, 9:9, 10:1,10:14, 12:23).
Let us pray.
http://www.sheepspeak.com/
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[1] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40), Book Version: 4.0.2 The preacher of Hebrews "sees faith as that trust in God that enables the believer to press on steadfastly whatever the future holds for him. He knows that God is to be relied on implicitly. So the writer's method is to select some of the great ones in the history of the people of God and to show briefly how faith motivated all of them and led them forward, no matter how difficult the circumstances. The result is a great passage that not only encouraged his readers but also has encouraged hosts of Christians through the ages."
[2] Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 131: “One can argue that v.1 does not ‘define’ faith; after all, the word ‘pistis’, ‘faith’ will sometimes indicate trust or belief and sometimes refer to the quality of loyalty or faithfulness. Rather than offering a definition, the author focuses and gives thematic unity to discussion.”
[3] Cf. Thomas G. Long, Hebrews (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997), pp. 115-116.
[4] The Salvation Army’s Soldiers’ Covenant states that a soldier “…will abstain from alcoholic drink, tobacco, the non-medical use of addictive drugs, gambling, pornography, the occult and all else that could enslave the body or spirit.”
[5]See Denis T. Olsen, ‘Judges’ in NIB II: Deuteronomy-2 Samuel, p.834 for a good discussion of this. See also Clarke's Commentary, vol. 2, p. 151) cited from Al Maxey, available on-line at: http://www.zianet.com/maxey/reflx224.htm
[6] John Wesley, The Sermons of John Wesley 1872 Edition (Thomas Jackson, editor) SERMON ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO On Faith
"Now faith is the evidence of things not seen." Heb. 11:1. Available on-line at http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/sermons/122.htm "Many times have I thought, many times have I spoke, many times have I wrote upon these words; and yet there appears to be a depth in them which I am in no wise able to fathom. Faith is, in one sense of the word, a divine conviction of God and of the things of God; in another, (nearly related to, yet not altogether the same,) it is a divine conviction of the invisible and eternal world."
[7] Cf. B.F. Westcott, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1950), p. 350 and Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews (NTC: Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2007), p.311.
[8] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/A. The Meaning of Faith (11:1-3), Book Version: 4.0.2: "Christians are not helpless. They have faith and by this they test all things. "What we do not see" excludes the entire range of visible phenomena, which here stand for all things earthly. Faith extends beyond what we learn from our senses, and the author is saying that it has its reasons. Its tests are not those of the senses, which yield uncertainty."
[9] cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12: for we all only see through a glass darkly now of the future but at the resurrection we shall see so much more clearly.
[10] Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 131: “Faith here is eschatological and cannot be separated from hope.”
[11] Michael Ramsay, ‘Hebrews 10:39: We will not shrink back!” Presented to Swift Current Corps, November 15, 2007. Available on-line at http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/11/hebrews-1039-we-will-not-shrink-back.html
[12] Cf. Don Moen, “God will make a Way.” Integrity Music, 1990.
[13] Cf. Fred B. Craddock, The Letter to the Hebrews (NIB 12: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1998), p. 145 and Simon J. Kistemaker, Hebrews (NTC: Thessalonians, the Pastorals, and Hebrews: Baker Academic: Grand Rapids Michigan, 2007), p.359.
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