Podcast

Intro: In the bulk of this chapter, the writer shows us what faith looks like

In the verses we’ll cover today, faith looks much like a moving van
– the journey of faith is no vacation, but an indefinite homelessness
• with all of the stress that entails
• faith looks like an endless series of transitions
– this past week, I was counting for a friend all the schools I attended through the twelfth grade
• three elementary schools, three junior high, and two high schools
◦ being the new kid was no fun
• Abraham’s nomadic adventures were no fun for him either

Three of the verses we will read begin, By faith
– two times it refers to the husband’s faith and once to the wife

Abraham: First, faith looks like responsiveness to God
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11:8

Abraham obeyed God — when he was called to go out, he went out
• he was not headed for a home that he already owned
◦ eventually he would receive a place as an inheritance,
◦ but it was not yet his, and he had no word as to when it would become his
• not only that, but when he left the family homestead,
◦ he did not even know where he was going
– we too have a calling (Heb. 3:1) and like Abraham we also are on the road
(whether or not you are aware of being on it)

Howard Marshall, “If they are still a traveling people, they are the traveling people of God, moving towards a destination rather than wandering aimlessly.”
– I do not disagree with this statement, but I would qualify it
• sometimes it feels like we’re wandering aimlessly
◦ not all of Abraham’s movements were deliberate
(he was driven out of Egypt and Philistine territory)
• he had a destination, he just didn’t know what or where it was
– Jesus’ disciples wrestled with this same difficulty
• when Jesus told them he was about to leave them, he added,
“And you know the way to where I am going.”
◦ but Thomas objected, saying,
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (Jn. 14:4-5)
◦ the unknown “where” is what we’ve learned about faith, that it is
the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1)
• where’s our destination? where’s heaven? you can’t point to it on any map
◦ we do not have to know the where if we know the way
◦ and Jesus is the way, so we follow him — just keep going

The second by faith: faith looks like heading into the unknown
By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9

In verse 8 Abraham went out and in verse 9 he went in
– literally, he migrated to or sojourned in (a land; cf. Ge. 26:3)
• there are three Greek words I want to share with you
(there’s no need to remember them or think they’re vital, but they give us an idea of the dimensions of Abraham’s unsettled existence)
◦ the first is paroikeo – a visitor, a foreigner
• Abraham arrived in the land God promised, but as a foreigner
◦ he had to negotiate with the locals for only bit of property he ever owned
And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead (Ge. 23:3-4)

Living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of same promise
– Abraham never owned a house and never lived on his own property
• Jesus said,
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5)
• but for now they live on the earth as foreigners

The writer provides explanation for why Abraham lived this way
For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Hebrews 11:10

Here the writer introduces a new key term – the city
– this should surprise us, because there was nothing in God’s promise to Abraham regarding a city
• the writer is looking beyond all the material promises
◦ remember in chapters 3 and 4, God’s rest wasn’t the land of Canaan?
◦ it was something more, and though Joshua brought Israel into the land of promise, he could not get them into God’s rest
• in same way that the temple was a prototype of the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:1-5),
◦ Jerusalem was a prototype of Mt. Zion, the heavenly city
you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22)
– the Greek word for city is polis – the root of “politics”
• from the New Testament times to the fourth century Christians stayed out of politics
◦ our city is the same city Abraham was looking forward to
◦ and it and its politics are not of this world (cf. Jn. 18:36)
Hannah Arendt, “Historically, we know of only one principle that was ever devised to keep a community of people together who had lost their interest in the common world and felt themselves no longer related and separated from it. To find a bond between people strong enough to replace the world was the main political task of early Christian philosophy . . . .” (According to St. Augustine, she tells us, that principle is love, and she says that it is) “well chosen” and “admirably fit to carry a group of worldless people through the world . . . provided only that it is understood that with the proviso (‘as long as the world lasts’).”
• let’s say, our next president is not the one you chose
◦ it makes no difference in terms of how we proceed
◦ there is only one way for a Christian to journey in this word, and it is by faith
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Php. 3:20)
◦ so regardless of the outcome of the next election, we’ll continue on in faith

That this city has foundations tells us it is an established reality
– that it already exists
• further more, God is the one who designed and built it
• the design does not have to do with streets, buildings, and green belts
◦ but with its spiritual and social architecture
◦ its environment of perfect peace
– Abraham was looking forward
• our ability to endure in faith depends entirely on where we’re looking
◦ or to whom we are looking
• and this is where chapter 11 is taking us
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2)

The third by faith: faith looks like believing the impossible
By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. Hebrews 11:11-12

When he says Sarah was past the age, he means past menopause
– not only had she been unable to have children, it was now too late
• the story of Abraham and Sarah is really delightful
◦ neither one of them responded with faith immediately
◦ rather, God’s promise struck both of them as very funny
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” (Ge. 17:17)
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” (Ge. 18:12)
• notice, they both spoke these words only to themselves
◦ but with God present, you might as well be talking out loud as thinking to yourself
The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh . . .?” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh” (even this exchange I find very funny; Ge. 18:14-15)
◦ so when the miracle baby was born, named him laughter (Isaac)
And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me” (Ge. 21:6)
– how did Sarah demonstrate her faith?
• by considering, or counting on God’s faithfulness
◦ this is something the writer has wanted for his readers
◦ for us to respond to God’s faithfulness with our own faithfulness to him
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (Heb. 10:23)
• the writer says something about Abraham that Paul also said
◦ he was as good as dead
◦ but to this hopelessly infertile couple were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore (this language is drawn directly from Genesis 22:17)

The writer’s commentary on Part 1 of Abraham’s story
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:13-16

They lived by faith and died in faith
– here is one thing they did not have and two things they did have:
• did not: not having received the promises – they were never settled
• did: having seen them and greeted them – from afar

Forgive me this short family story. On a December weekend, years ago, friends invited Barbara and I to join them in Newport Beach for the annual boat parade. Watching all the decorated boats float by, we heard the sound of music blaring from the other side of the harbor. It was not only Christmas music, but worship choruses as well. We could barely make out the distant figures, but I was convinced I could see my mom and dad sitting in the stern of the ferry-like boat.
Now when my brother and I were off playing somewhere and my dad wanted to call us home, he would stand on the front porch and using his thumb and forefinger, produce a loud whistle that could be heard several blocks away. We had our own, specific whistle, and when I heard Dad’s whistle, I would whistle back as Jeff and I ran home. So that night in the Newport harbor, I whistled into the dark, and I could see my folks sit up straight and look around. There was no way they could spot us, but Dad put his hand to his mouth and whistled back. We knew we were both there and we made a connection.
That is what I think of when I read that Abraham and his family greeted God’s promises from afar. God whistled to Abraham, and Abraham whistled back as he headed home.

• did: having acknowledged – now those other two Greek words
◦ strangers – xeno: a sojourner passing through
(Abraham never became one of the locals)
◦ exiles – parapidemos: a resident alien (both words appear in Ge. 23:3)
– Stanley Hauerwas has argued that America is not a Christian nation
• that we live here as resident aliens in a foreign land
• there is significant biblical weight to his understanding of our situation

Verses 14-15 tell us that Abraham and his family looking for their own country
– they were not at home where they sojourned
• and they could not return to where they had lived before
◦ they could not even think of going back
– we do not look back to our past lives, because if we did:
• like Lot’s wife, we would get stuck and never escape our past
• or looking back would be first the stage in going back
William Barclay explains “point of no return” refers to a plane when it reaches a distance in which it does not have enough fuel to return; the “point of no return.” Since it would not make it back to the airport it left, it must continue one to its destination. He says, Once people have “set out on the Christian way, [they] should feel that [they have] already passed the point of no return.”
◦ a better country – the one for which Jesus taught us to pray:
Let your name be revered,
Let your kingdom come,
Let your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven

Briefly, two final thoughts:
God is not ashamed to be called their God — beautiful!
– and Jesus is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters (Heb. 2:11)
he has prepared for them a city
– just as Jesus has prepared a place for us (Jn. 14:2-3)

Conclusion: What is the lesson here?

The way you got to where you are, is the way you continue on, by faith
Don’t get too comfortable
Do not get over-involved or over-invested in this world
We are not staying here forever

In the meantime, consider ramping up your faith,
believing God for something really big
I’m convinced that God enjoys people whose faith is outrageous,
perhaps like that for which Rainer Rilke prayed

I Have Faith
I have faith in all those things that are not yet said.
I want to set free my most holy feelings.
What no one has dared to want
will be for me impossible to refuse.

If that is presumption, then, my God, forgive me.
However, I want to tell you this one thing:
I want my best strength to be like a shoot,
with no anger and no timidity, as a shoot is;
this is the way the children love you.

With these ebbing tides, with these mouths
opening their deltas into the open sea,
with these returns, that keep growing,
I want to acknowledge you, I want to announce you,
as no one ever has before.

And if that is arrogance, then I will stay arrogant
for the sake of my prayer,
that is so sincere and solitary
standing before your cloudy forehead.
(trans. by Robert Bly)

Podcast

Intro: Reading the New Testament we constantly bump into faith

Jesus stressed it, pointing out instances of little faith and great faith
– Paul practically wore out the word faith
(faith appears almost forty times alone in his letter to the Romans)
• but the writer of Hebrews gives the fullest explanation of faith
• beginning in chapter 10, he reminded us of God’s declaration,
my righteous one shall live by faith (Heb. 10:38)
◦ then he defined faith in chapter 11 verse 1:
Faith is resting in the assurance that we will receive the things we hope for, the certainty of having things that are now invisible (my paraphrase)
◦ he follows that with numerous examples of others who lived by faith
– like I said last week, this is a magnificent chapter
• it would be hard to find a chapter that is more helpful than this
• from all these examples we learn that
Faith finds God, while unbelief gropes in the dark, and finds nothing

After the example of Abel, this second example is a little strange
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Hebrews 11:5

The book of Genesis can be studied in sections
– each section tells us a story of a person or family
• and each section is separated from the one before it by a genealogy
◦ genealogies: those long, boring lists of “who begat who”
• we don’t expect to find much that interests us in these ancient family trees
◦ but every once in awhile, we strike gold
◦ Enoch is gold
– like Melchizedek, Enoch is a bit character with a minuscule role
• he is no more than a name in a genealogy
◦ yet he captured the imagination of biblical sages and rabbis
◦ he inspired legends and centuries later books were written in his name
• how did he make this list in Hebrews 11?

The writer quotes the Greek translation of Genesis
– in fact, he uses some of the exact same Greek words
Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and was not found, because God [had taken] him (Gen. 5:24, LXX)
• the writer tells us it was By faith that Enoch was taken up
• Genesis doesn’t say anything about Enoch’s faith,
◦ but it’s a reasonable deduction
– the writer adds God’s purpose for taking Enoch, which was so he would not see death
• follow the genealogy’s trajectory through time of fathers and sons
◦ each generation followed by the next, and they all exit the same way
◦ and he died . . . and he died . . . and he died
• there’s only one exception – Enoch, that he should not see death
◦ Enoch is unique even in this chapter of Hebrews
These all died in faith . . . (Heb. 11:13)
◦ death took all the others, but God took Enoch

This mystery haunts the dusty old genealogy
– how did Enoch just go from this world into–what? Heaven? Another dimension?
• God wanted Enoch immediately
◦ and wanted to spare him the experience of death
◦ it would seem that he just disappeared
and he was not found
• this phrase is echoed in another biblical story, equally strange
◦ that was when Elijah was taken into heaven
◦ a few doubtful prophets wanted to go look for him
Maybe the Spirit of the LORD dumped his body on some mountain or in a ravine (2 Ki. 2:16-18)
◦ but when they went and looked, they did not find him
– the point is, Enoch left this world because God took him out of it
• the writer says, prior to leaving he was “commended”
◦ last week we learned that’s what this chapter is all about
◦ all the people who made this list were commended (v. 2)
• his commendation was for having pleased God
◦ again, that is from the Greek translation, not the original Hebrew
◦ later I’ll explain why that’s important to me

The writer pauses to make another fundamental statement
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6

God is pleased when we know him
– when we live with him as the center and circumference of our lives
• when we choose paths that require absolute dependence on him
• otherwise, without faith it is impossible to please him
– God is pleased when we draw near to him
• this is the primary objective of Hebrews (cf. Heb. 10:22)
• so, if we are going to draw near to God, faith is what gets us there

When we move into faith, the first step is believing that God is
– not, as the verse reads, “God exists”
• God could simply exist, yet be in some faraway place
◦ we always want to add something to these two words
◦ like God is “powerful,” or “holy,” or “good,” or “love”
• but prior to those qualifiers, God simply is
◦ there is no blank that needs to be filled-in
◦ the two words are a complete statement
– this takes us back to when God revealed his name to Moses
• Moses asked God, What is your name?
◦ how did God identify and define himself to his people?
◦ in the name Yahweh–“I am”–the God who is
• God is not limited by conditions or attributes,
◦ he is not limited by space or time – he IS
◦ God is all the time, in all places, and all things to his people
– this was the special significance of God revealing his name at that particular moment in history
God saw the people—and God knew (Ex. 2:25)
This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations (Ex. 3:15)
• from his side, God says, “I am”
• in response, from our side, we say, “he is”

The second step of faith is believing that God rewards our quest
Harold Attridge, “Enoch’s faith, like that of anyone who would ‘approach’ God, is grounded in two propositions, that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him. These two affirmations are only one element of the complex portrait of faith that emerges in the chapter, but they are fundamental.”
– that he rewards us, tells us that he cares, that we matter to him
• we must believe this!
◦ we have to believe this journey is worth it,
◦ that it will be rewarded – as it was for Enoch
Luke Johnson, says of Enoch, “It was, then, his disposition of faith during his life that leads to God’s gift of continuing life.”
– I’ve frequently talked about seeking God
• so here I’ll only remind you that our search for God is not:
◦ geographical – or intellectual (an accumulation of information)
◦ neither God nor his reward are visible
Faith walks through emptiness and silence
• we seek God by focusing our attention on this present moment
◦ remembering that God is here now
◦ and God, by his Spirit, awaken our consciousness to his presence
Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it (Ge. 28:16)

Noah shares something in common with Enoch
By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:7

Noah’s life was also well-pleasing to God
– Noah’s story differs from Enoch’s in terms of what God expected of him
• God warned him of events that were at that time unseen
◦ we’ve seen, this is where faith leads us–into the unseen
• Moses response demonstrated his reverent fear
◦ this reverence was characteristic of Jesus’ prayers (Heb. 5:7)
Rudolph Otto, in his book The Idea of the Holy describes the natural, human response to holiness as “the deepest and most fundamental element in all strong and sincerely felt religious emotion.”
◦ reverence comes from a felt sense of the sacred; the uncanny power of the holy
– Noah’s faith challenge was to construct a huge ship
• it became salvation for his family
◦ salvation is a theme in Hebrews, where we find that Jesus is
the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him (Heb. 5:9)
• that one person found salvation, tells us all could have had it
◦ those who rejected it were condemned by Noah’s example
◦ Noah is the first person in scripture to be referred to as righteous

Conclusion: The one thing I find most interesting in Enoch’s story

Did not interest the writer of Hebrews at all
– and that is, the original Hebrew does not say that Enoch was well-pleasing
• but that he walked with God
• Enoch did something unique
◦ something no one else in the living chain of his ancestors and descendants
– what does this mean, anyway? How does a person walk with God?
• I am not sure, but I am guessing it does not mean hike trails with God
◦ or go on long walks through a park or along the seashore

Perhaps walking with God means
• to go through life with a consciousness of God
• to constantly acknowledge God and interact with him, praying to him and thanking him
• a kind of intimacy with God
• a willing surrender to God, because to walk with him, we have to be willing to go wherever he is going
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (Jn. 10:27)

The writer of Hebrews
shows us the possibilities of a life we’re meant to live
That life is a potential that faith actualizes
Faith walks with Jesus
. . . as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him (Col. 2:6)
This is the kind of faith that we want growing in our hearts
So that the first step we take every morning
is a continuation of our long walk with Jesus,
until one evening he turns and says to us,
“You must be tired. Why don’t you just come home with me?”

Podcast

Intro: Hebrews 11 is one of the magnificent passages in the Bible

It is right up there with Psalm 23, The Lord’s Prayer, and 1 Corinthians 13
– we won’t just step into Hebrews 11 – we need a running start
• last week’s passage culminated in two statements
◦ a line from the OT: my righteous one shall live by faith
◦ a line from writer: we are those who have faith
• it’s a fair question to ask, What does faith do for us?
◦ how does it make my life different from anyone else who is without faith?
◦ What is faith and what does it look like?
– Hebrews 11 gives us answers to these questions
• first, faith is defined – not with a dictionary type of definition
◦ but by explaining what faith does for us and how it challenges us
◦ then it shows us faith in living examples
Mariam Kamell, “What does . . . chap. 11 bring out with its repetition of ‘by faith’? Illustration after illustration verbally hammers home the point that these ‘heroes of the faith’ acted in a certain way as a result of their faith. Stressing an element of right content to faith, the author states in v. 3 that it is by faith we know . . . that God created the world. In addition to the knowledge, however, each of the characters here depicted acted in accordance with God’s will for them, whether it meant triumph and transformation . . . or pilgrimage and death . . . .” “. . . faith must have an active component or it is no faith at all.”
• the active component is stressed repeatedly: Abel offered, Noah constructed, Abraham obeyed, and so on
Luke Johnson observes that ch 11 begins “in a leisurely fashion, lingering over named figures,” giving details of their stories.
◦ but then it builds up speed until it gives only a rapid list of names,
◦ and by the end it lumps together a crew of unnamed heroes, and how their faith brought them to miracle and victory or suffering and martyrdom
Johnson also says “readers are advised to experience chapter 11 at least once in one go, read aloud and at full voice. Only in that fashion can its real power be fully experienced.”
– n chapter 6 verse twelve, we were told to
be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises
• now we get to meet those men and women we are to immitate

Faith, in our lives, is assurance and conviction
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Hope cannot exist in a vacuum – it requires faith
– there have been interesting research studies on hope
• much has come from what Victor Frankl discovered in Nazi prison camps
◦ hope can be the difference between life and death
• more recently, hope accounts for:
◦ better mental and physical health
◦ improved performance (in school and work)
◦ enhancement of personal relationships
• hope is energizing
– faith supports and focuses our hope and our hope inspires and fuels faith

People we meet in this chapter did not have anything more than we have
– in fact, they had less–for instance, see verse 39
Richard Hays, “The chief emphasis of the whole chapter is not just that the biblical characters mentioned here are virtuous examples, but that their faith remained fixed on promises that were substantially unfulfilled.”
• but the “things” hope for are, in fact, substantial
◦ they exist, but their existence lies in our future
• our assurance is the knowledge that we already own those “things”
– “conviction” can be translated proof – but what does faith prove?
• William Barclay has an interesting answer: It was Pontius Pilate who condemned Jesus, but the centuries have passed and it is Jesus who is revered, while Pilate is all but forgotten
• in the future, the history of the world will prove and validate our faith

The point is, faith connects us to an invisible reality
– it’s invisible, either because the reality is still in the future,
• or because it exists in another dimension, or both
we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18)
for we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7)
– faith is a way that we enjoy the future now
• when you order something online, do you get discouraged?
◦ do you think, “Oh, it will probably never come”?
◦ or do you look forward to that item arriving?
Dr. Joe Dispenza, “What if you knew that some issue facing you had been completely taken care of? What if you were certain that something exciting or great was about to happen to you? If you knew it without a doubt, there would be no worry, no sadness, no fear, and no stress. . . . You would be looking forward to your future.”
• that is the attitude we can have when we pray in faith, trusting in God
“If you begin to doubt, become anxious, worry, get discouraged, or overanalyze how this assistance might happen, you have undone everything that you originally accomplished. You got in your own way. . . . you lost your connection to the future that the divine mind was orchestrating for you.”
◦ faith connects us to the future that is going to be ours
◦ rejoicing as if it were already here is an expression of faith
William Barclay, “The Christian [says] that the future is not uncertain, because the future belongs to God.”

This verse could be the title of this chapter
For by it the people of old received their commendation. Hebrews 11:2

We will meet men and women of old, who lived “by faith”
– commendation translates matureo; most often translated “witness”
• matureo is the origin of our English word, “martyr”
• here, it is God who gives witness, or commendation, to these heroes
– the quote I mentioned before from Habakkuk is relevant here,
my righteous one shall live by faith
• it appears three times in the New Testament (Romans and Galatians)
◦ and it is central to Paul’s theology of salvation
• all of these people were made righteous (right with God) by faith
◦ that is his witness about them–cf. Romans 4:3

A starting point for our faith
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:3

“By faith we . . .” – it’s interesting that “we” go first
– we understand something about our world
• this is where God’s will and our lives are played out
• we understand, because faith in God’s word brings enlightenment
The unfolding of your word gives light
it imparts understanding to the simple (Ps. 119:130)
– my intellect cannot convince me that God even exists
• people of much greater intelligence could out-argue me
◦ so it comes down to a choice I make
◦ a choice for God – I choose to believe, to put my trust in him
• when I do that, something amazing happens
◦ an understanding comes to me – deeper than knowing information
◦ I experience the certainty that it is true – God, heaven, eternal life, all of it!
– faith changes our perspective
• we realize that our universe cannot explain itself
◦ something else brought it into existence, and something else sustains it
[Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3)
◦ the word translated “universe” is literally ages,
◦ that which exists through time; the planet and its history – space and time
• once again, faith’s specific orbit is things that are not visible

The first example: Abel
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. Hebrews 11:4

I love this story – it is the first instance of formal worship in scripture
– but it also swirls with mystery – the first two brothers engage in worship
• one worked the soil, a farmer; the other was a shepherd
◦ how did they know to bring God an offering?
◦ who told them what they were supposed to offer him?
• there was something special about Abel’s offering
◦ Cain’s offering appears to be–ordinary
◦ that may say something about them, but it was not the issue
the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard (Ge. 4:4-5)
Notice the following:
1. God’s response was to both the person and the person’s offering
2. Afterward, God spoke to Cain, not to Abel
3. God told Cain what he needed to do to be accepted
If you do well, will you not be accepted? (Ge. 4:7)
4. God warned Cain what would happen if he did not choose to do well
We learn from this important lessons about worship:
1. Worship involves an offering, a gift we give to God
2. Worship is a dialogue with God – an interaction (cf. Gen. 12:7-8)
(the brothers waited to see whether God would accept their offerings)
3. In worship, the worshiper seeks God’s acceptance
(notice that both acceptable and accepting occur in Heb. 11:4. The issue of worship finding acceptance is emphasized all through the Scriptures, beginning in this first instance of worship)
4. The offering is inseparably bound to the worshiper
(it was not that what Cain offered was wrong, but that he was wrong:
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD (Pr. 15:8)

Again, faith is how we are made right(eous) with God
– that though Abel was dead yet “still speaks” refers to God hearing the cry of his blood from the soil (Ge. 4:10)
• Genesis does not give a specific explanation for this
• the writer of Hebrews may seen a hint here at a continued existence for Abel from God’s perspective
◦ if this seems far-fetched, wait until next week!

Conclusion: I am not going to tell you that faith is easy

But faith doesn’t look for “easy” or travel the safest roads
– faith accepts whatever God hands it, and works with that
– unlike our beliefs, faith is not about what we believe, but who we trust

Let me make a suggestion, if I may be so bold,
that every day we take a break from social media,
from television and entertainment,
from the news, whether domestic or international,
and immerse ourselves in the Scriptures

We do not need to be all the time filling our heads with trivia
We do not need to anchor our hearts and minds in this world
We need to know this awesome One
who calls us to himself
who invites us to trust him
Faith in God lifts us out of today’s fears into eternity’s calm
Every day this week,
can we try, consciously, to do one thing by faith?
One thing where our specific goal is to please God
by trusting him with something really important?

Podcast

Intro: The passage we are looking into this morning, Is as terrible as last week’s passage was wonderful

I have found last Sunday’s reminder to be very helpful this week
– I’ve survived and thrived on moments of “drawing near”
– but now we come to this:

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:26-31

• last night, I read this passage to Barbara
• when I finished she threw up her hands, and said,
“We’re all going to hell!”
◦ that was not what the writer intended,
◦ but it is an understandable reaction

From the beginning of our study in Hebrews, we observed its structure
– the writer provides instruction that he follows with a warning
instruction-warning, instruction-warning, etc.
• the first warning was in chapter 2, the second in chapter 3, then chapter 6
• it seems that the warnings are getting progressively scarier
– if you’ve read any of the medical reports on COVID-19,
• you know that if the symptoms manifest, they are painful and disorienting
◦ if it runs its course, the patient dies in misery (apart from hospice intervention)
◦ patients who recover may suffer permanent tissue damage to their organs
• why do some websites make a point of publishing these dire facts?
◦ to motivate people to take the virus seriously and act accordingly
– that is precisely the point of our passage
• the writer wants us to take leaving God seriously and act accordingly
• the threat is real and the consequences are tragic

This block of verses is wrapped together by one word: fearful

At the beginning fearful expectation (v. 17) and the end fearful thing (v. 31)
– this way of enveloping a text is a writer’s technique (literary device)
• placing the text within brackets makes the theme obvious
• in this case, the writer does not want us to simply know about fear,
◦ he wants us to feel it
◦ so he uses vivid images and analogy to evoke this reaction

What has the writer so worried?
– that his readers may go on sinning deliberately
• I think most of us will confess that we go on sinning
◦ we’re guilty, IF we take only the surface meaning of the phrase
◦ God has made provision for continued screw-ups
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn. 2:1)
• so we have to look deeper than the surface meaning to understand the writer is getting at
– his warning is basically the same as in chapter 6
• it has to do with someone who has had an experiential knowledge of God
◦ but now they’ve turned their back on God
• “deliberately” is the key word
◦ do you remember the sacrificial offerings in Leviticus
. . . the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments about things not to be done . . ., sacrifices were provided so that the people could be forgiven (Lev. 4:1-2)
◦ but what the writer of Hebrews refers to is intentional (deliberate)
[God, to Jeroboam, the king of the northern empire of Israel] . . . you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back (1 Ki. 14:9)
◦ tossing God behind your back is not something a person does accidentally

There is no way to get to God from there
– a person cannot reject Jesus and once again have the same access to God
• there’s not another sacrifice for the one who has walked away from Christ
• what there is, instead, is
a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries
– we need to appreciate the writer’s use of metaphors
• biblical scholars have recognized “literary devices” in Hebrews
◦ these are used for clarification and to make the text interesting
◦ metaphor is a grammatical device often used in scripture
• generally, it is used for effect
– what author describes is a firestorm
• you cannot outrun it, and it destroys everything
• destructive forces meant for God’s enemies will be released
◦ if you’ve gone over to other side, you’re on wrong team

All along, writer has been comparing Old Testament religion to Jesus
– frequently his logic has been “from lesser to greater”
• “how much more”
• here the comparison is with punishment under the Mosaic law,
◦ and the greater punishment one deserves for turning from Jesus
◦ the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility (Lk. 12:48)
– what we’ve received in Jesus is infinitely great

Please bear with me – I want to go off on a brief tangent
– I do not believe that God faults people who reject Jesus,
• if the Jesus they reject is a misrepresentation
• today’s media (Christian and non-Christian) have produced many twisted caricatures of Jesus that are not Jesus
◦ I also reject those versions of Jesus that misrepresent him (cf. Gal. 1:6-9)
– but now, back to the passage

The writer emphasizes the seriousness of deliberately rejecting Jesus
– whether they know it or not, the person who walks away from God has done three things:
1. trampled underfoot the Son of God
◦ as a metaphor, trample means to show contempt, to disdain
2. profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified
◦ verse 19 showed us that Jesus’ blood is our means of access to God
◦ to treat it as if not special or not “holy” is to render it useless
3. outraged the Spirit of grace – outraged is better translated “insulted”
◦ the writer puts together two key terms: Spirit and grace
◦ both have to do with God making the Christian life possible (cf. 4:16 and 9:14)
◦ through both, God works directly in our lives
Grace: God’s disposition that explains his generosity to people who don’t deserve it
The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6)
Spirit: God sharing his divine life and power that enables Christians
◦ to be witnesses in the world (Acts 1:8)
◦ to minister to each other with spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7)
◦ to glorify God in worship and our lives (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
– to insult the Spirit is to cut off our lifeline

God’s people have a long history of not seeing sin from his perspective
• for us, sin is merely “fooling around,” and “not hurting anyone else”
• for God, sin is “adultery” — it is personal

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God
– “fearful” because as Luke T. Johnson says,
“. . . the worship of the living God is quite unlike the worship of an idol, whose existence depends on human service.”
– this is the really sad part of this passage
• what the person who walks from the Lord is doing is exactly the reverse of conversion to Jesus Christ, where as Paul says, we
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Th. 1:9)

To help them stay the course, gives them a reminder
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised Hebrews 10:32-36

Forgetting can be the first stage of turning away
– Psalm 106 recounts Israel’s history of repeated failures
• frequently, the first step they took in the wrong direction was forgetting
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love (v. 7)
they soon forgot his works (v. 13)
they forgot God, their Savior (v. 21
• remember in a way that you re-experience the feelings you had about God

The writer also reminds them of everything they had suffered
– and all the good they did for each other
William Barclay, “In effect he says: ‘Be what you once were at your best.’ If only we were always what we can be at our best, life would be very different.”
• if they remember these things, they will not throw away their confidence
– what all of this boils down to: You need endurance
Barclay refers to endurance it as “one of the great unromantic virtues.”

The key to endurance: faith
For,
Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Hebrews 10:37-39

Habakkuk, one the prophets quoted here,
– lived in one of most distressing periods of Israel’s history
• God did not have a pleasant message for him
◦ but the important revelation he received to carry him through was
[God’s] righteous one shall live by faith
◦ that is how God’s people maintain their relationship with him through difficult times
– receiving this message, Habakkuk was able to end his prophecy with a song:
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor the fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places (Hab. 3:17-19)
• he is saying that nothing has to change, and he will still rejoice in God

This stern warning ends in reassurance
But we are not of those who shrink back
– in other words, we are not like those he has been describing
• so if you are reading this letter, he is not talking about you
• you’re safe

Conclusion: Evangelists have told us we need to
“make a decision for Christ”

That is somewhat misleading
We are constantly faced with decisions and choices
When many of Jesus’ followers abandoned him, he asked his disciples
Do you want to go away as well? (Jn. 6:66-67)
The door is always open
And the decision to follow Jesus must be made again and again

Keep choosing God – keep remembering
his love for you,
the beauty and goodness he has shown you,
remember how he has always been faithful in caring for you
Whenever you need to catch your breath, do it
Take a break,
we cannot keep going at full speed all the time
Run to the throne of grace when necessary,
refresh and renew your soul
But once you are up and going again
push yourself,
test your endurance
The payoff is when we experience in truth what we read in James
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (Jas. 4:8)

Intro: We have come to the climax of the Book of Hebrews

N. T. Wright, “The whole letter has been about Jesus, and about who we are as a result of who he is and what he’s done.”
– now the writer of Hebrews reveals the purpose of telling his story of Jesus
• there is no point in reading or studying Hebrews if we miss what is here
• for me, this is the most wonderful revelation in the entire book
– in Genesis, God created the universe
• and, in particular, he created the man and woman for himself
◦ he revealed himself to them and they knew him
◦ their interaction was as children with him, their true Father
• when they chose something else over him, they were banished from Eden
◦ the entrance to Eden was blocked by angelic guards (Gen. 3:24, cherubim)
◦ we were born into the world outside of Eden

We still belong to God – we were still made for him and in his image
– so God chose a man and his descendants, to live among them
• but not like with the same closeness Adam and Eve enjoyed
• “Eden” was no longer a garden, but a inner chamber of the sanctuary
◦ the entrance to that space was also blocked by angelic guards (Ex. 26:31)
– however, that space never contained God
• it was merely a space to reveal his presence among his people
◦ the space of God’s actual existence transcends our universe
• the book of Hebrews has revealed that Jesus entered the transcendent, heavenly realm
◦ we have now arrived at the message the writer has been wanting to tell us

Two introductory statements that begin with, “since we have“
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God . . . . Hebrews 10:19-21

First, we have confidence to enter the holy places
– this is crazy! We’re not qualified to go where the high priest went
• how can we possibly enter heaven’s holy space?
◦ previously, the writer told us,
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (He. 4:16)
• we get into places we don’t belong by grace and mercy
◦ this is what Jesus has made possible
◦ we’re at a point where we cannot be shy or tentative
• it’s true, we’re not qualified to enter here – but Jesus has qualified us
– “enter” is such an important word — we are not supposed to live outside of God
• this entrance that we make is not physical
◦ in the same way that the holy places Jesus entered are not
earthly (9:1), or made with hands, or of this creation (9:11)
◦ this is where we go in prayer; we are present with God in spirit
• we need to understand that this is real
◦ it does not matter what you see or don’t see,
what you hear or don’t hear,
what you feel or don’t feel
◦ you are as close to God as Adam and Eve were in Eden

The writer explains how an entrance was opened for us
– by the blood of Jesus – most powerful sacrifice was the cross of Jesus
• on the Day of Atonement: blood was taken into most holy place
• and there, purification was made for the people and the sanctuary
– Jesus opened a new and living way for us
(in Heb. 9:8, the way into the holy places had not yet opened)
• Old Testament worship was formed according to the law (Heb. 8:4)
◦ law is static–it doesn’t change; worship was static too, in that the same offerings were repeated every day, month, and year
◦ but the way Jesus walks us into God’s presence is dynamic
– through the curtain

Try to visualize this curtain that separated the holy place of the sanctuary from the most holy place. It was from floor to ceiling fifteen feet high and from wall to wall fifteen feet wide. The room was mostly dark, because it had only seven lamps on one stand to light an area of thirty feet by fifteen feet. The fabric of the curtain was unusually thick and served as an effective barrier. God was just on the other side of the curtain. God and his priests shared the curtain, so even though it curtain separated them, it also connected them! It is not unlike the Western Wall in Jerusalem, which separates the people who come there to pray from the sanctuary of the temple that stood at one time on the other side of the wall.
When the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus’ body was like that curtain. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. This is what we mean by the incarnation. God was present, within that curtain of flesh.

It is not important for you to know that the Greek word translated “curtain” is katapetasma. I mention this only because the same word appears in Matthew, Mark, and Luke in connection with Jesus’ death, And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom (Mk. 15:38-39). The only other place in the New Testament where katapetasma occurs is in Hebrews (here and in 6:19). It occurs more frequently in the Greek translation of the Old Testament
And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it (Ex. 26:31). My point is that this is a technical word. We are not talking about just any curtain, but specifically the curtain in the sanctuary. And like the entrance to Eden, angelic guards are represented here, barring the way into God’s immediate presence.
Through his death, Jesus takes us through the curtain and past the guards to God himself.

So first, we have confidence to enter, and second, we have a great priest
– Jesus is over the house of God
• in chapter 3, Moses was a servant in God’s house, Jesus is a Son over God’s house
• I don’t mean to be trivial or disrespectful,
◦ but Jesus gives us a backstage pass
– the high priest wore an apron with jeweled clasps on shoulders
• on those clasps, the names of the twelve tribes were engraved
◦ their names were also engraved on twelve stones set in a bib that covered his chest
◦ in the Hebrew Scriptures, shoulders represent bearing a burden
And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders (Ex. 28:9-10 & 12)
So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel . . . on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD (Ex. 28:21 & 29)
• the priests brought Israel into God’s presence symbolically
◦ Jesus takes us, on his shoulders and in his heart, into God’s presence for real
◦ in prayer, we are shrouded in transcendence

Based on what we have there are three things for us to do (Let us)
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ll the more as you see the Day drawing near Hebrews 10:22-25

G. Campbell Morgan divides this passage into “privileges and responsibilities”
“Privilege is only powerful as it is practiced. . . . It is not enough to know this. We must enter.”

The two words draw near tell us everything we need to know
– what we bring to the entrance:
• a true heart – the “true” sanctuary is a heavenly one
◦ the true heart is one that has its treasures laid up in heaven (Mt. 6:19-21)
◦ it is genuine and it is pure – Blessed are the pure in heart (Mt. 5:8)
• full assurance of faith
◦ Israel did not enter God’s rest because of their unbelieving hearts
◦ we do not construct faith by intellect or will (it is not “make-believe”);
we go to God for faith — the more often we go, the more faith grows
acts of faith are cumulative – they build up to trust
• hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
◦ to think of “conscience” as awareness of right and wrong is too limited
◦ the first meaning of the Greek word is consciousness
◦ we come to God with hearts that have no consciousness of guilt, animosity, anxiety, and so on
• our bodies washed with pure water
◦ the writer is using these physiological terms as metaphors
◦ the reference to the body speaks of a total integration
◦ in hypocrisy, external appearance contradicts internal motivation
◦ to have heart and body integrated is wholeness and holiness

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
– confession is a statement we make about our lives in God
• hope means we never stop looking toward the horizon
◦ and past the horizon!
• without wavering – that’s the goal, a steady hope
◦ if we let hope slip out of our hands, we lose everything
– for he who promised is faithful
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9)
• God called us into this partnership and he is always faithful on his end

And let us consider how to stir up one another
– our encounter with God is inseparable from our lives in community
• we cannot love God without loving others (1 Jn. 4:20)
◦ and we love God in others (Mt. 25:36-40)
• the way “church” is described in the New Testament,
◦ looks like a spiritual community, with Jesus at the center
And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers . . . . And all who believed were together and had all things in common. . . . And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people (Acts. 2:42-47).
– previously in chapter 3, the writer instructed us to consider Jesus (v. 1)
• now we’re told to consider each other – be curious, listen, pay attention to
◦ the Greek word translated “stir up” is the root of our English paroxysm
(a sudden spasm; physical or emotional — here the meaning is stimulate; we might think of “a stimulating conversation”)
◦ how do we do that? tell your stories – of blessings and God-encounters
• to love and good works
◦ many Fundamentalist Xians have shut down good works (“social gospel”)
◦ they’ve used this slogan to justify hostility, insults, and doing nothing for others in need
Hanna Arendt, in The Human Condition wrote, “Goodness in an absolute sense, as distinguished from the ‘good for’ or the ‘excellent’ in Greek and Roman antiquity, became known in our civilization only with the rise of Christianity. Since then, we know of good works as one important variety of possible human action. . . . The one activity taught by Jesus in word and deed is the activity of goodness . . . .”

Two more instructions regarding the community – a negative and a positive
– not neglecting to meet together – this does not mean “go to church”
• it refers to the interactions Christians regularly have with each other
◦ interactions that include the Scriptures, prayer, open sharing, and so on
• sometimes there are legitimate reasons for missing a meeting or two
◦ but our writer does not want that to become “habit”
– encouraging one another
Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the bones (Pr. 16:24)
• encouragement is the work of God’s Spirit – “the Encourager”
• all the more as you see the Day drawing near
◦ urgency grows with crises and catastrophes
◦ and especially in light of the Lord’s return

Conclusion: Reading in 1 Thessalonians yesterday, I came to this verse:
But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face (1 Th. 2:17)
– this pandemic has torn us away from each other
• suddenly I realized how much I have missed seeing your faces
◦ I felt Paul’s need to connect in person
– there are gifts Christians receive only from our interactions with each other
• it is together that we pray,
together that we listen to God,
and together that we draw near

But whether huddled together or spread out in our homes,
what I will leave you with is this:
Come up close to God
At some points in our week, in our day
we need to experience God
Practice “draw-near” intermissions
William Barclay advised, “In the morning as the day begins; in the evening as the day ends; ever and again in the [middle] of the day’s activities, we must turn aside, if only for a moment or a second, and enter into the presence of God.”
You can do this as easily as taking a slow, deep breath
You can do this wherever you are
You can do this right now!