Living by Faith, Hebrews 11:30-40, Part 1

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Richard Dahlstrom reminds us that the good life is never defined by Jesus in terms of either length or comfort. To the contrary, Jesus says that those who seek to save their life will lose it.

And those who lose their lives, spilling them out generously in service to others because of love for God, will find them. Living by faith requires making bold choices for our Master. He calls us to be salt.

And if salt is going to do anything worthwhile, it has to get out of the comfort and safety of the salt shaker. As we lean on our Lord Jesus, He gives us all we need to live bold lives of abandon as we walk by faith. Let's listen in. So we begin with review this morning as we look through the 11th chapter of Hebrews. People living by faith have a single ambition, and that single ambition is the pursuit of God. People living by faith take action on the information that they have received. Information that has been revealed to them by God.

We don't have to go looking for it. It is revealed. It has been revealed. And the information that we have, we take action. People living by faith take action on that information.

The assumption there is that we know what the information is. God has revealed Himself. Listen, I'm going to say something this morning and it might require you to correct a little bit of your verbiage when talking about God. When God speaks, God isn't trying to say anything to you. God has spoken. Do you see the difference? God has spoken.

Do you know what He has said and are you heeding what He has said? People living by faith take action on the truth that God has revealed. Also, people living by faith move toward the goal. They live with the end in view.

They have their eyes fixed on the objective and therefore the things of earth, whether they be adversity or prosperity, they become marginalized. And they do not impede one's progress toward the objective of being face to face with God. People living by faith move toward the goal. Our focus today then is people living by faith make bold choices.

We will see that in the text. People living by faith make bold choices. This is one of the benefits of the Old Testament, one of the values of the Old Testament. Many people say, well, you know, we really don't need to read the Old Testament because it really isn't relevant, it doesn't apply to us because Christ has come. You know, we're no longer under the law and the Old Testament is just about the law.

Nonsense. One of the chief values, let me tell you the two chief values of the Old Testament. One, it teaches us about the character of God and two, it teaches us about the character of man. God will always be God and man will always be man.

So we are not God and the Bible teaches us about that. But here's one of the chief values of the Old Testament. It is the greatness of our object of trust. The greatness of our object of trust and the benefit of trusting Him. And we see that in the pages of scripture and it's encapsulated here in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, but it's all the Old Testament. The greatness of our object of trust. Our object of trust is a person. He is the infinite, sovereign person.

The one who made us and made us for himself. So we see clearly then the value of the Old Testament and the writer of Hebrews is drawing significantly from the Old Testament. And all of the ones that he's mentioning here are from the Old Testament. The greatness of our object of trust and the benefit of trusting Him. Now before we get started into the lesson today of the text, what the text is going to be teaching us, well we can begin with verse 30.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. Living by faith will make you do unusual things. The title of this message today is people living by faith make bold choices. And here's a guarantee that I have for you on the authority of the scriptures. Living by faith will make you do unusual things.

Remember whose opinion is it that counts? You have one single ambition. That ambition is the pursuit of God.

And you live with the end in view, therefore you take action upon that. That means living by faith will make you do unusual things. Unusual in whose perspective? Not God's. But unusual in the context of the people, the world that you live in. The system that chooses not to acknowledge God.

I guarantee you this, living by faith will make you do unusual things. What did the people of Israel do? They were going to take Jericho. Well instead of storming it like a normal ancient army would and putting it under siege for months at a time, God said just march around the city one day for seven days. They're going to march around the city one time a day for six days and on the last day they're going to march around it several times. And then all they have to do is just what? Shout. Now that's pretty unusual stuff isn't it?

That's not normally how an army does battle. But living by faith will make you do unusual things. Now know this and understand this, remember your single ambition in life is the pursuit of God. If you are living by faith, that means there's only one opinion that really counts. So you're not looking to people to give you their favorable opinion. And if living by faith will make you do unusual things, chances are particularly in today, those unusual things are going to bring on ridicule of other people. But remember whose opinion is it that counts?

Who is it you will stand before in the end? Do you think maybe Noah got a little bit of ridicule in his day? Living by faith made him do some pretty unusual things. Particularly one, like building a huge boat where there was no water.

Okay, that's pretty unusual. But God had spoken and Noah moved with godly fear. So we see that then. Not only that, look at verse 31, by faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. The reputation of Israel was known. The reputation of the God of Israel was known.

And Rahab understood it. And she feared God and therefore she stuck her neck out. And living by faith will not only make you do unusual things, it will make you stick your neck out. Because you might become vulnerable. You might become vulnerable to the wrath of man. If you are living by faith and you are obeying God, you are following, you are pursuing God, you are taking action on the information that God has given you, you are going to do unusual things. And it will require you to stick your neck out, making you vulnerable to the wrath of man.

Because the opinions of man do not equal the opinion of God. Rahab stuck her neck out. She made herself vulnerable. And yet God blessed her because she feared God and she was rescued. You want to know something very interesting? Guess where else we find Rahab in the genealogy of the Messiah.

Isn't that amazing? How dare we put God in a box of who He can use and who He cannot. Let's be very careful about that. Remember, living by faith will make you do unusual things and it will make you stick your neck out. Now let's look at the text here beginning at verse 32 again.

What more shall I say? You know, the writer of Hebrews is on a roll here. He's talking of all these people. And he says, what more shall I say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and the prophets. Who are these people? They are instruments in omnipotent hands.

If you are living by faith, you are an instrument in omnipotent hands. And that's what these people were. And they understood that. It's not that these were super humans. These were not bigger than life people. Maybe with the exception of David, they were normal, average, everyday people. David was a king.

It's not hardly normal average everyday, is it? But still, he was a humble man. He was a man after God's own heart. And we see then, verse 32, Gideon, one of the judges, Barak also with Deborah and Samson, one of the judges, Jephthah.

Who are these people? These were men who exercised faith in God and they acted upon that faith at a time when faith was at a premium. Because at the end of the book of Judges, it says, every man did what was right in his own eyes. People were doing their own thing.

It's kind of like what could be said about our context today, don't you think? And yet these people did unusual things. And it says also, David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms.

This is what the judges did through faith subdued kingdoms. Gideon, for example. And God called him. He says, I'm going to call you to deliver the people of Israel. And Gideon says, why me?

Who am I? And he needed proof that the Lord was calling him for sure. Worked righteousness. Samuel certainly did that. David did that.

Obtained promises. David obtained one of the greatest promises in all of scripture, that one of his sons would reign on his throne forever. And stopped the mouths of lions. Name two people who did that in the Old Testament.

This is a quiz. Your Old Testament. Two people who stopped the mouths of lions. Samson was one and Daniel. Right now, we know Daniel didn't do it. Right. But was there maybe some faith involved there?

Absolutely. Because Daniel's single ambition was a pursuit of God. And the king's edict, the law of the land didn't even get in the way of his pursuit of God. You see, people living by faith make bold choices. The law came down.

Daniel opened his window and he prayed to God. People living by faith make bold choices. It doesn't mean they're weird. It doesn't mean they're arrogant.

It doesn't mean they're rude. But they make bold choices. Because their single ambition is the pursuit of God and they take action on that.

And they live with the end in view. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.