The Beat of a Different Drummer

Gaining approval here means they received commendation by God and by others. For by this kind of faith, this kind of hoping, this kind of seeing, the saints of old received commendation. They became worthy of what we now call them heroes. One author said they took the first step even though they couldn't see the whole staircase, and the lights were out, and it was really steep, and some of the steps were slippery.

Sometimes they stumbled. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey. Today we begin a series entitled, Heroes. It comes from Hebrews chapter 11, where we find a list of Old Testament biblical heroes. These are men and women who have received God's commendation for their lives of faithful service to Him. God honors them for diverse acts and ministries, both great and small. The most incredible thing is that Hebrews 11 is full of people we wouldn't expect to find there. These are people just like us, with faults and failures, but also people who lived out their faith in God.

Let's join Stephen for a lesson he's calling the beat of a different drummer. Has it ever occurred to you that the first person deeply interested in retelling the lives of men and women throughout history is none other than God. God loves biography. In fact most of the Bible is biographical. It gives us the histories of men and women and kings and nations, pioneers and prophets. God evidently is committed to the concept that you and I learn best when truth is brought to life in flesh and blood. And so throughout Scripture he sort of brings truth on stage for us and we watch them parade across it. He brings us the biographies of people good and bad, wicked and godly, self-sacrificing and selfish. He brings them all across for a purpose and we learn. I've started in fact just this past week a biography of a guy named G. Campbell Morgan now lost to my generation of expositors and I couldn't get past the very first page without being challenged by one of his cryptic statements where he said experience is a hard teacher and there are those who never learn.

Maybe it's because we don't read enough biography. Is it any surprise then to listen as God through his apostles makes these kinds of statements. Listen. He says imitate those who through faith and patience inherited what has been promised.

You can't imitate someone you don't know. So let's get a little hope and perseverance. Let's learn how to live and walk by faith. If you open your Bibles if you're not there already to Hebrews 11 you might miss the setting of the chapter and so actually don't quite get to chapter 11 chapter 10 in verse 35.

The writer of Hebrews sort of sets the stage for us and what God has in mind. So I want you to circle or underline or highlight that verse where he says whatever you do don't throw away your confidence. I love that verse. In other words don't throw in the towel. No matter how bad it gets no matter how difficult it looks don't give up. Remember the servants of God who walked by faith. Now if you skip over chapter 11 and you go to chapter 12 right away he encourages us by saying look now that you've discovered you've got this great cloud of witnesses what are they the biographies of all of these saints of old run the race don't quit don't give up stay at it keep pressing on in the race before you live by faith run by faith and you say okay Lord I got in chapter 10 and and you're telling me to do it in chapter 12 sign me up but but can you show me what that looks like Hebrews 11 is the answer it's almost a parenthesis between chapters 10 and chapter 12 where it's as if God says to all of us okay sit down a while and let me tell you some stories they're real they're about real people let me give you some biographies of people in fact that are a lot more like you than you think ordinary people they didn't sign up to become heroes and frankly as you inspect their lives there are many things about them that are not so heroic they lived with moments of doubt and hesitation and even unbelief but God says let me let me show you that in hindsight there's this common thread running through their biographies they they saw the invisible and pursued the impossible they marched to a different drummer in fact it's so incredibly encouraging to understand the only thing they had going for them is the same thing available to all of us faith it is the drumbeat by which we walk with that Hebrews 11 1 opens now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen for by it the men of old gained approval and immediately the Bible student takes out his pencil he says okay this sounds like a good definition faith is and you begin to dissect the verse and come up with okay faith is assurance and conviction about things I'm hoping for and things I can't see but that doesn't fill in all the blanks and you're left wondering okay how exactly do I get this kind of assurance and how do I develop this kind of of conviction so so what's he gonna do well let me remind you it is a definition of sorts but there are several ways to define something one of those ways is objectively in other words this is what it looks like let me tell you about the object let's look at it I'll observe it and I'll tell you the facts that's an objective definition another way of defining something is subjectively that is as you relate to that object here's what it feels like there's a third way of defining something and that is functionally that's how it operates that's exactly what he's about to do let me illustrate it this way Jonathan bring me a bicycle okay I'm gonna define a bicycle three different ways first of all I'm going to define it objectively objectively what we happen to have here is an object bicycle by the way is a Latin word it's compound word made up of by and cycle by meaning to cycle meaning wheel we have two wheels you with me okay that they're round they obviously roll there are spokes it seems to be constructed of some sort of metal maybe aluminum there are all sorts of wires cables gears there's a chain connected to the pedals it seems to me that those pedals operate that chain which operates the okay what I'm doing is giving you an objective definition simply making observations now if I want to describe it or define it subjectively I would say Jonathan if you rode that bicycle it would be a great experience if you're riding downhill you you you could see the Sun you got a front row to creation the Sun is on your face the wind is whipping through your hair and if you would ride that by oh it would be wonderful for you so one what I'm doing is I'm defining a subjectively as it relates to how you and that object might interact but if I want to define it functionally I would say it Jonathan I want you to sit on the bicycle sit on the seat and put one foot on one pedal and then another foot on the other pedal not at the same time okay smart Ellen okay push off and begin to pedal immediately now you want to balance and hold those handlebars watch where you're going and ride look at him go that's that's how it operates next time we'll talk about braking okay there you go what the writer is doing is I think defining faith functionally he wants us to know how it works he doesn't want to set it up for us and say let me describe it for you or simply tell us how it feels he wants us to know how it operates you see Hebrews chapter 11 is not interested in a factual definition of faith but a functional description of faith here's how it works you could sort of read in between the lines through this whole chapter and be telling yourself okay this is what faith does this is how faith acts this is how it operates this is what God wants me to learn about the walk of a faith and so the Spirit of God is going to show us in this chapter that living by faith is not so much a definition it is a demonstration now let's begin by breaking down this functional definition found in verse 1 into its three parts number one if you have notes and you're taking them faith continually provides a foundation for our hope that's the first point faith continually provides a foundation for our hope the first part reads this look there again now faith is the assurance of things hoped for your translation might read now faith is the confidence in what we hope for or yours might read faith is the substance of things hoped for those words assurance conviction substance are fine and good let me give you another word to add to the list based on the original word who post stasis stasis meaning to stand and who po meaning to stand under in other words assurance or confidence or substance is a reference to a foundation faith is the foundation of things hoped for faith is effectively the legs that hold the body upon the foundation that's constantly growing in fact the present tense lets us know that this foundation is constantly being added to it's constantly being strengthened this is the foundation our faith which supports our hope and by the way what are we hoping for Christ returned for the church our future glorified bodies the reunion of all departed Saints coming literal earthly Kingdom where Christ will reign for a thousand years and we with him a future new world where we will eternally dwell as the Father's house descends and then forever resides upon a newly created earth revelation 21 which we forever worship him and on his assignment explore and discover and enjoy listen your faith does not make something true your faith simply embraces the truth and we know these things are true by means of our faith in the inspired words of God which is continually building a foundation upon which we stand our hopes it's what he's saying the truth is even a secular world have you noticed is uneasy in their growing conviction that something more is out there talked a little bit about it this morning the foundation flawed our foundation that the world will be one day destroyed based on the objective revelation of God's Word will indeed we believe come true and that is the foundation upon which we stand so our faith builds that foundation our faith is in fact that foundation I was in the pharmacy two days ago teenage girl behind the cash register no one else around I said to her I hope you're having a good day and she said well you know I'm really not my foot's bothering me and I said well what's problem and she went on to explain that she'd been hurt several times in a soccer game a couple of different soccer games it had surgery and as a result it had ruined her hopes of of being a dancer in the future and I said well I sure I'm sorry but you know I believe that God has a has a reason for everything sort of just to kind of okay let's open this door and see what she says next and she said oh I know I know I know I know it's given me time to focus on my religion I said really what religion she said well well I'm a pagan I said well I I know some people that fit that description but tell me what it means to you she went on to tell me that she was studying to be a witch I said really I said well what are you gonna do after that she said well I'm gonna start my own coven I said wow what are you gonna do next she said well I I want to start my own earth church I was glad she was talking about church I said well what are you gonna do after that she said well I think I want to be a teacher I said what are you gonna do after that she said well I don't know I said what are you gonna do one minute after you die and she just kind of twisted her hands together and smiled at me said well I I don't know I I hope the divine will be good to me I said so you believe in God after all she said well you know not not that not like that you know I mean whatever and another customer came up and she was relieved and I decided to leave by saying I hope you think about that and I pray she will you see her foundation the foundation of her faith was so rickety that in the face of a few questions it didn't stand up she was hoping for something but had no foundation for her hopes so here's the first observation of faith faith continually provides a true foundation for all our hopes it isn't wistful thinking it isn't hoping that someday some divine thing will be good to me faith Hebrews 1 says is a solid foundation that provides the building up of our assurance now I want you to watch this carefully it would be true to say then that faith is not a feeling however it would also be true to say that faith affects deeply affects our feelings having a growing foundation for our hope causes us to feel a sense of urgency toward winning that teenage girl and the people in your world it causes us to to anticipate with with desire the return of Christ our faith causes us to feel a longing for the redemption of our bodies Romans 80 it leads us to pray with contentment and thanksgiving first that's the means for it causes us to love and and humbly serve our fellow believers Colossians 3 faith is not a feeling it is a foundation for the certainty of our hope which will come to pass but it can deeply affect the way we feel think about it what difference do you think it would make in the way I drove to the bank if my friend told me that he had just deposited a million dollars in my bank account how do you think I'd feel how do you think I would allow my emotions to affect my driving over to the bank I would break the sound barrier to get there actually how I drove over to the bank and how I felt while driving there would all be determined on how much faith how strong my faith was in the promise and the credibility of my friend if I really trusted him I could keep the speed limit I might wait until tomorrow to drive over there I might even sit down immediately and just without going there begin to write checks you see my faith in the promise of my friend makes all the difference in the world to me personally and it affects how I feel that's why your faith and mine and the lives we are now living are really nothing more than our estimation of the character of God our faith is our estimation of the character of God that's the first observation it provides a foundation for our hope secondly it produces a conviction that invisible things exist notice the text again faith is not only the assurance of things hoped for but notice faith is the conviction of things not seen your translation may read the evidence of things not seen it's a Greek word that appears only this time in the entire New Testament in this form and it refers to proof Aristotle used the word to refer to a convincing argument your faith is a convincing argument it is the proof of an invisible world so so watch this I love what he's saying here he's not saying that your faith proves invisible things exist he's saying that your faith is the proof that invisible things exist and that's enough for our faith is founded on the living word in the living Lord and what are these invisible things you become convinced of what is your faith proof of the cross of Christ was sufficient two thousand years ago to pay the penalty for your sin so you can pillow your head in peace you didn't see him die you didn't see him rise from the dead your faith is the proof of that by faith you believe in the resurrection of Christ too you didn't see that either you believe with conviction that the preached word will never be void or fruitless I depended my entire life on that one I may or may not see any of evidence of that but my proof is the evidence of that by faith you believe in the ministry of an invisible spirit who indwells you you believe in the ascended and enthroned Messiah and you've never seen it you believe in an ongoing spiritual invisible war determined to discourage and defeat you you can't see any of them you believe in the existence of invisible demons and angels you've never met one so I could I could paraphrase this phrase this text again to capture the present tense verb by reading it this way faith produces a growing conviction that invisible things really do exist eyesight proves the reality of the physical world faith proves the reality of the spiritual world now we know we can all use help in the physical world can't we I mean I'm wearing glasses right now not because I want to but because they correct the weaknesses in my eyes brought on by age and too much peanut butter I knew I'd pay for it one day I understand that you fishermen how many fishermen we have in here yeah I understand that you guys can actually go and buy a pair of fishermen's glasses to remove much of the glare so that you can see the fish below the surface of the water better that's what I needed I've never caught a fish ever you can you can buy night vision lenses how many hunters in here that can penetrate the darkness if you're a hunter you can spot the game if you're a soldier you can identify the enemy you can you can sort of see the danger ahead with those night vision lenses that's exactly what faith does for the believer it is corrective lenses which brings things into focus compensating for our weaknesses it is a pair of fishermen's glasses it helps us see past the glare around us and focus on our mission as fishers of men faith is a pair of of night lenses which allows us to spot the enemy that old serpent who puts traps in our path you see faith helps us see in the dark maybe right now you're walking there maybe your valley is dark maybe right now the lights are low if not out God has brought you to a place where you cannot depend on your senses you can only depend on the Spirit the growing Christian is someone who comes to trust in the spirit more than he does his senses one more principle in this functional description faith prioritizes a lifestyle worthy of commendation verse 2 says for by it men of old gained approval he's referring to Old Testament believers and he's about to pull out about 12 biographies and we'll get into the first one gaining approval here means they received commendation by God and by others why were they commended he told us for by it that is for by this kind of faith this kind of hoping this kind of seeing the saints of old received commendation they became worthy of what we now call them heroes when author said they took the first step even though they couldn't see the whole staircase and the lights were out and it was really steep and some of the steps were slippery sometimes they stumbled but they pressed on clinging with conviction to the reality of invisible things standing upon a foundation which bolstered their hopes so today they are worthy of studying and imitating and following as Paul exhorted the New Testament believer to do because in them we'll we will see a living demonstration of how faith operates how it works it prioritizes a lifestyle worthy of commendation it produces a conviction of invisible reality it provides a foundation upon which we rest our hope we are going to see a demonstration of faith that marches to the beat of a different drummer just like the people who will see in this series people who marched to the beat of a different drummer we too can live lives of faith that's what we'll be encouraged to do as we proceed through this series entitled heroes this is wisdom for the heart the teaching ministry of Stephen Davey Stephen pastors colonial Baptist Church in Cary North Carolina I want to make you aware of two resources first of all Stephen's latest book is entitled Hebrews 11 and comes directly from this teaching series you can order Hebrews 11 on our website which is wisdom online org or you can call us at eight six six forty eight Bible that's eight six six four eight two four two five three the other resource to be aware of is our magazine entitled heart to heart all of our wisdom partners receive heart to heart magazine as our gift but we'd be happy to send you the next three issues because you called and asked all you have to do is call us at eight six six forty eight Bible and ask how you can receive heart to heart I'm glad you joined us today Stephen will continue through this teaching series tomorrow so join us here on wisdom for the hearts you