Author: The Christian Campus

Sunday 23 May 2021

Ps Ben Hooman

Welcome to this special service as we do not celebrate Pentecost as Jews did, but rather on what happened on that day that changed the course of the world forever.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

But what lead to this day? Jesus is risen and alive. Ten days before Pentecost He says to them to wait,

“And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, …” (Acts 1:4)

Now what? What are they waiting for? It has been three years, now what? Three years, building up to something devastating. They have seen the most miraculous acts of Jesus, the greatest teachings, the best example of how to do life walking with Jesus. The disciples heard every word Jesus spoke, saw crowds following Jesus, His love poured out. Three years hearing the voice of man who is God. All this just for Him to die?

And yet Jesus told them three times that that is the whole point of the story. “It is not going to be the way you think. I am going to Jerusalem to be killed. And after three days I am walking out of the grave”

Three years of the most ongoing training by Jesus Himself and now He says to them, ‘Wait! You are not prepared for it; you not been fully trained yet”. It is not about the information, it is not about the knowledge, wait. There is going to be a gift! This gift is about to rock the world. This gift is why you are here today.

The Holy Spirit is not a ‘what’ but a ‘Who’

The disciples waiting in Jerusalem to experience what they never experienced before. It is not a what they waiting for, it is who they waiting for! It is a ‘Who’!

Three thousand people are going to come to Christ! Can you imagine the stir in the city? The Roman empire and the Jews wanted to get rid of an irritating movement that they saw as a cult. How do you get rid of it? You kill the leader. But this leader walked for forty days among His people after they killed Him!

Persecution breaks out. Christians break out and it spreads. It spreads to Antioch, to Cyprus, to Galatia, to Tarsus, and back to Jerusalem. The disciples sitting in synagogues telling the Jews what happened. Like a veldfire it spreads – this Jesus is for everyone, not for the Jews only.

Then to Asia, and Macedonia, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and back to Jerusalem. They saying, “You don’t know what happened! Every place we tell them about Jesus a church started – churches all over! And people’s hearts are being changed, everywhere amazing things are happening! And all we do is sharing the truth with them, the gospel of Christ!

Well, that’s great! You go again. And they start another trip all the way into Rome and back. The Christian Jews say to Paul, “But that is our Jesus”. And Paul says to them, “you must see what’s happening in their homes, in their marriages their finances, in their hearts and in their minds. Communities are changed!”

What do you do once you know the stories of Jesus? What do you do once you study the life of Jesus? You know some of His teachings, some of His miracles. And He says, “I don’t want you to do anything, wait until you got this”. Hand trained and walked with Jesus for three years. But Jesus says to them that He got something”.

What is this something?

How it all began

• What happened was the Church

Jesus says, “This is My plan, My plan to reach you and to reach the world”. What happened was the church! From Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Christianity had nothing going for them. It had no money, their Leader killed, no technological tools for propaganda to spread the gospel of Christ. The disciples faced great obstacles but they still took the world by faith, 32 countries, 52 cities, 99 islands!

If you understand the book of Acts, you understand the whole New Testament. The book of Galatians, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and so forth. All letters written back to the churches they left. The is the New Testament, all one story about Jesus. 1 and 2 Timothy – he was left in Ephesus – how to be a pastor. What about Titus on the island of Crete? Every book hang on the book of Acts.

Jesus says to the disciples to wait. “but wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts1:4). You know the facts, you know the story, but you not ready for anything. Wait! Even when you a follower of Jesus, you not ready. Wait for the gift.

“So, when they had come together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” (Acts1:6)

Jesus then gives them the real reason,

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

This is the verse of the entire book of Acts! How can we be famous? No! How can I put on display the Holy Spirit for financial gain? No! How can I chase after the Holy Spirit, now here then there, from meeting to another meeting as advertised on social media? No! “you are going to be My witnesses!”

And then Jesus ascended to be at the right hand of the Father. “Wait! You not ready yet. I am going to give you the Holy Spirit, the gift from the Father”.

How it all began? What happened was the church and,

• What happened was the Holy Spirit for us

It all was possible in and through the Holy Spirit. The acts (the book of Acts) of the Holy Spirit. And it happened for us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to go and make disciples of all people,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

That is why it happened for us on that Pentecost day. That is why we are here today, why we are together at church. It happened in cities, now it is happening here today. and no one is going to stop it! We are the next chapter of Acts.

In church today we have so many different assumptions of the Holy Spirit. For some it is an experience to chase after. It needs to be poured out on people so prophetic utterings break out, miracles happen. Some of these are true, but do we miss the very simple definition!

“… but wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, ‘you heard from Me;” (Acts 1:4)

To understand this, we need to know what Jesus spoke about. It is given to us in the book of John,

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17)

The Holy Spirit is going to teach you how to walk in My truth. He is going to be with you, in fact, He is going to be in you. He is going to guide you, lead you, and teach you.

But why do we as followers of Jesus Christ get the Holy Spirit and the world not?

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.’ Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father who sent Me. ‘These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:21-24)

Jesus says that by the Holy Spirit He and the Father will be in us. That must have confused the disciples, so Jesus draws them a picture of how it is like.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5)

Apart from the vine, the branch can do nothing. All you have to do is remain. You will go through life and will be pruned. But you abide, you remain and it makes you even healthier, to bear healthy fruit.

Jesus says to them, “Guys, you really get to understand how church is going to work. This is the garden, and I am the vine. My Father is the gardener, the One overseeing all. I am the vine and guess what you are? Good vine, no, you are the branches. What does a branch have to do to bear good fruit? Nothing, just remain in the vine. You stay in Me! Why? I just told you four times; if you obey Me, if you love Me, if you remain in My word, you will be in Me. If you don’t, you not in Me”.

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:6-7)

Jesus says, ‘If you walk in Me, your heart and your desires going to be in the Spirit”. When you pray in the Spirit, the Spirit is going to produce what God wants for you. You not going to have these selfish prayers.

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:8-11)

When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, He is going to testify, He is going to reveal God to you, and you will be able to reveal God to others. That is the whole plan! That is what set up the disciples – 30 years, thousands of kilometres – that is what set the world on fire! And that we are still part of today.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.” (John 15:26,27)

Jesus says that that is the big masterplan. Question then, what does the Holy Spirit do? Jesus says,

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)

Jesus says to the disciples, “that’s why I am dying on the cross. That is why I am going away. When I am here physically, I am at one place at a time. Once I go away, My Spirit can be in all places, in all of you at all the times. That is far better than having Me here now on earth”.

“But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore, I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:8-15)

Therefore, Jesus says to His disciples to wait. “Wait for the promise of the Father”. John chapters 14,15,16,17 – the last night of Jesus in the upper room, famous last words, four chapters and His entire story is: “I am in charge of this. Yes, I am going to die, yes, I will rise again.”

Why? “I am going to build our church! How am I going to do this? How am I going to build My church? Through the Holy Spirit. He is going to be in you, with you, and He is going to convict you of sin. Through the Holy Spirit you still going to see righteousness. He will help you to kill the power of sin in your life. He will transform you into My likeness”.

That was the plan of God by sending the Holy Spirit, explained in all four these chapters in the book of John. That is why Jesus said to His disciples to wait. They had to wait for the gift that the Father is giving, and that is the person of the Holy Spirit representing the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, God in us.

The Person of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is not an “it’. The Holy Spirit is not some wearied force, not a movement we tap into. Not some strange thing we run after to get pieces of it. If you are running after such things, you are running from yourself. The Spirit of God is in every Christian that are born from above, being born again. The Holy Spirit is a Who and not a what!

This is what Jesus is teaching us. The Holy Spirit is given to help us. He will guide us in all truth. He will glorify Christ and what is Christ, He will declare to us.

We just have to remain, to abide in Christ. Remain in His word, remain in obedience. Jesus says, “I will remain in you. I will produce fruit in your life. I will change you and through you those around you. Apart from me you can do nothing!”

And the Holy Spirit is going to this new life work. With out the Spirit it is just striving, it is just toil. Without the Spirit it is just a big book of do and don’ts. without the Spirit we can never match up to it. We will only be covered with guilt and shame. With out the Spirit we can not do the Christian life.

We have to remain, remain, remain. Yes Ben, but you do not put enough emphasis on the manifestations of the Holy Spirit. All you talk about is obedience. Because every place Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit, He talks about obedience. And that is remaining in Christ. In that I will do all things. In that I will bear fruit. In that I will be changed.

Jesus says, “Remain in My words, if you love Me, you will obey Me, and We will make Our home with you!”

Did Jesus die on the cross to give me a better life? To make me a better person? No! My life wasn’t worth fixing. Jesus died to take this old life from me – to be dead to the old self, to be a new person in Christ.

Jesus took my life from me so that He can live His life in me. The cross forgave me so that the Spirit of God can live in Me. The cross change where I am going, heaven is my home. The empty tomb changes who I am. The cross change my destination, the risen Christ allows for me to be a new person, to be born again. The Holy Spirit now lives in me. It is not a big force or source in me, but the Spirit of Christ that brought the life of Christ in me.

The Holy Spirit changes me

The Holy Spirit convicts me of sin and produces righteousness in me. He brings the truth and testifies that Christ is real, and to share that with others. He produces the fruit of Him in me as I am obedient to God. He glorifies Christ in and through us.

You are God’s plan here and now. And he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us to be transformed more into Christ and to bring Christ to a lost world.

The Holy Spirit is not a it, but a person. Our choice is to walk in and with Him. I either walk with Him or I silence Him. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Remain, remain, remain! Jesus says: “If you love Me you will remain in Me, remain in My word, any one who loves Me will obey Me. If you don’t obey Me, you don’t love Me”.

The Holy Spirit is a gift of the Father, to work in and through you, to help you to bring Christ to and through you. The work of the Holy Spirit is to enhance the kingdom of God. He is not going to build your own kingdom.

The Holy Spirit is not an experience, but a whole new way of life. Experience comes from walking in and with the Spirit, and there are great experiences and manifestations. People chase after external experiences and atmospheres. The Holy Spirit is not into experiences for the experiences. No! The Holy Spirit says, “Walk with Me and you will experience what I want to do in and through you”.

Today many chases after the experience of the Holy Spirit without remaining in obedience with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is more a condition than an experience. More a relation and not a fixation. God express His work though His Church who you are. The Church is living. And the Church is moving, and we play a part in that.

Remain in Christ and the Spirit will work in and through you. The purpose why the Holy Spirit came, was to change the disciples and empower them to take Christ into the world.

When God gave the ten commandments, it was like a fire consuming the mountain and God empowered one man Moses to speak. At Pentecost God sent His Spirit like the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them! And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

On fire for Jesus! On fire for Jesus and not for self! Jesus, giving the church to take the gospel to many, so they can also receive Christ and live a life in Him. Off course other benefits came by the Person of the Holy Spirit in His power, signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the Spirit. All to enhance the kingdom of God here and now so many can come to the fulness of Christ.

Remain, remain, remain! First obedience and love, and that, so that Christ can use you to build His kingdom. Therefore, you receive power like the disciples to turn the world to Christ.

The Holy Spirit is not a commodity to be put on display. He is real and if you belong to Christ, He is in you and you can do all things for Christ through Christ that is in you. Abide in Him as He abides in you by His Spirit!

Sunday 16 May 2021

Ps Ben Hooman

Please open your Bible at Hebrew’s 11, as we continue our Faith Life Series. Faith is like a living tree bursting with fruit and in this chapter, we see the fruit that faith brings in the life of a believer: Faith listens to God (Abel), Faith walks with God (Enoch), Faith fears God (Noah), Faith obeys God (Abraham). Today we come to something very wonderful: Faith receives from God. And we see this in the life of Sarah.

“By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11)

Notice the word “‘received.” That is the key word. By faith Sarah herself received. Faith receives from God. Faith brings into your possession what you did not have before.

Today, we are going to look at Sarah’s remarkable story. We are going to see how she received by faith from God, and then see how we can receive from the hand of God today. Then at the end we will ask this question: What do you need to receive from the hand of God today? The story begins with God giving a remarkable promise to Abraham,

“And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3).

Then God said to Abraham, “… your very own son shall be your heir” (Genesis 15:4). God then brought Abraham outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them,” Then He said to him, “So shalt your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5).

This was an extraordinary promise for two reasons: First, because Abraham and Sarah had no children and, secondly because Abraham was 75 years old at the time when he left Haran (Genesis 12:4), and Sarah was just a few years behind him. Years passed, and every month was marked by disappointment. God had given a promise, but its fulfilment was nowhere in view. Twenty-four years later, when Abraham was 99 years old, God appeared to him again,

“And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks (terebinth trees) of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him” (Genesis 18:1,2)

Two angels (19:1) and the LORD (18:13,17) appearing in a visible form. Sarah has gone into the tent to prepare a meal for these unexpected visitors and while she was working in the tent, we read The LORD said,

“I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son,” (Genesis 18:10)

Sarah heard what the Lord had said, and Scripture records,

“So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” (Genesis 18:12)

We then read that,

“The Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD?’ At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:13,14)

One year later, Sarah was laughing again, but in a very different way. Tears of joy streamed down her face as Isaac was born and God’s promise was fulfilled. That’s the story in the book of Genesis, and Hebrews gives us this God-breathed commentary:

 “By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past age, since she had considered Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11)

Faith receives power from God

“By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past age…” (Hebrews 11:11)

God gave Sarah power to conceive a child in her old age. The Bible places special emphasis on the fact that this miracle took place in Sarah. It was “Sarah herself” who received this power.

Later in Genesis we are told that after Sarah died, Abraham married again. He had six other children with his second wife, Keturah. (Genesis 25:1,2). So, though Abraham was old, he was not beyond becoming a father.

The miracle of Isaac’s conception took place because power came to Sarah, and that is why the spotlight is on Sarah’s faith in this verse. Sarah herself believed and by faith she received power from God.

• Sarah received power

By faith Sarah herself received power. Sarah received something that she did not have before. Power came to her. And this is how she was able to do what she could not otherwise have done.

God is able to give you the strength you need to meet the challenges that you face. This theme of receiving power runs right through the New Testament Scriptures. Remember Jesus commissioned eleven men to make disciples of all nations. That was clearly beyond them, but Jesus said,

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)

What does that mean? What did this look like in practice? Here are three examples or illustrations from the life of the apostle Paul:

• Sustaining energy

The apostle Paul was sustained in ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:28,29)

When you take on responsibility, there will be times when you wander, “How can I keep going? How am I going to be sustained?” Here is your answer: The energy of the Holy Spirit will work powerfully in you.

• Enduring pain

Paul tells us about a painful affliction that he endured for a long time. And here is what he found: Christ worked through Him most powerfully when this thorn in his flesh was at its worst,

“Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 When you face pain, a trial that sucks the life out of you, you may wonder, how can Christ possibly use me when I have to carry the weight of this burden? Here’s your answer: It is in your weakness that Christ’s power will most clearly rest on you.

• Facing loneliness

There was a time when Paul was put on trial in a court of law for preaching the gospel. He was on his own. There were no other believers there to support him. But this was his testimony,

“But the LORD stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles may hear it. (2 Timothy 4:17)

When you find yourself alone, you will find yourself asking, “How can I get through this?” And here’s your answer: The Lord will stand with you and give you strength.

• Sarah received power by faith

“‘By faith Sarah received power…” (Hebrews 11:11)

God is able to give you the strength you need to meet the challenges you face, but you must receive this power by faith. Faith is the means by which we receive from the hand of God,

 “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God … But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:5-7)

In order to receive you must ask, but when you ask, you must ask with faith. Without faith you will not receive. Jesus said,

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)

When I read a verse like this, my first instinct is to want to try and qualify it. Here’s why: These words of Jesus have been horribly abused by preachers who promise universal health and prosperity and encourage their hearers to name what they want and claim it from God.

It is really important to interpret Scripture in the light of Scripture. God does not contradict Himself. He is not in confusion. So, we need to ask what else Scripture says that bears on this subject of asking and receiving. And we will come to that in just a moment.

But here’s the problem: If our first response to a verse of Scripture is to qualify it, we may miss the thing we most near to hear. For example, when the Bible says, “‘God so loved the world.” There are people who want immediately to say, “Yes, but we must remember that the world is also under the judgment of God.” That is true. But if you jump to the truth that the world is under the judgment of God, you miss this great truth that God really does love the whole world.

The first thing we must do with any verse of Scripture, is not to qualify it, but to hear it. So, if when you read a verse of Scripture, you find yourself saying, ‘Yes, but,”. Stop yourself right there and ask what you might be missing. Jesus said,

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24)

By faith Sarah received. What can we take from this today? How much more might we receive from the Lord if we ask more, and we believe more? The Bible tells us that we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2). That if we want to receive from the Lord we must ask with faith! (James 1:6). And that if we ask with faith we will receive! (Mark 11:24).

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

If we ask more and believe more, we will receive more. It is by faith that Sarah received power. And by faith, we too can receive from the gracious hand of God.

• There is peace that you could enjoy
• There is strength that you could receive
• There is comfort that you could feel
• There is grace that you could savour
• There are victories that could be yours

Imagine arriving in heaven and seeing a door with a sign that says, “Unsought Gifts.” You ask an angel., “What’s behind the door?” The angel leads you into a vast room piled high with boxes, stacked from floor to ceiling, row after row. Each box has someone’s name on the front. As you walk between the rows of boxes you come to one that has your name on it. You open the box and it is full. “What is this?” you ask. “These are the gifts that might have been yours on earth”, the angel says. “But because you did not ask, they remained up here”.

We clearly see this from the life of Sarah; Faith receives power from God and secondly,

Faith rests on the promise of God

“By faith Sarah received power… since she considered Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11)

There are two things here: we told by faith Sarah received power how did this happen? Since she considered him faithful who had promised. So she received power on account of the promise and then on account of the one who gave the promise. Firstly,

• Faith rests on the promise

“By faith Sarah received power…since she considered him faithful who had promised” {Hebrews11:11)

You may have met people who say, “With God all things are possible. Jesus says if you ask anything in His name, He will do it. So, what do you want? Name it and claim it! Nothing is impossible with God. The only limitation is your faith.”

But Sarah’s faith rested on God’s promise. God had promised a child to Sarah, but that promise is not given to every person. God has not promised that every woman will have a child. God has not promised that every sickness will be healed. So, it would be very cruel to say to a couple who long for a child, “Sarah believed and if you have enough faith, you can have children too!”

 Faith in the Bible is not wish-fulfilment. Faith is not a creative act by which we bring what we want into being. But faith is the means by which we received what God has promised to give.

Thomas Manton says, “‘Wherever we put forth faith we must have a promise, otherwise it is but fancy, not faith”. What he is saying is that faith rests on the promise of God. Faith is not trusting God to fulfil your dream. Faith is trusting God to fulfil His promise. Faith is tied to the promise.

How did Sarah come to believe this promise? She had not always believed it. The first time she heard it, she laughed. How was it that she came to believe? Well, we are told here,

• Faith rests on the promise of God

“By faith Sarah received power… since she considered Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11)

The strength of any promise depends entirely on the person who gives it. Someone says, “I give you my word”. How valuable is that? It all depends on the person. If the person is known to be a liar his or her word is not worth much, but if a person is known to be true, their word means a great deal.

God is always true to His word and Sarah believed God’s promise because she learned about God. That is how we come to belief the promises that God gives to us. We come to belief His promises as we learn more who He is.

When God appeared to Abraham and gave him the promise that Sarah would bear a son, Sarah was inside the tent, hidden from view. Genesis tells us that when God gave the promise, Sarah laughed “to herself” (Genesis 18:12). No sound was heard. No smirk was seen. But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh?’ {Genesis 18:13). And Sarah realized, “the Person who made this promise knows everything about me, even my private unbelieving thoughts”.

Robert Bruce says, “It was not a mere man who was dealing with her… neither was it an angel, for angels cannot see into our innermost thoughts. Therefore, at once it dawned on her that this man speaking to her was the living God; it was at this point she knew that nothing was impossible for such a God!”

There is something very beautiful here. God knew that for twenty-four years Sarah found the promise hard to believe. He knew that years of disappointment have made her afraid of being disappointed again. So, what did God do? God appeared in a visible form to bring Sarah to faith! This appearance was not so much for Abraham than it was for Sarah. God bring this woman to faith.

That is a perfect picture of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The God who appeared to Sarah in the form of a man actually became a man in Christ Jesus. Why did He come into this world? He came so that we might know the Father. He came to lead us to faith. He came so that by faith, we might receive all that God has promised.

Faith receives power from God, Faith rests on the promise of God, and thirdly,

Faith advances the purpose of God

“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 11:12)

“Therefore” refers backwards and it refers to Sarah. Think about what came from Sarah’s faith: “By faith Sarah received power to conceive”. Sarah’s faith led to the birth of Isaac. From Isaac came Jacob, from Jacob came Joseph and his brothers. From Sarah came the line of descent that God had promised to bless all. The line into which Jesus Christ was born. And Jesus Christ will gather a great company of redeemed people from every tribe and nation, who will glorify God and enjoy Him forever in a new creation that will be the home of righteousness. They will be as many as the stars of heaven. As many as the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.

Faith advances the purpose of God. He moves His sovereign purpose forward by means of people who receive from His hand because they believe His promise. By faith Sarah received.

Conclusion

Here’s what we are taking to heart from the word of God today: If we ask more, and believe more, we will receive more.

• I need to ask more from God
• I need to give greater weight to His promises in my life
• I need to receive what I do not have from His hand

If we ask more and believe more! So here is the question,

What then do you need to receive from the hand of God today?

• Are you facing an overwhelming challenge? Here is a promise for you: Christ says,

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God has what you need today. Ask with faith and receive.

• Do you need renewed strength? Here is a promise for you:

“Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles,” (Isaiah 40:31)

There is strength that God can give you today: Ask with faith and receive.

• Do you need material provision? Here is a promise for you,

“My God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory.” (Philippians 4:19)

God is able to provide for you today: Ask with faith and receive.

• Do you need to find peace? Here is a promise for you,

“You keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You” (Isaiah 26:3)

There is a peace that God can give you today: Ask with faith and receive.

• Do you need to find hope? Here is a promise for you,

“After you have suffered a little while, the God of grace, who has coiled you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)

God has a future for you: Ask with faith and receive.

• Do you need to receive forgiveness? Here is God’s promise to you in Jesus Christ:

“Your sins and your iniquities I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17)

Jesus Christ stands ready to forgive you today: Ask with faith and receive.

• Do you reed to be made right with God? Here is God’s promise for you:

“God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

You can be right with God today: Ask with faith and receive!

FINDING THE PATH

Dr Ben Hooman

There is a warning that is very important for us today. Jesus is warning us about the danger of an empty profession. In other words, saying yes to God is of no value if you do not do what He says.

Give of Yourself (Part 2)

Dr Ben Hooman

There is only one life that I can now offer to Christ and that is actually the life I am living right now. No life is perfect. No life is what we want it to be this side of heaven. This life with all its challenges we are facing, all the difficulties we have on our plate today, this is the life we are able to offer to Christ right now. Real life with all its troubles, that is what Christ is laying claim to. This is what I have to surrender and offer to Him. 

9 May 2021

Ps Ben Hooman

Please open your Bible at Hebrews 11, as we resume our Faith Life Series. We’ve seen that faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised. God teaches us in Hebrews 11 through a series of examples. Each one highlights an aspect of the faith to which we are called.

We saw from the story of Abel that faith listens to God. We saw from the story of Enoch that faith walks with God. We saw from the story of Noah that faith fears God.

Today we come to the story of Abraham, where we see that faith obeys God.

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance” (Hebrews 11:8)

We are told here that God “called” Abraham. Abraham obeyed when he was called. You would think that a man who was called by God must have been especially holy. Surely this man who obeyed God’s call and received God’s promise must have been seeking God, loving God desiring God. But precisely the opposite is the case. Joshua says to God’s people,

“Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods” (Joshua 24:2).

Abraham worshipped idols! He served gods of his own making. He did not know the God who made Him. But one day, God appeared to Abraham as he had appeared to Adam and Eve in the Garden:

“The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran” (Acts 7:2)

Can you imagine this! Here’s Abraham, with these little statues perched on a rock. He is saying his prayers to the idols, asking them to help him, and suddenly the God of glory appears to him! God who made the heavens and the earth appeared! God took visible form and stepped into this man’s life uninvited.

God appeared to Abraham, laying claim to his life, his love, and his loyalty. Abraham’s life would never be the same again. Now notice how Abraham responded when God called him

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to gout to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance” (Hebrews 11:8)

We need to see three things from the story of Abraham today:

– The obedience that faith brings

– The patience that faith demands

– The future that faith anticipates

The obedience that faith brings

“By faith Abraham obeyed …” (Hebrews 11:8)

These words describe the relationship between faith and obedience. They tell us how obedience grows in the life of a believer, “By faith Abraham obeyed.”

How did Abraham obey? How can we grow in obedience to God today? Abraham believed what God had revealed, and trusted what God had promised. That is how he obeyed. His obedience sprang from his faith.

Grasping how faith relates to obedience is really important. Let us look at three pictures of this relationship: Two of them are wrong, and should be avoided at all costs. One is right and should be pursued whatever the cost. The three are the mixing bowl, the buffet lunch, and the apple tree.

• The mixing bowl: Confusing faith and obedience

You are in the kitchen, and you are getting ready to bake a cake for someone’s birthday. You get the flour, the butter, the sugar and the eggs. And you mix them till you have a smooth cake batter. And of course, when you have the batter, you no longer have the flour, the butter, the sugar, and the eggs. They have dissolved into each other. They are all mixed up!

Some people get faith and obedience mixed up. They can’t tell them apart. You’ve probably heard someone say, “When I look at my life, I know that it is not what it should be.” And then I wonder… “Am I really a true Christian?”

The person who says this is looking at their obedience. They see that it is far from complete. And they say “well if my obedience is not complete, maybe I am not a Christian at all.”

That is to confuse faith and obedience: It is to mix them up so that you can no longer distinguish the one from the other.

If you have a mixing bowl problem, I want you to notice that there is a clear distinction between faith and obedience, “By faith Abraham obeyed” (vs. 8).

Faith is not obedience, and obedience is not faith. The distinction is really important: The Bible says that we are justified by faith. And if you get faith mixed up with obedience, you will end up thinking that you are justified by obedience, and since your obedience is never complete, you will never enjoy real and lasting peace.

God saves us by giving us what we do not have in ourselves. Faith looks to Christ and receives all that is in Him. So, beware of the mixing bowl: Don’t confuse faith and obedience.

There is a testimony from the nineteenth century of a woman by the name of Mrs. Drake. She was a believer, but she endured a prolonged time of great darkness, doubting that she belonged to the Lord. After some years, God brought her out of this, and looking back on her experience, this is what she said: “The fountain of all my misery hath been that I sought that in the law which I should have found in the gospel; and for that in myself, which was only to be found in Christ.”

This lady was trying to find peace by obeying the law, when the only way to find peace is by believing the Gospel. She was looking to find righteousness in herself, when true righteousness can only be found in Jesus Christ. And she says, “this was the fountain of all my misery.”

If you confuse faith with obedience, you will never be happy. You will be looking for righteousness and peace in the wrong places. Faith finds in peace in the gospel, that obedience to the law can never produce. Faith finds a righteousness in Christ, that we can never find in ourselves.

So, beware of the mixing bowl: Don’t confuse faith and obedience.

• The buffet lunch: Separating faith and obedience

The buffet lunch is the opposite of the mixing bowl. When you go to a buffet lunch, the food is presented in separate compartments. It’s all laid out for choice, so you load your plate with what you like, and you pass on what is not to your taste.

It would be easy to think of faith and obedience like a buffet lunch. Here’s faith: I’d like some of that. It gives me the taste of forgiveness and heaven. Here’s obedience: That might be harder to swallow. I’ll pass on that for now.

Friends, faith and obedience are not like choices in a buffet lunch. Paul speaks about the “obedience of faith…” (Romans 1:5). The person who thinks that to be a Christian is to add belief in Jesus to an unchanged life needs to hear this challenge from James:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14)

James makes it clear that where there is faith, obedience will follow. So, beware of the buffet lunch. Don’t separate faith and obedience.

• The apple tree: Rightly relating faith and obedience

Faith and obedience are distinct: we mustn’t mix them up and confuse them. Faith is faith, and obedience is obedience. But faith and obedience belong together. They must not be separated.

So, forget the mixing bowl and the buffet lunch, and think about an apple tree. There’s a clear distinction between the apple and the tree. You eat the apples. You don’t eat the tree. The apples spring from the tree. They are formed by the tree.

If you want to have apples, you must plant an apple tree. And if you want to grow in obedience, plant the tree of faith.

As faith puts down its roots into the Word of God, so, gradually and increasingly the good fruit of obedience will grow. Faith is a living tree bursting with fruit. This is what we are learning from Hebrews 11. The opening verse describes the tree. It tells us what faith is:

“The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

That’s what faith is, and the rest of the chapter is all about what faith does. Faith listens to God. Faith walks with God. Faith fears God. Faith obeys God.

Grow in faith and you will grow in obedience. The more you believe what God has revealed and believe what God has promised, the more you will grow in obedience. Faith produces obedience. Obedience arises from faith. “By faith Abraham obeyed”:

The patience that faith demands

“By faith Abraham obeyed…And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8)

When God called Abraham to a life of faith, He did not tell him where that would lead. Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going.” God did not give him a map to show where he was going. God did not give him a brochure to tell him what it would be like when he got there.

• Faith demands patience because of what we don’t yet know

What will a life of faith and obedience to Jesus mean for you? What will it involve? What will it cost? None of us knows.

Jesus says “Follow Me.” When you step out in faith and obedience, you don’t know where He will lead you. And that is the glory of faith, simply not to know!

You will sometimes find yourself asking “Why do I have to go through this?” What purpose does God have in leading me here? We ask “why?” And God is under no obligation to tell us. We walk by faith, not by sight: One day we will know fully, but now we know in part.

Faith demands patience because of what we don’t yet know.

• Faith demands patience because of what we don’t yet have

“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)

Living in the land of promise sounds marvellous, but when Abraham arrived in the Promised Land, he found that it was already occupied. In Acts 7:5 we read,

“Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child” (Acts 7:5)

God’s people had to wait 500 years before God gave them the land. It was after Abraham, after Isaac, after Jacob, after Joseph and his brothers, after 400 years in Egypt, after the death of Moses that God gave the Promised Land to Abraham’s descendants.

The Promised Land was not given to Abraham. After years of living there, Abraham had to buy a small plot of ground from the Hittites to bury his wife Sarah when she died (Genesis 23:7). A burial plot was all he owned. Abraham spent his entire life “living in tents.”

He lived on a promise, trusting God that one day, the land would be given to his offspring. One day, God would fulfil His promise. One day God would give Abraham a child. One day God would give His descendants the land. But that day was “not yet.”

It was by faith that God led Abraham to the land. But when he got there, it was by faith that Abraham lived in the land. Here’s the question: Which is harder?

Philip Hughes says, “The situation into which he moved on his arrival in the land of promise was a more severe trial of his faith than was the call to leave home and kindred, and it was easier for him to live by faith as he journeyed toward a goal as yet unseen than to do so upon reaching this goal and finding that the fullness of all that he had been promised was “not yet.”

I expect that Abraham thought that life in the Promised Land would be a kind of heaven on earth. But when he got there, he found that Paradise was “not yet.”

This is a marvellous picture of the Christian life. Coming to faith in Christ is like Abraham setting out on his journey to the promised land. When you hear the call of God and, by faith you obey His command to repent, all the promises of God are yours. Forgiveness is yours, and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit is yours. Everlasting life is yours. In Christ all the promises of God are yours.

But soon you discover that you are living with the “not yet.” Not yet are we free from sin’s presence or its power. Not yet are we free from sickness or loss. Not yet do we enjoy a life of perfect peace. Not yet is the church without stain or wrinkle. Not yet have the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and Christ. And so not yet do we live in a world of righteousness, justice and peace.

Faith demands patience because of what we do not yet know. Faith demands patience because of what we do not yet have. So, how do you find the patience that faith demands?

How did Abraham have the patience, the endurance, the strength to spend his entire life living in tents as a stranger in a foreign land? How can you find patience and endurance in the disappointments, frustrations and losses of life?

The future that faith anticipates

“For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10)

When Abraham got to the Promised Land, he realized, that God had more in store for him that he would ever experience in this world.

God had blessed Abraham with great success while he was still worshipping idols in Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 13:2). Genesis makes it clear that “Abraham was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold” (Gen 13:2). Then God gave him marvellous promises that led to his new journey of faith.

From that time on, his whole life was “looking forward.” Hebrews tells us that the city he was looking forward to was, “The city… whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

Notice that Abraham is not looking for a city, he is looking for the city whose designer and builder is God. Verse 16 tells us her was looking for a heavenly city.

If Abraham could come and observe our world today, I guess he would be astonished at the endless arguments that keep tearing people apart. Radically different visions of what life in our cities and in our country should be. I guess he might say, something like this: “You are all arguing about how to build your own cities. I was seeking the city whose designer and builder is God.”

The city Abraham was looking forward to is not created by human progress. He’s not thinking that we can shape a brave new world where all human dreams will be fulfilled, and all human desires will be satisfied. Only God can do that.

All of us have goals in life: things that we want to achieve. To reach a certain point in your career. To be married and to have a family. To have a certain amount of money that you think will give you financial security. To see some change in the world or some growth in the church.

Whatever it is, here’s what we learn from Abraham: When you get there, it won’t be what you thought.

Listen to these words of C S Lewis: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world”.

Conclusion

The obedience faith brings, the patience faith demands, the future faith anticipates.

Someone may be saying, “well this is an old story.” You are talking about something that happened 3000 years ago. You are telling us that God appeared to this man. That God called him, that God gave him great promises. That he lived in tents, and that he was looking for a city. What does that have to do with us living today in the city and suburbs of the West Rand?

• God has appeared to you

“The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people” (Titus 2:11)

God became a man in Christ Jesus. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God has made Himself known to you more clearly than He ever did to Abraham.

• God calls you

Jesus Christ the Son of God says, “follow Me.” He lays claim to your life, your love and your loyalty. He calls you as clearly as God called Abraham.

• God gives you great promises

If you will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, forgiveness will be yours, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit will be yours, everlasting life will be yours.

• You live your life in a tent

That’s how the Bible speaks about your body. It’s a fragile structure that one day will be taken down. Every time you get sick it is a reminder that you live in a tent and this world is not your home.

Thank God if you are in Christ you can say with Paul,

“We know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1)

God has prepared a city for you

Hebrews says of people who believe what God has revealed and trust what God has promised, 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 11:16)

Jesus says, “So do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. I go to prepare a place for you. And I will come again to take you to be with Myself so that where I am you may be also.”

Give of Yourself

Dr Ben Hooman

Today we focus on the positive dimension of repentance. Turning from as much as you know of your sin; that is negative, turning to give as much as you know of yourself; that is positive. It is important for us to recognise that repentance always involve the negative and the positive. 

Always what we turn from to what we turn to! In other words, it is not that we just stop doing certain things. if that is the case, it is only half of repentance.

2 May 2021

Ps Marius Engelbrecht

Please open your Bibles at Hebrews 11. We continue in the series on faith. We are looking together at what it means to live by faith. God teaches us in Hebrews 11 through a series of examples. Each one highlights an aspect of the faith to which we are all called.

We saw from the story of Abel that faith listens to God. We saw from the faith of Enoch that faith walks with God. Today we will see from the story of Noah that faith fears God. 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 faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet seen, 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)

It seems that this verse speaks to a pressing question that faces us all in these difficult days. We are living at a time when believers are experiencing great sadness over revelations of the secret sins of some Christian leaders. Along with our sadness, we are also perplexed. How can these things be? Is there something missing? Have we lost something that we need to keep us on the right path?

I want to suggest, that one thing we may have lost is what we are told here. Noah lived with “reverent fear.” God “warned” Noah “concerning events as yet unseen.” “Noah, the world as you know it will soon pass away. It will be destroyed in a great and unprecedented flood. Noah believed the warning, and he feared.

This verse seems to be saying that faith can lead to fear. By faith Noah…in reverent fear constructed an ark. By faith he feared! Now someone may say – “Surely not!” Surely faith delivers us from fear. Isn’t the whole point of faith that we have peace and joy in believing?

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13)

That is true. But there’s more. There is a fear that faith relieves, and there is a fear that faith brings. God has given us warnings as well as promises, and the faith that rejoices when it hears God’s promises, trembles when it hears God’s warnings.

“All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2)

By faith Noah, being warned by God…in reverent fear constructed an ark (Hebrews 11:7). I want us to see today that the fear faith brings is a gift from God, and that it is vital for the pursuit of a godly life.

Seven Observations about Godly Fear

Godly fear is a gift from God

“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of Me in their hearts, that they may not turn from Me” (Jeremiah 32:40)

God is speaking here about the new covenant, the relationship all of God’s people have with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Notice that in this covenant, God is committed to doing us good. He says that He will never turn away from us. But then He says something else, “I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn away from me”.

Godly fear is the fruit of forgiveness

“If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared” (Psalm 130:3-4)

You would think this verse would say, “with You there is forgiveness, that You may be loved”. After all, the one who is forgiven much, loves much. But this verse says something else. “With You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared!” There is a fear that forgiveness brings. When you know that the forgiveness for your sins came at the cost of all that Jesus endured on the cross, you will have an awe of the gift that will cause you to fear sinning again.

Forgiveness brings you into the fear of the Lord: How could I sin against love like this? The fear of the Lord is a fear that only those who are forgiven can know. It is a fear born of a loving relationship that was bought at an infinite cost.

Godly fear is the fruit of forgiveness. This is confirmed by the fact that the wicked have no fear of God. In Romans 3, Paul describes the state of those who are far from God. He speaks about their lies, their venom, their curses, their violence. But his bottom line is this: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18)

The fear that God puts into the hearts of His people is a fear born of love. It is birthed at the cross where we see what it took for us to be forgiven. “With you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared”.

Godly fear will keep you from sinning

“Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” (Exodus 20:20 NIV)

These words were spoken by Moses at Mount Sinai. When the presence of God came down, smoke covered the mountain. Fire erupted from the smoke and the whole of the mountain shook. Even Moses was trembling with fear. But Moses says to the people “Do not be afraid.”

The fear you know in the presence of God is a good thing. It is a gift, and as long as the fear of the Lord is with you, it will keep you from sinning. When you are tempted:

• Remember the fire and smoke on the mountain.
• Remember the terror you felt in the immediate presence of God.
• Remember who God is, and the fear of the Lord will keep you from sinning.

There are other motivations: Love for Christ, joy in Christ. But the power of temptation is so strong, we need every help we can get in our fight against it.

Fear is your friend in your fight against temptation. We need more than godly fear, but we can’t get away with less. The fear of the Lord acts as a brake on the impulse to sin that remains in the flesh of a Christian believer. A car without a brake is heading for disaster. And a believer without the fear of the Lord is heading for disaster too.

When Joseph was tempted, it was the fear of the Lord that protected him. “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 37:9). The fear of the Lord will keep you from sinning.

What happens if a person loses the fear of the Lord? In Psalm 36 we read that,

“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes.” (Psalm 36:1)

You hear about someone who commits a terrible sin, and you wonder, how could he or she possible do that? How could sin worm its way so deep into a person’s heart that he or she could do what they did? The answer, “There is no fear of God before his eyes.” The fear of the Lord will keep you from sinning.

“By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6)

Godly fear will foster your pursuit of holiness

“So, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:9-10)

Notice why we make it our aim to please the Lord. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. One day I will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and I will give an account of the way I have lived my life. There’s no avoiding this. So, I cannot live to please myself. And I cannot live to please other people. I must make it my aim to please Him.

This is not our only motive for pleasing the Lord. We make it our aim to please Him because we love Him because we are thankful to Him because we find joy in him. These are higher motives for sure. But there will be times when your love burns low. There will be times when you struggle for joy, and God gives you this motive that we should not despise: “We make it our aim to please Him. For we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

Godly fear will sustain you in faithful service

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each on may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others…” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11)

Paul experienced tremendous opposition in his work as an apostle. How did he keep going? He knew that something of overwhelming consequence lies ahead of every person. “We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. So how can I sit back and do nothing? How can I remain silent when I know this to be true? Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others”.

Now, again, there are other motives: He says in verse 14, “For the love of Christ controls us”. We are sustained in ministry by the love of Christ, by joy in Christ, by our desire to see people receive the blessing of Christ. But godly fear will keep you faithful in serving the Lord.

Godly fear will keep you from abandoning the faith

“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 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)

There was great pressure on the Hebrew believers to whom this letter was first written to abandon their faith in Jesus. This letter of Hebrews offers robust encouragement. You have faced great pressure on account of your faith, but if you abandon Jesus, you will have something much worse to face.

Jesus is the one and only sacrifice for sin. If you walk away from faith in Him, you have no other way of finding peace with God. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, So, don’t even think about abandoning your faith in Jesus.

Godly fear will deliver you from other fears

“Blessed is the man who fears the LORD…His heart is steady; he will not be afraid” (Psalms 112:1,8)

If you have this godly fear, your heart will be steady. Godly fear will put strength into you. It will enable you to face and overcome other fears.

Fear Him, you saints and you shall then have nothing else to fear. It seems to me that in losing the fear of God, we have been overwhelmed by an epidemic of other fears. Fears about health about money. Fears about the future. Fears about not measuring up. Fears about what other people think.

Lose the fear of God and other fears run rampant. Learn the fear of the Lord, and you will find strength to face your other fears.

Do you see what a marvellous gift this fear of the Lord is?

It is the gift of God.

It is the fruit of forgiveness.

It will keep you from sinning.

It will foster your pursuit of holiness.

It will sustain you in faithful service.

It will keep you from abandoning the faith.

It will deliver you from others fears.

The more we look at these Scriptures, the more we are convinced that in large measure, we have lost sight of something vital to the pursuit of an authentic Christian life.

“In reverent fear” Noah “constructed an ark.” So, what are we to do?

What are we to do?

• Believe all that God has revealed

“By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark …” (Hebrews 11:7)

Faith trusts God’s promises and it believes God’s warnings. Something within us wants to believe the promises and ignore the warnings. We want to believe that God will pardon sin but not punish it. We want to believe in heaven, but not so much in hell.

C.H. Spurgeon said, “Faith in God must treat all God’s Word alike; for the faith which accepts one word of God, and rejects another, is evidently not faith in God, but faith in our own judgement, faith in our own taste.”

Faith does not pick and choose what it likes in the Bible. Faith believes all that God has revealed. The warnings and the promises because we need both. When God warns, faith believes Him and fears. When God promises, faith trusts Him and rests. Listen to how Paul puts it in Romans,

“Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. (Romans 11:22)

Take note, consider, behold the kindness and severity of God. God is good to those who seek Him. And terrifying to those who defy Him. We are not to dwell on God’s kindness alone. We are not to dwell on God’s severity alone. We are to dwell on the kindness and severity of God together. Both have their place in forming a faithful Christian life. And when some part of the truth gets lost, some part of the life gets distorted.

If you find yourself considering a sinful path, you should be gripped by a fear that will keep you from it. Without it you would be in great danger.

So, how do you get this fear of the Lord? It is a fruit of faith. It is an effect of believing all that God has revealed. If you believe, you will fear the Lord. We saw from the life of Abel that faith listens to God, so start listening to what God says in the Scripture. We saw from the life of Enoch that faith walks with God so start seeking God and like Enoch, you will find Him.

As you listen to God through His word and seek after God in your heart you will find that this godly fear begins to grow in your soul, and the fear of the Lord will keep you from sinning. The more you listen to Him, the more closely you walk with Him, the stronger you will be in the face of temptation.

• Rest in all that Christ has accomplished

“Noah…constructed an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7)

What does this mean for us today? Does this mean that there is something we can do to save our loved ones? No. Christ and Christ alone can save. And here, Noah is a “type” or a representation of Jesus Christ.

Think about a portrait. A portrait is not a person, but it shows a person’s features and you can see a person in their portrait. Noah is not Jesus, but you can see Jesus in him.

Think about the story of Noah as a picture of Jesus and what He has accomplished:

Who He was

Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord He was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. He walked with God.

“But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:8,9)

Of Jesus, the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Jesus Christ is the Righteous One”. He was with the Father before the world began.

What He did

Noah… constructed an ark. Noah made the way of escape from the flood. He did this on his own. We do not read that anyone helped him. Singlehanded, he made the way in which people could be carried through the judgment of God and brought safely into a new world.

Jesus made the way in which we can be carried safely through the judgment of God.

Who He saved

Noah…constructed an ark for the saving of his household (Hebrews 11:7). The people who were saved were all related to Noah. He had three sons, and three daughters in law.

Matthew Henry says that it was well for these men that they were Noah’s sons, and it was well for these women that they married into Noah’s family.

God saved the family for Noah’s sake. They were saved because of who he was – a righteous man, and what He did in building an ark. Noah’s family entered into his ark. Noah did not get the family together and say “I want each of you to build your own ark. You can save yourself if you build an ark like mine. So, I’ll be the model. You do what I do. Then we can divide up the animals between us and each of us will be saved in our own little boat.” The world was not saved by a flotilla of boats! It was saved in one ark, built by one man. And those who were saved were all related to him.

Noah…constructed an ark for the saving of his household (Hebrews 11:7). He saved them by what he did. And all his family were saved because they were with him.

That gives us a wonderful picture of Jesus and what He has accomplished. Singlehanded, He has made atonement for our sins. He saves us by what He has accomplished, and he will save all who give themselves to Him.

Believe all that God has revealed, secondly; Rest in all that Christ has accomplished, and thirdly; Receive all that God has promised.

• Receive all that God has promised

“By faith Noah, …became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7)

An heir is someone who inherits. An heir receives something earned by another. It is freely given and freely received.

We are told that “by faith” (that is by believing what God has revealed, and trusting what God has promised), Noah became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

By faith, Abel was commended as righteous (vs. 4) By faith, Enoch was commended as having pleased God (vs. 5) By faith, Noah became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

How does faith make you an heir? Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ is the heir of all things.

“In these last days He has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom He also created the world.” (Hebrews 1:2)

• The reason we become heirs is that Jesus is the Heir, and faith joins us to Jesus.
• The reason we are righteous is that Jesus is righteous, and faith joins us to Jesus.
• The reason we are saved is that Jesus saves, and faith joins us to Jesus.

Faith joins us to Jesus, and all who by faith are in Him will be carried through the judgment of God, and brought safely into a new and perfect world. Rest in all that Christ has accomplished. Receive all that God has promised. So that as one who knows that you are accepted, loved, forgiven and safe forever in Jesus Christ, you will live always in the fear of the Lord.

25 April 2021

Ps Ben Hooman

Please open your Bible at Hebrews 11 as we continue our Faith Life Series. This chapter begins by telling us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. The “hoped for” things we are sure of, are things God has promised. The “unseen things” we are convinced of, are things God has revealed. So, faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)

Now, what does it mean to live by faith? God teaches us by pointing to real-life examples of faith in action. Each of them highlights a distinct aspect of faith.

Last week we looked at Abel and saw from his story that faith listens to God. Abel was commended as righteous because of a sacrifice that God accepted. He offered a first-born lamb from the flock. A life was laid down for him.

Abel’s sacrifice of a lamb from the flock points forward to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Offering the lamb was a sign that Abel was trusting in God’s promise. And that promise was fulfilled when Jesus laid down His life for us on the cross. God gave his one and only Son as the sacrifice for our sins.

Abel knew that a life must be laid down because God had revealed it, back in the garden of Eden when He made garments of skins to clothe Adam and Eve. God had revealed the acceptable sacrifice and faith listens to what God has revealed.

Hebrews 11 paints a picture of what a life of faith looks like. Each story fills out the picture. Today we come to the story of Enoch, where we learn that faith walks with God.

“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 story of Enoch is told back in Genesis 5, where God records the generations from Adam to Noah, whose story we will look at next time.

Ten generations are recorded. We read here about Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.

Two Questions:

• Why are these names recorded?

If you look at the end of Luke 3, you will see that this is the line of descent into which Jesus Christ was born. What matters about them is the relationship they have with Jesus. And that of course is the thing that ultimately matters about us all.

Joseph Parker says, “The fifth chapter of Genesis is the beginning of that long series of characters in human history which are extremely uninteresting. Such people as Enosh, Mahalalel, and Jared are respectable plodding quiet men who said goodnight to one another regularly, remarked briefly upon the weather and died.”

The most important thing about you – what will matter about you forever is not how many people know your name, or not how many people follow you on social media. It is not a list of great things that you have accomplished. It is the relationship you have with Jesus.

Why are these names recorded? And secondly:

• Why did they live so long?

The lifespans of these generations are about ten times as long as our lives today. Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5). Seth lived 912 years (Genesis 5:8). Enosh lived 905 years (Genesis 5:11).

This was God’s provision for multiplying the human population in its earliest generations. After the time of Noah and the flood, human lifespans come down rapidly to what we are used to today.

These first generations lived for many years, but they had one thing in common:

All the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died (Genesis 5:5) All the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died (Genesis 5:8)

All the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died (Genesis 5:11)

This grim reality runs like a relentless drumbeat throughout the chapter. It is like the sound of a train on the tracks when it gets up to speed, “and he died, and he died, and he died.” This runs through the whole chapter with one exception. “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him”. (Genesis 5:24).

By any standards this is a remarkable story. Suddenly there is a break in the clouds. Light shines into the darkness, and we have reason to hope that the reign of death may not be forever. This story points us to the hope we have in Jesus who broke through the power of death and ascended into heaven.

Enoch walked with God

“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:21,22)

“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24)

What does it mean to walk with God? To walk with God is to live in a constant, conscious enjoyment of the presence of God.

To walk with God involves:

• Peace

God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, but when they sinned, they hid from Him. You can’t walk with someone when you are hiding from them.

To walk with God means that you are at peace with Him. Any known sin in your life has been confessed and forgiven. You are at peace in the presence of God, because you have nothing to hide from Him.

• Purpose

Walking involves movement in a particular direction. If two people come to a crossroads and they want to take different paths, they cannot walk together. Amos asks,

Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?” (Amos 3:3)

“Do two walk together, unless they agreed?” So, to walk with God means that we go where He is going. God is the great peace-maker: when we make peace we are walking with Him. God is merciful and just, so when we “do justly” and “love mercy,” then we walk humbly with our God. The prophet Micah says,

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you; but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

• Progress

Walking is not sitting and walking is not sprinting. Walking involves slow, steady movement. To walk with God does not mean that you are perfect, but if you are walking you are making progress. Paul says,

“… I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:12,13)

He speaks of straining forward toward what lies ahead. Walking isn’t easy when the wind is against you. Sometimes it involves leaning into the wind. But even if your progress is slow, you will still be moving forward.

• Privilege

Think about this: “Walking with God!” That is the greatest privilege possible. What else could compare with this? The Creator of heaven and earth; the sovereign Lord of the universe is your heavenly Father, and He is so intensely interested in you, so intimately involved in your life, that He would choose to walk with you!

• Pleasure

If you want to get some place fast, get in a car. But if you want to savour a place and enjoy it, get out of the car and go for a walk. When you walk, you see things you don’t notice from a car. You hear, touch and smell things that you miss in the car.

Walking with God is the greatest pleasure. David says,

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fulness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forever more.” (Psalm 16:11)

That means more than that heaven is a place of great happiness. Pleasures are found at God’s “right hand,” and those who walk with God taste these pleasures before they ever arrive in heaven.

The constant, conscious enjoyment of the presence of God that, by faith, is possible for you now is a taste, an anticipation of the joys that will be yours forever in heaven.

Walking with God involves peace, purpose, progress, privilege and pleasure. Here is something that everyone who loves the Lord will aspire.

Enoch walked with God, and Enoch walked with God in the light of the coming Judgement.

Enoch walked with God in the light of the coming Judgment

The early chapters of Genesis chart the growth of sin in the world and its devastating effects. Adam and Eve disobeyed a single command in the Garden. And just one generation later, their son Cain killed his brother. The world’s first baby became the world’s first murderer.

Ten generations are recorded here from Adam to Noah. And by the time of Noah we read, The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:11)

Enoch was the seventh of these 10 generations from Adam to Noah. If wickedness had filled the earth by the time of Noah, you can be sure that it was running rampant in the time of Enoch.

This is confirmed by a prophecy given by Enoch, that is quoted and preserved for us in the New Testament. Enoch was given a prophetic glimpse of the day when our Lord Jesus Christ will come with His holy angels. He will establish the truth, right every wrong, and bring the whole world to justice.

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 14,15)

Notice the word ‘ungodly” or ungodliness occurs four times. Enoch was surrounded by people who had no place for God. People who spoke against God. People who acted in defiance toward God.

And in such a world, Enoch walked with God! It is possible to walk with God, in a world that defies Him. That’s what Enoch did. And that is our calling today.

Enoch lived with a profound awareness that judgment was coming. We know that for sure from his prophecy recorded in Jude, but there may also be a hint of this in the name Enoch chose for his son.

A.W. Pink says that the name Methuselah can mean, “When he is dead, it shall be sent.” He suggests that perhaps Enoch gave his son this unusual name, because God had revealed to him that when Methuselah died, the flood would come.

That is exactly what happened. The flood came in the 600th year of Noah’s life and if you compare that with the long years of Methuselah’s life, you will see that God sent the flood in the year that Methuselah died.

“When he is dead, it shall be sent.” ‘Enoch, the world as you know it will be washed away. And I will let you in on the secret of when it will happen: When your son dies, the judgment will come.”

Pink asks this question: What effect would such a revelation have on you? Every time the boy became sick you would think “This is it. The judgment of the world is about to come!”

Enoch knew that the judgment of God was coming soon. He knew that he had to be ready to meet with God. And in the light of that Enoch walked with God.

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” (Hebrews 9:27)

“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, … (2 Corinthians5:9)

Therefore, at all times, we must cling to Christ as our Saviour. We must walk with God by faith so that we are ready to meet him by sight.

Enoch walked with God, Enoch walked with God In the light of the coming Judgment, and thirdly Enoch walked with God after he became a father.

Enoch walked with God after he became a father

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah …” (Genesis 5:21,22)

It seems that the responsibility of being a father caused Enoch to feel that he needed God in a way that he had not felt before.

Some of you may think that 65 sounds quite old, but at this point, Enoch was about a fifth of the way through his life. On a lifespan of 90 years that would be about 18 years old. So, here is a young man who suddenly finds himself in a place where he knows that he needs the help of God. He feels it in a way that he did not before.

Enoch got through his early years without too much trouble. He had always believed in God, always come to worship, always offered the sacrifices. But when Methuselah was born, Enoch knew that he needed help and he began to walk with God.

Maybe you know what this is like. Your world changes. God gives you a new assignment, and you know that you are out of your depth. Has it occurred to you that God may have done this so that you will seek Him and walk with Him in a way that you were not doing before?

You become a father, or a mother, and you find yourself saying, God has given me this wonderful gift and if I am to raise this child in this ungodly world, I need strength. I need wisdom. I need patience. I need a pure heart. And only God can give me what I need.

Enoch walked with God, Enoch walked with God In the light of the coming Judgment, Enoch walked with God after he became a father, and Enoch walked with God until God took him home.

“Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 days. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:23,24)

Genesis 5 is a chapter of numbers and as every accountant knows, the numbers tell a story. And I want to make two observations from them:

• Adam was still living when Enoch was born

If you add the ages at which each of these patriarchs became a father, you will find that from Adam to the birth of Enoch was 622 years (130 + 105 + 90 + 70 + 65 + 162 = 662 years).

We are told in verse 5 that Adam lived for 930 years. So, Adam was still living when Enoch was born. In fact, Adam was still living when Enoch’s son Methuselah was born and when Enoch’s grandson Lamech was born!

Nine generations were all living at the same time! Adam lived to see his great, great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren. That is a lot of birthdays to remember!

• Enoch was taken soon after Adam had died

Again, this is clear from the numbers in Genesis 5. Adam died after 930 years. And if you add up all the numbers, you find that Enoch was taken up to heaven after 987 years. So, this was soon after the death of Adam, and before any of the other patriarchs died.

Imagine the impact of this first recorded death by natural causes. Abel had been killed, but that was before Seth or any of his descendants were born. Since the birth of Seth, all of these patriarchs carried on living.

But over time Adam became weaker. Picture Seth, and Enosh, and Kenan, and Mahalalel, and Jared, and Enoch, and Methuselah, and young Lamech all gathering round the old man. They knew what death was because they had seen it in the animals, but when the first man died, all of the others knew this is what will happen to me!

We live in a world that is far from God and all of us are going to die. But God is full of grace and mercy and soon after the death of Adam, God gave a wonderful sign that death’s power would be broken.

Death is like a river that separates us from the presence of God in heaven. All have to cross the river. But Enoch did not go through it. God picked him up and carried him across it!

“Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24)

“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. 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 11:5,6)

God gave this marvellous sign that one day even death itself will be conquered. Enoch was taken. We read this story and we wonder; how can this be? The answer lies in the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Saviour broke the power of death when He rose from the grave. He was “taken up” into heaven (Acts 1:11) And He says to us, I go to prepare a place for you and…I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:2-3).

Death for a believer is Christ taking us home. Most of us will be taken through the river. Those who are alive when Christ comes in glory will be taken across the river, without going through it. Either way, it is Christ who will take us up, and we will be at home with Him.

Enoch walked with God, Enoch walked with God in the light of the coming Judgment, Enoch walked with God after he became a father, Enoch walked with God until God took him home, and lastly Enoch walked with God by faith.

Enoch walked with God by faith

“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)

Enoch walked with God. But what does that have to do with us? This ancient story may seem a long way from the realities of your life today, but Hebrews applies the story of Enoch directly to us.

After telling us about Enoch who walked with God, Hebrews says, “Whoever would draw near to God.” Walking with God is not just for Enoch. This is for us today. Whoever would draw near to God! This is an open invitation. “Whoever” is as inclusive as you can get.

How can we draw near to God?

So how can you draw near to God? How can you live in a constant, conscious enjoyment of the presence of God?

This verse gives us two answers:

• You must believe that God exists

If you would draw near to God, you must believe that He exists (verse 6). There’s more here than believing there is a God. Whoever would draw near to God must believe that He is!

There is clearly a reference here to God revealing His name to Moses. Moses asked the Lord, ‘What is your name?’ And God said, I am that I am (Exodus 3:14).

If you would draw near to God, you must believe that He is who He says He is. Don’t go looking for a God of your own imagination. God has made Himself known in the Scriptures, and If you want to walk with Him, you must believe what He says about Himself.

• You must believe that God rewards

If you would draw near to God, you must believe…that He rewards those who seek Him (verse 6). It’s no good saying, ‘If God wants me, He can make himself known to me. God has made Himself known in Jesus Christ.

Our calling is to seek Him. This is a constant theme of Scripture.

 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7,8)

Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6,7)

God “rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). What is the reward? The reward of seeking God is finding Him. God said to Abraham, “Do not be afraid… I am your shield, your very great reward (Genesis 15:1 NIV). God is the reward of those who seek Him.

God invites you to live in the constant, conscious enjoyment of His presence. If you seek Him, you will find Him.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with your whole heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Turning from Sin (Part 2)

Dr Ben Hooman

What would you say are the top three sins to which you are most vulnerable right now in your life? 

If you don’t know the answer to that, how can you possibly be on your defences against them and how can you possibly launch an assault towards them?

• You got to know them. 
• You got to know where the battle is in your life right now. 
• Identify it clearly.

Sunday 18 April 2021

Ps Bernadine Hooman

Last time we looked at the definition of faith and what faith is. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It is important for us to know what faith is for we walk, stand, live, and be saved by faith. The aim of the series is that faith will be formed in your soul, and that you will find strength to endure in faith.

Scripture: Genesis 4:1-16, Hebrews 11:4

Please open your Bible at Hebrews 11. We are looking at this marvellous chapter that was written to strengthen believers in face of unrelenting pressure. The book of Hebrews says,

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36)

You have need of endurance and faith is what will enable you to endure. Then comes this marvellous exposition of faith in the next chapter. It begins with a definition:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)

Now that raises the question: How can we be sure of things that we hope for? Things that don’t yet exist like redeemed bodies, a perfect church, and a perfect world?

The answer is that these are the things God has promised, and we saw last time that faith trusts what God has promised. Then we are told that faith is ‘the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Again, the question is: How can we be convinced of things we cannot see? Things that are invisible to us, like;

God – in sovereign control of all that happens in our lives and in our world.

Jesus – exalted at the right hand of the Father.

Us – forgiven, loved and destined for heaven, in Christ.

These are all things that we cannot see, then how can we be convinced as such? The answer is that these are things that God has revealed, and faith believes what God has revealed.

Here is where we begin last time: Faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised. In other words, faith is formed and then fed by the Word of God. This is how it is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We saw that this this is really good news. God has given the same promises and the same revelation to all people. You can open the Bible and see for yourself what God has said and what God has done.

“These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ…and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)

That is the foundation for our series here in Hebrews 11. You have need of endurance. You will endure by faith. Faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised.

That’s what faith is. The rest of Hebrews 11 tells us what faith does. And here God teaches us by pointing to real-life examples of faith in action. What does it look like to walk, stand, and live by faith? The writer to Hebrews answers with a series of illustrations, and each of them highlights a distinct aspect of faith.

We begin today with the story of Abel, the first of ten models of faith we will learn from in this series and from his story we learn that faith listens to God. It is what faith does! We have seen what faith is, now we seeing what faith does – and faith listens to God.

“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)

Let us begin with this story of Abel and go back in the Bible to the book of Genesis.

The Story (Genesis 4)

Here we have the story of two boys who grew up in the same believing family. They have the same parents, and are brought up in the same way. They come to the same altar, to worship the same God.

We are told that,

“Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was a worker of the ground” (Genesis 4:2)

Both of these men brought offerings to the LORD.

“In the course of time, Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.” (Genesis 4:3,4)

Here are two brothers. Both of them believe in God. Both of them come to worship God. Both of them offer something to God. Then we come to the big surprise in the story. One of the brothers is accepted by God. The other is not. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.

“… And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” (Genesis 4:4,5)

Here is the question: How did they know that one offering was accepted and the other was not? We don’t know for sure, but there is an old tradition that fire came down from heaven and burned up Abel’s sacrifice. I think that may have been the case.

The reason in believing that is that there are other places in the Old Testament where God showed His acceptance of a sacrifice by sending fire from heaven: Leviticus 9:24 tells us “fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering…and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces” (Leviticus 9:24).

The same thing happened when Elijah offered a sacrifice on Mt. Carmel, (see Judges 6:21,13:19). If this was the case, you can imagine the scene: The first family arrives at the altar, a heap of stones. Adam says, “Boys, this place is special. The altar is where God Himself comes near to meet with us. Abel, you go first. Place your gift on the altar, offer your prayer, confess your sins, and then stand well back!”

Abel follows his father’s instruction: Then, suddenly, to his absolute amazement, fire falls from the sky. It strikes the sacrifice like lightening and burns up the offering. Abel watches wide-eyed. God has heard his prayer. God has accepted his sacrifice. The smile of God is upon him.

Then Cain steps up to the altar: With great care, he arranges his fruit and vegetables on top of the stones. He offers his prayer, and then steps back in anticipation. But nothing happens. An hour later, Cain’s display of fruit and vegetables remains as it was, a gift offered, but evidently not received. At this point we are told that,

“… Cain was very angry and his face fell” (Genesis 4:5)

He must have said, “Why does God put on a display of fireworks for Abel but not for me? What is so special about Abel and his offering?” The more Cain thought about it, the angrier he became.

That’s the story. But what does it mean? What is its significance for us today? The answer is in Hebrews 11. Let us get back to our text together and I want you to see how the focus of this verse is on the sacrifice.

The Sacrifice

“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” (Hebrews 11:4)

Notice that the reason Abel was accepted and Cain was not, lay in the sacrifice. “By faith, Abel offered… a more acceptable sacrifice”.

Some writers focus on the way the sacrifice was brought. They read the story like this: Two men brought their gifts to God. Abel had faith, so when he offered his lamb he was accepted by God. If Cain had offered his fruit and vegetables with faith, he would have been accepted by God too.

But Hebrews does not say that Abel offered a more acceptable faith. It says, “he offered a more acceptable sacrifice.”

And notice, Hebrews does not say that God commended him as righteous by accepting his faith. It says that God commended him “by accepting his gifts.”

The story here is not about a better brother. It is about a better sacrifice. It wasn’t Abel’s faith that made him right with God. It was the sacrifice that made Him right with God. This raises an obvious question: How did Abel know what sacrifice to bring? And it seems clear that God had revealed this. Not only to Abel but also to Cain, and first it been revealed to Adam and Eve.

Hebrews tells us that, “by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.” We saw last time that faith believes what God has revealed, and trusts what God has promised.

It follows that if Abel brought his sacrifice by faith, God must have revealed the sacrifice He wanted the brothers to bring!

Abel wasn’t guessing when he offered the lamb from the flock. He didn’t say “Now what shall I offer God? I wonder what would happen if I sacrificed a lamb and sprinkled its blood on the altar? Maybe I should try that”.

No. Hebrews tells us that Abel offered the sacrificed lamb by faith. And faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has promised!

One commentator on Hebrews says, “Faith throughout the whole of the chapter is the belief of a divine revelation. It is plain then that a revelation had been made both to Cain and Abel respecting the duty of offering sacrifice, and the acceptable method of performing that duty.”

Is there any evidence that God had revealed what these men should offer? Yes, there is. On the day Adam and Eve sinned, Scripture tells us that,

“And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21)

Where did the skins come from? You can’t make a garment of skins without the death of an animal. I believe that the first sacrifice was made on the day that the first sin was committed.

We read that God clothed our first parents with the skins of animals and by far the most probable account of this matter is, that these were the skins of animals which He had commanded them to offer in sacrifice. I’m convinced that was the case, and here’s why. God had said to Adam and Eve,

“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17)

Then Satan came into the garden. Eve told him what God had said, but the enemy said, “You shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). Now who was telling the truth? Who was to be trusted? God or the enemy? God said, “in the day you eat of it (the tree) you shall surely die.”

Death did come to the Garden that day, but in the mercy of God, it did not come to Eve or to Adam directly. A lamb died in their place that day. Another life was laid down as a substitute for theirs.

God’s way of making sinners right with Himself through a life laid down as a sacrifice in our place goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. If God had revealed this to Adam and Eve, you can be sure that they taught it to their children.

Imagine Adam and Eve talking with their boys after another day of back-breaking work in the fields: “Boys, the world was not always like this. There was a time when your mom and I enjoyed a life you have never known in a place you have never seen. The God who made us filled our lives with good gifts in a perfect world, and at the end of the day God would appear to us and walk with us in the Garden.”

“You and mom saw God?” “Yes, we did. But then we were tempted. God had given us a command for our own protection, and we broke it. After that we hid from God, but He found us and when He did, I thought we were done for. But God is full of mercy. And, on that day we learned that another life would be laid down for us.”

Cain and Abel knew what God had revealed in the Garden. Abel believed the revelation. He knew himself to be a sinner and he trusted in the provision that God has made. By faith he offered the acceptable sacrifice.

But Cain did not believe what God had revealed. He acknowledged God as the author of the good gifts he enjoyed in his harvest. But he did not believe that he was a sinner. He did not see the need for a sacrifice.

Now that is the story. Its focus is on the sacrifice. In the time remains, let us look at three applications. What does all of this have to do with us today?

Applications:

Faith listens to God

“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.” (Hebrews 11:4)

 Cain would tell you that he had faith. If you said to him, “Cain, you need to have faith like your brother, Abel,” He would have said “What do you mean? I have a strong faith! I believe in God. I go to worship…My faith is very important to me! I a farmer and I know that God makes things grow. God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall. That’s why, when I bring in my harvest, I bring my offering to God. What do you mean I need to have faith?”

Cain believed in God. He believed that the good things in his life were gifts from God’s hand but he did not listen to what God said, as many people do today. He did not believe what God had revealed. He did not trust what God had promised. This comes out clearly when God speaks directly to Cain.

“The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?” (Genesis 4:6)

Cain heard the audible voice of God Himself, just as Saul of Tarsus heard the voice of the risen Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.

• God identified Cain’s opportunity

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? (Genesis 4:7).

Cain had an open invitation to come to God in the way that God had appointed. “Cain, you too can be accepted. You too can be commended as righteous. But you must come to God in the way that He has revealed. And that is on the basis of a life that is laid down as a sacrifice for you.”

• God identified Cain’s problem

“And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door” (Genesis 4:7)

This is the first time the word ‘sin’ is used in the Bible. What is sin? “Cain, you know how you light a fire at night to keep wild animals away? Sin is like a wild animal that can destroy you, and if you will not believe what God has revealed and trust what God has promised, sin will overpower you.”

• But Cain does not listen to God

Every time God speaks, this man has a rebuttal. Until in Genesis 4:16 we read,

“Cain went away from the presence of the Lord.” (Genesis 4:16)

Cain is the father of those who claim to have faith but do not believe what God has revealed. You will have met people like this. They will talk a great deal about God and about faith, but they will not listen to Scripture. But faith listens to what God has said. It is formed and fed by the Word of God.

Are you listening to God when He tells you in Scripture, that sin is crouching at your door, looking to destroy you? Do you see your need of His strength and His Spirit to overcome it this week?

Are you listening to God when He tells you in Scripture, that the way to be commended as righteous before God is through the life of another being laid down for you, and that God Himself provided this sacrifice when He came into the world in the person of Jesus?

Are you listening to God when He tells you in Scripture, that the sacrifice for sin has been made once for all and that it is sufficient to cover all of your guilt and all of your shame, so that today, you can be commended as righteous by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Faith is formed and fed by the Word of God. Your faith will grow as you read the Scripture, and as you let your mind and heart be shaped by what God has said.

Faith listens to God, and secondly,

Faith can never be silenced

“And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4)

 Faith provokes the world’s anger. And what we have in this story is the world’s first attempt to silence the voice of faith. Think about this: Cain had brought an impressive gift to God. He believes in God. He comes to worship. He brings a gift. Surely, God will be pleased with this man?

Now let us complete the story from Genesis chapter 3 where it makes very clear that faith provokes the world’s anger. And what we have in this story is actually the world’s first attempt to silence the voice of faith.

‘But for Cain and his offering he [the Lord] had no regard” (Genesis 4:5)

It wasn’t that Cain’s offering fell short. It didn’t even get God’s attention. And when Cain saw this, he was angry. “How dare God disregard me and what I have done!” What we really feel towards God will be revealed when He doesn’t give us what we want.

Cain’s anger was directed towards God, but he took it out on his believing brother. We can picture Abel trying to win his brother:

Abel: “Brother Cain, it breaks my heart to see you like this. If you bring the sacrifice God requires, God will commend you as righteous.”

Cain: “Who do you think you are trying to tell me what to bring? You must think you are the voice of God!”

Abel: “No! I’m just telling you what God has said.”

Cain: “You’re always trying to make out that you are better than me”

Abel: “No That’s not it, Cain. I just wish you would listen to what God has said!”

But Cain would not listen. Over time his anger increased, and then we are told,

“Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him” (Genesis 4:8)

Cain was determined that the voice of faith should be silenced. But here’s from the learn from the story: The voice of faith can never be silenced!

Hebrews tells us that Abel still speaks:

“And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4)

Abel speaks across the centuries, and is an abiding witness to the faith that listens to what God has said and trusts in the sacrifice He has revealed.

Martin Luther says of Abel, “He who when he was … alive could not teach even his only brother by his faith and example, now that he is dead teaches the whole world.”

Faith listens to God, and Faith can never be silenced, and thirdly,

Faith rests in Christ and what He has accomplished

“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous”. (Hebrews 11:4)

This story, like every story in the Bible, points us to Jesus Christ. What does it take for a person to be commended as righteous before a holy God? A life must be laid down in sacrifice!

Abel’s sacrifice of a lamb from the flock points forward to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins (Romans 3:25, 1 John 2:2). He was led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). Our sins were laid on Him and He died in our place.

And God demonstrated that Jesus is the “acceptable sacrifice,” not by sending fire from heaven but by raising Him from the dead! And now, through Jesus Christ, and what He accomplished on the cross, all who believe are commended as righteous before God.