Faith of our Fathers
Notes
Transcript
Hebrews 11:1, 8-22 and 12:1-3
Faith of our Fathers
Today we celebrate Fathers. I won’t lie this has been a hard one for me. This is the first Father’s Day my dad is not here with us. So, I am now in the crowd that so many of you are in. Spending time today reflecting on memories, lessons learned, and love. But others here did not have a very good relationship with their father or may not have had one at all. Some are new fathers and this is their first Father’s day as a dad. Many are father’s and still get to celebrate with their Dad’s today. No matter where you are in this list Happy Father’s day!
Our passage today celebrates and remembers the fathers of our faith, the patriarchs, the 4 men who are considered to be the fathers of our faith. They are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
These men did some amazing things, but interestingly God glorified and celebrates in Hebrews their faith.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.
And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
Do you remember any of them? I encourage you to read Genesis beginning in chapter 12 to see all they did, but as we go through Hebrews 11 I will give a brief recap.
Abraham- Genesis 12-25 Hebrews 11:8-19
Left everything to go to the promised land.
Waited on God to deliver on his promise. Waited 100 years for his son.
Well almost waited he did take matters into his own hand for a while with Hagar and Ishmael.
When he finally had Isaac, his son, he gave him completely to God. He even was willing to Sacrifice Isaac.
But God delivered them from that. He was committed; he was obedient to God; he was faith-filled!
But he did not see the the full promises made by God fulfilled.
Isaac- Genesis 21-28 & 35 Hebrews 11:20
Led God’s people.
Trusted in God’s promises. He was so sure God would keep his word to Abraham that he blessed his sons in those promises because he trusted the future God promised.
But he did not see the full promise of God. In fact, he died with his children basically at war.
Jacob who became Israel Genesis 25-35 45-50 Hebrews 11:21
Tricked his father
Fled from his brother
Married Rachel and Leah
Trusted God to bring him home safely
Wrestled with God
But he was remembered in Hebrews 11 for blessing each of Joseph’s sons. The blessing was cool
Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
the Angel who has delivered me from all harm —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”
May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm— may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my father Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth.
He trusted God would fulfill his promises, but again he did not see them completed.
Joseph Genesis 30-50 Hebrews 11:22
Interpreted dreams
Trusted God in prison and in slavery
Became the second most powerful man in Egypt. He even brought God’s people back together and saved them from destruction, but interestingly it was the fact that he had the faith to believe God would bring his people back from Egypt so he told them what to do with his bones once they got there. He did not see God’s promise fulfilled while on earth.
Not one of them saw the completion of God’s promises to Abraham, they all believed, no more than that, they had faith that God would keep his promises. So much faith that they made plans for their children and grandchildren based on that faith.
Their Faith made them special. What is faith?
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Faith according to Hebrews 11 is quite simply believing, trusting, and living as if God's promises will come true.
In fact the only way to please God is to live by faith. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
As I prepared, this is the thing that jumped out at me the most. It was not the great things any of these men did that made them great. It was that they trusted God to keep his promises, even though they never saw them completed. They each saw parts, but God’s promises were not fulfilled until Jesus. Generations after they all had died.
They believed that God would build them a great city, a great nation, and would bless the world through their descendants.
“For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
The city of Jerusalem, but also the new Jerusalem promised in Revelation.
See they lived their lives trusting in Gods promise for more. Not one of the patriarchs saw God's promise fulfilled. They were foreigners in the land God promised them. They were not given that land. Abraham never saw the multitudes of descendants. Isaac continued to trust God's promises and taught his children and blessed them knowing God would fulfill them. Jacob knew God would be faithful. And Joseph trusted God that Egypt would not be where the story of God's people ended.
They lived their life believing God. They taught their children to believe and trust God. Even when they could not see what God was doing. Even when it did not look
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.”
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
“Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
These fathers of our faith were not perfect. They did not always live lives that we looking back would say were perfect. But God, was pleased with their faith. Faith in the future, Faith in God’s future. Ultimately, God fulfilled everyone of his promises like he always does. And they were all completed in Jesus.
He made all of our faith complete. He was what all of the patriarchs were waiting for. He was and is the promise.
God delivered humans through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus. The patriarchs had to believe in the future. We were allowed to trust in the past. Which do you think would be harder to do?
However, God still makes promises to us. Promises that Jesus is coming back. Promises that there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
In today’s instant gratification world, we sometimes forget that God has an eternal plan. We want all of the answers and all of the promises fulfilled NOW! We are reminded today, that God’s plan is much bigger than 2020. We probably will not see all of his plans fulfilled in our lifetime, but we might. But we should live and pass on his promises to the next generation.
Do we have faith in that? Do we pass that on to our children, and share it with our friends?
Do you live your life in faith of what is to come? Do you trust God’s promises for the future?
God did not leave us alone. Hebrews 11 reminds us of those who came before us in faith. God reminds us that we are not alone.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
My dad is in that cloud of witnesses now as are many of yours. Someday, those of us who have faith in Jesus, will join them to cheer on the generations to come and to see how God fulfills his promises. Until then, let us live lives of faith. Faith in what is to come. Faith to teach our children. Faith in the promises of God.