Transcript of a Sermon on Hebrews 11:29-31
This transcript of a Sermon on Hebrews 11:29-31 has been lightly edited for ease of reading.
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We do turn now to that word of God as we continue our study through the book of Hebrews. Today we are in Hebrews chapter 11 and we will begin our study in verse 29. I wanted to just very briefly revisit something that we talked a little bit about last week.
It says in verse 26, and speaking of Moses, it says “He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ…” I briefly touched on this indirectly, but the question was asked of me this week. “How did Moses know about Jesus? What did Moses know about Jesus?” And while I touched on this indirectly, I should have and want to take just a brief moment to clarify a little bit better what it means there where it says that Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ.
Another way to consider that phrase for the sake of Christ is to consider it as “in the same manner as Christ.” We talked about Moses being rejected. We talked about Moses being insulted and disgraced as he stood upon the truth and brought that truth to both Pharaoh and to the Israelites.
And we were reminded that just as Jesus was rejected, disgraced, and insulted, Moses was rejected, disgraced, and insulted as well. And so the idea there is that just like Christ suffered those things, Moses suffered those things as well.
Moses likely, as far as we know, didn’t have any direct revelation of Jesus. But just like Jesus suffered those things, Moses suffered and made it through the suffering of those things by faith. And so I wanted to offer that brief clarification this morning.
So today we are picking up the history of those who lived by faith and looking at the nation of Israel and then Rahab the prostitute as we consider Hebrews 11:29 – 31.
“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”
Let’s Pray.
To the great God and Father above, we do ask that You would give us open eyes today so that we might see Your glory and the glory of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We also ask that by the power of the Holy Spirit, You would open our ears so that we can hear the truth that You have for us today. And Lord, by the power of that same Holy Spirit, would You lead us to leave this place having heard the truth proclaimed, changed people who love You more and who work harder in that love, in that faith, to love our neighbors.
We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Now at this point in the study of Hebrews 11, you may be tempted to think something along these lines.
“Well, you know, faith is all well and good for them. But what about me? I mean, Enoch was whisked away to heaven by faith. Noah built an ark by faith. Abraham fathered a nation by faith. I’m afraid most of the time because life is full of anxiety-inducing people and events. Plus, when I do read my Bible, it seems like God is asking me to do some crazy things that seem so off the wall, I doubt it’s him. On top of that, my sin brings me fear of judgment because my faith feels weak.”
On the one hand, I think we misunderstand the quote-unquote heroic nature of the men and women listed in this chapter. When we choose to ignore the truth that we are getting a brief snapshot of their lives, we tend to forget that they struggle with some of the same temptations and difficulties that we struggle with.
Today’s passage should bring great encouragement even in the midst of these quote heroes of the faith. In today’s passage, we are going to consider the Israelites who saw the power of God in the ten plagues, saw the power of God in the crossing of the Red Sea, and then complained and rebelled their way around the wilderness for the next 40 years.
We’ll also see the generation who crossed the Jordan River, had amazing military success, and then settled down in the promised land without it being completely conquered, opening themselves to the cycle of rebellion, complaint, rescue, and peace that we see in the book of Judges. And then after that, we will consider a whore.
As you and I study these accounts, we will learn that we overcome adversity in our life by faith, we overcome the world by faith, and we overcome judgment by faith. The point of today’s passage is this:
By faith, the ordinary, average, everyday child of God can live a life of contentment in adversity, holiness in temptation, and reconciliation with God.
OVERCOME ADVERSITY BY FAITH
First, we overcome adversity by faith.
We look at the generation of Israelites that Moses led from Egypt and began the journey to the Promised Land.
This generation saw the ten plagues as God destroyed the prosperity and power of Egypt, and they also saw the institution of the Passover feast. And in Exodus 13 through 15, the Israelites are forced out of Egypt. They have been given goods and animals by their neighbors in Egypt in this attempt to just push them out as quickly as they can.
After 400 years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites are given their freedom and they are pushed out. As they are leaving Goshen, the area in which they live, however, Pharaoh has a change of heart. God has destroyed the economy and power of Egypt through the ten plagues.
He brought plagues that endangered the water supply, that destroyed the crops, that destroyed their livestock, and He brought a plague of judgment, taking their firstborn in answer to Pharaoh’s attempt to destroy every male child born to the Israelites. Coupled with the humiliation that God has brought to Pharaoh through Moses, Pharaoh is moved to set his heart on the destruction of Israel. It’s not enough to let them go in Pharaoh’s mind. Now we are going to destroy them.
Israel, at God’s guidance, and that part is important to understand as the pillar of fire and smoke has led them to this place, at God’s guidance, Israel comes to a point between a rock and a hard place.
To their right and to their left are mountains that are unclimbable. In front of them is the sea, which is uncrossable in their own power, and behind them is the army of Egypt bearing down upon them for their destruction. The outlook is bleak at best. And it is in this context that Moses cries out in Exodus 14:13, “Fear not, stand firm, and see or watch the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you see today you shall never see again.”
God is in control, and God has promised to see Israel safely out of Egypt and all the way to the Promised Land. And Moses encourages the people to have faith in the promises of God, the God who cannot lie, the God who keeps His promises.
This encouragement, this faith of Moses is rewarded. God calls Moses to lift his staff above his head. And as He does so, God parts the waters of the Red Sea and provides a pathway on dry land for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea. And they go safely on their way to the other side.
God releases His hold upon Egypt’s army at this point. They rush confidently and headlong onto the same path that Israel has trodden. Then God releases the waters and destroys the army of Pharaoh once and for all.
The author of Hebrews reminds us that it was by faith that the people of Israel took those steps across the Red Sea on the dry land. Now was this faith that God would see them all the way to through to the Promised Land and all the way through to the glorious future that awaits? Or was this merely faith that God would get them to the other side? Yes, it was.
For some, it was faith that God would see them all the way through to everything that He had promised them. For others, it was just faith that God would see them through this brief momentary affliction.
There are two things that you and I can learn from this particular passage.
God’s way is the only way.
First, God’s salvation comes only through the way that God reveals. There was only one way for the Israelites to be saved in that situation, and that was for them to walk upon the path that God had given them. There’s only one way for you and I to be saved as well, and that is the path that leads through the life, the death, the resurrection and the constant and eternal work of Jesus on behalf of His people. Salvation only comes through the way that God reveals.
God leads through adversity.
But secondly, we also need to be reminded that God’s way out of adversity might be through adversity. Consider Psalm 23.
The Great Shepherd is leading His sheep on paths of righteousness. Those paths of righteousness lead to restoration. They lead to peace in God’s presence, all for the glory of the Great Shepherd.
The paths of righteousness lead to peaceful meadows. The paths of righteousness lead to quiet streams. The paths of righteousness lead to dark, scary and deadly valleys.
Wait, wait a minute. We sure about that? Did we read that right? Yes. Living by faith means that there are times when the paths out of adversity seem more dangerous than the adversity that we are in.
For the Israelites of Exodus 13 through 15, walking between two walls of water was a dangerous proposition. But by faith, they walked through the sea and arrived safely on dry land. For the Christian, for you and for me, the path out of suffering may involve more hardship, more difficulty.
But by faith, you can walk that path and find the safety and peace of God on the other side. You and I overcome adversity by faith.
OVERCOME THE WORLD BY FAITH
Secondly, we overcome the world by faith.
The next verse in verse 30, we read about the generation that did finally enter the Promised Land. The generation that crossed the Red Sea, that received God’s law at Sinai, complained and rebelled their way to the border of the Promised Land and brought God’s judgment upon themselves, refusing to enter the Promised Land by faith. And so it is the next generation that enters the Promised Land in much the same way that Israel escaped from Egypt’s army.
God separates the River Jordan during flood stage and the nation walks through on dry land. As they come across into the land that God has promised to give to them, they are confronted by a fortified city that is not going to just surrender to these people. So God reveals His battle plan to Joshua.
Now, did God say to Joshua, “Arrange your soldiers and units and platoons and batteries and storm the gates at dawn?” Did He say, “Gather all your forces and keep water and food out of the city and just starve the inhabitants of Jericho until such time as they surrender?” No. While these would be valid battle plans from our perspective, God instructed Israel to march around the city in silence once a day for six days. And then on the seventh day, they walked seven times around, and that was followed by the trumpet blast and the shout.
And at that point, God kept His promise to knock down the walls of Jericho. By faith, the Israelites do what God said and the Israel and the walls of Jericho fell.
You know, God is building His kingdom upon this earth.
In Daniel chapter two and in Daniel chapter seven, Daniel interprets these visions of God’s kingdom that starts as a small rock that destroys the kingdoms of the world and then grows into a large mountain that covers the world and the people of the world can find peace and safety and protection on this mountain. It is a picture of the kingdom of God. How is God building His kingdom today? It is through the church that God is doing that.
Just how does God build His church and grow His kingdom? Does He call us to hijack a political party and grow in political power until we can direct the policy of the land? Does He call us to form armies and impose the will of God at the point of the sword? No, He calls us to live by faith in His truth. The truth that He is defeating all of His enemies, all of our enemies. And we do this in two ways.
Put sin to death.
First, on a personal level, we build the kingdom of God in ourselves by putting sin to death. How do we put sin to death in our hearts? You and I make the mistake of trying to do this in our own strength, in our own power. But the path to holiness goes through the cross.
The prayer Love Lustres [or shines forth] at Calvary” from the book, The Valley of Vision, calls you and I in this pursuit of holiness to look to Calvary because it is “There that grace removes my burdens and heaps them on Thy Son, made a transgressor, a curse and sin for me.”
The burden of your sin has been placed upon Christ at the cross. It has been crucified there. You and I put sin to death in your life by faith in the truth that Jesus has already put it to death. And the Holy Spirit is at work in you to make you holy.
Love your enemies.
Secondly, we see God’s kingdom growing in the world in a way that we would not expect.
In Matthew chapter five, verses 43 through 48, echoing our passage from earlier in Romans, Jesus says:
“You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that. Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
Why do we love our enemies? Just because Jesus commanded us to do so? Yes, but no.
We love our enemies because when we were the enemies of God, He loved us by sending His son to secure salvation for us. And so we love God because He first loved us. And then because He has loved us and we now love Him, we show that love to Him by loving our neighbors.
And that includes those who hate us because we stand on truth. That includes those who persecute us because we follow God’s path of holiness in the power of Christ. God is growing His kingdom in this world through us offering loving hospitality to our neighbors, to our friends and to our enemies.
We do that by faith. And in offering that loving hospitality by faith, we show that we overcome the world by faith.
OVERCOME JUDGMENT BY FAITH
And speaking of loving hospitality, we come now to the whore, Rahab, and we see that we overcome judgment by faith as well.
Before the crossing of the Jordan River, Joshua sends spies to check out Jericho. What are we up against when we cross this river and come to this city? As the spies are in the land, as they are in the city, it is discovered by the king that the spies are there. And so he starts a door-to-door search in the city of Jericho for the spies.
The spies find themselves at this house of ill repute owned by the prostitute Rahab. How? Why? We don’t know, but they’re there. And she hides them.
And bringing danger upon herself and upon her household, she lies to the king’s soldiers to say, “I haven’t seen these spies. I think they left the city already.” And the author of Hebrews tells us that this is an act of faith on Rahab’s part.
Joshua tells us in his book, he tells us why Rahab did this. She tells the spies, “I have heard about the God of Israel and the wonders that He has done. And I have heard that He is going to destroy the disobedient in this land. But I believe that if I put my lot in with Him, He will save me.”
Rahab, the prostitute, believed what she heard about God. And not only was she saved from destruction when Jericho’s walls fell, she was then grafted in to the people of God.
She didn’t see the miracles. She didn’t see the provision. She didn’t hear directly from God the promises that He made.
Like you and I, she heard secondhand that God saves those who have faith. And she believed God and avoided destruction. Brothers and sisters, there is a far greater destruction that awaits those who stand before God with allegiance to themselves, with hope in themselves, with hope in their country of birth, with hope in their creature comforts, with hope in their goodness.
There is a far greater judgment that awaits those who stand before God in their own hope. We are called to turn our back on all past allegiances, to put our faith, to put our hope in Jesus and Jesus alone. The path to rescue from God’s judgment does not lie in the things of this world.
The path to rescue from God’s judgment lies only in faith that Jesus secures and provides salvation from that judgment. The work of Jesus places you and I on the path to rescue. It keeps us on that path of rescue and it sees us all the way home to the fullness of that rescue.
When confronted with the truth that God expects us to live for Him and the truth that you mainly live for yourself, where do you turn? Do you turn to your own definition of what is good enough? Or do you turn to the God that you heard will provide salvation to even the whores of this world? Choose faith in Jesus’ completed work to overcome the judgment of God.
CONCLUSION
We overcome adversity by faith. We overcome the world by faith and we overcome judgment by faith in God’s work through Jesus.
I don’t know everything that each of you is going through today, but I do know that God’s path through adversity, even if it seems to lead through greater danger, God’s path will lead you to true peace and contentment.
I do not know where you are wrestling with the growth of God’s kingdom in your life or in your neighborhood or in your home, but I do know that God’s way is the way to overcome the world.
And I don’t know the true nature of your faith in God’s completed work, but I know that God rewards even the most imperfect faith from the most imperfect people with His rescue and salvation.
Live your ordinary, imperfect life by faith in the God who is building His kingdom in you, in this church, and in the world.
Let us pray.
To the great God above, we do thank You for this truth that You are a promise-keeping God and that even when Your path ahead seems odd to us, that we can walk it by faith because You are the God who will see us safely to the other side.
Lord, when the world oppresses us and all we want to do is to strike back, we thank You that we can live in faith that You reward those who show loving hospitality even to our enemies. And Lord, we thank You that it is by faith that we find rescue from Your judgment. Even in the depths of our worst sins, those have been forgiven in Christ.
We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.
Please take this blessing upon you.
“Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in His commands. Their children will be mighty in the land, and the generation of the upright will be blessed.”
He who testifies to these things says, yes, I am coming soon.
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
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