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Lesson 16

How Much Faith Does It Take?

Hebrews 10:35-11:7

January 9, 2016

 

One of the smartest things to do is to need nothing to chance. I can vouch for that statement. There have been many times that entered into some kind of contest and begin to visualize what I might do with the prize, whatever it might be. The truth is a person cannot build a life on wishful thinking. I often joke that if mine was the only entry form in a box that it would get stuck to bottom. We have sayings that evidently have come from too much playing games of chance or buying a lottery ticket or even entering a raffle. Two of my favorites are:

• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch
• A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

James tells us that we not to even to make predictions about what we think we can accomplish over the next year. There is no guarantee that things will work out as we expect. I have just been reading Hebrews again and found that there are a number of verses that speak of the guarantees that God has given those who remain true to the commitment they have made to Him. They are:

• Christ was faithful as a Son over His house – Whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. (3:6)
• We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. (3:14)
• We desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. (6:11)
• We who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one, which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. (6:18-20a)
• Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (10:23)

 

Seeing what God has to say makes me even more aware of the importance in my life my to take no chances with my eternal state. I am going to live somewhere forever. God has a provided me with a plan and a guarantee that I would be foolish to forfeit.

 

There are people who sit in the pews of churches for years who are committing spiritual suicide. They hear enough of God’s word to keep them coming back but not enough to convict of their sins and cause them to turn their lives over to Christ. One of the reasons that this happens is that we assume that because they have been coming for years that they are okay. There are two ways that this happens. First, there are not enough thirty-five minutes sermons that can provide the complete picture of the message they need to hear. It takes additional time in God’s word in private study and involvement and spending time in the assembling together in some type of small group. Secondly, no one has ever bothered to ask them what they believe or have they given their lives to Christ. Many of them will never know their spiritual state until it is too late. It is our responsibility to know where our fellow churchgoers stand. It is better to offend them than for them to spend and eternity separated from God. Hebrews will continue building on the hope that the writer has already offered.

 

Hebrews 10:35-36

The former Jewish religious leaders had already endured a great deal because of their faith. Now the writer once again encourages them not to lose the confidence that they have had in Christ that will end with the promise of a reward. He is very clear that it will only take place if they endure in doing the will of God.

 

1. What was the danger to the Pharisees by having gone through so much difficulty? (They may lose confidence in the promises of Christ.)
2. How from what we have already seen has the writer continued to encourage them? (By constantly pointing to the in results of staying faithful.)
3. What must they do to receive the reward awaiting them?
4. How do we show in our own lives how we are committed to Christ for the long haul?
5. Why do we need continual encouragement?

 

Hebrews 10:37-39

There was a reason that the writer was sharing all of this with hearers of his letter. Christ is coming and could come at any time. Therefore it was important that they understood the definition of those who would be ready at His coming. It was the righteous who continued to trust in the promises that would not shrink back from serving Him. God would never take any pleasure in those who fell from faith. Those like the writer and hopefully his listeners were not party to those shrinking back to their own destruction. He was part of those who kept their faith and therefore preserved their souls.

 

1. Why did the writer believe his message was so urgent?
2. How did he want Christ to find them upon His return?
3. How does that fit what we are to be at His coming?
4. What makes a person righteous? (Continually letting his relationship with Christ affect his every day activities)
5. What are the consequences of falling away from the faith?
6. How do we go about making sure we are not shrinking from the faith but remaining faithful to the end?

 

Hebrews 11:1-3

Once again the writer wrote to reinforce their understanding of faith. It was not the wishful thinking of so many today just hoping something good is going to take place. It is the conviction that what God has promised will with a shadow of a doubt take place. Men and women of the Old Testament had less revealed to them than is available to man today but trusted God explicitly.   Opposite to what man is being told today there was no doubt in their minds that God was the creator of everything and did not need any material with which to work. He created it all out of nothing.

 

1. How do you use the idea of hope?
2. How does what the writer differ from the ways you think?
3. What are the key words that help you understand what he believed?
4. How are we different from those of the Old Testament time? (We have the full revelation of God’s plan for us in His word. They only had a shadow of all that was going to occur.)
5. How do what the writer believed and what some scientists try to tell us differ?

 

Hebrews 11:4

There are all kinds of theories of why God accepted the offering from Abel and rejected the one from Cain. Whatever the reason it can be said that it is the prerogative of God to set the standards for what is acceptable to Him. From the story in Genesis it is obvious that the heart of Abel was pure while the heart of Cain was evil. Abel’s attitude about life had to carry over to what he brought to God in worship. His example has lived far beyond his actual time on earth.

 

1. What were the differences between the offerings brought by the two brothers?
2. From the story in Genesis and what the writer of Hebrews have shared how would you describe a person who pleases God?
3. What kind of attitude you have when you approach God in worship?
4. Why has the story lived on for the thousands of years?

 

Hebrews 11:5

Enoch was a righteous man who spent his 300 of his 365 years serving God. In a time when man did not call on God Enoch was different. God determined because of his tremendous faith he would not experience death. The Bible says, He walk with God and was no more, for God took him. He was translated into heaven without dying.

 

1. Why do you think singled out Enoch for the special treatment by God? (God saw how his lifestyle contrasted to everyone else.)
2. Who might be an example for you who lives a lifestyle that makes them pleasing to God?
3. What does your daily walk look like?
4. How true do you stay to your faith?

 

Hebrews 11:6

The writer said three things that are very important for every believer to heed. He wrote:

• A person must have faith to please God.
• The person who comes to God must truly believe that He is real.
• Must believe that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him.

 

1. What the three things that every person must realize in his relationship with God?
2. Why does it take faith to please God?
3. What would you say to a person who says that God is dead?
4. What is the result that comes from truly believing?
5. Who are the recipients of the rewards that God wants to provide for mankind?

 

Hebrews 11:7

Of the pre patriarchal group of faithful men, the writer spoke of Noah. Noah was the man called by God to be a witness before a wicked world. He was commanded to build a boat in the middle of desert for an event that was not going to occur for a hundred plus year. His faith resulted in salvation for his family, eight total people including himself. During all those years his righteousness was a witness to a decadent world that would be destroyed.

 

1. What impresses you about Noah?
2. How would you respond if God commanded you do something that would not get any results for years and years?
3. What may be the results of your complete devotion to God?
4. Which is more important living a comfortable life or taking risks for God?

 

• Before you can expect that God will do anything in your life you must have faith that He is true.
• God will not do all we might want but will definitely accomplish what He has promised.
• Understand that to live a righteous life will put you at odds with many people who do not believe.
• Remember that your life will continue to impact others after you have died.

 

Be steadfast in your faith. Do not fall away from the confession and commitment that you have made at some point in your life. Your life is meant to be for the service of God and others. As the world looks at us it may not like what it sees until trouble strikes them. It will be at that point they will turn to us for counsel because Christ has made a difference in our lives.