Hebrews: Hall of Faith

Now I I I guess that most of us have had the experience in our lives where we've just wanted to give up something. You know, a major thing I'm talking about. You just just wanna give it up. Perhaps it's a, you know, a DIY project and it's been going on for just too long and It's just hard work.

It's you're exhausted. The joy has gone out of it. And you just wanna quit. You just wanna you just want out. Or perhaps it's family.

It's just too complicated, too many arguments and you want out school or college or university or some other relationship or job you know, or project or something in your life. You just want to quit or even life itself. Or even life as it is with you now. You just wanna quit living this life. You want a different life.

You wanna stop, quit, give up, it's too much, too demanding, the joy is gone and, you know, That's it really. Often when we start out on something, the imagination of what it would be like is very different to the reality, isn't it? Let's be honest. I mean, you look at holiday brochures. I mean, the holidays always say so much, don't they?

And and you imagine yourself on the sand and relaxing in the beauty on a on a holiday. And then when you get there, there's mosquitoes everywhere. And there's sunburn, and there's no shade, and there's people, and litter, and annoying people trying to sell you stuff on the beach. And it's just nothing like you expected or you dreamed of. Or take a walk.

I mean that's a good illustration in going up a mountain or something. It's a few few years ago or quite a long a number of years ago. Anna and myself were going up. I think we were going up Hellvelyn in in the Lake District. 1 of the highest mountains in England and it was a day like today.

The the sky was blue, the the sun was out, and it was gorgeous but Anne made me wear big heavy boots and take a, you know, raincoat in my thing and food and water and supplies. This is Anne. You know, and all kinds of first aid equipment, and there was a bloke who was heading out with us not with us but at the same time and he was in shorts and a t shirt and he's wearing sandals. And I said, why have I got all this stuff on? And it was beautiful and he set out but as we got to the top of the mountain, you know what happens in in the lake district.

The the cloud came down and it was so thick we could hardly see each other, and then we heard a cry and a fall, and that bloke fell a hundred feet. And in the end, had to get a when the weather cleared up a bit, he had to wait for the weather to clear up, helicopter rescue. You know, he set out. It was joyful and wonderful. And then the reality was falling down.

Or marriage is the classic illustration, isn't it? Come on. I was at a wedding yesterday. And there's this wonderful commitment. I mean, think of the words you know, people say, you know, there's enthusiasm into marriage and it's I take you to be my husband, my wife, to having to hold from this day forward for better, for worse, for richer, Core sickness and health, to love and to cherish, until death has to do part.

According to God's holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow. They're amazing vows, aren't they? And every young couple that are making those vows, don't think of the worst really or the poorer or the sickness. And when the worst and the poorer and the sickness hit. It's like I never imagined it would be like this.

I wanna quit. Have you ever felt like that? About something? About life. I have.

I just wanna quit. What you imagined when you set out is different to the reality. And when that happens, Your real character comes out, doesn't it? Frustrations, impatience, unloving words, restlessness, massive disappointment. You won out.

Now what about the Christian life? What about following Jesus? You ever wanted to quit? You ever want it out? You sort of wanna believe but it's just too painful or it's just too unpopular I mean, to be a follower of Jesus and to believe the Bible today, I mean you are a weirdo.

You're an absolute weirdo. Have you ever thought that you never thought it would be like this following Jesus. Your imagination of following Jesus was different to the reality. I felt that. When I first became a Christian, I mean, it was very exciting.

A whole load of my mates, we all became Christians together. It was radical, it was edgy. We were the edgy ones. Now we suffered a lot of persecution and we suffered a lot of people mocking us and rejecting us, but there was something exciting about that. It wasn't boring and dull when we became Christians.

We were known of people actually spoke about the gang that became a Christian and how much difference Windsor was with this group of people that become followers of Jesus. They put it in the papers. We became the cool ones We became the edgy ones. It was edgy to be a Christian when I became a Christian and it was exciting and friends and parents were becoming Christians, lots of them. But then suddenly you enter church sometimes.

Now, I don't ever wanna put church down but there are people sometimes that claim to be Christians and they they get so worked up about things that like I mean 1 of the first churches I went to, there was a bloke going on about how long my hair was because I had long hair. What are you talking about? There was a bloke saying the bible you've got is you need you need an older fashion bible because you need a bible that you can read, that you don't understand what it says. And then there were people sort of worried about words and swearing seemed to be such a big deal. It's only a word really.

But it was like a major thing for some people. And constantly, you were put down And certainly when I first became a preacher, the discouragements were so much that every week I wanted to resign and quit, The reality didn't seem what it was at the beginning. Well, that's what's happening in Hebrews. These Hebrew Christians that the writer is writing to attempted to give up on following Jesus. It was it was exciting at the beginning, but now it just hard work.

Yeah? And Hebrews 11, you may know, is is known as the Hall of Faith. Very often people talk like that. And it's a list of various examples, as we'll see when we go through the through the series. It's a list of various examples that explain really and demonstrate what real Christian faith is.

And the beauty of it is it seems to take, as far as I can see at the moment, every aspect of life and place faith in these aspects of life, and it's very interesting. So it shows us what real Christian faith is like, demonstrating it in aspects of life, and it's amazing. Some people call this sort of a, you know, the hall of heroes, the heroes of the face. These aren't the heroes here. As I I'm really looking forward to getting to people like Samsung.

They're not real heroes. They're a disaster in their life, and yet they still have faith. So we're gonna see disastrous people that have real faith. But it's what is 1 of the things and this is the first thing. That here in Hebrews 11, it's the thing that he starts off with.

It's faith for those who want to quit It's faith for those who want to give up. It's faith that those who started out in their sandals and shorts and it was a nice sunny day and now at the top of Hellvelyn and things have gone wrong. That's what he's dealing with. So let me do the bible reading. We're gonna read Hebrews chapter 10.

Let me read it to you. It should come up online on on here, but if you've got a bible look at it. Gonna read from verse 23, actually. Not 19. Verse 23, I'm gonna read from.

Let me read it to you. He says, Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. For he who promised is faithful, And let us consider how we may spur 1 another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging 1 another. And all the more as you see the day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sin is left.

But only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished, who trampled the son of God under foot. Has treated as an unholy thing, the blood of the covenant that sanctified them and who has insulted the spirit of grace. For we know him who said it is mine to avenge. I will repay.

And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Remember those earlier days, after you received the light, when you endured in great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. At other times, you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison, and joyfully accepted the confiscation confiscation of your property.

Because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you'll receive what he has promised. For in just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.

And my righteous 1 will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the 1 who shrinks back. But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but they're those who have faith and are saved. Now, faith is confidence in what we hope for, an assurance about what we do not see for this is what the ancients were commended for. Let's pray.

Father, We are so tempted so easily to fall away from our lovely Lord Jesus. It's amazing. We start out well. We make promises. And then suddenly, the reality of life hits us.

We want to give up. We're very frail. We're poorly people. We have little faith We wanna ask you please that you'd help us as we look at this passage over weeks, but particularly today, you'd help us to identify the things that cause are wanting to quit and bring them to you we may be real Christians with real faith in you, whatever the circumstances, however difficult, Please help us not to be quitters. Help us please, by your spirit, to overcome our weakness that we may walk in the light of the spirit and in what Christ has done for us.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So the surprise, I think, in this hall of faith is that even those that want to follow Jesus want to quit, that's a that's a surprise. And so the writer comes and says, don't quit, don't shrink back, don't throw away what you really know just because it's difficult times. Persevere. Stick at it.

That that's his message. So let's just open this up a little bit more then. First of all, tempted to quit. That's my first point, tempted to quit. Just look at the words he uses, to help us not quit, but they help us understand what what quitting is like really, that there are amazing words and phrases in in this part that we've just read, they're just so real.

So they're real for us. This isn't pretend stuff here. Look at Look at verse chapter 10 verse 23. He talks about hold unswervingly. Hold unswervingly.

Because we're tempted to swerve. Many years ago, actually before I was a Christian, a a mate lent me a fixed wheeled bicycle. I don't know I I don't know what all fixed wheel bikes are like, but this fixed wheel bike meant that the pedals and the chain are fixed to the back wheel. So when the back wheel goes round, the pedal and the chain goes and you you can't you can't just have your feet on the pedal and cruise down with the back wheel going around. When the back wheel goes around, the pedals go around.

You have no brakes on a fixed wheel bike. The brakes are the pedals. Yeah? So it's it's a really I don't know why people invent these things. But I had 1 of these and I was dead and I was stupid, I know, to go down a big hill in Windsor.

And it's a long hill on this. And your legs are out, and the pedals are going round as the wheel goes round, and the faster you go fast the pedals go around, and you have no brakes except the pedals, but you can't put your feet on the pedals because they're whacking around. They just chop your legs off. So you're on quite a small bike with your legs out like this going down, and you're thinking, what is going on? Why did I what bear all laughing?

Why did I do this? And and the thing is shaking like mad because you're going so fast. No breaks. Whacking down the hill and all you can think to yourself is don't swerve. Don't swerve.

Don't swerve. Watch out for the potholes. Don't swerve And then there are times where you see a little bit of grass and you think, maybe it's better to crash. Maybe crash now because I don't really know whether there's gonna be a lorry in front coming down at that roundabout outside the park thing that I was whacking down. And but hold on.

And it's hard to hold on and it's frightening to hold on and it's hard work to hold on. That's the word he's using. It's hard. It's frightening. But don't swerve.

It'll be worse for you. Or look at the word in verse 32, it says remember those earlier days. Remember the earlier days. Remember what it was like in the earlier days. Remember the truths that swept you over about the But the the trouble is, you don't want to remember those earlier days, when the emotions of today is so loud and you want to give up.

Or look at verse 35, Do not throw away. Well, if right if life feels rubbish, what do you do with rubbish? You want to throw it away? See, he understands what it's like to want to quit. Look at the word 38, shrink back.

He uses that twice, shrink back. Well, that sounds nice. When you want to quit. Just shrink back. Stand back from the front line.

That's quite nice. Stand back from the pain. Stand back from the battle. So these Hebrew Christians are tempted to give up, to swerve off course, to forget the past, to throw away the truths that they absolutely know, to shrink back to the old life. We're tempted to quit.

And these words are very real for some of us. So how did they get to that position? This is my second point. How did they get to that position? Well, steps of unfaith.

Just look at the steps of unfaith. Something had happened to these Hebrew Christians. They're not what they once were. They were alive, They were excited about Christ. And as you go through the book of Hebrews, you see a real true pastor here.

He is a true pastor and a true friend, and often we don't want a pastor and a friend like this because most of the time when we wanna quit, we want someone to put their arm around us and say, yeah, I don't blame you. Why don't you quit? But he understands their pressure, he's not an idiot, he understands they wanna give up, He's very understanding and he shows that Jesus the Lord of history is understanding. He understands Jesus because God has come into this world. He understands what it feels like to quit, want to quit.

So he does all that, but he also offers very strong warnings. Really in your face. I mean, we read some of them in 10. That's some of the strongest warning. You give up, you've had it.

You know? You give up and hells hells your game. It's really, really strong stuff in Hebrews about falling away from God. But he also shows the beauty of Christ. You know, he goes for the carrot and the stick.

He does all of this to help them because he wants them not to give up. And he shows Christ is better. 11 times He says in Hebrews that Jesus is better than whatever. Jesus is better. Jesus is better.

Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better.

Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better. Jesus is better.

Jesus is better. Got it? And he wants them to see that and to live in delight of that. But not only does he show us the beauty of Jesus so that we'd fix our eyes on him. The author and perfecter of our faith.

Not only does he does that. He wants us to see the future as well. What's the future hold? You're only here for a little while. It won't be that long.

The suffering is not that long compared to forever. And he says, there's a better country you're going to. There's the better again. So the writer uses encouragements, look forward. But he also wants to show them the steps of unfaith, which is this second point.

He wants to warn them that they're drifting into dangerous waters that will make them want to quit more. And so he warns them about steps of unfaith. Here they are. Some of them anyway. Something had happened to their listening.

Something had happened to their listening. They'd become dull in listening. This is a very serious thing he seems to say. This is gonna push you into waters of wanting to quit. So he warns them again and again and again throughout the book of Hebrews about their dullness in hearing.

Here's chapter 2 verse 1. We must pay most careful attention therefore to what we have heard so we do not drift away. Don't be dull in listening to the Word of God. He says in chapter 3, today if you hear his voice Today, if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts. Don't you harden your hearts?

So there's some kind of dullness that's coming in their listening. When they first heard the lord Lord Jesus Christ, they were sheep and he was the shepherd. But some things come in. But not only this, I think there's a second thing. It's not just a dullness in their hearing.

Something has happened to their active listening. It's not just hearing. Their active listening was dull. Chapter 5, very interesting chapter. We might pick it up tonight again.

Chapter 5 in Hebrews verse 11 says this. He's talking about all kinds of things. He says, I have Listen to this, this is very important. I have much to say to you about this, whatever subject it is, it doesn't really matter. But listen to this, but It is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.

It's amazing. The old NIV says that because you're slow to learn, He says, I'm trying to teach you stuff but you're not trying to understand. You're playing around with the word of God. You're not investing time in it. You're very slow to learn and then he goes on in that chapter and he talks about these people that have of of knowledge of the basics.

They really know the basics. You shut them down and they could tell you the Christian message. They could tell you the God They could talk about repentance. They could talk about the Holy Spirit. They can tell you the basics, but he's saying that you're not even putting the basics into practice And if you don't put the basics into practice, I can't lead you to deeper truths.

You'll never come further into the joy of the lord. It's an amazing thing that, they're dull of hearing, and their doll of active practice. They know the truths, but they're not actually putting them into practice. Jesus says, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. In other words, I'm not gonna give you any more any more enlightenment, any more joy, any more passion.

You're not gonna get anymore because you are useless with the little that you have. You're not even putting into practice repentance. Love. And that's taking you into the waters of quitting. James, the brother of Jesus writes this, do not merely listen to the word And so deceive yourselves.

Don't think that just coming on a Sunday morning and hearing a a sermon is gonna do anything for you whatsoever other than bring judgment on if you don't do it, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourself, do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in in the mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Well, that's me. Look at my face in the mirror and think my goodness, what on earth is that? And then I go back and think I may seen.

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom that gives freedom and continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard but doing it, they will be blessed, they'll know joy, they'll know God's blessing upon them that they're they'll have a freedom. He's saying, look, I wanna teach you. I wanna bring you into freedom. I want you to understand Jesus more but you're not. You're deliberately not understanding.

You're slow in learning. You think you know everything but you're not putting it into practice. And so they're falling away because they're not embodying the truth. They're not growing. They're not alive.

They were They were alive when they heard the word of God. You could never stop them getting to hear the word of God. Now they're done. Now they've settled. Now it's mundane Christianity.

But there's a third thing. Something had happened to their listening, to their active listening, and thirdly, something had happened to their fellowship. Look at verse chapter 10 verses 24 and 25. And let us consider how we may spur 1 another on towards love and good deeds. Let's finish it.

Couraging each other, brothers, sisters. Come on. Not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging 1 another and all the more as you see the day approaching. They're stopping doing life together. Fellowship is a chore, They'd rather be on the beach than in the bible with other people.

They're they're they're a bit bored. With serving and all that stuff and other people and encouraging each other. Now these are some of the things and there's more but we have no time for that. These are some of the things that have have brought them to the point where they're tempted to throw away Jesus and forget what they once had. So what's the catalyst that that shows these cracks.

What's the catalyst that shows these unfaithful cracks? The catalyst is suffering. Suffering shows up what we really believe and they want to shrink back and they are suffering. We read it, you know, there's official government suffering going on like our brothers and sisters in Belarus, you know, they've just Oh, there's a pigeon. Yeah.

By the way, he's alright. He'll only he'll only either land on you like the Holy Spirit Dove. Or poo on you to show that you're an atheist. Let's see what happens. I don't know where I am now, but there we go.

Yeah. It's government sanctioned. So so they've just closed the church down haven't they new life church? In in Minsk. They've just closed down.

So our brothers and sisters are suffering. Their their stuff is taken from them. And they're they're put in prison and stuff. So stuff has been happening and it's happening around them. And they're and they're looking around these Hebrew Christians and they're saying, is it worth it?

Is it worth we've done enough for this. Is it worth it? And that's what's happened in Belarus funny enough. Some of the Christians in Minsk, so our brothers tell us the elders there which were in contact with quite a lot. They they say, yes, some of the people that we thought were Zealous have given up.

They've just chucked it in. It's too hard. But others have grown. Because the government are saying, step away from the faith. Put the faith down on the floor, step away, surrender, give up to the crowd, step that's what the government are saying to these people.

Step back from the faith. Step away from the faith, and then you'll be okay. And suffering and tempts us to step away from the faith. Listen to Jesus warning people in the parable of the sower. Listen to what he says.

He says, others like seeds sown on rocky places, so the word of God comes to a rocky place. Hear the word of God and at once seave it with joy. Whoa. That's the initial step out, isn't it? But since they have no roots They last only a short time.

When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Listen. Still others like seeds sown amongst thorns hear the word, but the worries of this life The deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word making it unfruitful. Suffering mundane life sometimes can be a sort of suffering. This isn't what I signed up for.

I wanted the joy. I don't want the pain. I want the better. I don't want the worse. I want to be richer, I'm not interested in being poorer.

I want health, I don't want sickness. They're getting no reward for following Jesus, in fact they're only getting suffering. So why should we follow Jesus if we only get suffering. And of course, the reason is that he's absolutely gorgeous and true. You know what it is.

You've seen it. You've seen an old couple. It's deeply moving, isn't it? When you have an old man or an old woman and they're looking after their spouse who's got dementia and The spouse doesn't even know who they are and the spouse is swearing swearing at them. They get nothing from the relationship, but pain and sadness, but they stick at it.

It's wonderful, isn't it? You know, we will be careful picking on people, but Isn't Katie Brown? Isn't isn't she isn't she an example to us? Hasn't God given her as an example? Hasn't she?

Now, I'm sure she has ups and downs. I'm sure there's, you know, things in her life that, you know, she shouts about it, but but wow. It's wonderful, isn't it? Sticks at it when you don't get anything back. Now, the writer is confident that they can endure.

I need to move on quickly. The writer is confident that they can endure because God empowers us even in our weakness. Look at verse 39 of chapter 10. We're coming to 11. Chapter 9 to 39.

Look when he says, but we do not and includes them in it. It's lovely. But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but that those who have faith and are saved. We don't belong to the to the godless world that and and and being foolishly impressed with God Godlessness and and a bit of stuff being stolen. We we we don't shrink back.

We are not fair weather. Christians, not us. He says, even when the scorching heat comes, we are not going to fall back, he says. And Hebrews 11 is gonna illustrate people that felt like quitting but didn't. And we're amongst that cloud.

Of witnesses, he says. So it brings me to my third point. We've seen these words that show us what it is to quit, and we've seen what leads us to being having unfaith. Now here's faith and courage. Look at verse 1, and 2 of chapter 11.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. So it's a great chapter of faith. It starts with creation and goes through chronologically through the redemptive history to Christ. It goes from creation to Christ, because you've got to include the first part of chapter 12 in and it it comes to the greatest man of faith, who is the pioneer of our faith for the joy set before him endured the cross.

That's a definition of great faith. He's enduring the now, the cross, the horror of the cross for the future joy that was set before him. So this chapter goes from creation to Christ, and it has all these things of faith. It's wonderful. But what is faith?

Atheist Christopher Hitchens, who died fairly recently. His definition of Christian faith is this. Faith is the surrender of the mind. No, it isn't. So he's wrong there.

It's a surrender of reason No, it isn't, so he's wrong there. It's the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from the mammals. No, it isn't. Yeah? You couldn't get more wrong.

If that is faith, I don't want it. Mark Twain said faith is to believe in what you know ain't so. No, it isn't. That's make belief. That's not belief.

That's make belief. Let's pretend That's wishful thinking. No wonder you'll give up the faith if you've got wishful thinking as faith. If that's your faith, you'll give it up. Because it's untrue.

Now, what is Christian faith? Well, he shows us. Look at chapter 10 again verse 32. Just go back to that. Remember those earlier days after you had received the light when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering, received the light.

Do you remember that, he says? Your eyes were open to who Jesus is, what life is about, what the world is about, and what you should be about. You received the light. You've got this different kind of knowledge. Someone's turned the light on.

In the unseen promises of God, biblical faith is always a response to revelation. That's why dull of hearing is so dangerous. If you don't listen to the revelation of God, and your dull of hearing, you'll likely give up the faith. But as we hear the revelation of God, We've received the light about what life is about. It's it's not a leap into the dark, it's a step into the light.

It's it's not a vague mysticism faith. It's it's an understanding response to who Jesus is. You've come to understand who he is. So faith responds to his voice, my sheep hear my voice. Faith in a sense is like a like a sixth sense that Christians have.

How do you how do you know about the realities of the physical world by your 5 senses? You can see and hear and touch and smell and taste. But there are more things in the world than are than then our 5 senses can pick up. And we need a sixth sense and the sixth sense is that you've had your eyes opened to who Jesus is, what your life is about, and what the world is about. And then the second thing is faith is a new kind of reasoning.

Look at chapter 10 verse 34. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, but because you knew that you, yourselves, had a better and lasting possession. Because or since, you knew. You knew. You have a knowledge and then with that knowledge, you reason.

You reason that what your reward is in the next world is gonna be longer lasting and better than any reward in this world. That's what he's about. Christian faith is believing the revelation of God and reasoning that through. And that's what you need to do. So you need to ask this question.

Is it more reasonable to believe you about this life and the future? Then it is to believe Jesus about this life in the future. Are you more reasonable to think you know better than Jesus? What's more reasonable? So Christian faith is reasonable.

I know so little. Most things I don't know. Out of all the knowledge in the universe, how much do I know? I actually remember asking a a a Kingston University student this once, who was an atheist. And I I was trying to do an illustration, and I said, How much out of all the knowledge?

Out of all the knowledge in the whole universe do you, as a Kingston University student know? And he said something like, perhaps 80 percent. What are you doing at Kingston? You should at least be at Cambridge. It's nonsense, isn't it?

How much But how much does Jesus know? So is it more reasonable to believe me or Jesus about my life? Look at verse 1 again. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. It's an assurance about what we do not see.

Now, some things are not seen not because they're invisible, they're not seen because they're promises of the future or they're things that happened in the past. So here we are reasoning, understanding that God has made promises How do I know he's made promises? Well, I look at the past and see what Jesus has done in the past. I understand who he is and I believe his promises. So faith is active trust in the certain promises of an unseen future.

It's unseen to us but not to him. Faith is an active trust because it shapes my now. My now may be bad It may be worse for me. It may be sickness for me. It may be struggle for me.

It may be hard for me to keep my promises that I made in the past in my marriage. It may be really difficult times that is very disappointing and I didn't realize it would be so hard But here I am in the now looking forward in faith to a a future that is glorious and that there's a reward and that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back again and he will bring his reward with me and say good and faithful servant, if I'm good and faithful. That's what faith is. It's reasoning this through. It's saying in the hard times when the waves are battering you.

When difficulties are coming. Yeah, okay, this is the now, but there is a future. So here's my fourth point, and then I'm finished. So Christian faith, doesn't rescue us from a difficult life. Christian faith helps us endure a difficult life.

Look at verse 1 again. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Faith reinstance our ambitions. What do you wanna be commended for?

What is your ambition? Faith reorientates you so that you'll trust Jesus. And people will look back and say, yeah. I get that. That's what they lived for.

And that's what we're going to see as we go through Hebrews, these ancients. Living real lives, trusting the word of God, remembering the truths You see, whatever you're going through, Jesus hasn't changed, has he? The Jesus that you believed in at the beginning, he hasn't changed. It's your circumstances. It's you.

Is he untrustworthy now because you're going through suffering? So over to you then. Let me just put this to you. Ask God, will you? Today?

If you've heard anything of the word of God, ask him for the assurance that his promises are true. Would you ask him to settle that in your life? Would you do that now? Eyes to see Jesus ears to hear what he says. Would you ask him for that?

Perhaps you've been dull at hearing. You know? It's very easy in church. I understand that. Especially when you hear the same preachers again.

Oh, it's Pete. Oh, yeah. We know what you're gonna say. We'll guess. Yeah.

If I had a fresher preacher, it'd be better. Well, it might be a little better, but in the end it's the same word. So ask God for assurance. For his promises, that you won't be dull of hearing that you'll listen, that you'll see Jesus and you'll hear him. Call to mind Call to mind the moments in your life where you knew the joy of the lord.

Do you remember that? Call to mind. Is there is there an instant? Call it to mind. That's what you're saying.

Remember when you follow Christ first, call that to mind. Don't shrink back. It seems that the Hebrews here wanted to shrink back to formal religion that was accepted in the Roman Empire. They love the pomp and the outward. They love the religion.

They're falling back shrinking back to a religion that is sort of looked up to. Not some weird little free church that meets in a school, but 1 with a glorious building. With lots of pomp and ceremony. They seem to want to shrink back to that. But what do you wanna shrink back to?

Probably not that. What do you think will bring your dreams back? In a artist that you're going through, whether it's in marriage or relationships or joy. What do you think is going to bring joy into your life that you wanna shrink back to. You see, in many ways, in my Christian life, I always wanna shrink back to those dynamic times.

You know? Where you see loads of conversions, where it's just very exciting So, when when we were in Tasmania, we had some amazingly terrible persecution, but remarkable things Things would happen, you'd meet people and they'd get converted and it was just an extraordinary time. And you think, but now we now we've just got to stick at church. Now we now we've got to stick at people that seem to get so worried about certain things, you know, going on, you know, then you want to sort of quit. I'm not saying you.

It's not you, actually. But there are churches I've been involved in. And, you know, someone will come up afterwards and you said a word that men did did the bank. And you said, well I said hundreds of words, yeah, but that word. Yeah.

Oh, okay. I'm sorry. You know, you know you know this is what I am and I and I try and try to be you know, but I said a word that you didn't like and I'm, why do you have to split I'd said like 10000 words. Why are we so boring? But you've got to stick at it.

Do I want to just step back into shrink back into a world? That would bring my dreams but it won't, will it? Or am I going to go the difficult course and stick at my promises? And work hard and not shrink back. See, if you shrink back you've got faith, not in Christ but yourself.

We've all got faith but who are you putting it in? Tonight, we're looking at Psalm 1 3 1. It's a lovely Psalm. Do tune in at least. If you can't come.

And it's just so beautiful. And it's very helpful on this whole point, I think. In learning to trust God like a weaned child. That's it. I've told you the sermon.

And there's joy in that. So don't shrink back brothers and sisters. Persevere. Let me close by reading these words. We've already read them, but let us hear them again.

You need to persevere. So that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay, and My righteous 1 will live by faith. I take no pleasure in the 1 who shrinks back. But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Father the God, hear our prayer, make us faithful people Help us we pray to not shrink back to an old way of life that we think will bring happy days. Help us to march on whatever the difficulties, whatever the suffering. And follow you, and then the reward comes.

Help us to believe this we pray in Jesus' name, our man. So we got a great song to finish Use it as a prayer. What is our hope in life and death? What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone.

Christ alone. What is our only confidence that our souls to him belong? Who holds our days within his hands? What comes apart from his command? And what will keep us to the end?

The love of Christ in which I stand. That's it? I should have just read that out. That's my sermon. Let's stand up and sing.

Father, please. Help us to sing hallelujah. Help us to know that our hope springs eternal, help us to sing hallelujah. Help us to know that now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. Please Make us like this.

Help us now not to dismiss the word of God But to apply this word to us, to ourselves, that we would know Christ our hope and life and death. We go now in the name of the father, and the son, and the holy spirit, amen.