Congregational BIble Experience Day #74: Hebrews 11-13

Congregational Bible Experience Day#74
Bible Reading: Hebrews 11-13

Introduction: Faith. Living by faith. Living by faith in what God has said, in what He has promised. It's what our life, really, ought to be about. But it's possibly the hardest lesson we'll ever have to learn. In fact, for most of us, it will take a lifetime to learn it well, and even then we'll probably get it wrong. For as we journey through life, with all its ups and downs, joys and sorrows, twists and turns, heart melts and heart breaks, God is teaching us about faith, about what it means to trust Him. That's what Hebrews 11 is about.
Now Hebrews 11 has its own peculiar spin on faith. You will remember that for the Apostle Paul, faith was almost always looking back to Calvary to behold (in faith) Christ dying and rising for us. We see the evidence of His love, we sense the pain and the price He paid - and we trust Him because of that. But Hebrews 11 calls us to trust God in a different way. It asks: do we trust God for the future when all we have to go on is… His character itself? That's all. What he says about Himself, what He promises His people. Can we trust Him on that basis alone? Do we trust God solely because He is God? When life doesn't make sense, do we trust Him? When there is no evidence of His love and care, do we trust Him? When we can point to nothing but pain and mystery and darkness, and even death - as many of those in Hebrews 11 experienced - do we trust our God still?
Well, do we?


[Note: what a time to be reading of the need of a persistent and persevering commitment to Christ in the face of adverse circumstances…]

The writer of Hebrews is preaching to his readers - with a true pastor's heart - to remain faithful to Jesus when it is costly (literally, 10:34) and difficult to do so. They had been through hard times before (10:32-35) and had stayed loyal to Christ throughout. But now, time and fear seem to have eroded that previous commitment. Then, they had been bold for Jesus Christ; now they seem timid. Then, they had stood their ground; now, they appear to be in retreat. Then, they had regarded their material resources as expendable; now they are reluctant to risk the loss of property and even life for faithfulness to the Gospel. Which is why he appeals to them "not to throw away their confidence [literally - 'boldness']; for it will be greatly rewarded" (v35) - by God. They need to endure, to persevere, to carry on… (v36). They need to be reminded that they are to "live by faith" (v38, quoting Habakkuk 2:3-4), for that is how we please God. True believers believe, and carry on believing, and do not stop believing, whatever. Others, do not and will be destroyed (v39).  There's no other option. That's tough medicine to swallow. What follows (Hebrews 11:1 - 12:3) is the bitter-sweet sugar to help the medicine go down.

Not only had some walked away from the Christian community (10:25), but some of the 'remainers' seemingly had lost confidence in God's promises (v35a). In response, the writer stresses the utter reliability of God to His Word and His faithfulness to His people (v35b). It is this truth that he wants his readers to grasp and hold onto. Hebrews 11 shows that "faith" is not a vague, sentimental attitude aimed in the direction of God, that believes anything can and will happen to make life easier. Faith is not religious optimism, as most people this it is. Rather, it is steadfast faithfulness to God and His word of promise. This is committed faith. Such 'faith' celebrates in the present the reality of God's promised blessings in the future and the certain reality of events announced now but as yet unseen (v1). When, in this chapter, you read the oft-repeated 'By faith…', this is be read and understood as, 'By faith (trusting) in God and in what He had said…'.

This kind of faith is somewhat different (not contradictory) to the Apostle Paul's perspective on faith. For Paul, 'faith' is very often our personal (subjective) and present response to what God has done in the past. We look back to Jesus' death at Calvary and trust that what happened there was for me. But in Hebrews 11, faith looks forwards for it is focussed on the future. Faith here is more objective because it rests in the present upon the promises of what says He will do before it happens. This faith does not rely on what God has done, so much as it relies upon the very character and trustworthiness of God Himself: do I trust God to come through on what He has said He will do but as yet has not done? It's what the Bible calls 'hope', and Hebrews 11 is full of this faith-fuelled hope.

 What the writer reminds his readers and God commends in the many examples of faith that are cited (v11,39), is that faith stabilises us in the difficult present because of what God assures for us in the certain future. Faith is an unwavering trust in the reliability of God and His promises. Committing ourselves to the steadfast God enables us to live steadfast lives, hard though our circumstances may be. That's what the "witnesses" proved (12:1). They are not spectators in an arena merely watching us run our race of faith; they are the forerunners who have already run the race and are encouraging us on by their own example. Similarly, we keep our eyes on Jesus - perhaps not so much the finishing line - as the 'ultimate pacesetter of faith' who endured the cross trusting in the future joy-filled fulfilment of God's promises to Him. (v2-3).

However, the race of faith we run is not a short sprint, but a lifelong marathon. It is, in fact, a pilgrimage towards the heavenly city of God (11:10,14,16; 13:14). It's a tough trek, with lots of difficulties ('disciplinary sufferings') along the way (12:4-13); but this is to remind us that what we learn and how we grow in the journey is necessary preparation for reaching our destination. For now, in God's purposes, our journey is more important than our destination. To reach the end, full of persevering faith, requires establishing priorities (v14-29) - such as living peaceably (v14), holiness (v14), cultivating grace (v15), moral purity (v16) - that will help us stay on the path and not be distracted. And of course, this is not a solo pilgrimage; we make our pilgrim way towards our goal in community with others (13:1-21), a community that is often stressed and experiences tension because of external pressure from outside the church fellowship and internal pride and selfishness arising from within. So, what will keep us going? The unchanging character of Jesus (13:8) and the assurance of the sufficiency of Christ's sacrificial death for us and the grace of His sustaining and empowering work within us (v20-21).  Because of Christ, and through trusting in Christ, we will get there. Eventually. So, hang in there, and don't go back.