Seeing the Spirit: Faithfulness; July 12, 2026

speaker-0: Our first reading this morning is from Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1 through 16. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts. He died, but through his faith he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death, and he was not found because God had taken him. For it was attested before he was taken away that he had pleased God. And without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would approach God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith, Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he set out not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in land that he had been promised, as in a foreign land. Living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith, with Sarah's involvement, he received power of procreation, even though he was too old, because he considered him faithful, who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, as many as the stars of heaven, and as innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, who were For people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. Indeed He has prepared a city for them. The word of the Lord.

Hebrews 11:1–16

speaker-1: The second reading comes to us from Hebrews chapter 11, 32 and 12. And what more should I say for time would fail to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah of David and Samuel the prophet. who through faith conquer kingdoms, administer justice, obtain promises, shut the mouths of lions, quench the power of fire, escape the edge of this world. were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to fight flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death. They were saw into two. They were killed by the sword. They went about in skin of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in desert and mountain, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were condemned for their faith, did not receive what was promised. since God had provided something better so that they would not apart from us be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfect factor of faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross this created his shame and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God this is the word of the Lord

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

speaker-0: Yeah,

speaker-1: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from all Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. So we are dealing on the seeds of fruits of the spirit. And the topic that I'm going to be preaching is on the faithfulness. chapters that was read to us from the scripture is based on that very particular chapters Hebrews chapter 11 and Hebrews chapter 11 and 12 verse 2 Friends talking about this particular passage if you have observed reading these passages, you know the writer of the Hebrews Gives us one of the most beautiful definition of faith in all the scripture I hope you agree with me. And talking about faith and faithfulness in today's world, in our context, know, faith is often misunderstood. Again, the word faithfulness is often cheapen. So many imagine faith to be a kind of a psychological exercise, a positive thinking. a religious optimism if you will or the ability to convince ourselves that everything will work out if we believe hard enough. That's the kind of understanding that is out there among us. Again, in our modern vernacular, as I said earlier, the word faithlessness is often chief and why do I say that? Because we understand it merely as a human reliability. We understand just as mere moral loyalty or the grit required to keep our promises. Nothing more than that. So we know what is there out in the world and what is there according to the Bible and we are all from the reformed tradition. So what does the Bible teach about faith and the reformed about the reformed faith? It is very important that we understand this is more fundamentally deeper because it's more fundamentally deep. So faith is not according to biblical and the reformed understanding of faith. It gives us an understanding that faith is not confidence in ourselves. But faith is confidence in God. We got to get this very clear. Faith is not confidence in ourselves, but faith is confidence in God. But take a moment and think about it, you know? Every single morning we wake up, not because our biological engine are flawless, but because God has been faithful throughout the night. I hope you agree with me. Right. and every breathtaking, your breath expanding your lungs at this very moment is dynamic. It's a living evidence that Creator God has not abandoned His creation. And again, every ultimate hope we all rest not on the shifting sand of our personal strength, but on the unshakable bedrock of his steadfast love. So my friends, remember, the Christian faith is never an anxious theater production where we attempt to impress God with our faithfulness. No, that is not the way. So it is profound, biblical faith and the reformed faith is profound. Lifelong response of gratitude to God. It's an ongoing thing. So. The gratitude of God, why? Why should we be gratitude to God? Because who has already proven his absolute faithfulness in whom? In our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes, the biblical faith is deeper. faith again is not confidence in ourselves, but faith is confidence in God. And that... distinction is very critical for you and me for all believers who call themselves that they are the followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why do I say this? Because think about it, if faith depends upon us, if faith depend upon us, we are in trouble. Yes or no? Yes, we will be in trouble. If faith depends upon the strength of our conviction, if faith depends upon the consistency of our prayers, if faith depends on the purity of our motives, or if faith depends upon the perfection of our obedience. The Bible says none of us can stand before God. There is no way that we can stand before God. Why? Why? Because we know our hearts so well, don't we?

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: And have you obeyed him without hesitation? No, we know our hearts too well and at the same time we know our doubts, we know our fears, we know our failures and we know our sins. There is no way we can stand before God. There cannot be a way that we can stand before God with our own faithfulness, with our own effort of being faithful to God. So we come to know, see always when I preach sermon, I divide my sermon into two halves. The law and the gospel. Any sermon. You can divide into two halves. And first we got to look at what the law of God says in this portion of the sermon. And what is the gospel in this portion of the sermon. You the law of God exposes this reality of who we are. The law is like a mirror. We stand in front of the mirror and the mirror don't lie. It will tell you exactly how you look like. Right? So the law asks, have you trusted God completely? And the law asks, have you obeyed Him without hesitation? Have you followed Him without fear? Have you loved Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength? Pause for a moment and think about it. If we are honest, the answer is what? No. studied about biblical figures in two or four readings. Like Abraham, we have doubted. Yes or no? Yes. And like Moses, we have hesitated. God wanted him to go and face Pharaoh. No, Lord, I can't do this. And like Israel at the Red Sea, we have complained. We have been complaining. like the saints before us we have stumbled repeatedly yes or no? yes friends the law strips away every illusions of self-righteousness from us the law reminds us that our standing before God cannot be earned by our own faithfulness why? why? because our faithfulness is incomplete Our faithfulness is incomplete and yet this is where the gospel shines with breathtaking beauty. The message of Hebrews my friend is not ultimately about the greatness of human faith. It is not about the ultimate of a human faith. It is about the greatness of God's faithfulness. So that's the gospel of the Lord. Remember, the heroes of Hebrews chapter 11 are not remembered because they were flawless. They remembered because, you know, God remained faithful to them despite their flaws. That is the gospel of the Lord. Talking about Abraham, Abraham was not perfect. Talking about Sarah, she doubted. You know, Jacob, he deceived his own brother. Rahab came from a broken past. Yet, we see that God worked through them all. God worked through them all. The spotlight of Hebrews is not on perfect people. The spotlight is on a perfect God who is faithful. And ultimately, Hebrews directs our eyes beyond all the saints and patriarchs to one greater than all. Look unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, of our faith. So there is the gospel. This is the gospel of the Lord. My friends, look unto Jesus. is the call to all of us who is the author and perfecter of our faith. So this is the gospel of the Lord. Because Jesus is not merely an example of faith, my friends. I said Jesus is not just merely an example of faith. He is the source of faith. He is the pioneer of faith and he is the perfecter of faith and he's the one whose faithfulness secures our salvation. That's the gospel of the Lord. You know, again, when we could not obey Jesus obeyed for us When we wander He remains steadfast when we sinned He remained holy and when we deserve judgment He bore the cross on our behalf So when death claimed us He conquered death for you and me and for all of us. So remember the foundation of a relationship with God is not our grip on Jesus. I repeat that the foundation of a relationship with God is not our grip on Christ but Christ's grip on us. It is his grip on us my friends. So not our faithfulness towards him but his faithfulness towards us. So that is why we can stand before God with confidence. That is the gospel of the Lord. We can stand before God with confidence because of Jesus, what he has done to us. Not because we have run the race perfectly. Not because Jesus has already won the race on our behalf. But he has done it for all of us. And talking about the great cloud of witnesses that we read in our scripture. This particular passage in Hebrews paints a magnificent image. You say, since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witnesses. Many imagine these witnesses as some spectators watching us from above, sitting in heaven. No. My friends, the text points us towards something very richer. These witnesses are not merely watching us, they are witnessing to us. It's a great thing they are witnessing to us. You know their lives testify to the faithfulness of God. Abraham says, know God keeps his promises. Once who rejected, once who doubted God, now he says to us, God keeps his promises. Moses says, he was once did not want to go to meet with Pharaoh, but Moses now acknowledges and says to us, God delivers his people. Rahab says, even though I was an outsider, God welcomes the outsider. And prophets, prophets says, God remains faithful even when the word rejects you. And the martyr says, God promises our worth more than earthly security. So my friend, again, their lives became a living, God promised, their life became a living servant. So remind us, they remind us that God's grace has always been sufficient. My grace is sufficient for you. So they also remind us today to each and every one of us that his grace is sufficient for us. They remind us that failure is not the final word, my friends. They remind us that God's story is larger than our present struggle. There's nothing for us to fear about. So they're calling us and even... The Gospel calls us today to take faithful step one after the other. Faithful step by faithful step. That is the call for you and me this morning. Notice something remarkable. Most of the saints listed in the Hebrew never saw the full fulfillment of God's promises in their life. No. They did not see the full fulfillment of God's promises in their life. But they lived in faith. They walked by faith. They died in faith. They took one faithful step after another. This is often how discipleship should work. It's a call for you and me to do the same. But what are we? What do we do? We want the entire map. Lord, figure it out for us. He was the whole map. We want the entire map. When we want the entire map, what does God do to us? No, He gives us the next step. No, I can't give the whole map. I'm going to give you just the next step. Take it and walk. Again, when God gives us the next step, we want certainty. Lord, is it very certain? Is it true? Can I rely on it? Can I trust that? So God says when we ask for certainty, God gives us His presence. His presence Himself. When we want answers, God gives us Himself. He gives us Himself when we want answers. So this is the Gospel of the Lord. Faith is often, my friend, less about seeing the destination. Faith is often less about seeing the destination and more about trusting the guide. trust our God who is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So every day God calls his people to take another faithful step, one prayer, one act of forgiveness, one moment of courage if you will. And again, one decision to trust and one act of compassion, one witness to the gospel. So faithfulness is rarely dramatic. Most often it is an ordinary obedience sustained by extraordinary grace. An ordinary obedience sustained by an extraordinary grace. And the gospel today calls us to have courage in our generation. Courage. The reading from the wisdom reminds us that every generation, every generation faces pressure designed to make God's people bow down. That is where, that is how we live. You know, every age has its idols. Every age has its temptation. And every age has its voice to say, compromise. Why don't you get along? You know, be silent. Don't speak out. Confirm to what's going on. Lower your conviction. Follow the crowd. My friends, the spirit of God, however... is never imprisoned by the spirit of the age. I want to read that so that we get that message into our heart. The spirit of God, however, is never imprisoned by the spirit of the age. Why do I say this? Because the same spirit who empowered Abraham, the same spirit who empowered Moses, Deborah, Esther, Mary, Peter, Paul, and countless saints throughout the history is still at work Good day. Everybody say the Spirit is alive. The Spirit is alive and the Spirit is creative. He's alive and creative. The Spirit is powerful. The Spirit continues to call believers into courageous act of faithfulness in every generation. It might be you, but with somebody within your family, He continues to call for an act of courageous faithfulness in every generation. Again my friends, the forms may change, the challenges may change, the mission field may change, but the gospel never changes. The gospel never changes. So God continues to call his people to stand tall in eight to six to bend them all. We are called to stand tall. To speak the truth. When lies are fashionable, God calls us to speak the truth. And God calls us to pursue justice when injustice is profitable. And God calls us to show mercy when cruelty is celebrated. To welcome strangers when fear dominates. To love enemies when hatred seems easier. To bear witness to Christ in a world desperate for hope. So this is all about running the race. If you have noticed the chapter, it's called for running the race. The writer concludes, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Notice. That is, it is the race set before us. The race is set before us. It's not someone else's race. Again, not the race we wish we had. Not even that. Not the race we would choose for ourselves. But the race God has set before us. So my friends, on this race may some run through seasons of abundance and everything is fine, they run good. I don't know what happens after that. Others run through valley of grief. Some carry burden of illness. Others struggle with loneliness. Some result with uncertainty. Others carry wounds unseen by anyone else. Yet every believer Whatever they're going through, whatever the status they are in, every believer is invited into the same posture. We are invited to keep running, keep trusting, keep looking to Jesus. Now, when the strength fails, what are we supposed to do? Look to Jesus. When doubt arises, look to Jesus. when guilt overwhelms your look to Jesus. When the failure feels uncertain, the future feels uncertain.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

speaker-0: Yeah.

speaker-1: look to Jesus for he is not only the author of faith no he's not only the author of faith I said he's the finisher of faith the one who began the good work in you will bring it to completion again coming to the conclusion your friends the good news today is that you must become it's not it's not that you must become another Abraham or another Moses The good news is that God who sustained Abraham, the God who sustained Moses is sustaining you. The good news is that the same grace that carried the saints of old is carrying you. The good news is that Jesus Christ crucified and risen has already secured your future. That is the gospel of the Lord. Therefore, my friends, surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, forgiven by the grace of Christ, and appealed by the faithfulness of God, run the race, take the next faithful step, stand tall in your generation, and Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. To him be all glory, honor and praise, now and forever. Amen. May God bless his words for us.