Hebrews, February 11, 2024

It's time for the Champions in Christ broadcast with Lee and Rhonda Harrison on 1017 Bay FM.

God is a God of righteousness. God sits on the throne. God is strong and

mental. God is God alone. God is wise and merciful. God is strong and mental.

Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for being with me today on Champions in Christ.

We're going to go into Hebrews this morning and we're going to start in chapter 11 verse 1.

And it says, Now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

For by faith the elders obtained a good report. You know we want to have a good report with the Lord.

And so we want to follow after those that we see in the Word of God that obtained a good report.

It says in verse 3, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.

The worlds, the galaxies, everything was framed by the Word of God.

So that things which are seen were made of things that do not appear.

So let's talk about that for a minute. You know if we go back to Psalms 33 6 through 9,

it says by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

So God spoke and the heavens were made. He spoke the word and what he spoke happens.

And the host of them all the angels were made by the word of God.

And in verse 7 it says he gathered the waters of the sea together as a heap and he laid up the depth in storehouses.

Verse say, Let all the earth fear the Lord, let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

You know we are in awe of the Almighty God. There is no one like him.

There is no one that can do what he can do. Verse 9 it says, And he spoke and it was done.

He commanded and it stood firm. Wow, that's how powerful the word of God is.

He spoke and it happened. He commanded and it stood firm.

You know the Lord is the final authority, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father God and the Holy Spirit.

Those three are one and their word is final authority.

So the Holy Word of God is our final authority in life. It's our handbook to live by.

And the Holy Spirit brings it to life. He's the spirit of life.

So we're talking about faith today. So we're going to go back to Hebrews.

Now that we see God himself use faith, I mean he spoke and things happen.

And we have to speak and follow it up with action to show our faith in action.

And God will be faithful to do the work. So let's continue and let's learn about this.

So by faith, verse 4, Hebrews 11, 4, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, his brother,

by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts.

And by it, he being dead yet speak as his gifts spoke for him because later we know that Cain murdered him.

But it still spoke even though he was dead by faith.

Enoch was translated that he should not see death. Wow.

So he's walking along living his life on the earth and the Bible says that he was translated.

So he did not see death. He was taken up into heaven because God had translated him far before his translation.

He had this testimony. Verse 5 says that he pleased God. Wow. He pleased God so much. God took him straight to heaven.

He didn't have to walk through the door of death to get there.

But verse 6 says without faith, it's impossible to please him.

For he that comes to God must believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.

How thankful am I for that scripture that he's a rewarder of those that diligently seek him?

And you say, well, how do we seek him? Well, you seek him by praying. How do we pray? Just talk to God.

He's not only our heavenly father, but the Lord Jesus Christ is our elder brother.

The Bible says he's our friend. So you can talk to him the same way you're talking to your friend.

He wants to hear your heart. He wants to meet your needs. He wants to bless you.

So call out to him. But mostly we must diligently seek him.

So every day talk to him. Every day get in his word. Learn about him.

Every day listen to anointing men and women of God preaching and teaching the Word of God.

And you'll get to know him more and more.

Verse 7 says by faith Noah being warned of God of the things not seen, being moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.

By the which he condemned the world and because air of righteousness, which is by faith, you know, he became an air of righteousness by faith.

How did he do that? He believed God when when God spoke to him and said, I want you to build an ark that there's going to be a flood.

And it had never rained on the earth before. And so it took him almost 100 years to build the ark.

So imagine working on a project and people coming by saying, Hey, Noah, what are you doing? I'm building an ark. Why?

Because God told me, why are you building an ark? Because it's going to flood the there's going to be a flood and I want to be I want to be saved.

And God's going to God told me to do it. People must have thought he had lost his ever loving mind.

But he didn't. You know, sometimes God speaks to your heart unusual things to do unusual steps of faith.

You know, it's like you stepping out on the water and a stone appears. I mean, we have to step out when we hear that voice, that peace in our heart.

When we read in the word something he wants us to do, we have to step out and do it and he will be faithful.

Verse eight by faith Abraham, which was called to go out into a place where he should have to receive for an inheritance.

He obeyed. He went out not knowing where he goes. Why? Because the Lord said to Abraham, I want you to go.

I want you to leave your kindred, your family and go to a land whose builder and maker is God.

He didn't know where that land was. He just loaded up and was obedient and began to go.

Wow, that's faith. And then he ended up inheriting that land and the story goes on and on.

And it's a great story and it's truth. Everything in the word of God is truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.

Excuse me. Jesus is the word of God in the. He became flesh and dwelt among us.

But we have the word now in verse 11 through faith also Sarah, which was Abraham's wife, received strength to conceive seed and was and delivered a child when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who had promised.

God gave Abraham a promise. God. Abraham was childless and he was getting up in his years and God told him, I'm going to give you a son.

Well, he didn't tell him how long it would be before he was going to deliver on that promise.

But Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. So their bodies, their reproductive organs were past the age of normal reproduction.

And the Bible says their organs were dead. You know, there was no more availability for life to begin in Sarah's womb.

But right here we read that through faith, Sarah believe God, you know, and Abraham had to believe God because they both had to believe because they both were involved in what it takes to have a baby.

So they both believe God and it was it and it came to pass. Praise God.

So we continue in verse 12, therefore, spring up there even one him as good as dead so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand, which is by the seashore innumerable.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth.

We are strangers and pilgrims here on the planet earth. This is not our eternal home. Our eternal home is heaven.

Heaven. Heaven is there for us. And that's what we look to in verse 14 for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country and truly if they had been mindful of that country from when they came out, they might have had opportunity to return.

But now they desire a better country. That is a heavenly country where for God is not a shame to be called their God for he has prepared for them a city.

You know, there's another place in the word. It talks about that Jesus when he ascended unto heaven after he died on the cross and he rose again.

He said, I go and prepare a place for you. You can't go with me now, but there'll be many mansions and you know that place is heaven and that opportunity is for everyone who just believes Jesus is Lord.

And so we are excited about heaven and that's our home. We're just here doing the work of the Lord now and then we'll go.

And it says, let's see, we stopped in verse 16 and then it says in verse 17 again by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.

You know, after the Lord granted Abraham and Sarah their little boy, which was Isaac, you know, Isaac was growing up and they were enjoying life and God tested Abraham and he asked to give him up.

He wanted his son for a sacrifice and Abraham, if he didn't know the true God, if he hadn't had relationship with him, he would have thought God is not a good God.

He's asking me to sacrifice the very thing he gave me, but God was testing him.

So when he was asked, when Abraham was asked in this test, you know, where is the sacrifice? Isaac asked him and all Abraham said was God will provide.

So when he took him up on the mountain and he laid him down and he was about to sacrifice him, an angel, he heard an angel say, No, don't do it.

Because God saw his faith, he was so willing to sat to even sacrifice the very thing that he loved so much that God gave him that he asked for.

And then through that test, God realized that Abraham loved God more than he loved his own son.

You know, God is to be first in our life. God is a jealous God.

And the Bible says that we are to have no other gods but him and he is to have first place in our life and then our husband or spouse and then our children.

And then it goes on from there.

So God has a plan and if we stick to the plan, we will be blessed.

We will thoroughly be blessed.

But it goes on to say of what was it said that Isaac shall be your seed, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from what he also received him in a figure.

So again, you know, Abraham knew, Well, if God wants me to slay Isaac, he'll raise him up from the dead.

He had no doubt about the God he served.

And that's where God wants us.

He wants us walking in faith.

And by walking in faith, that means we have to act out our faith just as they did.

You know, Abraham just didn't say, Oh, I believe God that that you'll I hear here's my son for a sacrifice.

No, he had to go and do he had to get him up on that stone and he had to get that sword out like he was really going to say he had to walk that out.

And then God took care of it.

So in he had a ram in the thicket and Abraham sacrificed the ram instead of Isaac.

And because of that, verse 20 says by faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and he saw concerning things to come.

So Isaac had children.

And then by faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both his sons of Joseph, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff.

And then it goes on to say by faith, Joseph, when he died, made mention of departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones.

By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents because they saw he was a godly child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

You know, at that time, he was supposed to have been killed.

But they trusted the Lord and they put him and protected him and hid him for three months.

And we know what ends up happening with Moses.

You know, he grows up to be a great man and ends up delivering the people, the children of Israel.

Verse 24 by faith, Moses, when he was called, when he was come to years or when he grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy pleasures of sin for a season.

You know, many times there are choices we make.

Some are the easy ones, some are not so easy.

But if we continue to do what's right, if we make the choices that are right and that follow after God's word, we will always be blessed.

And here what Moses did, he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater than the riches of the treasures in Egypt,

for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.

You know, serving God isn't always easy.

And anybody that tells you it's a rose garden is not telling you the truth, because Jesus himself said,

in this world you have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

And that's what we're seeing here, is that Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ, the ridicule, the persecution, all that he got greater than riches of the treasures of Egypt.

You know, many people go after treasure.

They go after their greedy and they seek money.

How can I make more money and get more money and money will buy me happiness?

Money does not buy happiness.

Money can provide for a comfortable life.

Money can answer many things, but money cannot give you happiness or joy, true joy.

You know, by faith in verse 27, Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who was invisible.

Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, at least that the firstborn should touch them.

By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land where the Egyptians trying to do, trying to get them were drowned.

You know, Moses, you know, led the children of Israel, passed through the Red Sea onto dry land.

So when Moses lifted up that rod and the Egyptians were chasing them, seeking to come and kill them, the walls of the water stood up like tides.

The water stood up like two walls of water and they walk through the Red Sea on dry ground.

Would you have liked to have been there? That had to be something.

You're looking to the left and to the right and supernaturally this water is standing straight up.

So you know, when we step out in faith and God delivered them, he delivered them.

When we stand up in faith, when we believe God, God will do the miraculous for us.

He will do the miraculous for us.

We love God. We worship God. We praise Him. We're going to go to a song.

And when we come back in just a moment, we'll talk again about how to connect with this God we're talking about.

We worship the God who is, we worship the God who evermore will be.

He opened the prison door, He parted the Red Sea. My God, He holds the victory.

Let's draw in the house of the Lord, let's draw in the house of the Lord today.

And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise.

Let's draw in the house of the Lord, our God is surely in this place.

And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise.

Oh, oh, we shout out your praise.

We sing to the God who heals, we sing to the God who saves, we sing to the God who always makes a way.

Cause He opened the bone that crossed, then He rose up from that grave. My God is still rolling stones away.

Let's draw in the house of the Lord, our God is surely in this place.

And we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise.

We were the beggars, now we're royalty, we were the prisoners, now we're running free.

We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by His grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise.

Cause we were the beggars, now we're royalty, we were the prisoners, now we're running free.

We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by His grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise.

Let's draw in the house of the Lord today, and we won't be quiet, we shout out your praise.

Let's draw in the house of the Lord, let's draw in the house of the Lord today.

We're gonna shout out your praise, let's draw in, let's draw in, let's draw in, let's draw in again in this place.

And we won't be quiet, shout out your praise, we shout out your praise.

Let us draw in this house, let us draw in this house today.

We shout out your praise, we shout out your praise.

Remember those walls that we called sin and shame? They were like prisons that we could escape, but He came, and He died, and He rose.

Those walls are rubble now. Remember those giants we called death and grace? They were like mountains that stood in our way, but He came, and He died, and He rose.

Those giants are dead now.

This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us.

Keep on the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus.

Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray, but He heard every word, every whisper.

Now those answers in the wilderness tell the story of His faithfulness. Never once did He fail, and He never will.

This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us.

Keep on the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus.

Who poured me out of that pit? He did, He did. Who paid for all of our sin? Nobody but Jesus.

Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh, who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Jesus.

Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh, who gets the glory and praise? Nobody but Him.

This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us.

Keep on the cross, beat the grave, let heaven and earth proclaim this is our God, King Jesus.

This is our God.

We worship the God who is, we worship the God who was, we worship the God who always is, who never leaves us or forsakes us.

I want to give you an opportunity right now. If you don't know this God we were talking about.

If you want to be like one of these who by faith subdued kingdoms and fought for righteousness and stood for God,

say this simple prayer after me, say, Dear Jesus, forgive me of my sin, wash me clean.

I accept you as Lord and Savior. I believe you died on a cross, your blood was shed for me.

And you rose again that I too can spend eternity in heaven with you. In Jesus' name, amen.

If you prayed that prayer today, we want to send you a new Bible. You can connect with us at Champions in Christ, the number three at gmail.com.

That's Champions in Christ and number three at gmail.com. We love you today. God loves you.

We want you to go out and make it a great day and remember you are a champion in Christ.

I believe your name is life. Break every strong hope, shine through the...