Month: November 2011

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Hebrews 12:1 is a summation of the 11th chapter in which the writer speaks of the unwavering faith of many Old Testament saints. They trusted in God’s promise that He would send a Messiah with a truly remarkable ministry, but they never realized the promise in their lifetimes. They lived in a different dispensation under types and shadows that prefigured the coming Messiah, but they were not blessed as we are to live in the fullness of understanding of those same prefigurations. And yet with this limited understanding, they remained faithful to their cause fully trusting God that everything He promised would be fulfilled.

In the 12th chapter, we are encouraged to regard their example. We are in a better position than they, which should cause us to endure even more for the cause of Christ. The Old Testament saints are witnesses for us. They speak through the pages of scripture to encourage us to fight the good fight of faith and to remain steadfast and unmovable in our resolve to serve Christ. We are encouraged to cast aside any sin that hinders our service to God and to patiently endure suffering for the cross of Christ.

This admonition is followed by more encouragement to focus our eyes on Jesus the one who not only gives us faith but also brings that faith to its final fruition. We are never left alone in the trials of life. In the worst moments when it seems there are no more resources, there is a fresh outpouring of His grace to help us endure the trials. The apostle Paul said that every trial is an opportunity for God to give a new display of His power (2 Cor. 12:9).

In the last part of verse 2, we are reminded of the willingness of Christ to sacrifice Himself for us. Jesus did this because He knew the suffering of the cross would bring His greatest exaltation in glory. Jesus is not listed among the heroes of the faith in the 11th chapter because His suffering was the ultimate agony. His suffering was the equivalent of the agony we would endure in hell should we remain unconverted. Jesus endured the wrath of God for sin while dying on the cross, and yet He fully trusted that He would arise from the dead.

With these great examples of faith culminating in the greatest act of faith, that of Christ, we are encouraged not to faint. If we concentrate on our troubles instead of Christ, we are prone to weariness and despair. When we see how faith sustained these great heroes and how Jesus Christ overcame more shame and humiliation than we could ever experience, then we know our faith in Christ is well capable of overcoming our afflictions. No Christian has ever had more trials than faith was able to conquer. Remember this the next time you face a hopeless problem. Focus on Christ and believe He will bring you through.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11:30-31)

One of the compelling narratives in the Old Testament is the story of Rahab and the providential way she was brought to salvation in Jehovah God. Her story is found in the book of Joshua chapter 2, which is in the time when Israel was ready to take possession of the Promised Land. There was a formidable obstacle standing in their way which was the fortified city of Jericho. Rahab lived in Jericho. She was one of the Canaanites that was a worshipper of false gods, she was dedicated to the immoral practices of the people which included worship filled with terrible sexual perversion. The scriptures note that Rahab was a harlot, or in our terms she was a prostitute.

Rahab was one of the down and out; she lived in a city that was destined for destruction. For all intents and purposes, it would appear that Rahab would die the death that others in Jericho would experience when Israel came to take possession of the land. This was not to be, however, because she was one of God’s chosen people. One of the most marvelous aspects of this in consideration of God’s grace is this person that God chose to save. If I told you today that God was going to rain down destruction upon San Francisco and only one person in the city would be saved, who would you expect God to save? In God’s kingdom, who would be the most advantageous?

We might say, “Well, surely, God would save the richest person in town.” Or, “God would save the most prominent businessman or the savviest politician. That kind of person would surely make God’s list.” But if I told you that God was going to save a homeless person, or a heroin addicted prostitute, you would say, “That’s crazy. It doesn’t make sense. Why would God save that person?”

Most of us here today are used to singing “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me;” and what we are really thinking is “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like him, or like her.” We don’t think we are all that wretched and it is really not too amazing that God would choose us. The fact is, however, that all of us are undeserving of God’s grace. There is nothing in us that commends us to God, and certainly nothing that prompted God to mark us out as objects of His saving grace.

Rahab is a good case in point that God can save anyone. No matter what you have done or where you have been, God’s grace is powerful enough to save you. The scripture says “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not.” This is the key to the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth. By faith, God saves. Have you trusted Him? Jesus Christ stands ready right now with arms open wide to receive you. Rahab realized the power of Almighty God to rescue her from destruction. The same is true for you today. Destruction is your path if not for the saving grace of God. By faith Rahab was delivered, and by faith you may also receive deliverance from God.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Our scripture reading today brings us to one of the most well known chapters of the Bible. The subject is faith; the kind of faith that urges the believer in Christ to keep on trusting God in the midst of severest trials. It is the faith that perseveres which shows it is anchored solidly in the object of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that have real saving faith do not fall back to perdition but believe to the final saving of their souls (10:39).

This faith is one that brings the future promises of God into the present so that they are assured as if they were already realized. It is not an unfounded hope but is implicit trust in God grounded in the revelation of Him through His word. This faith causes us to believe that the blessings of God are actuality and that we will possess them because of God’s own faithfulness and power to make them happen. Arthur Pink wrote concerning this faith: “The confident expectation which faith inspires, gives the objects of the Christian’s hope a present and actual being in his heart. Faith does not look out with cold thoughts about things to come, but imparts life and reality to them. Faith does for us spiritually what fancy does for us naturally. There is a faculty of the understanding which enables us to picture to the mind’s eye things which are yet future. But faith does more: it gives not an imaginary appearance to things, but a real subsistence. Faith is a grace which unites subject and object: there is no need to ascend to Heaven, for faith makes distant things nigh (see Romans 10:6, 7). Faith, then, is the bond of union between the soul and the things God has promised. By believing we ‘receive’; by believing in Christ, He becomes ours (John 1:12). Therefore does faith enable the Christian to praise the Lord for future blessings as though he were already in the full possession of them” (Exposition of Hebrews).

This kind of faith is absolutely essential for the Christian because of the powerful enemies that war against our soul. The scripture says that God’s people are appointed to suffering and that the world is always against us. Without an enduring faith, we would soon succumb to those evil forces and give up our confidence in God. This faith is not conjured up from natural intestinal fortitude because we are incapable in our sinful disposition to believe these things are real. This faith is initiated by God. As the man in Mark 9 cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief,” so we must depend on God to grant us this kind of faith by changing our sinful nature to one that is enabled to trust God with all of our heart.

The result of this faith is seen in the following verses of Hebrews 11. Multiple examples are given of those that endured the worst persecutions imaginable without obtaining the promise in this life, yet they never thought that God had abandoned them. Their promise of eternal life with God in heaven was as sure to them as if they had already received it. This is the faith we must ask God for—a substantive faith that has complete confidence in Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection.

Pastor V. Mark Smith