Conviction for What You Will Never See
Summary of a Sermon by David Pao, "By Faith"
Hebrews 11 describes many Old Testament witnesses who demonstrated incredible faith, including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. They acted out of their conviction for something they might never see during their lifetime, promised but not yet received (Hebrews 11:13, 39).
By faith, Abel offered sacrifice, the first of many from generations to come. These sacrifices were perfected much later by Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 10; 11:4; 10:5, 8, 11, 12; 12:24).
How did Moses show his faith? Not by crossing the Red Sea, which was attributed to the people. It was when he left the comfort and protection of Pharaoh’s daughter to suffer with the Israelites. He died without reaching the promised land. Even his final resting place wasn’t there. But Moses accepted and believed (Hebrews 11:24-28).
One peculiar verse is: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell,” not by Joshua marching around Jericho. Though Joshua should be Israel’s greatest hero, as he was the one who led the Israelites into the promised land to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 12, Joshua isn’t even mentioned in Hebrews 11. Instead, Hebrews 11 commends the faith of Rahab, a Gentile prostitute (Hebrews 11:30-32, Joshua 6).
Rather than listening to God to attack Jericho, Joshua first sent two spies to investigate. Rahab hid them, telling them, “the Lord has given you this land…all…in this country are melting in fear.” In contrast, the spies did nothing but slept, hid, and ran away. The investigation was a waste of time (Joshua 1:1-5, 2:8-11).
Before his conversion, Paul relied on the law and his ability for salvation. His faith started on the road to Damascus, where Jesus met him and revealed to Paul that salvation comes only from God.
What is faith?
Faith is believing in what God has done, not what we’ve done. Faith is seeing our absolute inadequacy and fixing our eyes on Christ. Faith accepts that reality is not what we can see now, but something we will see, a promise that won’t be fulfilled in our transient time on earth (Hebrews 11:13, 39; 12:1-2).
Summary of a sermon by David Pao, “By Faith.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRI35pjsJmM
By faith, Abel offered sacrifice, the first of many from generations to come. These sacrifices were perfected much later by Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 10; 11:4; 10:5, 8, 11, 12; 12:24).
How did Moses show his faith? Not by crossing the Red Sea, which was attributed to the people. It was when he left the comfort and protection of Pharaoh’s daughter to suffer with the Israelites. He died without reaching the promised land. Even his final resting place wasn’t there. But Moses accepted and believed (Hebrews 11:24-28).
One peculiar verse is: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell,” not by Joshua marching around Jericho. Though Joshua should be Israel’s greatest hero, as he was the one who led the Israelites into the promised land to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 12, Joshua isn’t even mentioned in Hebrews 11. Instead, Hebrews 11 commends the faith of Rahab, a Gentile prostitute (Hebrews 11:30-32, Joshua 6).
Rather than listening to God to attack Jericho, Joshua first sent two spies to investigate. Rahab hid them, telling them, “the Lord has given you this land…all…in this country are melting in fear.” In contrast, the spies did nothing but slept, hid, and ran away. The investigation was a waste of time (Joshua 1:1-5, 2:8-11).
Before his conversion, Paul relied on the law and his ability for salvation. His faith started on the road to Damascus, where Jesus met him and revealed to Paul that salvation comes only from God.
What is faith?
Faith is believing in what God has done, not what we’ve done. Faith is seeing our absolute inadequacy and fixing our eyes on Christ. Faith accepts that reality is not what we can see now, but something we will see, a promise that won’t be fulfilled in our transient time on earth (Hebrews 11:13, 39; 12:1-2).
Summary of a sermon by David Pao, “By Faith.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRI35pjsJmM