An Attitude of Expectant
Faith -- Hebrew 11
Now faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the
ancients were commended
for.
By faith we understand
that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen wasnot made
out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God
a better sacrifice then Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous
man, when God spoke well
of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken
from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found,
because God had taken him
away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who
pleased God. And without
faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
By faith Noah, when warned
about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By
faith he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
By faith Abraham, when
called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and
went, even though he did
not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promisedland like
a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who
were heirs withhim of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city
with foundations, whose architectand builder is God.
By faith Abraham, even
though he was past age - and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to
become a father because he
considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this oneman, and
he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and
ascountless as the sand on the seashore.
All these people were
still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;
they only saw them and
welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens andstrangers
on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country
of their own.
If they had been thinking
of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
Instead, they were longing
for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God, for he
has prepared a city for them.
By faith Abraham, when God
tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the
promises was about to
sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is
throughIsaac that your offspring will be reckoned”. Abraham reasoned that God
could raise the dead, and
figuratively speaking, he
did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
By faith, Jacob, when he
was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshipped as he leaned onthe top
of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when his
end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from
gave instructions about
his bones.
By faith Moses' parents
his him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was noordinary
child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.
By faith Moses, when he
had grown up, refused to be known a the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He
choose to be mistreated
along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
ashort time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value
than the treasures ofEgypt, because he was looking ahead to his regard. By
faith he left
anger; he persevered
because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and
thesprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch
the firstborn of
By faith the people passed
through the
By faith the walls of
By faith the prostitute
Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who
weredisobedient.
And what more shall I say?
I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David,
Samuel and the prophets,
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gainedwhat was
promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and
escaped theedge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who
became powerful in battle androuted foreign armies. Women received back their
dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured andrefused to be released, so
that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging,
while still others were
chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they
were put to death by the
sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted
and mistreated - the world
was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in
caves and holes in the
ground.
These were all commended
for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. Godhad
planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be
made perfect.
Hebrews 11 is alive with
the expectant faith of our spiritual forefathers, and offers an inspiring
vision
of what God has done and
will do through those who live their lives in obedience to Him. The men
and women remembered and
set as an example before us lived with the same struggles many of usface today,
and because of that their lives continue to witness to the same attitudes
disciples of JesusChrist are themselves to reveal.
Biblical faith is
expectant faith. Expectant faith means living obediently today in light of what
I believetomorrow will hold; or as Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is being sure of
what we hope for and certain ofwhat we do not see”. What does expectant faith
look like? There are numerous ways that we see
expectant faith expressed
in Hebrews 11. This morning I want to briefly look at 4 Characteristics of
Expectant Faith. So keep
your bibles open to Hebrews 11.
The first characteristic
of Expectant faith is to know who God is. The Old Testament figure of
Abraham is the primary
example.
God and Abraham began a
relationship when God told Abraham to go to a new land. This relationshipwas
deepened as God taught Abraham more about trusting him when God promised
Abraham a son.
Abraham knew that God was
a trustworthy guide and provider. Thus, when God asked Abraham to dothe
outrageous and sacrifice his only son, because Abraham knew who God was he
could respond
with a quiet trust and as
the Bible says, Abraham reasoned that God would raise him fro the dead.
God had done the
miraculous before, so God could do it again.
Expectant faith is
developed as a characteristic or attitude in our lives in the same way as we
alsocome to know who God is. How do we do this?
We can learn about who God
is from his Word. The stories of his faithfulness to others can teach us
that God can be faithfully
trusted when he calls us to him as well.
We can also come to know
who God is by listening to the testimony of His people that are around us.
I love hearing your
stories of God's faithfulness as it inspires me to trust him in my own difficulties,
and I hope that when I am
able to share my story with you, you will find that your faith in God is
alsostrengthened.
The second characteristic
of Expectant faith we find in Hebrews 11 is to trust God's process. Look
at vs. 30, “By faith the walls
of
people were going to
conquer the city, but they were to do it God's way, which was to March around
the city and then yell at
the walls. I suspect they scratched at their heads too.
The outcome of
miraculously conquering
anything, God could have
simply taken his divine thumb and squashed
inhabitants of Jericho,
wondering what their circling and then shouting was going to do, God
providedthem with an unexpected learning opportunity for his people - victory
was not dependent on militaryprowess or might, victory, and eventually full
conquest, would come as a result of Israel's
dependence upon and
obedience to God.
I need to ask, as God is
seeking to develop characteristics of expectant faith in you, what process
isGod taking you through? I'll tell you one from my life, and it's a process
that's effecting many of you
also. The spending freeze
we've enacted for the last year has not been fun. It's a process God's been
taking all of us through,
and I am learning to appreciate. It's so much easier to do ministry when youcan
simply search the budget line to make sure you have enough, and go for it.
Sorry if that is ashocker to you, but that was an attitude that had developed
in me. If we can pay for it we can do it.
But in this freeze I am
learning to be more dependent upon the Holy Spirit and discerning about
whatministry targets we aim at and which we don't. It's not fun, but it's been
an important process that Ithink is refining our ministries and bringing into
sharper focus what it is that God wants to do throughthis body. I am learning
that I need to trust God's process and not lean on my own.
The first characteristic
of expectant faith is to know who God is. The second is to trust in God's
process.
The third characteristic
of expectant faith we find in Hebrews 11 is that expectant faith reorients life
to God's purposes. Each of
the persons spoken of in Hebrews 11 ultimately made this characteristic
a central part of their
lives. Reorienting life to God's purposes is the only way for us to truly put
intopractice attitude of expectant faith that disciples of Jesus Christ are to
possess.
Reorienting our lives to
God's purposes is all about priorities. It's funny how our priorities
alwaysshow what we truly value. What is important gets our attention, what is
important is accommodatedfor, what ever is truly important to us we will do
what ever it takes to accomplish it - we will reorient
our lives to make it
happen. So if sports are important, life will be reoriented to accommodate
thatpurpose. If band is important, life will be reoriented to accommodate that
purpose. If money isimportant, life will be reoriented to accommodate that
purpose. This is the way life works, what is
important we reorient
towards.
What does reorientation of
life mean? It means that the important things of our lives, the priorities
ofour lives get our time, get our talent, in short get our treasures. So I have
to ask, if being a disciple ofJesus Christ is a priority in your life, if
putting on the attitudes of discipleship is something that youwant to do, if
you are wanting to cultivate an attitude of expectant faith, then how are you
reorientingyour life to God's purposes? How are you reorienting the priorities
of your life so that God is alsogetting some of your time, some of your talent,
some of your treasures? Jesus was unequivocal inteaching his disciples about
this principle when he said, where your treasure is, there is where yourheart
will also be. Expectant faith reorients life to God's purposes.
The final characteristic
of expectant faith is security with not knowing the end. Listen again toverses
13 and 39, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They
did not receive the
things promised; they only
saw them and welcomed them from a distance”, and verse 39, “These
were all commended for
their faith, yet none of them received what was promised”. Expectant faith
issecure with not knowing the end.
Expectant faith demands
risk, and risk is not something people generally run towards. Why? Becauserisk
is just that, it's risky. It holds the high possibility and probability of
failure, and our culture, most
cultures, cannot handle
failure. When we risk, there is also the possibility that we will get
somethingwrong, have to admit it, and make a mid course correction. This could
be embarrassing or
humiliating, in some
circumstances it might cost you your job or cost you relationships.
The obsession with knowing
all possible future moves and counter-moves that could be made beforetaking
even the first step at best neuters the life of Christ discipleship, and at
worst emasculates adisciple before they even get started.
Let me try to illustrate
what I mean by being secure with not knowing the end. If I were to
personalizeHebrews 11, it would sound like this: By faith Doug Routledge shared
the gospel with me when I was
a frightened, lost 14 year
old coming from a recently broken home. By faith Jim Roberts set aside 1hour
every Wednesday for three years to personally disciple me and teach me about
living as a
Christian. By faith Jim
Bailey invited me to intern at his church, giving me my first taste of
pastoralministry, which God used to change my heart towards ministry and
service in his kingdom. None of
these men received the
fruit of their labors, but you have.
So I ask you, disciple of
Jesus Christ, how are you living out this characteristic of expectant faith?
Where is God asking you to
risk, where is God asking you to trust him with what the future outcomewill be,
but simply obey him now in carrying out his purposes? Who is God asking you to
engage withand perhaps call to the gospel? Where is God giving you opportunity
to serve in his kingdom to makean impact that will last far longer than your
days on earth? The God of the Bible is a big God, he is an
eternal God, he knows the
end. But he has chosen you and me as the main vehicle to bring about
hispurposes. Will you risk trusting him with that end?
Biblical faith is
expectant faith. Expectant faith means living obediently today in light of what
I believetomorrow will hold. The characteristics we can develop of expectant
faith are to know who God is, to
trust in God's process, to
reorient life to God's purposes, and become secure in not knowing the end.