FAITH – Part 5 Hebrews 11: the other verses
This is our fifth Sunday examining Hebrews chapter 11. Next Sunday is a very special Sunday with a children's choir Christmas presentation and a personal testimony being given by a couple who have endured tremendous trials in life. At that time we will also, Lord willing, make our way into Hebrews chapter 12. So this is our final time in this chapter of faith.
In the previous 4 weeks we have
1. examined faith as a philosophical concept 2. considered the life of Abraham (who went out not knowing where he was going) 3. examined the life of Moses (who gave up the pleasures of Egypt to suffer, like Christ, at the hands of his own people), and then, last Sunday, we 4. considered the lives of those whose lives of faith were marked by disaster, hurt, harm and death instead of some great accomplishments.
But what still remains to be considered from this chapter are the in-between verses – those verses that DON'T deal with individuals and what they, by faith, accomplished (or suffered). Altogether there are three sets of such in-between verses... verses 1-2 verse 6, and finally verses 39-40
So let's deal with these three passages before we move on to chapter 12…
1. Verses 1-2 verses 1-2
We already, to a great extent, dealt with these two verses a month back when we first read chapter 11 in its entirety. But in brief, these verses remind us that there is a rational basis for our faith. Our faith is, if you will, a REASONABLE faith. It is grounded in what can be seen…in the creation.
Science, and proponents of science, would have you to believe that an unbiased scientific inquiry into the material universe will lead you to exactly the same place that Carl Sagan began his famed Cosmos television series. Do you remember how that show began? It began with Carl Sagan saying, "The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be."
By that he meant that there is only a material universe wherein there is no God, there are no spirits, and you have no soul. You are star dust and whatever existence you have or have thought you possess will vanish the moment you die.
But this is not science. This is an atheistic philosophy masquerading in the guise of science. For the entire time that Carl Sagan was espousing atheistic materialism, the theists (and Christians in particular) were looking at the same cosmos saying, "Isn't it amazing what God has made!"
There is an old joke about God and Carl Sagan entering into a debate. Sagan said to God, "Science has replaced you. And anything and everything you supposedly did, we can do without you."
"Really?" God replied. "How about this?" And with that God reached down, scooped up a handful of dirt and from it fashioned a man, breathed into him the breath of life and the man became a living soul.
"No big deal," Carl Sagan replied. We can do the same. Just watch…" And with that Carl Sagan reached down to grab a handful of dirt but before he could touch the dirt God stopped him by grabbing his arm. Then God looked him in the eye and said, "Get your own dirt."
The point is that atheistic science has NO answers and NO CLUES to the origins of the universe or the origins of life. None at all. They would have you believe that they can take the same building blocks of life and someday even create life. But the building blocks they would use all belong to God. The life they would make would, by definition, come from God's dirt.
In Hebrews 11, verse 2, the author is quick to point to the cosmos – the creation – as if to say, "Look around you! The God that made the universe is the God in whom we put our faith."
2. Verse 6. verse 6 When I have spoken to those who are questioning their faith, I have always tried to hear them…really hear them. Sometimes, I have found, their questioning has arisen far more from a misunderstanding of Biblical truth than from the actual teaching of the Bible or of Christian doctrine. As an example of this I have mentioned to you before Oprah Winfrey's statement as to why she left the regular church life that she had known since she was a little girl. She said it was because she heard the pastor say, one Sunday, that the God of the Bible is a jealous God. Not understanding what he meant but believing jealousy to be a bad thing, from that moment on she "checked out" of church. That is so tragic…and all due to her misunderstanding of what the Bible means when it does indeed affirm that God is a jealous God. So I think it is important that we try to understand where the person is struggling – over what issue or theological question they may be hung up.
But a second thing I have always done is stress what are the non- negotiables of the Christian faith. And so, for example,
Can one believe in women being pastors and still be a Christian? I believe the answer is clearly Yes.
Can one question Jesus' walking on the water and still be a Christian? Again, it would seem to me the answer must be yes.
How about the virgin birth? I may not like it, and I may try and show this doubter of the Apostles' Creed where they are wrong, but again it seems like the answer must be yes.
So what ARE the non-negotiables? From the scriptures it seems like there are (at least) TWO NON-NEGOTIABLES:
1. The first is taken from Romans 10:9-10. So there MUST be a confession of Jesus as Lord with an accompanying belief in his physical resurrection.
2. The second is taken from this verse in front of us: Hebrews 11:6. There MUST be a confession a belief that God is, and that he rewards those who seek him. So if someone says, "Are Buddhists going to heaven?" The answer, it seems to me, based upon the Bible is: Well, do they believe in God and believe that he rewards those who seek him…AND…do the confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead? As those are the non-negotiables, if they don't confess and believe those two things then, no, on the basis of Biblical teaching, they are not going to heaven.
We don't need to deal with questions like Have they been baptized? Did they partake of communion? Did they go to church? Do they believe in the Second Coming of Christ?
Let's just stick to the basics.
Now it is interesting to me that the English Standard Version has deleted a word from verse 6 that many of us are familiar with (either from the King James Version or even the New International (NIV) version. And that is that God will reward those who DILIGENTLY seek him (KJV)… who EARNESTLY seek him (NIV).
Those words like diligently or earnestly made it clear that this was not just some casual seeking after God. Rather, with those words added, it seemed to suggest that God's kingdom and God's rewards will be coming only to those who have shown some PASSION in this search. But the ESV has deleted these adverbs. So what is going on?
Well, I've looked at the Greek text and what is unclear to me is not why the ESV has deleted these adverbs but why the KJV or the NIV added these adverbs (diligently or earnestly) as the Greek text doesn't include them. The Greek text reads as does the ESV text: that God will reward those who seek him…period. But maybe the issue comes more from our understanding of "seek."
I'm sure many of you have, here or there, misplaced a wallet, or a set of keys. I know a fellow (Steve Mousetis) who spent some time looking around his house for his glasses only to have his wife point them out as sitting up on the top of his head.
That's looking.
But by seeking…well, the Greek word that is used is . It means to search, but it means to seek out with all of oneself, to crave, or to demand back. It is the same word that occurs in Hebrews 12:17 . That was a seeking back WITH TEARS.
So this seeking after God that is required of anyone who would truly come to him in faith is NOT a casual seeking but an earnest or diligent seeking.
Matthew 11:12
So if you have a son or daughter who has wandered away from the Lord and you have been praying for them to come back, let's be clear about what we're hoping to see. It is NOT that our sons or daughters merely show up at church, or come with us to a Christmas Eve service, or bow their heads when we pray over a meal or who even let you know that they believe in God. NO, what we want to see is that our kids would, in the words of Jesus, "HUNGER AND THIRST after righteousness"…that they would live and act and believe as if NOTHING was more important to them than their seeking after and knowing Christ.
That's what we're after…and nothing less than that.
3. (Lastly this morning) Hebrews 11:39-40
Hebrews 11:39-40
These are the wrap up verses to the chapter. After telling us about 16 named heroes of the faith, and then inferring that there were many more unnamed heroes of the faith, the author closed off by telling us that there were still others who because of their faith in the God of the Bible "got the shaft" (both figuratively and literally). But here in these last two verses the writer of Hebrews tells us that, in fact, none of these people – not even one of these people – ever truly received in this life what had been promised to them and what they had hoped for.
No, God had something BETTER for them – something "other worldly" than anything that might be found in this life. verses 13-16
Here we find that earlier in this chapter on faith that there has been a longing for a long time now for that which we cannot see. That there has always been a longing for that which we simply cannot find in this life or this world. It has been decades now since the Irish rock band U2 formed. Only a few bands have ever obtained the kind of status and musical influence as has U2. As Christians we have been able to take special pleasure in their music and musical success because they perform not merely as rock stars but also as followers of Jesus. If you have ever had doubts as to where they are spiritually coming from I would encourage you to watch over YouTube the discussions between U2's lead singer Bono and the Bible translator Eugene Petersen as they discuss the Psalms of David.
But of all the songs that U2 has ever put out, probably none is as famous as their 1987 hit "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."
In that song there is a confession of faith in Christ…
I believe in the Kingdom come Then all the colors bleed into one Bleed into one But yes, I'm still running
You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains Carried the cross of my shame, of my shame You know I believe it
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
This is not a song about doubt. It is a song about remaining incomplete in this life. It is Hebrews 11:39-40
For in this life, one will never quite find what one was looking for… One may think that if they just get married…marrying the girl of their dreams…that there will be eternal bliss. But there will not Or that if one can but find the perfect church…why imagine how good it would be to have all our desires met. But what we inevitably find is that every church…every church…being made up of people in process, has its flaws. Or maybe it is the job one has always wanted Or that house that one always dreamed about Or even a pet…like a fellow I know who had what he thought was his dream dog. That dog loved him and he loved it. But the dog was actually OVERLY affectionate, caring and protective of this fellow and his family and when a police officer came on the property and was immediately BIT by the dog, it left this fellow and his wife with only one legal option: to have the dog put to sleep. Yes, the perfect dog…that bit the police officer.
So if the promises made to and the hopes expressed by these people of faith were not and are not ever fulfilled in this life, just WHEN do they find fulfillment?
And the answer, given to us in verse 40, is when we are all together…as in the words of the old gospel song, "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be."
Hebrews 11:16 says that Abraham was looking for a better country…for a better city… for a heavenly one. The city that Abraham was seeking was the City of God, not a city in this world. And the City of God is the place where God dwells. Psalm 46:4-5 reads,
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of our God: the holy place where the most high dwells. God is within her; she will not fall. God will help her at break of day.
We long for that same city. And we will never find it in this world. For nothing in this world will ever ultimately satisfy us: no wife, no house, no job and no church. We will only find what we are truly looking for when we all come together, with all the saints of all time, around the throne of God. Until then, we remain incomplete and unsatisfied. So if you find someone who isn't satisfied in their marriage, or with their car, or with their church tell them they are in good company. For Hebrews 11:39-40 tells us that NONE of the saints of God – all commended for their faith – found what had been promised to them and what they were looking for. NONE. It is only in glory that those desires will ever be satisfied.
When we all get to heaven What a day of rejoicing that will be When we all see Jesus, We'll sing and shout the victory.