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Bright and shining lights

Bright and shining lights in the Bible #8

Stream or download Bright and shining lights in the Bible #8

This chapter 11 of Hebrews is all about faith. The word appears some 23 times in the chapter (if my counting is correct) as well as the words ‘believe, etc’ appearing many times as well.

Faith is DEFINED for us in verse1. “Now faith is the substance (the very foundation) of things hoped for, the evidence (proof) of things not seen.” We hope for that which God has promised on the basis that we BELIEVE that what God has said will come about.
I like the little definition often used. Forsaking All I Trust Him.

Again, I like the little chorus which says: “Faith is just believing what God says He will do”!
Faith is then DEMONSTRATED throughout the rest of the chapter.

1. ALL WHO ARE GOING TO HEAVEN HAVE FAITH. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him,” verse 6.
Here is a vital question indeed. Do you believe God today? Do you reject what every voice in opposition to God says and believe Him?
Remember: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8.

2. BY FAITH THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS WERE WELL SPOKEN OF. Their faith in the Lord is what made them ‘good’ men and women.

3. BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND WHAT UNSAVED MEN CANNOT UNDERSTAND! “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear,” verse 3. We believe in God’s mighty power and so it is easy for us to accept and believe in the creation of all things by God in 6 days.

4. FAITH IS ESSENTIAL FOR EVERY ASPECT OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. We will be looking at this matter more closely as we progress down the chapter. But note first of all that we cannot WORSHIP the Lord aright without faith.
That which separated Cain and Abel was FAITH!

Abel believed God. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,” verse 4. ‘A more excellent sacrifice than Cain’ means ‘a superior’ sacrifice. Abel’s sacrifice was seen by God as of great value whereas Cain’s was not and God rejected his.
Faith made the difference. Abel believed God’s promise of redemption through the promised ‘Lamb of God’ and so offered a lamb as a symbol or picture of the Lamb he was trusting in to save him.  “Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock,” Genesis 4:4.
Cain offered his own works. “Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD,” Genesis 4:3.
Abel is in heaven while Cain in hell and all because one had FAITH in God and one did not!

Bright and shining lights in the Bible #7

Stream or download Bright and shining lights in the Bible #7

There are so many ‘burning and shining lights’ recorded in the Bible that we must seek to limit our study. When I first considered this I thought of the list of godly people recorded in Hebrews 11. That is where we are turning for the remainder of our studies. In the opening versos FAITH is DEFINED and then in the rest of the chapter it is ILLUSTRATED.

THE FIRST MAN MENTIONED IS ABEL
However, before we come to him, I want to say something about the two people not mentioned – Adam and Eve!

WHY ARE THEY NOT NAMED AMONGST THESE SHINING EXAMPLES OF GOD’S GRACE?
Firstly, I believe that they were saved. Their conversion was symbolised in their being clothed in the skins of animals sacrificed, Gen 3:21. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” That is what we all require! Garments made by God to cover our sinfulness, Rev 7:14-17. Adam and Eve’s garments would have been blood marked.
Secondly, there was no condemning of them to hell. Rather, a Redeemer was to be born of Eve’s line. They did suffer consequences for their sin. Read Gen 3:16-19. Note verse 20. ‘Life’ would yet come of Eve.
Thirdly, they lost access to the Garden but not Heaven. Sin always brings its consequences. How often is that emphasised in the Bible! Gal 6:8.

NONE COULD EVER HAVE HAD THE SENSE OF LOSS AND SHAME LIKE ADAM AND EVE. When David sinned, he undoubtedly had a great sense of shame. Psalm 51:3 shows that! “My sin is ever before me.” He could never get away from the sight of the great sin he had committed when he had enjoyed so many privileges from the Lord! David was never the same man again!
How much more Adam and Eve must have suffered from a sense of the dreadful wrong they had done and suffering they had brought upon mankind!
Consequently, their spiritual lives were almost paralysed with the guilt and burden and sense of failure that they bore. Consequently, there is no record of their holy actions or works of faith.
Boys and girls, history is filled with the sad stories of those who so lost out with God that, even though they were saved, they never accomplished anything great for God. Manasseh -2 Chron 33:9-20.

Bright and shining lights in the Bible #6

Stream or download Bright and shining lights in the Bible #6

We have been considering how that we will “learn” as a result of studying the history of the righteous men and women and young people given us in the Bible. Romans 15:4 has been our guide. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

The Holy Scriptures bring us ‘comfort’. The word means, if I might put it in my own words, ‘a calling aside to encourage, strengthen and uplift.’ Such comforting imparts HOPE, the last word we wish to consider from this verse.
Here then is the third thing we learn from God’s Word. “That we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” What God plans for His people fills us with hope.

Here is the meaning of the word hope. “And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away,” Acts 27:20. The possibility of being saved was taken away from their hearts and minds. They had NO HOPE LEFT!

That is how it is with those who are not in Christ. Eph 2:12.

The Bible is full of hope for the one who is in Christ. Like the vine we are tied and secure and know that it is well with us. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance,” Psalm 42:5.
“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost,” Rom 15:13.

1. God is the source of hope.

2. Hope consists of joy and peace and faith.

3. God imparts hope by His Holy Spirit. He gives abundantly, ‘over and above’.