Welcome back to
our continuing study
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of the book of Hebrews.
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We're in chapter 11,
of Hebrews, and we've been
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noting this
hall of faith, James.
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And it's an incredible
hall of faith, isn't it?
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It's really, you know
when you look at the experience
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of God's people here,
you realize that they are
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encouraging or exhorting
us, and their lives are
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a testimony of the
power of faith and grace.
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The motivating,
energizing power of God's love.
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And that's what we see as
we look at each one of these.
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They are encouraging
us, like for example Sarah,
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who it says, received
strength and was able to
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deliver a child
long after her age.
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In other words, she was
past the age of child bearing.
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You know, Sarah is
encouraging us today,
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and she is saying if
you think it is too late.
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If you think that
you have gone too far.
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That you are too old
for God to bless you,
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remember what God did for me.
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I was past age when it was
no longer possible for me to
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bear a child.
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God bless me with a child.
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God literally did a
biological miracle here James.
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I mean she could not bear
a child, her womb was dead
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and God
intervened in her situation.
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In that intervention,
this elderly woman was able to
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become pregnant
and bring forth a son.
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This is an
amazing spiritual lesson,
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for us as well,
because spiritually.
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our were womb is dead.
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We are incapable of
bringing forth righteousness.
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We are incapable of
producing good things
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out of our lives.
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God intervenes in our
behalf and brings into our
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lives through Jesus
Christ the necessary strength
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and empowering.
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So it says by faith
said Sarah received strength.
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Ephesians 2 says, we're
dead in trespasses and sin.
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We are dead,
literally, spiritually dead.
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The next example that we
have here is Abraham again.
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He returns to Abraham
and her first 17 by faith
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Abraham, when he was
tested, offered up Isaac.
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Now this is an
incredible manifestation of
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confidence in God.
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Here is Abraham who came
out of a Babylonian city,
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the city of Ur with
definitely its Babylonia worship
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system in which
human sacrifice was common,
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no doubt.
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Here he is called out
into a wilderness wandering
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wherever God is
going to lead Him.
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And then God says now that
your wife, Sarah, has had this
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child, whom I promise
you would have and you
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doubted, but here
you have one child.
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And this child is going
to be the heir of promise.
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Now what I want you to do
Abraham, is I want you to offer
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Isaac as a sacrifice.
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This is unbelievable.
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You think about this you
have to think about the times
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when God calls us
to make sacrifices.
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The times we are called to
make sacrifices that, perhaps
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are going to really great.
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I can't think of a
greater sacrifice than this one.
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And what I believe
Abraham wants to say to us what
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he wants to exhort us to
is trust God no matter how
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great a sacrifice God
is calling us to make,
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to trust God.
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At times, we put our hope
in human things, in fleshly
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things and God at
times has to take these
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things from us.
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Or at least test us and
bring us to a place where we
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are willing to allow Him
to take these things from us.
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So that we can continue
to put our faith and our hope
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and trust in Him.
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Now here's the
thing with Abraham, James.
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Abraham was told by
God to sacrifice Isaac,
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his only son,
the son of promise.
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He also had another
son, as we are well aware of.
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But Ishmael was
not the child promise.
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So here Abraham is
called upon to sacrifice Isaac.
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He comes right up to the point
of fulfilling this command with
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the knife lifted over his child.
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God stops him short of
making the sacrifice and just
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absolutely
eradicates from his heart.
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Any sense of appeasement or
human sacrifice, and says no,
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I'm going to make the sacrifice.
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I'm going to provide the
sacrifice Abraham, this is not
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something you can do, you are
not sufficient, the human race
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can not provide the
atonement for their sins.
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Later on, it's very interesting
that God told Moses that human
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sacrifices was an
abomination to Him.
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This is as a good point
Ty, because you think why
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did God do that.
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Well He did for the
very purpose of removing from
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our understanding in
any kind religious aspect,
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especially towards God,
the idea that He requires
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human sacrifice.
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Well two things had to be
here first of all there had
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to be at least an Abraham.
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A confidence and trust
in God, were He would be
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obedient and follow
through and in that pay path
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of obedience is where we
find that God will reveal
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greater truth to us.
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So that we can perceive
and understand His character
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more fully, but in disobedience,
there is not greater light.
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God can't communicate to
us when we're turned away
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from Him, walking away from Him.
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Abraham follows through,
he does as God says, and God
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communicates to him I
will provide the sacrifice.
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You know, I love this in
on a love as it continues on
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because we find Isaac
blessing Jacob and Esau
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We find Jacob, when he was
dying blessing both his sons.
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Even the though he was
worshiping leaning on the top
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of his staff.
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We see here people who
are elderly, who people are
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old people, are
crippled people who are
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leaning on staffs.
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Today we might say they are
in wheel chairs, and we find
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that God is using
them to bless others.
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In other words, it
doesn't matter how old you are.
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It doesn't matter if you
have to come to church in a
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wheelchair, is yet to
come to church with your
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walker, or your cane, God
can use us to be a blessing
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to someone else.
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God is encouraging us,
exhorting here in His word
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through Jacob He is
exhorting us in His word through
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Isaac that we can be a
blessing in our old age.
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Look, at verse 23,
James, the next example is Moses
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and a lot of
said about Moses here.
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It says by faith
Moses, and then it goes on to
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describe his experience,
but I want to highlight the
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active parts of
what is happening here.
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In verse 23 by faith Moses.
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He when he was born
was hidden for three months
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by his parents.
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So it's his parents,
who are exercising the faith
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here to hide him
because they saw that he was a
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beautiful child.
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And they were not
afraid of the king's command.
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Then it says in verse
24 by faith Moses when he
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became of age, refused
to be called the son of
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Pharaoh's daughter
by faith in verse 25.
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He chose rather to suffer
affliction with the people
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of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season.
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Then over in verse 27 by
faith he forsake each ship,
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and he endured seeing
Him, Who is invisible.
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So let me just highlight
this Moses, by faith was
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hidden, and his family
was not afraid of the King.
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Moses by faith
refused, Moses by faith choose,
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Moses by faith forsook.
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Moses by faith endured,
all of these are active words
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that are describing an
active, aggressive faith.
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I like this to because
you have parents who are not
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afraid of the
king's commandments.
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Now parents
today, we are afraid.
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We are afraid for our children.
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We are afraid for society,
were afraid for their influence.
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And so Moses as parents
as encourages us to not be
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afraid to what is
right to what is proper
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for your children.
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So Moses' parents are
involved here and we got
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Moses himself.
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Moses could have chosen
to be Pharaoh he could've
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chosen the riches of Egypt.
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We are allured by the
riches of the world by the
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prosperity of the world
so Moses is exhorting us.
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You can lay those things aside.
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What if Ty, what if Moses would
have chosen to be a Pharaoh?
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What if he would have
chosen to be a prince in Egypt?
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Where would Moses be right now?
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Where would we be right now?
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Moses would probably be in
a museum along, with King Tut.
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He probably be lined up
with all of his treasures
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we would be paying,
we be lined up to paying
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big bucks to see Moses.
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Where is Moses right now?
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Moses is in heaven,
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Moses is in heaven, we
know that because Jude tells
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us that Michael came
down and resurrects Moses
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and took him to heaven.
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We know that because
when Jesus was transfigured
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Moses and Elijah, who was
translated without seeing death.
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Were there by His side as
He was transferred we know
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that Moses is in
heaven now think about that!
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He refused the
pleasure of sin for a season.
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That's the problem with
sin friend, it's only seasonal,
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so that he could have
an enduring, and non-ending
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pleasure in heaven
with God for all eternity.
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Moses is
encouraging us it is worth it.
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It's worth it.
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This list of individuals
here in Hebrews chapter 11.
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Everything that we have
read about them just fills
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us with awe.
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I mean, we are very
impressed by all that they have
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achieved and then we have
to pause and remember that
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these were faulty
weak human beings who were
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incapable of achieving any
of this in and of themselves.
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In fact, each on
of these individuals,
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If their lives are examined
have a record of sin upon them.
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Have a life of sin in
their history is incredible
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that these are the individuals
that were called upon
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to look to as examples.
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Well look at verse 31.
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By faith the harlot
Rahab, the prostitute Rahab.
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Yes right there,
what have we seen here?
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She exercised faith, and
you know there are many of us
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who do not feel
worthy to look to God.
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We don't feel worthy
to be excepted of God.
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We don't feel worthy to
be a part of God's plan of
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rest and she was its not
about worthiness friends.
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It's faith in Jesus
Christ, who is worthy.
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Who makes us worthy, who
accepts us because we look
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to Him and we
don't look to ourselves.
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Rahab wants to encourage
us, its not about being worthy.
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Yes, none of these
individuals were worthy
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No and look at it, he
goes on and mentions Gideon who
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basically just needed
one fleece after another.
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One sign after another.
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Barack who needed
Deborah to go out with him.
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Sampson who messed
up over and over again.
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You know sometimes
you mess up so many times.
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We think, can God still use me?
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God still use
Sampson and Sampson
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is one of the faithful.
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Look at David King
leader and then he commits
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adultery with a Bathsheba
and kills Uriah, her husband.
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And what is God saying,
he's among the faithful.
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What is that mean?
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We can mess up big
time, we can really fail.
00:10:25.83\00:10:28.68
But God will count as there.
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David wants to encourages us.
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Sampson wants to encourage
us, place your faith and
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your trust not in your self
but place your faith and trust
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in Jesus Christ.
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By faith these individuals
subdued kingdoms in verse 33.
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They worked righteousness.
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They obtained promises, they
stopped the mouths of Lions.
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They quenched verse 34, the
violent fire, they escaped the
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edge of the sword and out of
weakness they were made strong.
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They became valiant in battle.
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All these
rascals did all of that.
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I mean and it's interesting
because we're running
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out of time and it
says right here in verse 32.
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What shall I say
more for time will
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fail to tell.
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Time will fail to tell,
friends of all these imperfect
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human beings in the Old
Testament, who by faith were
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conquerors, time would
fail to tell, but friends
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we need to have faith,
confidence in God's word.
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Hebrews chapters 11
closes on a powerful note
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informing us that God
has provided something better
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for us that they.
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The faithful of all
ages will not be made
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perfect without us.
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We have two groups of
people hear James, the
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faithful of all ages and
then there are God's people
00:11:35.48\00:11:39.28
post Christ.
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Those who live in the
light of the new covenant that
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better thing.
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That is provided in Jesus,
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is held out to
you and me my friend.
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Please take hold of Christ!
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