Missions Paul

A community of believers in the first century are wondering if they should return to Judaism because Christianity was just too tough and some have done this. They receive this letter to say ‘don’t do it’ and one of the main reasons is because of those who went before them.

It is an encouragement to us all today.

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11 v 39-40)

• We are experiencing right now God’s plan.
  • The Forgiveness of the cross; The assurance of the resurrection; The power of the Spirit’s outpouring is His plan for our lives which we have right now.
• We have more than the Old Testament heroes of the faith.
  • Can you imagine their stories if they had been given what we have? Can you imagine what our stories could become with some of their faith now that we have ‘something better’?
• We have the fulfilment of all the promises of these heroes.
  • If ‘they’ could speak to us and how we have and are experiencing daily what they were only promised, what do you think they would say?
• We are the final chapter that their life was unable to write but only point to.
  • How that final chapter is written is up to us. We waste it or use it. God is either glorified or grieved. The book ends in victory so let us act on that.
• We have no excuse in limiting our trust that God can do the impossible!
  • We trust in the death of Christ in line with Abel’s faith.
  • We trust in the desire of God to walk with us in line with Enoch’s faith.
  • We trust in the ark of salvation that we are saved and will be saved in line with Noah’s faith.
  • We trust in the mission of God and know we are sent by Him in line with Abraham’s faith.
  • We trust that there is more for our lives than what we have experienced in line with Sarah’s faith.
  • We trust in the sovereignty of God even if it doesn’t look fair in line with Isaac’s faith.
  • We trust in the fact that God has chosen us in line with Joseph’s faith.
  • We trust our futures to God no matter if it appears insecure in line with Moses’ faith.
  • We trust that God will fight for us in line with the faith of the Hebrews who crossed the Red Sea.
  • We trust in the supernatural God in line with the Joshua generation’s faith seeing the walls come tumbling down.
  • We trust in the power of the blood of Christ in line with Rahab’s faith and her scarlet cord.
  • We trust to move away from inadequacy in line with Gideon’s faith.
  • We trust even if our faith needs developing in line with Barak’s faith.
  • We trust in the grace of God when we have nothing left in line with Samson’s faith.
  • We trust in the complete surrender to God in line with Jephthah’s faith.
  • We trust in the fact that God always wins in line with David’s faith.
  • We trust in the vast superiority of our God in line with Samuel’s faith.
  • We have no excuse!

A community of believers in the first century are wondering if they should return to Judaism because Christianity was just too tough and some have done this. They receive this letter to say ‘don’t do it’ and one of the main reasons is because of those who went before them.

It is an encouragement to us all today.

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, ⁴⁰ since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11 v 39-40)

• None of them arrived. 1
• They all saw God’s power in their lives in some way. 2
• They lived aware of something better. 3
• They persevered without personally experiencing what we have. 4
• They died carrying the promise of God. 5

So how much more should we trust in God?

My prayer is this using the numbers to connect.

1. Acknowledging what I have in Christ is what ‘they’ longed for I also realise I choose not to settle and in that sense I have not arrived either. I know I have an eternal home.
2. In my situation I also long to see more of the power of God.
3. I choose to be an optimist knowing I have hope for the future.
4. I have so much more than ‘them’ and so I have no reason to give up now.
5. I want to live in such a way that when I die I am still carrying vision for God.

We don’t know their names and we may never experience what they did. But we can have the same faith.

“I do not have time to tell about those …. who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.”(Hebrews 11 v 32-35)

Who were these heroes who stepped forward to overcome against all the odds?

Who were these heroes who would not accept their fate?

Who were these heroes who saw the power of God move through their lives?

^“Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning;they were sawed in two; they were killed 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, living in caves and in holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11 v 36-38)

Who were these heroes who stayed when they could have gone even though staying was more painful?

Who were these heroes who felt that they never belonged?

Who were these heroes who spent most of their lives hiding from enemies and dangers?

They could have been you.

These things still happen across the world.

These things still impact all of us even if it is in a safer way.

What is needed is what these heroes had: Faith.

• Faith is given for moments of crisis.
• Faith enables you to live in the worst of seasons.
• Faith causes you to cope.
• Faith does not ignore the present but is also not blind to what is in the future.
• Faith triumphs in death.

You may not feel you are a hero but today you can ask God for faith for your day.

The final name of the 6 is used and we don’t know what the author/pastor was thinking about Samuel. He didn’t have the time sadly!

“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel …” (Hebrews 11 v 32)

At the end of his life, Samuel is giving his final speech in 1 Samuel 12. He testifies of his own faithfulness to God and then tells God’s people of their waywardness by demanding a king instead of trusting God in battle. At the end of his speech he commands them to fear God. Maybe it is the fear of God that was lacking in those who were abandoning their faith to return to Judaism.

 If there is one thing that Christians need today to stand in this non-Christian world it is to fear God. We fear so much. These are difficult days in so many ways. Faith will be birthed through a fear of God. We must have a holy fear, an awe of God again.

Look at our God in the Scriptures! I have a list that used to be pinned on the back of my study door when I was a Pastor and I would memorise them as I went out. It reminded me that my God is bigger than anything I ever face.

Psalm 7- A God who expresses His wrath every day

Psalm 8- He has set the moon and stars in place

Psalm 29- The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.

Psalm 33- He gathers the waters of the sea into jars.

Psalm 46- He has brought desolations on the earth

Psalm 47- He reigns over the nations

Psalm 68- The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands

Psalm 89- Asks the question ‘who is like you O Lord God Almighty?’

Psalm 93- You are from all eternity

Psalm 97- Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.

Psalm 68:35 You are awesome O God in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

He is a great and awesome God

Where is He? = In His Sanctuary

Where is He? – In His Church

Where is He? = In your life

1 John 4:4 He that is in you is greater than He that is in the world.

Sometimes we live our lives like He just has the edge over the devil. He’s just a little greater.

God in you is much more significant, far superior, cannot be compared to the god of this world.

This is the hallmark of faith and this is one of the reasons why Samuel is listed. Samuel had a big God and so do you!

We don’t obviously know what the author/pastor was thinking about when he mentions these names, such as the name of David.

“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel…” (Hebrews 11 v 32)

It could have been many things about David that was going through his mind.

He was the second king of Israel and alongside Moses the leading figure in the Old Testament. He is found in the gospels because of his Messianic title no less than 35 times. In Acts 10 times, Romans 3 times. He is in 2 Timothy, in this book of Hebrews on 2 occasions and in Revelation 3 times. David is important!

There is no greater Psalm that he wrote than that of 59 to see the faith of David and understand this man.

It is a song that David wrote recollecting his thoughts of the time in 1 Samuel 19 when Saul sent men to capture him and he fled and escaped through a window and went to Samuel.

David knew that if he just remained the armour bearer and personal musician for Saul, he would not do so for much longer. But by escaping, his life became really under threat, for Saul seemed to want to do nothing but kill him.

David made things worse for himself by escaping that night. But he also discovered that he could know the confidence of God. “But you laugh at them, Lord; you scoff at all those nations.” Psalm 59 v 8.

David knew that God was going to win against every evil individual, gang or nation that ever rose up to try to defy him. The first step in surviving is to know what God knows. To know that He knows He cannot be beaten or overcome or defeated at any time, in any place. It’s never happened in the past and it will never happen in the future. Even when it looks like it will happen, when Jesus His Son is dying on the cross, it looks like God has been defeated, but then lo and behold 3 days later at his resurrection we find that it was actually God’s plan all along for the bringing about of salvation for all who believe.

David knew who God was. He lists 12 characteristics of God, he did it because he knew each one of them in a personal way and would do so the remainder of his life.

He is our defender v1. Throughout his life David would know God as a deliverer. He delivers us from the attacks of unbelief, depression, purposelessness, fruitlessness and all sin.

He is our protector v1. The Bible declares God to be the defender of His people. Psalm 20:1 May the name of the God of Jacob protect you. There is protection in the proclamation of His name.

He is our Saviour v2. A Saviour is one who intervenes, who steps in and rescues from either physical or spiritual suffering.

He moves v4. Is 60:1 Arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  Be ready for a visitation from God time after time. Not once in your life but numerous, countless occasions.

He sees v4. He is not blinded, nor ignorant to your situation. He knows because He can see it.

He is a fortress v9. The Hebrew definition for the word ‘fortress’ is: a net to capture, a fastness, a fortification, a castle, a fortified city. God provides safety and security from the attacks of the enemy.

He is loving v10.  1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us.

He is a shield v11. God wants to shield all His people from the devils schemes. But we must allow Him to be our shield.

He is mighty v11. God is an immoveable, all-encompassing foundation for a person’s past, present and future life. He is mighty to save and mighty to keep. Psalm 91 tells us there is a rest in the shadow of the Almighty God.

He is a ruler v13. The Bible describes God as ruling over heaven and earth and over His people. From the beginning he called for man to rule with him and like him.

He is the Strength v16. God does not want us to faint in the heat of the battle. God wants to be the strength of our spiritual, domestic, emotional and moral lives.

He is a refuge in times of trouble v16. Whenever we are feeling oppressed or suffering from the attacks of the fire there is a place of relief from distress and affliction.

Deliverer, protector, Saviour, one who moves, one who sees, a fortress, loving, a shield, mighty, ruler, a strength, a refuge.

This is His character and this is what gives us faith!!

The author/Pastor has spent considerable time working through the Old Testament history to show to this community of believers that they must continue to follow Jesus. He is running out of time …

“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel …” (Hebrews 11 v 32)

Hardly perfect men! But God chooses and uses as He decides. Look at us!

These first 4 men were all from the Judges period.

Gideon who moved from the place of inadequacy threshing wheat hiding in fear of the Midianites to being found by God and told he was a Mighty Warrior! God changed his thinking about who he was and he moved forward in faith.

Barak who was told by Israel’s leader to ambush the Canaanites and was given 10,000 men. He went but not without demanding Deborah, the leader, had to go with him. He learnt faith. So the story shows that Barak in the end pursued the chariots and horses of the Canaanites and tracked down King Sisera.

Samson’s story didn’t end well. But after Delilah he recovered his faith. Can you imagine the first morning Samson felt his head and felt stubble!! He has nothing left to give to God. No rights, bargaining powers, he doesn’t deserve anything. When we no longer feel God owes us special favours, when we no longer have expectations grace flows to our lives and faith begins to grow.

Jephthah is mentioned but we may struggle to know why! We find his story in Judges 11 and its horrendous! In exchange for defeating the enemy he makes a promise to sacrifice whoever comes out of his door first. Crazy especially when the person who comes out is his daughter! In one sense Jephthah is a warning to us to be careful what we promise but to be faithful to that promise. Maybe that is why he made it to the hall of faith. However, if the promise means our actions will end up being nothing but stupid and wrong then the promise should surely be overruled, certainly for the sanctity of life. Perhaps this is the reason for us to see him as a man of faith: if you promised God everything and coming out of that door was indeed everything (for Jephthah’s daughter was all he had – his life) then would you still give it? Or when you said everything to God, did you mean something? (Jephthah was expecting an animal not his daughter) Everything or something? What have you promised God?

Four incredible stories which reveal that being a person of faith doesn’t mean you are perfect and won’t make wrong decisions. Thousands of years later people can judge you and maybe after even a few days. But at that time in the weakness of your humanity and maybe it wasn’t huge faith but it was nevertheless faith that made you step forward and take action. That is to be commended.

Another bold, courageous faith-hero, Rahab. Not your typical Israelite because she wasn’t. But the author/Pastor uses her to convince the people of God not to return to Judaism but remain as followers of Jesus.

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” (Hebrews 11 v 31)

She may have been a temple prostitute or perhaps worked independently. But she was certainly not someone we would have chosen as God’s chosen vessel.

Undesirable, yet God desired her. A broken story, yet God decided to build her into HIS-STORY. Of course what God begins He completes and we see that Rahab makes it onto the pages of the New Testament as not only here a woman of faith (Hebrews 11), but a woman of righteousness in James 2 and of course chosen to be part of the family tree of Jesus in Matthew 1.

There is nothing quite like the redemption of God. All the coaching, mentoring, counselling, healing therapies in the world combined do not compare to that of the transformation of an undesirable by Christ.

The scarlet cord in the window that she perhaps had used in her trade and today is still used to describe immoral thoughts, became her salvation. Since the days of the New Testament Church the connection between the scarlet cord and that of Jesus’ blood has been made. She also let the spies escape out of the window with this scarlet cord.

But the journey towards her transformation is wonderful to see:

 1. She had heard of God’s work. “We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt” (Joshua 2 v 10)

 2. She chose to believe in God. “When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” (Joshua 2 v 11)

 3. She was impacted by the presence of God’s people in her home. “So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.” (Joshua 2 v 1)

Rahab decided that day she was a woman of courage. She took hold of that scarlet cord and knowing it was her life-line began to be used of God not realising this simple but brave act would be told 3,000 years later. Today, no matter what you think you are or what others have called you, take hold of the ancient scarlet cord. The Easter story is for every day. Be brave and become part of HIS-STORY.

Happy Easter Sunday! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

This is the day of our victory in Christ. It is the centre of what we believe. The greatest miracle is the miracle of the resurrection.

How appropriate that we are reading this verse today

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.” (Hebrews 11 v 30)

Jericho was tightly shut up.

There are many with closed door experiences in front of them. There are many seeking breakthroughs today. But when God has said “it is yours” as he said to Joshua about Jericho then that is what you must believe for.

When everything is against you then it is time to stop talking and time to start marching. Joshua commanded that there be no talking until he gave the word for a war-cry to begin. Can you imagine if they had been allowed to talk? They would have been complaining by the 6th day and would never have made the 7th. There is no place for complaining when you are trying to win a war.

On to Calvary! On to death for the world! Let us not refuse the smiters! No halting! No rest! On, suffering, sorrowing, weeping, dying for God and men, till the host of hell fly from their last defence and we march on over a burning world with everlasting glory! – William Booth.

 Booth commands us to march on regardless of cost and to defeat our enemies which are of course the principalities and powers of the dark world. Maybe your Jericho needs a new plan in order to be opened up.

They are marching and now they sounded the trumpets symbolising breath and wind. The trumpets went before the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God. Your Jericho will be defeated by the Spirit not sweat. It is God’s presence and not your power that will defeat your enemies.

Along with the trumpet sound they gave a loud shout and the walls came down.

It is time for a different sound, maybe to blow a trumpet or to give a shout indeed. But what is the sound coming from your life? Has it been one of complaint? One of despair? This is now the time to call for determination, to get stuck into this faith of ours, to walk the walk and not just talk the talk, to get out of our holes and do something for God. It is time for your gifting to emerge, to become stronger. It is time to do what you have never done before. In all of this, it is time to vocalise this differently. It is time for a new sound.

Because Jesus is Alive!

Remember the author is making sure the people of God are following Jesus and not returning to Judaism. Just a mention of a faith-hero is enough for the whole story to come flooding back to their memories. Here is the story of Joshua approaching Jericho which stands in the way of him and the Promised Land.

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.”(Hebrews 11 v 30)

Joshua was near Jericho. You maybe too. You’ve been through some tough trials but you are facing your biggest yet. At some point you are going to look up and see the walls of what stands against you but actually you will see God.

“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him” (Joshua 5 v 13)

Joshua saw the pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. Joshua fell down and worshipped. He gave his life, his all and in doing so he asked for guidance.

 Who are you looking at today?

This is Easter Saturday! Also known as Black Saturday and the Great Sabbath. In Mexico it is Judas Day and today there will be many effigies of Judas being burnt!

What is today for you? You may be looking at your insurmountable Jericho.

 But can you see Him?

 The walls of your Jericho will come down but first will you bow down to worship Him?

On this Good Friday we are worshipping Jesus who removed the power of sin and death by laying His life down on the cross for us. Our sin was rolled away!

In the lyrics by Isaac Watts nearly 3 centuries ago:

At the cross, at the cross
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

Jesus rolled away the burden of sin from our hearts! Amen! On Sunday we will celebrate the rolling away of the stone giving us a way into new life!

So today we read our next verse and it fits nicely with what today holds for us.

“By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.” (Hebrews 11 v 30)

And so we are presented with another faith story by the author/Pastor doing their best to keep the community of believers as followers of Jesus.

The story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho. I want to dwell on this over the Easter weekend.

Just like the other faith heroes Joshua was given an incredible task of obedience and it involved a deep trust that not only had he heard from God correctly but that it would actually happen.

Joshua was in Egypt and had fled with that generation. Before they entered the Promised Land he had the nation who had come out of the wilderness circumcised in preparation for what was to come. Moses called for people to circumcise their hearts. Joshua made sure a generation experienced the physical pain. Jeremiah called for people to circumcise their hearts before the Lord and Paul agrees that circumcision is one done by the Spirit.

I have found the cut of my heart continually happens throughout my life and so have you. Sometimes the pain of circumstances are used to make the cut and sometimes it is the pain of conviction.

It will mark a new day, a new journey, a new direction, this is a moment of change, you will never be the same again and all that sounds wonderfully exciting, but it begins with a cut. It hurts. For Joshua it led to this:-

The Lord said to Joshua “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” (Joshua 5 v9)

What did he feel reproached about Egypt?

 It could have been some personal failure in that maybe he wanted to fight Pharaoh but wasn’t allowed to. Maybe it was fear and that he really did have issues regarding courage. Maybe it was frustration of not getting anywhere for the 40 years of wilderness journey. But now his circumcision heralded a new day for him.

And today on this Good Friday the cut and the blood of Jesus announces a new day for you and me.