(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Ms. Leilani Thompson's anniversary was on April 22nd, and later on this week we have Ms. Lindsey Johnson's birthday, April 25th, and Brother Alan Courtney's birthday, April 26th. And the praise report, money matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. I think that's it for all of the announcements, so we're going to take our songbooks and go to page number 261. As we prepare to receive the offering this evening, we're going to sing Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, 261, 261. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, and we'll go ahead and sing it out on the first. Oh, so are you weary and troubled, No light in the darkness you see. There's light for a look at the Savior, And light for abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strange, Lead them in the light of His glory and grace. Oh, so are you weary and troubled, No light in the darkness you see. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strange, Lead them in the light of His glory and grace. Good, sing it out on the last. His word shall not fail you, Be promised. Believe Him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, Lead them in the light of His glory and grace. Oh, so are you weary and troubled, No light in the darkness you see. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strange, Lead them in the light of His glory and grace. Good, sing it out on the last. All right, well, let's take our prayer sheets tonight. We'll go through our prayer list. If you did not receive a prayer sheet on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. Need a prayer sheet? Just put your hand up and we will get one for you. And of course, the way you add a request, the prayer sheet is through your communication card. On the back of the card, there's a place for you to write down a request. Make sure you mark whether it's private or public. If it's private, only I will see it if it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out. But we usually don't add those. We do add them in the order that they're received and we remove them after a couple of weeks. So let's go ahead and take these prayers to the Lord. I'll pray out loud and I ask that you follow along in your mind and your heart. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family and we begin with these requests dealing with health, Ms. Diane DiPasquale praying for healing from her sleep apnea and that there would not be any permanent harm to her body as she receives treatment. Also Ms. Michelle Scott praying for Brother Graham's father's health as his cancer has returned and of course praying for Brother Graham and his father in regards to these things. Ms. Laura Beth Pompa praying for her Aunt Missy as she continues to battle cancer. Ms. Jeannie Scott praying for her health. Ms. Edith Costellum praying for the procedure she's going to have to go well. Ms. Irene Reed praying for her cousin Debbie's health as she's getting dialysis and is in a lot of pain. And we're praying for Brother Vijay who was in a bad accident this week and praying for his recovery and for him to get better soon and Brother Ron praying for his health as well. Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her sister Judy's health as she battles cancer and for her own health. Also Brother Salvador praying for his health. Ms. Dakhma for her pain. Praying for Eretzi as she continues just that she would continue to be healthy and strong and Lord we pray for our missionary Dave Kabuntala's wife Ms. Angel. She battles breast cancer. We pray for my wife as she continues to recover from her blood clot in her leg and just praying that the pain would go away and that she would be able to heal and have no complications. Lord we ask for all these individuals we pray that you put your healing hand over them and we pray that you'd help them to get better and give wisdom to the doctors that are dealing with them, nurses as well. And we pray for these ladies in our church that are expecting Ms. Taylor, Ms. Esther, Ms. Ariel, Ms. Rizel, and Ms. Rebecca praying that they all have healthy pregnancies with no issues and no complications and Lord we pray for these also that have physical needs, financial needs. Brother Alan praying for God's favor in regards to his business license and contractor's license. Brother Jeffrey Love praying for better business at the motel that he works at and Brother Ron praying for work as well and Brother Salvador praying for finances and work and Lord we pray that you would answer these prayers and help these individuals. We also pray for these that have requests regarding family and in regards to salvation. Brother Pilate and Ms. Antonino praying for their family's salvation and Brother Ron Edwards praying for his mom and his family's salvation. Ms. Natalie praying for her husband's salvation and Maria Kudalima praying for Roma and Skylar's salvation. Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her family's salvation, Ms. Docma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation. Lord we ask for all these individuals, we pray that you would help them and be with them, that you would help them all to come to the place where they'd be ready and willing to hear the gospel that they might be saved. And we pray for these that have requests just for their families in general, Ms. Nicole praying for her family and Brother Salvador praying for his family as well. Then Lord we pray for these that have spiritual needs and Ms. Kat DeMarco praying for God's protection and strength in her life. Andrew Coombs praying for faith and walk with the Lord. Sharad Sakina praying for your will to be able to find a godly wife in the future and Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her faith and Brother Salvador for his faith and their walk with you. Lord we ask that you would be with these individuals, help them and guide them and then we pray for our church here of course and the different ministries we have, the prison ministry, we pray Lord that you would help the prison ministry to go well and to get back, get going and we pray for our missions work of course in Manila for Pastor Stuckey and for his family that you'd help them and we pray for the upcoming Red Hot Preaching Conference Lord that you would help that to be a good event that runs smoothly and has no issues and no problems and what I pray that the Red Hot Preaching Conference not just go well but that the preaching would actually help our church family and Lord I pray that you'd prepare the hearts of our people as they are prepared for that, those sermons coming up and then I just pray of course for our church here in Sacramento and Lord we just pray that you would help us and be with us, guide us Lord and I pray that you'd help the preaching of your word and Lord help it not to just be another Wednesday another sermon but help us actually learn from the Bible, actually apply these things to our life and actually grow spiritually and draw closer to you as a result of being here tonight. We love you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Please open up to Hebrews 11. Hebrews chapter 11, if you do not have a Bible please raise your hand and unless you can bring your Bible. Hebrews chapter 11, we'll read verses 11 through 31. Hebrews 11 verses 11 through 31. Hebrews 11 beginning verse number 11. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was deliberate of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one and him as good as dead so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as a sand which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith not having received the promise but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country and truly if they have been mindful of that country for once they came out they might have had an opportunity to have returned but now they desire a better country that is and heavenly wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he had prepared for them a city. By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that an Isaac shall I see to be called. The county that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from once also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob when he was a dying blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshiped leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith Moses when he was born was said three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the King's commandment. By faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming their approach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt we had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king free endured as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood was he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land which the Egyptians are saying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encompassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. Let's pray. Heavenly Father thank you for this evening God I thank you for your word for our church for our pastor as you please meet with us tonight as you strengthen our pastor please be with him we love you just saying pray amen. Amen all right we're there in Hebrews chapter number 11 and of course we've been making our way through the book of Hebrews on Wednesday nights and we find ourselves in Hebrews chapter number 11 of course Hebrews 11 is a very famous chapter in the book of Hebrews it's known as the Hall of Faith and it's known as the Hall of Faith because of the fact that it gives a listing of all these different characters from the Old Testament and it shows their great faith and if you remember this is now our third week in Hebrews 11 three weeks ago we started Hebrews 11 and if you remember we we didn't start off in the characters we just looked at all the general verses about faith in Hebrews 11 and I preached a sermon entitled a theology of faith and then last week we actually started into all of the characters and if you remember we only made it to the first four and we looked at Abel and we learned about faith for salvation we looked at Enoch and we learned about faith for sanctification we looked at Noah and we looked learned about faith for soul winning and we looked at Abraham and we learned about faith for separation if you remember we were talking about how in the Christian life the Christian life begins with faith but the Bible says the just shall live by faith and faith is something that should be carried out throughout the Christian life and it's needed for all these different areas of life and what we're gonna do tonight is we're just gonna pick up where we left off and we're gonna continue through these characters I'm gonna do my best to see if we can get through all of these characters and in one service here there's about ten different points that I'd like to make I'll try to move through it as quickly as we can maybe we won't be able to do that we'll see but if you'd like to take notes on the back of your course of the week there's a place for you to write down some things and you'll notice there in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse number 11 the Bible says this through faith also Sarah and Sarah is the next character that we see here in this hall of faith and she's actually the fifth person mentioned in this hall of faith of course we saw Abel Enoch Noah Abraham and now we see here Sarah and of course Sarah is Abraham's wife the Bible says through faith also Sarah herself and I want you to notice what she the the lesson here for faith because remember this is a hall of faith so every single one of these characters teaches us something about faith and for Sarah what we learn is and what we see in her passage is the faith for strength the faith for strength through faith also Sarah herself notice the words here received strength to conceive seed and of course we see here that she physically received strength to be able to conceive seed and this is referring to the fact that she had a child she had a baby when she was already old and she'd been barren her entire life unable to have children and the Bible tells us here that she through faith also through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age so she'd already passed the age of being able to bear children and have children but the Bible says that she through faith received strength to conceive seed she was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged them faithful who had promised God had made the promise and she judged some faithful who'd made the promise and then she received strength to conceive seed look at verse 12 therefore spring there even of one and him as good as dead so many as the stars of the sky and multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable so I want you to notice the emphasis here that we see in the character of Sarah verse 11 tells us she received strength verse 12 tells us therefore spring there even of one so many as the stars of the sky and multitude and as the sand that's the positive she received strength and they're spraying out of her and Abraham this great lineage so many the Bible says as the stars and as the sand but then we also see the negative verse 11 it says when she was past age so this happened when she should not have been able to physically do it verse 12 it says therefore spring there even of one of him as good as dead and this is a theme that we find in the Bible about both Abraham and Sarah is that they received strength when they were as good as dead you know and they were so old and and I'm not the one saying it God is the one saying it but he says they were as good as dead I mean their bodies as far as producing life they were dead they should not have been able to produce life but Sarah here had the faith for strength and I want you to notice how this is highlighted in other parts of the Bible you're there in Hebrews 11 obviously after text for tonight I encourage you to keep your place there but go with me if you would to the book of Romans Romans chapter number four towards the beginning of the New Testament you have Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans Romans chapter number four Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans and do me a favor when you get to Romans put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it and I'd like you to be able to get to it quickly Romans chapter number four look at verse 18 notice these words these words have to do with faith Romans 4 18 who against hope believed in hope who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be and being not weak in faith notice what the Bible says here notice the emphasis and being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb he staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God so I want you to notice that this is emphasized of both Sarah and Abraham it says in Hebrews 11 when she was past age it says as him as good as dead but they received strength to conceive seed here in Romans 4 it says that he considered not his own body now dead neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb but he staggered not at the promises of God he hoped the Bible says who against hope believed in hope and the Bible says there at the end of verse 20 that he was strong in faith giving glory to God so here we see the faith for strength and what's the application here for us the application is this that this is the faith that we can exercise the faith for strength is the faith that God can produce life from that which is dead that when something when you look at something and you think well this is dead I mean Sarah is past age Abraham is as good as dead if you consider his body his own body is now dead and Sarah's womb is dead the faith for strength says when something is dead you can have the faith and believe that God can produce life from that which is dead and this is a faith that we need in our lives from time to time you're there in Romans keep your place in Romans go back to Hebrews chapter 11 because oftentimes we find ourselves in situations where we think to ourselves there's no hope here there's no way that this is going to work out there's no way that this individual is going to be able to because obviously we're looking at Sarah and we're looking at Abraham and somebody could have looked at them and said this person cannot produce a child this person cannot give birth to a child their womb is dead their body is dead it cannot happen and then of course God does it because of their faith because they had the faith and the strength to be strengthened through faith but oftentimes obviously you and I are not usually dealing with with physical pregnancies and a 90 year old woman and a hundred year old man having faith but oftentimes we look at situations where we think this is dead this is nothing's going to happen here and it may be a marriage that you're looking at and saying this marriage is past age this marriage is as good as dead this marriage there's no life that can spring from it but the faith for strength tells you and the faith for strength is this belief that says I believe that God can produce life from that which is dead that God can do something here that God can revive something here that God can revive a marriage God can revive a church God can do a work in somebody's life and look sometimes you just honestly I look at individuals and I look at situations and I'm not saying that they're not safe but I look at situations sometimes I think to myself as far as spirituality is concerned this person is pretty much dead and you know sometimes in the ministry I just have to hope against hope and just hope and believe that maybe maybe there's some spirituality there's some strength and look we ought not give up on individuals and you ought not give up on individuals whether it's a husband or whether it's a wife or whether it's maybe a teenager or whether it's some prodigal son or whatever you ought to have the faith that God can produce life in that which is dead that that even when someone is past age and as good as dead that you can hope against hope and that you can believe that God can strengthen them and that there's a faith that can produce life from that which is dead so we see here with Sarah number one the faith for strength and then I want you to notice secondly tonight there's ten of these so we'll try to do these quickly in Hebrews 11 and verse 17 we see the next character which is not the next character he's already been brought up notice the Bible says by faith Abraham by faith Abraham this is why I told you that the Hall of Faith you know you get different numbers if you ask different people how many characters are mentioned in the Hall of Faith you get different numbers because there's some characters that the way they're numbered is a little confusing I mean not terribly confusing but for example Abraham was already mentioned as number four on the list but then here again he's mentioned again so depending on how you want to count that if you want to just say he's still number four and we just kind of took a break and came back to him or if you want to count this as a separate thing he would be number six now on the list he'd be both number four and number six but we see him here mentioned as the sixth faith in verse 17 by faith Abraham notice what the Bible says here and this is not connected to what we learned about him from earlier in the chapter and last week because last week we learned about his faith to leave the Ur of the Chaldees and to separate from his loved ones and to go out and seek a country but here we see a different story by faith Abraham when he was tried notice these words offered up Isaac and he that had received the promise offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall I see be called accounting that God was able to notice the theme here raise him up even from the dead now what's interesting is that Sarah and Abraham had the faith to have Isaac because they had the faith that God could produce life from the deadness of their bodies but then the Bible tells us here that Abraham sacrificed or was willing to sacrifice Isaac because he was accounting that God was able to raise him from the to raise him up even from the dead from once also he received him in a figure and I want you to notice there and in Hebrews 11 19 notice that little phrase in a figure and this is telling us that the story of Abraham offering up Isaac was meant to be symbolic it was a figure for us in the New Testament so let's go to the story quickly Genesis chapter 22 first book in the Bible should be fairly easy to find Genesis chapter 22 and this is supposed to be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ of course we see here that Abraham is being asked to offer up his only Hebrews 11 17 offered up Isaac and that he had received the promises offered up his only begotten son so of course in the story Genesis 22 look at verse 1 the Bible says this and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham you know that God will sometimes tempt us and the word temp there is not referring to sin we know that God does not tempt anybody to sin but that word temp there means attempted or adventure the idea is that God is testing God did test Abraham and said unto him Abraham and he said behold here I am and he said take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him therefore a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of now I don't have time to develop this obviously you could preach a whole sermon series from this story in Genesis 22 we do a whole sermon on it but of course you know that Abraham and Sarah were barren they we just talked about it they'd had no children God had promised them a child and he finally gave them Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old Sarah was 90 years old and now that they have Isaac God is asking Abraham to sacrifice his son take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him therefore a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of and of course this is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ because Isaac the only begotten son of Abraham here is picturing the Lord Jesus Christ being sacrificed by God the Father God the Father sacrificing his only begotten son and like I said we could preach a whole sermon on it I'm not going to do that let me just give you real quickly just how six ways how Isaac pictures the Lord Jesus Christ here and there's probably more than that these are just six that I jotted down but in this story Genesis 22 if you want to study it out later for yourself Isaac is like Jesus in the sense that he's the only begotten of the Father that's what Hebrews 11 says that he was the only offered up his only begotten son that's in Genesis 22 2 it says take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest so he's the only begotten of the Father there also Isaac like Jesus was to be sacrificed in Jerusalem there's some special meaning there with regards to Mount Moriah and where he's going to do the sacrifice number three Isaac like Jesus was to be sacrificed by fire after his death Isaac was to be sacrificed and then he was supposed to be a burnt offering which is like the Lord Jesus Christ in the sense that he died on the cross and the Bible says that his soul went down to hell and his soul of course was not left in hell but it's part of the sacrifice for sin number four Isaac like Jesus would have a three day journey for his sacrifice they traveled for three days to perform the sacrifice and Jesus traveled for three days and was in the tomb and his soul in hell for three days during his sacrifice number five Isaac like Jesus had to carry the wood that he would be sacrificed up on the mount if you study look at the story there in Genesis 22 Isaac carries the wood for the fire on his back as he goes up the mount and of course we know that the Lord Jesus Christ carried the cross and he carried the wood that he would be hung on and be sacrificed and then Isaac like Jesus voluntarily laid his life down in obedience to the Father Isaac could have easily Abraham's 100 years old Isaac could have easily ran away from Abraham or taken Abraham but he chose to submit himself to his father and here's what you need to understand about the story Abraham fully expected to take the life of Isaac we're not told that in Genesis 22 but the Bible it's its own commentary and the Bible in Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith Abraham when he was tried when he was tempted offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that an Isaac shall I see be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead I Abraham fully intended to sacrifice Isaac and what he was doing was he was believing that even if he took the life of Isaac that God would raise him from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure so Abraham was committed to do this so what do we see here we saw with Sarah the faith for strength we see in Abraham here mentioned the second time as the sixth person on this list and we see the faith to sacrifice the faith to sacrifice because as we've already stated this was a test the Bible says that God did tempt Abraham the Bible says by faith Abraham when he was tried when he was tested and what God is doing is God is testing Abraham to see if he's willing to see the faith to sacrifice is the faith that allows you to surrender everything and anything to God notice Genesis 22 we read verses 1 and 2 skip down to verse number 10 we won't take the time to go through the whole story but I'd like you to see what happens here Genesis 22 the Bible says in Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son put yourself in this story Abraham having his son here you know the son they've been waiting for decades God finally gave them Isaac and now God wants Isaac to be sacrificed and the Bible says that Abraham stretched forth his hand the idea is that he's put his hand up in order to now take the life of his son and took the knife to slay his son verse 11 and the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he said here am I and he said lay not thine hand upon the lad neither do thou anything unto him for now I know that thou fears God seeing look at it seeing that thou has not withheld thy son thine only son from me see God just wanted to know Abraham and by the way this is if you want to know why Abraham's mentioned twice in the hall of faith you want to know why Abraham is mentioned all throughout the Bible you want to know why Abraham is one of the most amazing characters in all the scripture is because Abraham had enough faith to say I will surrender anything and I will surrender everything and it doesn't matter what God asked of me I'm willing to give it all up I have the faith to sacrifice here God says now I know that thou fears God seeing thou is not withheld thy son thine only son from me look at verse 15 Genesis 22 15 and the angel Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said by myself have I sworn saith the Lord for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son thine only son here's the question I have for you what is it that you're not willing to give up for God I mean what is it that if God came to you and said I'd like you to sacrifice that I'd like you to give that up I'd like you to put that on the altar can you actually I know we sing the words but can you actually mean the words when we sing the song is thine all on the altar because oftentimes for Christians there's this limit we'll say God I'll give you this and God I'll give you that but don't ask for this don't ask for that and the truth of the matter is that often times and I believe that God does tempt us at times he does try us at times and you want to see how far will we go or how far are we not willing to go I just wonder how many of these tests you and I have failed throughout life and God says give that up and we say no when God says I want you to stop that and we say no and maybe God actually wants you to give it up or maybe God just wants to see if you'd be willing to give it up but this is the faith that allows you to surrender everything and anything to God and I would just ask the question I would ask the question what in your life what is there in your life that if God said I want this you would say no because if you would say no then you don't have the faith to sacrifice but Abraham did Sarah did so we see this faith for strength we see the faith for sacrifice then I'd like you notice thirdly tonight if you go back to Hebrews 11 keep keep your place in in Romans and keep your place in Genesis as well we're going to come back to Genesis and you know I've seen situations oftentimes where individuals where there's just this one thing this one thing sometimes it's a job sometimes it's it's a sin sometimes it can be different things this idol and they're just not willing to give it up not willing to let it go and you know oftentimes when God brings you to this place and when we fail that test then God says I'm done with you that doesn't mean that you lose your salvation doesn't mean any of that but it does mean that God the Bible says that no man can serve two masters and God is not willing to be shared God wants to know where you're at and what you're willing to sacrifice so we see the faith for strength we see the faith for sacrifice not like you notice thirdly tonight and of course I'm alliterating these so bear with me I call this one the faith to see the faith to see and we'll actually cover the next three characters all it in one this one point character number seven and eight and nine depending on how you're counting it and we'll cluster them all together because they all kind of have the same theme and I'd like you to notice it Hebrews 11 verse 20 by faith Isaac so now we're talking about Abraham's son by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau notice these words concerning things to come the Bible says that by faith Isaac blessed he blessed the next generation concerning things to come so Isaac exercised this faith to see things that were coming this is the faith to see what can be this is the faith to see what can be and what God has in store but notice it's not just Isaac looking verse 21 by faith Jacob of course Jacob is Isaac's son when he was dying notice these words blessed both the sons of Joseph and worship leading upon the top of his death so the Bible tells us that Isaac blessed his two sons Jacob and Esau concerning things to come and by faith Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph again concerning things to come notice the theme verse 22 by faith Joseph of course Joseph is the son of Jacob when he died because remember Joseph gets sold into slavery by his brothers gets lied about put in prison God takes him out of prison makes him the second most powerful man in Egypt and then he saves his people he brings them into Egypt during a famine Joseph said about his trial that what they had meant for evil God had meant for good and of course when Joseph is dying in Egypt the Bible says in verse 22 by faith Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones now the children of Israel did not leave Egypt so 400 years later so several centuries later but the Bible says by faith Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandments concerning his bone he asked that his bones will be taken out of Egypt and that they would be buried in Canaan land and by the way the Bible says that Moses did this they did this they brought the bones of Joseph and brought him out of Egypt they carried the bones of Joseph with them for 40 years in the wilderness and when they entered into Canaan land they buried his bones I'd like to know you know who was in charge of that for 400 years watching these bones but the Bible says by faith Joseph when he died made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and what we see here this is the faith to see this is the faith to see what can be and what God has in store because the interesting thing about faith is that faith cannot be physically seen that's the whole point if you can see it then you don't need faith for it look back at verse number one Hebrews 11 verse 1 remember we saw this in our theology of faith now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things look at these words not seen now faith is a substance what substance means the matter by which something consists it is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen look at verse 13 same chapter Hebrews 11 13 these all and by the way the these all here is referring to Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah all the characters that were mentioned before verse 13 these all died in faith not having received the promises notice the words here but having seen them afar off they've not physically seen them because faith is the substance of things hope for the evidence of things not seen but they had seen them through the eyes of faith they had seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth the faith to see is the faith to see what can be and what God has in store and look in your life and in my life we need to have faith to be able to see to get a vision for what God can do in my life what God can do in your life what God can do with your children here we see this within the context of a father Isaac blessing his sons Jacob and Esau Jacob blessing both the sons of Joseph and Joseph directing the descendants coming after him hey what kind of faith do you have to see what do you see what's your vision you gotta have a vision for your life you gotta have vision for your family you gotta have a vision for your spiritual life it's the faith to see what's not there but what could be the faith to see what can be Bible says that they died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and then I like you notice fourthly tonight we look at Hebrews 11 and verse 23 we see our 10th character and again this is where it gets a little confusing and maybe you don't care about this but just you know I like lists and things but you look up lists for this and different lists are gonna say different things because for example in verse 23 we read this by faith Moses and we're gonna get into a little section here regarding Moses but the interesting thing is that though it says by faith Moses it's really about Moses's parents by faith Moses when he was born was hit three months of his parents so this is the 10th character in this Hall of Faith and if you're taking notes you can write down Moses or you can write down Moses's parents their names were Amram and Jochebed we know that from Exodus 6 20 and Numbers 26 59 if you want to jot that down for your notes I won't have you turn there I want you to notice this and this kind of goes with what we just talked about in verses 20 21 22 by faith Moses when he was born was hit three months of his parents of course you know when Moses was born was a time when Pharaoh had decreed that all the male children of Israel all the male children that are born were to be killed and the Bible tells us that by faith Moses when he was born was hit three months of his parents notice these words because they saw they saw faith as a substance of things hope for the evidence of things not seen but they saw that he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the King's commandment this is the faith I'm titling it the faith for seed and this is the faith that says this that you can raise kids for God this is the faith that looks at your children and sees potential and you would think that you wouldn't have to preach this but I have found in ministry that oftentimes parents give up on their own children and you should have the faith to see that there's potential in your children Psalm 45 16 says this you have to turn there Psalm 45 16 says instead of thy father's shall be thy children whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth the Bible says that we have the ability to empower our children to make them princes in all the earth and don't misunderstand me I understand completely that we're not Calvinists here we believe in in individual soul liberty we believe in free will and every child has to make their own decisions we understand that and you can be the greatest parent ever and and if you say that you're not just know that because the good the greatest parent ever would never say they're the greatest parent ever so if you've you know put that on Facebook or something you should take it down but you could be the greatest parent ever and and still raise you know children that maybe go astray because they all have to make their own decisions and they all have to decide what they're going to do but the point is this that we should have the faith to see a future for our children and to believe that God can do something with them and for them and you say well you don't understand my children gone astray then pray for them and and get some faith to see that maybe God can deal with them but look here's what you ought not do don't just turn a blind eye to it you should pray for your children pray hey God get a hold of my son get a hold of my daughter get a hold of their lives and and become real to them and humble them and do what you need to do to do a work in their life it's the faith to have seeds to raise children for the glory of God and look let me just say this and I and I think it's important to say this be careful about being critical of other people's children everyone has trouble with their kids from time to time everyone has trouble with their children from time to time it's always funny to me because whenever a parent struggling with some child and maybe they're being rebellious or whatever and you get all these other people you know they don't have children or their children are like this big it's like my child would never your child's like this big okay let's talk when your child's like this big and look you do whatever you want with it I understand that I can I can preach I can preach all sorts of wisdom and try to give you wisdom and you're you can or cannot receive it I've become that's become you you have the choice to not receive the wisdom preached from this pulpit that has become abundantly clear to me I understand that you do what you want but a wise person would be careful about criticizing parents when they're struggling with their children because everybody struggles with their kids from time to time and even God waits to the end of someone's life before he judges them so why don't you just be patient with people or just mind your own business so we see the faith for strength and the faith to sacrifice the faith to see and the faith for seed I'd like you to notice fifthly tonight Hebrews 11 24 we see the faith to suffer the faith to suffer here in verse 24 we read the words again by faith Moses this is depending on how you want to count it verse 23 is number 10 amram and jacobah Moses' parents even though it says by faith Moses we understand that but it's about his parents then verse 24 would be number 11 Moses by faith Moses when he was come to years see sometimes you have to wait for young people to come to years you understand what I'm saying sometimes they're going to have a rebellious phase and you have to wait for them to come to years here the Bible says by faith Moses when he was come to years look at these words refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season is steaming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward so here we see the faith to suffer the faith that suffering for Christ in this life will be worth it in the next choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season of course you know the story Moses was laid in a basket and put in the river and of course his parents couldn't keep them so they just surrendered him to God and of course you we know that Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him in the palace as an Egyptian but Moses came to a place where he made a choice he came to years and he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and though it was going to cost him something and it was going to be difficult the Bible says choosing rather these are some of the greatest verses in the Bible verse 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season this is a faith to suffer the faith that suffering for Christ in this life will be worth it in the next did you keep your place in Romans actually before you go there let go to Hebrews 12 real quickly you learn Hebrews 11 just flip over to Hebrews 12 Hebrews 12 and verse 1 the Bible says we're foreseeing we're also compass about what so great a call to witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us verse 2 looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our look at the words faith who for the joy that was set before him look at these words what are we talking about the faith to suffer for the joy that was set before him endured the cross say did Jesus enjoy the cross no no despising the shame and it sat down at the right hand of the throne of God so we have to understand this that you and I are going to have to have at some point we're gonna have to make the choice to have the faith to suffer look at Hebrews 13 and verse 13 Hebrews 13 and verse 13 the Bible says that Jesus endured the cross despising the shame Hebrews 13 13 let us go forth therefore unto him this is the writer of Hebrews speaking to us saying let us go forth therefore unto him Jesus without the camp notice these words bearing his reproach you understand that there is a reproach for living for Jesus there's a reproach for standing up for the things of God the Bible says in 2nd Timothy 3 12 you have to turn there it says yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution and look you you and I are gonna have to make the decision at some point because it's gonna cost you something to serve Jesus that's just the bottom line so you need to have the faith for strength you need to have the faith for sacrifice you need to have the faith to see the faith proceed the faith to suffer because it's gonna cost you something to serve Jesus go to Romans chapter 8 if you kept your place in Romans Romans chapter 8 look at verse 18 Romans 8 18 the Bible says this for I reckon for I reckon today in our modern vernacular when we think of this phrase reckon we think of like some sort of southern cowboy or farmer or something but the word reckon is actually a mathematical term it means to calculate and the apostle Paul says here for I reckon he says when I count when I count it up when I calculate it when I do the spiritual math he says for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time is there suffering in this present time yes there is is there a reproach for living for God yes it is look is there pleasure in sin yeah for a season but Paul says I reckon that the sufferings of this present time he says are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us you and I are just gonna have to decide whether or not we have the faith to suffer the faith to suffer for the cause of Christ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God and to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach is what the Bible says go back to keep your place there in Romans go back to Hebrews chapter 11 look at verse number 27 Hebrews 11 27 here we have the 11th mention we see the phrase there again by faith he it's still Moses we're still talking about Moses Abraham and Moses get multiple mentions obviously they were amazing men of God by faith he talked about Moses look at these words forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible notice the idea here they're seeing something that is invisible and look what we see here is the faith to set aside the faith to forsake the world and the things of the world by faith he forsook Egypt Egypt is a picture of the world by faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible and the truth is this the reason that there are so many Christians today that just can't shake the world because Egypt is a picture of the world we've got Christians today that just want to live like the world live like Egyptians they can't forsake Egypt they can't forsake worldliness they can't forsake any of it you say why is that it's it's because they do not have the faith to see him who is invisible because if you got a good look at God I'm not talking about a physical look but if you just got in your in your mind of faith you got a view of God and who God is like the Bible says about Isaiah that he saw God high and holy and lifted up if you got a view of God you would forsake Egypt you wouldn't need Egypt you wouldn't need the music of Egypt you wouldn't need the styles of Egypt you wouldn't need the language of Egypt you wouldn't need Egypt if you're able to see him who is invisible the reason that so many people choose to stay in Egypt is because they never get a good view of God through faith go to Philippians chapter 3 if you would if you kept your place in Romans from Romans you have first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians and Philippians Romans first second Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians chapter number three this is the faith to set aside the faith to forsake the faith to forsake the world and the things of the world by faith he forsook Egypt not fearing wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible we see this also played out in the life of the Apostle Paul worded a little different but I want you to see it Philippians 3 and verse 7 but what things were gained to me Paul is saying back in the world back in Egypt the things that were gained to me the things that were were were gain that were people would look at and say oh that's cool people would look at and say oh that's amazing but what things were gained to me Paul says those I counted loss for Christ he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible notice he is doubtless and look at what Paul says I mean Paul one of the greatest characters in the Bible he says I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered loss of all things and do count them but dung he says look Paul says there's nothing in this world that I consider a game there's nothing in this world that I want there's nothing in this world that would draw me away from God he says in fact I count all those things lost for Christ I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered loss of all things he said I've already lost everything for Christ and I do count them but done and then notice these words that I may win Christ Paul said all I want is Christ Paul said God is the goal and I understand for most carnal Christians this is just such a foreign thought to say there's nothing Paul there's nothing there's no vehicle there's no house there's no wealth there's no fame there's nothing in this world that you want and Paul says I want Jesus this is the faith to forsake think about the fact that Moses was a prince in Egypt most powerful richest country in the world and the Bible says by faith he forsook Egypt for he endured as seeing him who is invisible so you see the faith to set aside I'd like you notice seventhly tonight there's ten of these let me just get through the end of this quickly if you would in Hebrews 11 and verse 28 we see the 11th mention still Moses and we see the faith to serve through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them so the Bible tells us here that through faith he kept the Passover and obviously the Passover picture of salvation there's lots of things that can be said here I want you to notice that he not only forsook Egypt but then he also had the faith the Bible says he had the faith to keep the Passover and I would say this is the faith to serve the faith to use your God-given abilities to serve he went back brought the children Israel out and they kept the Passover together you don't have to turn here I'll just read this for you we're running out of time first Peter 4 10 says as every man had received the gift even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God the Bible says that God has given you ability to serve with and every man that hath received the gift should minister the same you should use it for the glory of God so this is the faith to serve and then I want you to notice number eight in verse 29 there Hebrews 11 29 then the Bible says this by faith they now here's we see the word they this is plural so this is not just Moses anymore and this is number 12 and they're not mentioned but this is referring to the children of Israel under the leadership of Moses by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land with the Egyptians a saying the word saying means to attempt with the Egyptians a saying or attempting to do were drowned so here we see that they had the faith to pass through the Red Sea as by dry land and when the Egyptians attempted to do the same thing they drowned let me read to you from the story Exodus 14 you have to turn there I'll just read this for you Exodus 14 13 says this and Moses said unto the people remember when they were had their backs up against the Red Sea and Pharaoh with his army was coming to destroy them the Bible says and Moses said unto the people fear ye not stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will show to you today for the Egyptians whom you have seen today you shall see them again no more forever the Lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace and the Lord said unto Moses wherefore Christ thou unto me speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward but lift thou up thy rod and stretch out thine hand over the sea and divide it and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea I call this one the faith to step out this is the faith to step out in faith at the commandment of God's Word and look again and these are all kind of connect with each other but sometimes God is trying and testing to see what are we willing to sacrifice and sometimes God is trying to see are we willing to step out by faith now look we are not step out foolishly but when the Bible says to do something you should step out by faith at the commandment of God's Word it would be foolish for the children of Israel to enter into the Red Sea but when God says go forward you just go forward of course he parts the Red Sea on their behalf and I'm just saying to you what is it in your life that God is maybe prompting you to step out maybe it's soul winning and you're scared and you're afraid and you're nervous you say I don't know what I would say and all these things but why not step out by faith believing that God can help you and step out at the commandment of God maybe it's to have your wife quit her job and so you can stay home and be a homemaker like the Bible says and you say well I'm scared why don't you step out by faith and see what God does maybe it's rearranging your schedule so you can actually be faithful to all those services you know what whatever it is whatever it is that the Holy Spirit is maybe it's to start tithing I don't know I'm just saying from time to time you and I need to step out by faith at God's Word believing believing that God will make a way so we see the faith to step out then I want you to notice number nine the faith to stand up looking for a sturdy by faith the walls of Jericho fell down still the children of Israel now under the leadership of Joshua when they stepped out by faith and passed through the Red Sea that was under Moses when they stepped up by faith and the walls of Jericho fell down that was in the leadership of Joshua after they were compassed about seven days and look this is the faith to stand up and fight the battles of the Lord believing God for the victory and this requires faith they required faith I won't take the time to go through the story but you know the story God had them surround the walls of Jericho they walked around the wall seven times seven days and the last day they shouted and the walls came tumbling down and it's this faith that says if God says fight fight and go the faith to stand up and fight believing that God will give the victory and then lastly tonight we'll look at verse 31 we won't finish the chapter but we'll finish this section this hall of faith the Bible says by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she received the spies with peace and I call this one number 10 the faith to select the faith to choose to stand with the people of God because Rahab the harlot of course was a Canaanite and the Bible says and I won't have you turn there but in the book of Joshua the Bible says that when she when the spies came she said to them your God is God and she chose to stand with the people of God and you know in your life and in my life we're going to have to have the faith to make a choice the faith to select you know what Joshua 24 15 says it says this and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord choose you this day whom ye will serve why don't you choose today who you're gonna serve here's how Elijah said it in first Kings 18 21 and Elijah came unto all the people and said how long halt ye between two opinions if the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him and the people answered him not a word I think that's such a sad statement there the man of God stands up and says how long halt ye between two opinions if the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him and instead of them saying yes let's follow God the Bible says and the people answered him not a word they all stayed quiet but not Rahab, Rahab chose and by the way Rahab ends up being in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ she's an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ because she had the faith to select so we see this hall of faith the faith for strength the faith that God can produce life from that which is dead and the faith to sacrifice the faith that allows you to surrender everything and anything to God what is it that you're not willing to give up the faith to see the faith to see what can be and what God has in store and the faith for seed the faith that you can raise children for the glory of God the faith to suffer the faith that says suffering for Christ in this life will be worth it in the next and the faith to set aside the faith to forsake the world and the things of the world the faith to serve the faith to use your God-given abilities and get involved in the things of God and serve the faith to step out by faith at the commandment of God's Word and the faith to stand up and fight the battles of the Lord believe in God for victory and the faith to select to choose to stand with the people of God choose you the state whom you will serve by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not she made a choice when she had received the spies with peace these are all different areas in my life and in your life that require faith the just shall live by faith I hope you'll find where it is you're lacking I'll find where it is I'm lacking and that we will exercise faith in these different areas in our lives that's why hearts and I want to pray, Heavenly Father, Lord we do love you and we thank you for this chapter and Lord we pray that you would help us as we seek to live a life of faith and Lord I pray that you would help us with these things there's going to be different times in our lives when we need faith the faith to surrender the faith to sacrifice the faith to serve the faith to suffer and when we find ourselves in these different areas help us to be able to make the right choice to pass the test and to be the people of faith we love you in Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right we're gonna have brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song and we have a baptism tonight so we'll go ahead and prepare for baptism. Please turn to song books page number 441. If you see pastor grow up there and I'm still singing just let me know I'll just keep singing page 441 we're going to sing greatest thy faithfulness page 441 and let's go ahead and sing it out on that first verse great is thy faithfulness oh god my father there is no shadow of turning with thee thou changes not thy compassion's they fail not as thou has been thou forever will be great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have needed thy hand have provided great is thy faithfulness lord unto me the second summer and winter and springtime and harvest sun moon and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness mercy and love great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see me let's sing it out on the last pardon for sin my own dear presence to cheer and to guide drink for today and bright hope for tomorrow blessings all mine with ten thousand beside great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies see all right amen well we have Daniel Raynor coming from baptism this evening and Daniel have you accepted the lord jesus christ as your personal savior yes all right Daniel by your profession of faith i baptize you my brother in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost buried in the likeness of his death raised to walk the newness of life all right well thank you very much for being here tonight of course i want to invite you to be with us at 10 a.m for our big soul winning rally on saturday morning there's also a soul winning time at 2 p.m tomorrow if you'd like to go soul winning and if there's anything we can do for you please let us know and i'm going to ask for the moses to dismiss us with a word of prayer let's pray father god thank you so much for this church lord thank you for this edifying sermon that we were to hear today i pray that you bless us as we go throughout a week pray to keep us safe until we meet again in jesus name i pray amen so so so