How to Keep Speaking Even After You Are Dead!

 Hebrews 11:1-4, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Bible translator James Moffatt wrote, “Death is never the last word in the life of a man. When a man leaves this world, be he righteous or unrighteous, he leaves something in the world. He may leave something that will grow and spread like a cancer or a poison, or he may leave something like the fragrance of perfume or a blossom of beauty that permeates the atmosphere with blessing.”

Dead men do tell long tales. Hebrews 11 demonstrates that ordinary men and women can live and leave behind a testimony that still speaks volumes to 21st Century persons. 

To the believer that’s “growing weary in well doing”, one often hears fellow believers admonish them to “get up and go on with God.” To the believer that has had a taste of spiritual renewal and of the “powers of the of the world to come”, one often hears them exclaim, “I don’t care what anyone says, or what happens, “I’m going on with God.” Which often can be translated, “I’m going on in a particular emphasis and adopting certain terminologies or manifestations.” But the writer of the book of Hebrews makes it clear what “going on” means. It means going on into Jesus — compelled by the power of faith in a God who is large and in charge – a God who is most high and most nigh!

 The faith that saves and liberates and motivates its possessor to finish with patience their part in the Glory Story, is in its essence, “a prizing of the superior worth of all that God is for us in Jesus.” Faith is a future-oriented, promise-trusting, heart-satisfaction in all that God is and has promised to be for us in Jesus.

Hebrews 11 contains a list of men and women who kept going on with God until they played their part in God’s glory story of redemption — even though the Star of the Story hadn’t made His appearance on the stage of human history. He reminds his readers, who were considering leaving the New Covenant stage of the story and attempting to walk back onto the stage of the now fulfilled Old Covenant, that if they would listen to the testimonies of these dead men and women – they too will be made famous by the Story and will join this “great cloud of witnesses,” to go on speaking long after they are dead.

1. Abel’s Voice Speaks of Faith’s Priority – Passion for True Worship –11:4

A. Abel declares that the essence of true and acceptable worship is not what we bring to God in our hands, but what we believe in our hearts! – Gen 4:1-8

Abel reveals that the number one priority of faith is worship. The nature of a person’s faith determines the nature of their worship. The nature of their worship develops their nature or character. In other words, people become what they believe – their faith forms them. They become like the God or gods they worship. The nature of a person’s faith not only determines their worship, but their walk, work, wealth and the shape of their world!

Louie Giglio writes: “Think of it this way: Worship is simply about value. The simplest definition I can give is this: Worship is our response to what we value most.

Worship is a belief that “prizes the superior worth of all that God is for us in Jesus.” Worship is a way of reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth. It’s and affair of the heart. Worship says it’s my joy, my sheer delight, not a duty God demands

It was Abel’s obedience we learn that we cannot please God with the works of our hands. We cannot please God by just saying that we believe in God, or that there is a God — Cain believed in God, but Abel believed God!

B. Abel declares that you can kill the messenger, but not the message!

The truth that had gripped Abel was bigger than Abel. When a man or a woman obeys God, their life lives on, and the truth of their life impacts the world till the end of time. Too often we take ourselves too seriously. We honestly believe that if we are rejected, God’s cause is going down the tube. We feel like it is our job to protect God’s reputation and define truth for everyone. Abel has forever left us this legacy: that a man/woman who hears God and obeys God will glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

2. Enoch’s Voice Speaks of Faith’s Practice – Persistence in One’s Walk — 11:5-6

A. Enoch’s voice shouts that you can know God as deeply and intimately as you want to know!

Gen 5:22  Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Gen 5:23  Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Gen 5:24  Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

The metaphor “walking with God” refers to our daily lifestyle or conduct. Although there are other words that indicate forward movement, such as leaping, running, floating, drifting, crawling, etc., yet none of them would be appropriate to describe God’s design for our daily living. Walking stands for steady, sustained motion. It implies a steady, consistent, purposeful, and determined course of life. Walking involves the action of the mind in the decision to start, of the heart in the desire to continue, and of the will in a determination to arrive. Walking isn’t very sensational. But our daily walk is of great concern to God. In the New Testament we are commanded to walk in unity; in the light; in holiness; in love; in wisdom; in praise; and in harmony. A consistent walk before God is the key to living victoriously and leaving a legacy behind that will go on speaking after you’re dead.

The person who is worshipping acceptably will walk obediently. How does one walk with God in the midst of a pressure-filled, perverse, persecuting society?  The life of Enoch provides the answer as he demonstrates that without all the advantages that we 21st century American Christians possess – a complete Bible, a Church on every corner, books, tapes, cd’s seminaries, etc, plus volumes of Church history which chronicles examples of men who overcame gigantic obstacles by faith, and in the midst of pervasive wickedness – a man with a true and living faith can live obediently and triumphantly. Since he was enabled of God to do this with so few spiritual aids, we who have so many are without excuse. The just shall live by faith!

Enoch left the believer with this hope –we can find out what pleases God. Enoch believed that God was really who He said He was and that He was a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him! Enoch had such a desire to know God and to please God that one day he just walked into Him. And the more we know Him, the less visible we become and the more visible He becomes.

Enoch had to face the same powers of evil and corruption that everyone else in his time had to face, but Enoch’s life will say forever that: Regardless of your circumstances, you can know God as much as you desire. You can have all of God that you want; He is not reticent to share with you what pleases Him. He wants to be trusted, companied with, enjoyed and obeyed out of love and not based on a law or principle.

3. Noah’s Voice Speaks of Faith’s Proof – Practicing Long-term Obedience in One’s Work!– 11:7

A. Noah’s voice speaks with assurance that we can live for God in any generation! – Gen.6:11-14

Please be reminded that as bad as things are today, they are not worse than they were in Noah’s day. But Noah saw reality! Because he knew the Lord and knew His voice, he heard truth about what was happening and would happen. He condemned the world in the sense that because of Noah it could not claim to have an excuse; Noah lived by hearing and obeying God. He left us the legacy that as evil as the times may get we can still live for Jesus and be a testimony to our generation.

It is worthy to note that whatever caused Noah to live for God in a hostile environment was what he had heard in his inner man. The entire theme of Hebrews is that we have the capacity and responsibility to go into Jesus and have a personal, trusting relationship with Him. Apart from that, we can not live for God in good circumstances, let alone a hostile environment such as the one that existed in Noah’s day. Noah had the patience to hear what was going to happen in the future and prepare for it based on what God had said. It is imperative today that the church not live with a hurry-up mentality, trying to get out of here before the world collapses. Rather, we must prepare for the next generation.

B. Faith Will Work Obediently Without:

1. THE AFFIRMING RECORD OF SUPPORTING FACTS; Heb 11:7 – “By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet….” John MacArthur said, “…that one of the greatest practical acts of faith in all history was Noah cutting down the first gopher wood tree for lumber to make the ark. To most of us the command would have seemed so demanding, so embarrassing, so absolutely overwhelming, that we would have done anything to get out of it.” 

2. WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO SAVE FACE — Noah was told to build a boat that was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high, with three decks. The total volume within the decks would have been around 1.3 million cubic feet. Though it would have still been extraordinary, it would have been less irrational if Noah had been instructed to build the ship by the edge of a large body of water capable of floating it.  Instead he was required to build the ship 500 miles from the closest body of water sufficient in size to float it.  Not only did he build a boat of these proportions far from the sea, but he worked on it for the space of 120 years. All the while he was working on the boat, he was preaching and warning the people that it was going to rain to such an extent that a flood would result which would wipe out all living things on the land.  Wow! Talk about losing face!

Noah says to us, “If you are going on into Jesus, you must be delivered from desiring to be considered respectable, dignified, and reasonable by our neighbors

3. WITHOUT THE ASSURING ENCOURAGEMENT OF SUCCESS FACTORS– Noah worked for 120 years without seeing any evidence of fruitfulness for his ministry, save the salvation of his own family.  Nobody came by patting him on the back with a word of encouragement, saying, “Noah, I appreciate what you’re doing.” He didn’t get a five percent raise as a token of appreciation for his labors. He was not listed in the top ten of the most popular people in the country.

Yet in spite of the lack of encouragement, he didn’t quit.  Why?  Because the source, sum, substance, and sustenance of his life was not derived from the things or people around him, but from the living faith that had brought him into a relationship with the Faithful, All-sufficient God.

Can you imagine continuing to work for God without anybody ever giving you a word of encouragement?  Without any visible evidence of a coming flood, without ever seeing anyone come to repentance and faith in God as a result of his ministry, other than his own family, Noah worked faithfully. Noah endured one hundred twenty years of abuse, ridicule, caricature, hard work, and of being the butt of jokes, yet he got the last laugh.

What is the bottom line on the faith that pleases God? – Knowing God well enough to trust Him, worship Him, walk with Him and work with Him. In order to praise God for who He is, we must know Him; His nature, His desires, His plans, His heart, His word and His will. It is impossible to praise and worship someone you do not know personally. The more I know Him, the more I love Him. The more I love Him the more I trust Him – i.e. faith Him! The more I see Him with the eyes of faith the more passionate will be my worship of Him. The more I worship Him the more consistent will be my walk before Him and the more content I will be my work with Him!

4. Abraham’s Voice Speaks of Faith’s Pilgrimage – Proper Evaluation of the World!–11:8-10

A. Abraham’s voice declares that it is safe to travel under sealed orders!–11:8

Abraham didn’t know where he was going, but he did know what he was looking for. God had spoken to him while he was still an idol worshipper in Ur of the Chaldess. God told him to leave his place of influence, wealth and security; but He didn’t tell him exactly where he was going. However, God did speak to his inner man and gave him a vision of a city. It was a city like nothing Abraham had ever seen before. It was a city in which be could be a forever citizen and participate in its glory for eternity. It was something that gave him the ability to properly evaluate everything else in this world. What he saw by the eyes of faith made the wealth, influence, prestige and security of this world pale in comparison. It was something that made all his neighbors think he was crazy because he had left such great success and began wandering around in the wilderness as a pilgrim. But he had seen a city!

This is a city that we too must see in our hearts. The world will accuse us of being crazy because we don’t know where we’re going. But if we know what we’re looking for, where we’re going really doesn’t matter. And if we don’t know what we’re looking for, it doesn’t matter where we’re going! If you would like a picture of what Abraham saw, you can find it in Hebrews 12:22-24: Abraham had seen the kingdom of God expressed through the body of Christ! Jesus said that Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. He had seen the Son of God, the purpose of God and had heard His personal invitation to participate in the divine redemptive work of God on the earth. It was something that captivated him, controlled him, and compelled him to go on into Jesus.

1 John 5:4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith.”

Judson Cornwall said, “Living by faith does not mean doing without, or not doing at all; it means doing His will. It is walking with God into new territory as Abraham did. It is obeying God when the request seems incongruous to all known facts, as in Noah’s life. It is learning to depend rather than developing independence.”

B. Abraham’s testimony says that true faith will trust and obey God even when it means offering God’s Miraculous Provision Back to Him! – 11:17-19

Hebrews 11:17-19, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.”

Matthew Henry was right when he stated that, “A greater trial was never put upon any creature. The apostle here mentions some things that very much added to the greatness of this trial. (1.) He was put upon it after he had received the promises, that this Isaac should build up his family, that in him his seed should be called (Heb_11:18), and that he should be one of the progenitors of the Messiah, and all nations blessed in him; so that, in being called to offer up his Isaac, he seemed to be called to destroy and cut off his own family, to cancel the promises of God, to prevent the coming of Christ, to destroy the whole world, to sacrifice his own soul and his hopes of salvation, and to cut off the church of God at one blow: a most terrible trial! (2.) That this Isaac was his only-begotten son by his wife Sarah, the only one he was to have by her, and the only one that was to be the child and heir of the promise. Ishmael was to be put off with earthly greatness. The promise of a posterity and of the Messiah must either be fulfilled by means of this son or not at all; so that, besides his most tender affection to this his son, all his expectations were bound up in him, and, if he perished, must perish with him. It was a trial that would have overset the firmest and the strongest mind that ever informed a human body.

Abraham’s faith in so great a trial is demonstrated as he obeyed and intentionally gave Isaac up by his submissive soul to God and was ready to have sacrificed him according to the command of God. He went as far in it as to the very critical moment, and would have gone through with it if God had not prevented him. Nothing could be more tender and moving than those words of Isaac: My father, here is the wood, here is the fire; but where is the lamb for the burnt-offering — little thinking that he was to be the lamb; but Abraham knew it, and yet he went on with the great design.

The supports of his faith had to be very great — suitable to the greatness of the trial: “He accounted that God was able to raise him from the dead” Heb_11:19. His faith was supported by the sense he had of the mighty power of God, who was able to raise the dead; he reasoned thus with himself, and so he resolved all his doubts. It does not appear that he had any expectation of being countermanded, and prevented from offering up his son; such an expectation would have spoiled the trial, and consequently the triumph, of his faith; but he knew that God was able to raise him from the dead, and he believed that God would do so, since such great things depended upon his son, which must have failed if Isaac had not a further life.

The reward of his faith in this great trial was that he received his son from the dead in a figure, or in a parable. This was a figure or parable of something further. It was a figure of the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, of whom Isaac was a type. It was a figure and earnest of the glorious resurrection of all true believers, whose life is not lost, but hid with Christ in God. We come now to the faith of other Old Testament saints, mentioned by name, and by the particular trials and actings of their faith.”

5. Sarah’s Voice Speaks of Faith’s Patience – Physical Elimination of Natural Ways!–11:11-12

A. Sarah’s Laughing Voice Reminds Us that God can fix our Laughing in unbelief with a Living laughter of faith – Gen 18:9-15; 21:1-3,6 

Sarah tried to help God fulfill the promise that He had made to her husband, Abraham in everyway she could. When it became obvious that she could not have a baby – much less a baby boy – she reverted to making a plan and then working that plan. She gave her slave Hagar to Abraham to produce a substitute child. Ishmael is the result of these fleshly efforts.

But God would allow enough time to elapse so as to shape Sarah and Abraham’s faith into understanding that His time schedule and ability to do what He promised was not affected by aging, sterile wombs or any other factors of time. When all human hope of producing a child had gone, Abraham’s faith had grown to such proportions that he could believe God to bring life out of death, fruitfulness out of sterility. Romans 4:18-19: “Who against hope believed in hope, that they might become the father of many nations. ….”and being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now as good as dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” Yet Sarah was still laughing in unbelief at the thought of two old people having sex and making a baby. Gen 18:12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

God usually opts to shape our faith by shutting us up to Himself so that when He does act in our behalf no factors of time, promising circumstances, or human effort can explain or receive credit for what He did.

6. Moses’ Voice Speaks of Faith’s Power – Performing Wonders and Participating in Warfare – 11:23-29

The faith that is apportioned us by God and that is acceptable and pleasing to Him is comprised of a number of elements. True faith worships acceptably, walks obediently, witnesses faithfully, works fervently, waits enduringly, and wars victoriously. When these elements are present in varying degrees, faith is operational.

What are the results of God-pleasing faith being operational in our lives? The popular teaching is that if you can get faith working it will bring peaceful feelings, prosperous finances, and pain-free, problem-free lives. But the God-kind of faith moves us from the barracks (church house), from the Bible conferences, to the battlefield where we encounter powerful foes and find ourselves in a persistent fight!

God-pleasing faith enables us to confront the enemies of the world, the flesh, and the Devil and be winners, overcomers, and conquerors in spite of the strength, number, and nature of the foes we face! 

A. Moses’ Parents testimony assures us when you get a Faith-imparting Word from God You Can take Life-Endangering Risks – 11:23

The parents of Moses received a faith-imparting Word from God which gave them the holy boldness to defy the State ordered infanticide policy toward all Hebrew baby boys. By faith they believed that God intended to save their son from death in order that their son, in turn, might eventually save the Hebrew nation from Egyptian bondage.

The fact that they saw he was a proper, or as Bagster’s Interlinear translates, a beautiful child to God, testifies to the discernment of their faith, not to the mere admiration of the natural. 

Although hiding a baby boy for three months doesn’t seem as dramatic and spectacular as the exploits of some of those mentioned in Hebrews Eleven – exploits such as stopping lion’s mouths, quenching fires, and subduing kingdoms – yet it was as great an instance of acceptable faith as any of the other aforementioned deeds in Hebrews 11.

The parents of Moses resisted the God-usurping ways of government. The Egyptian government decreed that the children belonged to them. Usurping the place of Almighty God, they mandated population control via the policy of infanticide. Moses’ parents engaged in civil disobedience because of their obligation to the higher law of God which was being defied and supplanted by the humanistic policies of the Egyptian government. They also refused to concede that their children belonged to the government. Knowing that children belong to the Lord, not the State, and are entrusted to parents only on a stewardship basis, they were under a “we must obey God rather than men” mandate.

Moses’ parents feared only God and perceived that He rules over every detail of their lives, therefore they did not capitulate to the demands of the Egyptian government. The people with the God-kind of faith do not despair because of the odds against them, nor the dangers around them, because they know the God above them has their times in His hands!

B. Moses’ testimony is that Impressive Positions and Immediate Gratification can be Refused when God is Your Rewarder! — 11:24-26

Moses refused the impressive position that could have been his as the next great leader of  Egypt and  identified with God’s people – Acts 7:22-23 (NKJV)”And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. {23} “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.”  As the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses enjoyed the role of a celebrity who had every luxury that Egypt could offer. Yet in spite of his training, the royal lifestyle he enjoyed, the great potential for future fame, power and prestige, Moses never allowed anything to blunt his knowledge of the hope of Israel and the promises of God.

The choice Moses made in Hebs 11:25,26 was a measured decision. The social position of his people was that of slaves. The social position he enjoyed was one of great prominence, prestige, power, position, and pleasure. The motivating dynamic behind his decision was God’s recompense of reward. The meaning of the word recompense suggests a scheme of payment by promise of one whose fee is worth waiting for!  Moses was enabled by faith to lay hold of God’s promissory note!  The things of earth grow strangely dim in the light and glory of that which God has prepared for those who love Him.

The God-pleasing faith triumphs over the allurements of this world system whose philosophy is that of present satisfaction, personal security, and perpetual serenity.

God-pleasing faith chooses to suffer with and for the cause of Christ rather than allowing the cause of Christ to suffer due to the believer enjoying the temporary pleasures of sin. Most of those early followers of Christ endured a painful departure from this world.  According to church tradition, Matthew was slain with the sword.  Mark was dragged through the streets till dead.  Luke was hanged on an olive tree.  James the Great was beheaded.  James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club. Philip was hanged.  Andrew was bound to a cross, from where he preached till he died.  Thomas was run through with a lance. Jude was shot to death with arrows.  Simon the Zealot was crucified.  Matthias was first stoned, and then beheaded. Simon Peter was crucified upside down.

Jim Elliot, who lost his life in the service of King Jesus, said, “No man is a fool to give up that which he cannot keep to acquire that which he can’t lose.”

C. Moses and the Children of Israel’s testimony is that Intransigent Sovereigns and Impossible Situations are no Problem for a Big God!–11:29

Although it isn’t mentioned in Hebrews 11, yet the children of Israel in Egypt had seem miracle after miracle performed in a wonder-working warfare against the gods of the Egyptians and against their stubborn ruler. Then we read in 11:29, “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.  The children of Israel were between the Devil, in the form of Pharaoh and his armies, and the deep Red Sea. And the irony of it all was that God had deliberately lead them into this impossible and impassible situation! What could the poor Israelites do?  Fight – they dare not. They were a bunch of unarmed, freshly liberated slaves with no military training. Fly – they could not. God had reduced their options to only one – trust Him. They were shut up to faith!  At God’s instructions, Moses raised his rod and the waters begin to part, making a dry passageway through the sea. The bold faith of the people of God enabled them to step into the dry sea bed, with gigantic walls of water suspended by nothing but the command of God on either side, and walk across safe and sound. Whereas the brazen unbelief of the enemies of God prompted them to attempt the same feat, only to be drowned by the cascading walls of water.

Has your obedience and faith in God resulted in His leading you to a Red Sea situation where all your options have been reduced to one – trusting Him?  Then go forward, trusting His heart even though you can’t trace His hand. 

At the entrance of many of the larger public parking lots is an automatic gate designed to go up when a car activates a hidden sensor near the entrance.  When someone drives up the ramp leading to that gate, it remains down, firmly blocking the entrance.  But as they get close to it, the arm swings up and they proceed right through. If a person were to park his car a few yards away from the entrance, it would stay closed.  Only as they move forward does it open.

Much of life is like the barrier to the parking lot, apparently impassible until by faith we approach it, expecting God to open the way as we continue to move forward in His will.

Dear believer, is there some barrier across your path just now? Someone has said, “If God built a bridge a yard ahead, it could not be a bridge of faith.”  It’s that first step into the unseen that proves we have faith.  Abraham, for example, “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8 ). He was obeying God and relying on Him. His task was to go — God’s was to clear the path.

Faith and its results – worship, walk, work, witness, warfare, etc are simply the normal response to any real encounter with God! Faith is the awareness of the truth of who God is for us in Christ; an assent to that truth with and affection for the Person of all Truth. All the revelation of truth in propositional form is designed to bring us into a love relationship with the One who is the Truth! It’s love responding to love.

Father, as did Jesus’ disciples, so we ask, “Lord, increase our faith” – not so that we get more things from You, but so that we can see You more clearly and love You more dearly because we believe that You are unrivaled, unparalleled, unequaled and unsurpassed. Your Person is superior, superb and sublime. I have discovered You to be excellent, exquisite, exceptional, extraordinary, remarkable, incomparable, impeccable, irreproachable and unimpeachable. There is absolutely none like you.

Lord Jesus, You alone are worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor and glory, and blessing.