The title of the message here
in Hebrews 11, Faith that Overcomes. Faith that Overcomes. Now the
outline I'm gonna give you, Henry gave this to us years ago. I'm living in the past tonight,
I don't know. But he gave this to us years ago. And when he
gave it to us, he said, now you young men, write this down and
someday, sometime we had the opportunity to use this outline.
He said, use it, it's a good one. This is the first time I've
ever used this particular outline. I just happened to find it. I
had it stashed away and came across it a couple weeks ago.
And as I go through this, you'll see what the outline is. Let
me just give it to you quickly. It's faith's triumphs over work.
It's faith's triumphs over death. Faith's triumphs over time. It's
faith's triumphs over home and family. Faith's triumphs over
human sin and weakness. Faith's triumphs over human affection. And faith's triumphs over riches
and wealth. And faith's triumphs over fear. Now it's not going
to take me that long to go through this. But that's a good outline. That's a good—I've never preached
using that outline. But that's what he gave us, and
he said, now sometime, I didn't realize it was probably going
to be 30-some years later in North Carolina I'd be using it,
but here it is. All right, Hebrews 11. Hebrews
11 gives us many examples here of those who believe God and
they accomplished many things, all of which were accomplished
by faith. You notice when I was reading
through these verses here, it's by faith, by faith, by faith,
by faith. I believe the Apostle got his
point across to the Hebrews and to us. It's by faith. Everything
they did, they did by faith. And when their accomplishments
are mentioned, They are mentioned in reference to their, not their
righteousness, their faith. Through faith, by faith, is the
charge. If you'll notice here as we start
out, how the Scripture here starts with a sacrifice being offered
by faith, and then it goes to the obedience of Abraham and
Moses and Joseph and all these other patriarchs there. O believers,
faith starts with the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's
where faith starts. And then obedience to Christ
is followed by obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ
said to His disciples when He called them, He said, Come, follow
Me. And they did. They did. All right,
the first one. Faith triumphs over work. There
in verse 4, By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Abel believed God concerning
the blood of atonement. He believed God concerning the
way sinners are saved. He believed God concerning the
way we are accepted, that is, through the blood and through
the sacrifice. And he looked, able to look beyond the type
to the one the type pointed to, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you notice, it said Moses
over here, it says in verse 26, that Moses esteemed the reproach
of Christ. That's thousands of years ago.
He esteemed the reproach of the Messiah. You see, Christ is his
office. Greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt. Abel looked beyond the type to
the one the type pointed to, which is Christ, the anointed
one, the appointed one, the Messiah. Cain did not believe God. That's
why he brought the works of his hands. He had a distorted understanding,
and these two boys were raised in the same house. Raised in
the same home. You see how dead we are by nature?
Raised in the same home, have the same parents. One believes and one does not
believe. Why did the one believe? The grace of God. The grace of
God made the difference between Cain and Abel. That's the difference.
But Cain had a distorted understanding of who God is. He had a distorted
understanding of what he was and his need of a Savior and
how God was to save him. Here's what Cain did. Cain chose
reason over revelation. God revealed. It was revealed
how sinners are to be saved. It's revealed how we are accepted.
But Cain chose human reason, human logic. Human logic just
says, I've got to do something. Doesn't it? It says we've got to do something.
You know, human nature just makes you feel like you've got to do
something to be accepted of God. But Abel believed the revelation.
He believed the revelation of the gospel. And he acted on it. And the proof of that is the
sacrifice he brought, a blood sacrifice. He brought a blood
sacrifice. God made it clear how sinners
are to come to him, and Cain rejected that. He rejected it. Both heard the same message,
but with different results. And grace is what made the difference. And there are some of you, I'm
sure you have members in your family that don't believe. And
you do. Why? I know, I understand that
grace made the difference. That's the difference. That's
the difference why I believe and some of my siblings don't. No man's work is perfect. We know that. And therefore God
can't accept it, but the work of the man, Jesus Christ, is
perfect. And God has accepted His work
and us in His work, and we look to Him. We look to His blood
for cleansing. We look to His righteousness
for covering. We look to Him and Him alone. By faith we laid
hold of the Lord Jesus Christ and we trust Him." You know,
faith is a confident reliance upon God. It's a confident reliance
upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. That's what it is. Secondly, faith triumphs over
death. By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. It's like trading one place for
another. He just took him from one place and put him in another.
He took him from earth and put him in heaven. But before his
translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. That he
pleased God. You know how Enoch pleased God?
He believed Him. That's it. He believed Him. Now, I know His life was one
that was conducted by faith. He walked according to His faith.
He walked according to Revelation. He believed the same gospel you
and I believe. And I assure you, His life proved
it. His life proved it. But then
he pleased God by believing God. His life on this earth was lived
out by faith. And one day, and this is written
for our learning, one day God took him. He took him. But let me tell you this, no
man has ever gone to heaven who did not believe God. No man. No man has ever gone to heaven
on his own merits except one. One man. One man has entered
into heaven upon his own merits. Jesus Christ. If I'm able to stand there someday,
and I fully expect to in Christ, I'm going to be there on His
merits. But He walked right in there on His own merits. No man
has ever pleased God by his works except one man, Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased." And every believer someday, every
believer will die in the faith that they live by, and their
faith is going to give way to sight. But the Scripture teaches
us that those who believe God shall never die. You say, now wait a minute, I
know believers have died. Their bodies have died, but God
took them out of that body when they died. Now listen, when it
came time to die, they drew that last breath that God just transported
them from here to His presence and glory. He just took them
from earth to heaven. It's written in John 11, 26.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest
thou this? Do you believe this? Do you believe
this? See, we look at death, and we
look at dying, and we look at it as an end, but if we can really
get a hold of this, it's being transported from this place to
that place. Death, I'll not taste of death. I'll not taste of it. It's like,
and I believe it's like this, I've never died, so I don't know,
but I believe it's going to be like, it's just like falling
asleep. You know the Scriptures, when the Lord speaks in the Scriptures
of the death of a believer, He always speaks of it as sleep.
He said, Lazarus sleepeth. And they said, well Lord, if
he's asleep, then he does well. Let's not wake him." Because
he said, let's go wake him. And they said, if he's doing
any sleep, he doeth well. Let's leave him alone. And the
Lord said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Now they understood
that. You see, he was talking over their head. This is God. God is saying he's not dead.
He's asleep. He's asleep. Boy, you know what
a good night's sleep's worth. And he said, Lazarus is asleep.
He's not dead. I'm not going to die. You believe
the gospel? You're not going to die. You're
just going from here to there. You're going to be transported. And then thirdly, faith triumphs
over time. By faith, Noah, being warned
of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear." And that's
not meaning he was frightened of God. He moved with awe and
reverent fear. "...prepared an ark for the saving
of his house, by which he condemned the world." I think he's speaking
here about which faith he acted by. By which faith he acted by,
he condemned the world that was turning thumbs down on him. and became heir of the righteousness,
which is by faith." By faith, Noah continued building the ark for 120 years. Could you stay on one project
that long? You know, Henry preached it 13th
Street was almost 60 years, 58 years, something like that. That's
like building that ark for 120 years. You know, staying in that
one place and preaching and preaching and preaching. And Noah was in
that one place for 120 years. Putting a plank here and a plank
here and a plank here and covering it with pitch and just working
on it for 120 years. And he never quit. He never quit. He didn't get
50 years into it. And you know, you know that the
locals around there said, what are you doing? Has he lost his
mind? He said, judgment's coming. He said, there's going to be
a flood. That's 50 years ago. That's 75 years ago. Now it's
100 years ago. And then it was 119 years ago. And then 120 rolled
around. And when it was all complete, judgment fell. But for 120 years,
he put up with that crowd. He put up with those locals making
fun. I know some of them had to make
fun of him. He said, you're just out of your mind. You're out
of your mind. Building an ark. That thing was,
for that day and time especially, for that day and time especially,
it was big. Noah believed God against all
human reason. There was no visible reason to
be doing this. Well, there's one reason to be
doing it. God said to. God said, Noah, build an ark. I'm going to flood this. I'm
going to destroy all that I've made. And Noah believed him. He believed him. Faith in Christ
keeps us from growing weary in His service and quitting. And after 120 years of doing this, and he's called
a preacher of righteousness. 120 years ago, eight souls. That's all went on that ark,
after 120 years of preaching and building that ark. Eight
souls. But I tell you what, those eight
souls were chosen of God. And they went on that ark, and
those eight souls were His family. It was His family. And we don't
hear one complaint from Noah out of that 120 years, do we?
We don't hear one complaint. And then fourthly, faith triumphs
over home and family. Verse 8, "...by faith Abraham,
when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." Obeyed, and he went
out, not knowing where he went or whether he went or where he
was going. Nothing is dearer to us than
family. Nothing. As the old saying goes,
blood is thicker than water. It is. But when a sinner is born
of God, that sinner goes where God leads him or her to go, no
matter what the family says. The family has no say so. We're
not going to have a family meeting to see what they think about
this. What do y'all think about this? It's none of your business.
I don't mean to sound mean, but it's nobody's business. If God
calls someone to go somewhere, go. You go. Christ said, what was it, James
and John was in the boat there with Zebedee, their father, and
he said, come follow me. And they jumped out of the boat,
and they left their father in the boat. They were mending their nets
and fishing, and they just jumped right out of the boat and left.
And one young man, when he came to our Lord, he went to follow
the Lord, and the Lord said, well, you know, I'm paraphrasing.
He said, well, come on. Follow me. He said, well, let
me go home and bury my father. He said, let the dead bury the
dead. You come follow me. And what
all he meant by that at that point, I really don't know, but
I do know he did mean this. You drop everything, and you
follow Me. You follow Me. We don't know what tomorrow holds,
but by faith we know who holds tomorrow, and we follow Him. We follow Him. Who knows one
minute to the next what's going to happen? God does. God does. By faith, by confident reliance
upon Jesus Christ, He's first and family has to take second
place. Family has to take second place. I've seen people tried with this
and they didn't realize how strong the family had a hold of them
until it came time to say goodbye. And then fifthly, Faith triumphs
over human sin and weakness. In verse 11, through faith also
Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered
of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful
who had promised. Sarah was very old. For having children, she was
very old. Was she around 90 at this time? She was old for having
children. And even though she laughed,
you remember we saw that in Genesis, she laughed. When the Lord said
to Abraham, Sarah's going to have a son this time next year,
she was behind the tent door and she laughed, and then she
lied. She said, I didn't laugh. Oh
yes, you did. But that's not mentioned here,
is it? All their weaknesses. Now, we're going to see a real
weakness in Abraham Lord willing, Sunday morning, when he gives
Sarah up the second time to the king, and says, you tell him
you're my sister. I mean, he just did that back
in chapter, I think it was 12, and he was chided for it, and
here he does it again. It's just like when my mother
used to give me a whip, and I said, I won't do it again, I won't
do it again, I promise you, I won't do it again. I promise you, you
will do it again. You will. And Abraham did. We'll see that. We'll see that.
But we see here that she believed that God was able to give her
strength to conceive. She judged him faithful who promised
her that she would have a son. Faith judges God to be faithful
to fulfill all His promises. Now, faith that's of God Trust Him. Have full confidence
in God fulfilling His promises. You take the Word of God and
you look to the promises. And I tell you, one of the, I
don't know if I, I don't like using this word. I'm gonna use
it to make a point, but I don't know that it's a good way to
do it. But the secret to prayer, I don't like to call it a secret,
but the secret to prayer is using the promises of God and taking
them to Him. Taking His own words to Him to
fulfill. Not my words. His Word. Lord, You said, call upon Me
in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and thou shalt glorify
Me. Lord, You said that. That's not
saying it with an attitude, you know that. You know, it's not
that. It's just like, it's like, it's
like, and I tell you, there's nothing that pleases God more
than to take Him at His Word and lay it right in front of
Him, so to speak. Yeah, I know this humanly speaking.
You know, sometimes it's hard to try to convey these things
when you're trying to use human language. But humanly speaking,
it's difficult. It's difficult. Because my grandson
did this to me once. I was going to take him fishing,
I think it was, and it changed my mind. He said, Grandpa, you
said you were going to take me fishing. And he didn't let it
go. He didn't let it go. You said
you were going to take me fishing. And that made me feel so bad.
It did. Made me feel so bad I had to
take him fishing. It did. Well, let's put that up here
on this level up here where God dwells. He who never changes
His mind or His promises. Never. We take His Word and lay
it right down there. The promises of God. You know,
when I first heard the Gospel 40 years ago, I was so troubled. I mean, I was troubled, troubled,
troubled. And I kept taking that Scripture
that says, all that the Father giveth to me shall come to me.
And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. I can't
tell you how many times I took that before the Lord. You said,
Lord, you said you wouldn't cast me out. I come. Faith judges God to be faithful
to fulfill all His promises. And faith believes, the faith
that God gives, believes that He has the power to overcome
our weaknesses. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Listen to Paul in Philippians 4. I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me. In myself, Christ said, without
me you can do nothing. But I'm telling you, with Jesus
Christ, I can do anything. I mean absolutely anything. Through Jesus Christ, I can accomplish. I believe this. If it's His will,
I can accomplish anything, and there's not one thing that can
stop me. Nothing. Nothing. Now, faith may not always be
strong, like Sarah up there laughing. It may not always be strong,
giving glory to God, but it's still faith. Even weak faith
is saving faith, you know that? If it's faith, even if it's weak
faith, it's saving faith. Now, you don't want to write
home about it, but it's still saving faith. It's not to be
commended. Weak faith is not commendable,
but it's still faith. It's still faith. Sixthly, faith
triumphs over human affection. By faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, oh boy, we can't even... Let's not just read this and
just go right on by it. God told him to put his son on
that altar, butcher him up, burn him up, and then God was going
to raise him. But he had to do it first. Abraham
believed in his heart. That's what he was going to do.
But he also believed that God was able to raise him up because
God gave him a promise. See? He held to that promise.
He held to that promise that through Isaac, his seed would
be called. God gave me that promise so he
has to raise him up. And it says that he received
him in a like figure. But anyway, by faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son. By faith we love Christ, we love
Christ above our dearest loved ones on earth. Christ did not teach. Now listen,
Jesus Christ did not teach that we are not to love our families.
He taught we are not to love them more than Himself. We are, and I want you to get
this, we are to love them as much as we love Christ. We are
to love one another as much as we love Christ, but not more.
Not more. Because that leads to idolatry.
That will lead to idolatry. But I tell you what, our Lord
is not jealous of me and you loving one another as ourselves.
Or loving one another as much as we love Him. By faith we forsake all for Christ. You know the best thing you can
do for your family? You know what the best thing
you can do for your family is? It is to believe God and follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to believe God. Take your
family and sit them under the gospel. When I heard the gospel, I'm
not an example. I'm not an example here. You
know, Henry told us in the preacher school one time, he said, don't
use yourself and your family as examples. And I understand
why, you know. But this is something I experienced
when I heard the gospel. Me and Vicki heard the gospel.
We packed our bags and we moved where the gospel was at. We moved
there so we could be right there where the gospel was. Then in the seventh place, faith
triumphs over riches and wealth. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
You know, there's nothing more ensnaring than riches. You know
what Moses had access to? He had access not just to the name, I'm sure that he was considered
a son of Pharaoh, his daughter adopted him, but Pharaoh just
took him right in. He had access to the riches of
Egypt? Riches are ensnaring now. There's
nothing more ensnaring than riches. I think as Charles Spurgeon said,
where one falls by poverty, a thousand will fall by riches. Turn over
to Luke. Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. In verse 18 of Luke 18, And a certain
ruler asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is
God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor
thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I
kept from my youth up. Well, the Lord knows the heart,
doesn't He? He said, to look on a woman to lust after her
is adultery. You think He didn't do that, young man? To hate your brother without
a cause, He said, is murder. He said, all these have I kept
from my youth up. And the Lord's going to expose,
you know what He's going to expose? Covetousness. He's going to expose
the covetousness of his heart. Now, when Jesus heard these things,
He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing. Sell all that
thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. And when he heard
this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when
Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, how hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. It's easier for
a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
to the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said,
who then can be saved? He said, the things which are
impossible with men are possible with God. But faith enables us
to overcome riches and wealth. It enables us to let this world
go. to let it go. It is through faith we see the
true riches that are in Jesus Christ. He is the pearl of great
price. He's the treasure. He's the treasure. And where your treasure is, your
heart is. And then faith, last of all,
faith triumphs over fear. By faith Moses forsook Egypt,
not fearing the wrath of the king. For he endured, as seen him who
is invisible. By faith Moses, I tell you what
he saw, he saw the king of kings. By faith, he was able to see
the King of kings and Lord of lords. And he realized and he
understood that Pharaoh was nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard.
Nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard. He knew that Pharaoh could not
touch him without the Lord allowing it. He knew that. He knew it. By faith, he left Egypt. And
listen, he didn't just physically leave Egypt. His heart left it,
gave it up, gone. Remember Lot's wife? She looked
back. Her heart never left that place.
Her heart was still back in that place. And she looked back and
God turned her to a pillar of salt. When Moses left Egypt,
Moses left Egypt. And he went after God. He went
after Him. It is through faith that we learn
to fear God above all others. Above all others. It is written
in Psalm 56, What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. I'm not going to go back to Egypt
for help. I'm going to go before the Lord. I'm just going to lay
myself before Him, cast all my care upon Him. He's going to
take care of me. He's going to take care of you.
He's promised to do so. Cast all your cares upon Him,
for He careth for you." Now, He'll answer your prayer in His
time, in His way. I've learned one thing about
prayer. It ends up God bringing me around to His will. Not me
getting God to do my will. It's God bringing me around to
His will and submitting to it. Now, in closing, turn over to
1 John 5. 1 John 5, verse 4 and 5. For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world? But he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. And don't you ever leave that.
Don't ever get past that. Don't ever get past that law.
That's it. That's what we live by and die
by.