Hiding in caves God has
something better in mind.
Hebrews 11:1-3
4/9/06 AM
Pastor Brad Dyrness
Sparks Nazarene Church
To be a Christian requires faith - in spite of hard times.
Hebrews Heroes of the faith…
18 different people listed plus the prophets… Yet another Hero!
In Verses 25, 29, & 30 the people…
What is faith: Being sure of what we hope for even though we can’t see it with our eyes.
Faith is not being afraid to put things to the test.
Faith accepts the promise that gives birth to hope.
Faith asserts that the world and the universe are a creator’s handiwork, not a product of coincidental cosmic forces.
Science has so verified faith’s view of the world and universe that if faith did not exist, it would have to be invented.
The Hebrews author begins his discourse into a faith filled believer with how we look at and what we believe about the universe.
The word the author uses is: aheeon Not Cosmos meaning just the literal globe but aheeon, all of time!
To deny creation, by the God of the Bible …is to deny God’s participation in our lives NOW.
None of them received what had been promised.
Jesus said it is finished - not that suffering or hard times were finished but that the promise is complete.
We have what the Faith Heroes did not! Completed Promise
So…
1. Look at your circumstances through the eyes of Faith in a God who has all the power of the universe. vs 1-3
2. Realize that others just like you have had hard times and came out from their caves
3. Grab a hold of the Promise:
The chance to have your sins paid for
The living, empowering Holy Spirit walking with you through your circumstances.
They missed the peace offered to the world through the PROMISE of God.
Hiding in caves? God has something better than that in mind for Jerusalem and for us!
By faith, hold on to the promise of a clean slate and the ever present Holy Spirit within you even when you feel like hiding in a cave.