TITLE: The Hall of Faith

2. TITLE: The Hall of Faith TEXT: Hebrews 11:8-22 THEME The believer’s faith should move him to obedience and patience.

4. How many times have you heard the phrase, “It’s okay as long as he/she is happy?”

6. Leo Rosten, "Unhappiness Is Not a Disease” “As recently as 30 years ago, no one questioned your right to be unhappy. Happiness was considered a blessing, not a guarantee. You were permitted to suffer pain, or fall into moods, or seek solitude without being analyzed, interpreted and discussed.”

7. Christopher Lasch, "The Culture of Narcissism” “The narcissist has no interest in the future because, in part, he has so little interest in past. He finds it difficult to internalize happy associations or to create a store of loving memories with which to face the latter part of his life, which under the best of conditions always brings sadness and pain.”

8. Christopher Lasch, "The Culture of Narcissism” “To live for the moment is the prevailing passion- to live for yourself, not for your predecessors or posterity. We are fast losing the sense of historical continuity, the sense of belonging to a succession of generations originating in the past and stretching into the future….”

9. Christopher Lasch, "The Culture of Narcissism” “Sense there is no future it makes sense only to live for the moment, to fix our eyes on our private performance, to become connoisseurs of our own decadence…”

11. How can your faith help you endure hardship?

12. I. It enables you to be obedient when uncertain of the outcome. (8-12)

13. Hebrews 11:8-22 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God

14. Hebrews 11:8-22 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

15. I. It enables you to be obedient when uncertain of the outcome. (8-12) A. Abraham trusted God to leave even when he did not know where he was going.

16. I. It enables you to be obedient when uncertain of the outcome. (8-12) A. Abraham trusted God to leave even when he did not know where he was going. B. Abraham waited patiently for God to give him direction.

17. I. It enables you to be obedient when uncertain of the outcome. (8-12) A. Abraham trusted God to leave even when he did not know where he was going. B. Abraham waited patiently for God to give him direction. C. Abraham believed God could do the impossible.

19. Daniel Gilbert -Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index "…North Americans are smiling less and worrying more than they were a year ago, that happiness is down and sadness is up, that we are getting less sleep and smoking more cigarettes, that depression is on the rise."

20. Daniel Gilbert -Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index "An uncertain future leaves us stranded in an unhappy present with nothing to do but wait … . Our national gloom is real enough, but it isn't a matter of insufficient funds. It's a matter of insufficient certainty."

22. How can your faith help you endure hardship?

23. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16)

24. Hebrews 11:13-16 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own

25. Hebrews 11:13-16 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

26. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) They were still living by faith at death They did not receive the things promised when they died yet it says,

27. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) They were still living by faith at death They did not receive the things promised when they died yet it says, 1. they had seen them.

28. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) They were still living by faith at death They did not receive the things promised when they died yet it says, 1. they had seen them. 2. they welcomed them

29. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) They were still living by faith at death They did not receive the things promised when they died yet it says, 1. they had seen them. 2. they welcomed them 3. they acknowledged them but,

30. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) They were still living by faith at death They did not receive the things promised when they died yet it says, 1. they had seen them. 2. they welcomed them 3. they acknowledged them but, 4. the earth could not fulfill them.

31. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) A. They were still living by faith at death B. They saw themselves as strangers on this earth.

32. Phil 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

33. I Peter 2:9-11 “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. “

34. I Peter 2:9-11 “10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”

35. II. It enables you to wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled. (13-16) A. They were still living by faith at death B. They saw themselves as strangers on this earth. C. They focused on a better future- faith is forward looking

37. How can your faith help you endure hardship?

38. III. It enables you to make great sacrifices knowing that God will compensate. (17-22)

39. Hebrews 11:17-22 17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

40. Hebrews 11:17-22 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.

41. III. It enables you to make great sacrifices knowing that God will compensate. (17-22) A. God works through those who are wholly surrendered to Him.

42. III. It enables you to make great sacrifices knowing that God will compensate. (17-22) A. God works through those who are wholly surrendered to Him. B. Faith trust that God can act against the natural order of things.

43. III. It enables you to make great sacrifices knowing that God will compensate. (17-22) A. God works through those who are wholly surrendered to Him. B. Faith trust that God can act against the natural order of things. C. Faith does not try to second guess God will.

44. John Bishop, “God Distorted” “What is true for the body is true for the soul. Spiritually speaking, sometimes we also hit the wall. We feel like an elephant has jumped on our back. We hit that can't-do-this spiritual fatigue. Life is an endurance race, in which we all will at some point "hit the wall" and want to quit.”

46. APPLICATION 1. Trust and obey God even when you are not certain of the outcome.

47. APPLICATION 1. Trust and obey God even when you are not certain of the outcome. 2. Don’t expect instant gratification or happiness. We can learn some of our best lessons in life as we wait patiently for God’s intervention.

48. APPLICATION 1. Trust and obey God even when you are not certain of the outcome. 2. Don’t expect instant gratification or happiness. We can learn some of our best lessons in life as we wait patiently for God’s intervention. 3. Be willing to make sacrifices and trust that God can do what might seem impossible to us. Even if it means waiting for our live after death.

49. Romans 8:18 “18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

50. APPLICATION 4. Understand that God is not trying to make you an unhappy, disillusioned person. He is instead trying to teach you character, which produces hope and joy. The irony of life is this- when our main heart’s desire is to do the will of God then we know joy and happiness often. If our main heart’s desire is happiness we will seldom find it.