BOOK OF HEBREWS
FAITH, PART TWO
DR. JIM DIXON
NOVEMBER 25, 1984
HEBREWS 11:17-40
It was in the middle of the night shortly after 3:00 AM. It was two thousand years ago. It was on a lake called Gennesaret, sometimes called the sea of Tiberius, sometimes called the Sea of Galilee. Twelve men were in a boat. There was a great storm. The wind was against them, and they were afraid. Suddenly through the night in the midst of the storm and upon the waves, they saw a person walking upon the water. It was our Lord Jesus Christ. But they did not recognize him, and they were terrified, but Jesus said, fear not. It is I. When they saw that it was the Lord Jesus Christ, their fears subsided, and they were filled with confidence. So much confidence that Peter said, “Lord, bid me come to you across the water.” And Jesus simply said, “come in faith, in confidence.” Peter stepped out of the boat, and he began to walk towards the Lord.
But as he saw the waves and as he saw the wind and as he saw the storm, he began to doubt and he began to fear and he began to sink and he cried out, master save me. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus reached down and grabbed him and said, why did you doubt? Oh ye of little faith? Moments later, they were in the boat and the Bible says there was a great calm and the disciples fell down before the Lord and they worshiped him and they said, truly, you are the Son of God. Many miracles, one of many miracles performed by our Lord Jesus Christ from this miracle. We see that doubt produces fear, but faith produces confidence. God wants us to be a confident people as we go through the storms of light. He wants us to be a people of faith.
He wants us to be a people of confidence. And from the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews, we learn that in faith, God wants us to be confident of two things, and these are my two teachings I feel led to share this morning. First of all, faith is confident of protection in this world, faith is confident of God’s protection in your life and in my life. Why did Noah build an ark for the saving of his household? Why did Abraham leave the security of Ur of the Chaldees and sojourn in a land of promise? Why did the parents of Moses defy the edict of the king and hide their child in the river Nile? Why did Moses defy the Pharaoh of all Egypt? Why did Moses lead more than one million Jews in a mass exodus through a barren wilderness? Why did Gideon with an army of only three hundred men rise up in battle the great forces of the Midianites?
Why did Barak, the commander of Israel’s armies recruit a relatively few men from the tribes of Naftali and Zeum and go to war with the great chariot armies of the Canaanites? Why did David no more than a shepherd boy challenge the Philistine champion the giant Goliath to a battle under death? All of these men did what they did because in faith, they were confident of God’s protection. Are you confident of God’s protection in your life? I know that most of you have heard of the crusades and the period of the crusaders. The crusades took place in the 12th and 13th centuries. Most of the crusaders were Western Europeans. They desired to conquer the Muslim world and they wanted to repossess the holy land and the holy land sights for Christian dumb. Now obviously most of the crusaders were Christians, but many of them were not.
Some were warmongers. Some simply sought political, social and economic advantage. But in the 12th century, the crusaders conquered the holy land and repossessed the holy land sights for the Christian world, and then the crusaders begin to build castles and fortresses around their kingdom to protect the kingdom of the crusaders and of all the castles and of all the fortresses they built. The greatest fortress was a fortress called the Krak des Chevaliers. It was built in Syria in the Syrian desert high up on a mountain overlooking the Damascus road. It was built to protect the holy land sites from any invading Muslim armies from the north. It was built by the Knights of St. John and by the Christian count at Tripoli. Now, most every castle has a fortress wall surrounding it, but the Krak des Chevaliers had two fortress walls surrounding it, and the outer wall was actually eighty feet thick.
There was a moat between the two walls. There was a road which wound from the floor of the desert up to the top of the mountain where the castle was that road that zigzagged back and forth, and any invading army would have to go up that road and they would have to cross the line of fire that came from the castle defenders. But even if they reached the fortress walls it would avail them nothing, for the walls were too high to climb. They were too deep to burrow under. They were too thick to penetrate. The castle was imposing. It was impregnable and it dominated the desert. Inside the castle, inside the fortress, there were massive storage bins with food and water sufficient to feed a crusader garrison of 2,000 men for more than one year’s time, plenty of time for reinforcement to arrive from throughout the crusader world.
But in the 13th century, a Muslim conqueror named the Sultan Baibars, which means “the panther” begn to conquer much of the crusader world. The Sultan Baibars conquered the crusader fortresses at Caesarea and at Jafa. He conquered the crusader stronghold at Nazareth and soon Jerusalem fell and the castle, the fortress, the Krak des Chevaliers became the last bastion of the crusader kingdom. It was in the year 1271 that the Muslim conquered it. the Sultan Baibars arrived with a massive Egyptian army at the base of that fortress mountain of the Krak des Chevaliers for days, for weeks, for months, he tried through direct assault to conquer that fortress castle, but he could not. And soon the Sultan realized there was no way he was going to defeat such a fortress castle. And so he decided to try deceit, and he forged a letter, and he sent the letter by carrier pigeon inside the castle walls.
The letter claimed to be from the crusader grand masters at Tripoli, and the letter directed the crusader garrison inside the castle to lay down their arms because the kingdom of the crusaders had fallen. Historians do not understand why, but for some reason the garrison of crusaders inside that castle believed that letter. They opened the castle gates; they laid down their arms and the crusader kingdom fell. The holy land sights were repossessed by the Muslim world. The fall of the Crusader kingdom had very little to do with the kingdom of Christ. The kingdom of Christ continued to grow in that century and in all the centuries that followed because Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Today we see one thousand million people on this planet that believe in Jesus Christ.
Krak des Chevaliers still dominates the desert. It is still imposing. It is still impregnable. It is remarkably preserved, and it is a reminder not only that the crusader kingdom fell, but a reminder that the kingdom of Christ was never meant to be defended or protected by earthly military power. The kingdom of Christ was never meant to be protected or defended by any power on this earth. There is not a fortress. There is not a castle. There is not a power on this earth that is able to protect you, not one. We live in a fear-riddled society and most people want to build a fortress around them if any way they could. Twenty-five million people according to crime, control, digest, carry guns or other weapons upon their person. In the United States of America, the United States military, according to the small arms inventory of the United States, armed forces has 4.8 million guns including rifles and handguns.
4.8 million. That sounds like a large number, but it pales when compared to the number of guns in the private sector. American citizens owned thirty-five million rifles, thirty-one million shotguns, and twenty-four million handguns. And there are millions of additional guns and arms that have never been registered. Half of the homes in the United States of America contain a gun. I would never speak against the right of American citizens to bear arms. But you see, as Christians above all other people, we should acknowledge and recognize that no earthly power is capable of protecting us or our family. A gun cannot protect us. A gun cannot protect our children from the forces of this fallen world, it is Jesus who said, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. A gun cannot protect our financial future and our financial solidarity. It is the Lord Jesus who said, seek first my kingdom and I will give you everything you need.
A gun cannot protect our soul and our spirit. It was Jesus who said, I am the good shepherd. And the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my sheep, they hear my voice, they follow me, and I give them eternal life. No one is able to snatch them out of my hand. A gun cannot protect your body from decay from disease. It is Jesus who said, I am the resurrection and the life he believes in me. Though he die yet shall he lived. And he who lives and believes in me will never truly die. If you are a Christian, then your faith must be this, that Jesus Christ is your protector. Couple of months ago I read a story, an amazing story of a family, a man and his wife and their little one year old daughter. They were just returning from a Bible study group.
They were Christians, they were returning to their country home. It was a very old home, and they were returning in the midst of a snowstorm. They made it through the storm back to the safety of their home. And there they went to bed that night and they put the little one year old girl in her room and the mom and dad went to sleep in the middle of the night. As the snow was falling, a burglar came to that house. He made his way through the front door, and he began to wander around the house looking for something to steal. But somehow, he woke up the little one-year-old girl and she began to cry. He was afraid that the one old girl would wake the parents. So he took the little girl, the burglar did, and he took the girl outside and put her out on the front porch in the snow thinking the parents would not be able to hear the little girl out there.
And then he went back in the house, but the little girl began to cry out in the snow and the mother heard the muffle sound and it woke her, and she woke up her husband and the two of them went into the little girl’s room. They did not find her there, so they went out on the, they began to follow the noise. The sound, and they went out on the porch and there they found their little girl and they picked her up and held her in their arms outside the house. And suddenly all the snow that had accumulated on the house made the roof collapse and the roof of the house came crashing to the ground and the burglar died and the family was spared. Truly an incredible story. The world does not know what to do with a story like that and the newspapers do not. Sounds like coincidence or luck.
But you see, in faith, I honestly believe God is the protector of his people. To every Christian God says, fear not, I am with you. Be not dismayed. I am your God. I will uphold you and I will strengthen you with my victorious right hand. One of my favorite hymns is the hymn that was written by Martin Luther the reformer. When in the midst of great trials and impending death, Martin Luther wrote these words, “A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing our helper, he amids the flood of mortal ills prevailing for still our ancient fall. Deaths seek to work us. His craft and power are great. An arm with cruel hate on earth is not his equal. It is we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing we are not the right man on our side. The man of God’s own choosing Do we ask who that may be. Christ Jesus. It is he, Lord Sabbath, his name from age to age, the same, and he must win the battle.”
If you have faith, you are confident of that, that he will win the battle in your life. He will preserve your life on this earth until your time is through and he will bless you and yours. Faith is confident of God’s protection in his life. Now. Secondly and finally, we have this teaching from this passage, even as faith is confident of protection in this world. So faith is confidence of perfection in the world to come. Faith longs to be made perfect and faith believes that one day through Christ, we shall indeed be made perfect. The author of Hebrew says that Abraham Sojourned in the land of promise dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob airs with him of the same promise because he looked forward to the city, which is to come whose builder and maker is God. He looked forward to a better country, a heavenly one, and therefore God was not ashamed to be called his God.
The author of Hebrews tells us that Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse, suffered for the Christ greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt. For he looked forward to his eternal reward and that reward is perfection. The author of Hebrews says, all of these were well attested for their faith, but did not receive what was promised. Since God foresaw something better for us than apart from us, they should not be made perfect. The goal of the saints in every generation has been this to be made perfect and that goal is only accomplished through Jesus Christ.
I know that most of you have heard probably all of you of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Many of you have been there, many of you have seen it. Barb and I saw St. Peter’s Basilica in 1972. We were very impressed. The Basilica, St. Peter was the dream of Pope Nicholas II and the 15th century. It was in the year 1,445 that Pope Nicholas the fifth first began to dream of building a perfect cathedral, a cathedral that would become a standard by which all other all the other cathedrals of the world would be judged. And he wanted to build that cathedral in honor of the apostle Peter, and he wanted to build it over the burial site of Peter. There was only one problem. There was already a church there on that site that had been constructed by Constantine in the third century. Pope Nicholas II died his dream never reaching fruition.
But in the year 1505, Pope Julius II to try decided to take that dream of a perfect cathedral and make it a reality. And so he hired a famous architect whose name was Menti and Menti used 2,500 men to blow down the old church of Constantine and brash Menti began to build the basilica of St. Peter, but to build a perfect cathedral would require more time than his granted to any one human life. Menti died. Pope Julius II died in the work continued. Pope Leo the 10th decided to take up the work and he hired another architect named Raphael. Raphael built the great columns that may be seen at St. Peter’s Basilica today, but Raphael died and Pope Leo the 10th died. The work continued. Pope Clement the seventh took up the work and he hired another architect named Peruzzi. Peruzzi gave all the years of his life to building that perfect cathedral.
But then Peruzzi died. Pope Plymouth II died. Pope Paul III took up the work. He hired sang Gallo to build as his architect, but after a few years, he replaced Gallo with Michelangelo. The great Florentine was 72 years old at that time, and he had long since completed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. And it was Michelangelo who designed the great dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral. But Pope Paul III died. Pope Paul IV took his place. He kept Michelangelo as the architect, but ultimately even the great Michelangelo died and Pope Paul the fourth died, Pope Pius the fifth and Pope Gregory VII continued the work trying to build a perfect cathedral, but the sum of their lives was not enough to complete a perfect cathedral. So Pope six as the fifth, took up the work and he hired Fontana. And it was Fontana who was the architect who completed the dome that was designed by Michelangelo.
It was Fontana who completed the fifteen hall and it was Fontana who built the Vatican library, but Fontana died and Pope six as the fifth died in the year 1700. Pope Clementi was the first to celebrate mass inside of St. Peter’s Cathedral, but the cathedral was not nearly done and Pope Urban VII hired Bernini as his architect. It is the hand of Bernini that is most seen on St. Peter’s Basilica. The Baroque architecture for which the cathedral is famous comes from Bernini’s hand. The bronze canopy over the papa altar was from Bernini, the Bell Tower built by Bernini, but Bernini died. Pope Urban II died and the work continued. It was not until the year 1,784 when the sacristy was done that the cathedral was finished 338 years after Pope Nicholas, the fifth first dreamed of building a perfect cathedral, 338 years to build a cathedral nearly perfect 338 years to build a cathedral in the shape of a cross.
Built over the alleged burial side of the apostle Peter, who was crucified upside down in the second half of the first century by the emperor Nero, 338 years to build a cathedral, seven hundred feet long, twice as long as a football field, more than it 450 feet wide. With the great dome of Michelangelo rising more than four hundred feet from the marble floor below. If it took 338 years to build a near perfect building, how long would it take to build a perfect human light? How long would it take to make you perfect? All the people decrees, decrees of history could not do that. All the architects who have ever lived, if they were granted all the time of eternity itself, could not build one single perfect human life. Most of us long for perfection. We would like to be perfect physically, not only informed, but we would like to be rid of these bodies which are subject to decay and death.
We would like a body which is immortal and indestructible. Most of us would like to be perfect mentally. Physiological psychologists tell us that the average human being only uses 5% of the five to 10% of the mind, five to 10% of the brain. The Bible says that our minds are subjected to futility. If you are over 30 years of age, then you are losing 100,000 brain cells a day, and most of us cannot afford to lose that. Most of us would like to be perfect spiritually. We would like to be without sin. We would like to overcome temptation. We would like to live a life perfectly conformed to the will of the living God. We long for perfection. Bob and I would like to be perfect ministers. We have a long ways to go. I read a description of a perfect minister a few weeks ago. I said, A perfect minister preaches 20 minutes and sits down. I have already blown that a perfect minister condemns sin but offends no one. A perfect minister is 30 years old and has been preaching for 35 years.
A perfect minister laughs all the time and takes his job seriously, has a burning desire to work with youth and joyfully spends all of his time with senior citizens, makes a hundred dollars a week and gives $20,000 a year to the cause of the kingdom of Christ. A perfect minister makes fifteen hospital calls and home visits a day, is constantly evangelizing and is never out of his office. A perfect minister. Now obviously we are a long ways from being perfect. We make too much money to be perfect, but you know, it does not bother us that much. We long to be perfect, but we recognize that there is not a perfect person in this whole room and there is not a perfect person in the world. The Bible said all like sheep have gone astray. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God before God. Our righteousness is as filthy rags before a holy God. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us.
There is one person who can make us perfect, and that person is Jesus Christ. He is the great architect of the universe, and he alone can build a perfect human life. When you give your life to him as Lord and a savior, and that very moment your sin is forgiven, it is covered. In that very moment, you receive Christ as Lord. His sacrifice atone for your sins, and you are forgiven forever. In that very moment, you are judged perfect because God begins to view you through the perfection of the Son of God. Only Jesus Christ can offers that. Now, of course we still sin. We look forward to the day when we will be without sin. But in this world, we still sin. And yet Christ has such power that even now if we would let him, he can begin to make us more perfect, and he can help us overcome sin.
That is why he has given us the Holy Spirit, that his spirit might transform us as we seek obedience. That is why he has given us the Bible, that we might study it to show ourselves approved and that we might become perfect and complete equipped for every good word. That’s why he has given us This church, or his gifts were that some should be apostles, some evangelists, some prophets, some pastors, some teachers for the work of the ministry, for the equipping of the saints, for the building up of the kingdom of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. If you are a Christian, you long to be like Jesus Christ.
If you have faith, you are confident that one day he will make that reality, you will receive a perfect physical body, indestructible, no longer subject to decay fit for the heavens. Your mind will be restored to fullness, and you will be able to do what now you cannot fathom or imagine, and your spirits will be made perfect, and you will be without sin, and you will perfectly follow the will of the living God for all eternity. John the apostle says, beloved, we are children of God. Now, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but this way we know when he appears we shall be like him, or we shall see him as he is. Let us pray.