Biblical Concept of Faith (18) (heb 1)

[Voiceover] Churchly fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. Brother Will and Sister Godly will show. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Prayer] Our Father, we are grateful unto you. We thank you for your love, your mercy, your goodness, and your grace. We thank you for all who you are and all that you are to us. Thank you, our Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God, in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Father, unto you we gather again this evening to reflect on scriptures. Lord, we pray that as we gather, we who are here physically, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, and our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr—Lord, we pray you will meet with us all in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord our God, the Bible says unto you shall the gathering of your people be. And you have not asked the house of Jacob to seek you in vain. Lord, as we come to look into scriptures and to learn your word, let your spirit work within us. Lord, meet with each and every one of us at the very point where we need you most in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [Speaker 1] We have come a long way under this study. We are now in episode 18 of "Biblical Concept of Faith." For individuals who may just be joining us today, we want to encourage you, if today is your first time connecting with us either on Mixlr or on Telegram, please try to listen to the earlier episodes of this series. Although the reality is that each of the episodes stands alone and addresses different things, collectively they come together to make one whole thing about our faith. Last week, we were looking at our fathers in the wilderness as an example for us. We concluded on two major things. The first one about our faith is that you must realize that when God called you, God is actually calling you unto something. God doesn't call anybody in vain. Never. When God is calling you, normally there is an expectation. God wants to take you somewhere. Normally there is this end that God has in mind. We saw that when God called our fathers, it was God who said, "I saw their affliction, I have come down to deliver you, I will take you to a land flowing with milk and honey." So when God came to them, God also had in mind to bring them into something. Anytime God is focusing on your life—like I tell people—if God wants to make use of you in 15 years' time, God will start focusing on you today. Even though what God wants to use you for will come out clearly in 15 years' time, God will start focusing on you. God will start working on your life and start attending to you because there is something God wants to do. So we should have a clear understanding that our call by God is a call unto something. And then number two, we made it very clear that even though our fathers were overthrown in the wilderness, only Joshua and Caleb eventually got to the promised land. The truth is that it is not as if God could not take them there. The reality, which we saw last week in 1 Peter 1, was that we are preserved by the power of God through faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Even though we are kept by God's power, the truth is it is as we express faith in God. And what is faith? Faith is simply acting on what God has said. God said something, and you are acting on it. That is faith. Faith is not how you feel. Faith is not what you think. Faith is not what you want. Faith is acting on what God said. We saw that our fathers could not get to the ultimate thing because of their lack of faith. And then we looked at 1 Corinthians 10:1–10, and we saw very clearly there that it is important for us to see that whatsoever happened to our fathers, it happened to them as an example so that we don't do what they did. So today, we want to move on to the book of Hebrews, "Biblical Concept of Faith." The book of Hebrews is like 1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter of love; the central thing in Hebrews is faith. We want to consider this book and bring out some salient lessons for ourselves. Let's take our reading from Hebrews 1. Now in talking about our faith, don't forget our focus is the Biblical Concept of Faith. What exactly is the Bible referring to as faith? How do we express this faith? What is the content? What is the expression? What is the basis of this faith? Hebrews 1:1–14 says: "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to our fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You'? And again: 'I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son'? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.' And of the angels He says: 'Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.' But to the Son He says: 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.' And: 'You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.' But to which of the angels has He ever said: 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool'? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" I took time to read through that chapter. What do you notice the Bible is establishing in Hebrews 1? What is the heart of Hebrews 1? The heart of Hebrews 1 is that we need to have a clear understanding that the person through whom God is speaking to us now is not the same person through whom God spoke to our fathers. God spoke to our fathers through the prophets, mediated by angels. Now he's trying to make us see something very clear. The person that is the author and the finisher of our faith is greater than the prophets. He's greater than the angels. The people that were the custodians in the Old Testament, they were people that were created by the person through whom God authored your faith. The Bible wants you to understand something. One major challenge believers are having today is that we are not realizing that faith cannot have full expression until you have a clear understanding of the person that you have come to deal with. I'll give you a good example so that you can understand it. If you are in a gathering and somebody walks by you and says, "Oh hello, good afternoon. You are in for this program. What's your name?" You say your name is Peter Paul. He says, "Okay, meet me tomorrow. I will be giving you two million dollars for you to establish a business." When the person said that, you say, "Okay, thank you, sir." You don't really know the person who made that statement. You left. Then in another company of those who are in the program, somebody was speaking about him and said, "Wow, that's the President of US. That's Donald Trump." What will happen to your faith in the dollars? Your faith will increase. Why? Because you now know the person who spoke to you. It is difficult to express faith in a God you don't know. The reason why when you read the word of God, you cannot really rely on the word, and it is difficult to trust God's word, the root of your problem is that you don't know the person behind the word. Immediately you discover that—immediately you were told that is Donald Trump—"Ah, I've made it! Donald Trump! I'm very sure!" In fact, if you were thinking not to go before, you just want the day to come so that you can go and meet that person. You have all expectation that the person cannot fail because you realize that the person has the capacity to do what he has said he would do. When the Bible says trust in the Lord with all your heart, and blessed is the man who trusts in God—trust in God doesn't just happen. What makes it happen is that there's an encounter with the God. If you don't know him, you cannot trust him. So the book of Hebrews begins with an expression that listen: I don't know which background you are coming from or what you understand about your faith, but the first thing I want to announce to you is that the author and the finisher of your faith is not like the prophets. Number two, he is not even in the same category as angels. You should not see him in the light of prophets or in the light of angels. If you talk about angelic visitation, there's a way you might think, "Ah, if I can just encounter angels." But the person who authored your faith is greater. You need to have a clear understanding about him. Number one is that he's the express image of God. And not just that, look at verse 3. The Bible says: "who being the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power." I want to read that to you in the Amplified version: "He is the sole expression of the glory of God, the light-beam and the out-ray or radiance of the divine, and He is the perfect imprint and the very image of God's nature, upholding, maintaining, guiding, propelling the universe by His mighty word of power." What is that telling you about him? The universe—everything together—is maintained, sustained, propelled, and guided by the word of His power. When you look at the universe, when you look at tomorrow, when you look at your future, sometimes you wonder how everything will go. How will my life look? How will my end be? What will happen to my life? But the Bible says that the person who authored your faith is the person who is sustaining the universe, propelling the universe, guiding the universe, and determining how the universe will turn. In other words, the person who authored your faith and the person who is finishing your faith is the same person who determines where everything is going in life. He is maintaining it, propelling it, guiding it, and making sure it goes the right way by the word of His power. That same person is the author and finisher of your faith. The reason why he's trying to make you see this is because you discover that by the time it gets to chapter 11, it defines faith and talks about the heroes of faith in chapter 10. I want to build on the background before I come to that chapter. The book of Hebrews opens with an understanding that nobody can truly express faith in a God they don't know. So Hebrews 1, Hebrews 2, and Hebrews 3 is trying to express who this God is. It's trying to express who the author of your faith is and what the person is. When you move to chapter 2—and we will not be taking every verse of the chapter—what did he say in chapter 2:1? He says: "Therefore we must give a more earnest heed to the things that we have heard, lest we drift away." Why? Because the things that you have heard did not come from prophets or from angels. The things about your salvation came from the person who is upholding, maintaining, and propelling the universe by the word of His power. Everything about our faith is mediated by Jesus. He's trying to make you understand: look, if there's a way you have been living your life or carrying your life, stop carrying it anyhow. Because the person you have to deal with is God Himself. That's why he said he is the express image of God's person. You know what that means? It means that ever before Jesus came, God was speaking to us through people, through something. But in Jesus, God was not speaking *through* Jesus; God was speaking *in* Jesus. Do you get the difference? Jesus was not a medium through whom God was speaking. Jesus is God Himself speaking to you. God did not speak through Jesus; God spoke in Jesus. That's why he said whoever has seen me has seen the Father. If you have seen me, then you have seen the Father. He is the express image of God's person. So the Bible says we need to give a more earnest heed and become determined, diligent, and serious because this person is greater than anything; he is God Himself. Now, why? Verse 2 says: "For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him." If the words that were spoken through angels proved steadfast—the things the prophets said—maybe you have not taken time to study the prophets very well. If you properly study the prophets, you'll see what the Bible says: God spoke to us through the prophets. Sometimes people don't appreciate these things because they have not taken time to study the prophets. But when the prophets come and are speaking by the word of the Lord, I'll give you an example: a prophet told another prophet to smite him by the word of the Lord. He said, "Look, do something to wound me." That one said, "Ah, why will I wound you?" He refused to wound that prophet. Immediately he said, "Because you did not do it," he pronounced punishment that came upon that person immediately because he was speaking by the word of the Lord. Do you remember the prophet that went to Jeroboam? He cried, "Oh altar, oh altar, a child will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. He's going to do this." And then the king stretched forth his hand to do something. What happened to his hand? The hand just remained like that. He could not withdraw the hand again. What he's trying to make you see is that when the prophets stand to speak—look at Elijah for instance. A soldier went to him with his 50 men. "Man of God, I'm asked to tell you to come down." He said, "Okay, if I'm actually a man of God, let fire consume you and your 50." What happened immediately? Fire consumed him and his 50. They sent another one again. You saw what happened to the first one, but he also went there: "Man of God, I've been asked to bring you. Come down." He said, "If I'm a man of God, let fire consume you," and fire consumed that one. Then the third one came: "Man of God, please have mercy on me and my 50. You know it is the king that sent us to go and bring you." Then the spirit of God told Elijah to follow him. I'm trying to make you see the word spoken by the prophets. When the prophets speak by God, people who resist their word receive a just recompense. They receive judgment. Remember when Elijah entered the house of the widow at Zarephath? He said she should give him food. The widow said, "Ah, food! What we are having is the last thing in the house." And he said, "Look, by the word of God, that thing will not cease." Did it cease? No. It did not. All of these people do not stand in the category of Jesus. They don't. In those ones, God was just using a medium to talk. But in Jesus—I don't know how you are looking at your faith—many people have not been able to enter into the fullness of the New Creation realities. What Jesus made available for us in salvation, many people have not entered into it. They have not been able to enter because they do not understand the person who is speaking. They could not trust in Jesus and take him by his word. Taking Jesus by his word, holding to that which the Lord said, and acting on it is something today which we have downplayed. Sometimes we say, "But you know the Bible says such and such... but that's Bible. Let's talk reality." Sometimes when Christians talk, the way they speak, you will know that they don't have a clear and proper understanding of this salvation that they are inside. They don't have a clear-cut understanding of the person who spoke or the person who authored their faith. So to give a more earnest heed to the things of the gospel becomes a very difficult thing for them. I was speaking to somebody for instance, and I said, "It is unfortunate that you are restless. You are restless not because of what somebody or something did to you. You are restless because of your own irresponsibility." He said, "No, I know what I'm saying." I said, "No, look at the word of Jesus. He said, 'Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me and you will find rest for your soul.'" I said if you don't find rest in your soul, the problem is not about anything or anybody. It's about you not taking the yoke of Jesus. Anybody who takes the yoke of Jesus and learns Jesus will find rest for his soul. Rest is in the yoke of Jesus and in learning Jesus. Taking the words of the person who spoke, believing what has been said, and acting on what was said—believers are having it so difficult today because they are not having a clear understanding that you must beg God, "Lord, that I may know you." If you don't know the Lord, you cannot trust a Lord you don't know. You see, you cannot trust who you don't know. One thing we must beg God—the book of faith opens with an introduction of the person who spoke. It is knowing the person who spoke that can make you able to give a more earnest heed to that which was spoken. And so it becomes very crucial. Look at Ephesians 1:15–17, the apostolic prayer: "Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the Lord God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God." The spirit of wisdom and revelation in what? In the knowledge of God. If there's anything we must pray in our generation, if there's anything we must daily beg God in our generation, it is: "God, grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God." The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God—to know God. You will appreciate why Apostle Paul was saying "that I may know him." "That I may know him." "That I may know him." There is this "him" that when you are not knowing him, it becomes difficult for faith to be fully expressed. Faith finds it difficult to have full expression where men don't know the God that they have come to deal with. If you notice something that Jesus did with his disciples, one thing that he was busy doing with himself and the disciples—what is the one thing that he fully offered them? Was it miracles? Was it signs? Was it wonders? What is it that Jesus gave his disciples that was not available for the multitude? It was the knowledge of himself. You know when it comes to knowing—when Peter said, "You are Christ, the Son of the living God," what did Jesus say? He said, "Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Upon this your revelation of me as the Christ, I'm going to build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail." What was Jesus trying to make us see by that? If any man has a correct understanding of who Jesus is, is it by flesh and blood? It is by his Father. That is what Apostle Paul was praying in that place when he said he did not cease to pray that God "may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Look, if your faith must have correct expression, if your faith must have real expression, if your faith must have biblical expression, let me tell you, you must know the God that the Bible reveals. Look at Matthew 22:29: "Jesus answered and said to them: 'You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.'" Jesus is trying to make the religious leaders see why they are not getting it right. Why are they not getting it right? Because they don't know the Scriptures and they don't know the power of God. You see, one thing about biblical faith is actually a correct knowledge of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Biblical faith is built on that. When you don't have a correct knowledge—the book of Hebrews opens up because the population he was writing to was drawing back. They were drawing back from the faith. That's why you'll see "If any man draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him." We'll soon come to all of that. The people were not standing correctly in faith. They were neither here nor there. And that is what many of us are today. When it comes to the things of God, we will talk one way like this, and at another point, we take another direction. We are no different from our fathers in the wilderness. At one point: "Sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider... oh sing, sing, sing!" and they were singing and dancing. Just a few moments after that, because there was no water: "Moses, why have you brought us here to die? It would have been better to die in Egypt." They were never here nor there. They were not consistent. They were double-minded. They were never consistent in their followership of God. And what you notice in our generation is that the errors of our fathers that the Bible is warning us about are becoming a general thing today. People are inside the church, but they cannot fully practice the teachings of Christ. They will practice it to the point at which it is convenient. At the point at which it is not convenient, they look for a way to explain it away. We begin to take what is okay and "reasonable." What looks "useless" and "stupid," we set them aside. We begin to have a mixture of the word of God being rationalized. The reason why all of this is happening to us is because we don't have a correct understanding of the God that the Bible reveals. That is what Hebrews is trying to say. That is the whole essence of beginning with these people by saying, "Please, do you really know who spoke to you? Do you really know that the person whom we have come to deal with is not an angel and is not a prophet?" He went ahead to make them see that the person who spoke is greater than Moses. The person who spoke is greater than Abraham. Why is he saying all of this? He's saying all of this so that we can come to an understanding, brethren, that we must beg God: "Lord, grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you." Don't just flip through that chapter 1. There is a reason why the book opens that way. The reason is that it's asking you—you that want to go through this book, you that are talking about faith—do you really understand that your faith will be quack-quack faith? Your faith will be here and there. Your faith will be scattered and shattered. Your faith will not be able to tell whether you're a Christian or an unbeliever. A problem we're facing today: more churches, less Christians. I'm not insulting churches in Nigeria. It may be the same in other parts of the world. But I'm talking about where I am. More churches, less Christians. There is a church on every street—in fact, everybody is a "church person"—and yet, no integrity anywhere. Men in collars are telling lies. You will see Brother Peter and yet you cannot trust him with anything. You see Sister this and yet you are not sure. You say, "meet a Christian family," but inside their home, the will of God is not the primary thing that rules their home. The husband relates to the wife as if he does not know God at all. The wife relates to the husband as if God is not her fear. You begin to wonder then where is Christianity? Come to business circles. Sister Chalewa [fictitious name] will tell you, "It is because of you that you are my brother. I bought this from Onitsha for 5,000 naira. I'm selling it to you for 5,500, just to cover my transport." Much later, you find the same product, only for you to later get to know that Sister Chalewa bought that thing in Onitsha for 1,500. I mean, we're just wondering. And later we all gather, "We are gathering together unto the name Jesus." I just keep wondering. He said, "If you love me, keep my commands." Faith has been so problematic to us because we are not seeing that those who resist the prophets and those who resist the angels receive a just recompense. They receive just judgment. And the Bible keeps warning us about something: "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, is what he will reap." The Bible keeps warning us to be sure—it says he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. He who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap eternal life. I'm appealing to us today as we close for today's Bible study. We want to be looking at "Biblical Concept of Faith," understanding what gives faith correct expression. The first thing I'm trying to make you see is a correct knowledge of God. A correct knowledge of God as revealed in Scripture. Jesus said, "You err, not knowing the Scripture nor the power of God." When people gave their lives to Jesus, the prayer of the apostles is that "Oh God, give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you." When men begin to have correct knowledge of God as revealed in Scriptures, and when men begin to have correct understanding of the power of God, you know what happens? It takes away error. I wanted to move on, but a scripture just came like a light into my mind. Can we look at Isaiah 66:1–2? Look at what God says. God is speaking: "Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build for Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,' says the Lord. 'But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.'" What is God saying by that? Is there anything that you can give God? What can you give God that does not belong to God? There is nothing. He says, "For all those things My hand has made." He says, "I the Lord have spoken. I will bless those who are humble and have contrite hearts, who tremble at My word." You know what the Bible is saying? Look, let me tell you, there is nothing you want to offer God that can impress God if that thing you are offering does not have a reflection on your life as an individual where you are contrite in spirit and you tremble at God's word. He said, "What do you want to offer me that I want to esteem? What do you want to give me? My hands made all these things; all of them are mine. I own everything." He said, "This is what I am looking for. I'm looking for a man. Can I get a man who is humble and contrite in spirit?" How do I know a man is humble and contrite? He trembles at my word. He takes and gives a heed to what I have written, what I have said, and what I have spoken. And that is the point. The book of Hebrews opens for us on a very serious matter. God is more interested in our walk with him—our walk, W-A-L-K. God is more interested in that walk than in any activities or sacrifice you want to offer to God. God is more interested in that walk. That is why he says, "Look, what can you offer me? What is this under this heaven that you want to give me? My hands made all these things; all of them are mine. I own everything." He said, "What I need primarily from you is that you may give a more earnest heed to the things that I have spoken." God is concerned about our life and our walk with him. People think that by some sacrifices, because they are committed to some activities, they do certain things, they do that, that is why they are precious to God. Look, that is a lie. God owns everything. He said, "I'm looking for a man who trembles at my word." He gives a heed to what I have said. And that is the point. Precious Father, we thank you for today. We just commit ourselves into your hand. Lord, these are the days of error. Many are erring, many are missing it, and many are mistaking a lot of things because, Lord, we are not giving attention to Scriptures. Lord, we are praying first for ourselves who are here. Baba, let the revival begin with us. Let the revival begin with us. This revival that we are waiting for—a revival that will first address the correctness of our life. Not how busy we are running here and there in our churches. Running here and there in our churches is not a revival. Revival is first about the correctness of our life. Lord, let the revival begin with us. Let it begin in our soul. Let it begin with me. Let me be correct in my understanding of you—more and more exact in my understanding of you. Help us individually and collectively to heed correctly to Scriptures in the name of Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray for the church of God. There is so much noise today—noise that is actually pretentious. There is so much artificiality than there are realities. There is so much superficiality than there are depths. There is so much decoration, cover up, and makeup than genuinity. Lord, we are begging you. May our faith be genuine. May the expression of our faith be genuine. Genuinity in secret and in open. We pray for genuinity in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Eternal Father. Blessed be your name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [Voiceover] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and marriage through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission hand. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescent and Singles Club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Family Life Seminars, regular school out-reaches and every day counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy Filling Station along Ijede Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, and www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136 and 07033613848. God bless you all.