and we'll continue to look at the gallery of faith and then I trust have the time to move into Hebrews twelve so that we'll leave ourselves a chapter and a half to finish this evening if the Lord will now actually there's there's much more than we're going to have time to talk about but if you have your notes of yesterday you'll remember that we According to our outline, began our study of the gallery of faith. We are looking now at the second part of this epistle, which is three and a half chapters long, running from chapter ten and verse nineteen through to the end. Now, if anyone doesn't have an outline, would you raise your hand and we'll see that one is past you immediately? Or are we all furnished? Ah, I see, we have just one or two. that there haven't the outline. Now the practical section of the epistle, these three and a half chapters, we have entitled the practice of Christianity, how we are to live. And we notice that the writer brings before us a plea for fidelity, which we have covered. It constitutes a call and a warning and a reminder concerning the past and concerning the future. and concerning the present. The second part of that section, or in the second part of that section, we have a panorama of faith. This is in two parts. The triumphs of faith in chapter eleven, one through forty, and the trials of faith in chapter twelve, one through thirteen. We are still looking at the triumphs of faith in chapter eleven. Now we listed the first, one, two, three, four, five of these, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. Now we entitled these brief cameos, The Witness of Abel, verse four. We noted it was twofold. God received a witness from Abel, and Abel received a witness from God. Following the witness of Abel came the walk of Enoch in verses five and six. We noted this man's history, touching on Genesis five. He accompanied with God. He was caught away by God, and he was commended of God. Because we read before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. The witness of Abel in verse four, and the walk of Enoch in verses five and six, is followed by the warning of Noah, in verse seven. And again we noted two thoughts here. Noah received a warning from God and Noah became a warning to men. His faith we said made him listen. His faith made him build. And his faith made him righteous. All of this in verse seven. When we came to the verses eight, nine and ten, we looked at the way of Abraham. Noting it was the way of obedience. It was the way of obscurity. He went out not knowing whither he went, and when he arrived he was a stranger. And it was also the way of obtaining. He got God's blessing because of his faith. Finally, in verses eleven and twelve, we have the wonder of Sarah. We looked at four things here. First of all, the natural impossibility. Secondly, the spiritual yieldedness. Thirdly, the physical soundness, and finally, the divine goodness. Now we're going to skip a few verses and continue the list of the faithful, beginning to read at verse twenty. Now instead of reading the portion to you, we'll read a verse and we'll discuss it and move on because I want to go over this as fast as I can to move into the testing of faith. Under our heading, The Triumph of Faith, we are going to note four things. We've already mentioned two of them. The function of faith, in verses one, two, and three, faith expects, faith enjoys, faith enriches, and faith enlightens. That's the function of faith. And then, and this we're talking about now, the fruit of faith. And this is where we get our list of the faithful. As the study moves to its close, we shall look at the future of faith and the finality of faith. And I hope to touch on those in a very few minutes. Now, verse twenty. Chapter eleven, verse twenty. By faith E. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Now, under the witness of Abel, and the walk of Enoch, and the warning of Noah, and the way of Abraham, and the wonder of Sarah, we want to put the word of Isaac. Verse twenty. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Now, if you read the story in Genesis twenty seven, and we're not going to take the time to turn to it, You would find out, first of all, that the occasion was a sad one. We have a dying man deceived, and we have a partial father. Now that scene, of course, is set for tragedy. Parents ought never to have favorites among their children. I haven't time to talk about this. And since most of our children are grown up now and have nests of their own, it is necessary for me to emphasize this. But I would certainly do that if there were a lot of young folk here or young married folk, because parents can cause great grief to themselves and to their families by being partial. The occasion was a sad one. But the blessing was a choice one. You'll find it had to do with the dew of heaven and the fat of earth and the homage of men. You can look at Genesis twenty-seven at your leisure. And then you will find, thirdly, that the faith was a true one. This man, Isaac, in spite of his faults, when eventually he discovered what had happened, he said, I blessed him, and he shall be blessed. Read the story. It is a very wonderful story, and it has some very solemn lessons and wonderful ones to teach. The word of Isaac. It was then a word of blessing. It had its basis in faith. And this is the reason why he is found in the gallery of faith. When we come to verse twenty-one, we have the worship of Jacob. Let's notice verse twenty-one by Faith Jacob. When he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. Again we have a father's concern, and again we have a dying man. But the circumstances are very different. Once more you can read about this in Genesis forty-eight, and you'll find Jacob was dying. You'll find that Jacob was discerning. And you'll find that Jacob was devoted. And that's the reason why the emphasis here is upon the worship of Jacob. Now in verse twenty-two, and this is very interesting. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandment concerning his bones. Now you know that the last word in Genesis is a word concerning Joseph, who was put in a coffin in Egypt. Now before he died, he gave commandment concerning his bones. And it was that when the children of Israel moved out of Egypt into the promised land, they should take his bones with them. Now here was faith. He knew that God was going to keep his promise And he knew that these children of Israel were going to get their place in the promised land. This then is the wish of Joseph. It was based upon a revelation. Read Genesis fifty. It was meant to produce a resolution, that is, to remove his body. And it was the acknowledgement of a resurrection. He wanted to be in the promised land when the resurrection came about. Oh, that's so beautiful. I wish I had time to talk in detail about it. Now the verse is twenty-three through thirty, and I'm going to read these to you. This, of course, or in this, of course, we have the will of Moses. Listen. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandments. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he foresook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured a seeing him that is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. The faith or the will of Moses. Now if I was going to make this a message this morning and talk to you about Moses, I would have to point out eight very obvious things from the reading here. And I'm just going to mention them. and not preach upon them. You can jot them down and develop your own sermon. A friend of mine in England used to give an outline and say, now there's a skeleton. You can put the meat on the bones. Notice then in verse twenty three the commandment of Pharaoh. They were not afraid of the king's commandment. Now you know the story how that all the male children were to be slain. you will recall that Moses' parents, unafraid, they floated him in a little ark of bulrushes, and eventually in God's providence it was Pharaoh's own daughter that discovered him, and he was brought up in the court of Pharaoh, and his own mother was brought in to be his nurse. A very remarkable story of God's providence and God's provision. Now the king's commandment is the first thing, and that bears examination. You'll have to look at it at your letter. That's verse twenty-three. When we come to verse twenty-four, we have the call of Pharaoh's daughter. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. She wanted him for an adopted son. Her call came very clearly to him, and he had a decision to make. And that's verse twenty-five. The choice of Moses. Now he could have had a feathered nest. He had been brought up in the court, he had been favored, he had been, he had enjoyed the pleasures and luxuries of that court. Now they could become his right as one of the family, but it says he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. What a good choice that was. He had his eye on the eternal and was not sidetracked by the temporal. Would to God that more of the people of God were that way? There are too many taken up with temporal things, and they are not busy laying up for themselves treasure in heaven. The charm of Christ, verse twenty-six. The reason why Moses made the choice that he did was because he esteemed the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. The Messiah, the Christ the chosen one, was more attractive to Moses than everything that Egypt could offer, or that the charm of Christ might increasingly possess and occupy our hearts. influencing our choices, as it influenced his. Verse twenty-seven, the casting off of Egypt. He forsook Egypt. He did it deliberately. He cast it away. He turned his back on it and marched away from it. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. When we come to verse twenty eight we have the celebration of the Passover. And again the story is well known to you. Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood that the destroyer should not touch them. When we come to verse twenty nine we have the crossing of the Red Sea. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land which the Egyptians are saying to do, were drowned, and then in verse thirty we have the collapse of Jericho. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. By this time Moses had passed off the scene, but the faith of Moses had been passed on to his people, and so the story goes on to the entrance into the Promised Land. Isn't that beautiful? My, those are a full few verses. Not very long, each one of them. A very short passage. But, my, it gives to us the history of this man, Moses, in capsule form. The will of Moses. You can see why he has his place in the gallery of faith, can't you? When we come to verse thirty-one, we have the willingness of Rahab. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace. Now you're going to have to go to Joshua too for the story of Rahab. So he's striking that no less than four times she's called in that chapter the harlot. The harlot. The harlot. We're reminded of her wicked background. Her house is called the harlot house. named Rahab. James calls her Rahab the harlot. Here in Hebrews eleven she's the harlot, Rahab. She can't get away from that horrible past. In fact the story begins with the condition of Rahab. You read Joshua too. But you'll find the condition of this woman was suddenly overshadowed by her conviction. Here was a woman who, when she found out who the men were that had come to her house, she found them to be the spies of the Most High God, and she said, Your God's a faithful God. She said, I know Your God's a powerful God. He's already given you the land. And she said, I know He's a living God. He is God. Her conviction in the story overshadowed her condition. Then came her concern when she hid the spies. Remember that? Oh, she lied about them. My this woman was brought up in a cesspool of iniquity. She didn't know any other way to do the job, and so she lied, no less than four times. But she was a woman with a concern, and finally came her confidence. When their enemies had gone on, and the men came down out of the loft, they gave to her a promise, and she said, so be it. Amen. That was her confidence, and the thing was sealed and settled. It's a wonderful story, and again, here's another sermon in embryo. Rahab's condition, Rahab's conviction, Rahab's concern, and Rahab's confidence is all there, and it's very complete. The willingness of Rahab. She was prepared to pay the price. to shelter the spies because she believed that God was going to win out, and therefore they, the spies, couldn't lose. Now added to all of these things as we've listed them, the witness of Abel, the walk of Enoch, the warning of Noah, the way of Abraham, the wonder of Pharaoh, the word of Isaac, the worship of Jacob, the wish of Joseph, the will of Moses, and the willingness of Rahab, come the works of others. And that's the end of the list. Now there's either half a page of notes here, but I'm not going to be able to give them to you. This will take us from verse thirty-two through forty. The names of some are given, the victories of some are given, the sufferings of some are given, and the commendation of them all. For summing up God says in this epistle, Of them the world was not worthy. Wonderful gallery of faith. So in the first three verses we've seen the function of faith. In these verses that constitute the list of the faithful, we have what we have called the fruit of faith. And now just a mention of the future of faith and the finality of it. Look at the verses thirteen to sixteen, will you? These verses are sandwiched between the two lists of the faithful, and we didn't read them. We'll come back to them. These all died in faith. This is the future of faith. Listen. Not having received the fulfillment of the promises, but having seen them afar off, they were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly, If they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. There is the future of faith. And in spite of the price paid by these heroes of faith, not one of them is going to lose out because God is no man's debtor. And the future of faith is very, very glorious. Look at the finality of faith in verse six. You can have everything else. But if you don't have this, you have nothing. Verse six, without faith. It is impossible to please him. There's the last word, though it's found in verse six. Now we have to look at the first thirteen verses of chapter twelve. And I realize that I have really just skimmed the surface there in chapter eleven. I hope I've provided you with a little... that you'll be able to meditate upon after I've left you early tomorrow morning and gone on my way, and you sit down with your book and turn to that chapter. Now in this chapter twelve and the first thirteen verses we have what follows the triumphs of faith, the trials of faith. Now the men of faith is a triumphant man. But the men of faith is going to be put to the test, time and time and time again. And this is the theme of these first thirteen verses. Now the trials of faith do three things according to this passage. Number one, they present a challenge. Listen. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, for consider him. that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearyed and faint in your mind. The trials of faith, number one then, they present a challenge. And here in these three verses, the writer says three things, he says, Others have endured. That's verse one. Christ has endured. That's verse two. And you must endure. That's verse three. Now the conditions of such endurance are given to us here. Laying aside weights and sins, running patiently and dabbedly, and looking both at the beginning and at the ending. The trials of faith, they present a challenge. Now number two, they produce a character. Verses four through thirteen. First of all says, ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. You've still got a long way to go. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. These trials of faith produce a character. Now verse four tells us that character is progressive. You have not yet resisted unto blood. Character is a thing that continually develops us. And not one of you in my congregation this morning has gone so far along the road of life that you have stopped developing your character. Every day that you live adds its quota to that character of yours for good or for evil, because character is progressive. Ye have not yet. And then we notice that chastening is productive. And don't be afraid of that word chastening. Verse five. Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. If you read the verses five through eleven, you'll find four very obvious things about chastening. And don't approximate the word chastening with punishment. You know, when we talk about chastening our children, we think about whopping them. Somebody says every boy should have a pat on the back as long as it's low enough and hard enough and often enough. Now that's the only thing that some of us in our minds associated with chastening. Now, chastening is a word that actually means child training. And punishment is not the sum and totem of child training. It's only a part of it. Mind you, there has to be the application of the paddle from time to time. And, of course, it's too late for me to emphasize this in this particular meeting. Maybe. But, however, many a child has been spoiled because of failure of the application of the paddle. But... This is only a part of child training. I remember being rebuked once after I had taken one of my children when he was small and really paddled him good and hard. A relative of mine said to me, That child is going to grow up to hate you. The last time, no, not the last time, but a couple of times ago when I went to visit her son, I visited him in prison. But I'm very happy that mine is saved by the grace of God in fellowship in the assembly and serving God in the service down in Mississippi. I'm not boasting. God has been very gracious to me. But I don't believe that discipline is anything but that which a child will thank you for after he's grown up, even though it may have been painful at the time. Like the little boy whose father paddled him with a heavy slipper. Daddy said to him, you know, son, this hurts me more than it hurts you. The boy said, yes, Daddy, but not in the same place. Chastening is productive. Now notice verse five, God is the user of it. God is a child trainer. And the trials of faith are part of the business of your training and mind. God is the user of chastening, because chastening is productive. And the child that isn't chastened, isn't trained, is not going to be a producer. And the believer that isn't chastened, isn't trained, isn't going to be a producer either. Chastening is productive. And verse five tells us that God is the user of it. So, says the writer, do not forget and do not faint. God knows what he's doing. Verses six, seven and eight, love is the basis of it. Whom the Lord loveth, he chastened. I could take you to Greenwich Village, and I could show you hippies today who get two hundred, three hundred dollars a month regularly from Papa, who lives in a big house in Connecticut, in Greenwich or some other town, and he sends the check to the village to keep his child out of his hair. Now the child is provided with what the child needs. But father's getting arrest from his family. In fact, he doesn't want the child around him. So he pays to keep the child out of his hair. The reason why many of those kids have gone astray, have gone astray, is because they're not loved. If they'd been loved, they would have been disciplined. But they've been let run riot because their parents didn't love them and they wanted them out of their hair. Don't you think that it's the parent that loves his child who lets him run riot and lets him have his own way? That's an evidence of lack of affection. That's an evidence of an unwillingness to pay the price to do the best for the child. God loves us. And that's why he chastens us. And that's why the tests of faith come to us. Chastening is productive. God is the user of it. Verse five. Love is the basis of it. Verse six, seven, and eight. All read those verses. The writer tells us, love desires the best for us. The writer tells us, in effect, love must seem harsh at times. The word scourgeeth is used. Love must not be questioned. If he endure, we read. And love is very selective. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. And scourgeeth every son whom he receiveth. If he endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. You know, God does not trace them. God does not try to train the sons of the devil. He does it with his own. Their own sin punishes them. Doesn't train them, but it punishes them, and they suffer for their own sin. God is concerned about his children. Love, then, is the basis of tracing. We come to verse nine, and we find that experience is the proof of it. Verse nine says, We've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection under the Father of spirits and live from our own experience? In our own earthly lives we've discovered that disciplining on the part of the Father is profitable and the evidence of love. Experience is the proof of the fact that chastening is productive. And then we come to verses ten and eleven. Good. is the result of it. So there are four things. God is the user of chastening. Love is the basis of chastening. Experience is the proof of chastening. And good is the result of it. Ten and eleven. They, our earthly fathers, verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness, now no chastening for the presence seemeth to be joyous. but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. The good that comes out of chastening is twofold. Holiness on the one hand and happiness on the other. Because through it a man learns not to sin. So the tests of faith or the trials of faith they produce a character. Character is progressive. Verse four. Chasening is productive. Verse five through eleven. And now courage is protective. Notice the last two verses. Verse twelve and thirteen. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down. And the feeble knees. and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but rather let it be healed. Courage is protective. If we willingly endure the chastening, if we bravely and courageously face the trials of faith, we cannot but be protected by our very attitude before God. Why? Because you can't use hands that are limp, and you can't use knees that are palsied, and you can't use feet that are uncontrolled. But when courageously you lift up the hands which hang down, you've got a means of protection. When you confirm the feeble knees, you're in a better position to stand. And when you make straight paths for your feet and control them, it's all to your own good and blessing. Courage in the trials of faith is protective. It has to produce that which is for our benefit and good. So you see the trials of faith are a wonderful part of God's program. Is somebody sitting here and you're going through them? You know, the Park of the Palms is such a peaceable place. It's such a pleasant place, and the company is so delightful, and the meetings are so helpful. Sometimes it's very difficult to believe that there may be broken hearts among these happy people, and that there may be very, very difficult paths that some are treading among these apparently so content a community. And there may be someone here and you've drawn a curtain across your own personal grief. But sometimes when you're alone, it almost gets the better of you. You wonder why God has dealt with you this way. You wonder why God has allowed you, has permitted you to tread this particular path. Be encouraged. God hasn't made any mistake. He says, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. The Word of God says, Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The trials of your faith are going to lead to the strengthening of that faith, which cannot be but for your future good and blessing. So we've looked. at the triumphs of faith in chapter eleven, and now we've looked at the trials of faith in these first thirteen verses of chapter twelve. They present a challenge, and they produce a character. Tonight we're going to read on from verse twelve, verse fourteen of chapter twelve, and through I trust, that we've a lot to cover to the end of that thirteenth chapter. Isn't it a wonderful epistle? And so practical. Let's bow in prayer as we close, shall we? Our Father, our hearts are lifted up to thee in praise. Even though sometimes in thy wisdom thou hast had to spank us, even though sometimes in thy wisdom thou hast had to deal what seemed to us to be harshly with us. But, Lord, we know that thy love has been underlying all of thy dealings. May we never resent it. And, Lord, may we never mistake it. And may we never be brought to the place where we question thy dealings with us. But rather, may we rejoice that these are in evidence of our belonging to thee. And of thy concern that we should be rightly trained, and that we might be both holy, and happy. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Again another quiet moment before we separate.