Live By Faith

Welcome to Built on God's Word, the preaching and teaching ministry of Highland Park Baptist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.! Pastor Mike Scrivani preaches on Hebrews 11, verses 4-7.

! Hebrews 11, verses 4-7. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts, and through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he could not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him. Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. Would you please be seated? For my 21st birthday, my dad took me to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Legend holds that Cooperstown is the birthplace of baseball said to have been invented by the Civil War General Abner Doubleday in a cow pasture.

The Baseball Hall of Fame, though, is a…it's basically just…it's a museum to our nation's pastime. The greatest players, managers, umpires, announcers, and executives have their likenesses enshrined on plaques listing their achievements and contributions to the game of baseball.

Some of the names you've heard of in the Hall of Fame, names like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken Jr., and George Brett, to name a few.

The Hall of Fame features a grand room, this giant room lined with the plaques, displaying the faces and listing the achievements of baseball's greatest legends.

I remember studying each of those plaques, especially those bearing the names I mentioned previously and many others. These men represented the pinnacle of baseball achievement.

The best of the best. The greatest of the great. The elite of the elite. But there were a lot of other names I had never heard before in the Hall of Fame.

Tommy McCarthy, who played for the Boston Bean Eaters in the 1800s. Rube Marquard, who pitched for the New York Giants.

Freddie Lindstrom, Lloyd Weiner, Candy Cummings, and who could forget Charles Old Haas Radborn. Have you ever heard of these guys?

Probably not. But they're in the Hall of Fame. Their names, their likenesses, and achievements are displayed alongside those of greater fame, like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

There's no separate space in the Hall of Fame for the more prestigious, more well-known, more famous players.

Well-known and lesser-known players share the same Hall. Each plaque is equally polished, equally shines, is equally cared for, regardless of that person's level of fame.

Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the Hall of Faith. Because it lists the remarkable faith of biblical figures throughout redemptive history.

Some names in this chapter are well-known. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samson, and David. Others are less well-known.

Enoch, Barak, and Jephthah. Some names aren't mentioned at all. In Hebrews chapter 11, verses 35 through 38. The point I'm hoping to make is that the people mentioned in this chapter are presented as examples of living by faith, not because of who they were, but who their faith was in.

Think of it this way. If there was no such thing as baseball, there would be no Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and the people in the Hall of Fame would be totally unknown to us.

If there was no promise from God to send a Messiah, the people mentioned in this chapter would be totally unknown to us, too.

The key lesson from this chapter isn't go out and do great things. It's not about you. It's not about me and what we can achieve in and of ourselves.

Yes, this is a call for us to live by faith, but it is really about the object of our faith. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom we are commanded to bear witness to with our lives.

So the main idea for this morning's sermon is this. The witness of those who lived by faith in the past, anticipating Christ, should motivate you to live by faith in Christ today.

The witness of those who lived by faith in the past, anticipating Christ, should motivate you to live by faith in Christ today. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4, begins the catalog of biblical men and women who lived by faith.

Throughout this chapter, the writer of Hebrews introduces these witnesses with the repeated phrase, by faith. This phrase helps us to avoid the error of moralizing these witnesses and their stories, which are recorded for us in the Bible.

The main point, again, isn't be like Abel, not like Cain, or be like Moses, not like Pharaoh. Yes, the Old Testament narratives, which record many of the names in this chapter, do contain moral lessons for us to learn from, but we must never forget that these lessons are set within the larger metanarrative of Scripture.

They cannot be rightly understood outside of the storyline of the gospel. The men and women mentioned in this chapter couldn't have lived by faith without the one who is the source and object of their faith.

The men and women mentioned in this chapter remind us that the reason they lived as they did was because they were looking forward to the coming of a Redeemer in fulfillment of God's promise, as we read in Hebrews 11, 39 through 40.

And all these, all these whom he will mention, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect.

The faith of the Old Testament saints looked forward to the fulfillment of the promised Messiah's coming, the one in whom and through whom salvation would come.

New Testament saints, Christians today, look back to the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus' first coming, and they live by faith in the present, looking forward to his return.

When you think about how you're living, your choices, your goals, how you spend your time, do your actions demonstrate that you're anticipating Jesus' second coming?

Are you truly living by faith? At Highland Park, our mission statement is, we exist to develop disciples of Jesus Christ to delight in him and demonstrate his goodness as we declare his gospel to our neighbors and to the nations.

And so I hope that the Lord uses this sermon to develop you as his disciple, to encourage you to take an inventory of your life and gauge just how disciplined of a disciple you are.

I hope that the truths of our text this morning move you more to delight in Jesus, that you will be eager and willing to spend more of your time with him, treasuring him, who saved you, who's given you an abundant life that has meaning, purpose, and hope.

And I hope that you'll be eager to live more for him and more and more by faith in him, stirring you up to demonstrate his goodness as you live faithfully in obedience to him, that you will declare his gospel to your neighbors and to the nations, that your life will have a great impact in this world by your witness to Jesus Christ.

If you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, then you, friend, are in the right place. The Lord has given you this day. He has ordained this day for you to be here, to hear about who he is, why Jesus is superior, why he is better, to show you what true faith is and that living by faith in Jesus is the best way to live.

So from our text this morning, we have three examples examples of people who lived by faith that I hope will motivate you to live by faith in Christ today.

The first example is Abel. By faith, Abel worshipped God. By faith, Abel worshipped God. Verse 4 again says, Abel was the second son born to Adam and Eve after the fall when sin entered the world as recorded in Genesis chapter 3.

In Genesis chapter 4, we are introduced to Abel and his older brother Cain. Genesis 4.2 says, And now again she, that's Eve, bore his brother Abel.

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground. Abel was a shepherd, Cain was a farmer.

As we continue on in Genesis 4, 3 through 7, we read that in the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock in their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering, but for Cain in his offering, he had no regard. Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord in an act of worship.

The first recorded act of worship, in fact, in the Bible, here in Genesis 4. And we read that God had regard for Abel's offering, but not for Cain's.

The Hebrew word there translated as regard in the ESV means to gaze intently, to inspect, to consider.

God is revealing something to us here about what kind of worship he regards and is thus pleased with.

in 1 Samuel 16, verses 6 through 7, that text provides deeper insight for us to understand how God sees and perceives us.

in this passage, God sends the prophet Samuel to Jesse's house where he will reveal to Samuel whom he has chosen to be Israel's future king.

Let's look at that text. When they came, Samuel looked on Eliab, this is the oldest son of Jesse, and thought, surely the Lord's anointed is before him.

But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature because I have rejected him.

For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Israel's king at that time was Saul, a man who outwardly looked every bit the part of a king.

He was tall. He was physically imposing. He had the stature of a leader. Yet despite his appearance, Saul feared men more than he feared God.

He acted like a coward when he should have lived by faith. God ultimately rejected him as king and he chose another. When Samuel informed Saul of God's decision, he shared the quality that God saw in the man who would take his place.

In 1 Samuel 13, 14. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.

David was that man who desired to know God and do God's will, living by faith. These passages tell us that God sees into places that no one else can.

He sees the true motivations behind our actions. He knows why we do what we do. You and I, we cannot see the human heart, the true disposition, motivation, and character of a person.

Thus, we are often surprised by what God sees and what God does not see in others. God accepted Abel's offering not primarily because of what he offered, even though the offering was significant, but because of Abel's heart.

God was pleased with the sincerity of his faith. He was more pleased with the giver than he was with the gift.

It was the heart of the person making the offering that pleased him. And Abel's offering was a visible, tangible demonstration of his faith.

Remember what Hebrews 9, 22 says? Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

In Abel's sacrifice, we see a foreshadowing of the entire Old Testament sacrificial system under the Old Covenant, which all pointed to the sacrifice that Jesus would make on the cross, inaugurating a new covenant for giving us of all of our sins.

Al Mohler said, Abel understood that his greatest problem was that he was under divine judgment and he received a propitiatory sacrifice and he needed a propitiatory sacrifice.

His blood sacrifice pointed to his own sin and to his hope in God's provision of a sacrificial savior. This is why Abel's sacrifice was acceptable to God.

It was offered by faith in God's promises. The details given about the offerings that Cain and Abel made in Genesis 4 are important for us to look at too.

There's really no detail given about Cain's sacrifice, is there? Just that he offered an offering. But Abel gave to God his best, his firstborn and the best portions of it to God.

God's regard for Abel's offering upset his brother Cain. In Genesis 4, 5-7, we read about this conversation that God has with Cain.

So Cain was very angry, very angry that God did not regard his offering but regarded his brothers and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry and why has your face fallen?

If you do well, will it not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, its desire is for you and you must rule over it.

Instead of heeding God's warning, Cain disregarded his instruction and he took out his displeasure on his brother whose faith had pleased God.

Genesis 4, 8 says, Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Abel's living by faith, his giving God his best, ended with his murder at the hands of his own brother.

However, as the end of Hebrews 11, 4 says, and through his faith, through Abel's faith, though he died, he still speaks.

It's been a very, very, very, very, very long time since Cain murdered his brother Abel.

But here we are today. Here we are today talking about Abel's faith in God demonstrated through this act of worship.

Abel died, but his faith in God lives on in this world today. The sacrifice he made and the faith behind that sacrifice continue to serve as an example for the people of God today who are commanded to live by faith.

As those under a new covenant, we are no longer under the law which Christ fulfilled. we no longer offer animal sacrifices to God. That's not necessary.

Instead, in Christ, our lives are the sacrifice. We are to live sacrificially. Romans 12, 1 says, I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.

Jesus offered himself, sacrificed himself to totally atone for our sins, to forever forgive us of our sins, giving us new and eternal life by grace through faith in him.

The new heart that we've received under the new covenant by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit activated activated by Jesus' blood shed on the cross to cleanse us of our sins should inspire us to worship him.

Not just on Sunday morning from 915 to 12 noon. for the person who's been saved by faith, who lives by faith, worship is not something that you do for a few hours, one day a week, but it's the way you seek to live.

So I ask you, brother, sister, is that true of you? when you give to the Lord, do you give cheerfully because that's what pleases him?

When you sing to the Lord, is there joy and gratitude in your voice? Or are you looking at your watch?

I guess the new lights that we have or something like that, it's hard not to notice, I understand, but are you just distracted by all of these different things? And you forget, you were made to worship and you have gathered with the church this morning for the purpose to worship the Lord who has been gracious to save you.

Is there joy, is there gratitude in your voice when you worship? Do you desire to give God your first, your best, even if like Abel it means losing your earthly life?

God what does God see in you when you're worshiping him? What does he perceive?

And does he regard it? Does it please him? And when your time on earth ends, will your faith in Christ, your life lived by faith, continue to speak to others after you are gone?

the way you're living now, brother, sister, is testifying to something. It's testifying to what you truly believe.

What words are going to make up the content of your eulogy at your funeral? funeral? How will your life be summarized in 15 to 30 minutes?

For all my faults and failures, I hope that when I die, when my lifeless body is in a casket before a pulpit, that the person standing behind it doesn't say something like this.

Well, one thing we know about Mike is that he really loved the chiefs, and I'm sure that he's still going to be rooting them on from heaven. I hope they would talk about how much I loved and lived for Jesus.

How about you? How about you? If you want people to say that at your eulogy, then do something about it now.

Do something about it now. No matter how old you are. And if you know that they'll say that about you, then give them more reason to when your time on this earth is over.

Live your life right now in ways that will leave a wealth of material for the person who eulogizes you and testifies to the saving power of Jesus Christ in your life.

Aspire to leave behind a legacy of faith. If you are in Christ, you won't care what happens at your funeral.

You'll be too busy worshiping the Lord in heaven and seeing his face. But you should care. you should care about living a life by faith in him that demonstrates how much you loved him who loved you first.

That Christ will be glorified in your life and that he'll be glorified in your death. Abel's death was tragic, but his life was not a tragedy.

He lived by faith, demonstrated in his worship, and God's word still testifies of his faith to us today.

By faith, Abel worshiped God. Now the second example we see here is Enoch. By faith, Enoch walked with God. By faith, Enoch walked with God.

Verse 5. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because God had taken him. Now before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God.

Enoch was the great, great, great, great grandson of Adam. Genesis 5, 22 through 24 says, Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. So twice in these three verses we read Enoch walked with God.

The expression walked with God signifies intimate fellowship. Enoch was spared of physical death on this earth because he pleased God as verse 6 says and without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Enoch believed God existed and he drew near to him trusting that time spent in the presence of the Lord seeking God would be rewarded by knowing God more intimately.

Enoch lived by faith and he walked with God in an exceedingly evil period in world history prior to the flood. Just a few paragraphs after learning about Enoch we read of the increasing wickedness that marked the time in which he lived in Genesis 6 5.

That passage says the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

During a time when people were drifting further and further away from God further and further away from the truth Enoch drew nearer and nearer to God and walked with God.

During a time when more and more people rejected God Enoch lived by faith believing that God exists. While others indulged their sinful desires and seemed to be escaping God's punishment for this Enoch pursued God and he stayed close to the Lord.

He stood for righteousness and according to Jude in the New Testament in taking this stand Enoch prophesied against his generation.

Jude 14 and 15. It was about these that Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied saying behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy angels to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Enoch pursued God during a time when people rejected him to pursue their sin. Enoch walked with God during a time when people turned away from God to walk their own path.

Enoch's intimate relationship with God gave him knowledge of God and he used that knowledge of God to warn those who had turned away from the Lord.

Enoch's generation kind of sounds like ours doesn't it? Are we going to live by faith in the Lord like Enoch in our time?

will we urge them to turn away from the path that leads to destruction to enter through the narrow gate of Jesus that leads to eternal life?

Will we spend our time walking with God or will we fill our lives with distractions that compete for our time and ultimately cause us to waste our time in our lives?

Ephesians 5 the apostle Paul encourages Christians to be imitators of God and walk in love as Christ loved them by giving himself as an offering a sacrifice to atone for their sins.

Paul then warns them against being pulled into the world's ways but instead to expose the lies that they've exchanged the truth of God for as we stay true to our faith and we don't waste our lives.

Ephesians 5 11 through 17 says take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible for anything that becomes visible is light therefore it says awake oh sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you look carefully then how you walk not as unwise but as wise making the best use of your time because the days are evil therefore do not be foolish but you'll understand what the will of the Lord is brother sister the best use of your time is time spent with God do you believe that you can nod your head and say you believe it but how much of your time even this past week was spent with you just by yourself alone with God in prayer and reading his word in worship in fellowship with him if you don't spend regular time with the

Lord then what you need to do is make time make the time get up earlier in the morning stay up later at night cut something out of your schedule TV phone video games whatever make the time you can our mission statement begins with the words we exist to develop disciples of Jesus Christ to develop disciples you must be a self disciplined disciple which means you need to invest in your own spiritual growth and development there are a lot of things that we have going on as a church there's a lot of things that we do as a church and we do them not just because these are things that churches should do we do them to develop you as a disciple of

Jesus Christ and so I encourage you I implore you make that a priority! you will be a better man you will be a better woman you will be a better boy or girl husband wife mother father friend co-worker neighbor etc.

the more you prioritize your relationship with God because the closer that walk is the more you will delight in him and the more impactful your life will be especially on the lives of the people whom you love the most walk with the Lord by faith make that time it's not a waste of time you can do it spend time with the Lord and you will find yourself becoming more like the Lord and now our third example by faith Noah worked for God by faith Noah worked for God chapter 11 begins by defining faith as the conviction of things not seen and few people in the Bible provide a better example of that than Noah verse 7 says by faith Noah being warned by

God concerning events as yet unseen in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith we already looked at the passage in Genesis 6 5 where the Lord saw the increasing wickedness of the world verse 7 tells us what God's response was to it Genesis 6 7 through 8 so the Lord said I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens for I am sorry that I have made them but Noah found favor us just how messed up things had gotten leading God to execute judgment and a plan to save Noah and his family Genesis 6 11 through 14 says now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and the earth was filled with violence and

God saw the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth and God said to Noah I have determined to make an end of all flesh for the earth is filled with violence through them behold I will destroy them with the earth make yourself an ark of gopher wood make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch going back to Hebrews 11 7 which says Noah had reverent fear of the Lord Noah had probably never seen rain before but he was convinced that despite what must have seemed very strange and even impossible to him that God would do as he said Noah believed the words of God and he acted God actions flowed from his faith in

God God told Noah what to do but it was still up to Noah to do something to act on what God had said God didn't build the ark for Noah God didn't lower the ark down from the heavens with angels and Noah didn't test God before he went into action God commanded Noah obeyed he built the ark and then he entered into it with his family and two of each animal to repopulate the world after God destroyed it and then once they were in the ark God shut them in saving them from the flood waters of his judgment it's strange to me how

Christians perceive and portray the story of Noah in the flood the message tends to be about especially as we teach it to our children about how much God loves animals when in reality it's about how much God hates sin that he would flood the entire world a lot of people died including animals but it's also a story that communicates God's grace to spare!

some from his righteous judgment and ultimately Noah's story foreshadows the future judgment that is to come Jesus said in Matthew 24 37 through 41 for as were the days of Noah so will be the coming of the son of man for as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away so will be the coming of the son of man then two men will be in the field one will be taken and one left two women will be grinding at the mill and one will be!

one left therefore stay so like Noah we live by faith in the present knowing that this future judgment is coming it's coming and acting today as God's present day heralds declaring the gospel and imploring people to take safety in Christ whom the ark foreshadowed it's only in Christ that we are spared from the judgment to come the writer of Hebrews says that by faith Noah worked to construct the ark his faith worked and served as a testimony to condemn the world Noah didn't sit in judgment over those who eventually were swept away in the waters of

God's wrath but his life of faith his obedience to God's word his obedience to act on his faith and work condemned the world which was not rightly related to God because they had rejected him they didn't trust in him they did not obey him now we are not saved by works we are saved by faith but our faith works if it's genuine our faith works it responds to God's word in obedience is that true of you do you trust God's word are you building your life on the rock of Jesus Christ one of the most frightening!

passages in scripture I've shared this before is Matthew chapter 7 verses 24 through 27 Jesus is preaching to thousands sermon on the mouth and he concludes his sermon with this powerful conclusion which is terrifying he says everyone then who hears these words of mine and underline this in your Bible who hears these words of mine and does them does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock and here's the scary part and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them does not live by faith in me does not obey the words that

I've commanded you to obey does not do what I've commanded because you do not think that I am your Lord and your Savior and your God you're not doing it because you want to be your own Lord your Savior your own words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it this is a warning friend what are you building your life on what are you spending your time doing what do you believe about God what do you do about what you say you believe about God are you building your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ as evidenced by you are doing what he has commanded you to do or not why would you why would you build on

Jesus Christ because he's the only one who can save you and he saved you by giving his life in your place dying for your sins enduring the wrath of God on the cross so that you don't have to and you won't in salvation he said he is the way the only way to life to eternal life it's only through him that we can be saved and be made in right relationship to God and if you have not believed in him he's calling you today to repent!

of your sins and turn to him in faith and you will be saved and you will be able to live the life of faith the abundant life knowing your creator and knowing the hope in Christ that does not diminish or fade because he's good and he's worthy and he's worth it you know as believers as those who have been saved as those who are seeking to live by faith we often get distracted by things that just seem important but if you think about it they really don't matter and we do that a lot in the church we care about things in the church that really in the long run in matters of eternity what do they matter what do they matter it's something that helps me is the parable that

Jesus told of the talents in Matthew 25 the master leaves he gives his talents to his servants to three of them and two are faithful they work they take what the master has given them and they put it to use and it multiplies in ways that when the master returns they say here it is what you've given me plus the multiplication of what you've given me it's back to you and two of those servants one has multiplied more the other not as much but both of them hear the same thing from their master it's not you're more famous and better than this one no it's well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master who cares how famous you become for following Christ in fact you shouldn't care at all what matters is that you know him that he knows you that you will spend your eternity with him so let's stop caring about things that don't matter that don't help us multiply what God has given us for his glory and for his kingdom let's not lose our focus on why we are here and why all these examples are given to us because they're all pointing to Jesus in Hebrews 12 1 through 3 let's read that passage therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to

Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself so that you may not grow weary or faint hearted in your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood brother sister do you feel weary and do you feel faint hearted look to Jesus and keep your eyes on Jesus follow him follow his example live by faith because here we have one more amazing truth from this passage whether in life in death or in judgment in Christ the righteous shall live by faith whether we live whether we die in judgment the righteous shall live by faith

I'm going to pray and there'll be a time of reflection for you I'm going to begin just quietly and encourage you to use that time to think about what you've heard in God's word to think about these questions to answer them honestly and to pray that in your life Jesus would be seen through your actions in your words that you would live by faith that we as a church would live together by faith let's go to the Lord in prayer heavenly father we thank you for this day that you've given us together together as a church to worship you to sing your praises to be reminded of your great love and grace to save us giving us eternal life giving us your words to keep us from being distracted and spending our time pursuing things that Lord in the end would be wasteful

Lord we thank you to know that in Christ whether we live or die and in judgment that we will live by faith in you having been clothed in your righteousness having been sealed by your spirit but God as we've heard this morning your encouragement to us is to live by faith to live by faith in you to keep our eyes focused on you to not be distracted and to not do it for our own fame or glory but to do it for yours and to do it whether people are watching us or not that Lord in life we would live for you that in death our lives would be a testimony to you God I pray that we would learn from these examples in your word this morning that like

Abel when it comes to our worship of you Lord we would give you our first and our best not what's left over that like Enoch Lord we would seek to make time with you our greatest priority and that in that time with you Lord that you would help us to know you more deeply that we would be better able to warn our generation about the consequences of rejecting you and urge them to turn to you and be saved and that like Noah Lord we would work that our faith would work that as you've commanded us Lord that we would take what we hear from you and that we would put it into practice that we would hear your words and do them no matter what the cost no matter what may happen that we would build our lives on you

Lord Jesus the rock knowing that no matter what we would face in this life as a result of that that father in the end we will stand in you because you've been gracious to save us Lord help us to take better inventory of our time of our lives how we're spending it and what we're pursuing and be gracious Lord to reveal to us those ways in which we are wasting our time those things that we are living for that aren't truly worth living for so be gracious to reveal those things to us I pray Lord that we would live by faith even more so in you that you would regard us with pleasure in Jesus name we pray amen to learn more visit us in person or see the website at highlandparkbaptist.net may