Faith that Overcomes Fear

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 29-31.

Would you stand with me as we honor the reading of God's Word together again as we continue our study in Hebrews 11, verses 29-31.

By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. May God add a blessing to the reading of His Word. Would you please be seated?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus had been teaching a large crowd. It was evening. He was tired. So He asked His disciples to take Him by boat to the other side of the sea.

Before long, Jesus fell asleep in the stern in the back of the boat. Look with me at Matthew's account of what happened next in Matthew 8, 24-27.

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but He was asleep.

And they went and woke Him, saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And He said to them, Why are you afraid, O you of little faith? Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And the men marveled, saying, What sort of man is this that even winds and sea obey Him? Matthew describes this storm as great.

We often use the word great casually in our everyday conversations. When someone asks how their day is going or replies to that question, they might say, Great.

When in truth, it's probably just okay or maybe even good. The Greek word translated great is magus.

It was used to describe things that were mighty, exceedingly large, supersized, even fierce. This was a mega storm, producing large waves that crashed into the boat, filling it with water.

You don't need to be an experienced sailor to know that a boat taking on water in the middle of a vast lake or sea is a serious problem. Yet despite the violent rocking, the roar of the storm, and the boat steadily filling with water, none of it was enough to waken Jesus from His sleep.

A couple of things are worth noting here about our Lord. First, He was truly human. He needed a break from large crowds of people. And all God's introverts said, Amen.

Like us, Jesus felt exhaustion. He needed to sleep and take naps. These truths affirm that Jesus was genuinely human with the same basic needs that we all have.

As we've seen in Hebrews, Christ's humanity is necessary for Him to be our merciful high priest. Matthew, Mark, and Luke don't mention which disciples were in the boat with Jesus.

It could have been all of them. We know that we can be, I think, fairly sure that at least four of those, or some of the four disciples who would have been in the boat were men who were experienced fishermen.

Surely they had weathered many storms at sea. But even these professional fishermen were frightened by this storm to the point where they feared for their lives.

They were in crisis. They were in a state of panic. They were afraid they would die. And so they woke Jesus up. I imagine this was not a gentle awakening.

Like how a mother softly whispers and lightly touches her child's arm or back to stir them out of their sleep. My family knows that this is not the way to wake me up from a nap.

This was a rude awakening. The disciples didn't whisper, Save us, Lord. Save us, Lord. We're perishing. They had to shout over the sounds of the storm.

They would have had to have gotten close to Jesus' face, yelling into his ears, maybe even shaking him. Once Jesus is awake, he doesn't panic.

He's not afraid. And before he rebukes the storm, he rebukes his disciples for their lack of faith. They'd seen Jesus perform miracles in demonstration of his divinity.

They were so overcome with fear in this moment that they forgot God was with them in the boat. Jesus rebukes their lack of faith.

Then he rebukes the storm. And there was a great calm. There's another aspect of this story that's important, I think, for us to understand. In his divinity.

In his divinity. In his being truly God on earth and human flesh, Jesus had the power to calm the storm because he is omnipotent.

In his omniscience, he would have known that the storm was coming before he gave the order for his disciples to launch out to sea.

This storm tested their faith in him. In this moment of crisis, they panicked. They failed the test.

Jesus rebuked them. But in his grace, he rescued them. Revealing his faithfulness to them and his ability to overcome what caused them to fear.

After Jesus' resurrection, we witness a change in his disciples in the book of Acts. They no longer hide. They no longer live in fear.

They are bold. They are courageous men. They live by faith, trusting in the one who overcame more than the storm. Who overcame death. Jesus never promised his disciples then, nor his disciples today, that they will never face trouble or experience storms in this life.

In fact, he said to expect them. In John 16, 33, he said to his disciples, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart. I have overcome the world. Jesus has promised to be with us in the midst of trouble and during times of crisis.

He's promised to never leave us or abandon us. When we feel overcome with fear in moments of crisis, instead of panicking, he wants us to trust in him.

We must trust in the one who has overcome. The disciples' lack of faith was rebuked and by extension, so is ours. Much is revealed about us in times of crisis.

When there are problems in our marriage, with our finances, with our work, when we lose a job or a loved one, when we face serious illness that could lead to death, when obeying God means losing something we fear losing, when the storms of life completely change whatever plans we had for the future, when we view times of crisis as a dead end instead of an opportunity to demonstrate our faith, we rightly criticize the health and wealth gospel, how that false gospel twists God's word to say what it doesn't say and promise what it doesn't promise.

But when you face times of crisis, when you feel overcome with fear and if you panic in those times, aren't you acting as if the health and wealth gospel is what you believe?

When you think or when you pray, I've served, I've given, I've been good, Lord, why me? Why this trouble? Where's my reward?

The original recipients of Hebrews faced trouble for their association with Jesus Christ. At one time, they responded to persecution with remarkable faith.

The writer of Hebrews writes about that, encourages them in doing that in Hebrews 10, 32 through 36. There he says, but recall the former days when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with suffering, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, sometimes being partners with those so treated.

For you had compassion on those in prison and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward.

For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. As their suffering continued and perhaps intensified, some of them were drifting away from Christ.

They were tempted to neglect His great salvation. So the writer of Hebrews, inspired by the Holy Spirit, writes to urge them not to shrink back, not to lose their confidence, to not look back, but to press on to remain faithful.

In chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews provides illustration of the faithful, men and women who persevered, who endured suffering, who pressed on in hope of receiving the final reward.

In verses 3 through 7, we see that faith is what pleases God. It sees what is invisible. Verses 8 through 22 capture the future character of faith, focusing on the future promises of blessing received from God by those who follow Jesus Christ.

Verses 23 through 29 emphasize faith that trust in God during suffering and in times of danger. We see that through the example of Moses. We learn that whatever earthly treasures are lost, forfeited, or traded to identify with Christ aren't really losses at all, but truly great gains.

Because in Jesus, we have an eternal reward, a better reward, a superior reward. In our text today, we learn another important aspect of what it means to live by faith.

And it's the main idea for this morning's sermon. Biblical faith overcomes fear. Biblical faith overcomes fear.

In our text this morning, we are presented with three examples that teach this principle. that faith in God and His infinite resources and ability, trusting in His Word, looking to Christ, our overcomer, will keep us calm and help us be courageous instead of being overcome with fear.

Did you know in the Bible, we are commanded either to not fear or not be afraid 365 times by God. That's one for every day of the year. when we are overcome with fear, we don't live by faith.

And faith is what pleases God. God isn't pleased when we live in fear because fear communicates that we don't trust Him.

Whereas faith does. I know that today many of you are facing really hard things. you have seemingly come to a dead end in your life.

An obstacle that seems insurpassable. An opposition that seems insurmountable. Brother, sister, your Lord who loves you has a word for you today.

I've prayed for you and I hope that the Holy Spirit uses these words He's inspired that your heart will take courage.

That you will continue to hope in the Lord that you will be patient instead of panic living by faith in the one who has already overcome for you.

If you're here this morning and you are not saved you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior I couldn't imagine I could not imagine living in this world without knowing the hope that I have in Jesus.

I would live in a constant state of panic and fear. If you think about it humanity's advancements and attempts to deliver a more peaceful and prosperous future have failed.

hope in man has produced constant disappointment. The more prosperous our nation has become the more new ideas that are tried the more depressed people are when they fail and fail again.

Some people are afraid to keep living others are trying to preserve their lives because they fear dying. that's not the existence God intended for any of us.

God has brought you here to hear a better message to hear the truth and I hope that you will hear and believe it today. That you will know true peace. That you will know true prosperity in the only one who can give those things to you.

Biblical faith overcomes fear. Three examples for us to take heart and be of good courage to live by faith in the one who has overcome. The first principle from verse 29 is this biblical faith follows God through impossible obstacles.

Biblical faith follows God through impossible obstacles. Look again with me at verse 29. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea on dry land but the Egyptians when they attempted to do the same were drowned.

The writer of Hebrews has shared Moses as an example of what it means to live by faith in verses 23 through 28. If you remember God called Moses after he fled Egypt to go back to Egypt and serve as his messenger the man through whom he would use to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt.

Pharaoh refused to obey God's order to let his people go which incurred God's wrath through a series of ten plagues. On the night of the tenth and final plague the angel of death passed over the homes of the Hebrews who obeyed God's command to coat the door posts of their homes with the blood of a lamb.

That night Pharaoh finally released the Hebrews from their captivity. And then we read in Exodus 13 18 but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea and the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

God then told them to camp by the sea in Exodus 14 2 and informed them that the king of Egypt would pursue them however the result would end in a triumphant victory.

Exodus 14 3 through 4 for Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel they are wandering in the land the wilderness has shut them in and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord and they did so just as God said Pharaoh had a change of heart and he ordered his army to pursue the Israelites so God led the people he just miraculously delivered from Egypt to the Red Sea he told them that Pharaoh and all of his hosts would pursue them but that he would get glory over Pharaoh and all of Egypt would know that he is the Lord just as God said we read in Exodus 14 9 the

Egyptians pursued them all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army and overtook them encamped at the sea by Pah Ha Hiroth in front of Baal Zaphon the Israelites were caught in between an impassable sea and an invincible army for them but they had God's word God told them that this was going to happen so you think that the Israelites might be thinking we're saying all is going just as God said that it would God rescued us he led us to this place he told us that Pharaoh and his army would pursue us all that's left for him to do now is to get glory that's not what they thought or said Exodus 14 10 12 tells us when Pharaoh drew near the people of

Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians were marching after them and they feared greatly and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord they said to Moses is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness what have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt is not the people turned on their rescuer they turned on their deliverer and expressed their regret for listening to Moses and following God to this place where they felt certain they would die sometimes we face obstacles that seem impossible and we think as they thought this is the end or if we're honest we pray for it to be the end Elijah had experienced the awesome power of

God on Mount Carmel but then he fled in fear of Queen Jezebel who was determined to kill him 1 Kings 19 4 we read but he himself Elijah when a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree and he asked that he might die saying it is enough now oh Lord take away my life for I am no better than my father's Elijah had just seen God's power on full display at Mount Carmel and he believed that that would lead to revival but it only intensified Jezebel's hatred towards him and her desire to kill him Job was so overwhelmed by deep physical suffering the loss of his children the ruin of his livelihood so overwhelmed that he cursed the day he was born and he wished that God would put an end to his life

Job 3 3 through 11 and 6 8 through 9 later Moses burdened and fed up with the constant bickering complaining and rebelling of the Israelites asked God to put an end to his misery by putting an end to his life numbers 11 14 through 15 whether the request was made to end suffering or to avoid it God supplied what was needed to strengthen each person in that moment that they would continue to follow him impossible obstacles dead ends are great places for the living God to demonstrate his awesome power dead ends bring us to a place where we reach the end of ourselves the end of our strength the end of our intellect the end of our ability where the only way through is for

God to make a way brother sister if you are in that place as strange as this may sound to you right now you are in a good place when we reach the end of ourselves we learn to die to ourselves to humble ourselves and God begins to work in ways that strengthen our faith in him dead ends are places for the living God to demonstrate his awesome power the Israelites were led by God to an impossible obstacle they thought there was no way through this dead end that would end in their death then came the miracle in Exodus 14 21 through 22 then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the

Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided and the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left God led the Israelites to the impossible obstacle and despite their fears he made a way and they followed him through and reached the other side safely then when the Egyptians tried to follow them through the Lord unparted the waters vanquishing their adversaries in an instant impossible obstacle was the way for God's people to learn to trust in his word but there's more to this story the Old Testament prepares the way for the New Testament and all of God's promises ultimately find their yes and amen in Jesus

Christ the exodus the parting of the Red Sea were historical events but they were events that prefigured a greater miracle the Israelites were saved physically from slavery in Egypt Christ has come to set us free from slavery to sin slavery that no person could escape on their own in their own power and the wages of sin is death in Christ we've passed through death to life just as the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in faith so we are saved by faith in Christ today we've been washed by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us the old person is dead newness of life has come our enemies have been defeated and in

Jesus we are free Jesus said in John 8 34 through 36 truly truly I say to you everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin the slave does not remain in the house forever the son remains forever so if the son sets you free you will be free indeed and we anticipate another exodus in which Jesus will return to take us home to our eternal reward biblical faith follows God through impossible obstacles not just to them but through them even if that obstacle means our physical death we can take comfort knowing that our good shepherd will guide us through the valley of the shadow of death as he takes us home take heart take courage be patient and wait and see what

God will do don't panic be obedient live by faith now the second principle in verse 30 biblical faith faces overwhelming opposition biblical faith faces overwhelming opposition by faith verse 30 says the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days from Israel's escape and redemption from Egypt the writer moves to the first battle and the conquest of the promised land the story of the walls of Jericho falling is recorded in Joshua chapter 6 verses 1 through 27 after 40 years wandering the desert of Sinai the people of Israel were now at the eastern banks of the Jordan river they got there through another miraculous parting of a river this time the Jordan river so that this people could pass through

Moses had died Joshua was their new commander their new leader and this new generation of ragtag nomads faced overwhelming odds if they were going to take the promised land they would have to get through Jericho and its walls which modern excavations revealed to have been between 30 and 35 feet high and 13 to 14 feet wide in ancient warfare such cities were taken either through surrounding the walls and cutting it off the people off from food and water and supplies to starve them out and to force them to surrender which could take months or you could try to tunnel underneath the walls or build a mound of earth to create a sort of ramp to enter over the top of the wall any of these plans would have taken a long time to execute and it's not like the enemy was just going to sit back and watch it happen

Joshua was chosen by God to be Israel's leader and commander and when they came to Jericho Joshua was visited by another commander look with me at Joshua 5 13 through chapter 6 verse 5 when Joshua was by Jericho he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand and Joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adversaries and he said no but I am the commander of the army of the Lord now I have come and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worship and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant and the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua take off your sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy and

Joshua did so now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel none went out and none came in and the Lord said to Joshua see I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and mighty men of valor you shall march around the city all the men of war going around the city once thus shall you do for six days seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark on the seventh day you shall march around the city and when they make a long blast with the ram's horn when you hear the sound of the trumpet then all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up everyone straight before him Joshua calls the commander of the Lord's army Lord this is the name for God I believe this is a

Christophany a pre incarnate in the Old Testament giving Joshua this strategy to take this city in a very strange way the Israelites would use physical force later as they conquered the promised land but here at the outset at the very beginning of this campaign God wanted to show the Israelites as well as their opposition how powerful he is Joshua follows the Lord's plans exactly he does no more and he does no less no matter how foolish they might have felt or how silly they looked marching around these walls for a week they obeyed God's command that had been a problem with the prior generation who were afraid of the spies report about the size of the inhabitants of the land and were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years as punishment for their unbelief you see the real obstacle and opposition wasn't from without

God's people it was from within the opposition wasn't too powerful for God the real difficulty was getting his own people to go with him where he wanted to take them on the seventh day the people marched trumpets blew and the people shouted and the walls came down centuries later the pre-incarnate Christ became incarnate in his incarnation he defeated overwhelming opposition Satan sin and death he defeated these enemies by his sinless life and through his sacrificial death on the cross and on the cross Jesus shouted he shouted it is finished and in that moment there was a great earthquake the earth shook the veil in the temple was torn into our great high priest made the sacrifice to completely totally and permanently atone for our sins and half the time it took for the walls of

Jericho to come down in just three days as he said the tomb was empty Jesus rose and he lives and he's conquered our opposition to bring us to a better promised land there is overwhelming opposition to our faith today but as God's people today we don't lose heart we don't run and hide we go we answer and we use the weapons of our warfare 2nd corinthians 10 3 through 5 tells us what those are for though we walk in the flesh we are not waging war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ we encounter lies with truth and we defend the faith we face opposition with grace and courage hopes that our

Lord will be glorified as more come to faith in him now the third principle in verse 31 biblical faith fervently welcomes outcasts biblical faith fervently welcomes Outcasts verse 31 again says by faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies Rahab's story is found in Joshua beginning in chapter 2 before entering the land west of the Jordan Joshua sent two spies on a recognizance mission the king of Jericho heard that there were two Israelite spies within the city and he ordered them to be brought to him Rahab protected these men these spies by hiding them on her roof eventually helping them to escape why did she do this why did she do this look with me at Joshua 2 8 through 14 before the men lay down she came up to them on the roof and said to the men

I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you for we have heard how the Lord dried up who were beyond the Jordan to Sihon and Og whom you devoted to destruction and as soon as we heard it our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man because of you for the Lord your God he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath now then please swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you you will also deal kindly with my father's house and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from death and the men said to her our life for yours even to death if you do not tell this business of ours then when the

Lord gives us land we will deal kindly and faithfully! her was good news to her she saw the spies not as threats to her safety but as a way out of her sinful life when the Israelites came to Jericho Rahab obeyed the spies instructions hanging a scarlet cord from her windows so that she would be spared when they saw it just as the Israelites were rescued from Egypt by the scarlet blood of the lamb so Rahab displayed the bread in her window and so she too was spared she was saved she was an unlikely convert the Lord knew how he was going to take Jericho scripture doesn't say that God gave Joshua a command to send spies to do this recognizance mission neither does scripture say that he punished them for doing it quite the opposite in fact the spies were sent on a rescue mission and they didn't realize it their true purpose

I believe wasn't to find a way to infiltrate Jericho but to rescue Rahab from it Rahab became an Israelite she married a man and together they had a son whose name was Boaz who married a lady whose name is Ruth who was the great grandmother of King David through whom the promised Messiah descended Rahab her name is recorded in Matthew's gospel in his genealogy of Jesus Christ from prostitute to ancestor of the King of Kings that's quite a change isn't it who would have thought that a person like

Rahab would be related to Jesus Christ the holy son of God scripture tells us that all of us who have been saved by Christ are related to Christ we are his brothers we are his sisters we are co-heirs with him friend you might be here this morning you might be listening to this somewhere and you might think that like Rahab you are an outcast people have treated you that way and you think that you have sinned so much and so big that there's no hope for you but to continue on in this miserable existence friend that is not the case if you will come to

Christ in faith he will completely and totally cleanse you of your sins he will clothe you in his righteousness he will save you and he will keep you and though the world might treat you as an outcast he never will and he has you here to listen to this sermon to know his love and his grace that you would repent of your sins and come to him and he will receive you as he received Rahab and he will adopt you into his family and you will be a child of God forever now how does this relate to overcoming fear for us well I think if we're honest in the church there are some people brother sister that we're afraid to share the gospel with we encounter men and women like

Rahab in our life and if we're honest sometimes we think that they are too far gone to be saved or we look on them so poorly as an outcast that we just can't imagine talking to such a person may God forgive us and may he give us the strength to overcome that fear that we would go to them that we would share the gospel with them and that we would hope that an outcast would become a brother or sister in Christ and if God is gracious to save them may we love them with a Christ like love may we count them as part of our family not holding their past sins against them that God has forgiven them but welcome them as a brother welcome them as a sister and be thankful and rejoice in their salvation don't be afraid of the person

God has commanded you to share the gospel with and you know this is our mission as a church we exist to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who delight in him who demonstrate his goodness as we declare his gospel to our neighbors and to the nations and if this mission statement is going to be a reality then we cannot let fear be something that holds us back we must be obedient to our commander we must go where he calls us to go we do what he commands us to we wait and we trust our Lord will provide a way we are not overcome by fear we press on in faith we live by faith as we prepare to go to the Lord in prayer this morning there's some reflection questions that I encourage you to look over to be prayerful about during this time of prayer you've heard

God's word you know what he's commanded now what will you do this is your time of decision think about these things how do you act in times of crisis what does that reveal about your faith do you panic are you afraid do you run do you hide do you ask God why me how do you act in times of crisis what does this reveal about your faith and then what do you most fear right now what is the thing that you're most afraid of right now and how does God want you to face that fear how will you demonstrate your faith in Christ in times of crisis when you're tempted to be afraid think about these things now as we go to the Lord in a time of quiet reflective prayer heavenly father you know every person in this room

Lord you know what obstacles they've come through you know what difficulties they're facing Lord you know what obstacles and difficulties that we will face as we follow you in this world until we come home God for those who are presently facing the situation that is tempting them to fear Lord I pray that you would for them encourage their faith remind them Lord of what is true and I pray Lord that you would help them to be patient that the battle is yours that you've already overcome as hard as it is for us

Lord sometimes the best thing for us to do is to just sit back and wait for you to make a way where it seems like there is no way God when we face situations where our faith is tested and again where we're tempted to panic Lord help us to remember that these are opportunities for us to demonstrate to a lost world that our hope is not in this world it's not in the treasures of this world or anything that this world would have to offer us our hope is in you and we are looking forward to our eternal reward to be with you in your eternal promised land Lord there are many in this nation who are hostile many in this world who are hostile to the gospel and

Lord we know that going to them will mean insult ridicule potentially death to God to God to God to God to God to God God that we would not be afraid of men that we would not be afraid of losing our comforts but that we would be courageous and that we would be bold that we would speak the truth in love and with grace in the hopes Lord that you will use that testimony to save many and that you will be exalted in the life we live and if it's your will the death that we die Lord of all people in this world we should be the most courageous of all people in this world Lord in you we have nothing to fear and so

God I pray that we would act and that we would speak and that we would live confidently knowing that truth Lord we love you and we ask for your help and we trust that you will provide it in Jesus name we pray Amen In us we can see we can see we are we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have we have fathers fathers fathers fathers ones fathers unf fathers