Impossible Without Faith

Today on Summit life with Judy Greer will never please God. What I mean by that is, everything he reveals live slightly as disciple ball meaningfully in his mission will never do that until your combats that God is and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently sing like.

As always, I'm your host, smiling, benefits, you know, it's really not hard to be a cultural Christian today in America going to church periodically enrolling your kids in a one or Sunday school teacher or most of all posting something on social media, but none of these things really requires much pain today. Pastor Jenny will be talking about the real difference between mere belief in a true saving faith. Now you missed any of the messages in the study called, Christ is better. Be sure to catch up right away JD clear.com right now. Let's join Pastor JD for this message. He titled impossible without faith in Christ is better in this chapter or chapter 11 is all about faith.

Here is a confession that you won't often hear from the pastor okay ready for this.

In many ways it takes very little faith for me to follow Jesus, there's very little faith for me in many ways to follow Jesus, denying God would be much more costly for my family the following him. It is always right your meds about him home this afternoon, so my wife will believe in God anymore only devastating for our family be devastating for my job right the first job performance box to check. There is a Christian check. You know if I am on it.

If that's not part of my life conduct and pray was I have enough cash flow that I'm not usually worried about where my next meal is coming from you, like kids come together with breakers of God and company this afternoon when I go to be able to eat tonight say it's really easy for me to walk with God and do Christian phase without any faith, but that can only take you so far, because if you're a thinking person then eventually you get confronted by something in the Bible really hard to believe.

Sometimes I'll be a discussion with somebody who's not a Christian. Adobe challenging me on what I believe you know like surely you don't actually believe this and I had this little camisole got check like I do actually believe that because the Bible says it, or I will sense that God is asking me to do something that really puts things on the line to make a financial sacrifice or give up right or privilege or to put myself or my family and some kind of danger or deprivation, and I got to do that in order to obey and I will have this kind of moment to give Ron what do I actually believe these things this week past. We goes with a bunch of missionaries and I always love hearing their stories about how God directed them to do what they do and so is it but my question I went when I met I will tell you your story. You hardly ever hear somebody say all I just love the traveling I did like my family, so I wanted to live in a strange place to learn a whole new culture and language. We replace about electricity when they ride in the street every other day that was my things. That's why I'm over here the other side of the world that never happened. I never get that answer usually is simply well we were convinced this is what God wanted us to do want to go to couples. I have a conversation with this past week was the mom and dad of one of our staff members here in they told me about you be at the top of their day in their little real estate business and they made tons of money and they were.

You had the dream house that they wanted to build they finally building. It was everything they hoped it would be taken.

The vacations they wanted to take a set I started on my toy collection that I hear that you get into in your 50s. Yes, I collected you know something is really expensive.

A lot of amenities I got started two or three. Those collections is like a look around.

I got everything he says my wife and I sit in the living room one night look across the room at each other like that's it. This is what our lives were about this achievement all the stuff we we we went when we hit every box we wanted to go forward. That's it is about that time were learning about the mission of God in the world what eternity is like in this that we just what we said we just hit this can be all of it.

He simply so we put all that we sold every bit of a we gave almost all of it away so that we came in. I will live in here and the other side of the world taking Jesus the people now it was the oddest that takes a different kind of faith commitment than most of us in this room are used to living with they pursuant what was real was tangible for what was invisible. I don't mean this to be overly rude or overly blunt, but I am convinced that many of us squeak out a Christian life without ever really being confronted with the hard questions of faith taking your kids to church or participating in the Christian subculture that you grew up in and are most comfortable with is not a bold risk of faith for many of you this is the path of least resistance. I'm sorry if that sounds rude but this is the truth.

But the writer of Hebrews makes it clear listen very carefully verse six without faith it is the word church impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who give up everything to follow him.

You can only go so far without faith. Keep in mind what's going on here in Hebrews, the writer, if you will call us admonishing a group of people for whom following Jesus is gotten very difficult. People are being persecuted for their faith not included many of their friends and some of their friends.

A fall away from the faith before telling them you're crazy but a lot of unanswered questions like God. Why how come you're doing this and got if you were real. How come this didn't happen or where were you when this happened to me I don't understand this. Many of the people that the writer is addressing or starting the light behind the faith of the writer tells them that there is no way no way they're going to make it if I don't, honestly and truly believe that God exists in the following him is worth it. We live in a world where it without a lot of persecution for our faith lease. It's been that way up and you know the most part most people don't bother us in our walk with Jesus and so is fairly easy for us to go through the motions of the Christian life without ever really considering the questions of faith, but we will never please God.

We will never go all the way with him.

What I mean by that is, believe everything he reveals live truly has his disciple be involved meaningfully in his mission will never do that until we are convinced that God is and that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him to. Here's what I'm going to do on the walking to the last half. Hebrews 11 to see several specific examples of what it looks like I have faith and never to use those to discuss what exactly faith is and where faith comes from verse 17 is where we will begin. Verse 17 by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said to Isaac shall your offspring be named. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead. That's what it took God had told Abraham to sacrifice his son.

Now this was more than just the sacrifice of something that he love as significant as that was, as I told you before those days your sons or your hope for the future. The society they lived in was agrarian. So the more sons you had more workers you had to work the land and attend the herds. The more income you could generate for your family. Plus this was an age before Social Security and 401(k) retirement homes so your children were your safety net. The more children you have, the more likely you were to be taken care of in old age. By the way, this is still my philosophy is apparent. That's why I have four children only want to been to get rich and Veronica and I will be fine right but in those days it was everything she did have a bank account, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggeman says this childlessness in any ancient text or narrative is the effective metaphor for hopelessness without children, there was no foreseeable future for yourself or your family or for your people, Abraham and Sarah have one child. It was a miracle baby they had in their 90s and God is asking them to give him up. He is asking them to give up all that they look to for life, for joy and for security to put their earthly hopes and dreams on the line and walk away from all of that faith and they did it. They said God. Our futures are in your hand.

Our hope, our security, our joy.

We trust you with all of verse 21 by faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph who is his son bowing and worship over the head of the staff. By faith Joseph, at the end of his life made mention of the Exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. Here you got two stories of people who died in a state where it didn't look like God was anywhere close to fulfilling his promises. He said God told Abraham and his descendents. Jacob was his grandson Joseph was a great-grandson. God told Abraham and is the same as they would be a great nation they would have their own land there will be a blessing on the earth that we, Jacob, Abraham's grandson dies, his family is in Egypt because it had to flee the promised land of famine. Things are going the wrong direction right on the right direction it's going the wrong direction rather than looking like they're being made into a great nation, the blessings that you're there just in somebody else's nation living off the handouts.

When Jacob dies, he leans on his staff and he repeats the promise to his son and he asked to be buried back in the promised land. When Joseph, his son dies. Both families diligently does the same thing. This is when our family returns to the land God gave us did up my bones and taken back because that is the place God promised to us and God will do his word. I know this is not like right now will return to her teaching here on Summit light in just a moment before we do. I wanted to quickly share a little bit about our new resource this month, the book of Hebrews takes us on a journey that compares and contrasts Jesus to historical people and events from the Bible through these comparisons we see how he is greater than anything that has come before. See the help for a new creation. This is why we named our newest Bible study is that it is a 10 session workbook that includes some helpful insight and deeper reflection question meant to give you greater understanding deep in your faith in Christ. Our goal is always for everyone within our listening audience to put Jesus first in their lives. Do this with a friend or small group and growing faith together give us a call at 866-335-5220 or go online teaching career.com and reserve your copy today. Now let's get back to today's message by Pastor Gina Greer 24 by faith Moses when he was growing up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God that you enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin, he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth that all the treasures of Egypt. He was looking through the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not be afraid of the anger of the king because he and Jordan seen him who is was an S4 church very important and visible thing about how crazy this is Moses has as his possession all the privilege all the position you could ever have hoped for.

He's got one of the highest positions in the world's mightiest empires walked away from all trade to be invisible for the invisible because he believed verse 28 by faith he kept the Passover and sprinkle the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the children of Israel believing what God says about how he's going to save even though nothing like that had ever happened before you imagine trying to explain Mr. Egyptian neighbors. Okay, really.

I tell when your sheep and paint the blood on top of the door and why is that because of death Angel coming tonight all the death Angel coming tonight's yes we will get right on that you imagine how humiliating this was. Verse 29 by faith. The people crossed the Red Sea in the dry land of the Egyptians when they attempted to do the same or ground. The children of Israel trust of the God to provide for them in an impossible situation. They been doing what God said.

He led them to the brink of the Red Sea to the sender by the Red Sea Mother's Day under the get word that the entire Egyptian armies coming up behind them to destroy them like… Problem when we do not like go forward… There's an ocean. There ocean. We'll just go through and Eli got us to start walking towards her face there and go, and they do it in as they're walking. Suddenly the sea opens up in front of them and they walk right through and closes behind them.

Verse 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fall down after they been encircled for seven days is what always gets me just an enemy under the new guys in the lander looking to impress, not dry goblets strategy strategy for the business enemy digestible together huddles months is arriving around the old circle and shout on, but what do you live everybody up and you can walk around Jericho nobodies go say a word to stare in on the last day you do it seven times and unit shout and I'm to bring the walls down.

What I what she what no fighting the battering ram snowflake he maneuvers Gus's note just walk around all of the appropriate time you give a shout of faith and I'll fight for you seven days of social awkwardness, followed by one shot of faith and they do it and God is in the city.

They are not what you learn. Three very important things about faith.

Number one faith is a response to God's revelation, faith is a response to God's revelation. Notice verse six that the definition of faith is relatively simple faith believes that God exists and believes that obeying him is worth that that is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Faith is simple, one level believing God really exists and you believe that following him is worth it. Now people look at that phrase that he exists and they say well that's the problem. How do you know that he exists.

We can see and we can't touch him again. Talk to it almost seems like the writer of Hebrews is saying is make some blind leap into the dark is a lot of believe God exists with no evidence, just because just because I choose to believe in. My grandma told me about. She was delighted some will do it.

She did. That's not what he saying though, believing that he exists means that you believe that God is as God has revealed himself.

That's what that phrase means a God text limit is something that is for some of you thought about shove your head underwater and hold it for about five or six minutes, but for maybe a couple your neighbors.

This is going to be helpful so you be a few minutes at just the time you think you are little good brown. I'll let you back up, a promise but hang with me because I think this is important lesson. The Bible never sets out to prove God philosophically. There's no book of the Bible called the five arguments for God. It just points to the places that God is speaking and says do you recognize that is the voice of God. For example in creation. Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God and the earth proclaims his handiwork. Their voice goes throughout all the earth, their words are heard in every language in the world. There is no place on earth that this voice is not heard. She most people look around creation and date the explanation that nothing comes nobody equals everything is just not that compelling. Francis crick was one of most famous atheists in the scientific community died recently, 2004. He wrote a book called the astonishing hypothesis.

Listen to his words was you. Your choice. Your sorrows your memories your ambitions your sense of personal identity and free will. The love you feel for another human are in fact no more than the behavior the impersonal behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.

You are in the end nothing but a pack of neurons. Everything is chemistry really that that were medically satisfying to you that you girls will receive a card that the love I feel for you baby is just a random assortment of chemicals that I inherited my desire to be with you is really just a desire there's chemical to propagate their own genetic think of our species. Would you be my Valentine really I guess enough not to make a Hallmark card it done soon. Youse know there's something more human experience than chemicals of firing neurons you since it and the gratitude you feel in your happiest moments. CS Lewis said that atheists have the profound problem of feeling grateful in their happiest moments, and not knowing who to thank. You hear his voice in the Bible you hear his voice in the person of Jesus you say.M.that's my creator, that's my father.

This you hear his voice and just recognize that these are the voice of God. Theologians call that the senses given obtuse and it works like your other senses it will prove logically that there is a God will think about your other senses if I asked you to prove with watertight logic that I was actually standing here and you were actually listening to me and your senses were not playing tricks on you and this is not all some illusion or a dream you probably couldn't do it but I know you could do it because philosophers concluded a long time ago that we can't prove the existence of anything outside of our own minds. You don't assume the world around you exist because you can prove it by logical inference your senses since me and you believe that your senses were telling you the truth.

Philosophers call that a basic belief or or think about how you know that certain things are wrong, like murder or genocide of child abuse, imagining that a Nazi who was trying to explain to you why Hitler's actions were working were not that bad.

Mr. lay it out your arguments from evolution in history and the greater good. Love a lot and listen to their arguments right because before you hear the reasoning you already know the wrong you know the wrong not because of reasoning, you know, the role on the basis of in-state many of our moral conclusions can be backed up by logic, but their basis is usually in-state that is not to say that there are not good philosophical reasons to believe in God.

There are and there are good evidential reasons to believe in Jesus the prophecies that the resurrection all those kinds of things but those things merely back up our senses given obtuse, our sense of the divine that you say, what about those people who don't believe if this really was a basic belief, everybody would have it, that's not true. According to the book of Romans were the results of our sinfulness was that our hearts were darkened and so our ability to perceive God got all messed up book of Romans says that the inability to perceive God is a kind of spiritual sickness if it's being spiritually dead, just like the person who she really struggles with the fact that the matrix is true probably have some issues for the person who thinks of child abuse may be okay as a morally dysfunctional heart. The person that is unable to perceive God in the world as a spiritual dysfunction in their heart. The Bible says by the way church. That's why we spent so much time in prayer for people because you can heal somebody's heart through logical argumentation. The Bible says we need regeneration. God might use our arguments in the process, but only his spirit restores our sanity web strategy before like this, you imagine, you got a guy stay on top of 30 story building he think he's a bird fly behind this guy like him and don't jump you can't fly.

You're not a bird he thinks is a bird every single time. What you gonna do is leave out the.now if you had the ability likely like so you had a needle of some kind sir of you poking his back and restore sanity doing menu asking the same question same evidence. Every single time he backs off. That led to comes that with you because his sanity has been restored. The difference is not a question.

The differences not be evident.

The differences in the condition of the heart.

The Bible teaches see that when God's spirit because the work of somebody that you look at the same set evidence, and whereas before there like I don't see how there's a God is a good look at that same evidence is like how could you not see God bear because he is everywhere. The greatest act of mercy to God to give to you is to open your eyes to himself, so faith is a response to the revelation that God has given it takes God at his word and believes that he is as he reveals himself to be better. Some of you say, but I just have such a hard time believing all these hard questions like if there really is a God who loves me.

Why did this happen to me I don't understand some of the moral codes of the Bible. Why is there a hell I feel he was and I really do one of these days I have more courage to write a book called the pastor with more questions than his parishioners. That's why were these people and he was about a way to the right of the recess to have all the answers when I can put in front of you is Jesus I can put up there, Jesus, and I can say that while we don't have all the answers. What we have is him and we can trust we can understand the basis of who we know him and follow Jesus, knowing that he might not give you all the answers right away.

A question we each have to wrestle with and might not always be easy to trust me, Jesus is worth it.

You're listening to Senate life. The Bible teaching ministry of pastor JD Greer. We are in a study of Hebrews called Christ is better if you'd like to hear the previous messages you can find them online@jdgreer.com it's our pleasure to give you access to these and other Bible study resources and today we'd like to get a very encouraging resource into your hands at the new 10 part Bible study based on our current teaching series. The main message of the book of Hebrews is don't give a it was written to a group of people. His faith in Jesus, was lacking many of us still struggle with the same problem and we find it harder and harder to walk with God, especially through life's most difficult moment to help us as we seek to deepen our faith in God to Christ that our Bible study tribes that Jesus is worthy of our trust and devotion will be glad to send you this brand-new study to thank you for your financial when you give a gift to some make it possible to Bible teaching to your radio station to give today enjoying our mission to bring the gospel to center for donate by calling 8335 24. You can always request it when you get online.com. I'm Molly that if it's inviting you to join us tomorrow as we learned that there's no such thing.

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