Faith That Works

Introduction

Good morning. Will you open your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 11? Hebrews, the 11th chapter. And we’ll begin the reading this morning with verse 23. Hebrews chapter 11 and in verse 23. There it is written, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

By faith, he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 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. And this morning, what I’d like to speak of is what’s going to be associated with the passage that’s upright under the title, Faith that works. And if you notice what’s interesting about these three Old Testament stories, is they really provide the basis to us for what faith is. What is involved in faith? What is faith? Of course, Hebrews 11 is that wonderful chapter, but we know for this question of faith and works, and how do they work together, if you allow me to say that?

We look at James chapter 2. Will you look there quickly with me? Because any lesson like this needs to have a James chapter 2 reading. At least a couple verses. In verse 18, it’s written, but someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? And of course, the verse we know so well in verse 26, for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith, apart from works, is dead. And you’re thinking, well, I know all this.

This makes sense to me. But unfortunately, this doesn’t make that much sense to the world around us. And what’s perhaps most tragic is the Christian kingdom, and I’m using the word Christian in the American umbrella use of it. The Christian world is divided. There are people who believe that God exists. And there may be some of those people here this morning, and maybe even myself, who, when I examine my belief in God, it hasn’t caused me to obey him as I should. We must constantly, I must constantly be considering what does God want me to do? What does God expect from me? And one such way is to determine what must I do to be saved. And we know that there’s many common objections given here.

I want to read a paragraph I took from an article on Carm.org by Matt Slick. The title of the article is Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation? But notice the points he pulls out and think about the idea of faith, verse, or faith with words. If we are saved by faith, then we are saved by faith when we believe and not when we get baptized. Otherwise, we are not saved by faith. Furthermore, if baptism is necessary for salvation, then anyone who receives Christ on his deathbed in a hospital, and who also believes Jesus is God in the flesh, who died and rose from the dead for his sins, etc., would go to hell if he doesn’t get baptized before he died. This would mean that we were not justified by faith, because if we were, then the person would be saved.

Also, if baptism is necessary for salvation, now listen on this point, please. Then all babies who die go to hell since they weren’t baptized. Remember, when someone says that baptism is necessary, there can be no exceptions. Otherwise, it isn’t necessary. Now, I hate to be, you know, the bearer of bad news here, but his own exception clause destroys the idea of faith because what baby do you know that has faith? And since he claimed that there are no exceptions, he also equally damned the very people that Jesus said to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. Now, granted, that is a portion of the article and not the whole thing. If you would like to read it, like I said, carm.org, is baptism really necessary for salvation?

Is baptism necessary for salvation, excuse me? So feel free to look at that article if you want. But I hope you were equally disturbed by me as he went through several ideas. One such that you would find commonly, perhaps not in the paragraph of reading I gave, is that baptism as a work is not necessary for salvation. Why? Because it’s a work, and we’re afraid of works. It’s almost irrational how we’ve gotten that way. Well, we can’t earn salvation, and baptism is a work. I haven’t quite worked out how that’s a work, but believing isn’t. Maybe it has to do with if your body actually moves. I’m not 100% sure on that. That seems to be the gist of the arguments. Another such one is that we can’t earn our salvation by going through the works of something like baptism or other rites of obedience to God.

We have in place said that God would owe us our salvation. That is, we earned our salvation by the works. That is the charge, of course. And finally, there is the exception clause, and you definitely heard that, did you not? What about that poor person on their deathbed who converts at the last moment? I have a lot of questions about that person. Where were they the first X amount of years of their life, among others, but nonetheless, we’ll discuss those as we move forward. But I think the Bible explains these in great detail. The Bible outlines for us, with great common sense thinking, how faith without works is dead. Now, by the way, the Bible explicitly says that as we’ve read. It talks about faith without works is useless.

It explicitly says that, as we have read. But apply these lines of reasoning to the following three stories that we will look at as called out by the inspired scripture in Hebrews chapter 11. We’re going to look at the Passover. Then we will look at the Red Sea crossing. And finally, we will examine the walls of Jericho falling. And I want you to consider amongst yourselves. Is this a sign what God asked for them? Did they earn what God blessed them with? And would an exception prove that they did not need to obey God. With that in mind, turn back with me in your Old Testament to Exodus chapter 11. In Exodus chapter 11, again, I want you to think about those questions that we brought up.

1. The Passover: Was the Blood Just a Sign?

But let’s read in Exodus chapter 11. You know what’s happening here. The people are in bondage in Egypt. And Moses, who we read about in Hebrews chapter 11, is ready to deliver them. But the Pharaoh will not go along with the plan. Remember, his heart was hardened. And so what did God do? Well, he sent the plagues. Pick up with me at this tragic plague threatened in chapter 11 of Exodus. Exodus chapter 11, read with me in verse 1. Excuse me, we’ll start in verse 4. So Moses said, Thus says the Lord, about midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. Quick side note. Where are the people of Israel? In the land of Egypt.

Let’s keep reading. From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave rule who is behind the handmail, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. And all these servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out, you and all the people who follow you, and after that I will get out. And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. And he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. So what is the threat? The final plague will be an extermination of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, if Pharaoh does not let his let the people go. And we see from verse 10 that that is not what happened. And thus we read in chapter twelve, what does God do for his people? What about those Israelites who are in Egyptian bondage? Chapter twelve and verse one. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.

Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father’s houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat, you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts, and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

Read with me in verse 11. In this manner you shall eat it with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. Will you look at verses twelve and thirteen really closely with me? For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Now I have a question. Was the blood just a sign? Well, it’s kind of tricky. Look back at verse 13. Do you see it right there? The blood shall be a sign for you. So, yes, the blood is a sign. Now the question is, the underlying portion of that, is it just a sign? Let’s ask another question. Did they earn their life? Because as we know, God went forward with this plague, and for the Israelites who had sprinkled the blood on the two doorposts and on the lintel, God did what? He passed over them. And they were allowed to live. Did the Israelites, by doing what God had said, earn their life? Did God come to their house and say, you know what? Superman has his kryptonite.

I just can’t pass because I told you my weakness, and I can’t get past this blood. Is that what happened? I wonder, could we do this? Was there anything miraculous about doing what God had said? If you rewind a little bit in summary, what did he ask him to do? He made this the first month, and on the tenth day of that first month, what were they to do? They were to kill a male lamb without blemish, slaying him, excuse me, on the 14th, and they were to eat of it with unleavened bread that evening. And then they were to take the blood and sprinkle it on the doorposts and the lentil. Now I wonder, could we do that? Absolutely. Can I stop the Lord God from doing anything by my own power?

Certainly not. Consider that what God had given them was a chance at grace, a chance to obey him and to be saved by obeying him. I don’t care if you call it earning him or earning it or obeying it. The fact was, God said, do this and you will live. And so the people did it. That’s the Bible story, isn’t it? The Bible story is that Christ came and died for me. Christ is our Passover Lamb. If we will simply seek out Him and His blood and take advantage of His sacrifice, we will be saved. I don’t care what you say the reason is. The Bible says that is what we must do. Amen. And so that’s the way it is. And I wonder, going back to those objections towards something like baptism, and people say, well, it’s an outward sign of inward grace.

Was the blood on the doorpost and the lentil not a sign? It absolutely was. The Bible says it was a sign. Did that make it any less necessary? No. Whose houses did God pass over? Those who had the sign. Oh no, you’re just saying then that God said that it’s just a sign. God wasn’t stopped by that. God chose to honor the sign that he had told his people to fulfill and obey. It really breaks down that simply. We’re not talking about baptism. We’re talking about what happened in Exodus chapter 11 and verse 12. And we see that that story makes sense. If we put our faith in God, the deliverer, we will be delivered. What a wonderful God we serve. Consider with me in Exodus chapter 14.

2. By Faith They Crossed the Red Sea

We’re coming to crossing the Red Sea, and we know that this plague had its effect. Pharaoh finally said, Let the people go for a time. And so they’re chasing after the Egyptians are coming after the Israelites. And in Exodus chapter 14, begin the reading with me in verse 5. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed towards the people. And they said, What is this that we have done that we have let Israel go from serving us? So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him. Now picture this, and took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

The Egyptians pursued them. Verse 10. 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 in bringing us out of Egypt? Yes, it does start before they even fully get out from the grasp of the Egyptians a hundred percent. Is this not what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians. For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

And Moses said to the people, Fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent. Now notice what how is God going to deliver them? If they stand firm, what is going to be their salvation? In verse 15. The Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them.

And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, his chariots and his horsemen, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. When I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. And we know that the people were delivered. Moses did. The people did as God had expected them to. The staff was raised, the Red Sea was parted, and they crossed on dry ground. And I have a question. Who delivered the people from it from Egypt? Was it Moses? Was it the people themselves? Because God told them to do something. And listen, they even got their body moving. They walked across the sea. Did they deliver themselves from Egypt? Of course not. God delivered the people from Israel. Did they earn their safety?

Well, again, I don’t particularly care as long as we’re using Bible terminology for what you call what they did. But by faith, they crossed the Red Sea. Well, what faith? Their faith in God. Could we have done that? Raise your hand this morning, and this is a good test, and you’ll know why in a second. Raise your hand for me if you can hold up a staff. Can you raise out your hand and hold a staff? Raise your hand. This is depressing. Here we go. Okay, good. I thought we had a lot of people whose arms were stuck down for a little. Okay, we got a lot of people who can do that. Who can walk across the dry ground? Better raise your hand, otherwise I get to keep preaching because you can’t walk anywhere.

We can do this. We can all do what God did. God does the impossible so that man can do the possible. Do you see that? God makes the makes it all possible for man. We can walk, we can’t part the Red Sea, but God did it for us. We can’t kill all the firstborn of Egypt. We can’t threaten Pharaoh with plagues, but God can. And we can obey what God has said. We can take advantage of the impossible mountain that God moved for us. But it very well may require us to do something, to obey God and to take advantage of our God’s mighty power. And that is what the people of Israel did in Exodus chapter 14. Now, go back to one of our objections about works versus faith.

3. By Faith the Walls of Jericho Fell

Did they earn their freedom from Egypt here? Did they earn? Did they deserve the Red Sea to be parted? Did they just make it all happen and they just deserved to be away from Egypt? No. God delivered them. Does the fact that they obeyed God and crossed the dry ground of the Red Sea somehow invalidate God from being king over them and their deliverer? Of course not. They simply had faith that God could do what he said, and that trusting in God would deliver them. And again, they were right. Look with me at one final point. I want to look back at Hebrews chapter 11 for a moment. Will you turn back there with me? In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 30. Joshua chapter 5 and 6 are up there, but I want to read Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 30 first.

Of course, Joshua in chapter 5 and 6 is where we’re going to read about the walls of Jericho. And many of us know that wonderful story. But I want to know before we read the story, what made the walls fall? Alright, I’m going to put that question up behind me. By what did the walls fall? Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 30. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. There it is. We don’t have to do anything. God just gave them Jericho. That’s the proof, right? That’s not where the verse ends. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. Well, let’s investigate. What does that mean? Did they just sit there and did God have a spirit roam around?

And they just sat there and said, All right, thanks for doing that. We believed in you, so there are the walls. Let’s look. Joshua chapter 5 and verses and chap Joshua chapter 5 and 6. In Joshua chapter 5 and in verse 1. As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. Even other nations knew what God could do. But will you look with me in verse 13? In verse 13 of chapter 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 worshiped 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 at once. Thus you shall 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 seven times, and the priest shall blow the trumpets, 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 city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him. And in verse eight, and just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of Ramshorns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them.

The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark while the trumpets blew continually. But Joshua commanded the people, You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout, then you shall shout.

And we know how the story goes, don’t we? They do what God had said. But will you go back to verse 2 of Joshua chapter 6? Who delivered Jericho? And the Lord said, See, I have given Jericho into your hand. I could ask for another show of hands. Who can who can march around a city for seven days? Of course, maybe that’s a little less than just walking across the dry sea. We’re having to build up some salmon in here to get this done. Who can shout? Did they earn the walls of Jericho to fall? Did they deserve that on their own? No. And even any argument to the contrary is negated directly by verse 2. The Lord delivered Jericho into their hands. God delivered Jericho to his people, but they did something about it.

They didn’t just sit back and say, we have faith that God will keep his promises. Let God do it. Did they earn their victory? Again, I don’t necessarily mind what we call it. But they God said he would deliver them. God said to do this. And they did it. So if you want to say technically they earned it, fine. But without God, they weren’t going to get it that way. And that is a fact. Walls don’t fall at shouting. Good walls don’t. God delivered the people. God delivered his people who obeyed him. God’s people who obeyed him were given the land of Jericho because of their obedience and faith in God. It was by faith the walls of Jericho fell. Remember Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 30?

It wasn’t because they earned it, it was because of their faith. Their faith in who? Their faith in God. You examine these questions and time and again. We ask ourselves, can we do what God asked for us? And the answer is absolutely. Not because there’s power in the water of baptism, because we have some sort of holy water back there. Not because the people of Israel had special shoes and sneakers and special voice equipment that would make the walls fall. Not because the blood of the Lamb was special and it’s God’s kryptonite. Not because of any of those things, but because God made the impossible happen. We can take advantage of the possible that He requires of us. And see, really, that’s the difference in thinking, isn’t it?

Realizing that first and foremost, God did the impossible. But second of all, God actually does expect his people to obey him. You know, we talk about the exception clause, and I have another point, so don’t get too excited. That’s a point for conclusion. But before we move on there, God expects his people to obey him, doesn’t he? What about what if someone had sat home that day? What if one of the soldiers had just sat down and said, you know what? God’s going to deliver me. Would that have proven anything? Would God have delivered the city of Jericho to them? Not a hundred percent sure. But if all of the people sat down on the side and didn’t do what God said, would the walls have fallen?

It sure seems like not. Because in Joshua chapter 6, they were supposed to do this and they did it, and the walls fell. What’s the implication? If they were supposed to do this and they didn’t, how would the walls go? Probably still standing. But you know what that sentence is riddled with? Probably. Maybe. What we know is if you obey God and we have faith, a real faith, a real faith is a faith that works, mountains can move. The Red Sea can be part of, can be walked through on dry ground. God will pass over, taking the firstborns. The walls of a great fortified city can fall with marching, instrument blaring, and shouting. If we obeyed God, and that is what we know. Now there is one objection left.

4. The Objection: Those Are Old Testament Examples

I don’t know if you’re thinking about it. If someone may, they might say, well, those are old Testament examples. It’s different now, after all. It’s the time of grace that we live under now, not law. Well, first of all, those weren’t necessary facets of the old law, as it were. But obeying God is, of course, important and reflected in that. But look back with me at Hebrews chapter 11. Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 11. I want to look quickly. Look with me at verse 4. I need your scripture scanning eyes with me. Your scripture scanning eyes. In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 4, let’s get an idea of what faith is. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 4. By faith, Abel what? By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.

Look with me at verse 7. By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning vents as yet, unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. Could ask the same question. Was that God’s kryptonite? Was an ark made to the dimensions that God gave Noah, something that just would not be destroyed by the flood, and God knew that, and God couldn’t destroy it? Of course not. Noah constructed. Abel had offered. You see in verse 8, by faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called out to go to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. In verse 17, Abraham, by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up. Isaac, did you see it?

Abel offered. Noah constructed. Abraham obeyed. Abraham offered. And then you go back to our text in verses 28 and 30. By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea. Excuse me, that was 29, but verse 28. By faith, he, Moses, kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood. He kept and sprinkled. Were those just signs? Yes, they were signs, but they were not just signs because God told them those were the signs. Baptism is powerful because God told us that’s what to do. That is New Testament, brothers and sisters. That is God’s will for us. God wants us to be saved, and he tells us how we can do it. Do we trust him? Will we have faith? Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the convictions of things not seen.

Conclusion

For by it the people of old received their commendation. Will we receive a commendation? Do we have faith? We know that without faith it is impossible to please him. What type of faith does God accept? True faith. What is a true faith? Not only acknowledgement of God, not only believing that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. But what we see from the scriptures in the Old Testament and the New Testament is that real faith works. Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious Heavenly Father, we praise you for your greatness and recognize you and you alone as the one true and living God. We praise you for your grace and your mercy.

You spare us from the wages of sin, which is death by offering Jesus the Christ to die on the cross for our sins. We pray, O Lord, that we will have faith and obey you. Please, dear Lord, forgive us of our sin. We know that if we confess it that you will forgive us. Forgive us of when we’ve fallen short of obeying you. Forgive us of sins we may have committed not knowing that we have violated your law, your holy commands. Help us to not be afraid of obedience, but to be excited, to be strong, and to be faithful in serving you and being soldiers in your army and being lights into the world. We read about all that you’ve done in the in the Old Testament.

We looked at just a few things this morning in your holy word, which you revealed to us, and we’re thankful for that. We truly serve an awesome God. Thank you for hearing us. Thank you for caring about us. O Lord, help us to be strong and to not fall weak. Help us to not grow weary of doing good. Help us to trust you that you have the way of life, and to simply take what you have said and trust and obey. Lord, be with us as we go through this service. Help our classes to be taught well and pleasing and adhering to your will, and help us to worship and praise you in spirit and truth as you would have us do. It’s in your Son’s name we do pray.

Amen. We’re now dismissed to our Bible class.