Sermon Cloud

WHY WE JUMP
"Jump" - Part 2
September 14th, 2008
Hebrews 11:1-3
Dwain Tissell

1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV)

1. YOU CAN BE SURE IT'S OK TO BELIEVE BECAUSE HE'S THERE.

Faith is confidence that God IS WHO HE SAYS HE is
and that he will DO WHAT HE PROMISED TO DO.

Noah had faith. So he built an ark to save his family. He built it because of his great respect for God. God had warned him about things that could not yet be seen. Because of his faith he showed the world that it was guilty. Because of his faith he was considered right with God. Hebrews 11:7 (NIV)

Abraham had faith. So he obeyed God. God called him to go to a place he would later receive as his own. So he went. He did it even though he didn't know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 (NIV)

Because of his faith he left Egypt. It wasn't because he was afraid of the king's anger. He didn't let anything stop him. He saw the One who can't be seen. Hebrews 11:27 (NIV)

The people had faith. So the walls of Jericho fell down. It happened after they had marched around the city for seven days. Hebrews 11:30

What more can I say? I don't have time to tell about all the others. I don't have time to talk about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah. I don't have time to tell about David, Samuel and the prophets. Hebrews 11:32 (NIV)

All those people were still living by faith when they died. They didn't receive the things God had promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a long way off. They openly said that they were outsiders and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:13 (NIV)

Women received their dead back. The dead were raised to life again. Others were made to suffer greatly. But they refused to be set free. They did that so that after death they would be raised to a better. Some were laughed at. Some were whipped. Still others were held by chains. They were put in prison. Some were killed with stones. They were sawed in two. They were put to death by the sword. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats. They were poor. They were attacked. They were treated badly. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains. They lived in caves. They lived in holes in the ground. All of those people were praised because they had faith. But none of them received what God had promised.
Hebrews 11:35-39 (NIV)

2. YOU CAN EXPECT FROM GOD EVERYTHING HE HAS PROMISED.

12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. 26When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. Luke 5:12-13 (NIV)

41 He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:41-42 (NIV)

3. HE IS ALL THE EVIDENCE YOU NEED TO JUMP.

...the righteous will live by their faithfulness. Habakkuk 2:4 (TNIV)

35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one 45will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 10:35-39 (NIV)