Wednesday, March 14, 2007

"By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones" (Hebrews 11:20-22).

IDEA: Faith is so valuable to God that He overlooks sin and weakness to focus on that.

PURPOSE: To help listeners see that we often put an emphasis on people's failures, but God puts an emphasis on their faith.

Do you ever read much biography? What separates a good biography from a poor one?

I. The writers of the Old Testament are good biographers. 

They not only write about people's successes, but they are also frank about people's failures.

Think about these Old Testament characters: Isaac, Jacob and Joseph--what do you know about their strengths and weaknesses?

Joseph is the only one without the evident weaknesses of the others, though he was foolish in telling his father and brothers to bow down to him.

II. When the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us about these men in 11:20-22, he doesn't mention their evident weaknesses, and he does not underline their strengths. 

He puts his entire emphasis on their faith.

They believed that God existed, not just in theory but in practice.

They also believed that He rewarded those who diligently sought Him (11:6).

III. What God values most in those who are Christ's followers is that they bet their lives on Him.

God does not shut His eyes to our weakness, but His eyes are wide open to our faith in Him and in His promises.