Hebrews – Encouragement for a life of Faith
Part 6
“There has to be a pony in here somewhere”
Hebrews 6:18-19
Have you ever stopped to consider the difference between an optimist and a pessimist?
There was a research team at a college who received a grant to study just that thing
The difference between an optimist and a pessimist
In order to make a determination of the difference
They took two young boys and asked them to be part of a study
After a series of questions to both the kids and their parents
A plan was made and a rough determination of which one was a pessimist and which one was optimist was made
So for the first part of the test
They took the young man that they had determined to be the pessimist
And
Placed him in a room of brand new toys
He was surrounded by everything you could dream of
In another room
They placed the boy who they determined to be the optimist
This room was piled about 2-3 feet deep with horse poop
They left both the boys in the perspective rooms for about an hour
A video camera was set up in each room to allow the researchers to watch the responses
As they watched the first room
They noticed that
Inside the room the young boy was just sitting
Nothing had been opened
Nothing had been played with
He appeared to be very sad
So next they started watching the boy in the room full of Horse poop
The video showed the boy in that room very excited and franticly digging in the horse apples
So the team took their clip boards and went to each room and began their interviews of the boys
They asked the first
What’s wrong?
Why have you not played with any of the toys?
Do you not like them?
He said” I am afraid if I play with them, I might break them and that would make me sad”
They took their clipboards
Made their notes
And
They confirmed their theory on Pessimism
As they entered the next room
The team was a bit perplexed
This boy was still digging
They asked
Son
What are you doing?
He said” In a room this full of horse poop, there has to be a pony in here somewhere, and I am going to find him”
------Pause-----
Unfortunately as Believers we often tend to be like the first kid instead of the last
It is my desire today to try to show and teach why we should keep digging when life gives us less than we desire or even hope for
Continuing with our study of Hebrews today
We are going to shift just a bit from the mashing that our writer has been doing
Neither he nor I will or should or apologize for the toe stomping that has been prevalent in the messages the last few weeks
Guys
We need to hear the hard stuff
We need God’s word to show us what is wrong in our lives
And we need to make changes in our lives when it does
But
We also need to be encouraged sometimes
Please open your bibles to Hebrews Chapter 6 this morning
I need to tell you there are more toe stomping words in chapter 6 of Hebrews
It would have been very easy to continue on the path we have been on
But my desire this morning is to preach a softer
Kinder message
One that prayerfully will still cause conviction in our hearts
But one will make us feel good about being a believer
And encourage us for the things we do right
And cause us to keep digging when life does not turn out like we wish it had
We will cover the hard words in our bible study next week, so once again I encourage you to consider coming and being part of it
I need to do something right now
Those who come to the studies, I do not want to embarrasses you but I would like to ask that you stand up
For those not coming
I encourage you to go and talk to these that are standing
Hear their stories about their spiritual growth
Ask them questions about how God’s word is changing their lives and their outlook on life
------Pause------
In order today to see how we become spiritual optimists instead of spiritual pessimists
We need to go back to Hebrews
Please open your bibles to Hebrews 6
Throw your bulletins in there as we will e going back there several times this morning
“Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.”
The writer of Hebrews says that his desire for his congregation is that they will keep on loving other for as long as they live
The first way we shift from spiritual pessimism to spiritual optimism
Is to keep loving others
And doing so will cause what we hope for to come true
We will discuss hope more in detail latter
For now let’s look at what loving others means
In order to illustrate this point
I need to take you back to Chongwe village in Zambia
Last week I told you about the medical assessment side of our mission work there
I told you all about the malnourished kids
Today I want to tell you a bit more
Another aspect of our work was helping to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people in the area
What I mean by this is we provided bibles
We boldly preached God’s word
We prayed for and with the people
We had the privilege of baptizing a few
We cried with and laughed with them
And
We attempted to let them see and feel the love of Christ
We attempted to make them feel both loved and needed
Something many of them had never experienced
In doing so we helped providing spiritual and emotional healing though Christ
On the physical side
We built shelves and did repairs on the orphanage
We cooked for the people and helped provide clean water
We continued to provide medical treatment and medicine for those who needed it
We attempted to drill them a new well but our attempts at drilling a well were unproductive
But we were able to make arrangements to have the water tower filled daily by hauling water with oxcarts from a nearby well, providing clean pure water for our news friends
We also provided coats, blankets and other clothing
Something that was much needed as the people in the area were very poor
Many of those items were provided by our home churches and the love of many who sweated and sewed to make that happen—once again thanks to those who helped from home
God knew what he was doing on the day we handed out the coats
Kids came from everywhere
The school that was at the orphanage typically taught 40-50 kids
But on this cold, windy, wet and cloudy day
About 100 kids showed up
God in his wisdom and his mercy provided just enough jackets to go around
Here is where I want to show you a picture of love
And it is a picture that I think clarifies the writer attempt to challenge us to keep loving others
This part of our trip had a huge impact on me
I pray my sharing it will have some impact on you as well
One of the young boys in the village really touched my heart and we developed a strong bond
I don’t know if I will ever see him again in this life
I know I will see him in the next
But David still lives in my heart and in my thoughts and prayers
The day before we handed out the coats had been a very windy and cold day
It was July but that is winter in Zambia
For us 70 is not all that cold
But for Africa where the temperatures are usually over 100 it was very cold to them
I along with most of our group gave the light jackets that we had brought to the young men and ladies in the village that had been so helpful in our ministry
I made myself a poncho out of a blanket, causing me to look a little like I imagine John the Baptist or Elijah must have looked
But I digress
The boys and especially David were so proud of their new coats
They were strutting around
Smiling
Laughing
I imagine they must have thanked us a 100 times
Their joy made us very happy
So on the day we were handing out the rest of the coats
I was a bit surprised to find my young friend David
Huddling beside the mud school house out of the wind
Shivering to keep warm
So I asked him
David
Are you cold?
Yes – was his answer
They spoke very proper English in Zambia
None of the naah and yeah that we tend to hear in our country
Yes he said
I asked him
David, where is the coat I gave you yesterday?
He pointed to another young man and said
He was cold so I gave it to him
I need to tell you I broke down
They have video of me sobbing
The show of love that David expressed for his brother was amazing
Later when I was able to get my composure
I asked David
Why did you give him your coat?
He said, he was cold and I knew God would provide me with another when he was ready
This is the kind of love that our writer is talking about in this verse
Love each other as long as you live
Love like Jesus loves
Unconditional
Sacrificial love
Loving enough to place ourselves and our needs second or third or 100th away from the needs of others
Loving them enough to let them see Jesus in us
Loving them enough to tell them about Jesus
I can tell you when I looked at David for the next week and when I see him now in my mind
I see Jesus
And in his words I hear Jesus
And I know that though his love
David
Will receive the blessings that he hopes for
And I also know that David is an optimist in Christ
He hopes for a better future and one day when this life is over he will find it
But for now
He just keeps on digging
He lets his love shine in spite of being an orphan
In spite of poor unclean unhealthy water
In spite of lack of food and clothing sometimes
In spite of the poor health and death that abounds due to malnutrition and all it brings
David finds the hope through his love
And he finds hope though the love of Christ
He finds hope by showing this love to others
You see he does this
Because he does not allow the hard times to have an impact on how he loves
Or how he feels the love of his savior
I learned a lot for this 15 year old spiritual giant
And prayerfully you will as well
Love and loving others is one of the keys to being a spiritual optimist
And it is a true sign of the spiritual growth that we learned so much about last week
Let’s go back to the book of Hebrews for my next point
Hebrews 6:12
“Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”
Last week our writer warned us against becoming “stunted” in our growth
This week from these writings he says
We become spiritual optimists when we practice our faith and have endurance
What is faith?
Let’s go forward just a bit in the book of Hebrews for a definition
Hebrews 11:1
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Faith shows us HOPE or the reality of hope
Again we hear the word hop and again we are going to address it father down
It shows us proof of what we can’t see
The writer of Hebrews goes on to say in 11:6
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
Faith is a necessity for a Christian
Without faith we can’t please God
Without faith
We can’t find hope
Without faith we cannot get to God or to the things he has for us
It is Faith that causes us to admit we are sinners
It is Faith that causes us to cry out to Jesus for salvation
It Faith that shows us our sin and makes us want to change
You see without Faith we can’t get to God
We can’t get to heaven
We can’t find rest in this life
Because without faith we can’t have Jesus
Then after salvation
The faith must continue
We can’t stop at the cross
We must have faith to trust Jesus in our everyday life
We must know that he has got his all under control
It is that faith that lets us unwrap the gifts he gives us and more importantly
Use them in our lives
Unlike the kid in the room full of toys, just sitting there
Scared he might break something
Lacking faith
And being a pessimist
Faith lets us unwrap Joy
Faith lets us unwrap peace
Faith lets us unwrap love
Faith lets us unwrap contentment
Faith itself is a gift that allows us to unwrap and use the other gifts
It was faith that caused my friend David to have the assurance that he would get what he hope for
Because he had confidence that Jesus was already working on it
And faith
When practiced
Produces the next part of this verse
Endurance
Faith produces endurance
When you have faith
You can finish the race no matter what comes
I have been watching some of the Olympics this last week
And over and over again I’ve seen athletes showing amazing endurance
I don’t know where some of them are in their spiritual life’
But I can tell you the faith they have that allows them to endure the hardships and keeping pressing for the Gold medal is inspiring
If we as Christians could or would express that type of faith
There would be no stopping us
And no stopping the spread of Christianity in this world
------Pause---
Faith to know that no matter what
Nothing can separate us from God’s love
Faith that he will fulfill his promises
Faith that his word is pure and true and good and right
Faith to Know that you know that no matter what
God will keep his promises
That brings us to my last point
How do we become spiritual optimists when the rest of the world is being a pessimist?
We must have confidence that God will keep his promises
Let’s go back to Hebrews 6
Verses 16-20
6 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
The world as a whole
The unsaved
Unbelievers
Do not believe that God will or has kept his promises
They may not even believe that he ever made them to begin with
Many if they even admit that there is a God
They say God has changed
Or his word is just outdated
They are pessimists in this world
Not able to move towards unwrapping the gifts
Maybe they can’t even see the gifts
Or if they see them they don’t believe they can get them or worse yet are not willing to do what it takes it receive them
Just sitting
Sad
Afraid and lost
They don’t know or understand true love
They have no faith in the things that matter
No faith in the only one who can deliver them
No faith in Christ
So they lack endurance
This world is a dog eat dog place
Survival of the fittest
We should expect this from the world
Satan is the ruler of this world and his desire is to kill, steal and destroy
He masquerades as an Angel of light
Selling his lies to all who will listen and accept
There are millions of people in the world who are lost and believing these lies
Unfortunately many believers fall for the lies of Satan
Many who call themselves Christians do not believe that God keeps his promises
Satan asked Eve in the garden
“Did God really say you can’t eat the fruit from the trees in the garden?”
Satan plants doubt through deception in Eves mind
She doubts God’s promises
We do the same thing
And this lack of belief produces spiritual pessimism
Worse yet it stops forward motion’ it causes us to drift away from God’s word
It stunts our spiritual growth
You see
God promises us that all sins can be forgiven
But Satan tells us we are too bad
We doubt and pessimism creeps in
He tells us everyone who believes will be saved
But Satan says only if you do this or that
We doubt and pessimism creeps in
God promises that he will never leave us or forsake us
Satan says when it gets hot ----God is gone
That you’ve been abandoned
We doubt and pessimism creeps in
You see Satan wants us to doubt God’s promises
For the lost
Believing these lies can cost way more than they were expecting or willing pay
An eternity apart from God in a place called Hell
But for the believers
Believing these lies steals the joy of the gift that Jesus died to give us
Not salvation itself but the joy of our salvation
If we want to be spiritual optimists we must keep digging
When it gets hard we must know and trust that he is fully in charge
When the wheels fall off our lives
And they will
It is just a matter of time
Mike Morrow is fond of saying we are all either in a wreck
Just recovering from a wreck
Or headed for a wreck
Tough times
Hard times
Storms and wrecks come into the lives of everyone on earth throughout all time
How we deal with it makes the difference as to the effect it has on us
On our lives
On our relationships with others
Ourselves and with God
How we deal with the hard times
Makes all the difference in our spiritual growth
When we love others as Christ loves us
We stop focusing on ourselves
Pride takes a back seat to humility
Love shines though
When we keep our faith
No matter what
We become a beacon to the world
A world that is searching desperately for something and
Sometimes not even sure of what they are searching for
Until they see Jesus in you
Until they see the optimism that comes from assurance
----Pause-----
Loving others produces hope
Faith produces hope
Faith in Jesus for salvation
Faith in Jesus for daily living
Faith in Jesus in the good times and in the bad times
Produces endurance
And endurance produces hope
And it is confidence the God does and will keep his promises that gets us to the hope we are striving for
There is an old Hymn the sticks in my mind from time to time
It is called “Standing on the promises of God”
This standing is what creates optimism in our Christian life
Let’s stand together and sing
1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
o Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
3. Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.
4. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.
5. Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.
Close from the heart
Pray
