Mountain-Moving Faith

By Dr. Joe Arthur

From the pen of Dr. Joe Arthur comes this comprehensive study on Hebrews 11, God's Hall of Fame of faith. In verse-by-verse style, the author examines the lives of the seventeen people mentioned, including a complete outline for easy use as a devotional study, Sunday school class or discipleship lesson. A great addition to the library of any preacher.
In this book, you will learn how to:
Walk by faith even as Enoch did
Construct altars to God's faithfulness
Learn how to rejoice in tribulation
Choose with Moses to follow God
Become a man after God's own heart
Run the race set before us

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sword of the Lord Foundation
• Release date: Sep 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310432712

Book preview

Mountain-Moving Faith

by

Dr. Joe Arthur

P. O. Box 1099 • Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37133

[phone] • [phone] • FAX [phone]

www.SwordoftheLord.com

Copyright 2011 by

Sword of the Lord Publishers

Distributed by Smashwords

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (printed, written, photocopied, electronic, audio or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1–The Acceptance of Abel (Heb. 11:4)

Chapter 2–The Example of Enoch (Heb. 11:5,6)

Chapter 3–The Nobility of Noah (Heb. 11:7)

Chapter 4–The Altars of Abraham (Heb. 11:8-19)

Chapter 5–The Inspiration of Isaac (Heb. 11:20)

Chapter 6–The Journeys of Jacob (Heb. 11:21)

Chapter 7–The Joy of Joseph (Heb. 11:22)

Chapter 8–The Might of Moses (Heb. 11:23-29)

Chapter 9–The Jubilation of Joshua (Heb. 11:30)

Chapter 10–The Redemption of Rahab (Heb. 11:31)

Chapter 11–The Grace of Gideon (Heb. 11:32)

Chapter 12–The Blessing of Barak (Heb. 11:32)

Chapter 13–The Strength of Samson (Heb. 11:32)

Chapter 14–The Justification of Jephthah (Heb. 11:32)

Chapter 15 –The Delight of David (Heb. 11:32)

Chapter 16–The Spirituality of Samuel (Heb 11:32)

Chapter 17–The Power of the Prophets (Heb. 11:32-39)

Chapter 18–The Understanding of Us (Heb. 11:39,40; 12:1,2)

Introduction

We find this phrase three times in the Bible: The just shall live by faith (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Faith honors God, and God honors faith. These sermons are based on seventeen different characters listed in the Hall of Fame of Faith found in Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter.

I have divided this chapter into two main divisions.

Verses 1-3 give the definition of faith. These verses explain to us what faith really is—the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I am glad that the power of faith can operate in our lives.

Verses 4-40 are the demonstration-of-faith verses. God shows faith in action through seventeen different individuals—men and women. He not only explains faith, but He exemplifies faith. He not only defines it with a definition; He demonstrates it in the lives of real people who lived in a real world, fought a real Devil and had real problems. But they found real peace, joy and victory; and they won real battles, because their faith was in a real God. And because it's real, it really works.

If these characters can live by faith, win by faith, excel by faith and do exploits for God by faith, we too can do something for God in the realm of faith. We can have real faith operating in our lives when it is founded on the promises of God.

I am amused at the world's various halls of fame. I heard of one the other day called the Turkey Callers' Hall of Fame. I also read that a woman in South Carolina had her name put in the Chitterling Cookers' Hall of Fame. A man on TV claimed to be in the Tobacco Spitters' Hall of Fame. Hall of famers are those who have excelled in a particular area. And God gives us some people in the Bible that excelled in their faith life, in their walk with Him.

As meticulous as God was when He wrote the Bible, He would not have put those seventeen names in this list, if there were not something we needed to learn and draw from their lives.

I've often heard it said that faith, hope and charity (love) are the three virtues of the Christian life. If that's true, then I John 3 is the hope chapter, I Corinthians 13 is the charity (love) chapter, and Hebrews 11 is the faith chapter. It is the greatest chapter on faith that you will find in the entire Bible.

Faith would not be real, if it didn't work; and we would not know that faith worked, if we didn't see it working in the lives of others. I want us to look at these seventeen characters and learn from them.

The disciples didn't ask the Lord to increase their power to cast out demons or to perform miracles. But they did ask Him to teach them to pray and to increase their faith.

I believe it is yet to be seen what God can do with a group of people who are exercising Bible faith in Him.

Chapter 1—The Acceptance of Abel

I. A Selected Offering

II. A Spotless Offering

III. A Sacrificial Offering

IV. A Successful Offering

V. A Speaking Offering

The Acceptance of Abel

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.—Heb. 11:4.

The first man in God's Hall of Fame is a man named Abel. The acceptance of Abel is a picture of the acceptance of every child of God. Ephesians 1:6 tells us that we have been accepted in the beloved. The Bible tells us that we receive Christ, but it also tells us that Christ accepts us. We receive Him by faith, but, because of Calvary, He accepts us.

Abel was accepted by God. Genesis 4:4 tells us that God had respect unto Abel. But why was he accepted? Was it because Adam was his father? No. Was it because Eve was his mother? No. Was he accepted because he was more spiritual, holier and better than Cain, his brother? No. The only reason he was accepted by God was that he brought the right kind of offering. He brought an offering that God accepted.

The only reason we are accepted by God, received by God, saved by God and claimed by God is that we have claimed the right Offering for our sin.

I am not saved because I'm an American or because of the color of my skin or because I'm a Baptist preacher. I have been accepted in the beloved because I claim the blood of Jesus Christ as my Offering.

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. They each offered a sacrifice, but one was accepted, and the other was rejected. I love the adjective used here. It was a more excellent sacrifice. That means it had more value, more virtue; it was better than all the others.

If you don't have Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you do not have the excellent salvation. He is a more excellent Saviour. He has a more excellent name. Jesus' death, burial and resurrection is a more excellent sacrifice. It is more excellent than church membership. It is more excellent than water baptism. Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

What is so much more excellent about the offering that Abel gave to God, as opposed to that of Cain, that caused him to be accepted? This is a good picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, who went to Calvary and bled for us so we could claim salvation in Him.

I want to give you five things about Abel's offering that made it more excellent.

I. A Selected Offering

If you go back and read of this account in Genesis, you will see that Abel did not give God just any lamb out of his flock; he did not offer to God just anything that haphazardly came by. No, Abel picked out the best. He selected one that he felt would please God.

I submit to you that Jesus is the selected Saviour. He is not just any kind of a savior; He's not one of many different saviors. He is the only Saviour. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). There is no other hope outside of Jesus Christ. There is no deliverance outside of Jesus Christ. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. He is the selected Lamb of God. He is the One that has God's approval. He is the One that won God's touch. Outside of Jesus, there is no sacrifice and there is no savior. He is the selected Lamb of God that died for our sins!

Genesis 4:4 says that Abel gave Him of the firstlings of his flock. That word firstlings stirs up my mind. That particular lamb, that particular one of the flock that Abel gave, was the only one like it that he had. There are not two firstlings; there is only one.

Adam was a son of God, and Noah was a son of God, and Abraham was a son of God, and all the saved are sons of God. But He had only [one] begotten Son (John 3:16). There was only one like Jesus; there was no other.

Abel gave his best on the altar that day. And when God gave Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, He gave His Best. All other saviors, all other doors, all other ways are inferior. Jesus was selected because He is superior and a more excellent sacrifice.

I don't like the line in one song that says they searched through Heaven to find a Saviour. There was no search involved. In Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter said that God delivered Jesus to be crucified by His determinate counsel and foreknowledge (vss. 22, 23).

God did not look through the angels and fail to find a Saviour. He didn't look through the prophets without being able to find a Saviour. I believe He looked at His right hand, and there was His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—coequal with Him, and with Him from the foundation of the world. He was a selected Saviour; there was no searching to it. There were no goats counted; there were no contests made. It was determined before God laid the mudsills of this earth that One like Jesus, the Son of God, would be the selected Saviour, and that's what makes Him acceptable.

I've not come by the way of religion; I've come by the way of the cross.

I've not come by the way of the Baptist church; I've come by the way of the cross.

I've not come by the way of the independent, fundamental movement; I've come by the way of the cross.

I need no other argument; I need no other plea. I claim Jesus, and that is enough.

When Abel gave that offering, when he made that sacrifice, it was a selected offering.

II. A Spotless Offering

I believe the lamb, the firstling that he gave, was without spot and without blemish. Even though it doesn't mention spots and blemishes in Genesis 4, God never breaks the type. When He tells Moses to get a lamb, it has to be without spot and without blemish. When He tells Israel they need a lamb, it is without spot and without blemish. When He tells the high priest to bring the sacrifice, it is without spot and without blemish.

God told Abraham to go on Mount Moriah and offer Isaac up for an offering. When they got to the top of the mountain, that ram was there, and it died in the stead of Abraham's son. That ram was caught in the thicket, or the thorns, by his horns. He was caught in a crown of thorns around his head. Some say that is symbolic of Jesus' being crowned with thorns, and that might be, but I think it was because the ram's horn could not be scratched. The other parts of his body would have been scratched and bleeding, but not his horns. The type says that the sacrifice, to be accepted by God, has to be without spot and without blemish. The thorns caught the lamb by the horns, so his hide, skin, coat and fur remained beautiful and without spot or blemish.

The lamb that Abel brought as an offering did not have a broken foot or even a broken toenail; it didn't have a bleeding ear or any kind of wound or gaping sore. It was the best. It was without spot and without blemish. There was no fault in it. It was a perfect sacrifice.

The reason I can claim that I'm saved and on my way to Heaven is that the Sacrifice that I claim and the Saviour I claim is without spot and without blemish. He is the holy, pure, perfect, indispensable, impeccable, capable Lamb of God that did not sin, could not sin, never has and never will sin.

One time I got into a discussion with a man who told me that he didn't believe in the impeccability of Christ. I told him that I believe that Jesus did not sin and could not sin.

He said, I believe that He didn't sin, but I believe that He could have sinned. If He couldn't have sinned, then why was He tempted?

I said, If He had sinned, He wouldn't have been the perfect Sacrifice. He was Man, and therefore He could have been tempted; but He was also God, and He couldn't sin. He couldn't, and He didn't; and you had better be glad that He didn't.

Hebrews 7:26 says, For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.

His mind never had a wicked thought. His hands did not once pull a shady deal. His heart never had an unholy motive. His feet never walked a crooked path. His lips never uttered a sinful word. Even His enemies had to bow their heads and say, I find no fault in him (John 19:4, 6).

After twenty-seven years of knowing Him and preaching His Word, I too say, I find no fault in him. I find no fault in His mercy. I find no fault in His love. I find no fault in His grace. He is pure, holy, perfect and the spotless Lamb of God. And the blood that flowed through His body was perfect and pure and sinless blood!

I thought that all Baptists believed that, but I got in trouble with a Baptist who said he didn't believe that.

I said, If I didn't believe that, then I wouldn't call myself a preacher, much less a Baptist preacher.

He said, Brother Joe, the blood in the body of Jesus was just like our blood.

I said, Well, if it was, then we're not saved, because sinful blood cannot purchase sinless salvation.

Abel offered blood, but it only covered over his sin for a little while. Brother, if you want your sins to be forgiven forever, it has to be the permanent blood of Jesus Christ.

But, Preacher, He lived on earth like we do.

Yes, He lived among men like we do.

But He had to eat, and He had to sleep.

Yes, but He had something we don't have—a virgin birth.

I met a man who didn't believe in the virgin birth, because he said it was an impossibility. He said there had to be a papa and a mama to make a junior.

When I reminded him that Adam had no mama or papa, nor a grandma or a grandpa, he had no answer.

Adam was created by the hand of God. Adam became a living soul when God breathed in his nostrils and brought him to life. If God can reach down into the womb of the earth and make a man out of some clay, cannot that same God reach down in the womb of a virgin and bring forth a Son named Jesus who is holy, divine, pure, sinless and undefiled?

One of the most intriguing books I've ever read was one about the blood. It was written by a medical doctor who got saved and then became a preacher. His name is M. R. DeHaan, now in Heaven. The book was entitled The Chemistry of the Blood. He went through the stages of conception, including the umbilical cord, the placenta, and how it attaches the baby to its mother, and how water and fluid and nutrients and vitamins and strength and nourishment pass from the mother to the little baby. But he made this statement: Not one single drop of blood ever passes from mother to child. There are cells in our bone marrow that manufacture blood. At conception, DNA comes from the male side of the conception. That's why a woman drops her last name and takes on her husband's last name, and that's why all of our children are called by the husband's name.

What does that have to do with Jesus? you ask. Jesus had an earthly mother by the name of Mary. He was conceived and grew in her womb, but she didn't give him her blood; that came from the male side of the conception—the eternal blood of God Almighty. Jesus was the sinless Seed of the sovereign God of the Ages. God's holy and divine blood never lost its power, and that pure, holy and undefiled blood was the only kind of blood that God would accept.

God accepted Abel's offering because his offering was selected and his offering was spotless.

III. A Sacrificial Offering

That sacrifice that Abel offered had to die. That's what got Cain into trouble. He offered God a bloodless sacrifice.

I don't believe that Cain offered God rotten fruit. I believe that the fruit he offered was beautiful and had a good smell, probably the best he had; but his best was not good enough. And the best that religion can produce is not good enough.

Abel came with a little lamb whose blood was shed, and God said, That's what I'm looking for. That lamb was a sacrifice.

Jesus was born of a virgin. He led a sinless life. He healed the sick, raised the dead, healed the leper, stilled the storm, fed the 5,000 and preached great sermons and offered great prayers, but that is not what saves us. If Jesus had gone to Heaven after having done all that, we'd still be without hope and without God. We'd be lost in sin and on our way to Hell. But, thank God, Jesus went to Calvary and died to satisfy the justice of God. His shed blood satisfied the holiness of God. He shed His blood and tasted death for every man. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God, the more excellent Sacrifice.

In Egypt, God didn't tell His people to get a lamb and tie it to the porch or put it in a pen. He told them to kill the lamb. When He passed through the land of Egypt that night, He was looking for only the blood of the lamb. He said, When I see the blood, I will pass over you (Exod. 12:13).

IV. A Successful Offering

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and the soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezek. 18:4, 20). That's God's divine justice—man's death and man's payment. But God is so much more than just; He is holy. And as God's justice had to be satisfied, so the holiness of God had to be satisfied.

When Jesus shed His holy, precious, pure and undefiled blood, that satisfied the holiness of God; and when Jesus died, it satisfied God's justice. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God who died for our sins, and there is no other fountain, no other way for us to be saved outside of the blood and Jesus' sacrifice.

That's why Jesus cried from the cross, It is finished (John 19:30). He was saying, It has been done, and it shall remain done forevermore. It will never be repeated;