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Feb 18, 2024

Hebrews: Assurance, Conviction and Commendation

Passage: Hebrews 11:1-6

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Hebrews: Fulfilled in Christ

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: faith, hope, peace

The central passage in Hebrews brings home the foundation of faith: that incredible, miraculous and mysterious confidence we have in what we cannot see which results in being commended by God, consoled in times of grief and in the ultimately consummation when we once again "walk with God."

Central Passage

Hebrews 10:39 - 11:6

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Sermon Discussion Questions

Read through Hebrews 10:39 - 11:1-6

  • What do we “hope for”? What is at the very heart of what we all “hope for”?
  • How is that played out in times of elections? in relationships? with our kids?
  • Give some examples of how you acted on faith that God wanted you to do something.
  • Try to come up with a working definition of faith. How is it more than mere belief?
  • Talk about “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” (C.S. Lewis)
  • What was the difference between Cain’s and Able’s sacrifice? What does “first” matter?
  • Why did each give the way they did?
  • How do I often give like Cain? What does it look like to give like Abel?
  • Why was Enoch “taken up” -- what does it mean to “walk with God”? How is that a reference to Genesis 2 and 3? And to Jesus’ callings to his disciples?
  • What can we learn from Abel and Enoch? How do they point to Christ?
  • Talk about these 3 “results” - Commendation, Consolation and Consummation.
  • Why is walking out your faith so important? What does it look like?

 

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)

Q1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own, but belong

—body and soul, in life and in death—

to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,

and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way

that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;

in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life

and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.