Faith - Hebrews 11:29

It's who you know

Good evening. Yeah, as Ben said, today we're gonna be looking at Hebrews chapter 11. So let me direct your attention there and we'll begin our time of worship by reading God's word together. That's Hebrews chapter 11, I'll read verse 29. Hebrews 11, 29, God's word says this.

By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

This is the word of God. What has often been said, and you've probably heard this many times in many contexts I'm sure, is that much of life is less about what you know than who you know. And as we get to this passage in our study, this verse that we just read, is in fact an instant in which the author of Hebrews is teaching his audience just that. That it's not just in practical matters that this principle is true. It's a lesson for our spiritual life. that when it comes to your spiritual life, your life is less about what you know than about who you know. The scene is set for us in Exodus 14. We see the Israelites by the Red Sea at night, and they look up and they see the entirety of the Egyptian army coming after them. And scripture says that they feared greatly. Psalm 106 calls this fear rebellion against Yahweh. And this is an important point to pause on, because we do not often think about fear and rebellion going hand in glove, especially when the fear seems to us justifiable. And there are many justified fears in our lives, are there not? Imagine how this group of people would have justified their fears. These are escaped slaves who are toddling about in the wilderness in their flip-flops. They haven't been trained in weapon production or hand-to-hand combat. And here they are, trapped by the strongest military superpower in the ancient world. Their fear seems justifiable from their perspective. And yet God calls their fear rebellion. In fact, he says through his psalmist that the people provoked him by doing their great wickedness. So, God is teaching his people that fear and obedience, Trust and faith are not about your skill and your ability. What the people needed was not combat training or military know-how. Faith is not about your skill and your ability. Faith is about worship and obedience and love for God. It's not about what you know, it's about who you know. Do you know the living God? And do you know His character? Do you trust His promises? Do you trust His word? Do you trust God's ability to fulfill His promise more than your ability to achieve it? That's what the people needed to learn. And that's the most important thing. So I trust this evening, if you do not yet know the living God, the message for you is that the most important thing in your life is not what you know or what you achieve. It's who you know. It's that you know the true God. And if you know and love the true God, then the message for you is that you continue to grow in grace and knowledge of this true God. That's what we're gonna see in this text. And we'll walk through this passage, and we'll see two lessons for us. This text has two lessons. We'll see, who is this God, and how am I to approach Him? Now first, who is this God? Look down at your Bibles, and you'll notice a contrast. We see Israel cross the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they tried to do the exact same thing, were drowned. Well, what's the difference? They both had the courage to do it. They both attempted to do the same thing. They even both rebelled against God. So, why was Israel able to cross but the Egyptians drowned? The answer revealed to us in Scripture is that it was because Israel knew the true and living God and that God is faithful and His provision is complete. There's no merits, there's no ceremonies, there's no works. It didn't matter who they were, or what they knew, or where they'd been, or what they would do. What matters is that there's simply this word from God, and this God that they worship will fulfill His word. If you'll remember, the beginning of the book of Genesis, God promises to Abraham that He'll bless him, that He'll give him a great nation in a land, and through that people in that land, He would send a blessing to all the nations of the earth. And here is God faithfully with His people, fulfilling that promise, telling Israel, you do not have the ability to do what I have commanded you, but I will fulfill my promise. I will command what I will, and I will enable what I command. And I will bring this people into the promised land. And I will preserve this people, in spite of their apostasy, and in spite of the enemies around them, I will preserve them. So that one day in the future, I will fulfill the climax of that covenant. And that would happen when this God finally appears as a man, who would live the perfect life that we were required to live. tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin. So that He could be our mediator. So that through faith, His perfect life could be counted as ours. So that we could stand before the living God, who requires holiness to enter His presence. Clothed in the perfect holiness of our mediator, God in human flesh, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And what the Israelites are beholding now, is that this God is going to fulfill that. He's going to make sure that there is a people through whom he can come into the world. Jesus is going to save his people from his sins. And before Israel can enter the promised land, it needs to be reminded that what matters is not knowing how to beat the Egyptians, but what matters is knowing God. The condition for their obedience is not their ability to fulfill the command. The condition for their obedience is believing in the God who commanded it. That's the most important thing Israel could possibly learn. Did you know that this is the most important thing about you? The most important thing about you is that you know this God. You know, this is not natural. Most people, when they think about God or religion, they're interested in results. What are the results I can get from religion? Can religion produce a morality that can change society? Can religion produce an experience that would give me some joy? Can religion produce X, Y, and Z? We're interested in results. What can I get out of this? But that's not the most important thing in your life. The most important thing in your life is that you know this true God. And that leads to the second question. How can I then approach this God? And with that, we're gonna have to understand the details of the situation. You see, God could have easily sent his angel of death again here, or he could have just struck down the entire Egyptian army. But instead, he chooses to split the Red Sea and creates this precarious situation. Imagine, the Israelites, because the pillar of fire is now behind them, they would have to move towards the darkness, with walls of water on both sides of them, breaking literally every law of nature and experience ever known to them. They would have been able to hear the thunderous sound of waves above, threatening to crash down and drown everyone in its midst. And yet, Israel obeyed. Despite the absurdity and ridiculousness of their situation, convicted of his faithfulness, and so they obeyed. That's why Hebrews says, by faith they crossed. By faith they accepted the Lord's provision and submitted to His plans. And that's the way to come to God. It's by faith. It's by trusting in Him. Obeying Him. To say, what do you say to your slave? I belong to you. I'm not giving the instructions. I'm not calling the shots. Command me, Savior. I'm entirely yours. Jesus will not join your campaign. So often we want to tell Jesus how He can provide for us. And then we get upset when it doesn't go according to our plans. But this Jesus will not join your campaign. He will not be part of your program. He will not be a part of you achieving your goals. This Jesus is here to command you, not to give advice. We want so many things from Jesus. We all want to find a God who will be on my team, who will help me. I mean, I know I want to know if Jesus is for my future. I got plans for my future, and you do too. I got good plans for my future. I got a lot of things I want to do. I got plans for my career, and a family I want to build, and places I want to go. And I want to know if Jesus is for me or against me. And I got plans for my education and things I want to achieve. And I want to know if Jesus is for me or against me. And you got things in your life that you want to do. You have an agenda and you want to know if Jesus is for you or against you. And if you are talking to the real Jesus, you will inevitably hear this resounding answer when you ask that question, no, wrong question. Those are not the terms with which we can come to the real God. He is not someone you invite into your life to be your assistant, to help you to do what you want to do. No, the question is not, is he for you or against you? The question is, will you submit to him? This is the God of the universe. Will you submit to his provision? And this is the only reasonable response when you see who this God is in scripture. To say, woe is me, I am a sinful man. I have broken the law and before him I see my sin and the only thing I can say is command me. I trust in you, I love you, I believe in you, I belong to you. This is the only way to approach him. You want to find faith in your life? Faith in your life is not going to be found by increasing your skill set. You know, Jesus has commanded you many things. He's not commanded you to split a sea or to defeat an army, but He's commanded you to make disciples. And your engagement in that duty, your obedience to that command, is not contingent on your ability to make disciples. You don't need to wait until you have more skills or more training. You need to believe that God commands what He wills, and He enables what He commands. It's not so much what you know, it's who you know. Do you know this God? Then will you tell the truth about him to others? God has also commanded you to flee from sin, sins of anxiety and lust and anger and pride. You don't need to wait for some new resolution time or right opportunity. You need to flee from sin now. You can't say, one more time and then no more, or after this task, I'll submit all my worries to God. Believe that God is with you now, and that He will enable you to humbly repent from your sin. This is the way to come to the living God. You want faith in your life? It's to know that you know that you know Him, and He will enable your obedience. Now, if you've been tracking so far, there's one last question. We know that the Egyptians were drowned as judgment for their sin. But then, why don't the waters come down on Israel? The Israelites themselves have rebelled against the living God. They aren't blameless, they're sinners. So why don't the waters come down? And the answer revealed to us in the scripture is because just as God is giving us a foretaste of his deliverance in this passage, so he would complete it a thousand years after this. When Jesus would be born of a woman, live a perfect life, go to the cross, and the waters of God's divine judgment would fall on him. The reason sinners can come into the presence of a holy God is because God got off his throne and endured the waters on our behalf. What a shock. How fantastic to behold this king taking off his holy robes, getting off of his throne and coming into this world. How astonishing to behold this God enduring the greatest possible torment that could be experienced on this earth. How fantastic to see our Lord humbling himself to endure mocking and spitting from mere mortals. to behold Him, allowing Himself to be arraigned and condemned, for the person who is the living God, the fountain of life itself, to die. He who created the world and gives life to its creatures, to be killed by His very own creatures, and for the one who for eternity had been infinitely beloved by the Father in His death, to endure unspeakable anguish at the hand of the wrath of His own Father, This is the God who is saving Israel. And can you not agree? This Jesus is worth nothing less than to fall on your face and worship Him. This Jesus is deserving of nothing less than unconditional surrender. This Jesus is worth nothing less than absolute loyalty and obedience, humble, contrite trust. This Jesus, the King of all kings, who stood in our place and endured our death on our behalf, and now told Israel, and is now telling us, I'm not coming into the world for you to invite me into your life to be your assistant. Rather, I came into the world and died on your behalf so that you can enter into my life. So that you can bow before me and come into my divine life. This is the real Jesus, and the most important thing in your life is to know him. Please bow with me in prayer. Father, thank you that you have given us your word and you have taught us who you are so that we might know you. And we do ask that you would seal this passage to our hearts and you give us faith as we live and obey your commandments. Father, we ask that as we have gazed into your word, that you cause your spirit to stir within us love and affection for Jesus Christ. We ask that you cause us to wonder at the reality that you, the God of the universe, would die for us. Father, thank you that you have provided for all of our needs in your Son, Jesus Christ. Give us hearts that love you and fear no man. In Jesus' name, amen.