 Okay, it's still not recording. It's still recording. Okay. Now it's recording The button is on so we can begin we stopped where we were discussing about faith and how There are great things that people have accomplished through faith. We've also seen that not just these people but There are so many other people right men of God women of God. We've seen their lives and how they have Lived for God. I think in the last class. I talked about William carry right the man who the father of modern missions who came Here to India and he translated the Bible in many local languages He translated it into Sanskrit Initially and then into so many other local languages engaged in social reforms How is it possible for people to do all these things? Some of these things look great And we wonder wow, how can people accomplish all this? But it's because they are walking by faith. They're walking in faith now We may even look at let's say a mother and A mother raising her children Okay, now maybe she is not You can't compare her with the kind of you know greatness that we say somebody accomplished out there But it's a fair journey also to be able to raise up, you know children with values and good character and They are equipped in Whatever education skills to raise up children who are responsible in the community. That's not a joke But it takes faith. It's not really about what is the accomplishment? Some accomplishments look very great, but some may not look very great But what is the common thing that all of us need? Faith, okay, so I mentioned mother because the name of Susanna Wesley is coming to my mind Susanna Wesley is the mother of John Wesley the Methodist movement and she had many children So her life story is also incredible. You find that she was so busy just raising children, you know cleaning them cooking for them Helping just Taking care of them while they grew up It is said that she never even had time no time because when you have You know children so many children you have to take care of them, but she never used to miss her prayer time You know how she used to pray she used to take a cloth and put it on her head because there is no private place Everywhere there's noise everywhere. There's chaos because kids are there in the house But she would cover her head to make a quiet place for herself and make sure that she has prayed to God Right every day. So look at the kind of commitment So when there is somebody who has an example like this no wonder her sons, you know Both John and I forget the name of his brother, but they both together where the leaders of the holiness movement that began You know right after Like we talk about different stages of church and the different things that happened right the movement of Sanctification so John Wesley and his brother they were involved in that particular Period of time and they made a huge impact on Christian history. So Everything takes faith even if there's a mother who's raising up children. It's going to take faith Okay, so whatever God calls us to do We need faith in God and that is the only way that we will be able to do what he wants us to do So we have seen the stories of all these wonderful people Now what are some lessons that we can learn from this passage one is that Those who walk by faith they obtained a good testimony before God So what it simply means is see when God looks at us He knows who we are right. We don't have we cannot cheat God people may people may Deceive other people, but we cannot deceive God. We cannot in other words a better word is You know deceive rather than cheat. So God knows who we are Now how can God be happy in knowing? Who we are it's when we are people of faith that he is, you know, accepting of us or pleased with us Okay, and so our Reputation before God really matters who does God see me as of course we are in Christ Jesus You know my identity in Christ is secure all that is true But that identity is true for everybody all believers, but how and how do I live in that identity? Okay, and how do I continue in faith in that identity? So when I'm walking by faith my reputation before God, right? God is pleased with my life because I'm walking by faith All these people Why are their names included in Hebrews 11 because God was happy with them where they perfect actually no we'll see later even Abraham He was not perfect. He doubted God. He made mistakes Right, so he was not perfect, but still He tried He tried the best that he could to have faith in God and that's the reminder for us Our testimony before God matters. God is happy when we are walking by faith Okay So we need to keep joining that way even though we may look at our own selves and say that hey I'm not yet good at this or I'm I'm I really need to develop myself in certain areas All that's fine, but don't stop living by faith when we live by faith We obtain a good testimony before God now most of us we may worry about our Reputation before people we think what will excuse me. What will people say? What will people think about me? Do they think that I'm a good person or not? Well, it does matter, you know our testimony before people it does matter, okay But then what matters most is who God knows us to be whether we are people of faith So when we are people of faith and God can see that It's so pleasing to God Just like all these people So God is not pleased with them only because of their achievements. No There were people of faith some of them had very small things. I already said able one thing he did Why is God so happy with him man of faith? Faith is what God is looking for. Do you trust me? Can you walk with me? Can you journey with me? Can you put your faith in the promises of God? That's the question God asks all of us and when we say yes, Lord, I'll walk with you till I see Your promises Fulfilled in my life in my ministry. God is pleased with us. Okay, so remember that Having a good testimony with God how to have a good testimony with God how to make God happy be people of faith Okay, that is how we do it. What else do we see in this passage? We see that There were people who lived in faith today To obtain the promises of tomorrow There is a passage given here the section from 13 verses 13 through 16 and Verse 10 as well. So I'll do one thing. I'll go into this. I forgot there is a question here, which we missed taking so Deepu you have your hand up. Is there a question you wanted to ask? What is that by mistake? Yeah, sorry ma'am by mistake. Yes. Yes sister. Please go ahead You're on mute No, no by mistake. I mean by mistake. Okay, sure. All right. Yeah, no problem. Thank you So we'll go back to this passage Where in Hebrews 11 and verse 10 it says for he waited for the city Which has? Foundations whose builder and maker is God. It's talking about Abraham then from verse 13 These all died in faith Not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off where assured of them Embrace them and Confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth For those who say such things Declare plainly that they seek a homeland and Truly if they had called to mind that Country from which they had come out They would have had opportunity to return But now the desire of better that is a heavenly country therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a City for them. All right. So what do we see here? Abraham talking about Abraham it says that he waited for the city Which has foundations Whose builder and maker is God? So Abraham he's moving towards the promised land, isn't it? Because the promise of God is that okay Abraham, you know, you will have descendants I will give you this piece of land you can read from Genesis chapter 12 You can start reading what God promised Abraham. So there was a there was a piece of land that God promised him So he was expecting that God will give him that however The truth is that you know, there are other scriptures that tell us that even though The literal promise was a piece of land and a son and descendants There is a spiritual significance in these matters. So Abraham, you know He may not have understood all the scriptures, you know have so much revelation at that time. There was no Bible Isn't it? It was put together much later. So Abraham is living in his relationship with God He's hearing from God. That's how he is. He has developed his understanding the revelation that he carries with that Revelation that he has at that time He knows that God is speaking of more than a piece of land More than just, you know, that whole Israel that God wants to give Abraham God is actually talking about a spiritual inheritance. God is talking about so if you look at the Bible You you would see that even in the future What is God going to do? He's going to establish a city the celestial city Who is which is God's city? So how will Abraham back in his days have the understanding about all these matters cannot write because He may not have been given the Bible but With his little knowledge Whatever he knew he was faithful. That is what God expects not that we know everything Right. Yes, it's important to try to know everything But even before we have a lot of revelation What are we doing with the revelation that we have? We may have little revelation, but you act on that revelation or pay what God is asking us to do That is what God expects from us. So with a little understanding that Abraham had He kept moving he knew yes, God will give me a city God will give my people a city and even a spiritual Understanding the Bible says that it was only because Jesus then came into the picture He did the work of redemption, but all that Somewhere in Abraham's understanding. He knew that God will redeem God will restore You know his people and these wonderful things will take place So you notice that Abraham lived his life in the present But he had his eyes on the future way into the future Isn't it so he never even knew about you know, how Jesus would come how he would maybe in his Spiritual understanding a little bit something God would have revealed to him little bits and pieces here and there But he may never have had clarity But what do we learn from you know, Abraham and people of God? Whatever they knew they walk by faith. They lived in the present with their eyes on the future So even today we carry the promises of God we carry You know so many Sort of so many Instructions of God the vision of God in our hearts so we can live our lives today But at the same time we can have faith in what God is going to do tomorrow now This tomorrow may be in our lifetime. It may be beyond our lifetime You'll understand because there are things in the kingdom of God that God wants to do in the city in the nation in the world and God can give us Visions of these matters in our lifetime, but that doesn't mean that it will happen in my lifetime It may happen way beyond my lifetime But we should learn to live today with our eyes on the future. That is what faith is all about So we can have faith in God for all these things which are yet to come So look at the language which is used in verse 13 about these people. It says They saw the promises They were convinced of the promises and embraced the promises Confessed in line with the promises. So there are four words which are used to describe their faith What are these four words one is? saw So what is saw if you see something into the future? What does it say? We have faith in our hearts because now faith is the substance of things Hoped for isn't it? So it's in the future But when they live their lives, they saw into the future because of their faith Okay, so that is one thing that they did they had their eyes on what God was about to do Even in the days to come second. What is the word? Convinced convinced is like believed assured Convinced I'm convinced that it is not going to rain today. I'm sure So they were convinced they were very sure that God would do what he is telling us to do or Rather what he told us that he would do that they Embraced the promises embraced means that you fully receive it Okay, embrace is like you just take a hold of the promises. You don't let it go They embrace the promises and how did they exercise their faith? Confessed the promises so they must have confessed the promise like you can imagine You know Abraham talking to Isaac when Isaac is a little boy and telling Isaac Isaac Do you know God is going to give us a city God is going to make us a nation a strong nation God is going to you know our descendants will spread across the world. What is Abraham doing? Confession faith if you have faith say to this mountain So, how do you operate in faith? We need to speak we need to confess and that is what you see them doing first They had the vision they saw they were convinced they embraced and they Confessed okay, so that is how they actually walked in faith during their times And they obtained a good testimony in verse 39. It also says that Did not receive the promise Okay, so obviously when Abraham was trusting God for a heavenly city a heavenly kingdom It did not happen in Abraham's lifetime He died and it has still not happened because it is in the future in God's timeline So you see a life of faith does not only mean Okay, I'm getting this from God. I'm getting that from God Yes, there are a lot of promises that we will walk in today or in our lifetime because God has promised it But there are many things which will come later So even if we don't see it like Abraham the heavenly city the heavenly kingdom He has not seen it. He's still a man of faith So even in our lives, there are some things that we will walk in but there are some things which are left to the future But we can still have a good testimony and you also notice that There were some people who went through a lot of persecution In that same passage in the beginning you see a subdued kingdoms. They you know, they What worked righteousness? They shut them out of lions. It sounds amazing. Wow people did great things by faith But when you go down and you start to read some of the other words here It says they were stoned. They were sawn into They were tempted they were slain with the sword They wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins being destitute Afflicted tormented that doesn't sound very good So that is talking about the sufferings That people went through Right, the sufferings that people went through. Why is that mentioned in Hebrews 11? In Hebrews 11 We should only read about great things But it also talks about the sufferings that some people have gone through for the sake of our faith, right? The reason is that even enduring For the gospel Enduring for the things of God in a difficult time. It takes faith Without faith. It's so hard to actually live through that season of affliction oppression or Persecution, you know, we are not saying go looking for it But if it happens, if it happens in the midst of those circumstances It is God and faith in God which will help us Carry on and come out. So that is another lesson that we read here So now let's just look at two examples From this particular passage One is about the children of Israel, you know, how they journeyed and they look for a better land They really needed eyes of faith In order to get that promised land. I think many of us know how You know Moses sent spies You remember that Moses sends spies to go and search out the promised land They come back and they give them information. There are 12 spies and in the 12 two of them say It's a land flowing with milk and honey But 10 of them come back and they say there are giants in the land meaning it's very difficult to occupy this land But it was a thing of faith That the people of God actually went and occupied it Isn't it? Because if they if let's say Moses had gone by the report of the spies who said that it's too difficult Or they also said things like when we see the giants, we are like grasshoppers in their sight So all this kind this kind of an attitude Really showed that the people did not have faith in God So it's it's like saying when we look at a problem We feel that the problem is too big That and that we are very small That's how they behaved the Israelites they looked at the promised land and they said There are giants and we are like grasshoppers. We can't do anything. We can't enter. Yeah, God said you'll enter But how to enter? There is a problem But what did what did Caleb and Joshua say they said we can do it We can you know take over the land and who finally entered the promised land Who finally entered? Joshua Caleb they were the people who led the others into the promised land. What does this tell us about? having faith It's only when we have faith that we will walk into the promises of God if we don't have faith forget it Right. We need eyes of faith That tell us that what God is saying is possible Because what does faith reveal to us that the God we serve is the God of the impossible The God we serve is the God of miracles. Isn't it? So then your faith will show you That whatever God wants you to do through your life, it can be done We can do it So we need understanding about two matters to carry this kind of faith. One is know who God is If we think God is oh God can't do it. How can God do it? Then our understanding of God is weak Then our faith will be weak second know yourself if our understanding of who we are in Christ is weak Again, we won't be able to have faith in God. So these two things matter Know that we serve a great God and the fact that we now Are in Christ and all these things are possible. So this This story of the Israelites taking over the promised land is a reminder for us that we need to carry faith if you don't have faith Then what happens? Like the Israelites We will struggle Okay, so it is said that it is just about 11 days journey from Egypt to the promised land land of Canaan. How many days? About 11 days. Okay, how long did they take? 40 years Right. So why did they take so long? To travel any idea? It's easy about 11 days. Just go. No, it's right around the corner Exactly the book of Hebrews reminds us that in Hebrews 319. It says so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief It's so unfortunate Some place that they could have possessed in 11 days 40 years what's happening? They are circling in the wilderness Going round and round and round in the wilderness not able to enter. Is it God's fault? No It's not God's fault. God wants to give them the promised land. That's why he's saying go Go occupy But what is stopping? What is stopping these thousands of people? Unbelief, they're not able to trust God. They're not able to believe God They're not able to believe in the promises of God So This generation with a hard heart and unbelief You know was sort of past God said, you know what? People with unbelief. I'm not even gonna let them enter the promised land. Let the new generation enter it Because God does not like unbelief Okay, so the problem was Unbelief that kept them out of their promised land today What will keep you and me out of our promised land? Unbelief Faith faith or unbelief? Unbelief will keep us out. What will help us move in? Faith right so these are all lessons for us to learn God wants us to occupy God wants us to have God wants us to be blessed You know according to his promises, of course, but it's only faith which will move us in that direction So don't give place for unbelief now Another thing that is told about the children of Israel is their disobedience one is doubt Unbelief that kept them out. Second is disobedience Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 6 it says Therefore it remains that some must enter it and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of Disobedience so notice two things are stopping us From walking in the fullness that God has for us One unbelief second disobedience, so we need to get rid of these attitudes From you know our hearts and our lives then it becomes easier for us to step into what God wants us to do And let's now quickly look at the example of David. No, there was a mention of David right in that list that David's accomplishments. So what is so special about David So there are so many wonderful things That we can learn from the life of David We especially can go back to the time when David killed Goliath Okay, so we know that Goliath was a giant and he came and threatened the armies of God and at that time There was not one person from the armies of God who had the courage to go against the giant, right? but we read the story that David said that he will take down the giant. How did this happen? David was just doing his normal work. His father had told him go and give lunch to your brothers So he went there and then he started hearing the The taunts or the words of the giant and he was so angry He was like why are people even tolerating this this giant, you know, we should just take him down Why is it that David was able to do it because David had a strong relationship with God? Okay, we see David as a worshipper. We see him as a Psalmist We see him as somebody who spent a lot of time with God So what happened to David, you know the way he looked at God the way he looked at life completely changed So at a time when the whole nation is distressed by an enemy They don't know what to do about this Goliath David easily. He says, okay I'll just take down this giant and you know when we study about the life of David They say that at that point he must have been just about 17 years old Can you imagine many of you here Bible college first year 17? So you should be able to kill Goliath. Okay, because David killed Goliath So don't say oh, I'm just 17. It's okay. David was 17 and he killed the giant So in the same way for us today, we have Giants In our lives, it's not Goliath. It can be something else. It can be depression. It can be anxiety It can be you know, maybe some something that I want to do, but it's not happening. It could be some Habits my own habits that I'm trying to overcome My own attitudes that I'm trying to manage. These are all giants. These are all Goliaths in our lives But what did David do by faith? Just with the slingshot it took down the giant Okay, so it was not so much the slingshot But it was the faith of David in a great God. So today you and I like David We want to overcome our Giants. What do we need? Faith right faith by faith you can take down any giant who stands against God So David is another wonderful example you know, you can talk so much about the life of David and you know, how he acted boldly At a time like this and not just now, but David I told you he was a worshipper, right? He was a psalmist. He was a shepherd boy But also the Bible attributes greatness to him as a warrior So what a life what an example one man He's he was a king Okay, all this but he had incredible faith in God So that is a beautiful testimony that David carried as a man of God and It just kind of reminds us that we too must journey with God in the same way So let me just pause a little bit We were talking about people in the Old Testament who had faith in God so if there's any more questions or Some discussion points, please bring it up so that we can we can talk about it for a little bit. Yes Are you asking are you saying asking? Okay So in this era we as Christians Okay, okay, so Akhil is saying though we as Christians we've heard the gospel and we know so much of God's word It feels like it is maybe then Unbelievers or you know non-christians who seem to have faith in God, right faith in God More faith in God Okay, they believe they believe easier Okay, I don't know. I mean I won't be able to comment Yeah, so they are they are more open They have you find that they are open and they they are willing to come to church listen to sermons and all of that all that's fine Akhil but What I'm thinking of is when we say faith, no faith is more than Just showing up for you know Christian activity or being open to listen Regarding God. Yes, all that is a starting point, but real faith is a Journey in relationship with God. So that I don't think non-christians Have because obviously we call them unbelievers because they don't yet believe in God, right? So yes, there are instances where They seem to be so very open And that's good That's sort of the the opening from where we can talk more about God now coming to believers You are right. We know so much from God's word Imagine Abraham if he was in Bible college all happened to Abraham. I mean he's already He's already the father of faith with the revelation that he had back in those days But if he had the kind of revelation which we have or we believe us. We are on the other side of the cross Okay, and we have the blessings of the new covenant But Jesus made with blood. So what we are living in right now is Very great that not even Abraham David You know talk about the other names Samson Samuel they all desired, but they never saw we are sitting on it Now, okay, but why is it that? We may not seem to have the kind of faith which the other people had the same issues unbelief disobedience All these things are hindering us in our walk with God and they're not letting us Respond, you know in faith. So yeah, just my two cents to your comment Anything else if anyone wants to say you can share. I'm looking at the chat here Okay, so there are no related comments to Akhil's Point but there's something else on the chart here Where brother Sanjay is saying the Egyptians were led by Pharaoh a leader filled with pride or arrogance and this brought about his downfall without humility or Surrendering our will to God. We cannot have faith in him Also from scripture. We know that Moses was a humble man who feared the Lord. Okay. Yeah. Thank you for that insight brother Sanjay He's comparing humility and pride So when you look at both the leaders at that time Moses is the leader of the Israelites and Pharaoh is the leader of the Egyptians, but Pharaoh was full of pride and what did we say? You know, God resists the proud and He gives grace to the humble So Moses compared to Pharaoh. He was a man of humility So no wonder God helped Moses and the people now coming to the question here wiki He says oh wiki is online today. Fine Where is wiki but wiki is online nice faith of God Can do everything possible, but what about our self-faith is Self-faith different from faith in God and how So when you say self-faith wiki, I think what you mean is like when we believe in ourselves, right? confidence So sometimes that's how it's described confidence and who we are so Confidence in our own identity is also faith as long as it is biblical for example Identity in Christ. I am forgiven. So today if I worship freely without any weight of shame or guilt or anything in my life I feel like yes, I made mistakes, but you know, I have repented before God. I have Made changes in my life. God accepts me in Christ Jesus. What is that? I have faith that I am forgiven I'm confident right about my own identity. That is Like self-faith what you're talking about, but it is based in scripture wiki and that is fine That is fine as long as you believe things about yourself that the word of God says It's fine to have that kind of faith But it is when we believe things about ourselves Which is not in the Bible that there is a problem Okay, I hope I have answered your question wiki. Yeah, and of course, you know Self-faith if we we talked about it earlier, you know, if you just come up with strange things Then those things may actually not happen. Even if we believe it, confess it and you know, do all those things Okay, so anything else any other comments About the people in the Old Testament or some lessons from their lives Okay, so Amman is asking like Enoch right Enoch only few things are mentioned in the Bible But what to do if I want to learn more things about Enoch? So see the the best way Amman is to go by what the Bible says And only God knows right why he has mentioned a little bit about somebody and more about another person Okay, so you take what the Bible says then There will be some Historical records historical records is outside scripture But you know going with the information of historical records is a little tricky because we don't know no Which is correct, which is not correct. So that is why I'm saying In order to do research like that to find out additional information Beyond scripture about any individuals. We have to be very careful So maybe for people like Abraham, you will have a lot of information which you can confirm Because there are many scriptures in the Bible Okay, and Abraham is mentioned in many books in the Bible, but somebody like Enoch It is a little bit tricky. So don't try to get into it is what I will say at least not right now You receive whatever is available as of now Maybe after a couple of years when you are little more strong in your You know skills of researching the word of God then you want to look at some extra biblical reports You will be able to verify or discern whether it is accurate or not Okay, otherwise, what happens? I'll tell you why I'm saying this because we read online This book that book YouTube video full it will become one kitschery in your head Right, and then you'll come and say man, you know, you know did this you know, I'll be like, where is it a month? It's not in the Bible. No, no in YouTube. They said but what he's saying on YouTube. How do you know it's correct? Right, so there's a lot of confusion that takes place Which we can avoid If there is a source of literature, which we cannot verify. Don't even read it You got my point. We have to be very careful when we are interpreting the Bible Okay, don't get your Your your basics your foundations don't get it messed up Be very clear about the core concepts in God's word Okay, did I answer? So only if God is saying only so much you say, thank you Jesus. Amen. We have you with that for now. Okay next Okay, Shekhar Amritwar is asking is it good to read book of Enoch. Yeah, yes brother So I know there's a book of Enoch which has caused a lot of confusion in the body of Christ So people believe in different Philosophies that have come in because of this book. Now. That's what I was trying to tell everyone that we can't verify People say it's historical, but how do we know? How can we verify? So it's better not to get into these things Yeah, thank you Okay, seems like there are no more questions. Oh There's a question Hannah also have faith or she just asked God because of the enemies So from the life of Hannah Okay, bless these ask me this question. We know that she had faith That is why she asked God if she didn't have faith and how would she? You know reach out to God No, she would have just become depressed or done something else But her faith was that God will give so she prayed and she got a got a son Okay, so fine. Let's see that is the answer as the clement. Can you give us some idea on when? Will we be having the assignments and exams? Okay, so I am To post your exam your first assignment as the Today is the 12th. So just give me time this week. I'll have it posted. I usually give a week or more For you to complete your assignment. So you'll have enough time Before the deadline to complete it Okay, so this week you can expect your assignment to be posted your first assignment And then the second assignment will be posted a little later Okay, anything else any other questions? Okay, so all these great people did great things by faith. You can do your assignments by faith Okay, I really hope so after learning so much about faith. You should be able to do it So let's just close with a word of prayer and I leave it open for someone from the online audience to pray today Please pray and we'll close. Can I brace this stuff? Yes. Yes, please go ahead Gracious loving heavenly Father God Thank you for your grace and mercy Lord that we have today Lord Meditated on the heroes of faith or Lord God Lord is a very special way Lord You have visited us through the life of the heroes of faith and Father God as we not imbibe these Lord God the importance of faith a lot God all through our life of Father God Lord Let's each individual richly Lord God help us to be as people of faith and Lord God Glorify your matchless and mighty name in all our things we do Lord God let it bring honor to your name and Lord Help us to Lord God believe for the supernatural Lord attempt great things for your glory of Father God Thank you for sister Nancy Lord and the passion and the love which is not teaching us or Lord God bless her abundantly and her ministry Father God it bless all the students and online and offline Lord Thank you for the Lord the eagerness and the Lord the thirst and the hunger they have for the word of Lord God Thank you for the richer Lord food which you are giving us through these Sessions of Father God we give you all the glory honor and praise and we dedicate this day Lord into your mighty hands Lord we pray the spirit in the most precious name of a Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you sister and thank you everyone. God bless you. Have a blessed day We'll meet in another course tomorrow. So see you then