 In Hebrews chapter 11, beginning at verse 1, the writer writes, Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. And so as we begin chapter 11, let's begin by saying that this chapter has been given various titles. It's been referred to as the heroes of faith, because you're going to be seeing quite a number of people who had become famous for serving the Lord, and therefore it's been referred to as the heroes of faith. It's been called the Faith Hall of Fame, the Honor Roll of Saints, or simply the Faith Chapter. It fits perfectly in this place because it's revealing to us that the new, our relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ is better than the old covenant. And so as we begin this chapter, we remember that the writer has been exhorting Jewish believers to remain faithful to Messiah. He had already encouraged them to have a steadfast endurance. Remember in chapter 10, verse 36, he had said, you have need of endurance so that after you've done the will of God, you may receive the promise. He also spoke in verse 39 by saying, we are not of those who draw back to perdition. And so he's saying, you need to have a steadfast endurance because perseverance in the face of obstacles is going to define genuine faith. And so we are those who believe to the saving of the soul. You have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, and as a result have obtained salvation. And because of that, you have escaped judgment through Jesus Christ. So to return to Judaism for fear of suffering would be to forget your heritage of faith. He had already mentioned to them that they were going through difficult times. And the way that they were responding, remember how he had said in verse 34, you had compassion on me in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. And so to return to the old way is to walk away from the blessings that God would give to you. You'll be abandoning the essence of your ancestors' worship because the essence of worship is faith in God. And so that's what he's about to illustrate for them. Now notice in verse one how he begins. He speaks concerning faith. He says, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. That word substance speaks of a sense of assurance. It's the steadiness of mind that holds you firm. He's speaking of a confident assurance. He's saying that faith is the tidal deed of things hoped for. Faith is a living hope that is so real that it provides an absolute assurance to those who have it. Faith is not an energy. Faith is not wishful thinking. Faith is not uncertain hope that something good could or may happen. Faith is confident assurance in the integrity of God. It is a confident assurance in his word. That's why in 1 Samuel 1529, the word says the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent. He's not a man that he should repent. That's why Numbers 2319 can be trusted where it says God is not a man that he should lie. Neither the son of man that he should repent has he said and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken and shall he not make it good? And so when you have faith in God, you have a confident assurance that he is truthful. He's telling you the truth. It's an assurance of things not seen. He says the evidence of things not seen. Evidence is the divinely given conviction of things unseen. We have an ability to see that which is invisible through the eye of faith. You see, none of us were present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, yet every believer knows that he lived. We all believe that he taught. We know that he died. He was resurrected. We know that he ascended into heaven and he's returning. And though we knew him not in a personal way, yet we cling to him in faith, we have a reasonable faith because we can see the things that are documentable if you will. Now, most of us heard last week an announcement and an announcement made that Jesus' tomb has been discovered. I find this interesting for several reasons, but one of the reasons is that the tomb was originally discovered not last week, but in 1980, 27 years ago. As a matter of fact, the BBC did a documentary on the tomb in 1996, so this is basically old news. Now, this tomb that was found held the remains of several people who are now being presented as Jesus and family members. And that's because several names were found there that are associated with Jesus Christ. Names like Joseph, the name Jesus, Mary, Josie, Matthew, and Mary Omnia. They were all discovered in this particular family tomb. And so from this, it has been surmised that the tomb is the tomb of Jesus Christ. Now, Frank Pastore pointed something out that I am just going to, I'm going to rip off from him, but I'm giving him credit. Frank pointed out that in order to believe that that is the tomb of Jesus Christ, you have to come to that with several presuppositions. One, you have to believe that Jesus did not die on the cross, but that he lived past the crucifixion. Two, you have to believe that he escaped from the tomb, though that tomb was secured and he was gravely wounded. Three, you have to believe that all appearances after the resurrection were hoaxes, they were lies. And fourth, and this would really be the undergirding presupposition, you have to really believe that the New Testament and Christianity is simply a lie. That's how you have to come to this information in order to believe that it is true. Now, the fact is the names Joseph and Jesus were very popular in the first century. Jesus appears in at least 99 tombs and on 22 osuaries. Joseph, the name Joseph appears on 45 osuaries. Osuaries are those containers for human bones. Mary is the most common female name in the ancient Jewish world when in every four women was named Mary. The DNA evidence establishes no positive links in this tomb whatsoever. There is no early historical nor tomb connection to Mary Magdalene. There is no historical evidence anywhere that Jesus ever married or had children. The name in the tomb, Jesus, is referred to as Jesus, the son of Joseph. But the earliest followers of the New Testament did not call him that. Jesus is referred to as the son of God, not the son of Joseph. It's unlikely that Jesus' family tomb would be located in Jerusalem. And all ancient sources agree that very soon afterwards, the burial tomb of Jesus of Nazareth was empty. And so the question has to be asked, why now? Why is the discovery channel feeling that it's important to broadcast something like that? I think the answer is pretty easy for us to ascertain. I think it's another attempt to discredit the Easter celebration that we partake in. I find it interesting to note that this great discovery is going to be presented a few weeks before Easter. That is so common. It happens quite often. But even the early opponents of the gospel acknowledge that Jesus' tomb was empty and the evidence for Jesus' bodily resurrection appearances has never been refuted. You see, we as believers know that our faith can stand scrutiny. That's why I didn't go, oh, no. They found the tomb and his bones. What am I going to do now for a job? Think about that for a minute. I'm out of work. He's dead. Now, wouldn't you find it interesting if the discovery channel did something in search of the bones of Muhammad? Do you think they would do something like that? Why wouldn't they do something like that? Well, we don't even have to answer that, do we? We know why they wouldn't do anything like that. Because Christianity and the Christian faith has always been attacked, has been for 2,000 years, and will continue to be so into the future. That's a fact. But what we do is we as believers actually trust. We trust in God's word. We trust in the declarations of God. We trust in the things that we have held faster for 2,000 years. And that's basically the substance of faith. And so when he says here in chapter 11 verse 1, faith is the substance of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. None of us were present, like I said a moment ago at the crucifixion of Jesus, and yet all of us believed that he did live, that he did teach, that he died, that he was resurrected, that he ascended, and of course that he's returning. And though we didn't know him in a personal way, we cling to him by faith. It's like what Peter in 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 8 and 9 said, when he said, though you have not seen him, you love him. That is one of the scriptures that the Lord really impressed on my heart. Many years ago, many years ago, though you haven't seen him, yet you love him. Think about that for just a month. We don't just admire him. We don't just respect him. We don't just respect his teachings. We love him. We love the Lord Jesus Christ. No, we didn't see, we didn't walk with him on the dusty roads of Jerusalem or throughout Israel. We didn't see him walk on water, raise the dead, or do any of the things that the Bible speaks concerning. We simply have never seen him, yet we have embraced him by faith and we have trusted him. He says, even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And so that's what faith does. Faith brings us into a connection with God. Faith makes God real to us in the sense of giving to us life and we have a joy as a result of that. A joy that sometimes can wash over us, like if we're standing there on the seashore and magnificent waves were just washing over us. The love of God sometimes overwhelms us and we can't even comprehend the goodness that he has shown to us. We're saved by faith. We have a relationship with God through faith. We hold fast to him because of faith. We trust him. Faith is a trust. The closest English synonym that I've heard to the word faith is simply trust and we trust him with everything. We trust him with our lives and the lives of our families. We trust him with everything. We believe him and we hold fast to him. We're not like doubting Thomas. We all know doubting Thomas. The man who said, unless I put my hands into the wounds of Jesus Christ, those wounds that I know he's bearing from his crucifixion, unless I put my hand into the wounds in his side, unless I touch his open wounds, I will not believe you remember that story and then Jesus appears to him and says, Thomas, here I am. Touch my wounds and be not faithless. Only believe. We're not like Thomas. We have not seen and yet we do believe. And it's faith that God has given to us. A faith that is described here as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He says in verse two, for by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith the elders obtained a good testimony. It was because of their faith that the elders of Israel gained the ability to be written about, those whom we will read about when we go through chapter 11. They evidence trust and faith that was demonstrated through pain and through going through adversity. That's because faith is active. When you believe in God, you act on your faith. Faith is an active in the sense that it is something that stimulates an action. That's why James 2.17 says faith by itself if it's not accompanied by action is dead. And so we don't have this easy believism. It's kind of like, well yeah, you know I'm a Christian. Genuine Christians aren't that way at all. Genuine Christians actually believe and act on that in our lives evidence that a great example is found in the book of Daniel. And I'd like you to turn to Daniel. Daniel chapter 3. Daniel chapter 3 and I want to share a little bit with you out of that for a moment just to illustrate active faith. And as you're turning to Daniel chapter 3, the chapter contains a story of a Babylonian king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold. And the image of gold that he made is 90 feet high and it's nine feet wide. And he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Now this image that he erected was a symbol of his world domination. And so he ordered people to do homage to the image because that meant they would be recognized in the gods of the nation and accept the values the nation represented. After he constructed this image, he called his government officials to the dedication of the image. They were assembled. And a herald commanded them that when they heard the sound of certain music they were to fall down and worship this image of gold. And if they refused to do so, and whoever did not fall down and worship would immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace. Now in the province at that time were three young men, Jewish men who had been taken captive when Babylon had invaded Judah. Their names were Hananiah, Misha'al, and Azariah. Shortly after their capture, their names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three young men refused to bow when they heard the music played. They were accused by the priests of Babylon. So at this report, Nebuchadnezzar, the king is furious. And he tells them, if you refuse to worship, you will be thrown into the fiery furnace. Now notice verse 15 through 18 here in Daniel 3. He said, now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and sultry in symphony with all kinds of music. And you fall down and worship the image which I have made good. But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning, fiery furnace. And who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand, O King. But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. Now they had seen something that Nebuchadnezzar hadn't seen. They saw the invisible world at work around them. They saw things by faith and therefore they trusted God. And so, Nebuchadnezzar was not pleased with that. And so he had the furnace heated seven times hotter and he had them thrown in. Now, as he had them thrown in, he had stated, who is the God who can deliver you? Well, he's about to see who the God is who delivers in just a moment because in verse 24, King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and he rose in haste and spoke saying to his counselors, did we not cast three men bounded to the midst of the fire? They answered and said to the king, true, O King, he said, look, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, they're not hurt. And the form of the fourth is like the son of God. And so he had thrown them in but they didn't die. And there they are walking around in that fire that was so incredibly hot that it killed those who threw them in. And so this is interesting to me very much. In verse 26, Nebuchadnezzar went near the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke saying, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Now, I had to say, you come and get me. Does Shadrach, wouldn't you? Yeah, come and get me. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came from the midst of the fire. They sat traps, administrators, governors, king's counselors gathered together and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power. The hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected. The smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies that they should not serve nor worship any God except their own God. And therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made in ash heap because there is no other God who can deliver like this. And the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. There is no other God like this. You see, turning on back to Hebrews, it's obvious that they took God at his word and they lived accordingly. What's interesting to me concerning that story is they said, our God will deliver us but even if he doesn't, one way or another we are gonna be delivered from your hands. Whether we perish in the flames only to open our eyes to be in the presence of our God or whether he removes us, one way or another it's a win-win situation for us. They had no fear of death. Interestingly, as angry as Nebuchadnezzar was to the point of heating up the furnace seven times hotter, that was actually more merciful. I'm certain he didn't want to be merciful because the hotter, the quicker they would have died. He was just so angry. And yet they said, our God will deliver us but even if he doesn't, we still won't worship the God that you're promoting. We're not gonna do that. For to us, to live is our faith in God and to die, that's game. You see, you can't harm somebody who doesn't have a fear of death. You can't harm them. That's what Jesus taught us. He said, fear not the one who has the power to kill you. Fear the one who has the power to kill and then to cast you into hell. If you're gonna choose to fear anybody, fear him. Not just the person who can take your life but the one who judges you afterwards. And so they knew, they knew that the future which was being with God was in reality the present to them because walking with him now is something that continues into and throughout eternity. Eternal life is something that we experience now. It's an age abiding life that continues on. And so we who live by faith understand that. Faith is active. It takes God at his word and faith causes us to live accordingly. He says in verse three, by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Faith is necessary if we're to understand even the first page of scripture because no man was present at creation. We entered into a universe already in existence. So by faith we receive God's explanation of how all things came into being. To know what happened we have to receive God's explanation and to reject this is to leave us with simple theories but no concrete answers. So it's by faith that we understand that the worlds were framed. Now he begins to give us examples. Notice verse four. He speaks of a man by the name of Abel. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks. So notice how he speaks of Abel. Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He is the one who exercised faith in God. Now Adam and Eve as we read our Bibles in the Old Testament had two sons. And these two sons that are mentioned in the opening portions of Genesis are Cain enabled. Now the Bible tells us that Cain was a farmer. He was a tiller of the ground. It also tells us that Abel was a keeper of sheep. Interestingly enough when you read their story both of them were religious men and both of them brought an offering to God. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. Abel brought an offering of the firstlings of the flock and their fat. The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter four verses four and five that God respected Abel and his offering but he did not respect Cain and his offering. As a result Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. So when he got upset God warns him it's found in Genesis four verse seven. God says to him if you do what is right will you not be accepted? If you do not do what is right sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you but you must master it. Cain never did master his anger. He rose up the Bible says he killed his brother Abel. When it says he rose up and slew him he literally the Hebrew says he slaughtered him he butchered him. Instead of butchering a lamb and giving it to God as an offering he butchered his own brother as what happened. And so as a result he ends up leaving the Lord's presence and he's exiled east of Eden. Now each of these men represented different approaches to God and man because by faith the Bible says Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. What was the difference in their offerings? Look at when you look in the Old Testament God actually receives grain offerings as well as blood offerings. And so when you have Cain offering grain in the Old Testament he does accept grain offering. He also accepts the sacrifice of a lamb. What was the difference? Well the difference is being told to us here in verse four it's by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice. The fact is is his sacrifice was made in faith. He had a motivation. A motivation to give to God what God deserved. His heart was right. You see Abel's sacrifice was approved because he was obedient to God. God had instituted blood sacrifice so he brought out of his flock the lamb but Cain came in his own way. And so Cain's offering wasn't approved because this offering became the way of self-righteousness and revealed unbelief. That's a path that people still offer today to God as they come in their own strength, their own wisdom, their own abilities. We know that they come with their own religious faith, their own belief system. It's not that people don't believe in God. I mean you can speak to tons of people in the United States the average person, the average citizen here in the United States the average citizen will say I have a faith in God. There's no argument with that. It's just that it's a God after their own creation. It's a God after their own likeness. They have a God there's no doubt about that. It's just not the God of the Bible. And they try to come to him their own way. And when they take that path, when they give to God an offering that he has not required then that's their own works. And as a result of that it will always be rejected. Abel's offering was approved because he had the right heart. He brought the firstling of the flock and that presents to us the best that he could give to God. But Cain's response revealed his heart. When God rejected his offering he was angry his countenance fell. And Abel's offering was approved because it was given in faith even as it says here in verse four. Cain's offering was given motivated by a desire to come to God in his own terms as a result of that it was rejected. And so Abel's offering is used as an example because he's viewed as being righteous. And though he is physically dead his faith is a living witness that is still spoken of. Though he is dead yet his faith still speaks. There are people we know of who have gone on to be with the Lord and though they're physically dead yet their testimony still reverberates. Billy Graham when he goes home to be with the Lord is still gonna be a respected man though he's dead. And we may turn on the TV and see a Billy Graham recorded crusade that he does and though he's dead he's still speaking and still presenting the gospel. The apostle Paul long ago went home to be with the Lord 2000 years ago and yet when we read through the Bible and we see the things that he wrote he is still speaking concerning the goodness of God to us and that's how it works. And so Abel is used as an example like that. Not only that but we see another one by the name of Enoch. Enoch in verse five by faith Enoch was translated so that he didn't see death and was not found because God translated him for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. When I first read that the word translated I thought God translated him from what? From Spanish into English, you know, Greek into English, I don't know what he translated it means that God took him. He is a picture of the rapture. And so when you read concerning Enoch he's an interesting guy. Enoch lived before the great flood. The Bible tells us that he lived some 365 years and then the Lord took him. In Genesis five 21 through 24 the Bible says when Enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God then he was no more because God took him away. The testimony of Enoch is that he pleased God. Think about that. He pleased God consistently for over three centuries. We say, Lord, help me please you today. This is a man who pleased God for over three centuries. He walked with God. When you walk with God it's a picture of walking in the same direction. It's a picture of walking in agreement. Amos three three can two walk together except they be agreed. He walked in the same direction. He had the same destination. They walked on the same path to the same place. He had a walk of fellowship. He had a walk of righteousness. He had a walk of faith and faith precedes and produces a walk that is pleasing to God. Enoch pleased God. God enjoyed fellowship with him so much that one day he simply said why don't we just keep walking into heaven so that you and I can continue this wonderful time of fellowship that we're having right now. What a tremendous example to me of a man who walked consistently over the long haul with God in such a way that he pleased the Lord tremendously. Enoch was translated so that he did not see death and was not found because God translated. God took him and said let's just continue this fellowship in heaven. And so faith. When you're walking in the faith of God and you're walking in obedience to God you have fellowship with God. You enjoy your relationship with him. You enjoy spending time in the word of God because he speaks to your heart. You enjoy prayer because you speak your heart to him. You enjoy fellowship because you see the body of Christ is more than simply a group of strangers. It becomes your family. And as you gather together with your family you begin to share with one another their joys and your heartaches. You begin to laugh with one another and you begin to weep with one another. You begin to bear one another's burdens. And in doing so you're demonstrating that that you're from the same womb. You're a brother, you're a sister and you have both been born again by the spirit of God. The church is a lot more in other words than just a group of people, strangers gathered together on occasion. The church is a family. A family that enjoys living together and that's a walk of faith. A family that experiences a life of faith together and joys the fellowship with one another. I really believe strongly that God has done a work here in this fellowship to produce that. I really do. I find this church to be a joyful place for me to be because I have so many people who are like-minded, so many people who love the Lord, so many people who wanna serve God. I mean, when you've got, like we did this weekend, when you've got a group of women, over 600 women from your fellowship going off just to get closer to Jesus Christ and away from the family for a weekend, when you've got over 600 women who leave because they desire to know Jesus Christ, that says something. Couple weeks ago, when we have a men's breakfast and you have 1,200 men show up for 800 of them came for breakfast, another 400 came simply for the fellowship in the Word of God, something good is happening. Something is happening that God is pleased with and that's life. It's the life that God wants us to live one with another. I find it amazing that God places in the heart of believers a love, not just for their own physical family members, but he places within the heart of believers a love for even strangers so that we actually grow to know one another and to care for one another and to bear one another's burdens and in doing so fulfill the love of Christ. That to me is an amazing thing. The testimonies that I on occasion get from fellow pastors who come and share with you and will tell me later on that the church is, you've got a wonderful group of people there, they're just servants and they're warm and they're loving and I say, yeah, it's amazing, isn't it, what the Spirit of God does in people's lives? How he can cause strangers to actually love one another and to care for each other. That's the church. But that's the walk of faith. It's a walk that is pleasing to God. It's a heart to get into his word because you wanna know his ways. It's a heart that wants to have conversation with God because you want him to hear your needs and your concerns and your petitions for others. It's a heart that desires to gather together with others of the same mind because on Monday through Friday or sometimes Monday through Saturday and even sometimes Monday through Sunday we're in an environment where the love of Christ isn't shown and fellowship isn't necessary and people really don't care much for you. And so you go to church and as you gather in church there are people there who are caring and loving and concerned and it's just a blessing to be there. That's what the church is supposed to be and not only that but we also take this and we live it not only in this room where it's really easy, how hard is it to be a good Christian in a room like this? You don't do anything other than take a short nap and leave when I say amen. I mean other than that, how difficult is that? It's not hard here, it's easy here. That's why we call this sanctuary because we gather in here for a place of peace and protection and all but we're equipped for works of service so that when we leave these doors through these doors here and enter into the world we can take what we have been equipped to do and we have been sharpened in our belief and we can share those things with people and we can tell them, listen, let me tell you what God has done in my life, what God can do in your life, how God can transform you, how God can give you a hope, how God can work in the midst of your problems and give you peace so when you're walking on water like the apostle Peter and you find yourself sinking you can still cry out to Jesus and say, save me and he will, he'll reach out and take you and walk you back and show you how to overcome. This is what we as Christians do, you see? It's a walk of faith. I believe very strongly that God's word is true but there are a lot of things I have yet to see but I know that just as certain as he has said it these things are so and then one day I'll enter into those pearly gates and I'll walk on streets of gold and I'll see family members that have gone on before me and I'll rejoice at this glad reunion and I live like that now in anticipation of it taking place in yet the future. We live by faith. Notice verse six, without faith it's impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So if I'm gonna please the Lord, well first I need to know there is a God and there is a God that I can please so without faith it's impossible to please him he who comes to God must first believe that he is. Yes there is a God but also I believe that he's a rewarder in other words that he literally pays wages. In other words God will actually reward you as you serve him, can you imagine that? That he actually rewards me for doing that which I'm supposed to do. I mean my goodness he gives me a reward for simply doing what I am obligated to do. I am an unjust servant doing only that which I've been commended to do by God. And yet he rewards me, can you imagine that? That one of these days when you stand before the Lord he's gonna issue to you something a reward. Now some people are saying well you know I don't really care about rewards I just wanna get into heaven. And some are gonna just barely make it in I promise you. I love the illustration of Wiley Coyote. You know when I grew up there was that little Coyote that was always trying to kill the road runner and behold in a stick of TNT you know and the road runner would come by and it would go out and then the road runner would run away and Wiley Coyote would look at it for a moment it would explode we've seen that so many times I often wonder how come he didn't die but he doesn't and he just explodes and he's standing there smoking you know and that's how some people are gonna enter into heaven smoking but they just barely made it. There they are and I've had people say that oh you know as long as I just get in you know I'm not of that mindset. I want to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. So yes I do hear those words well done. I do want him to say enter into the joy of your Lord that has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I do indeed wanna hear that and yes I think that entering in by itself is more than I could ever want or desire or deserve and yet I know that I can produce works for God that ultimately receive a reward and I know that God ultimately gives to us various crowns and God adorns us some of our works are wood hay stubble some are precious stones and I realize there's a difference between the two. What I want is I want to be able to have rewards from the Lord that demonstrate a faith and God says I do reward you. Now somebody says well you Christians you Christians are kind of like you use God I would have to say I don't agree with that at all. Well you do you serve him so you can get a reward. No a reward is part of what he gives to us but I don't serve him for that but I do receive that. It's similar to this it's like a man who takes a woman out and purchases things for her and all simply so that he can end up having intercourse with her. That man is not an honorable man whatsoever. That man is a user he's a seducer and he's taken advantage of a woman's innocence and vulnerability and for him to enter into a relationship with her under those means that is improper and wrong and so him having that physical relationship will be sin and yet on the other hand a young man who meets a young woman and begins to court her and as he's dating her taking her out he's honorable towards her and he asks her to get married and he frees himself from having any kind of a sexual impropriety with her and he falls in love with her and grows to love her she loves him he gives her the ring they stand before a minister they say I do and then they go to their honeymoon suite and they end up consummating their love in a physical act that's proper that's a right relationship that's a reward of love there's nothing wrong with that. So a lot has to do with the motivation. If I serve God simply for a reward then I'm mercenary but I serve God because I love him and I get a reward I'm faithful and so a man or a woman who is serving God in faith is gonna be rewarded why because the Bible says he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him and so there's that word diligently that means to carefully scrutinize or to seek to please him all of your life it's studying to show yourself approved by God it's a life that is set apart saying I wanna do the right thing for him I will diligently follow him I will not do it inaccurately I will not do it haphazardly I will do it with all of my heart and I will improve my walk daily as I serve you because I wanna do so in such a way that brings pleasure to you. I try to please my wife sometimes sometimes she was gone this weekend I did the wash she didn't like me to do the wash I found out why this weekend she doesn't like me to do the wash because I put my whites with my Levi's I've got some cool blue t-shirts now so she's constantly saying you know honey you don't have to do the wash and now I've got a good excuse I haven't told her yet so you don't tell her either okay I'll tell her by the way I threw some bleach in and I got all that blue stuff out but I try to do those things so I'll do the wash and I'll fold the clothes and I'll clean up the house because when she comes home I want her to walk into a home that's clean and ready for her because my wife is of such nature and if she sees things that need to be done she won't rest and so I wanna please her I wanted to come home and relax I wanted to come home and sit down on the couch after three days of ministry and just enjoy herself to be with her family and what do I do that? I do that diligently for her because I love her now if I can do that for her why can't I do that for the Lord? If I'm careful to try to do the things that are pleasing for her wife or even my kids for that matter well why not for my savior? Diligently, diligently serve diligently seek him because he rewards you as you do so and so faith we can look at the word of God and we can see what God has to say and by faith we act on that and as we trust him the Lord rewards us so as we're gonna be going through chapter 11 we will be looking at lives of those who have trusted him I invite you and encourage you to read ahead because there's a lot of information here and the first time or one of the times that I did Hebrews 11 it took me weeks to get through I don't wanna take several weeks I wanna get through this quicker with you so read ahead and be prepared as we look at these figures in the hall of faith that please to God