How does a person seek God and exercise faith for eternal reward? Hebrews 11-13 answer that question. Obey God in impossible situations requiring supernatural intervention. Bless others by choosing mistreatment and disgrace. Fight spiritual battles without knowing the results. Fix your eyes on Jesus submitting to His discipline. Worship God by living in peace and grace. Ask God to equip you in loving others.
Earnestly Seek God and Exercise Faith
Faith was assurance of what people hoped for and certainty of they did not see. By faith they understood that God created the universe at His command so what was seen was not made out of what was visible. Abel as a righteous man offered God a better sacrifice than Cain. God spoke well of his offering and by faith he still spoke even though dead. By faith Enoch pleased God who took him away so he did not experience death. Without faith it was impossible to please God, because anyone who came to Him but believe He existed and rewarded those who earnestly sought Him (Heb. 11:1-6). Earnestly seek God and exercise faith to please Him for eternal reward.
Obey God in Impossible Situations
By faith Noah built an ark to save his family, condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness. Abraham traveled to an unknown place and made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country as heirs of promise. He looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder was God. Though Abraham and Sarah were too old, they had a child and considered Him faithful who made the promise resulting in countless descendants like sand on the seashore. Not receiving things promised as aliens and strangers on earth, they longed for a heavenly country that God prepared for them. Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God tested him believing He would raise his son from the death (Heb. 11:7-19). Obey God in impossible situations requiring supernatural intervention to receive His promise.
Bless Others By Choosing Mistreatment and Disgrace
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau regarding their future. Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons when he was dying and worshiped God. Joseph gave instructions to transport his bones to Israel. Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born not afraid of the king’s edict. Moses chose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than enjoy sin’s momentary pleasures. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he looked ahead to his reward. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood so the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s firstborn. The people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians drowned when they tried (Heb. 11:20-29). Bless others by choosing mistreatment and disgrace to receive eternal reward.
Fight Spiritual Battles Without Knowing Results
Jericho’s walls fell when the people marched around them for seven days. The prostitute Rahab welcomed the spies and was not killed with the disobedient. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut lions’ mouths, escaped the edge of the sword and routed armies. Some were tortured and refused to be released so they might gain a better resurrection. They were stoned, sawed in two, put to death by the sword, persecuted and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them and none received what had been promised (Heb. 11:30-40). Fight spiritual battles without knowing the results.
Fix Your Eyes on Jesus Submitting to His Discipline
Since we have a great cloud of witnesses, throw off every hindrance and entanglement of sin to run the race with perseverance. By fixing their eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith who endured the cross with joy, scorned its shame and sat down at God’s right hand, they would not grow weary and lose heart. In struggling against sin, they did not resist to the point of shedding blood, but took God’s loving discipline seriously as a son. Without discipline, they would be illegitimate children. By submitting to discipline, they shared in His holiness and lived. Discipline seemed painful at first, but produced a harvest of righteousness and peace for those trained by it. By strengthening their feeble arms and weak knees and making level paths, they were healed (Heb. 12:1-13). Fix your eyes on Jesus submitting to His discipline so you can share His holiness.
Worship God by Living in Peace and Grace
They made every effort to live in peace because no one would see God without holiness. See that no one missed the grace of God, no bitter root grew up to defile many, no one was sexually immoral or godless like Esau who sold his inheritance for a single meal. They came to the city of the living God with thousands of angels, to the church of the firstborn whose names were written in heaven, to God and judge of all men, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to sprinkled blood better than Abel’s. By receiving a kingdom that could not be shaken, they were thankful and worshiped God with reverence and awe since He was a consuming fire (Heb. 12:14-29). Worship God by living in peace and grace without bitterness, sexual immorality and temporal values.
Ask God to Equip You in Loving Others
By loving each other, they entertained strangers, remembered prisoners and those mistreated, and maintained purity in their marriage. God judged the adulterer and sexually immoral. He helped them be content, free from the love of money, and not fearing man. By considering the outcome of their leaders’ way of life and God’s word they spoke, they should imitate their faith. Jesus Christ was the same yesterday, today and forever. By strengthening their hearts with grace and not carried away by strange teachings, they should bear Christ’s suffering and disgrace while looking for the eternal city. By continually offering sacrifices of praise to God, they should not forget doing good and sharing with others. Obeying and submitting to their leaders made their work a joy. Pray the God of peace through the blood of the eternal covenant who raised Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, from the dead, equip them with everything good to do His will in pleasing Him (Heb. 13:1-25). Ask God to equip you in loving others, being content, walking in grace, doing good and submitting to leaders.
To seek God and exercise faith for eternal reward, do the following:
1. Obey God in impossible situations requiring supernatural intervention
2. Bless others by choosing mistreatment and disgrace
3. Fight spiritual battles without knowing the results
4. Fix your eyes on Jesus submitting to His discipline
5. Worship God by living in peace and grace
6. Ask God to equip you in loving others, being content, walking in grace, doing good and submitting to leaders
