church family we are now uh in our Bibles turning to Hebrews chapter 11 we are now into a new section and this portion of scripture will take us from verses 30 to verse 40 not tonight but verses 30 to 40 uh chapter 11 Hebrews and uh we’re looking at this series titled your life on faith your life on faith Jesus warned that as we get deeper into the end times into the latter days or as the Jews refer to the end of days Jesus warned that when he returns we’ll even find faith on the earth that uh listen faith is something that if you do

not maintain this is a very serious thing I’m about to say it’s not because I’m saying it is because it is it is a forever truth faith not maintained is a faith that will diminish the greatest loss that you can experience is not a diamond ring it’s it’s not the stock market it’s not even the loss of a loved one the greatest loss that you can experience is the loss of your faith when your faith begins to wne and to um step back and recoil from being a light or being a witness in this world around us that is a very

dangerous dangerous thing just the thought of it causes a little bit of Terror to happen in my heart that that I could neglect the things of God and have my heart grow cold and Peter warns about this that we need to be careful about our hearts growing cold that we need to have well the word in the English is fervent Hearts Peter said that that we should have fervent hearts for the Lord uh the word in the uh Greek language in Peter’s day was actually simply the the word um hot or blazing it’s a word that is used to

describe uh something that is bronze that is heated up to the point that it’s glowing the Christian heart is to be glowing with love for God and that is the true manifestation of faith and so a couple of things by way of introduction into this section of verses 30 to 40 it’s this it’s remembering what Biblical faith is everybody this is very important we need to remind ourselves what Biblical faith is and we we need to know uh what it looks like so biblical faith is you having faith in Christ plus

what nothing so Jack that’s kind of simple isn’t it no not really because yeah it is one step from actually being being a lost individual condemned to Hell repented of your sins accepting Christ as Lord that’s one step in putting your faith in him and now being destined for Glory but from that moment on you and I are to build Upon Our Most Holy Faith the scripture says but to have that begin to wne just causes me uh to have some fear because I don’t want to be found uh guilty of doing that church family yet we live in

an age that apathy is increasing more and more you know this you’re seeing it among people that you know and so to have true biblical faith is to have this faith that is all upon Christ and what he’s done and this that sounds so simple but you know what if if if you were to be lined up to tonight and and be asked uh a couple of diagnostic questions that are purely biblical questions that you must answer correctly or or you’re you’re wrong that it is so important that you have the right answers tonight that if

you if you don’t have them it could be indicative of the fact that you have religion but you don’t have faith and that would be a terrifying thing Romans chap 15:4 tells us that whatever things were written before were written for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope and of course you can’t have hope and you can’t believe in the Bible without faith in God and so Paul says to the church at Rome that everything of the past is all there for our learning and of course the ultimate

goal is Faith and then we look forward Revelation 14:12 regarding Faith listen to this this is by the way Revelation chap 14 is during the tribulation period that is in the future we’ll be watching from Heaven down at what this verse mentions but it says here is the patience of the Saints these are the tribulation Saints not you you are the church age Saints you’re the bride of Christ the tribulation Saints and there the scripture says here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus it’s not the

faith of Jesus like Jesus Jesus had Faith it’s the faith of Jesus meaning the Jesus uh that came to deliver us the gospel and to tell us how believing in God trusting God is what is required of us the Bible tells us that you and I will do Greater Works Jesus said it you’ll do Greater Works than me Jesus said remember that right before he went back to Heaven he said to the disciples and to all who believe in him you’ll do Greater Works than me say how is that possible because you not the greatest

work in the the world or in all eternity is to Christ it’s not raising the dead though that would be amazing it’s not opening up the eyes of the blind though that would be amazing listen it’s leading somebody to Christ that’s the greatest thing ever ever and so that’s a very powerful truth we want to keep that in mind and then right now we would put it before we read this portion of scripture we would put it right here that right now where you and I are looking when we’re when you and I are living out our faith now today

I think these verses apply 1 Timothy chapter 4 veres 7 and 8 it says but reject a profane and old wives fables and exercise yourself toward godliness so in other words stop wasting your time on dumb stuff that you can’t prove and only suck up time when you can be investing in things that are Godly things that are going to build you up and build up others verse eight for bodily exercise profits a little I love the practicality of the Bible the Bible says if you want to work out go ahead and work out just know this it ain’t going to do

much it’s true I love it the Bible’s so practical but bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and that that which is to come that is exciting so church we’ll read it and you want to stand as we read I’ll I’ll read verse 30 if you pick it up in verse 31 uh and down we go so by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days by faith theab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the

spis with peace and what more shall I say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barack and Samson and jeepa also of David and Samuel and of the prophets who through faith subdue kingdoms work righteousness obtain promises stop the mouths of lions quench the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong became Valiant and battle turned to flight the armies of the aliens wom receive their dead raed to life again others were tortured not accepting Deliverance that they might

obtain a better Resurrection verse 36 still others had trial of mockings and scourgings yes and of chains and imprisonment they were stoned they were s in two were tempted were slain with a sword they wandered about sheep skins and goat skins being destitute Afflicted tormented wow of whom the Len after all of that listen what verse 38 says of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and mountains in dens and caves of the Earth all these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive verse 40 but here God having

provided something better for us that they should not be made perfect or complete apart from us and all God’s people said amen amen you may be seated Church the first thing and the only thing that we’re going to see tonight is this regarding your life on faith is this one argument found in Verses 30 to 31 if you if you would go through this section of scripture there is this natural break where verses 30 and 31 uh make a statement they are setting it up uh for much of what we’re about to hear but remembering this that faith is

as powerful and as reliable as the object for which it is placed in I’ve to I’ve said it before I’m going to say it again we want to stop debunk Expose and put an end to this ridiculous statement where people will say just have faith man just have faith there have been people who have been so crazy to say just have faith and faith if you just believe believe if you just have faith and that is so misleading because you’ve got to tell me what the object is for which and unto which I direct my faith faith is worth

listen well it’s because I was up in Northern California the other day and had a a conversation with somebody and um it was a science thing it was a it wasn’t even a science thing this person thought he knew science it was was very sad and when I got done listening to this person talk about what he believes I told him I said listen dude I’m sorry but I the only thing I can say to you is that I admire your faith your science is the worst I’ve ever heard of and I’m glad that you’re not a brain

surgeon but I got to give it to you you got so much more faith than I do because if you can believe in that then wow I need more evidence than that I need more consistency I need something more reliable than that and this guy for so long tried to talk me into how flat the Earth is and it’s and oh my goodness and then everything I brought up which was you cannot the things that I were bringing up to him you cannot disapprove and he went that’s interesting anyway it just bounced off but he’s got faith in that bizarre

explanation that he thinks is right he’s got faith in it if somebody comes along and preaches some other Christ or some other Bible or some other document or some other Messiah do you understand there are people who will follow them headlong into Oblivion why is it Oblivion because their faith is only strong and as secure as the object by which they’re putting their faith into and if it’s anything other than Jesus You’re Building on wood hay and stubble at best amen and so mark this down if you would

verses 30 and 31 speak about this your life on faith will face impossible situations just write it down it’s just going to happen your life is going to face impossible situations and this must be in life he says in verse 30 by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were in circled for seven days people want to laugh at that statement well laugh all you want did you know that the oldest city ever on earth in history is none other than Jericho now look Damascus is the longest inhabited city known to man Damascus the longest

continuous inhabited City in all of humanity and human history is Damascus but the oldest city archaeologically soil content the amount of geological levels that answer to history nothing matches Jericho Jericho it’s a real place it’s not a story and the Bible tells us by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after this is cool I have after circled they were en circled for seven days so number one keep this in mind that your life look we need to do it this way we’re going to study the history of it really quick and we’re

going to also give application to our lives of course uh we must do that but um the fact that uh God’s word is uh that which simply says it says what it says and it leaves it to you and I to deal with it I love it nowhere does the Bible say something like maybe you’re never going to find maybe in the Bible and of course it starts with Genesis 1:1 but it goes all the way through where God is very certain about who he is he’s very certain about what he’s done and he stay things in a matter of fact and I and I I love that and so when

the Bible says and so we approach this as detectives or uh forensics the by faith the Bible says is this true or false well let’s just look and see by faith the walls of Jericho fell down we asked the question was there ever a Jericho and the answer is absolutely yes and I want to show you one of two slides first of all this is uh the actual Jericho ancient Jericho uh of the day toward the end of the bronze era and and what’s great about this is when you go to Jericho I’ve been there several times

maybe you have been with me or you’ve been on your own uh you can walk this these regions of archaeological Discovery uh this is not a madeup uh Topography of Jericho this is actually uh what science tells us uh Jericho was raised as a city or we could say a city state and it had its various areas that are native this type of of design is native to all ancient or Bronze Age We would say period And if if you dig up what is called a tell te l l if you dig up a tell in the Middle East the reason why it is a tell is that there’s

civilizations that have been conquered and then covered in dirt a new person or new new king Reigns then they’re conquered they’re covered up with dirt and then that’s how they do it there they build when they conquer somebody they build right on top their house and we’re really grateful for for that in history because it preserved everything so well that’s why I think in my opinion Archaeology is so cool I I don’t think you’ll have any problem being an archaeologist a scientist and believing fully on in in

the Bible but uh the next image is this and I I I love this so notice the Bible is going to tell us that the wall or walls of Jericho came down this is important to know uh it’s not that it’s just a wall it’s not that it’s just walls but it is two circuits of walls you say how do we know that because the AR Archaeology is there and you can look at it you might want to jot this down this is pretty fun those of you who know anything the slightest by the way every Californian should be an expert in what

I’m about to say whenever there’s an earthquake of any decent size the ground moves in a certain way and by the direction of The Way Things Fall you can tell where the earthquake was epicenter did you know that for example if you’ve been to Rome if you’ve been to um bethen for example there’s an ancient Roman awesome well beautifully restored area in Israel uh dates back 2400 years ago of the Roman uh stronghold of bethin and a great earthquake hit Beth shin and they know exactly where the earthquake had come

from because it was not only bethan but other regions in the area the great marble uh and stone pillars all fell down in the same direction and it means this it’s quite cool when an earthquake hits the top of any column will fall the top will fall in the direction of the epicenter it’s very cool see why do you tell us that are you going to tell us that it wasn’t God knocking down the walls of Jericho but an earthquake nope I’m not going to tell you that I’m going to tell you this wasn’t an earthquake

for this reason we’re going to read or at least we’ll touch on it the walls of Jericho tonight as you sit here have been laying as they have been laying for thousands of years and guess which way they fell say it again outward both sets of walls and every 360 degree Direction the walls fell outward you could say that there was a series of earthquakes all around the region at the ex same time or you could say that God did it the Bible says God did it and uh we’re gonna we’re going to look at a little bit about that so mark this down

always the word faith the meaning of this Greek word faith we’ve we’ve touched on it uh in the times past it’s time to revisit this word it means to trust and Reliance upon another trusting in the faithfulness of another trusting in a pledge think of that you go into something with good faith right trusting in and living out that which has been promised to you faith faith is action it’s verb it moves faith is engaging it it’s anything but static it doesn’t stand still if a Christian says that

they’re a Christian that they follow Christ Christ is on the move and their faith is a verb and it’s active that’s the Christian Life the Christian Life is a constant movement and I love this I love this I’m so grateful having been uh saved and and taught and raised up uh at a great Bible teaching church that we all understood from the very beginning the night I gave my life to Christ or the night anybody gave their life to Christ it was your first step into the kingdom of God you’re in you don’t need

to get back in when you’re born again you’re in but it’s your first step to a lifelong journey of moving on with God how many people sad to say how many people can say I’ve been a Christian for 35 years but they’ve got one year experience and then there’s Christians that have been Christians for five years and they’ve got 30 years of experience which one do you want to be I want to have everything going on in my life that God wants for my life and I don’t want to be a Christian for 45

years and have one year of experience that just does repeat and that’s all I’ve ever done no no no God’s more Dynamic than that I cannot exaggerate this next portion of scripture enough it’s Joshua chapter 6 beginning at verse 15 and again because of time and where we’re at we can only touch on this but it came to pass Joshua it came to pass on the seventh day that they Rose early about the dawning of the day and marched around the city seven times in the same manner stop right there for six previous days

the children of Israel watch everybody they had crossed over the Jordan River we don’t need to talk about that they H had now come to this uh Crossing Jericho is right across from the Jordan River and they cross over and Joshua not quite exactly sure what Joshua is doing but in Joshua chapter 5 Joshua is doing something but he sees he sees a warrior that he doesn’t recognize so they’ve crossed over they know now that they’re in the promised land listen the promised land is a picture of the Christian Life don’t

think of the promised land as being Heaven because that’s kind of weird because there’s a bunch of paganism going on in the promised land and there’s a lot of weird things maybe maybe not we’ll talk about it maybe next week we’ll see but there’s a reason why when God said when you cross over I’m going to go ahead of you and when I tell you to destroy this area or that place destroy it completely and some of the places I’m going to tell you to burn it to Ash and you think wow was God in a

bad mood that day no there’s a reason why that that particular group of people had to be burned to an ash because of what they did with animals what they did with Children what they did with each other God said the only way to preserve the land is to autoclave the land is to Scorch it purify it remarkable the wisdom of God but you know we think God’s acting extreme when he orders such things he knows exactly what he’s doing but know this they’ve crossed over and so Joshua is looking and he sees this Warrior all by

himself and Joshua walks up to him I you got to wonder how that looked like did he like yeah was and he says are you for us are you for our enemy and this Warrior says no is’t that a great answer what kind of answer is that no but I am here as captain of the Lord’s host you need to take off your sandals Joshua because the to place you’re standing Holy Ground that was none other than a theophanes of Christ a theophanes is when Christ appears before his birth it’s many times in scripture Joshua bows down Joshua takes