Subject: Faith of Our Fathers

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11

Memory Verses: Hebrews 11: 39 & 40

Objective: To sensitize believers as to the gravity of the coming persecution.

Note: In the very near future, the same merciless powers that hunted and killed the followers of Christ and fed many of the reformers to the flames will once again rise. Like the followers of Jesus and the reformers their only crime was that they chose to obey God rather than man. It’s the life that we live now that will prepare us to act in that hour.

1. Since the heroes of faith have left abundant evidence of an infallible God, what is being asked of us if our fate is to be like theirs? Hebrews 12: 1 & 2

2. On what foundation did they build their lives? Hebrews 11: 3 & 6 and what does the scripture say of them? Hebrews 11: 13 - 16

3. Hebrews 11: 24 - 26 set the stage for Moses being included in the chapter, how does 1 John 2: 15 & 16 tell us the same thing today?

Note: The faith by which our fathers lived cost them dearly. Consider these documented facts. John Fox in his “Foxe’s book of Martyrs” recorded:

- Andrew, Peter, Phillip, Jude, and Simon the zealot were all crucified.

- Mark was dragged to pieces and Thomas was impaled.

- James (brother of John) and Matthias were beheaded.

- James (leader of the church at Jerusalem), Stephen and Barnabas were stoned.

- Matthew was burnt at the stake and Luke hanged.

After them came the reformers many of whom were fed to the flames because they did not renounce the faith of the Bible.

The gospel story would not be complete without us. (Hebrews 11: 38 - 40). It is the life we now live that will dictate how we react when our faith is really tested in the days just ahead.

“And let us remember in running this race that faith is not feeling, and trust is not trace”. The joy that we experience when we read about our forefathers should encourage us, but it will certainly not get us into the kingdom. We must live and die for this same faith if we share in the inheritance of our fathers.

4. How does the preacher of the gentiles, one of our spiritual fathers, encourage us to hold on to our faith to the end? 2 Timothy 4: 5 - 8

Note: Note carefully that Bro. Paul was not just talk, but substance, and history bears it out that he willingly placed his head on the block to be beheaded by Nero.