What does First B Jackson teach about heroes of faith?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First Baptist Jackson, the teaching on heroes of faith starts with the structure of Hebrews 11 itself. Both Pastor Ray and Pastor Brian have worked through this chapter carefully, and both of them land on the same observation: the list is not a prosperity-gospel passage. The people in it conquered kingdoms and shut lions' mouths, but others in the same list were sawn in two, stoned, and left to wander in sheepskins. What every one of them shared was not a particular outcome, but the same two-word introduction the chapter repeats over and over: by faith. Faith, as Hebrews 11:1 defines it, is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen, and Pastor Brian has pointed out that the Greek word carries both directions at once, meaning the faith we place in God and the faithfulness of God himself.
The hall of faith does not belong only to the distant past. Pastor Ray brought the list into the room, naming people from this congregation who had died since he arrived, each one introduced the same way the chapter introduces its figures. Bud Searles, Mark Upton, Grace McDaniel, Laura Simpson, West Flanagan, and Kurt Ripley, who died on New Year's Day just before that service, were placed in the same line as Abraham and Gideon, people whose faith was demonstrated in the ordinary work of their lives. Kurt fixed vacuum cleaners, shared Jesus, gave away what was his by rights, and led monthly services at a care facility for years. That is what faith looks like in a person the world might not notice.
The chapter closes with a difficult truth that both pastors have returned to: every one of these heroes died without receiving the full promise. They were approved by God through their faith, but they did not hold what was promised in their own lifetimes. The teaching here is that this is not a failure in the record. God provided something better, meaning Christ, so that the whole family across all generations would be made complete together. The people in Hebrews 11 were looking forward to what we now look back on, and that shared completion is what makes the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12:1 the reason, not just the backdrop, for pressing on.
Taught from Hebrews 11:32-12:3 · Hebrews 12:1 · Hebrews 11:1-2 · Hebrews 10:36-39 · Hebrews 12:2-3
The passage taught · Ephesians 1:19-20
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might
20 which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- January 5, 2020 By Faith: Men of Whom the World Was Not Worthy Hebrews 11-12 sermon on faith through suffering, tracing biblical heroes and beloved church members who lived and died trusting God's promises.
- December 15, 2019 When He Was Called, Obeyed Hebrews 11 sermon on the heroes of faith: how Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph walked forward in obedience to God without yet receiving the promise.
- December 1, 2019 By Faith: The Bread That Holds It Together Hebrews 11 shows that every believer across all time is united by faith in God's faithfulness. That same faith is what God calls us to live by today.