Audio Access Available Above
“What Is Faith?” • 2.25.18 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday
Morning Service
Intro
- Imagine the
Hebrews sitting in a large living room area, gathered much like yourselves.
That famous quote from Habakkuk 2:4
is still ringing in their ears.
- "The just shall live by faith."
Those who have a right standing with God will continually conduct their lives
according to faith. Our author doesn't let them sit without an explanation.
- There will be
no need for individual interpretation. The entirety of chapter 11 will be spent in Biblical
restrospective! The Hebrews won't have to look far for their example and
neither will you!
- The entire
Old Testament is filled with men and women who embodied faith! Our author leads
us through the gallery, stopping at each work of God's art, and offers a timely
explanation!
- Our passage
is all about faith and it will proceed like this. We'll see
I. The Definition Of Faith (v.1)
II. The Deeds Of Faith (v.2-12)
III. The Destination Of Faith (v.13-16)
Text
I. The Definition Of Faith (v.1)
• Hebrews
11:1 : "Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." : Simply put, faith means "to trust." Contextually, we
are referring to believers in Christ, whose trust is in God. How does one learn
to trust God?
- The Reformers helped to clarify this in the
1500's by noting that biblical faith is comprised of three components. The
first component, they called "notitia."
- In order to trust God, you must first be
aware of specific knowledge or content regarding His person, which is
discovered exlusively in the pages of scripture, the all sufficient, divine
revelation.
- The scripture presents a transcendant,
creative, omnipotent and holy God that has opened a single way of approach to
Himself, namely the person of His Son Jesus Christ!
- In order to trust the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, the Godhead, you must understand what it is that they reveal of
themselves. This leads to our second component, which is "assensus."
- Faith is built upon agreement with the claims
and terms of God, discovered in the Bible, first by acknowledging our sinful
state and then by believing in Christ's perfect and vicarious state.
- If faith is to be born in my heart, I must
confess that I agree with God on these, His terms. I'm sorry if this seems
obvious. Unfortunately, our society proves otherwise.
- People claim to believe in God, but upon
further examination, their "God" is a god of their own making, whose
character is foreign and opposed to what the Bible presents!
- That god generally agrees with THEIR terms,
meaning of course, that they ultimately worship themselves! That
"god" doesn't exist and it is powerless to save you!
- On the other hand, there are many who are
aware of the facts about the true God and even agree that His claims are
righteous. But they are not saved.
- There will be many who live in hell for
eternity who held the proper knowledge of God in their heads and agreed that
His terms were righteous, but that failed to grasp the final component.
- That third component is "fiducia"
or commitment! The concept is simple to understand. You have come to know and
agree with the God that you live your life in submission to!
- The faith of Christ that is born into the
heart of a regenerate man, sees the Word as His guide post. He hears of an
action and either wants to repent or see it born through His life!
- Faith means that you have put your life into
the hands of God Almighty and have surrendered your right to direct it! You
have come to trust the one that you know and agree with!
- That faith is saving and substantive. Faith
is "the substance." The word speaks of a substructure or a
foundation. Quite literally, the word seems to refer to "something to
stand upon."
- Indeed, faith is what a Christian stands upon
with relation to the future! Faith is the foundation for what we expect to be!
"Hope," biblically isn't a wish that we desire to come to pass.
- It is an expectation that is growing and
becoming more sure as the days pass!
- Faith is substance for our future expectation
and the evidence, the proof for that which cannot be seen!
- There is a deep seated conviction of truth
that can only be approached by faith. Truly, seeing is not believing. That is
the world's maxim.
- They cannot believe until they see.
Biblically speaking, the Holy Spirt conveys the truth that we will not see
until we believe! Believing is to see!
- Listen to the NLT's rendering of verse 1: "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it
gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
- Have you ever considered that your faith is
both the seat of your confidence for the future and all the evidence that you
need for the past? That is the essence of what it means to have faith!
- That being the case, what does faith affect?
How does it live! Let's begin our tour! Verse 2.
II. The Deeds Of Faith (v.2-12)
• Hebrews
11:2,3 : "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." : Faith has always been the standard
of measurement in the Kingdom of God! Consider your elders.
- This is a colloquial way of referring to the people
of ancient times that walked with God. These are the people that met with and
knew God well before there was even a Jewish nation!
- Remember, technically, there are no Jews
until Abraham's children are born. Everyone we are about to speak about faithful
men and women who were non-Jews!
- They were commended for their faith. They
received favor with God through their faith.
- These men lived before the law was written
and faith toward God brought them into a right relationship with Him! There has
never been a difference!
- God justified them by their faith as they
looked forward to a Redeemer that would rescue them from their sins. We look
back and identify their Redeemer and ours as Jesus Christ!
- Where did their faith journey begin? Exactly
where yours begins! We who have faith consider the Universe to be the Creation
of God! God framed the worlds!
- The sense is that He joined the universe
together by His own word, by fiat, without organizing pre-existing material. The
Latin theologians have given us the phrase "ex nihilo."
- God created all that can now be seen out of
nothing and is sustained by that which even now, with our most powerful
scientific instruments, cannot be seen!
- The Bible begins with a supernatural event,
which apart from faith, is virtually impossible to believe! Think of the
scientists who exist to mock this? You won't have to look far!
- I am often asked if I believe that God
created the World, as He says, in seven literal days, merely by speaking it
into existence. What other choice do I have? My faith demands my affirmation!
- If I question His ability to perform that,
how can I accept that He has the power to do anything else that He says?
- Furthermore, if I refuse to take Him at His
Word here, where do I begin to trust His Word later? Is He not the same One who
claims to be able to save me from my sins and for eternity?
- The one statement is as unbelieveable or
believeable as the other! If I believe that He has lied here, what makes me
think that I can trust Him there?
- The balancing point is faith and when I can
accept statement one in Genesis 1:1,
I can accept any statement after that!
- The Hebrews have to be listening to this as a
matter of confrontation. Our entire Universe exists by the power of God's hand.
He holds all of that together and has called us to relate to Him!
- "Consider His power to orchestrate
something beautiful without pre-existing material! If He holds that together,
will He not also maintain your life and fulfill His promise?" Verse 4.
•
Hebrews 11:4-6 : "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. By faith Enoch was taken away so
that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had
this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is 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." : When you examine the
contents of Genesis 4, you will
wonder what the difference was between Abel and Cain's sacrifice.
-
Both are acceptable before God, in terms of their being prescribed by the law
later in history. But in this pivotal moment, God accepts Abel's sacrifice and
rejects Cain's. Why?
-
Here is the only biblical answer. Abel's was offered by faith! Cain and Abel
were both informed of the role that sacrifice would now have between humanity
and God.
-
They agreed to that and brought a sacrifice. However, only Abel was committed
to act in light of it! He saw this act as an extension of what he believed.
- His was deemed
superior by God, who accepted His gift, pointing to the fact that he was
righteous! He was a man that God looked at and accounted righteousness to!
-
Even though he died at the hands of his brother, his faith filled action still
resounds! The message is loud and clear: God responds to this kind of faith and
so does the religious world!
-
Those that have sought to approach God in a way divorced from faith have always
turned their agression toward the faithful! Abel was murdered by His brother.
-
Is it any surprise that they would be persecuted now? Abel's life was lost, but
his testimony remained! Our author moves onto Enoch whose life is covered in Genesis 5:21-24
-
Here is a man that is given exactly three verses in scripture, about 50 words
of summation and he has a message.
-
Enoch had children at or around his 65th birthday and it seems from the text,
that he began walking with God during that time. Children have a way of making
a man call out to God!
-
Enoch is distinct in his generation as a man that did not die, but that was
instead taken by God because he pleased Him. Where does he get that
information? Look over with me at Jude
14.
-
Keep in mind that at Enoch's time, the Messiah had not even come the first
time! Look at his message, captured by Jude.
•
Jude 14 : "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten
thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among
them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way,
and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'" : Enoch was the first to prophecy of the Lord's second coming!
Enoch pleased God and our author makes it clear in Hebrews 11:6.
-
Faith is the pre-requisite condition necessary to please God! "Without
faith, it is impossible to please God!"
-
For Enoch, it is described for us in the next phrase. He believed in God's
present existence and that He is the One who pays out wages to those that are
consistently, currently investigating Him!
-
"What does He want from me today? Who does He want me to share with? What
priorities am I to adopt?" This is the language of faith which expresses
an urgency to discover His desire!
-
How long should one do this? Enoch is one who lived this for 300 years when God
took Him!
-
The Hebrews wondered how long they would have to wait for the promises of God
to take effect. If Abel taught them that faith out lived death, then Enoch
taught them that faith can outlive life!
-
The faith that God gives to a person is potent enough to bring a man into right
relationship with Himself and to sustain Him until He brings him home! Verse 7.
•
Hebrews 11:7 : "By faith Noah, being divinely
warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the
saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness which is according to faith." :
Noah had never seen a flood. There hadn't even been a significant rainstorm in
Noah's time! When God told him one was coming, Noah didn't flinch.
-
He immediately took action with reverence for God! The ark which he built, a
DIY project that took him the better part of a hundred years to complete,
became the vessel of his family's salvation.
-
At the same time, as the frame stood night and day, that same ark, the visual
representation of his faith, stood as witness to condemn the ancient world! The
irony is thick.
-
You can't see faith and faith must act based on what is unseen. What can be
seen, the result of our faith, not only saves us, but serves as a witness to a
watching world!
-
What are the Hebrews thinking at this time? The world thinks our faith is
ridiculous. Our families think we are crazy!
-
Do you think Noah was ridiculed and put to shame while he continually attended
to making an ark for an event that had never been seen? Every person that
walked past laughed him to scorn!
-
When Noah proclaimed the word that the work pointed to, nobody believed and
they were thus condemned to perish in the flood!
-
For Noah's part, he gained an inheritance that is reserved for the ones who
live out their faith. The world will ridicule you and mock what your life is
building, but it will save you! Verse 8.
•
Hebrews 11:8-12 : "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was
called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he
went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of
promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the
heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. By
faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a
child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who
had promised. Therefore from one man, and him
as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in
multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." : Our author's mind has brought him to Genesis 12 and the call of Abraham, the man that God called to
leave a known place for an inheritance in an unknown place!
-
Abraham didn't know where he was going. God did not tell him and he went out!
It was his faith that caused him to live in Canaan with his children and
grandchildren.
-
That was the place that God called his family too, but he dwelt there in a tent
because that country was not his home! His faith caused him to wait upon the
eternal city that God dwelt in!
-
This is a particular point about faith. When you begin your journey, you
believe that it's about a place. Eventually, you realize that it's about a
person!
-
I want to be in the city that is built and put together by God Himself! That is
what Abraham realized he wanted more than a place to settle in!
-
This world was not meant to ever feel like home! "Hebrews, are you
listening!?" Are you trying to make a home somewhere that isn't where He
is? Biblical faith won't be satisfied!
-
We generally consider Abraham as the Father of the faith, but there had to be a
Mother!
-
Abraham didn't have faith for the both of them. Sarah had to exercise faith as
well! God had promised Abraham a son and later clarified that it would actually
come through Sarah's body!
-
You will remember the story that is recorded for us in Genesis 18. God arrives at Abraham's tent and reminds the Patriarch
that he had promised a son within the next year.
-
This seems to have been God's way of reminding them that this was not going to
be a matter of divine intervention! There would only be one act of Incarnation!
-
Sarah had to cooperate recognizing that if this was going to come to pass, God
would have to do something beyond her body's capability.
-
However these two worked that part out, Sarah was empowered to conceive,
knowing that while she was old, her age wasn't enough to counteract His
faithfulness to His own word!
-
"She judged Him faithful!" By one old woman and one man that was as
good as dead, God brought the entire Jewish nation into being!
-
Notice his descriptions: They were as many as the stars and as innumerable as
the sand! This was what God promised would be the case! He used those exact
descriptors!
-
Would the Hebrews take the advice of their Mother? Would they judge the Lord
faithful to bring about His promise despite their current circumstances? Better
yet, will you? Verse 13.
III. The Destination Of Faith (v.13-16)
•
Hebrews 11:13-16 : "These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,
embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. For those
who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to
mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity
to return. But now
they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." : These stories were marked by faithful response to God and longing
expectation. None of these, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, lived to see the
promises fulfilled.
-
Not one of them received the things that were promised to them but their faith
allowed them to see the fulfillment off in the distance.
-
The concept is that if they could only live long enough, they were confident
that they would reach it! For their part, they walked in confidence and "embraced"
the promises.
-
This word speaks of saluting a dignitary or paying respects by arranging a
visit.
-
These men and women greeted the promise from afar, knowing that they couldn't
stay, excusing themselves with the agreement that they didn't belong on this
earth!
-
They were foreigners, not citizens. They were pilgrims, not settlers. They were
far from home but were on their way home!
-
To even acknowledge that in their actions made a statement to the essence of
our faith.
-
The life that they led made it clear that their heart was to find a place to
live that was ever before them, not behind them! There was nothing there to
satisfy them!
-
Verse 15 is a stinging rebuke to
this group of Jewish believers! Of all the people that could have gone back,
they had every chance to return. They didn't. Why?
-
Because they sought a superior country! When you think of the word
"desire" consider this definition applied to the lives that they led
: "To stretch oneself out in order to touch!"
-
The word is written in the present tense. They lived their lives reaching for
the boundaries of their new home! What a contrast to those that were in the
audience when this letter was read!
-
They were meandering along the road, confusing themselves as to which direction
that they might want to take! Their predecessors had no such confusion!
-
And God's verdict upon their life was the proud proclamation of relationship!
God says, "Those are my people! I am their God!" How has He made this
declaration? By His action!
-
He has prepared a city for them! He has reserved a place for them in the city
that He oversees, the city of righteousness! It's the city that your faith
desires!
-
It's the land that you are living for. It's the not yet visible but completely
viable, almost tangible world that you know you will inhabit!
Conclusion
- What is faith? It is confidence. It is evidence. Our future is known and our past is explained.
- What is faith? It is confidence. It is evidence. Our future is known and our past is explained.
-
What does faith do? It sees the invisible, speaks the impossible and sustains
the immovable! Faith responds to God's invitation without needing to know where
it might lead!
-
And where does it lead? Faith leads us to long for our heavenly home, where the
Builder and Maker is God the Father! All we have to do is wait!
-
May the Lord grow our faith proportionately to that end! Let's pray!
No comments:
Post a Comment