BACKGROUND:In this wonderful and well-known chapter, faith is explained as the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. Faith starts with believing in God’s character, that he is who he says he is. Faith culminates with believing in God’s promises, that he will do what he says he will do. We often think of the word hope in terms of uncertain desire—”I hope it doesn’t rain on Saturday.” For believers, however, “hope” is a desire based on assurance, and the assurance is based on God’s character.
Faith is the evidence of things we cannot yet see, meaning we have complete confidence that God will fulfill his promises, even though we don’t yet see any evidence. These include eternal life, future rewards, heaven, and so forth. Faith regards these to be as real as what can be perceived with the senses. This conviction about God’s unseen promises allows Christians to persevere in their faith regardless of persecution, opposition, and temptation.
People with faith please God very much. But faith is not something we must do in order to earn salvation. If that were true, then faith would be just one more deed, and human deeds can never save us (Galatians 2:16). Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us (Ephesians 2:8).
Even in days of old (Old Testament times), grace, not deeds, was the basis of salvation. This is why the book of Hebrews says, “It is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins”. God intended for his people to look beyond the animal sacrifices to him, but too often they instead put their confidence in fulfilling the requirements of the law. When Jesus triumphed over death, he canceled the charges against believers and opened the way to the Father (Colossians 2:12-15). Because God is merciful, he gives us faith. It would be tragic to turn faith into a deed and try to develop it on our own!
When believers have faith, that is, when they have confidence in God, they receive God’s approval. The rest of the chapter presents examples of men and women who received God’s approval because of their faith.
Here is an illustration of faith. Faith allows us to understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command. God created the world from nothing by his creative word alone. Believing this fact requires spiritual perception—that we receive only by faith. This passage reminds us that all of creation was new, not made from pre-existent materials. The visible world did not come from anything that can be seen. God called the universe into existence out of nothing; he declared that it was to be, and it was. We understand this by faith, not because we saw it happen but because we understand from what we read in Scripture and from our relationship with the loving Father that the world was created with a purpose and that we are part of that purpose.
The Jewish believers reading this letter were in danger of returning to Judaism.
Many may have desired to turn back because the “visual” nature of the rituals and sacrifices made their faith seem more real. Christianity, however, was based on so many invisible realities that many Jewish Christians may have begun to doubt its reality. Hebrews shows that Christianity’s “unseen truths” are more real and more certain than what can be seen.
Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve’s first two sons. Cain, a farmer, brought an offering to God from the ground. Abel, a shepherd, brought firstborn sheep. Abel’s sacrifice (an animal substitute) was a more acceptable offering and God accepted it. Therefore, Abel was commended as a righteous man. Because of Abel’s faith, he still speaks by his example.
Enoch is the next example of faith (Genesis 5:20-24). Enoch was approved as pleasing to God, and as a result, was taken up to heaven without dying. This passage states that God took him away from earthly life to heavenly life. Enoch is one of two Old Testament characters who never died (the other being Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11-12). God chose to take Enoch without dying because Enoch lived by faith. He was a righteous man who was commended as one who pleased God.
God gave his approval to these Old Testament people because of their faith. In fact, it is impossible to please God without faith. This would have functioned as a warning to those Hebrew Christians whose faith was wavering. No one (not Abel, Enoch, or anyone else) can please God without faith. It is an absolute requirement. All the rituals mean nothing without faith.
To come to God has two presuppositions here: (1) The person must believe that there is a God and then (2) believe that God rewards those who sincerely seek him. Believing that God exists is only the beginning; even the demons believe in God’s existence (James 2:19-20). God will not settle for mere acknowledgment of his existence. He wants a personal, dynamic relationship with you that will transform your life.
Old Testament examples of faith continue with Noah who, by faith, believed God’s warnings of something that had never happened before (Genesis 6–9). Noah had faith, and so built an ark. Noah’s faith condemned the rest of the world because it illustrated what the people lacked. Those without faith faced God’s judgment; those with faith were saved. Noah is the first person in the Bible to be called “righteous”—made right in God’s sight. To say that Noah was righteous and blameless does not mean that he never sinned. Rather, it means that he wholeheartedly loved and obeyed God. For a lifetime, Noah walked step-by-step in faith as a living example to his generation and future generations. The early believers could learn this lesson from Noah: requiring no physical evidence of what was coming, he simply trusted God and obeyed.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)
A recent headline in the USA Today said: "Consumer Confidence Hits Twenty Five Year Low". How do you handle that kind of situation? This week we're going to look at facing life with faith. How does faith make a difference when you're going through tough times like many of you are going through.
Faith is big. Faith is important. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So this week, we'll be looking at what faith is. FAITH IS:
Faith is like a diamond. It's multifaceted. It has lots of aspects to it. In fact, over the next two days I want to give you six aspects of faith from the classic chapter in the bible on faith, Hebrews 11, God's Hall of Fame.
Now let's look at this first one this morning. First, faith is believing when I don't see it. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." You might circle "sure" and "do not see" because they go together. It sounds like a contradiction, but the Bible teaches that faith is visualizing the future in the present. It's being sure of what you don't see. It is seeing it in advance. Man says: "Seeing is believing." God says the opposite. He says: "Believing is seeing."
And some things in life, you have to believe them before you can see them. In 1960, JFK stood up and said: "Let's put a man on the moon by the end of the decade." When he said that, the technology had not even been invented to put a man on the moon. But some things have to be believed before you can see them. You've got to believe it in advance. Everything that's happened in life was an impossibility before it became a reality and somebody had to believe it. Faith is simply trusting God to turn dreams into reality. Because nothing happens 'til somebody believes it's possible.
Number two, faith is obeying when I don't understand it. Hebrews 11:8 says: "It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him and go out to a country God had promised to him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going." Now, you know this story. Abraham is living in the city of the ERR in the CALDES.
God says: "You're seventy-five years old. While you're pulling out social security I want you to pack up. You're going to have social insecurity. You want to hang it on the wall. I say, `Take it down and let's get going.'" He says, "I'm going to send you to a new country."
Abraham says, "What's it called? He says, "I'll name it when I get there." He says, "You're going to build a great nation."
Abraham says, "Out of me?" He says, "Yeah." Abraham says, "How will I know when I get there?"He says, "I'll tell you."
Would you go? Faith is obeying when you don't understand it. And at seventy-five years of age, Abraham starts out on the greatest journey of his life and becomes the father of a nation. That's what it means. To obey when you don't see it.
In 2003 God told me to resign my position as a pastor of a church and go become a senior pastor. I had been wrestling with God over this for years. It took getting cancer for me to finally stop resisting God and obey.
Obeying when you don't understand it. It didn't make any sense to resign from a good job, with no job lined up. It makes no sense to leave a secure position in an established church to go pastor a church that was unhealthy and unstable. But God said, "Do it." I asked Sharon at the time, "Honey, can you ever think of a time when God told you to do something and you did it anyway even though it didn't make sense." She said, "Sure. When God told me to marry you."
Faith is obeying when you don't understand it. Now, there are a lot of people who want a guarantee of success before they try anything, but God says, "No." Because faith always involves risks. He wants to force you to trust Him. By the way, you know what's one of the greatest tests of your faith? Forgiveness. It never seems like the right thing to do but it's always the right thing to do. And I don't feel like doing it and it doesn't seem right, but I'm going to obey even though I don't understand it. I forgive that person.
As a kid, did your parents ever tell you to do something you didn't want to do, that didn't make any sense. Then later, with 20-20 hindsight, you said, "Oh, that was pretty wise." That's the way God is with us. Faith is doing the right thing even when it seems absurd. Now, one of the tests of faith is how quickly do you obey God when He tells you to do something? The bible says, "lean not on your own understanding." Faith is believing when I don't see it and faith is believing when I don't understand it.
Number three, faith is giving when I don't have it. Did you know that? Faith is giving when I don't have it to give. Giving and faith go together. In fact, God uses finances to test us all the time. Have you ever had to make a decision whether to pay a bill, or tithe? This is a test. God's testing you to see how much you trust Him. How much you believe. There are two ways that you can give. You can give by faith, or you can give by fear. Giving by fear is when you say, "How much can I afford to give?" Giving by faith is when you say, "How much does God want me to give?" whether I've got it to give or not. That's what it means to give in faith.
Look at this next verse, Hebrews 11:4 "...by faith (Abel) was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offering..." He gave in faith. 2 Corinthians 8 says, "Out of ... extreme poverty welled up rich generosity ... They gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability."
Now it's one thing to give when you've got it to spare. It's another thing to give when you don't know where it's going to come from to pay your bills. That is a test of faith. Giving when you don't have it.
Number four, faith is persisting when I don't feel like it. Now, you know our culture says, "Base everything you do on how you feel." In other words, if you feel like doing it, do it. If you don't feel like doing it, don't do it. That is a guaranteed formula for immaturity. Because immature people build their lives on feelings rather than on commitments. What happens when you live your life based on how you feel? You end up being manipulated by moods. You flip-flop around because you feel different from day to day. One of the marks of maturity is when you live your life by commitments rather than by feelings.
You know, the truth is, I don't always feel like doing what's right. Do you? I don't always feel like being nice to my wife. I don't always feel like spending time with my kids. I don't always feel like standing up here and talking to you on Sunday. But the issue is not what do you feel, but do you do the right thing? Let me give you a definition of success. You want to know how to be a success? I can summarize it in a sentence: "Successful people do what most people don't feel like doing." That's it. That's how you become a success. Successful people simply develop habits that unsuccessful people don't feel like developing.
Like using their time wisely, being persistent, and sharpening their skills and stuff like that. Because most people say, "Well, I don't feel like doing it." You don't become a master musician by practicing only when you feel like it. Master musicians practice in spite of their feelings. Super salesmen don't make calls just when they're in the mood. "Oh, I don't feel like I'm in the mood today. I think I'll stay home and watch Geraldo." You're not going to be a super salesman. And godly men and godly women don't get that way just by feeling it. But they develop some habits in their lives, some disciplines like having a daily time with God, and they do it whether they feel like it or not. And that pleases God.
You say, "You mean even if I don't feel like doing it, spending time with God, pleases Him?" Yes. Why? Because you're doing it in faith and faith, which pleases God, is believing when you don't see it, and obeying when you don't understand it, and giving when you don't have it, and persisting when you don't feel like it. That's what it means to have faith. Faith is being persistent. It's refusing to give up, no matter how tired you get.
How do you develop persistence? Hebrews 1:27 says, "It was by faith that Moses left Egypt and was not afraid of the King's anger. He held to his purpose like a man who could see the invisible." What made him persistent? It's that last phrase. He saw Him who's invisible. You might write this down. We can only accomplish the impossible when we see the invisible. It says Moses had his eye on God. This is the key to persistence. Keep your eye on God, not on your problem. You look at your problem, you're going to get distressed. You've got to look around the problem, over the problem, under the problem, sideways, through the problem, whatever, so that you see God.
Because if you look at God, He'll give you the power to keep on keeping on. Now God says, "I will give you the strength to persevere if you keep your eyes on Me." Look at He who is invisible. That's God. And God gives you the strength to keep on working on your marriage when you want to say, "It isn't worth it. This is just too hard. It's too much effort. It's easier just to check out." No, it's not. Because the payoff, or the fallout, is enormous.
And God says, "I'll give you the persistence to keep on trying to make that business go when it's about to go bankrupt." You keep on keeping on. Working with the children who don't seem to be responsive. And you hold on to your convictions under pressure and you get up and you try again and you keep on keeping on. Because faith is persisting even when I don't feel like it. I'll give you the next two aspects of faith tomorrow.
I Love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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