|
“Hall of Faith” (Mess.#1) “The Explanation of Faith” Text: Heb.11: 1-3 Intro.: We come now to a great chapter which has been called “The Hall of Faith,” or the “Faith Chapter.” (Jn.3 - “New Birth Ch.,” Jn.15 - “Abiding Ch.,” 1 Cor.13 - “Charity Ch.,” 1 Cor.15 - “Resurrection Ch.”). Hebrews speaks of superior things - Christ is superior to angels, prophets, Moses, Aaron, His priesthood is superior - to Aaron’s order, to Old covenant, to earthly sanctuary, to O.T. animal sacrifices. In ch.11-13 we see a superior principal - FAITH. Ch.11 - Faith’s examples. Ch.12 - Faith’s endurance. Ch.13 - Faith’s evidences. Our study will include: “The Worship of Faith” (v.4), “The Walk of Faith” (vs.5-6), “The Work of Faith” (v.7), “The Obedience of Faith” (vs.8-10), “The Reward of Faith” (vs.11-16), “The Testing of Faith” (vs.17-19), “The Vision of Faith” (vs.20-22), “The Boldness of Faith” (v.23), “The Choices of Faith” (vs.24-27), “The Deliverance of Faith” (vs.28-29), “The Victory of Faith” (v.30), “The Protection of Faith” (v.31), “The Heroes of Faith” (vs.32-35), “The Unknown ‘others’ of Faith” (vs.35-40), “The Greatest Hero of Faith” (12: 1-3). Ch.11 illustrates the lesson of 10: 32-39 and shows that throughout history, men and women have done the impossible by faith. The Holy Spirit inspired three books to explain the truth of “the just shall live by faith” (Heb.2: 4), Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. Faith is the only way – The only way to live, to please God, to go to heaven, to have prayers answered! But remember, faith and patience go together! We are to place our faith in God and patiently wait and hope for the fulfillment of all of the promises! All of the people in this chapter did just that. They had faith – and that faith was tested and tried – and they patiently waited and hoped for the fulfillment of the promises. ILL. - God wants us to live this same way! Like those living in a high rise apartment. Some live in the basement. Some live on the ground floor. Some live on the upper floors. Basement speaks of those who live in “basement” of Christian experience where all is still dark, gloomy and mysterious. Ground Floor - They leave the first foundations and move on. They receive some “light” but are surrounded by circumstances, still close to the world. Those on the upper floors - They have moved up to where they have lots of “light.” The world is far away. Their outlook is toward blue skies and distance mountains. They live above the world. They are hid with Christ in God. This is where God wants all of us to dwell! We find “Faith” mentioned twenty four times in Ch.11, “Through faith” five times, and “By faith” sixteen times. Now let’s take a look at the explanation of faith that we find in verses 1-3. v.1 - Nature of Faith v.2 - Its Power in human lives v.3 - Its solution of the world’s origin
A) What is Faith? (v.1) 1) It is simply taking God at His Word. 2) It is the “substance,” the “assurance” of the things we hope for. 3) True faith has God as its object. 4) It is the “evidence,” the “proof” of things not seen. 5) When the Holy Spirit gives us faith through His Word that is all the assurance and evidence we need! 6) What are we hoping for? Our “hope” is the return of Christ! (Tit.2: 13). The substance or assurance of that hope is “Christ in you.” Christ is in us by the person of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit Himself is the substance of things hoped for because He is the earnest of our inheritance which is what we are hoping for. The Holy Spirit is the substance of faith because faith is a fruit of the Spirit! He produces faith in the believer! 7) He is also the “evidence” being the “witness of God” (1 Jn.5: 9-10; Ro.8: 16). The evidence to which He bears witness is the Word of God upon which true faith is based (Ro.10: 17). 8) Some ways faith has been defined A) F - Forsaking A - All I - I T - Trust H - Him. B) “Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as the present and the invisible as seen”
(2) (J. Oswald Sanders). 9) Through faith we see what others cannot see. By faith Noah saw coming judgment, Abraham saw a city, Joseph saw the Exodus from Egypt, Moses saw God! 10) We must put our faith into action as all these people did and it will become substance! Faith is a bond of union between the soul and things God has promised. Believing we receive! Faith only becomes stronger by exercising it!
B) What Does Faith Obtain? (v.2) 1) “For” - Introduces proof of the preceding verse regarding the nature of faith. God saw their faith and declared that they were the ones who would receive the things hoped for and see the things not seen! 2) Elders - O.T. saints - all the way back to Abel – this illustrates the fact that O.T. saints were saved by FAITH! 3) They obtained a “good report” - That is they obtained divine approval, they received a passing grade, they are “witnesses” to us of what God thinks about those who live by faith! 4) What kind of report will you receive?
C) What Does Faith Help us to Understand? (v.3) 1) It helps us understand spiritual truth and divine revelation! 2) “Through faith we understand” - Only through faith can we ever understand that God created all things! The origin of the universe presents a problem that neither science nor philosophy can solve! 3) What does it teach us about the universe? A) It is not eternal, but made by another - The world can never accept this for they say, “Seeing is believing,” and they have not, nor will they ever see the creation of all things. God says, “Believing is seeing,” and we by faith can see and understand! B) God is the Creator of it. C) He created it with exactness and order. D) He created it by His Word. E) He created it “out of nothing.” 4) We also understand that faith accomplishes things because there’s power in the Word of God, as illustrated by the creation of the universe. God spoke and it was done! God still speaks to us. When we believe what He says, the power of the Word accomplishes things in our lives (1 Thes.2: 13, “ . . . when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
Conclusion: C.H.Spurgeon - “Little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.” John Paton - Missionary to New Hebrides was translating the book of John. He needed a word for “believe.” Finally one day a native worker came into his office, sat down in a chair, and put his feet up on another chair and used a word that meant, “I’m resting my whole weight upon these two chairs.” There was one word that meant all that! He said, “I have my word.” He translated John and every time he needed a word for “believe” he put in the word which means “I’m resting my whole weight upon.”
Are you resting your whole weight upon God and His Word? Will you receive a good report because of your faith? Or what kind of report will you receive? How are you living your life? By faith? By logic? By good works?
|