Faith

Title: Faith: If you can see it then it not Faith ……

Hebrews 11:1-2

January 10th 2021

Intro: There are many chapters in the Bible that just stand out. Such as Exodus 20 where you find the 10 Commandments such as, “You shall not take God’s name in vain”. Or 1 Corinthians 11 which I use nearly every time for Lord’s Supper “Do this in remembrance of Me.”… Or, Psalms 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.” Or, how about John 3:16 “For God so loved the world.” Gal.1; Eph 2; 1 Tim 3; Gen 1…. I could gone. There is…

One chapter, I want to spend some time in, it is Hebrews chapter 11 which is known as the FAITH CHAPTER……. I believe that it can be helpful throughout all the seasons of our lives, IF we chose to learn from it…

Open: Now Hebrews 11 is called the “Faith Chapter” because it not only explains and describes what faith is,… but it also gives practical and concrete examples of faith and how to live a life of faith…….

Now there are many reasons to study this chapter. 1-One reason of course, is that it is the Word of God. And you can’t go wrong learning the word of God…… God’s Word speaks to our hearts and it guides us throughout our lives…. We could call the Bible a life success manual…. Because it is in so many ways. It can help us from making huge mistakes in life….

2-A second reason to study Hebrews 11 is because it is all about faith; and faith is foundational to the Christian life……… You cannot become a Christian without saving faith… You can come to church and enjoy the services, but that doesn’t get you into heaven. And you cannot grow as a Christian unless you are growing in faith…..

3-And then a third reason to study this chapter is that Hebrews gives us Old Testament as examples of faith… We must remember, during the start of the New Testament church…….

the Old Testament was the only Bible that they had. And it was not in the convenient form that we have……………………………………

Today my prayer for us all is: it is the same prayer that Jesus’ disciples asked of Jesus in Luke 17:5, when they asked, “Lord, increase our faith.” …..………Lets Pray……………

Transition: Let me ask you all this: “How are you doing in the area of faith?” ……….Great?, good? Struggling? non existing?........

GROWTH: Now, I know that we are all at different points in our Christian walk and maturity…. Some of you have been walking with the Lord a long time… Some of you are just getting started… Some of you are growing like the weeds… Maybe some of you have leveled off or stopped growing altogether…. I hope that isn’t so….. Or perhaps you have been a Christian for some time now, but you have never really grown much in your faith……………………….

No matter where you are in your Christian walk, this chapter is for you, because we all need to grow in our faith…

Just imagine if we all take the truth from this chapter to heart. Imagine if all of us were to grow in our faith in Christ over the next couple months and into this new year…. Imagine what wonderful things God may have planned for you, your families and for us as a congregation as we grow together in our faith?...........Imagine how different our lives could be, developing the kind of faith that God wants for us…..

Objective: So today as we begin with verses 1-2,… these two verses are what faith should be like in our lives…

And it is important for us to understand these verses correctly, because they form the basis for all the other verses that follow……

(PP)Let’s read Hebrews 11:1-2 together, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.”

Transition: Let’s look at these two verses… First….

(PP)I- “Faith is being sure of what you hope for”…

Faith is an important subject in the Bible….. Faith is mentioned 458 times in the Bible (NIV). The word “faith” appears thirty-one times in the book of Hebrews. Twenty-four of those are in chapter 11.

Now the prophet Habakkuk… he says, “True believers will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). And the Apostle Paul clearly talks about faith when he talks about the doctrine of salvation. He says, “We are saved by faith alone, not by works so no man will take credit for their salvation” (Gal. 2:8-9).

So, if you are a follower of Jesus,…. you are saved by having faith in what Jesus did upon the cross for you. What Jesus did, is a gift from God…..That gift is called “GRACE.”…And grace is the good news that the Bible talks about. And without grace we would all be in trouble…………………..

But even though we are saved, we still must endure the pain and struggles in this life….. So, we must continue in faith, and continue persevering until the end. And faith will help us endure……… NOW…………………..

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, faith is- “being sure of what you hope for.” Those words “being sure” are actually a single word in the original Greek text…..

It’s a word that literally means: foundation………And the stronger the foundation, the stronger the structure it supports right…..

So, faith is the foundation in your life that keeps your hope alive, and keeps your hope from being shaken when trials come your way……. Because they will come…….

It’s like…………………………………..…..

Ill: If you live in Kansas in tornado ally, and you live in a mobile home. And if you do, then you need to live with a lot of faith…RIGHT!....... If not, you need to get out as soon as the alarms are sounding and see shelter, because you live in a home without a foundation. And chances are if you don’t, you will end up in in the land of OZ… or worse……………. But if you live in a home with a strong foundation, that foundation gives you confidence when the winds of life begin to blow……

Now if you have real faith…….. you have a solid foundation. But…without faith, your confidence and hope will get blown away as easily as a mobile home in one-hundred-fifty mph tornado……………………...

It is faith that gives you a strong foundation,………………. which will give you hope as a Christian….

Now having hope doesn’t mean …..wishful thinking….

It’s like a friend saying to you when you are experiencing trouble, “I think things will get better for you?” And your answer is, “I hope so.”…………… The word “hope” in this context, “Things will get better” is the exact opposite of being certain of what you hope for.…….

(PP) Psalms 5:3 says, “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.”…………………

King David wrote this… and you can hear how full of hope and confidence he has in God………….. And we can have that same confidence too……Is not just “I hope so”.……………………………………

Application: So how do you keep HOPE and FAITH alive in your life?.....How do you keep your hope and faith from being shaken? Well …… Hebrews 11:1 says that you need a strong foundation.

Folks, we just can’t place our hope against hoping that everything will turn out all right…., that is not Christianity…. Biblical Faith is the strong foundation that gives you the confidence and assurance you need. That is why Jesus called us to be His disciple’s…. because knowing what you truly believe will help build that strong foundation of faith.………………………..

Transition: So, that’s the first part of our definition…… Faith is being sure of what you hope for as a Christian. And second……..

(PP)II- “Faith is being certain of what you do not see.”

The word that is translated “certain” here means “a deep conviction or certainty in your heart.”

The word “what” in the phrase: “what you do not see” this is a word that means “something that has been done or accomplished.” It refers to things that are real.

Application: You see, faith is a deep conviction in your heart concerning certain facts or realities that you cannot see.

Now, there are two things we need to grasp. First, if you can see it, then it’s not faith right!......

(PP)2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We live by faith, not by sight.”.

It is not faith if you can see it…..

Let me give you a few examples. If you could see God, then it would not take any faith to believe in Him would it? Because if you can see something, it’s not faith……

For example: If you have an unexpected car repair of $500, and you have $10,000 extra in your checking account (we wish right!),…..If so, then it doesn’t take any faith for you to pay that car bill….. Because the money is already there! I can see it. And if I can see it, then it’s not faith………………..

Or how about if God asks you to do something that you already know what you need to do! That doesn’t take a whole lot of faith, right?.........

But when God calls you to do something that is beyond your comfort level or ability, now you are talking a step of faith, because you are dealing with something you can’t see…………….

So, if you can see it,……… then it’s not faith…..RIGHT!

And secondly, if it is not real, then it’s not faith either. Or at least it is not true biblical faith. It may be blind faith, or some other kind of faith, but it is certainly not what the Bible means by having faith.

It is like buying a raffle ticket for…. say a free trip. And I hold that ticket in my hand and say to myself, “I believe I am going to win the trip. I have the ticket in my hand, and I know that the odds are all against me, but that’s okay. I live by faith and not by sight, I am certain I am going to win, I have faith!”……………………………………….. Well, that’s not biblical faith is it. What is it? It is LUCK….. You are not basing your conviction on reality but on a million to one dream.

Or, how about the person who believes sincerely in a non-biblical based religion, and they have deep conviction, is that biblical faith?..... Will that conviction save them?.... They may believe it with all their hearts,…….. but the right answer is “No.”

Because if it is not based upon the teaching of Jesus, then it is not true biblical faith. And it is not saving faith no matter how much they believe it to be true…….. It might be real to them, but unless it matches up with the word of God, then it is not what the Bible would call genuine faith.

Application: So, what is faith then: Look at screen (PP) “Biblical faith is the foundation that gives strength to your hope… And biblical faith is a deep conviction concerning present and future realities that you cannot see.

So… “Faith is being sure of what you hope for, and certain of what you do not see.”

Transition: Now, The Old Testament Saints had this kind of faith…

(PP)III- Verse two says this: “This is what the ancients were commended for.”

This is speaking of Old Testament Saints. The word “ancients” here is the word for “elders.” We are told to listen to our elders right… SO we need to listen to these Old Testament Saints.

The stories of the Old Testament are great examples for us….. And here the book of Hebrews they point specifically to their faith… These people had incredible conviction and assurance in God…. And the result was: it produced in them an unshakeable hope in God and His promises………………….

Now the word “commended” means to “give a good report”.

So, when you look at the report or report card of these “Saints of the Old Testament”, you will quickly discover that they didn’t do so well in a whole lot of areas…………… Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all failed miserably in the whole area of honesty………D-………….. Moses flunked speech, and he didn’t do very well in the temper department either…C-

King David failed when it came to sexual purity among other areas in his life………………….. He Flunked. F-……………………..

When you read through the Old Testament, you don’t find too many people that would deserve a straight A.……. They all had so many failures and flaws.

If I were to point my finger at my own life, I have failed many times as a Christian…… and my report card would not have straight A’s…

But…….the ancients were commended not for living perfect lives,… they were commended for their faith, for being sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they did not see.

Now I’m not saying that God is OK with sin. Many of these saints experienced severe consequences because of their sins……and those consequences will come to us as well…if we chose to go against God will for us………………………………………………………………….

Conclusion: And so,…….. in the coming weeks we will look at many of these Old Testament Saints like Enoch, Noah, Abraham and others. Each one has something to teach us so that we also may grow in our faith as followers of Jesus Christ……….I believe that this series will help us all immensely in our lives in so many ways.

And as “a church body of Christ,” and as we enter into this new year, we all can grow in our faith together; and as we do, we “will” experience greater things from God in our lives, in our families lives, and in our church life……Amen…..