Faith Is ….

Introduction

Well, I have some good news and some bad news. First, the bad news. Let’s get the bad news out of the way. The bad news is that although if you’re a keen observer, sermons that are usually delivered from this pulpit, you know that typically my sermons consist of two, maybe three points. And it typically takes me 30 minutes to get through just two or three points. Well, the bad news this morning is that today’s sermon has 15 points to it. I’ll let you do the math. The good news is, I’m just kidding, there’s no good news. So 15 points. You’re going to have to hang on. Here we go. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11 will be our text this morning. Hebrews chapter 11. And as you are turning there.

The importance of the foundation of our faith and the importance of that that is seen in our faith. And so during this quarter, we’re talking about the foundation of faith. And so we’ve been emphasizing the subject of faith and what is the foundation of our or should be of our lives, the foundational aspect of our relationship to God, and that is faith. Faith cannot be overstated, the importance of that faith. And so this morning, we want to talk about what faith looks like. Hebrews chapter 11, you’ll recognize instantly is that grand treatise on faith. As the Hebrew writer goes through Old Testament person after person, persons of faith, and talks about their faith. I don’t know that we could correctly say that Hebrews chapter 11 gives us really a definition of faith, but it certainly shows us what true acceptable godly faith will look like.

The importance of faith.

Now the just shall live by faith. God is coming. He’s coming in judgment, and the just or the righteous will live by faith. The point of that statement, the just shall live by faith is that when God comes in judgment, he’s going to come to destroy and to kill, but those who have faith will live. The just shall live. Another way to translate that is that the just will survive by their faith. When God comes back, when he comes in judgment, it will be faith that causes you to survive. And so, isn’t it kind of important that we understand what faith is? That we might have that faith so that we might live. And so let’s talk about from this text in Hebrews chapter 11 what faith looks like.

1. Faith Can See the Unseen

My fonts have messed up there. It looks beautiful on my computer in the office, but let’s just pretend that it looks that good here. The first thing that we see about this faith from verse 3 from the story of creation is that faith can see the unseen. That’s really at the heart of faith. Look in Hebrews 11 and in verse 3, 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 the things which are visible. Faith can see the unseen.

No one was there. Creationists were not there, evolutionists were not there. At the beginning of this universe, nobody saw it. It requires faith to be able to see those things. That hearkens back to the beginning of this chapter where he says in verse 1, faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Things that we have not seen, things that we hope for, and Paul told us in Romans chapter 8 that hope that is seen is not really hope. And so those things that we cannot see, the evidence of those, the substance, the reality of that is our faith. And as the Hebrew writer had said back in chapter 10 and in verse 23, he who promised is faithful. For you see, to the Christian, our faith is not in the promise, our faith is in the promisor.

Our faith is in that, not that which has been stated, but in who had said it.

2. Faith Does What It Is Told, Walks With God

What does faith look like? He tells us in verse 4 in the story of Abel that faith will do what it is told. Verse 4, by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, though through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it he being dead still speaks. This harkens back, of course, to the very early story of Cain and Abel. They both offered sacrifices to God. Cain offered a sacrifice in his specialty, that is, from the crops of the field. Abel offered a sacrifice in his specialty, that is, from the flocks that he was tending to. And the text really doesn’t tell us why, but the text tells us that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s sacrifice.

The Hebrew writer gives us a hint here when he says it was by faith. And so something about the sacrifice of Abel was offered through faith. Something, obviously, about the sacrifice of Cain was not. I think there’s two reasonable conclusions. One conclusion that we can draw from this is that God had specified. Here’s what I want offered. Abel offered what God specified, Cain went another way.

Later under the old law, both would have been acceptable in different times and different sacrifices. But the by faith part was, as in the old law, as in new law, the sacrifice must come from a place of the heart. Not just what is offered is important, but how it is offered. And so it’s also possible that the by faith is that Abel offered it from a place of love and of reverence to God, and Cain simply did not. But the distinction there is one was offered by faith, and one obviously was not offered by faith. And so Abel did what it what he was told to do. And that’s what faith does. Faith not just believing in the existence of God, not just simply trusting in God, although that’s the foundational definition of faith, but faith also will do what the person in whom we’ve put our faith and trust in tells us to do.

In verse 5. In the story of Enoch, it says, by faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. Enoch’s one of those minor characters in Genesis chapter 5, just in that genealogy, we’re told about the story of Enoch. And that the most fascinating thing about Enoch is what the Hebrew writer says here, that he did not die in some way. God just kind of took him. But the fascinating thing about that story is not the translation or just taking of Enoch, but the statement in Genesis chapter 5, where it says simply but beautifully, that Enoch walked with God. In fact, it says he walked with God 300 years.

That’s a beautiful way to describe the relationship that Enoch had with God. He walked with God. That speaks a lot of things, doesn’t it? I think we could press that point and say that it means that Enoch walked where God wanted him to walk, that God was in the lead in this journey. But maybe more than that, it speaks to the idea of the fellowship. Walking with someone implies the idea of fellowship, of camaraderie, that he had that relationship with God. He walked with God. Having fellowship and camaraderie with God demands some level of righteousness and obedience on our part. And certainly that speaks of that idea of Enoch. Walking with God. And that’s what faith means. Faith speaks of a relationship that we’ll have with the one in whom we have put our trust.

3. Faith Will Work and Do Whatever It Is Told

We walk with him. He is a part of our life and a part of our journey. What does faith look like? Well, the story of Noah in verse 7 tells us that faith is going to work. 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 an heir of righteousness, which is according to faith. There’s a lot of lessons just in that one verse that we could pull out and talk about Noah and Noah’s faith. But the one I want to just look at is the idea that Noah worked. In fact, the text will tell us in other places that for 120 years he labored, building that ark, and he built it according to the pattern of God.

And so what does faith look like? The faith that’s going to cause us to live, that’s going to cause us to survive in the day of judgment, in the day of destruction. It’s going to be a faith that’s going to work. It’s going to walk, as Neenek teaches us, but it’s going to be a faith that works. It’s going to cause us to do something, to do what God has commanded us to do. And to that length, we look in the very next verse in the story of Abraham, that faith does not just what it’s told, faith does whatever it’s told. If faith is to believe whatever it’s told, then faith is to do whatever it’s told. Notice in the story of Abraham. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called out, called to go out to a place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents and with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the of him with the same promise. For he waited for the city who has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We’ve talked about this before, and it’s no great revelation to you of just the great demand that that was upon Abraham. Abraham, I want you to leave probably the only place on earth that you’ve ever known. We compare the differences throughout generations. You know, you and I, when we go on a journey, well, first of all, you and I go on a journey, we we know where we’re going, don’t we? And not only do we not do we know where we’re going, but if you’re going, if you’re like me at least, if you’re going somewhere you’ve never gone before, you have the benefit.

Used to, we had guidebooks you could go to the library, now you just have the internet and you can Google and you can see all of those places, virtually at least, before you go there. If you’re real detailed oriented, you could pull up Google Maps and you can see the bus station you’re going to come out of and the front entrance of the hotel you’re going to stay in. You know what all of that looks like. And so there’s not going to be any surprises to that. You know, you know the best restaurants there and the hotels and the parts of town, you’re not supposed to go in when it gets dark at night, and all of those things. But Abraham most likely had spent his whole life in his family’s homeland and had never seen and knew nothing of any other place, and God said, Go.

Leave your family and it’s wealth. And go to a place that you know nothing about.

It says, wherever you sin, I will go. Whatever price you demand, I will pay. And whatever you say, I will do. That is faith. And faith accepts what it is told. Look at the story of Sarah in verses 11 and 12. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. And she bore a child when she, here’s the understatement of chapter 11, when she was past the age, because she, why did she receive that? Because she judged him faithful who had promised. Again, the emphasis is upon not that the belief, not that the promise was believable, but the promissor is believable. Because she judged him faithful who promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of in the multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

It would have been easy, in fact, for a moment, Sarah did doubt the promise that God had made to her.

4. Faith Will Sacrifice, Change Things and Worship

But because ultimately and finally they had faith in God, we accept, because our faith is in God, we accept whatever we are told by that God. Now, skip down to verses 17 and 18, the story of Abraham. Faith will sacrifice. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, in Isaac, your seed shall be called. By faith, Abraham offered up Isaac. We could expand upon that point in the life of Abraham. If you go back and study the life of Abraham beginning in Genesis chapter 12, much of the study of the life of Abraham, because of the call that we talked about earlier, is a journey. Abraham went on a journey.

God called him out of Ur of Chaldeez. And if you, if it worked out this way, if you were alive at that time and you had wanted to go with Abraham, but you missed out. You were late showing up when Abraham and Lot and the rest of the family left, and you said, Oh no, I missed it. I wanted to go with Abraham. I wonder if I can find him. I wonder if I could follow and find Abraham. How would you have tracked Abraham in that day? Here’s the hint. Just follow the altars. Go back and read that text. Everywhere Abraham went and stopped, he built an altar to God. That’s how you could have tracked Abraham on that journey. Because everywhere he went, he stopped and he worshiped God.

He stopped and he offered a sacrifice to God. And then when God called upon him to make the ultimate sacrifice, he willingly submitted. We’ve made this observation before. When God called upon Abraham to make that sacrifice of Isaac, the text says almost in what we might consider to be a throwaway line, but I think it’s significant. That the next day it says of Abram, it says that he arose early in the morning and took Isaac and made the journey to sacrifice. He didn’t put it off. This sacrifice, this difficult sacrifice that he was going to have to make. He arose early in the morning and made the journey to offer up the ultimate sacrifice that certainly foreshadowed the sacrifice that God would make in offering his only begotten son.

If we are to be just and live by our faith, we’re going to have to have a faith that will sacrifice, that worships God and sacrifices in our own lives. When we read further in the text, we realize through the story of Isaac that faith will change things. It not only demands things in our life, but it changes things in our life. By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. We don’t have time to go into detail of that story, but you know when he blessed Jacob and Esau, that got turned around. The blessing and the birthright ended up going a different way than it traditionally would have gone. And so by faith, he blessed them. By faith, these things have changed. And I hope you’ve experienced this in your life.

Faith can change things. When you’re down and out and you have nowhere to turn, faith can turn that around. When you’ve done the unthinkable, and you think no one will love you or forgive you for what you have done, faith can change things. When you think you’ve worked you’re worthless and you have nothing to offer, nothing to contribute to society, certainly to the kingdom of God, faith can change things. And so faith is not just something that we offer to God, but it is something that God has offered to us an opportunity to believe in him and therefore to change our lives drastically and for the better.

Look at the story of Jacob there in verse 21. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

And it says, He worshipped. By faith, he worshiped. And certainly our faith will be demonstrated in our worship. The very next verse in verse 22 tells us about the story of Joseph. By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. You’ll remember the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, how they made their way into Egypt because of the work of Joseph and they sojourned there in Egypt. But Joseph, who had brought them there, knew that God had a plan. And so as he was dying, he made the prophetic demand or request, and he says, You’re going to leave this place. And when you do, take me with you.

Another way he could have said that is, I’m dying. And when you bury me, don’t bury me too deep. Because when you leave, I want you to dig me up and take my bones with you. He saw it saw beyond death. He knew that that was not his final resting place. He knew that God had a greater plan. That God was going to deliver them from that land and fulfill that promise to Abraham. And we can make those connections so easily, can’t we? And so when it’s time, if you’re a faithful child of God, if you have the faith that will cause you to survive on the day of judgment, when it comes your time to pass, tell your family this.

5. Faith Does What It Can and Does Not Compromise

We have the story of, though they’re not mentioned by name, Moses’ parents in chapter 11, verse 23. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s command. A lot of lessons in that one about Amram and Jacobed, Moses’ parents, but it says that they hid him. In other words, faith does what it can. It wasn’t necessarily a grand action. They didn’t see that Moses was going to be the deliverer, that Moses was going to be this grand person, that he was going to be integral in the plan of God. But they did what they could to rescue their child, to do what was right, to do what was good, to preserve life.

And faith in our life will do that. Faith will do what it can.

But faith will cause you to do what you can. No matter how big or how small it might be, either in your life or in the plan of God.

Moses, by faith, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he looked to the reward. Moses teaches us that faith does not compromise. Now, it bears stating here at this point that sometimes compromise is good. Sometimes we need to compromise. Sometimes we need to get along. We’re all going to leave this building and go to lunch. And the tradition nowadays is we go out to eat. And if you’re going out to eat with somebody else, what’s the conversation? Where do you want to go? I don’t know. Where do you want to go?

I don’t care. You say. And we debate that back and forth. Well, I want to go here. I’m not in the mood for that. And we debate that back. And so maybe some compromise, and that’s a good place. It’s all right to compromise when it comes to those things. And so sometimes compromise is good. Not only good, it’s the way to do things. But when it comes to the lesson that we learn here from Moses, that he refuse. That when it comes to our principles, when it comes to our morality, when it comes to our relationship to God, we will not bend. And at a time in a society and a culture that is making greater and greater demands upon us to compromise, not just compromise, but to absolutely reject our faith and to conform to this world and this society, it’s time for us to be a Moses and to esteem the riches of Christ greater than the riches of this world.

6. Faith Works Wonders, Works With All, and Will Cost

But I will stand up for what is right. In a meek, loving, compassionate way. But when it comes to the principles that God has laid forth, my faith will not compromise. Verse 29, still on the story of Moses, faith can work wonders. By faith, when they pass through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempted to do so were drowned. Faith can work wonders. Faith changes things. We saw in the story of Isaac and Jacob and Esau, but it can work wonderful wonders. I’ve seen that in my life. I’ve seen that in the lives of others, of faith doing things that I never thought would be possible. Of transforming lives that I thought were hopeless, of accomplishing great things that I thought were unduable.

Faith works wonders. The question is, will you let it work wonders in your life? Story of Rahab. Maybe one of the most surprising people on this list. Verse 31, by faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. What’s a lesson we can learn from the faith of Rahab? Faith works with all tithes. He was a Gentile, not a Jew. Not only that, but she’s identified here as being a harlot. But by faith, she makes this list and makes a far more important list, the gospel story. Faith works with all tithes. Faith is not just for that exclusive few that just may need to make minor changes in their life to be godly and to be Christlife.

Faith will work on everybody if we’ll submit in faith. Lastly, in summing up, verses 32 and following, in these martyrs, he says, and what more shall we say? For the time will fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again, and others were tortured, were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, of chains and imprisonments.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins, were destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom this world was not worthy. Faith sometimes will cost us. When we decide, like Moses, that we’re not going to compromise and we’re going to make a stand, and that this is a hill worth dying on. Sometimes we’ll have to die on that hill. And it will cost us. But as he said, we do that. Not just out of nobility, not just out of courage and pride, but we do that as he says, hoping for a resurrection. Hoping for a better life, a better city. Builder and maker is God. One thing that we notice in this chapter on faith of all of these men and women of faith that are listed here, one overarching principle we see about faith is that faith looked forward.

Conclusion

It looked forward to something else. And our faith must do that. If it’s the type of faith that will cause us to survive on that day, it must look forward. To see the unseen and to do the undoable. Would you walk by faith as Enoch did? Would you obey the scriptures? Would you do whatever faith demands of you to do in your obedience to the gospel? Can we help you with that this morning? Would you do whatever it takes to survive by faith? Can we help you with that this morning? As together we stand and as we sing.