Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The following program is a production of
Truth For The World.
♪ "Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
oh what words I hear Him say." ♪
Heb 11 is known as the Faith chapter.
Now before we come to Hebrews 11, we need to remember
that the Hebrews writer has already shown
that Christianity is far superior to Judaism.
He has shown that the Christian priesthood
is greater than that of the Levites.
And now he uses their own history
to tie Christianity in to God's full plan,
and to show that Christianity was the culmination
of all of God's eternal plan.
Some of the Jews had the idea
that Christianity came in opposition to Judaism,
that it was in competition with it,
or if they became Christians
then they were being disloyal to their ancestors.
If they remained faithful to Christ,
many believed they had given up their ancestors,
and what God had written before.
So the Hebrews writer shows these people that trust in God,
causes one to do what God commands,
and that person believes that God will be true
to what he said he would do.
There are many examples here.
He is going to show in this chapter
that the opposite of what they were thinking was true.
He shows them, that if they do stay true to Christianity,
and do not go back to Judaism,
then they will be sure that they are doing exactly what their
ancestors did.
The word FAITH in this chapter means trust,
but sometimes in this chapter
the word FAITH means faithfulness.
So here comes a partial definition of faith.
Heb 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
"the evidence of things not seen."
The American Standard Version is a bit clearer:
"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
"a conviction of things not seen."
We have been assured of something, and we hope for it.
It is something we have not seen.
We are convinced that something is the case,
though we have not seen it.
Now that does not mean that we are at a loss.
That we just take some blind leap in the dark.
That is not the kind of faith we are talking about.
We can have faith because of what has been revealed,
either by revelation, or by things that we can experience.
Now this is not a complete definition of it.
Go over Romans 10:17.
"So then faith cometh by hearing,
"and hearing by the word of God."
The conviction of what we know must come by the Word of God
in order for it to be true biblical faith.
Some people say, "Well I JUST know such and such."
"Well how do you KNOW?"
"I just feel it."
Well, that is a feeling but it is not biblical faith.
It does not matter how strongly one believes something.
If it is not based upon the Word of God, it is simply your idea.
It is your feeling on something, but it is not BIBLE faith.
As we look at this chapter we will see what Faith is:
People putting their reliance in God, not based on some feeling,
but based upon what God has said.
It is seeing the invisible.
It is obeying God's word without question;
simply doing what God said to do,
and trusting that God will be there to keep his end of it.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
"the evidence of things not seen.
"For by it the elders obtained a good report." Hebrews 11:1-2
The word "elders" here is not exactly like the elders that we
think about today.
The word "elders" here has reference to "the men of old."
The men of old obtained a good report.
The words "good report" mean that God
was pleased with their deeds.
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
"by the word of God,
"so that things which are seen were not made of things which
"do appear." Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we know that the worlds were framed by God.
That is, we were not there to see it happen,
so we accept it based on the Word of God.
God spoke them into existence.
In Genesis 1, you read it over and over and you see it.
And God said let there be.
And God said...
And God said...
And it came to pass.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
by the word of God so that things which are seen
were not made of things which do appear.
Now, there are around 120 elements that we do not see,
that make up everything that exists.
But we know that God made all things.
How do I know it?
God told me.
He said in Exodus 20:11, "For in six days the LORD made
"heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
"and rested the seventh day:
"wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."
That is how I know we did not EVOLVE,
because God said that we did not.
But now he says right after the creation, look at it:
"By faith Abel offered unto God
"a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
"by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
"God testifying of his gifts:
"and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Hebrews 11:4
Turn to Genesis 4:3-4.
"And in process of time it came to pass,
"that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground
"an offering unto the LORD.
"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock
"and of the fat thereof.
"And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering."
In Heb 11:4 it says Abel offered his sacrifice BY FAITH.
And as we read that, it appears that God was pleased
because Abel did what God said, and Cain did not.
Abel offered what God wanted him to offer.
But you only KNOW it when you read Hebrews 11:4.
It says, "by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain."
Now how do we get faith?
Rom 10:17 says, "So then faith cometh by hearing,
"and hearing by the word of God."
So we put those together, and we see that God told them
what they were to offer and one obeyed the other did not.
One of them thought, "Well, I will give God my best,
"and God will just accept it. I know what GOD said to do,
"but I just think I will do this thing and God will not mind."
Oh, but he did mind.
Here is the first recorded act of worship.
And what do we have?
One person was willing to abide in the authority of God,
just to do what God said with no adding or subtracting,
and God accepted him.
One person decided that he did not have to precisely do
what God said as long as his heart was right,
and God said NO.
Now someone says, "How do you know his heart was right?"
We will keep reading in Genesis 4:5-6.
"But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.
"And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
"And the LORD said unto Cain, 'Why art thou wroth?
"'And why is thy countenance fallen?'"
Now it says his countenance FELL.
How do I know he was sincere in his action?
He was upset that it was not accepted.
Remember the rich young man came to Jesus wanting to be saved,
but he had great possessions?
He was sincere in his request, was he not?
Look at Mark 10:21-22
If you have the ASV, here is how it reads:
"And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him,
"'One thing thou lackest: go, sell whatsoever thou hast,
"'and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
"'and come, follow me.'
"But his countenance fell at the saying,
"and he went away sorrowful:
"for he was one that had great possessions."
He was sincere in his request; his countenance fell;
and so did Cain's way back in Genesis 4.
Now what does Romans 15:4 say?
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime
"were written for our learning,
"that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
"might have hope."
Now we need to look back to these old testament people
to learn some things here.
And when we read the Old Testament
we need to take a look at them.
So we see also that faith
is in conjunction with what someone DID.
See God told them to do a sacrifice,
but then it was not until one of them did it correctly
that God said he was faithful.
So we see also that Faith
is in conjunction with what someone DID.
Let us find out if that is not the case.
"By faith Abel offered unto God
"a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
"by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,
"God testifying of his gifts:
"and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Hebrews 11:4
Notice "gifts" there is plural.
And then by the way he lived, he continues to speak today.
We are learning from his life are we not?
Because he DID what God told him to do.
"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death;
"and was not found, because God had translated him:
"for before his translation he had this testimony,
"that he pleased God." Hebrews 11:5
The word translated means transferred or removed,
so he was taken away.
This verse says he was not found.
The Greek word means to seek for.
They went looking for Enoch, but they could not find him.
Turn to Genesis 5:21-24.
"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
"And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah
"three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
"And all the days of Enoch were
"three hundred sixty and five years:
"And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Now that is all we have to work with,
but I want to know something.
What do we learn about Enoch?
Two times in those few verses it says ENOCH WALKED with God.
God took him and so he did not see death.
He was translated. He was changed or taken.
Now what do we learn from Hebrews 11:5?
"for before his translation he had this testimony,
"that he pleased God."
The word "testimony" is the same word of verse 2
that says the men of old have a good report.
So we see that he was obedient to God,
he pleased God, and he walked with God.
One little boy came out of Bible class one Sunday morning,
and his mom said,
"Well, "what did you learn today in Bible Class?"
He said,"We learned about Enoch."
She said, "Well, what did you learn about him?"
He said, "One day Enoch and God were out Walking,
"and then it got late, and night fell on them,
"and God said it is closer to where I live
"than it is to where you live,
"why not just come on and go home with me.
"And so God took him home."
Enoch WALKED with God.
It is a continuous walking.
Now what else do we know about Enoch?
Well, we know he was a GODLY man; he walked with God.
We know he was a Prophet and he gave a scathing rebuke
of the people living in his day.
Look at Jude 1:13-15.
"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam,
"prophesied of these, saying,
"'Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
"'To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that
"'are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds
"'which they have ungodly committed,
"'and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners
"'have spoken against him.'"
Wait a minute. God loved someone who rebuked people?
Yes!
See, God expects his prophets to go and tell the people,
not what they WANT to hear but what they NEED to hear.
They need to give comfort too,
but certainly we see we need to rebuke people of sin.
Now look at Hebrews 11:6.
"But without faith it is impossible to please him:
"for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
"and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
You can not please God without faith.
How many times do I try to figure things out by myself?
I need to just take God at his word.
Two things that a person needs to do:
1.He must believe that God exists.
2. He must believe that he rewards those
that diligently seek him.
So we see, that FAITH comes by SEEKING God
and DOING what he says.
We must do both of those things.
The words "diligently seek" come from a Greek word
meaning to seek out, and to try hard to find it.
So we see it is more than just a mental attitude.
We must DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.
Luke13:24 says, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate:
"for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in,
"and shall not be able."
There are going to be some who SEEK to enter but will not.
Why? Because they did not do so DILIGENTLY.
It is a fake seeking.
Now let us look at Noah in Hebrews 11:7.
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
"moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;
"by the which he condemned the world,
"and became heir of the righteousness
"which is by faith."
What a great verse!
"First being warned of God." The Greek word is Chremitizo.
This word is used 8 other times in the New Testament.
The word is used 9 times in the New Testament.
Look back to Hebrews 8:5.
"Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,
"as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make
"the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things
"according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount."
Admonished of God. Chremetizo, meaning, "told by God."
The Greek word for God is the word THEOS.
But it is not in this passage because God is included
in the word WARNED OF GOD.
Now look over at Hebrews 12:25.
"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh."
Chremitidzo, speaketh from God; warned of God.
Now look at Acts 11:26.
"And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch.
"And it came to pass,
"that a whole year they assembled themselves
"with the church, and taught much people.
"And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."
See that word "called," Chremitidzo, or Called of God.
God came up with the name Christians, not man.
Now look at Hebrews 11:7.
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,"
He had not seen rain,
yet he had faith that it was going to rain.
He believed that it would rain because GOD said it would rain.
Now, what did he do about his faith?
Well, verse seven says he MOVED.
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
"moved with fear."
What kind of faith do you have?
See that word MOVED there? It is the word "Eula-beomi,"
literally meaning to move with caution; to be aware;
to stand in awe of.
So Noah did what God said cautiously.
He knew that he had to do it in reverence and Godly fear.
That is what faith causes.
So what did he do?
What was it that he was very cautious and taking precise
deliberate actions doing?
He prepared an ark.
Question? If God was just interested in someone's belief,
why not just make an altar?
Because God said make an ARK of Gopher wood.
And faith, that is one who acts cautiously,
one who reverences God, will do what he is told to do
by the one of whom he stands in awe of.
If he says prepare an ark, then that is what I will do.
Now you could go over to the book of Genesis.
You see, God not only told him to build an ark,
he told him exactly how LONG, and he made it that long.
He told him how HIGH, and he made it that high.
He told him how WIDE, and he made it that wide.
He said which wood he wanted.
He said to pitch it within and without.
He told him to put a door and a window.
And Noah heard the instructions and he DID them.
Gen 6:22 says, "Thus did Noah;
"according to all that God commanded him, so did he."
How do I KNOW that Noah had faith?
Because Noah had faith enough to do what God said.
That is exactly what faith causes one to do.
The denominational world has a warped view of Faith.
They have faith in FAITH, not faith in GOD.
"Well, have you done what God said to do?"
" I Do not have to. I am going to be saved by faith."
Their faith is in FAITH, and not faith in GOD.
Faith in God will move you to DO what God says to do.
Now look at "to the saving of his house."
"To" in Greek is the word "EIS."
It means "in order to" save his house.
Not because his house was already saved,
but in order that his house could be saved.
That is the word EIS.
Now if you turn over to Acts 2:38, you see the same word.
"Then Peter said unto them,
"'Repent, and be baptized every one of you
"'in the name of Jesus Christ for'" (EIS- in order to)
"'the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
"'of the Holy Ghost.'"
He prepared an ark IN ORDER TO save his house.
Now I want to know something.
Did Noah have to do anything to save himself?
He could have a mental belief in God all day long,
but until he did what God said, how could he save himself?
Now I understand that I do not earn salvation.
Noah did not earn his salvation.
We know he did not earn it,
because God called him into the ark, it was God's plan,
Noah just did what God said to do.
He was saved by grace, just like you and me.
Gen 6:8 says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."
But also, look at this in Hebrews 11:7.
"By faith Noah..."
So we see then that Noah was saved by GRACE,
working through FAITH.
He had to do what GOD said in order to save his house.
Then look what else Noah did.
"By the which he condemned the world."
How did he do that?
He pronounced judgment upon them.
By his good deeds, he showed the rest of the people
that they were worthy of condemnation.
Because of what he did,
he showed others that they were not obedient.
By comparing what he did to what the world did,
he became heir of the righteousness
which is by faith.
And we will discuss some more about this next week.
But I want us to understand something this morning.
Faith, from these three men that we have seen today,
FAITH in GOD,
is a faith that causes one to do what God says.
Abel OFFERED. He DID something.
Enoch WALKED, that is, he DID what God said.
And Noah BUILT.
Their faith was manifest in their actions.
If Abel had disobeyed and not have pleased God,
God would not have honored his sacrifice.
Cain believed in GOD, but he did not DO what God said,
and was displeasing to God.
Enoch was a prophet of God, and DID what God said.
There were other prophets that did not do what God said,
and they were displeasing to God.
And Noah, oh if Noah had not built the ark,
NO amount of MENTAL BELIEF,
that is belief that does not carry action with it,
no amount of mental belief, could have saved him.
Abel OFFERED.
Enoch WALKED.
Noah BUILT.
What kind of faith do you have today?
You say, "Well, I believe in God."
Do you? Then what do you need to do based upon that belief?
Jesus said, "Why do you call me LORD
"and do not the things I say to do?"
Jesus said, "If you love me, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS."
Later he would say, "My commandments are not greivous."
How do I become a Christian?
I believe that Jesus is the son of God. John 3:16
I Repent of My sins. Acts 2:38
I Confess Jesus as the son of God. Acts 8
I then am baptized
in order to have my sins washed away. Acts 2:38
It is at the very moment of baptism,
when my body goes under that water,
that I am in a saved position. raised to walk a new life.
Not because there is magic in the water,
but because I am by FAITH, doing what God said for me to do.
Just like Noah.
He was told to build an ark, and he built it.
Simple faith in God.
That's what baptism is.
Simple, trusting faith in the Father.
Do you believe Jesus enough to do what he says this very day?
Then come to him in obedience.
♪ "Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
oh what words I hear Him say.
Happy place so near, so precious
may it find me there each day."♪
If you would like to learn more about God's word with
a free Bible Correspondence Course,
then write us at Truth For The World
P.O. Box 5048, Duluth, GA 30096
the United States of America.
Or visit us online at truthfortheworld.org
The preceding program was a production of
Truth For The World, a work of the Duluth Church of Christ