Finding The Faith Of Our Heroes - Part 1: Abel - The First Prophet Series

Finding the Faith of Our Heroes

Part 1: Abel - The First Prophet

Hebrews 11:1-4; Genesis 4:1-4; Matthew 23:29-35

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - July 12, 2015

(Revised August 18, 2023)

*One of the hymns I grew up singing said, "Faith of our fathers, living still, In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword; O how our hearts beat high with joy Whenever we hear that glorious Word! Faith of our fathers, holy faith! We will be true to Thee till death." (1)

*That's the kind of faith God wants us to have, and Hebrews 11 can help us, because this great chapter is like a hall of fame for the heroes of our faith in the Old Testament. But as we think about faith, first we need to remember the focus of our faith. And we should always go back to what the Lord said in Mark 11:22: "Have faith in God."

*Christians: Our faith is not in our faith. Our faith is not in our own power or goodness. Our faith is in God! And our faith should be in God, because as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, "With God all things are possible.'' God is big enough, and good enough to take care of every need we will ever have.

*I love the story Brian Harris told about a little boy who went to the store with his mom. The shop owner was a kind man, so he held out a big jar of suckers and invited the boy to grab a handful. The boy surprised his mother by hesitating. He usually wasn't shy, but he kept holding back.

*Finally, the shop owner pulled out a big handful of suckers for the little boy. When they got outside, Mom asked, "Why were you so shy? Why didn't you take a handful of suckers?" Her little boy answered: "Because his hand is a lot bigger than mine!" (2)

*That's the kind of faith God wants us to have: a big faith in our big God! And Hebrews 11 can help us. But why do we need faith? -- The opening verses of this chapter show us why.

1. FIRST: WE NEED FAITH IN GOD BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY ROCK-SOLID FOUNDATION FOR LIFE.

*Faith in God is the only sure foundation for our future. As vs. 1 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for. . ." The original word here for "substance" has the idea of something strong under us, something strong that we can stand on: A firm foundation. And faith in Jesus Christ is the only firm foundation for our godly hopes and dreams.

*"Faith is the substance of things hoped for." What are you hoping for today? I hope you haven't given up on your hopes and dreams, because life would be terrible without hope. There's probably only one thing worse, and that is a life based on false hope. But when we have faith in Jesus Christ, we have a rock-solid foundation for all of our hopes. We have something solid to build our hopes on.

*You see, real, biblical faith is not just positive thinking or having a positive attitude. Faith is not "The Little Engine that Could" trying to get up that hill: "I think I can. I think I can! I think I can!"

*Biblical "faith IS the substance of things hoped for." This means that right now, our faith in Jesus Christ is like a rock-solid foundation under our hopes and dreams. Our faith is something that we can rest on today, knowing that God will bring our godly hopes to pass.

*The original word God used here for "substance" was also the word used in ancient business documents for "title deed." A "substance" then was a legal guarantee of something you already owned. (3)

*And we already own our godly hopes, because Jesus paid the price for them when He died on the cross for us. So our faith in Jesus Christ is based on the perfect character of God, and the reality of what He already did for us on the cross of Christ. Our faith makes it possible for us to stand with Paul in Romans 8:32, and say: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

*Faith in God "is the substance of things hoped for," and we need faith because it's the only rock-solid foundation for life.

2. BUT ALSO BECAUSE FAITH IS THE ONLY WAY TO SEE THE UNSEEN SPIRITUAL WORLD.

*It shouldn't surprise us that there is an unseen spiritual world all around us, because our physical vision is so limited. Of course we can't see the future. We can't see the past. And our eyes can only see a small portion of the total spectrum that includes light. There are many unseen things around us, but vs. 1 tells us that faith is "the evidence (or proof) of things not seen." Faith gives us a revelation of the unseen world. Matthew Henry explained it this way: "Faith demonstrates to the eye of the mind the reality of those things that cannot be detected by the eye of the body." (4)