HEBREWS 11:1-16
EARNEST ENDEAVORS ENCOURAGE
EXALTED EXPECTATIONS
I. FAITH EXPLAINED: Hebrews 11:1-6
A. Elucidated.
B. Essential.
C. Elementary.
II. FAITH EXEMPLIFIED: Hebrews 11:7-14
A. Entrusted.
B. Enacted.
C. Exalted.
III. FAITH’S EXPECTATIONS: Hebrews 11:15-16
A. Eschewed.
B. Endowed.
C. Exceeded.
The Faith Chapter, Hebrews 11 is one of the Christians’ all time favorite chapters of the Bible. There is something about this chapter that captivates the saints. When one reads of the Old Testament martyrs and examples of living for God and seeing what many of them had to endure for their faith, inspires even the coldest Christians to look at one’s own faith in the light of what went on before us.
When one reads this chapter, it reminds one that the faith once contended is still the same faith that is circulating through the veins of we Christians today. Most of us have been blessed to live in a land where Christianity is still accepted and allowed. However, there are many, far too many places on this globe, where Christians have to pay a heavy price for their faith in Jesus. As we read of what went on before us, we breathe a quick prayer for the followers of Christ who suffer for His sake and we pray for ourselves that God would spare us these afflictions which are written in this chapter and for what is occurring in the world today against His church.
Mixed in with this Faith Chapter are the heroes of the faith and also a good, nay, a perfect definition of what it is to believe in Jesus, that entity we call faith. The definition of that faith is clearly given and then there are examples to prove the writer’s point of emphasis: its dwelling in the human heart and some examples of what it meant to people who have long departed from this Earth. The writer to the Hebrews wanted his readers to be aware of just what this faith thing is and how much better it is serving God completely even if we never have any rewards for possessing this faith. It is good to have faith in this world now, but the writer wanted his readers to be made aware that this faith-though serving us now-is only part and parcel of our living for Jesus. The real pay off of faith is not in this world, but in a Better Country for we saints of God. To this end, I see three things regarding this Faith of some of the giants of the Old Testament and what this faith meant to them and what it means to us.
The first thing I note has to do with this faith being made plain for we followers of Christ: FAITH EXPLAINED. The next part of my sermon deals with some of the giants of the Bible: FAITH EXEMPLIFIED. Then I note that there are some anticipations to this faith that the early saints had and these are the same hopes for we who follow Jesus today: FAITH’S EXPECTATIONS.
I. FAITH EXPLAINED. There is no better definition of what faith is than what is given in the first verse of this chapter. It is succinct, to the point and right on target with its description of the very essence of faith. Yet, in studying the first few verses of this chapter, we get an even better grasp on this subject as we look at how the writer tried to convey its importance to the readers of his day and even to ours.
The first part of the explanation of the faith of which the writer wants us to see lies in the fact that it is more than just subjective belief for our salvation. This idea of \believing in some things that we cannot see has to do with our belief in the Atoning work of Jesus. A closer look at the second verse brings this idea of faith into a more encompassing aspect of our walk with God. Notice how the writer Elucidated this aspect of faith by reminding his readers that faith in God means there has to be a beginning and that beginning lies in the fact that God ordered all things from the first to the present time. To have faith in God means that we are to accept the fact of His Creatorship, the Originator and Planner of this world from its beginning to its ultimate completion. We were not there at Creation but by faith we have to believe that He is the One who created all and then He set in motion a plan to redeem lost man after the Fall. The explanation, the clarity, the very simple elucidation of this plan of God for this world is just as important as the Faith we are to have in believing that He will save us.
“For by it, the elders received a good report,” a report of what? one may ask. The report here means more than just the faith of those who followed God, This report has its roots in the fact that the elders received the news of God as the Creator of all things and they believed in Him for His power of creation. Certainly, if He created the universe, He was/is able to provide salvation and protection to those who believe in Him. This FAITH EXPLAINED begins by a clear revelation of where this faith is to start-with God. It starts at the beginning of time and continues up to the present day. Certainly, Abel and Enoch had no doubts about God’s ability to create this world. All of this was wrapped up in their faith in things not seen which lay in the past as well as the things that were to come by God’s promises.
Besides faith being explained so clearly, the writer then progress to the next point that faith is Essential for all who come to Him. These men put their faith into actions. Their very existence of being on this Earth, was to act upon their faith for the benefit of mankind and for the glorification of God. It was absolutely necessary, Essential, for them to act upon their faith. Abel offered up his offering to this God whom he could not see believing that He would accept his petitions and prayers. Enoch had to have faith to walk with God and to stay hid with Him somewhere in God’s universe in order to return someday to preach to the world about God’s judgment. To think, Enoch was alive when the Middle Ages were under way. He was alive when Columbus discovered America. He was alive when America became independent. He has been alive and has seen much of the history of this world unfold before his eyes. He has seen-first hand-the wrath and also the love of God as He has bestowed each on this planet. When Enoch returns, he will speak with authority and then as a result of such powerful message, he will be killed. The faith of these two accepted God as the Creator, the re-Creator of this world and the One who will bring a New Jerusalem to Israel. Their faith was very Essential for their faith in God’s dealing in the past, the present and the future.
The last part of this FAITH EXPLAINED has to do with faith being very Elemental. This may sound trite, but there is no other way to serve God other than to believe in Him for all that the Bible says of Him and that which it says will transpire in the tomorrows. It is the only way to please Him. Woe to those self proclaimed Christians who pick and choose about that which they wish to accept about Him. There are no middle grounds when it come to believing in God. He either is who He says He is or He is not. To have this belief in Him with out having proofs of tangible things by which to grasp is the only way to please Him. He either is the Creator, the coming Judge, the Architect of Heaven, the Guarantee of our salvation or He is not. These two men mentioned in the first part of this chapter had no such qualms. God was who He said He was and He would do what He said He would do. That simple, child-like faith was all that Noah needed to build the ark. That simple, child-like faith was all that Enoch needed to walk with God and to obey Him when He told His servant, “Come up hither.”
The writer to the Hebrews tried to set the stage for what was to follow by first carefully laying the ground work for the discussion of what constitutes faith by beginning at the beginning of all things and then moving on towards the time in which he wrote. He tried to explain faith as something that demanded a good solid foundation in God’s ability to create all, to keep all and to tell all, “Believe in Me
as the God of all gods.”
II. FAITH EXEMPLIFIED: The writer continues with his discussion of faith and as one can observe, the faith characters are in historical perspective. He begins his discussion of faith by going back to the first one who offered up an offering which was pleasing to God and he did so in his belief that God would accept him, which He did.
Moving closer in time, the writer then discusses the fact that Enoch had the belief in God which could rescue him from his generation and prepare him to live and preach in a generation of which he never saw.
These two men put their belief into actions and they moved according to what they accepted about God. The writer now deals with three heroes of the faith that heard God speak to them in specific details: Noah, Abraham and Sarah. These three are clear proofs of a faith that is noteworthy and exemplified.
By grouping these together, one can say that their belief in God was that which God Entrusted to them. All three of these people heard the voice of God in one way or another to do something different for Him. These three believed in the God of creation; they believed in His power of keeping; and, sustaining ability for that which He created and made. They had no qualms about His ability to do as He asked them to do. In each case, these three were given tasks that were to test their faith in Him, and all three came through these tests with flying colors.
The first is Noah who was told to build an ark and to rescue his family. For one hundred years he labored and preached. He was Entrusted to do something out of the ordinary and he did it. Abraham was commanded to leave Ur and search for a city which he did. Sarah was told that she was to bear a child and she did. When each one of these received a message from God who trusted them to do something for Him which was completely out of character with each of them-they did it by faith. Certainly their faith was made an example to all who looked upon them and who knew them.
Not only was their FAITH EXEMPLIFIED, because it was Entrusted to them to do something for God; they acted upon their faith and by so doing, they pleased God. Their faith in God would have been useless if they did not take some type of action and comply with what they were instructed to do: they Enacted their faith for themselves and for all else to observe.
Neither one of them did the things upon which they were bidden to do for vainglory sake. They simply acted upon what they knew and what was asked of them. Noah did not start to look for a city not made with hands because God never told him to do this. Abraham never built an Ark to save his family, because he was never told to do it. Each one of these three did what was asked of them because they believed that if God called them to do a task-they would get it done by faith.
God never asks any one to do something that is impossible for that one. God always asks one to do what one can and it is only by faith that one can do what is asked of one.
The third part of this EXEMPLIFIED FAITH has to do with the end results of what happened to these three. The writer says that they all died. The rest of that phrase is that they all, “ died in faith.” What a comment! They each set out to do what was asked of them, not accomplishing all of what was to be accomplished, but they died believing that God would complete the tasks they were not able to complete. What a belief in God! They saw only what was apparent at the time of their death; they all believed that the God who acted in the past would continue to act on into the future. This faith of theirs was an Exalted type of belief of which the world is not worthy to embrace.
The writer to the Hebrews is correct, these three were strangers in this world. They were from this world but they were not a part of this world. This world could not understand these and their faith in a God whom they could not see but of whom they believed. They were far superior to the rest of mankind who refused to believe in the God of History and the God of the Future. Not one of them were present at the time of Creation and they did not live on this Earth long enough to see their faith accomplish great things for God, they died while their faith lived on. They died believing that this God would do things-great things-in the future. They did not see these things come to pass but they believed that He would accomplish great things yet to come. Talk about Faith! These had it. Yet, that same type of faith is demanded of us. We are to believe in the God who created all things and we are to believe that He will accomplish great things in the future. We-like them-are pilgrims, passing through this life. Each one of us does something for God, that which we can, and we will probably die not seeing all of our actions completing the entire picture of what God wants, but we will die in the faith believing in Him to do that which He wants. We are pilgrims, each doing one’s own part in this thing called faith-the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.
III. FAITH’S EXPECTATIONS: I have studied FAITH EXPLAINED and FAITH EXEMPLIFIED, now I come to the last part of my sermon and dwell for a few minutes on what Faith wants from its possessor. There are a few things that faith wants the believer to do and to show that one does have faith in God. This was what the writer to the Hebrews wanted for the new Christians to remember, that faith is a two way street. We can posses faith but faith also has to possess us. He does this by giving his readers a good lesson in faith Eschewing, rejecting, some things.
The Bible tells us that these heroes of faith, who once came into the full realization of who God was, no longer felt that they were a part of this world. This is still worth believing even in today’s world. We who claim the name of Jesus and believe in Him for our salvation change our address from the dusty streets of this Earth to the golden streets of Heaven’s Boulevard. Neither Noah, Abraham nor Sarah could feel comfortable in this world once they encountered God in Faith believing in His assurances of that which they were to do with His help.
The Bible says that these people had no desire to return to the old way of living-faith changed them for ever. By faith, Noah built an ark and watched the wickedness of that old world washed away. He had no desire to return to the way it was. Alone on this ark with just his family and many animals, he had to feel alone and scarred as he endured something of which he never had experienced before, but he Eschewed the former and did not want to return to a sin cursed globe. His faith anchored him in the midst of such storms and strife of that diluvia water washing this Earth. His faith anchored him and he refused to desire the former.
Abraham left the comforts of Ur and started out seeking a city not made by hands. He crossed desserts, countries, endured hardships, lived in tents, suffered the wiles of the open, unprotected area of what is now Iraq, yet his faith did not permit him to return to the comforts he once enjoyed. His faith Eschewed, rejected, all that he once had and made enabled him to live for God when even his own nephew moved down towards Sodom and Gomorra.
Likewise Sarah had her faith so anchored in God that she too gave up all the comforts of Ur and moved with her husband, seeking that City not made with hands. Once coming into contact with God, her faith kept her from desiring the former. The Bible says that these heroes of faith had the chance to refuse to follow God, but once committed to Him, their faith helped to preserve them and kept them pressing on towards the mark of the high calling.
Besides their faith anchoring them, the writer says that their faith Endowed them with hope of a better, earthly place. The old world of Noah’s day lay under tons of water and he longed for a better world when he landed. Abraham, left Ur and hoped to find a better place on this globe with Sarah who desired the same thing. Although God was with them, what they found was not all that much greater than that which they left. Yet, they would not stop and their faith in the Promises of God that He would give them something better than what they had kept them pressing on in their walk with the One who called them. However, finding that what they left was not that much worse off than what they found, they never lost their faith. They still carried their faith with them even to the grave.
The writer to the Hebrews then sums up his treatise on FAITH’S EXPECTATIONS by telling his readers that these heroes of the past kept their faith to their dying day. Were they disappointed in not finding all they had hoped to find when they were obedient to God? The answer is no. They might not have found that for which they were searching this side of eternity, but their faith led them ultimately to believe that someday God would have that “Better” world and that “Better” City of which He promised.
Their faith kept them from turning back when they did not receive all they expected, but it gave them hope and the assurance that what they would ultimately encounter would far Exceed anything here on this globe. They died in the faith believing that God had something Better for them.
The lesson was not lost on the readers of these words. They had just came into the faith of Jesus. They believed in Him who created the worlds; they believed in that One who spoke to three people and asked them to do the unordinary. The readers also realized that faith carries certain expectations with it. The lesson they began to comprehend is vital for all of God’s children. We must have the same type of faith that these heroes of the faith had and even though we do not see all things that we had hoped to see and to realize in following God, we will see them in the future when God grants to us all things that are “Better” than what we have today.
