Let Your Faith do the Walking Part 1
The Description of Faith
Hebrews 11:1-6
Introduction
My purpose for beginning this series is quite simple, God told me to. There is definitely a crisis of unbelief in our day and time. Not only among the unbelieving world which is evident to us with more and more empty pews in our churches. Not only in the unbelieving world is there a crisis of unbelief but also among the church, those who claim to be “in the household of the faith”. So often we believe in God, but we don’t believe God. In order to believe God it requires faith. It requires walking or living out our lives by faith. God brought it to my attention through bible study and prayer that the church doesn’t really know how to live by faith. If we really knew how to live by faith then our lives would match up with God’s word, and so often that is not the case.
We are going to begin tonight a brand new series on “Letting your Faith do the walking.” What I mean by that is learning to live by faith. So we are going to do that the same way that God is teaching me, and that is by going the through the entire book of Hebrews chapter 11. This is one of the great chapters in all of Scripture. It is knows as “God’s great hall of Faith”. It is made up of men and women who not only believed in God, but they believed God.
The key to greatness with God is faith. The person who truly believes God is great in God’s eyes. The first part of this chapter gives us an overall study of faith. This is the foundation that we will build on for the next few Sunday nights. Tonight we will see the Description of Faith.
Read Scriptures: Hebrews 11:1-6
I. The meaning of Faith.
Vs. 1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
What does faith mean? This is the only place in all of Scripture that we actually have a definition of faith. Time and time again the Bible speaks of faith and the great importance of faith. The Bible tells us that we must have faith—we must believe God—and it tells us the great things that happen to those who believe God. The Bible also gives examples of men and women who have or have not believed God and shows clearly what happen to each person.
But nowhere does the Bible define faith but here. So it is really important that we see what faith means. The biblical definition is:
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
The word sure in the original Greek means the foundation, assurance, guarantee of things hoped for. The word certain means conviction. So with those words in mind, this is how the definition would read, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Look closely at what is being said, faith is being described as an act, an act of the mind and heart. It means that our heart and mind believe something and we have assurance and conviction that it is true.
Faith is being sure, the actual possession (the promises of God, or heaven), of what we hope for, the certainty and reality of what we do not see. It is both an act and a passion of what we are believing in, in this case God and his promises.
--Faith is trusting and possessing all that God is and says.
--Faith is believing and possessing all that God is and says.
--Faith is having Confidence in and possessing all that God is and says.
--Faith is hoping for something and possessing it because God exists and has promised it.
Faith is not: “I think so, I hope so, It maybe so; it may not be so, It might be true; it might not be true.”
Biblical faith is truth and reality, it is “knowing what is real, experiencing what is real, possessing what is real.”
II. The Reward of Faith
Vs. 2 “This is what the ancients were commended for.”
What is the reward of faith? It is God’s approval. God is pleased, very pleased, when we believe Him and His promises. This is the point of this verse, the great men of God who lived in the past, believed God, and followed God. They turned away from the world and its possessions and pleasures and followed God.
They believed that God’s promises of an eternal land and of eternal life were true.
Therefore they staked their lives on it, all that they were and all that they had, upon that hope. Their faith in God pleased God to no end.
The reward for faith is God’s approval, and approval of God means that God fulfills all of His promises to us. The promises of God becomes a living reality in our experiences, both daily and eternally.
III. The basic understanding of Faith.
Vs. 3 “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
The basic understanding of faith is that God has made the world. The word “understanding” means to perceive with the mind to understand, to know a true fact. The Christian walk begins with a fact that God is true; God did create the world. The believers starting point in the faith is understanding, a true fact, the very basic fact that God did create the world.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth.”
When a believer looks at the origin of the world he sees: God, God’s word—God willed a spoke, matter appeared, the worlds were created by God’s word, the things seen were made by God.
When the unbeliever looks at the origin of the world he sees: nothing—absolutely nothing, matter appeared; some gas or force formed out of absolutely nothing, the things seen were made by just appearing out of absolutely nothing.
The point is this, we were not here when God created the world but we believe (knowing for certain) God himself created the world. Therefore, the basic understanding of the believer is that God exists in that He created the world. God is the person who is behind life and the world of life God gave breathe to man and this world He made things that are seen.
IV. The Spiritual Power of Faith.
Vs. 4-5 “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”
The power of faith is the message of the Gospel, the glorious hope that God has given from the beginning of time. The power is two fold and is given in a very meaningful way, by showing how the power takes effect in the life of the believer. Two believers who experienced the power of faith were Abel and Enoch.
1. Faith has the power to be counted as righteousness.
No greater gift could be given to us then to give us the privilege to be counted righteous before God. (Read Genesis 4:1-8) Read Hebrews 11:4 Again
The difference between the two offerings is this Abel believed God and approached and worshipped God exactly as God said through the sacrifice of an animal. But Cain did not believe God He didn’t accept God’s word, and He didn’t approach God through the sacrifice of another. He made a material sacrifice and offering to God; He approached God through money and earthly gifts through the efforts and fruits of human works, the fruit born of the Earth, the fruit born of His own frail, human, aging, and dying hands.
Very simple, Abel believed God. He recognized just what scripture says: that He was sinful and imperfect and that he could never be acceptable to God who is perfect and holy, not until His sins and their guilt had been paid for and removed. This is the power of faith: faith gives us the power to be counted righteous.
2. Faith has the power to give us a day by day walk with God and to deliver us from death.
I can’t think of a better gift then the presence and power of God as we walk day by day and the eternal deliverance from death.
Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”
Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”
Enoch believed God, he believed that if he walked and fellowship with God day by day then God would look after him and care fore him. Therefore Enoch walked with God and God looked after him and cared for him. God even conquered death for Enoch.
Enoch experienced the promise that is made to every believer: we shall never taste of experience death. Enoch’s faith gave him a day by day walk with God; the knowledge and fellowship, care and provision, and the protection and deliverance of God.
This is the spiritual power of faith to be counted as righteous and have a day by day walk with God.
V. The Necessary beliefs of faith.
VS. 6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
This is one of the great verses of scripture, a verse that should be memorized and held in the heart of every believer (repeat verse 6).
It is impossible to please God without faith. By faith is meant a living, active faith, a faith that knows and follows God, that fellowships with God. This is a very important truth for us to understand it does not matter what a person does; without faith He cannot please God. It is utterly impossible to please God without faith. What does this mean?
The person will never be acceptable to God or by God. Without faith we will never live with God, not in this world or the world to come. Without faith, we have to plow through this life all alone and handle all the trials, temptations, sufferings, accidents, diseases, and even death all by ourselves. Without faith, a person stands all alone in this world, totally without God.
The person who comes to God must believe two things.
1. We must believe in God that is that God exists. The words must believe mean necessary and essential, absolutely necessary and absolutely essential. A person must look at the world and at himself at the existence, design, order, and believe in God. A person must look at the word of God, the Holy Bible, and believe in God. A person must look at Jesus Christ the very son of God, who reveals God to man and believe in God. We must believe absolutely necessary that God exists.
2. He must believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. The word “earnestly” means to seek out God; to sincerely seek to find and then follow Him. God does not reward the complacent, half-interested, worldly minded pleasure seeker. God rewards those who earnestly or diligently seek to know or follow Him. What is the reward to those who earnestly or diligently seek God? It is the same reward given to Abel and Enoch; righteousness and God’s care in this life and deliverance from death into eternal life.
Conclusion
Are you letting your faith do the walking in your life. Is faith an absolute certain for your life. Do you know that you know that you know.
