By Faith
Hebrews 11:1-16
Today we look at the 11th chapter of Hebrews which is often known as the “faith chapter.” In it are many examples of people who remained faithful to the LORD under the most difficult and impossible of situations. After going through the roll call of these saints, the example of Jesus is set forth in the 12th chapter as the most excellent example of enduring faith, The writer of Hebrews wrote to warn the church he addressed not to drift away from the truth and commit apostacy. He had just warned in Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” He quotes Habakkuk 2:4 which is also quoted by Paul and James. Habakkuk lived in difficult times before the Babylonians came to take away Judah into captivity. Those who kept their faith in the LORD in these awful times would live. Justification by faith is one of the central doctrines of the Christian faith,
The writer of Hebrews had told the church in chapter 10 of the trials they had already endured for the faith. God had brought them through these hard times which included the loss of their property and being made homeless. Bur Hebrews 12 says they had not resisted unto blood. This indicates that things were going to become even more difficult in the immediate future. Their faith needed to be strengthened to meet this challenge. the writer also was confident that the church would be able to stand the test. The word “confidence” itself means “full of faith”. They were not to cast away their confidence which brought such great reward.
The roll call of the saints of the Old Testament would have been well known to the congregation. We don’t know for sure the ethnic makeup of the church, but those who were Jews would have been taught these stories from their youth. these people were heroes. those who were Gentiles would have been taught these stories also as the Church made Scripture central to the faith.
Hebrews 11 begins with a short general definition of what faith is. It is important to define or give substance to such an abstract noun as faith. What is faith? What is the faith that pleases God. Verse 1 says that faith has “substance.” Faith is tangible, even though it is invisible. Like love, faith is demonstrated indirectly by action. the word for “substance” is the Greek word “hypostasis” which is hard for us to directly define. Hebrews uses the word three times. It has the idea of a "foundation” or “basis.” The word also is used as a technical term for the unity of the Trinity, although this is not what is implied here. As it is difficult to directly translate into English because it has many meanings, we must look at the context here. The text says it is the substance of things hoped for. Paul reminds us in Romans that hope is not yet seen is not hope (Romans 8:24). This is also the case here as it says “the evidence of things not seen.” So faith has the idea of what would normally be considered impossible, possible.
Hebrews now refers to creation itself. At one time there was nothing but God. It is a central doctrine of both the Hebrews and Christians that God created the universe out of nothing (ex nihilo). Some modern translations of Genesis read Genesis 1:1 by “When God began to create the heavens and earth, the earth was without form and void” as though God arranged matter that was already there. Until recently, the nearly universal voice of the Church was the traditional view that God created all from nothing. And Hebrews here makes this abundantly clear. He created the “things that are from things which are not.” Humans might fabricate things out of the dirt or use material from creation for their buildings, but not God. God spoke into the nothing and creation happened.
The reason that faith in God as creator comes first is not by accident. Since God created all things from nothing, then everything owes its existence to God who spoke creation into existence. It also makes all of creation His. Arguing from the greater to the lesser, since God can do the hard thing of creating everything from nothing, His is able to do the lesser things as well. Nothing is impossible with God.
Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us that God’s agent in creation was the Son. This Son also maintains the universe by the word of His power. This is called providence. Creation is dependent upon the Son for its maintenance. Thirdly, God chose the Son who is His express image to purge our sins. This means that the Son is Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. the Father chose that all things be summed up in the Son, It is this Son who became incarnate in Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1:14). Along with the divinity of the Holy Spirit, we have the doctrine of the Trinity.
True faith is grounded in these doctrines of the faith. This gives us confidence at all times. The God who created us, sustains and redeems us as well. In these difficult times, we should take courage.
Having set this foundation, we can now look at the heroes of faith recorded in this chapter. These “heroes” are listed in chronological order. the lectionary text skips over several verses and goes from verse three to verse 8. I suppose it would make for a very long sermon to go into detail on all these people. Even Hebrews 11 starts to summarize and group the last of them. Hebrews begins with Abel, whose name is similar to the Hebrew “hevel” which has the idea of vanity or uselessness. Abel was murdered by his brother without having children. His life would have been for nothing in this world. But God heard the cry of His blood. Because of this, the shedding of his blood had a purpose. God remembered Abel. Not only is he a testimony to enduring faith, we believe that Abel is with Jesus in heaven. God made something, even though man considered Abel to be a nothing. How many martyrs have had their lives cut short for the sake of Jesus? God remembers them too, and they are with Him also.
The next person on the roll is Enoch. His life also, in this world was cut short. He was not murdered like Abel, but had the testimony that he pleased God. Hebrews states: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” So God translated Enoch out of this life because of the pleasing faith he had. Other than the short testimony here and the Book of Genesis, we don’t know what he did or how he lived in detail. But what is said is important. He had God-pleasing faith. There are many Christians whose names are unknown to us. They did not make the roll call of faith. Yet those who have this God-pleasing faith have the same hope as Enoch.
Next, Hebrews takes a look at Noah who is remembered for building the ark by which he and his family was saved from the Flood. He did this because he believed what the LORD had told him and spent many years and hard labor creating this very ark. By this, he became heir to the righteousness which is by faith, We don;t know of the sins of Abel or Enoch. But we do know later that Noah became drunk. And we know that Abraham and Sara who are named next had faults as well. Abram lied to Pharaoh about Sara his wife. Sara got Abraham to lie with Hagar from which Ishmael was born. Some of the later heroes of the faith, like Gideon, Jepthah, Samson, and even David himself were plagued with sins and faults. Yet they are included in the roll call of faith. This might trouble us, but we must remember that God-pleasing faith is the gift of God and not ourselves. God saves people who little deserve it. The question that some might have been of better natural character than others makes no difference as “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because God is creator of all, even our natural abilities are not our own but gifts from God meant for His service. So no one has cause to boast except in God.
Abraham and Sarah take up a prominent place in Hebrews 11, and rightly so. Paul uses the example of Abraham also as one who was justified by faith and not by works in both Romans and Galatians. As I already have sermon in this archive dedicated to verses 8-16 here are well as a sermon series on the life of Abraham in this archive which you can read, I will summarize here. Faith responds to the voice of God. God spoke and called Abraham and Sarah. They obeyed, not knowing where they went. They lived their entire lives living at the edges of the land of Canaan. The only property they would ever own in Canaan was their burial cave. It would be 400 years before his descendants would take possession of that Canaan. So Abraham and Sarah’s lives were spent as Bedouins, wandering around tending herds at the edge of the wilderness. Many of the Hebrews had lost homes and possessions for their faith and were also forced to wander. But it also says that Abraham was looking for a better Canaan. He wasn’t looking for a city which man had built, but rather God. We, too, must not feel to much at home in this world. By faith, we realize that a better place is reserved for us. Faith is everything.
To summarize the people in this roll call, we saw people of various abilities. Some had to endure violence and exile for their faith. Others had faith as well but brought much trouble upon themselves. Yet these were the spirits of just men made perfect by God’s grace. Out of what seemed to be by the world’s standards, nothing, God made something great. The only true hero is the last hero, Jesus, who is mentioned in Chapter 12. It is only by his sacrifice on the cross that we have standing with God. This is why we must believe on Him. This is why we must persevere in the faith. Our hope is not in our own greatness or status among men. Rather it is that because God who has created the universe has granted us standing before Him by His free grace. We are somebodies because He is everything, and we are His.
