LEAVING A LEGACY SERIES
HEBREWS 11:1-3
FAITH DESCRIBED
The author of Hebrews has just said in 10:39 that “we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” The readers of this epistle were tempted just as we are, to place their confidence in the temporary visible things of this world, not in the invisible eternal realities of God. Instead of maturing by faith they desired to live by sight.
A black church congregation had met to pray for rain to relief a long dry spell. The preacher looked severely at his flock and said:
"Brothers and Sisters, yo'll knows why we is here. Now what I wants to know is--where is yo' umbrellas?"
The writer in chapter 11 gives the clarion call to live by faith. Faith in God’s revelation has always been the way of life for God’s people. The just shall live by faith in God and His Word. This is a divine, supernatural, justifying and sanctifying faith, not in our self, not in our faith, not in our works, but in God. All true believers have been endowed by God through the Holy Spirit with faith. This faith provides a certainly about things we cannot see. Faith brings a confidence in God’s promises and shows trust in His character (CIT).
I. THE NATURE OF FAITH; 1.
II. APPROVED BY FAITH; 2.
III. UNDERSTANDING BY FAITH; 3.
The essential characteristic of faith is that it deals with things future and things unseen as verse 1 indicates. “Now faith is the assurance [substance, support, setting under, substantiation] of things hoped for, the proof [conviction, evidence] of things [matters, deeds, events] not being seen.”
This verse does not define faith, but it is more of a description of what faith does and how it works. [Since the word faith is used without the article, the verse refers to faith as a principle, as an abstract concept, and not just redeeming faith.] Faith’s practical working in the lives of believers enables them not only to know an unseen God but to live a full and effective life for God. Faith by its nature deals with unseen things but that does not mean they are unknown, they are expected but not yet realized or visible.
The word substance or confidence (?pstas?? from ?ps?steµ?, ?ps- under & ?steµ?- stand up) is literally stands up under and indicates what supports or is setting under something be it a building, a contract or a promise. Faith is the foundation or what holds up a Christian’s life just like a foundation is what holds up a house.
Faith is the substantiation, that which gives confidence and assurance to the hoped for promises. Hope in Scripture is not a wish, a dream or a fantasy. Hope is what should occur when a scripture
points to a future reality or expectation. Hope is that directed anticipation that becomes a settled assurance. Hope comes when a believer by faith lays hold of a promise of God and anticipates its fulfillment. Thus hope has a foundation and that foundation is what God has promised. Old Testament saints found hope in God’s word. They were people who had hope in life because of their faith. They were people of faith in God and His promises. Faith is that which gives assurance or confidence in the hoped for promises. Faith is to be the solid foundation on which we stand while awaiting the fulfillment of God’s word. Faith is the present representation of a future reality.
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not being seen. The word evidence can mean conviction (e?e????, Mt. 18:15, 2 Tim. 3:16) or proof. In the science of mathematics many of our greatest formulas are based upon mathematical substantiations which are called proofs. It is only by working step by step through the proof that you know if the formula is correct. You cannot see it by just looking at it that it is true you must prove it by the proof. So it is with faith. It is the method of proving the things not seen. It is the inward convicting, or proving of God that what He has promised, He will perform. Living by faith in the promises of God gives one the evidence, verification or proof he or she needs to place validity or the weight of life on the promises.
The word things or events (pa?a?µa) is a thing done, a deed completed or an accomplished fact. There is a residing in us by faith that the promises of God are an accomplished fact.
Eyesight produces a conviction or is our proof about objects in the physical world. Faith produces that same conviction for the invisible order. Faith shows itself to us by producing the assurance that what we hope for will happen. But faith is only as true as the reality of the object hoped for. Thus we must have God’s inner conviction and guidance that what we hope for is true.
At one time John Bunyan who authored Pilgrims Progress was tortured by uncertainty. He wrote, “Everyone thinks his own religion is the true one. The Jews, Muslims, Moors and Pagans, and what if all our faith in Christ and scriptures is only but a think so also?” But when the light broke and God gave His evidence, Bunyan ran out crying “Now I know! I know!” The Christian faith is hope that has turned to certainty.
II. APPROVED BY FAITH; 2.
Verse two shows that we gain approval through our faith. “For by it the men of old gained approval [gave, obtained witness].”
Those Old Testament saints who built their life on the foundation of faith have had witness or approval given to them and about them. Because of their faith God made His approval known to them in their inner being. This witness is His divine approval on their lives and ministries. Thus these people who continued on in faith became witnesses to us as divinely approved examples.
People of faith are always commended to us as examples to follow. Scripture is written more like an example book than like a scientific textbook or a text of law or rules. It gives us examples and principles out of real life situations that can be applied to any life or any culture.
The heroes of faith bore witness to their faith by using it to overcome obstacles and do deeds and develop their character. By faith they performed actions, sustained trials, obtained blessing and some even realized the fulfillment of promises. On account of their faith they are favorably testified before us by God in His book.
III. UNDERSTANDING BY FAITH; 3.
Before the author proceeds to the faith of the elders he illustrates his statement that faith is a conviction of things not seen in verse 3. “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
No matter what you believe about the creation of the universe it is a faith assumption because neither you nor any other person was there. Even the great intelligence of atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell after all his reasoning declared at the end of his life that philosophy “was a washout,” that it held no answers for anything. Without God’s revelation as the basis for philosophy it is only man’s assumptions. Paul warned the Colossians, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men” (Col. 2:8).
Science has done little better than philosophy in offering answers to the origin of the universe. Even though science by definition is limited to the observable, measurable and repeatable, some scientists persist in speculation about the origin of the earth and of the entire universe, trying to reconstruct the process from what can be observed today. They, like philosophers, make assumptions or leaps of convictions far beyond their data and capacity to comprehend.
For some 100 years the nebula theory was the dominant scientific explanation of the origin of the universe. It was eventually replaced by the tidal theory, which was soon replaced by the steady-state theory, the super dense (big bang) theory, and so on. None of these theories gained universal acceptance among scientists. Today, theories are still multiplying, and none yet is universally accepted, much less proved. The same is true of theories of evolution. Even some highly respected nonreligious scientists are calling for science to reconsider the very notion of evolution. Discovery of origins is far outside man’s scope of knowledge and investigation. His attempts to discover where the universe came from, or where man himself came from, cannot possibly end in anything but futility. He is doomed to go from one unprovable theory to another.
Physics professor T.L. Moore of the University of Cincinnati said, “To talk of the evolution of thought from sea slime to amoeba, from amoeba to a self-conscious thinking man, means nothing. It is the easy solution of a thoughtless brain.” [MacArthur, John. Hebrews. Moody. p293.]
Since there were no human witnesses at the time of creation and since this event is not reoccurring today nor can any laboratory reproduce it, it is therefore necessary for us to place our faith in either someone’s assumptions or in the Word of God as to how the worlds or ages came about. As the Lord told Job during his reasoning as to the workings of God “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world” (38:4). Believing God created the world requires faith but because of the grander and complexity of the universe at least it is reasonable faith that the worlds were planned and organized by a thinking being. It takes more blind credulity to believe purely materialistic and accidental theories concerning the origin of the universe than to believe, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1).
All people have faith and live daily by faith, so it is natural to take a faith stand concerning origins of matter and life, but the question is what is the object of your faith? Atheistic communism has faith in the economic principles of Karl Marx and the political system devised by Lenin. The agnostic has faith in the total comprehension of the mind. Research has faith that studying the known will reveal the unknown.
Faith in God and God’s word is the key to understanding the origin of the universe. The word understand means to perceive with the reflective intelligence. It indicates an inward perception and apprehension of the visible as the work of God. Faith’s understanding points to an unseen power who made the world we see. God is the cause and creator of the universe. [We are to understand that God prepared the worlds or that God made the worlds in a mature state, just as he created Adam a mature man and Eve a mature woman.]
Our faith is in the God who created the entire universe by His word (rhema), His divine utterance. God’s word has awesome power. His word called forth all that is seen from nothing, or at least nothing, physical or visible (exnihilo). In the natural realm something cannot come out of nothing. But God is supernatural. He is beyond science and beyond our ability to comprehend, but not beyond our faith. The creation bears witness of Him and He bears witness to us in His Word of creation.
IN CLOSING
The Christian insists that all truth is God’s truth. Some of it - the natural world- is discoverable with our eyes, ears, touch, and intellect. A great deal more of it, however, is not. It is apprehended only by faith, for which the Christian should make no apology. The very attempt to explain the universe, or our own being and nature, apart from God is a fool’s effort. These things we understand only by faith in the revealed Word of Scripture. Faith comprehends that which the mind of man, no matter how brilliant, cannot fathom. “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:9-10).
An evangelist of many years ago told the beautiful story of two little boys he once visited in a London hospital.
The cots were side-by-side. One boy had a dangerous fever, the other had been struck by a truck and his body was badly mangled. The second one said to the first, “Say, Willie, I was down to the mission Sunday school and they told me about Jesus. I believe that if you ask Jesus, He will help you. They said that if we believe in Him and pray to God, then when we die He’ll come and take us with Him to heaven.” Willie replied, “But what if I’m asleep when He comes and I can’t ask Him?” His friend said, “Just hold up your hand; that’s what we did in Sunday school. I guess Jesus sees it.” Since Willie was too weak to hold up his arm, the other boy propped it up for him with a pillow. During that night, Willie died, but when the nurse found him the next morning, his arm was still propped up.
We can be sure that the Lord saw his arm, because the Lord sees faith and the Lord accepts faith. By faith Willie saw the way to heaven. By faith he saw what the learned will never discover on their own. God’s greatest truths are discovered by simple faith. It is not the world’s way to truth, but a thousand years from now - if the Lord tarries that long–the world will still be devising and rejecting its theories. The person of faith knows the truth now. Faith is the only way to God and the only way to be approved of by God.
OPENING PRAYER: O God, our Strength, we place our trust in You. Father, open our eyes, not to see the world more clearly, but to see You. Open our eyes to see You working around us and in us. Nothing happens by accident. You orchestrate every day of our life. You have never forsaken those who seek You. Allow us to see Your hand in the mundane and the fantastic. Help us to trust in what I cannot see, and believe in Your invisible presence. Show us how to mature as a Christian and improve on our walk of faith. Steady our trust in You so that it does not waver, no matter what battles we face on this earth. Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER: O Lord, Mighty in Power, You say that we should have faith in You so that we will be upheld. Mighty Lord, we place all our faith in You asking You to strengthen us. May Your Holy Spirit keep our spirit burning fiercely for You. We know that with You we can overcome anything. Thank You for remaining faithful to Your chosen people. Thank You for guiding us in life and helping us become a vessel for Your will.
May we continually place our faith and in You and Your Word because You know all things. You know what the hearts of Your people need, and You will help us through whatever this life brings.
You say that the righteous man will live by faith. Mold us in Your image and fill our hearts with faith in You. Guide our actions so that we can live by faith and have a life in You, abundantly and eternally. Cleanse our thoughts of impurities, dear God. Keep our eyes fixed on You and You alone. Help us be steadfast in our trust in You and Your Scriptures so that we can live right in Your holy sight. Amen.
