The Ingredients Of A Life Of Faith Series

A Study of the Book of Hebrews

Jesus is Better

Sermon # 19

“The Ingredients of a Life of Faith”

Hebrews 11:8–19

Have you ever stopped to think about how you get God’s approval in life? Can you gain God approval by being religious? No. Can you gain God’s approval by going to church? No. Can you gain God’s approval by keeping the Ten Commandments? No. There is only one way that we can please God. In Hebrew 11:6 we learned that, “… without faith it is impossible to please Him.” There are only two ways to live. One way, by far the most common, is to live by sight - to base everything on what you can see. The other way, far less commonly taken, is to live by faith, to base your life primarily and ultimately on what you cannot see. That is the Christian way, the Bible way; that is the way that the people of God have always lived.

Last Sunday in our study of the book of Hebrews we looked at what faith is and what faith does. We saw how faith caused Abel to worship God, Enoch to walk with God and Noah to work for God. Today I want us to see three specific ingredients necessary for a life of faith, drawn from the life of Abraham as recorded in Hebrews chapter eleven beginning in verse eight.

First, True Faith Involves A Willingness To Obey. (11:8)

The life of faith begins with the willingness to heed the call of God to leave behind a life of sin. In verse eight we are told, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

This verse tells us that God “called” Abraham. That does not mean that he was called to preach or to go to the mission field or even to perform some act of service. The context is very clear. God called Abraham out of his paganism and idolatry into a relation-ship with Himself.

It apparently was not Abraham’s plan to

nor intention to leave his home in Haran.But then God revealed himself to Abraham and called him to life of faith. The life of faith begins with a willingness to leave behind our place of sin and unbelief. The word of God calls not just for faith but for a faith that leads to action in response to the word of God. True faith always leads to decisive action.

At the age of seventy-five Abraham set out for the Promised Land, a land he had never visited and knew nothing about. Perhaps like most of us Abraham was tempted to ask for more details. Yet there is no indication that there was any hesitation or bargaining on the part of Abraham. God called and Abraham obeyed.

Remember as he stepped out on faith that Abraham did not have the advantages that we have today. He did not have the example of godly men and women to stir him nor did he have the written word of God to instruct him. Yet with the slimmest grasp of who God was Abraham launched out and in the process discovered the faithfulness of God.

Abraham left behind an inheritance of faith. We are each given one life, and we will leave behind an abundance of memories in the lives of those who love us. What will your friends and family, your children and grandchildren know about a life of faith by remembering your life? How will you and I be remembered? Will we be remembered for our faith? Or will our loved ones even have the assurance that we are in heaven?

Living by faith can be a lot like driving in a fog. When driving a heavy fog, you really cannot see that far in front of the car but you keep driving anyway, believing that what you cannot see, you will see once get a little further down the road. When you move forward one hundred feet you can see one hundred more feet than you could not see before. Thus you keep going until you reach your destination, driving by faith.

For some of you here this morning you are hearing the call of God to leave a life of unbelief and begin a life of faith. Perhaps Christ has been calling you for sometime to repent of sin and to receive Him as your Savior. Abraham heard the voice of God and as soon as he understood what God was telling him to do, Abraham said yes, he believed God and responded to Him in faith. What will you do?

Some of you have already made a commitment of faith to Christ yet today you know that God is calling you to something more. Our response to the Lord should be, “Lord I don’t know what you want to do with my life…but I am yours.”