What's Faith All About?

What’s Faith All About? Text: Hebrews 11:1-3

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

How could the writer of Hebrews receive such a powerful revelation about faith? Because he looked back through time, and saw men and women of old, and there he found a trend. That trend lead him to rejoice over righteousness. Enoch, Moses, Abraham, Rehab, Joseph, Esther just to name a few. However, the writer quickly understood that right living, could only be obtained through steadfast devotion unto God! Faith has to be the ability to leave unfinished work in the hands of God.

A.W. Tozer once said, “God, being who He is, cannot cease to be what He is, and being what He is, He cannot act out of character with Himself. He is at once faithful and unchanging, so all His words and acts must be and must remain faithful.”

TM Hebrews 11:1 “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”

If you are living by faith, “you have a firm foundation!” You have a handle on what you can’t see.

Listen to verse 2 again, “For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”

A good testimony means, these men talked righteous! No, not H-O-L-Y. (They weren’t religious). No, they didn’t have time.

They were turned on to the things of God. They couldn’t help but to talk about Him! ( “Did you hear how God takes care of me?” )

Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

Think about this, Chair. Carpet. Walls. Paint. No, God spoke every mineral, H20, Oxygen!

Hebrews 11:3 “The worlds were famed by the word of God!”

Hebrews 11:4 “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.”

Abel decided that He would trust God with his possessions, so he give God his best! Abel said, “I’m going to stand on a firm foundation!”

Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”;for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

So how do we please God? Stand firm. Wear the whole armor of God. Walk faith. Talk faith. Live faith. Sing faith.

Faith requires an unquestioning belief in God that does not require proof or evidence. Mark 11:22 Jesus said, “Have faith in God.”

Hebrews 11:32-40 “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

Chuck Swindoll once said, “ Nothing touches you that hasn’t first passed through the loving hands of God.”