THE POWER OF FAITH
HEBREWS 11

I. Introduction
The power of faith – God-given, God-sustained, God-protected, and God-blessed faith. The power of faith is our subject this morning.

The nation God has given us was founded on biblical principles by men who had faith in God’s promises. We know that those men we call “The Founding Fathers” were not all Christians as Scripture defines the term – some of them questioned the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ – but even the deists and agnostics among them recognized and honored the principles taught in God’s Holy Word.

Today, 241years after the Declaration of Independence was written, you and I can still practice our Christian faith as we see fit, due to the freedoms granted in our Constitution.

Although biblical Christianity is constantly attacked, mocked, and ridiculed, God contin-ues to preserve our freedom to worship Him and exercise our faith in His promises. The fact that we are meeting in a public school building testifies to that.

This God-given privilege of freedom to publicly express our faith in Him has been, and continues to be, something that only a few in this world are privileged to enjoy. Since 1776 the maintenance and defense of that freedom has cost well over a million American lives. With today’s War on Terror that cost continues to mount.

But even if the day comes that we lose the freedom to publicly express our faith, saving faith – the faith in Christ that saves our eternal souls – will not be shaken. That’s because saving faith is beyond the reach of terrorists or thieves or murderers or demons or even Satan himself.

Saving faith was born in heaven and will be preserved there throughout eternity future. The Lord Jesus Himself is “…the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).”

The very faith that saves us is given to us by God. It is a gift of grace. That is to say, there is nothing we could ever do to earn it or to somehow appropriate it for ourselves.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of your-selves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, (so) that no one should boast.

Then that faith is preserved, protected, and perfected in the hands of Jesus. He keeps it for us. If it were up to us to keep it, I doubt that we could hang on to it for even one day.
Listen to Jesus…
John 10:27-30
27 “My sheep hear voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
30 “I and the Father are one.”

Faith in God is demonstrated when you believe what He says. Faith in God is evident when you submit yourself to Him, and when you obey Him.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

II. Review
Last week we looked at Abraham’s faith. God didn’t tell Abraham about Jesus per se. God didn’t tell Abraham about crucifixion or the Bible that was yet to be written. God simply told Abraham what He wanted the man to know. And Abraham believed.
*Genesis 15:6
6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Thus Abraham believed. But what about submitting himself to God and what about obeying Him?
*Genesis 22:2-3, 7-8
2 And (God) said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And (Isaac) said “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

Abraham would submit himself to God and obey Him no matter the cost. Listen, that is saving faith. You know the rest of the story. In v. 12 God stopped Abraham, and in v. 13 God provided the lamb for the sacrifice.

Two thousand years later the Lamb of God would climb what many believe to be that very same mountain and lay down His life – the Perfect Sacrifice for sin. Did Abraham, those two thousand years before Calvary, know the details of what would happen in Jerusalem on that Friday before the resurrection? No! But it didn’t matter.

“(He) believed God, and it was reckoned to Him as righteousness (Romans 4:3).” Once again, that’s saving faith. That has always been saving faith. It will always be saving faith. Abraham looked ahead through human history and he believed God. You and I look back through human history and we believe God.

Saving faith is a powerful thing. This morning I want us to take a quick look at Hebrews 11, sometimes called “The Faith Chapter,” or “The Faith Hall of Fame” and see just how powerful it can be. We’ll get a glimpse of how some of God’s people have been affected by faith, what that faith meant to them, and what we can learn from them.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

III. Text
Hebrews 11 tells us of numerous OT saints of God who, through the power of saving faith, endured all the world could throw at them, and emerged victorious. Many of them are named. Abel, Enoch, and Noah; Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob; Joseph, Moses, and Joshua; David, Samuel, and Daniel; and on it goes. These are names we know. But others are unnamed. For now, they are known only to God. The exciting thing is we believers will all know them some day when we are together with them in glory.

Whether or not we know their names, they all have much to teach us. Hebrews 11 is a chapter in which we could very easily spend many weeks. However, this morning we are just going to take an abbreviated look at five aspects of life that are held in common by all those who have placed their faith in God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11 begins by defining saving faith. In v. 1 it says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That describes Abraham’s faith, doesn’t it? Does it define yours? In v. 2 it says, “For by it (faith) men of old gained (God’s) approval.” And in v. 6 it says, “…without faith it is impossible to please Him…”
• In Faith they worshipped God.
• In Faith they lived their daily lives.
• In Faith they labored on.
• In Faith they stood against the world.
• In Faith they waited for God to fulfill His promises.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. Here is the first of those five aspects of faith we hold in common with all believers.
In faith, they worshipped God. Consider Abel.
*Hebrews 11:4
4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though (Abel) is dead, he still speaks.

We do not know why Abel’s sacrifice was better than Cain’s, but we can speculate based on some things we do know.
*Genesis 4:3-5
3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the
LORD of the fruit of the ground.
4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry…

It seems likely that God had already specified an animal sacrifice for sins. Don’t forget that there had been no death until Abel’s parents, Adam and Eve, had sinned. When they had sinned, God covered their nakedness with the skin of a dead animal. This would’ve been the first death of a living creature. Both Cain and Abel would have known that a blood sacrifice would be required to appease the wrath of God.

But I think the main point is that Abel offered his sacrifice in faith. His faith was based on what he knew. Abel worshipped God according to God’s standard, not men’s. God made it clear what He expected in worship and Abel obeyed. Hebrews 11:4 teaches us that it was through obedience that “…(Abel) obtained the testimony that he was right-eous.” He worshipped God in spirit and in truth.

Thousands of years later, Jesus confirmed Abel’s faith when He called him righteous (Matthew 23:35). So the writer of Hebrews can rightly say to us that even though “…(Abel) is dead, (his testimony) still speaks (11:4).”

Can you see why it is so important that we worship God His way? God’s way is plain for anyone willing to look into the Scriptures to see what he expects of us. We do what we do here at LIGHTHOUSE because the Scriptures tell us how to worship God. We are told to worship God in song, in prayer, in fellowship, in the sacrificial giving of our resources, and in the serious study of the Word. Those are the things that please God.

Trying to worship God in some manner that pleases us is no more pleasing to God than was Cain’s offering. Cain knew what God wanted, but he chose to do something else. He worshipped his own way and thereby earned the disdain of God. By faith Abel knew what God wanted and he worshipped Him in spirit and in truth. So God counted it to him as righteousness. Our faith is based on what we know, isn’t it?

Abel had “Hebrews 11:6 faith,” and God was pleased.
Romans 15:4
4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

In faith, they worshipped God.

2. Here is a second aspect of faith we hold in common with the OT saints.
In faith, they lived their daily lives. Consider Enoch.
*Hebrews 11:5
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death;
and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

Enoch did not experience physical death. He is a picture of God’s grace in that God’s people will not experience spiritual death.
Genesis 5:22a, 24
22a Then Enoch walked with God…
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Why did God “take” Enoch instead of letting him die like everyone else? He did so because Enoch walked with God. That is to say, he lived his life for God.

The Hebrew word for walk is “hālackh.” It does not connote a temporary coming along-side but instead refers to a continuing relationship. It speaks to a lifestyle. In Hebrews 11 Enoch is held up as an example of a life that was completely sold out to God. It is an illustration of a man fully in tune with God – a man of saving faith.

You can see the lesson for us, can’t you? If you have a relationship with God based on saving faith, it is a permanent relationship. When the time comes for Him to take you home, you will die physically, but spiritually, you will just “hālackh” right into the very presence of God.

Enoch had “Hebrews 11:6 faith,” and God was pleased.

3. There is a third thing these OT saints held in common with Christians today.
In faith, they labored on. Consider Noah.
*Hebrews 11:7
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in rever-ence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he con-demned the world (his testimony), and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

God warned Noah about two things he had never seen. Just as Abraham had never seen anyone resurrected from the dead and yet believed God would raise his son, Isaac, so Noah had never seen a flood. Not only that, Noah had never even seen rain.

How can that be? Up until the time of the flood there had been no rain because none was needed. The world was warm and humid and filled with rich vegetation. The morning dew was heavy and provided sufficient moisture for each day.

So when God told Noah that rain would come and with it a flood, it required faith to believe. Noah believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
*Genesis 6:9b
9b …Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Noah walked with God just as Enoch did. He pleased God by walking in faith and was thus considered righteous. Because he believed God, Noah immediately set about to obey God and got to work building the ark.
*Genesis 6:22
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

How about us? Are we doing all God has commanded us to do? Someone might say, “I don’t know what God has commanded me to do.” Let me ask you a rather pointed ques-tion. Isn’t it in your best eternal interest to find out? I don’t think any of us want to stand before God someday and say, “Well, Lord, I didn’t know what you wanted me to do for you, so I just didn’t do much of anything.”

This is one of the reasons it is so important for us to be in our Bibles. Listen, God directs us through His written Word. But if you don’t know what it says, you won’t know what He wants you to do. And if you don’t know what God wants you to do, you won’t do it. Remember when you were in school? How did you do on exams you never studied for?

I challenge you to ask yourself, “What does God want me to do?” You don’t know? You aren’t sure? Then start with the basics. Obey Him in the things you already know about. That’s what Noah did.

Once Noah committed himself to obey God, he got to work, and the first result was that he lost some friends. The unbelieving world began to reject him. Why not? The guy was different. He was doing something the world thought was foolish. But look again at the second half of Hebrews 11:7. Notice that by Noah’s faith, and the testimony that went with it, he condemned the unbelieving world in which he lived.

Instead of believing, the world ridiculed Noah for building a boat on dry land. Here is biblical truth. In the world’s unbelief, the world condemns itself.

But Noah’s faithful obedience stood in stark contrast to the world’s rank disobedience.
Can you see what’s happening here? The lost world says… “If you tell me something I don’t want to hear, I’m not going to like it… and if you keep it up, I’m not going to like you either.”

So Noah’s witness fell on deaf ears. No one was saved outside of his immediate family. However, herein lies a great lesson for us. The world around him was lost but his family was saved. Now please don’t miss this. I believe the most important thing you as a believer can do in life is to lead your children to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Not every preacher has a church, but if you’re a Christian and God has given you child-ren (and grandchildren), you have a congregation of your very own. Noah won his own. “…in reverence (he) prepared an ark for the salvation of his household (Hebrews 11:7b).”

Noah had “Hebrews 11:6 faith,” and God was pleased.

4. Here is the fourth thing aspect of faith we share we the OT saints.
In faith, they stood against the world. Consider Moses.
*Hebrews 11:24-26
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;
26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking for the reward.

Faith enabled Moses to see “the big picture.” He was convinced that suffering for God was worth the pain because of the future reward. That take us right back to Hebrews 11:1. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Some of you are suffering for Christ right now. It may be that old friendships have grown cold since you’ve come to know and follow Christ. It may be that some of your family relationships have become difficult, strained, or even broken. Take comfort in this. Jesus said that would be the case.
*Matthew 10:35-38
35 “For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38 “And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Luke’s gospel speaks of counting the cost of following God.
*Luke 14:27-28
27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost…”

I am convinced that the failure to preach and teach this truth is the primary reason why so many churches today are filled with people who think they’re saved, but are not.
After all, “they believe in Jesus,” but they know nothing of a personal relationship with Him. They know little or nothing of submission to His revealed will and obedience to His written Word, the Bible. They like the idea of having a Savior – a free ticket to hea-ven. But they’re not the least bit interested in having Him rule in their hearts as Lord of their lives. They just want His “goodies,” and His “warm fuzzies,” As a result, they have never experienced a changed life because they have never been taught that Christ demands their complete allegiance.

Furthermore, they’ve never been told it will cost them something to follow Jesus. They seem to think “free” means “without cost.” Let me say it again. They want a Savior. They just don’t want a Lord. May none of us ever think like that!

Now I’m not naïve. I know full well that putting Christ first in your life may well be the most difficult thing you’ll ever do as a believer. But we must understand that this is what Jesus calls for.
Luke 9:23
23 And (Jesus) was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Moses counted the cost, and in faith he chose to be with God’s people. He withstood the pressure to conform to the world he lived in and turned to God. That decision cost him much of what his world had to offer.

Moses had “Hebrews 11:6 faith,” and God was pleased.

And there were others. Consider Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, and Daniel. Their faith gave them the courage to defy Nebuchadnezzar’s demand that they worship pagan gods. Turn with me to The Book of Daniel. (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel)
*Daniel 3:16-18
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego… said to the king, “O Nebuchadnez- zar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this.
17 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

When the three of them came out of the furnace…
*Daniel 3:28
28 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His ser-vants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.”

The unshakable faith of those three young men brought a pagan king to faith in God.

Consider Daniel. His faith was later put to the same kind of test.
*Daniel 6:16
16 Then the king (Darius) gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Your God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.”

When Daniel came out of the lion’s den he said…
*Daniel 6:22a-23b
22a “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me…
23b So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

As a result, King Darius made a decree…
*Daniel 6:26a
26 “I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel…” (back to Hebrews 11)

But there’s so much more. Just follow along with me.
*Hebrews 11:35-38
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tor-tured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection;
36 and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (men of whom the world is not worthy), wandering in desserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

Their faith gave them the power and ability to withstand anything. How we need to understand that our faith gives us the power to withstand anything that can be thrown against us! Moses, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, Daniel, and all those whose names we don’t even know had “Hebrews 11:6 faith,” and God was pleased.

5. And finally, the fifth aspect of faith we share with those who came before us…
In faith they waited for God to fulfill His promises.
*Hebrews 11:13a
13a All these (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah) died in faith, without receiv-ing the promises, but having seen from them and welcomed them from a dis-tance…
They waited their whole lives on this earth, but they never saw the promise of God’s Messiah. However, they all had “Hebrews 11:6 faith,” and God was pleased.
*Hebrews 11:39-40
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Verse 39 refers to God’s OT saints. They did not receive what was promised, that is, they did not live to see the coming of Christ. But even though they didn’t see Him while they lived, they see Him now. Their faith has been rewarded.

Verse 40 speaks of the church. The OT saints looked ahead in faith. We look back in faith. It’s the same faith – always and ever – the same powerful saving faith.

Together with them you and I wait for the glory that is yet to be revealed when Jesus returns for His church and establishes the Millennial Kingdom, thereby fulfilling His promises to the nation of Israel. We will all be made perfect together in glory.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IV. Conclusion
In Faith Abel worshipped God. In Faith Enoch lived his daily life. In Faith Noah labored on. In Faith Moses, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, and Daniel stood against the world.
And in Faith Abraham, Sarah, and countless others waited for God to fulfill His pro-mises. Every one of them is an example for us.
*Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

May God be pleased with our faith in Him, and in His eternal Word. Jesus said…
Matthew 24:35
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”

Is your faith in the One who said that? I pray that it is. If it is, the day will come when you will stand before Him, and He will say…
Matthew 25:21
21 “Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.”

~ Pray ~