Hebrews Part 5 - Faith

— Hebrews 11:1-12:3

sermons index at http://nlife.ca/audio

Andrew Fountain — April 24th, 2011

Faith

What is faith?
When is it not faith?
When was the greatest ever example of faith?
“For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” [Heb 12:2]

Definition of Faith

Faith is the Celebration of what we hope for
the Certainty of what we do not see
Three parts to faith:
1. The person doing the trusting
2. The person trusted (in this case, God)
3. The thing trusted for: now invisible

Example of waiting for coffee
1. Me (need coffee)
2. Bill—he will go to the roasters and get me some
3. The coffee itself—now invisible but will soon appear
As we go through these stories, see how each one has these three items
- Ask what is invisible and how it will become visible

Visible and the Invisible

11:3 Theme of visible and invisible runs throughout whole book

Visible	Invisible at present
wilderness	the promised land Our inheritance in glory
Sarah’s old age	Promise to Abraham of children
Levitical priests	Jesus, in glory
Earthly sanctuary	Heavenly sanctuary
sacrifices of bulls and goats	Jesus’ blood
(11:6) nothing	God
Noah: no rain	coming flood
Abraham: left his home, no land	an inheritance
etc...

Especially see 12:26-28 — the example of Moses
12:25-29 the unshakable kingdom:

the earthly reality	the heavenly reality
will be “shaken”	cannot be shaken
giving hospitality to a stranger (13:2)	in reality an angel

Hebrews 11:1-16

Now faith is the celebration of what we hope for, the certainty of what we do not see. ²For by it the people of old were commended by God.

³By faith we	understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.
⁴ By faith Abel	offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.
⁵By faith Enoch	was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.

Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

⁷ By faith Noah	when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
⁸By faith Abraham	obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.
⁹ By faith he	lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
¹¹By faith [Abraham]	even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. ¹²So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.

These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.
For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:17-31

¹⁷By faith Abraham	when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. ¹⁸God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” ¹⁹and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.
²⁰ By faith also Isaac	blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.
²¹By faith Jacob	as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.
²²By faith Joseph	at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.
²³By faith Moses’ parents	when he was born, hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
²⁴By faith Moses	when he grew up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. ²⁶He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.
²⁷By faith he	left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.
²⁸By faith he	kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.
²⁹By faith the Israelites	crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.
³⁰By faith	the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.
³¹By faith Rahab	the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

Hebrews 11:32-40

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.
Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,
quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,
and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.
And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
(the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.
And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.

At the end the film speeds up, just quick frames are flashed
Why end on the negatives?
- In some way these were the greatest examples because they were wholly trusting for the future
You may have some things in your life, and on the surface it looks one way
But God says something different
Are we going to believe God?

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,
keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

The full blessing will be in the future
- We will have perfection at the same time as them, in heaven
So what is better for us?
Here is the image of the last stage of a race.
- Have you ever run a long race and have felt like giving up
- I’m told that it is a huge psychological encouragement to have people cheering you on!
- Noah is there cheering you, so is Moses and Abraham!
But more than that, Jesus is our pioneer
- He has fought the battle of faith
- Was it easy for him? —think of Gethsemane
If you are having a struggle with faith in your life right now, Jesus understands that!
- In that sense he is the “pioneer”
He is also the “perfecter”
- This faith is a gift—he puts it in us and gives us his faith
So we can have more victory than Abraham or Moses
- because we have Jesus to strengthen us through his Spirit
- He encourages us in a way that is much more direct than for those of old

Updated on 2011-05-12 by Andrew Fountain