The climax of the book of Hebrews rests securely on the foundation established in chapters 1-10. The argument is that the supreme Son of God deserves our wholehearted faithfulness. Our response to Jesus Christ our great High Priest is faith. This command for faith isn’t a shallow faith that fails to press on. The author describes people having full faith – a life motivated by Christ’s preeminent person and work, empowered by the Holy Spirit and resolved to honor our heavenly Father.
Hebrews chapter 11 is called the “Hall of Faith.” We have a rich definition of faith in verses 1-2. Then there is a description of faith in verses 3-6. And finally, the author of Hebrews will take us on a journey to display the examples of personal faith throughout the history of the Bible in verses 7-15. We will look at the definition of faith today.
First, what faith is not! The author’s argument about faith is that it is not a blind shot in the dark, positive thinking, arrogant presumption or gullible naivete. What is Faith? Faith is confidence in God, a firm conviction in what God says is true and in what God promises He will do.
Unfortunately, more and more people see faith and reason as totally incompatible responses. This notion of incompatibleness of faith and reason haunts our young people and many adults. Faith dissolves, especially when our young people move away from home into a secular context. So, why do young people who are raised to believe the Bible abandon their faith? There is evidence that many younger people will honestly say that they believe that biblical faith is contrary to reason, but nothing could be further from the truth.
True faith is never CONTRARY to reason. However, it often goes BEYOND human reason to help people see and do things they could never see or do otherwise. I invite you to see this in Hebrews 11, where the Bible itself describes the true nature of faith.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for…
Faith is assurance or a logical expectation of the future.
Literally, faith is the assurance of a certain outcome. Faith is not some unreasonable belief, built on quicksand. No! Faith is based on a solid foundation, upon which you can face the future with confidence.
True faith is based on reason. The main reason for faith is the truth that God always keeps His promises, a truth that has been demonstrated time and time again. Here are some examples.
In Joshua’s testimony when God gave the people of Israel the land He promised them. He said, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” – Joshua 21:45.
In King Solomon’s testimony when he dedicated the first temple in Jerusalem. He said, “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant” – 1 Kings 8:56.
In Apostle Paul’s testimony to the church in Corinth when he talked about his future. Paul said, For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” ascends to God for His glory.” – 2 Corinthians 1:20.
And that should be the basis of every true believer’s testimony, as well. God does not fail to keep any of His promises to those who believe in His Son. Here are some key promises of God.
- God provides all we need. (Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply your every need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”)
- God will never leave us. (Hebrews 13:5 “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.”)
- God will not stop working to conform a believer into the image of Christ.
(Philippians 1:6 For I am sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”)
The writer of Hebrew uses logic to encourage a believer to hold onto their faith. And it is logical that since God has been faithful in the past, we have a reason to trust Him for our future.
Faith is a firm foundation of expectation and that means…
FAITH is Being CERTAIN When OTHERS CANNOT BE as CERTAIN.
Through faith, we can be confident in God’s promises for our future. By faith, we can be sure that God will accomplish what He has said He will do!
Faith is taking God at His Word in regard to the things in the past and trusting Him for the unknowable future. With faith, we can learn from the past, live for today, and have hope for the future.
A pastor was on an over-night flight which encountered some strong turbulence along the way.
“The first warning came when the sign on the airplane flashed on: ‘Fasten your seat belts’ and then a calm voice said, ‘We shall not be serving the beverages at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please fasten your seat belts.’”
Looking around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive.
Later, the voice of the pilot said, “We are sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. There is still turbulence ahead of us.”
Then the storm erupted. The cracks of thunder were heard above the roar of the engines. Lightening lit up the darkening skies, and within moments the plane felt like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean.
One moment the aircraft was lifted on an up-current of air; and the next moment, it dropped as if it were about to crash.
The pastor confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, “As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying. The future seemed uncertain and the people around whispered words of wonder if they would make it.”
Then, he noticed a little girl. “Apparently, the storm didn’t bother her.” “She had her feet tucked beneath her as she sat on her seat reading a book. It appeared as everything within her world was calm and orderly. There were times that she closed her eyes, then she would return to reading her book again. She would straighten her legs, but worry and fear wasn’t a problem for her. As the plane continued to be being tossed by the terrible storm, it lurched this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity she remained completely composed.
The plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers disembarked. The pastor waited behind in order to speak to the girl whom he had watched during the troubled flight. He made a comment about the storm and asked her why she seemed not to be afraid. She replied, “Cause my Daddy’s the pilot, and he’s taking me home.” (“Worry or Trust”, A Time to Laugh, www.atimetolaugh.org/sleep-when-the-wind-blows.html)
While we live on this earth, we who know and love Jesus, should have confidence in our Heavenly Father. He’s in control and taking us to our destination! Faith is resting in God’s control. Faith is trusting that He will not fail no matter how bad the storms get to be.
Faith means to trust Him to do what He said He would do. Faith is being certain of what others cannot be certain; i.e., be confident in God’s promises for our future. More than that…
Through FAITH, we will SEE WHAT OTHERS CANNOT SEE.
Faith isn’t simply limited to things present that we can see. It is trusting what we can-not see.
By faith, we hold to God’s principles for living our life. By faith, we trust that God knows what’s best for us. Notice verse one again,
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is… the conviction of things not seen.”
Faith is a conviction or a persuasion
The Bible describes faith as the basis of holding onto what is already true. Those truths specifically are the invisible reality of the spiritual world and the trustworthiness of God’s future promise. “Things hoped for …. Things not seen”
Literally, biblical faith proves the invisible. That is to say; by faith we treat invisible realities as visible realities. Faith show trust and thus a believer must be faithful.
In a third-grade classroom, a young teacher was starting to explain the theory of evolution to her students.
She directed her first questions to Tommy who was sitting in the front row.
Teacher: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
Tommy: Yes.
Teacher: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
Tommy: Yes.
Teacher: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
Tommy: Okay. (He returned a minute later) Yes, I saw the sky.
Teacher: Did you see God?
Tommy: No.
Teacher: That’s my point. We can’t see God because he isn’t there. He doesn’t exist.
Another student named Sarah, spoke up and wanted to ask Tommy some questions too. The teacher agreed.
Sarah: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
Tommy: Yes.
Sarah: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
Tommy: Yesssssssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).
Sarah: Did you see the sky?
Tommy: Yessssssssss.
Sarah: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
Tommy: Yes.
Sarah: Do you see her brain?
Tommy: No.
Sarah: Then, according to how we are taught today, she must not have one!
You can see the error of the mindset of operating solely on the basis that seeing is believing. There are many things we believe to be true that we can’t see, things like electricity, the wind, atoms, and a teacher’s brain.
In fact, modern scientists don’t operate on the principle that seeing is believing, because they often believe before they see.
That was demonstrated in the field of particle physics on July 4, 2012. A 10-billion-dollar large Hadron Collider that straddles France and Switzerland attracted 1,000 scientists from the world. They stood in line for hours just to get into the room where the leading scientist was going to make an announcement.
And what was the announcement that attracted so many scientists? It was the announcement that those running the Hadron Collider had discovered the Higgs boson particle. It’s a subatomic particle that had been theorized for over 50 years, but had never been seen, never measured, never proven. The particle is so fundamental in the universe that some scientists have called it the “God particle.”
The New York Times said at the time, “Confirmation of the Higgs boson… would constitute a rendezvous with destiny for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson particle for half a century without ever seeing it.”
Now, isn’t that interesting. Those scientists believed in something they could not see and were not able to prove! They believed in this unproven particle, because what they read, studied and saw in research that had convinced them that it had to be there. (Dennis Overbye, “Physicists Find Elusive Particle Seen as Key to Universe,” The New York Times, 7-4-12; www.PreachingToday.com)
In the same way, a Christian believes in God, who we cannot see, because of what we CAN see. What we read and study reveals God’s power, creativity, and divine nature. Believing in God is not CONTRARY to reason. In fact, nothing on earth is more reasonable.
Yet there are people who think seeing is believing. But true believers know that believing is seeing. Those who believe see spiritual things others cannot see! They see God at work in the world. They see the truth of God’s Word as it works in their lives. We witness the miracle of salvation in a person’s life. God’s principles make sense to them when to others those principles are foolish.
By faith, we can be certain of what others cannot be certain – confidence in God’s promises for the future. By faith, we see what others cannot see – a conviction of God’s principles for living your life. And finally…
Through FAITH, we can understand WHAT OTHERS CANNOT.
By faith, we receive a confirmation of God’s pleasure. By faith, we can know God’s approval.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
Literally, they were testified about. In other words, someone bore testimony that they were good people. The King James Version translates it, “They received a good report.”
In the book of Genesis, “[Abraham] believed the Lord, and [the Lord] counted it to him as righteousness” – Genesis 15:6. God testified that Abraham was righteous, simply because Abraham believed God’s promise.
And God testifies that all believers are righteous, simply because they put their faith in Him.
Romans 5:1 says, “We have been justified by faith.” In other words, God declares the believing sinner righteous! And God condemns the unbeliever. John 3:18 says, “Whoever does not believe is condemned already.”On the other hand, God commends the believer. God declares him righteous and treats him that way.
Through faith God declares you His and treats you that way when you trust in His Son.
The Bible is clear that we must never depend on our efforts at self-improvement. Instead, trust Christ’s person and work. True life is about faith in Him. All who do will receive that “good report” from God Himself, which will totally transform you from the inside out!
That’s the nature of true faith. It is NOT unreasonable. Rather, it is the foundation of our expectation; it is proof of the invisible, and it brings God’s approval.
Without faith it is like the story of a very cautious man,
Who never laughed or played.
He never risked; he never tried;
He never sang or prayed.
And when he one day passed away,
His insurance was denied.
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died. (Bible Illustrator #1210)
Oh, my dear friends, place your full-faith in Christ and really live!
So again, by faith, we can be certain of what others cannot be certain – confidence in God’s promises for the future. By faith, we can understand what others cannot understand – a conviction of God’s principles in life. And by faith, know what others cannot – a confirmation of God’s approval.