Faith

Sorry, I just turned this thing on a lot.

Then we discussed what repentance actually is.

! Number one, we said repentance is seeing one's sin, recognizing one's sin, seeing it for what it really is, seeing it in light of how God sees it.

Number two, we said repentance is sorrow over one's sin, results in a brokenness, results in a contrite heart.

We see that in Psalm 51 and other places in Scripture, Psalm 38.

Thirdly, we said true repentance was confessing one's sin.

That's kind of the verbal expression of repentance in the life of a believer.

And then fourthly, we said that it's a turning away from one's sin, which is kind of what we normally want to think about when we think about repentance.

It's first and foremost in our minds, often a turning away from one's sin.

But that's kind of the last stage in the process of actually repenting.

It's turning away.

So, okay, in light of last week's lesson, this week we're going to be talking about the other subtopic of conversion.

So we have repentance in one side and we have faith on the other side.

Okay, so the other aspect of conversion is faith.

Jesus Christ came in Mark 1.15 and he said, repent, and then he said, and believe in the gospel.

So first he said, repent, then he said, believe.

These are the two aspects, main aspects of what conversion actually is.

If repentance is a turning away from sin and thusly a turning around towards something else.

Okay, so I'm going this way and then I repent and I do an about face and I turn a different way.

Then faith is the thing that propels you forward toward something else.

Okay, so I'm walking this way.

I repent.

That means I turn the other way and then I walk towards something else.

Faith is what enables a person to do that.

Okay, it's the actual going the different direction that faith is.

I kind of gave you a flawed illustration last week by saying that, by saying or telling you to think about conversion as a body

and then faith and repentance as the legs of that body that enable it to walk around and move.

I think it would be more accurate to say that conversion is the body, okay?

Repentance is the legs of that body and then faith is kind of like the muscles.

That give movement, that give mobility or strength to the legs to actually function and work.

I think that's more accurate.

So repentance by itself is not a mobilizing thing.

Just like legs without muscles are not a mobilizing thing.

You have to have faith in order to move.

So no man has ever come to Christ solely on repentance.

Repentance.

It's kind of like taking a sip of water when you're thirsty, but not exercising the proper muscles to swallow.

Okay, it doesn't benefit you if you don't swallow the water and let it digest in your system.

So the same thing is that if you only have repentance, if you only have the taking in of water,

but you don't actually exercise that repentance with faith,

it's kind of like you're wasting your time.

So again, no man has ever come to Christ solely on repentance.

Many people genuinely repent for crimes against others or for misconduct or for acting irresponsibly.

They genuinely feel broken about stuff like that.

I recently was watching the news and I saw this guy,

a young man whose face was covered in tears.

He was sobbing, crying, yelling because he had been driving drunk and it had hit an oncoming car that was,

I think, filled with children and killed them.

Okay, so this guy's in an orange jumpsuit, you know, on the defendant's side of a courtroom with his hands behind his back,

you know, in handcuffs and he's crying out, he's sobbing, he's crying out,

begging for mercy from the families that were prosecuting him for this crime.

Okay, that's an element of repentance.

I think the guy was genuinely broken about that.

But that isn't biblical repentance.

It's not going to get him anywhere.

It's not going to benefit him in Christ.

It would not bring the man any closer to Christ.

And so a like-mannered repentance by you will not bring you any closer to Christ.

There's a lot of things that we repent about, we feel sorry for, we get upset about,

maybe tears stream down our faces about, that is not genuine repentance.

Okay?

Genuine repentance is God-centered.

God-centered.

On the last day, if that man wanted to use an argument of,

hey, well, I mean, I was genuinely repentant about this thing that I did.

But he had no repentance or sorrow because he had committed some kind of offense against God,

that wouldn't do him any good on the last day.

He would still be judged as a sinner and still condemned to hell because he did not repent to the right person,

to Christ.

True biblical repentance is directed towards the Creator and not fellow creation.

Psalm 51.4 is a great verse.

Turn there really quickly.

I'll show you.

Psalm 51.4.

This is a really common, again, chapter of Scripture, kind of like Hebrews 11.

And David is kind of had freshly committed adultery with this lady named Bathsheba.

And then he had killed her husband to cover it up.

And he is approached by a prophet who exposes this for him.

And he's led to kind of write this psalm or pen the psalm and his brokenness.

And he says this in verse 4.

So mind you, again, keep this in mind.

He has just killed the husband of the woman that he committed adultery with.

And he says, against you, referring to God, you only have I sinned against.

And done what is evil in your sight.

He says, against you and you only have I sinned against.

So David saw his sin as against, even in this situation, as against the Father.

And that's how you should think about true repentance.

It's against God.

You have sinned against God.

He's the one supporting you accountable.

You can sin against other people as well.

And we need to ask for forgiveness for them as well.

We need to be given forgiveness when we sin against other people ourselves.

But true repentance is against God.

And that's where it's got to start.

Okay?

Against you and you only have I sinned against.

And done what is evil in your sight.

So many men feel sorrow for sin.

Not because of their crime.

Not because of their offense.

But because they were caught.

Because by what they had done, they harmed themselves.

They harmed some other person.

So ask yourself this question.

What good will it do me, having repented, to take a step in the wrong direction?

Okay?

What good will it do you if you repent truly and then take a step in the wrong direction?

If that step is anywhere that's not Christ, it's in the wrong direction.

You could say it like this.

Just because you change lanes on the wide road doesn't mean you're not headed towards death.

Okay?

A not God-centered repentance is kind of like changing lanes.

But you're still on the wide road headed towards death.

You're not avoiding it at all.

You're just changing lanes.

Getting a clearer view to it, in a sense.

The direction of one's faith, or the object of one's faith, or the person of one's faith,

is by far the most important element of one's faith.

An element of repentance.

Okay?

There's only one way to get to God, and that is through Jesus Christ.

John 14, 6 says what?

I am the way.

I am the truth.

I am the life.

Nobody comes to the Father except by me.

So it starts with Christ, it ends with Christ.

Your first step of faith after repentance must be towards Jesus.

And must remain towards Him until the day that you die.

And that is the work of conversion.

When somebody is converted, okay, when you are truly saved,

you get an interest in Christ.

Your eyes fix on Jesus Christ.

You see Him for who He truly is.

You see your offenses against God, and you repent to God.

Then He forgives you.

He regenerates you.

He enables you to believe on Him savingly,

and you start walking towards Him.

And that happens for the remainder of your life.

It's an ongoing thing.

And so the life of a Christian is a life of repentance.

It's also a life of faith.

Okay?

We talked about repentance last week.

This week is faith.

That was the introduction.

Let's get into it.

Hebrews 11.

If you turn to Psalm 51, go back to Hebrews 11.

Again, now faith is the assurance or the substance of things hoped for.

The conviction of things not seen.

Here we are given the preeminent description of faith in all Scripture.

The best one is right here.

It's only one little verse, and it's small, but it is loaded with truth.

And I'm looking forward to getting into it.

And I want to start, as we begin to unpack this verse, I want to start with the very first word.

It says, now.

Okay?

It says, now.

We're going to start here.

The author begins by saying, now.

Now, this word is a transition word.

Meaning, that the reader should change the way that he was thinking to a new line of thinking.

Or he's, the author, in a sense, is going to transition the reader from what he just said to a new line of thinking.

So, kind of like, in light of that, or like a therefore, or like a thusly, we're going to say this now.

Okay?

It's a transition phrase.

A transition word.

And because we're just jumping into this text, I need to give you guys some context.

So you can understand what's happening here.

It's going to help you understand the fullness of this verse, as we need to.

We need to be very careful to allow the verse to speak to us in its natural flow.

So, here's a little context for you.

For ten chapters now, the author has been laboring to prove one primary main point.

For ten chapters.

That being, that the new covenant of grace, or of the blood of Jesus Christ, is better and is superior in every way to the old covenant of works.

Okay?

There's these things called covenants.

God makes covenants with man.

In the old covenant that God made initially with Adam in the garden, he said, you've got to keep my word perfectly.

Now, Adam wasn't a sinner at this point in time.

Okay?

He had free will.

He was completely free to choose to obey God.

This is the Adamic covenant.

Okay?

And it has a lot more attached to it.

But this is kind of where it starts.

So, Adam had the choice to either choose to obey or not obey God.

He did not.

All of us fell into sin as a result of it.

And so, that's the covenant of works that we were once in.

We were enslaved to the law of Moses, to the old covenant of works that said, hey, you can't earn me my favor, my righteousness apart from Christ.

So, they were living in this old covenant.

Now, this new covenant came into play when Jesus Christ came on the scene, died, shed his blood, purchased for you life.

Freedom from sin.

Perfection by faith in him.

That's the new covenant.

Okay?

So, for ten chapters, this author, we don't know who the author is in this book, but the author has been trying to prove to these people, these Jewish people, that the new covenant of grace or the blood of Jesus Christ is far better, far superior to every way, to every way and everything in the old covenant of works.

And MacArthur once said this.

He said, Christ is a better priest with a better sacrifice by which he sealed a better covenant.

And he's writing to Jews to prove to them that the new covenant is the best.

He says Christ is better than angels, than prophets, than Moses, than Aaron, than Joshua, than everything.

That's what he's talked about throughout the first ten chapters.

All these things.

He's better than all these things.

He's better than anyone and everything connected to the old covenant.

So, in essence, okay, when he gets to verse 1 of chapter 11, he's saying, you have got to appropriate the new covenant of grace.

You've got to possess it.

You are not underneath this old covenant any longer.

You need to possess this new covenant of Christ.

Okay?

See, the Jews were trying to earn their salvation.

They had twisted this old covenant that God had set forth for them over the years into this cultish, works-based salvation that was filled with rules and all kinds of ethical obligations.

I think it's something like, I mean, the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' time had actually imposed upon the text of Scripture that they had at that point in time.

So, imposed upon God's covenant something like 400, 600, I don't know what it is, something, hundreds, hundreds of, like, rules that were not what God had said.

All these rules.

You can't do this and this and this and this and this and this.

I mean, it was all this total legalism.

And they thought, hey, I'm going to earn God's favor by keeping these rules.

They were wrong.

They could never do that.

They never could do that.

God never intended it to be that way.

So, they twisted the old covenant.

And so, the 10th chapter closes with a warning to appropriate the new covenant.

To make the new covenant yours.

To step away from Judaism.

To step away from this temple stuff.

This priesthood stuff.

And all that came with that.

And come to the new covenant.

Okay?

Now, this brings up a question in the minds of the reader.

Especially this early Jewish reader.

That is, how?

How do I do that?

How do I appropriate this new covenant of Christ?

How do I come into the new covenant?

What do I do?

See, this Jew was, again, he was used to this work system.

He had no idea.

He had no concept of grace.

He had no idea what grace was.

And these works weren't even involved.

So, how then, one might ask, am I supposed to come into the new covenant?

There weren't any sacrifices to make.

Okay?

There was no particular feasts that they had to observe.

Under this new covenant of Christ.

There weren't any ritual washings to go through.

There was not any ceremonies to go through.

There was no circumcision any longer.

There wasn't even any memorization of ethics or the law anymore.

All these things were nullified when Christ came and fulfilled it all and then died in righteousness.

Perfect righteousness.

All the works of the law were fulfilled in Christ.

Someone said, or he corrects somebody I was looking for earlier.

I couldn't find it.

He says, I have not come to do away with the law.

I've come to establish it.

I haven't come to abolish the law, all these regulations.

I've come to fulfill it.

To become it for you.

Okay?

And a lot of people, I mean, I'm saying all this stuff, but a lot of people these days are still underneath the same thing.

They believe they have to tack on to what Christ has done.

It's Jesus Christ plus my exterior ability.

Plus my ability to go to church on every single Sunday.

Plus my, you know, going to Thursday night Bible study on fall break.

Plus my, you know, like baking cookies for the Thursday night Bible study.

You know, they have to do all these things to earn God's favor outside of Christ.

And that is a, God hates nothing more than that.

Than you thinking you have to do anything to earn His favor outside of Jesus.

That diminishes His glory.

Okay?

And you get glory.

That's why faith is a work of God.

That's why your salvation is a work of God.

That's why you're saved by grace through faith in Christ.

That not of your own doing.

It's a gift of God.

Not of works.

Lest you can boast.

So God strips away from all of you the ability to boast.

Okay?

In this new covenant.

So the answer to the question that these Jews are posing,

how do I do this?

How do I get this?

This new covenant applied to me.

The answer is believe.

Have faith.

It's so simple.

Have faith.

Have faith in Christ.

Jesus' words when He died, His last words were what?

It is finished.

Right?

It is finished.

That's a pretty awesome statement.

That's a loaded statement.

Because that means everything that was required of us for salvation was finished.

It is finished.

So now we can justifiably say,

all it requires is faith in Christ.

Now we're going to see what real faith actually is.

That's not simply intellectual descent to something.

It's not simply walking down an aisle.

It's not signing a card.

You know, we've said this a million times.

It's not for the faint of heart.

Okay?

True faith is serious business.

I think I said last week it's warrior work.

It's serious.

Okay?

We're going to see what this is.

So having established this author,

having established the preeminence of Christ over all areas of the Old Covenant,

that the author now transitions in verse 1 of chapter 11

to reaffirm, firstly for the Jews, what faith is.

That's verse 1.

He reaffirms, this is what faith is.

Here's a good definition of what faith is.

I'm going to describe it for you.

Verse 1.

And then he goes on to reassert for these Jews

that it's always been faith that's saved.

It's always been faith, or by faith,

that the righteous have lived and pleased God.

So when someone asks you,

how would somebody say before Christ?

By faith.

It says it repetitively in Hebrews 11.

It's never not been faith.

It's always been intended to be faith.

All the sacrifices that they were doing back in the day

were meant to point to a Savior.

To say, this is what you need.

You can't, every day you're cutting lambs and bulls' throats

and it's spilling blood

because you don't have the ability to ever stop this work.

This is kind of cool.

The only thing that was missing from the tabernacle,

the only piece of furniture that was missing from the tabernacle

was a place to sit down

because the work was never finished.

Okay?

So those priests never sat down

because it was never done.

Then Christ came and said,

it's finished.

I've done it.

Okay?

So he's going to reassert for them

that it's always been faith

that saved you.

Now,

the author of Hebrews

doesn't exactly tell us

what the object of our faith should be

until chapter 12.

He simply kind of describes its nature.

He wants to kind of get into general,

the general truth about faith first

before he kind of gets specific.

That's a common way

that common way people write in the New Testament

is to go from general to specific.

So he does this.

He goes general first.

And I want to,

I want to draw your attention

for the sake of this teaching

to chapter 12,

which clearly,

as you're going to see,

distinguishes Christ

as him

to whom

all of our faith,

all of our confidence,

all of our conviction

should be applied.

Okay?

Because if you don't know

what you're aiming at,

you're going to miss.

Okay?

So all your faith,

all your conviction,

all your confidence

has got to be aimed

at Jesus Christ.

Look at 12 verses 1 and 2.

Therefore,

since we have so great

a cloud of witnesses,

that's,

he's referring back

to what he just said

in the entire chapter

of Hebrews 11.

Okay?

Those are the witnesses.

These are the people

that have come before us

and witnessed for us

this thing,

this truth,

this faith.

So therefore,

since we have been surrounded

by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside

every encumbrance

in the sin

which so easily entangles us

and let us run with endurance

the race that is set before us.

How?

How?

Fixing our eyes on Jesus

who is the author

and the perfecter of faith.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus

who is the author

and the perfecter of our faith.

This is so crucial.

If you don't see Jesus

as the one who has authored

or written

or created

your faith

and he is the finisher

of your faith as well,

he's the one that drives it on,

he's the one that energizes it

day to day,

you will burn out.

You will find yourself

trying to

create faith

from a human's ability.

You will find yourself

exhausted by ministry

and exhausted

by the scripture

and exhausted

by preaching

and exhausted

by praying

and exhausted

by loving

and worshiping Christ.

You will find yourself

burnt out

if you do not

see Jesus

every single day

as the author

and the finisher,

the perfecter

of your faith.

Okay,

you have got

to remember this.

This is so big.

He's the one

that gives you strength.

Apart from me,

you can do

nothing.

He says in John 15, 5.

Repentance is a turning away

from sin

and faith

is that element

of conversion

by which the sinner

comes to Christ.

It's that element

of conversion

by which the sinner

places their faith,

their eyes of faith

on Jesus.

In the Gospel of John,

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

Jesus finishes

speaking to

a multitude

of people

of his disciples.

All these people

gather around

to hear him speak

and he said

some crazy,

crazy stuff.

He says stuff like

eat my flesh,

drink my blood.

It's really cannibalistic

and weird

and strange.

But Jesus says this,

okay,

and it freaks

everybody out.

And a lot of them

leave.

Okay,

a lot of disciples

part away from him

and say,

I can't handle this.

This guy is strange.

He's a Charles Manson

kind of character.

I'm not going to deal

with this guy.

Okay?

So Jesus turns

to his 12 disciples

and he says this,

you do not want

to go away

also do you?

Simon Peter

answered him

and said,

Lord,

to whom

shall we go?

you have the words

of eternal life

and we have believed

and we have come

to know

that you are

the Holy One

of God.

Okay?

So Jesus said

some crazy stuff

and a lot of people

turned and left

and went away

from him.

But he says

through Peter,

through Peter says,

but you have the words

of eternal life.

We can't go anywhere else.

I know it's hard

to hear what you just said.

It's a struggle

for us to deal with that

but we can't go anywhere else.

We have to stay with you.

You have the keys

to the kingdom of God.

Realize that Jesus

is not an easy man

to follow

but he alone,

okay?

He alone,

there's only one person

that possesses

the key

to his father's kingdom

and we must

by faith

follow him

no matter the cost.

So I say this,

okay?

I mention that verse

to make a point.

And the point is this,

okay?

The Jews struggled

with Jesus.

When he was on earth,

they struggled.

They said,

you say hard things.

You say things

that are difficult

to understand,

that are difficult

to believe

and to comprehend.

And not only that

but you're from this town

and your brothers say

that you're not

the real deal

and there's all these

kind of speculative issues

with Jesus Christ.

You know,

I mean,

you're teaching

your doctrine.

It's really authoritative.

It's unlike anything

we've ever heard.

It's kind of new.

We're afraid of new.

You're authoritative.

You know,

you're doing all

these crazy miracles.

We don't know

if it's demons

or God.

It's just,

they struggled.

The Jews struggled

with Jesus.

Okay?

But those that knew

Jesus,

those that knew him

experientially by faith,

said,

even though you're

difficult sometimes,

Jesus,

I've got to stay with you.

So,

you may struggle

with questions.

Okay?

You may struggle

with questions

about Jesus' teaching.

About the inerrancy

of Scripture.

About certain doctrines.

Okay?

About truth

that we may speak

about Jesus Christ.

About his resurrection.

But I want to encourage you.

God will answer you

in due time.

He says

to seek him

with all your heart

and you're going to find him.

Ask

and you're going to receive.

Not,

the door's going to be open to you.

Okay?

I'm begging you.

I'm asking.

I'm pleading with you

to just labor with Jesus.

Don't get discouraged.

Don't run away.

Don't be like the crowd.

Tarry with them.

Okay?

Trust in the Lord.

Take him at his word.

And I promise

that he's going to comfort you.

He's going to answer you

in the end.

All right.

First point.

I only have two points tonight.

First point.

Faith

gives things

substance.

Faith

gives things

substance.

The first phrase there

in our verse,

Hebrews 11.

One says,

faith is the substance

of things hoped for.

The word substance

is hypostasis

in the Greek.

And it could be translated

ground or foundation

or substructure.

That which has actual substance.

Real being.

In the Greek.

Real substance.

Real being

is what it says

in the Greek.

Literally.

A thing hoped for

is not a tangible thing,

is it?

This is a strange phrase.

I'll give you that.

Listen.

Faith is the

assurance

or the substance

of things hoped for.

Something hoped for

doesn't have any ground.

Doesn't have any foundation.

Doesn't have any tangibility.

It's hoped for.

Okay.

If I

or I don't

hope for an ice cream cone

if I've got it,

if I've got one in my hand.

I hope for an ice cream cone

when I'm standing

on the corner

at my house

waiting for the ice cream

truck to come

through my neighborhood

and make it stop.

You know,

like that's what I'm hoping

for that ice cream cone.

It's not when I have it

in my hand

and I can lick it.

That doesn't make any sense.

I'm not hoping for that

if it's in my possession.

So if the thing is already

in your possession

then you don't hope for it.

Somehow

faith

has the ability

according to the verse

to give a thing

hoped for

realness.

Substance.

Okay.

Realness.

It's like tasting

the ice cream cone

before it's in your mouth.

That's kind of what

faith does.

So from the beginning

this eliminates

any notion

that faith is whimsical,

faith is emotional,

unintelligible,

silly,

easy,

mystical,

fantastical,

anything like that.

Okay.

Biblical faith is rocky.

It's real.

It's tangible.

It's got content.

It's got substance to it.

It's not some

fan,

you know,

idea.

It's real.

It does things.

What does this mean though?

What is this?

Faith is the substance

of things.

What does that mean?

MacArthur

kind of put it like this.

Faith gives things

hope for

a present

substance.

A presence.

I'm going to explain this.

A present substance.

The examples of our author

that he's about to give

and illustrate

in the rest of this chapter

illustrate

time after time

a person

that believes

in a promise of God

so much so

that it radically

affects the way

they think

about things.

I'm going to say that again.

Okay.

Time and time again

the author illustrates

for us

a person

believing in a promise

of God

so much so

that it

radically affects

the way they

think about things.

They can be in a crazy,

bad,

horrible circumstance

and yet be content

somehow.

They can have joy

in the midst of suffering

somehow.

Now,

this,

okay,

I'm pausing

because I want this

to sink into your brain.

This is incredibly important

for you to understand

what faith actually does

to you

when you exercise it rightly.

They believe so strongly

that what God said

that he would do

so much so

that it radically

affected the way

that these righteous saints

thought about life.

Take Abraham and Sarah

for example first.

Okay,

Abraham trusted God

for 19 years

after he received

the promise

of a son.

19 years.

His name was,

this is kind of cool,

his name was Abram

initially

which meant

father of many.

Then,

God said,

I'm going to make you

a father

of multitudes

and your name

is now Abraham

which means

father of multitudes.

Now,

Abraham

was kind of a

stationary guy.

Okay,

he was kind of like

the first person

you would see

when you walk into town.

So,

what do you do

when you meet somebody?

Hey,

I'm John.

You are Abraham.

Oh,

father of multitudes.

How many sons do you have?

None.

And it was incredibly,

this is a very,

this is a very,

sons and daughters,

like that's an incredibly

important thing

back in the day.

I mean,

if you didn't have a family

like you were

considered to be,

you know,

you were like the,

what's it called?

The Brahmin

and like the what?

Untouchable.

You were untouchable.

Yeah.

Okay.

It was,

it was incredibly embarrassing.

For 19 years,

this guy just suffered

through this.

He was like,

come on God,

19 years.

I was already

father of many.

That was embarrassing.

Now I'm father

of multitudes.

And my wife

is feral.

This is embarrassing.

Okay.

So somehow,

faith for Abraham

and Sarah,

we learn this in

Romans 4,

20.

It says this about Abraham.

He didn't waver in faith.

Even when he considered

his own body.

It was as good as dead,

it says.

He was like a hundred.

You can't have kids

when you're a hundred.

Not wavering in unbelief,

but growing strong

in faith.

He grew strong

in faith

and that gave glory

to God.

He did not doubt God.

He did Abraham's wife,

Sarah,

doubt God.

Look at verse 11

of our chapter.

It says this,

by faith,

even Sarah herself

received the ability

to conceive.

Even beyond the proper

time of life

that she was considered,

keyword,

considered,

or thought,

remember I said

it changes the way

you think about things?

So Sarah considered

a thought,

God faithful

who had promised.

Faith for her

translated into

a new way of thinking

that gave her

the ability

to trust God.

Even though

it was impossible.

The elements said

it was impossible.

She's 90 years old.

Her husband's 100 years old.

They're past the time

of childbearing.

There's no possible

way this is going to happen.

They didn't bear children

when they were healthy

and vibrant.

Now they're definitely

not going to do it

when they're old

and decrepit.

But they do

and they have faith

and it makes it happen.

Faith gives the thing

they hoped for,

which is Isaac

in their case,

that was their son,

son of promise,

a present substance

enabling them

to patiently,

faithfully,

and even joyfully

wait for the promise

to be fulfilled.

Okay?

That's what faith is.

Real biblical faith is.

That's one of the

descriptions he gives you.

There's a lot of them.

And that gave glory

to God.

They didn't have

a physical Isaac

in their possession yet,

but they believed

so much so

that it brought them

real joy

when they thought about it.

Okay?

Abraham believed God

so much so

that it changed

the way that he thought.

Okay?

Now realize this,

okay?

You are called

to have the same

kind of faith.

What does Jesus say

in John 14,

John 14:1

verse 1?

Don't let your heart

be troubled.

Believe in God.

Believe also in me.

Then what does he say?

He says,

in my Father's house

are many mansions,

many dwelling places.

If it were not so,

I wouldn't have told you that.

I go to prepare

a place for you.

When I'm done

with my stuff,

I'm going to come back

and get you.

Now,

you realize

that's a promise

that he's making to you.

I'm going away.

I'm going to come back.

I got dwelling places

in my Father's house

for you.

That's a promise

that's meant to

quench your worry.

It's meant to pacify

your anxieties.

Okay?

When you think about

things that are heavenly

like that,

when you set your mind

on heavenly things,

it makes these earthly

issues that we're

dealing with

obsolete in a lot of ways.

It kind of puts them

in perspective.

It's not really

that big of a deal.

I don't have a car.

I don't have a job.

I just got a job yesterday.

I didn't have a job

for a long time.

I was poor.

But at the same time,

in light of the reality

of me being saved

by God's grace

and God is coming back

for me on a white horse

with blood on his robe

to kill all sin,

death, and hell,

and I'm going to be

a part of that,

I'm not really worried

about it.

It's not a big deal.

That's what faith

is meant to do.

It's meant to free you

from these kinds of things.

He says,

don't let your heart

be troubled.

How?

Believe in God.

Believe also in me.

Here's my promise.

I'm coming back.

Don't worry about it.

This is faith.

Same thing of Matthew 6,

32 and 34.

Through 34,

he talks about,

hey,

if you're worried about

your food and shelter

and your clothing,

I'm going to make

a promise to you.

Seek first my kingdom

and my righteousness

and all these things

you're worried about

will be added to you.

Don't worry about tomorrow.

Tomorrow,

today has enough

trouble of its own.

Just focus on right here,

right now.

I'm going to,

I have you in my hands.

I love you.

My righteousness

is applied to you.

Don't worry about

that stuff anymore.

I'm going to provide.

And he always has.

Show me a verse.

Show me a point in time

in history.

Show me a point in time

in any true Christian's life

when God really deserted them.

And you can't do it

because it hasn't happened.

That's the reality of faith.

The thing to admire

about these Old Testament saints

we read in Hebrews 11

is their faith.

They're incredible

in the way that they persevere.

The promises that came

to those people

were so real

that even though

they never saw them,

they based their life on them.

Do you realize that?

They never saw

these promises fulfilled.

I mean,

Abraham had one son.

That wasn't multitudes of people.

God said,

go look at the stars.

As many as you can see,

that's how many sons

you're going to have.

faith.

Like the grains of sand

on the beaches.

He saw one.

He grew strong in faith.

He believed in what God said.

And his people

continued and continued

and continued.

And the story of the Old Testament

is incredible

to see how God

raised up a people

through Abraham's lineage,

through Isaac

and Jacob

and the sons of Judah

and all these people.

and he preserved them.

You see things like Joseph,

you know,

he was traded into slavery

in Egypt

and then he was shipped off

and he was in jail

for running away from

Potiphar's wife,

I think,

or something like that.

And then he was brought back up

and Pharaoh put him

as his second hand man

and then he was able to save

the rest of his family,

the lineage of Abraham,

because he was in that position

to do so.

God is just time and time again

providentially answering

and answering

and answering

and answering

and saying,

my promise is going to be fulfilled.

My promise to Abraham

is going to be fulfilled.

All these things are happening.

My Davidic covenant

is going to be fulfilled.

Abrahamic covenant

is going to be fulfilled.

All these things

God is doing

and is doing

and is doing

and preserving

and he's never not

fulfilled these promises.

2 Corinthians 1

something

20 says this,

for as many

as may be the promises

of God and him

that's in Christ,

they're yes.

Wherefore also

by him

is our amen

to the glory

of God

through us.

So we have nothing

to worry about.

These Old Testament people

simply took God

at his word

and they lived

on the basis of that.

They were people

of faith

and that faith

gave substance

to what was in the future.

Maybe you're still confused,

okay?

Maybe you are.

I don't know.

I'm making it

more practical for you.

Have you ever hoped

for anything

with such certainty

that it became

a present reality

to you?

Have you ever

so hoped

for something

that it became

a present reality

for you?

Maybe like vacation,

right?

It's May.

No.

It's April.

Crazy school April

where all my tests

are happening.

I'm psyched out

and there's that,

there's those few moments

when I know that,

hey, my vacation in May

is coming up

and I'm thinking about it

and I'm thinking about

my feet being in the sand

and in the ocean

and I'm thinking about

just relaxing on the beach

with a book

and hanging out

with my best friends

and soaking in the rays

and I'm just like,

I can feel,

oh my gosh,

I cannot wait

to that moment.

Right?

You so dwell upon

that moment

that it becomes

a present reality

for you

and you take joy in it.

Right?

That's an example.

Another example

is a baby, right?

You don't have a baby yet

but you prepare

for the baby.

You get all excited

about the baby.

You paint the room.

You get all the,

you get the cradle.

You get all these things

set up.

You get the colors.

You, you know,

see this sonogram

whatever thing it's called

and then finally

the baby does come

but before that

you're still,

you're rejoicing

in that baby's preparation.

You can,

you're thinking about it.

You're anticipating it.

You have faith

that it's going to come

and because of your faith,

because of your certainty

of that thing happening,

it gives you

a present substance.

A present reality.

A realness.

A tangibleness.

Right?

Steak dinner is the same way.

Going home after a long day

is the same way.

Heaven is the same way.

Read Revelation.

It's incredible

what you agree

about reading about heaven.

John MacArthur,

what he was like,

he was saying this,

this,

a great sermon I listened to

kind of preparing for this

on this passage.

He was like,

you know,

I've,

I've,

I've basically been to heaven

in a lot of ways.

Like I've read so much

about this

and I've studied it so hard

and I've seen the pearly gates

and I know,

and I know the dimensions of heaven

and I've been to the,

to the,

you know,

glass or crystal sea

and I've seen that tree of life

and all these things

and I've,

I've pictured

and I've imagined

and I've meditated on

God sitting on his throne.

He's like,

I've been there.

I mean,

it's given me present reality

and joy

even though it's not here yet.

Right?

But it is here.

Already,

but not yet

kind of idea.

So,

J.

Mac said,

faith is the ability

to take that

which is in the future

and give it a present substance.

That's what it is.

Here's the difference though

between bringing present substance

to those things

that I just mentioned

and being able to bring

real and present substance

to Jesus Christ.

It is the supernatural work

of God

that enables a man

to see

and to believe

in Christ

with such assurance

that it becomes

a present reality.

Okay?

Everybody

can do that

for a steak dinner

or for a vacation.

But not everybody

can do this

with Jesus.

So,

the difference is

faith

is a thing

that God

must give you.

He is the author.

He is the finisher.

The perfecter

of your faith.

Okay?

So,

if you don't have this,

this faith in Christ

that enables you

to have Him

as a present reality,

to go about your days,

to endure persecution

or suffering

or bad days

or good days

or whatever else it may be,

if you don't have that Christ,

then you need to pray

on your knees

for that Christ.

you need to ask God

with all your heart,

soul, mind,

and strength

to give you

Jesus Christ

no matter what it costs you.

There is nothing

in this world

that is better than Him.

There's not a single thing.

Okay?

So,

if you don't know

Jesus in this capacity

where He is a real thing

to you,

if He's just some

distant idea

or some guy

that you've learned about

like you've learned about

a John Calvin

or a John Wesley

or if He's just

some historical figure

to you,

then you're not saved.

Because salvation

produces this faith

that takes hold

of Christ

and says,

this is my Christ

now.

He's my possession.

I'm going to cling

on to Him.

It's a cool...

Mary, right?

Mary,

another good example.

She sees Jesus

at the tomb.

She's so elated.

She's so filled

with joy to see Jesus.

He says,

don't cling to me.

Don't cling to me.

We should be

that kind of way.

You know?

May Jesus say,

get off me.

You're clinging

too close to me.

You know?

He's not going to say that.

I'm just saying,

in this scenario,

we should be like a Mary

that just grabs

on to Jesus

and holds on to Him.

The Scripture says

that Jesus knows

His church

like Adam knew

His wife.

That's an intimate thing.

I mean,

it's sexual intercourse

between Adam and Eve.

And that's meant

to be reflective

of God's intimacy

with His people.

It's intense.

It's not sexual.

I'm just saying

it's intense, though.

You know?

True faith

isn't mystical longing.

It's a certainty

about Christ.

It changes the way

you think about everything.

A true man or woman

of faith

will be able to

actively believe

in the promises of God

so as to bear

the fruits of faith.

Love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness.

These things

are a reality

for the believer

because of their faith

in Christ

who supplies them

with it.

And it's not circumstantial.

I want to give you

one more illustration

from the Scripture.

Turn to 2 Corinthians.

This is just a good illustration

of what I've just said.

Faith has the ability

to change the way

you think about things.

2 Corinthians 1,

beginning in verse 8.

This is Paul.

He says,

We do not want you

to be unaware, brethren,

of our affliction

which came to us in Asia.

So in Asia,

they were afflicted.

They were persecuted

for something.

That we were burdened

excessively

beyond our strength

so that we despaired

even of life.

So Paul,

in a sense,

was suicidal.

Okay?

He was so afflicted

in Asia

that he despaired

of even living.

He didn't want to live anymore.

He was so afflicted.

Indeed,

we had a sentence

of death

within ourselves

in order that we

should not trust

in ourselves

but in God

who raises the dead.

Who delivered us

from so great

a peril of death

and will deliver us.

He on whom

we have set our hope

and He will yet

deliver us.

So Paul is burdened

excessively

beyond what he can bear.

And he says,

the only thing

that sustained me

was that promise

that you see

in verse 9 there.

I put my hope,

I put my trust

in God

who raises

the dead.

That was the promise

that Paul

clung to

in his persecution

that enabled him

to endure.

And then he goes on

and he starts

praising God

and he says,

who delivered us

from so great

a peril of death

and He will deliver us.

He on whom

we have set our hope

and He will yet

deliver us.

Three times

in one verse

He says He's going

to deliver us.

He's going to deliver us.

I know it is true.

It was a certainty

about Christ.

There wasn't some

mystical,

you know,

wishful thinking.

I hope it happens.

It wasn't a

maybe this is going

to happen.

I hope it happens.

It was a

I know

in Christ

this will happen.

He will keep me.

He will enable me.

This is faith.

Okay,

this is what faith is.

Changes the way

that you think

about things.

Secondly,

oh,

good quote for us

from Spurgeon.

Little faith,

a little bit of it,

will bring the soul

to heaven.

But much faith

will bring heaven

to the soul.

Little faith

will bring you

to heaven.

But much faith

will bring heaven

to the soul.

Now,

do you lack

in joy?

Do you lack

in hope?

Do you lack

in peace?

You've got to

grow in your faith.

Start taking God

at His word

and just reading it

and saying,

all right,

God,

you said,

you said this today.

I'm going to apply

it to my life.

You said it's better

to give than

to receive.

So give me the grace

to give today.

I'm just going to

trust it.

Right?

And sure enough,

I promise you,

God's going to come

through on that.

He's going to prove it.

Second point,

she's going to be

shorter.

One page.

Faith gives

things feet.

First point was

faith gives

things substance.

Second point is

faith gives

things feet.

Feet.

faith says

verse one.

Faith is the

assurance of

things hoped for.

It is the

conviction of

things not

seen.

These are very

closely related.

These two phrases

are just a kind

of a description

here.

But the big

discrepancy between

the first phrase

and the second

phrase is the

idea of action.

OK, the first

thing changed the

way you thought

about it.

The second, the

conviction of things

not seen changes

the way that you

live.

Changes the way

that you live.

The word for

conviction is I

can't say

L.

L.

L.

L.

L.

That's the Greek

word for conviction

and it means a

proof.

That by which a

thing is proved or

tested.

L.

L.

L.

L.

L.

L.

L.

but it's also in the way that one lives.

This is a little bit further step from the phrase of our verse.

It implies action, as I said, okay?

It implies an action, activity,

something that I do in light of what I believe now.

J. Max said, this is banking your life on your hope.

This is putting all your chips in to Christ.

The faith, this faith is lived out.

I like to think of it as an expression of one's faith.

Have you seen God?

Have you smelled Him?

Have you tasted Him?

Have you touched Him?

Have you heard Him?

No.

Yet you believe.

Not one of your five senses has ever sensed Him,

yet you believe.

Can you observe Him?

No.

Can you test Him in a test tube?

No.

Can you look at Him through a microscope?

No.

Yet you believe in Him.

So although you cannot prove God scientifically,

you still believe in God.

That's a strange thing.

That's weird that you would do that.

The word elechaz could also be translated evidence.

Okay?

Evidence.

It's the evidence of things not seen.

Faith in the life of a regenerate person

is the greatest evidence that there is a God.

God has seen fit to shame the wise people,

the worldly wise people,

by enabling

the...

What was it again?

Not the Brahmin and the...

The untouchables.

We're the untouchables.

He's enabled the untouchables

to do His will.

To live a life of faith.

To accomplish things

that really can't just be explained.

I don't think it's coincidental

that God has ordained

the majority of His salvations

to come through

the faithful witness

of His people.

You can see more of God

in the life of a believer

than anywhere else.

Okay?

So faith is something that's supernatural.

It's not going to be simply

ascertained by

a Bunsen burner

and microscopes

and test tubes.

Okay?

God is an invisible God.

And He has revealed Himself

in Christ.

So if you want to

know about God,

if you want to study God,

if you want to

understand Him,

if you want to get

evidence for Him,

first look at Christ

who says,

I have...

If you've seen me,

you've seen the Father,

He says.

If you've seen me,

you've seen the Father.

So look at Christ,

firstly,

and then look at His people.

And you will know

that there is a God.

Faith in the first place,

first phrase of our verse,

actualizes a future truth.

It brings it into one's possession.

Okay?

Faith in the first phrase,

which is the substance

of things hoped for,

brings a future truth

into your possession.

It brings it into the heart

and the mind

of the believer.

The second phrase

commits a life to it.

It commits your life to it.

It changes the way

that you think,

then it changes the way

that you live.

Look at Noah,

verse 7 of Hebrews 11.

By faith,

Noah,

being warned by God

about the things

not yet seen,

in reverence,

prepared an ark

for the salvation

of his household,

by which he condemned

the world

and became an heir

of the righteousness

which is according

to faith.

This is ridiculous

what Noah did.

Okay?

Backward information

on Noah.

Noah lived in a time

in which it had never

rained before.

He had never seen rain.

Ever.

There was a vapor canopy

surrounding the earth

at this point in time.

This is pre-flood.

It was different back then.

People had to be

900 years old.

UV rays were basically

non-existent

in a lot of ways.

It's wild.

Okay?

He had never seen rain.

God says,

build a ship.

I'm going to flood this place.

Noah says,

okay,

120 years later,

God lets rain happen.

120 years.

Okay,

if you think

Abraham's ridicule was bad,

imagine Noah's.

What are you doing?

You're building a boat?

It's been 80 years.

It's not rain.

It's not going to happen.

The guy's an idiot.

Right?

120 years.

It's one thing to

think about rain

and say,

that might happen.

Yeah,

I hope that happens.

It's another thing

to commit a life to it.

This is the example

of faith that we're given.

This is God saying,

hey,