Hebrews 11:1-7

God, we need you to speak to us this morning by your word.

We need your spirit, Lord, to open our eyes and to soften our hearts

so that we might hear from you today your word to us this morning.

God, I pray that you might use my words, Lord, to speak for you.

And that you would point us together towards you this morning.

God, we pray we would be strengthened and encouraged.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

So I'm wondering if you've ever woken up in the morning

for those of you who are here and have professed faith in Christ,

maybe you've grown up in the church,

if you've woken up in the morning and just thought,

is any of this really real?

You know, your kids wake you up out of a deep sleep.

You stumble out of bed, drag a comb across my head,

get dressed, eat a bowl of Cheerios,

manage a few fights,

get off to work.

And you just think,

is the Christian faith real?

Does it make a difference?

Maybe you're here this morning

and you're exploring that question.

And you're looking around and you're thinking,

all of these people believe something

and I don't understand why.

And I don't get it.

We live in a world

that doesn't tell us that God exists.

Most of your neighbors won't say,

hey, isn't it great

that there's a spiritual world

where God lives?

And is it work among us today?

In fact, we may even live in a world,

depending on your particular circumstances,

where faith is opposed.

Faith is seen as a crutch for the weak.

For people who can't make it on their own,

they need something else.

Maybe faith is seen as an escape into unreality.

So when you say things like,

I believe in the Bible

and I want to follow it,

you're looked at like you have two heads

without a single brain between the two of them.

Not always,

but often.

I think we live in a world like that.

Or we live in a world where

you'll be encouraged to have faith and believe.

But not to believe in something in particular.

Faith is the power of positive thinking.

Just believe

and the world will become a better place.

Just believe

and you can achieve all of your dreams.

Just believe.

Be optimistic

because it's better

somehow.

In the midst of all of this,

the Christian faith presents its...

The Christian world,

the Christian belief system

holds, I can't even say it without saying,

it is a system of faith.

It is about believing something.

And it is hard for us

to keep going

when both the mundane realities

of our lives

and the world that we live in

every day

seem to tell us

that it's not very real

or it's not very important.

And we grow weary

of believing.

We grow weary

of feeling like the odd man out.

We grow weary

of feeling like

we're committed to something

that other people think

is foolish.

We wonder if it's worth it.

We wonder how we can keep going.

Well, friends,

our passage this morning

is about that.

Hebrews chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

It's listed in your bulletin.

I think it's page 1009

or something like that.

Somewhere around that area.

I forgot to get the number.

Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1.

Hebrews 11:1

And as you turn there,

I just want to remind you

about the context

of what we heard.

Last week,

we looked at the end

of chapter 10.

And after 10 chapters

of this glorious exposition

about how Jesus is greater

than anything else

in the whole world,

Jesus has done everything

we could ever want,

then there is

in the section

right before this,

if you remember,

Pastor Nick preached on this,

a solemn warning

and a great encouragement.

And in the midst of it,

what we saw

was that the stakes

are really high.

To keep going in faith

for Christians

makes all the difference

in the world.

And to keep going

means that there's

a great reward.

And there are promises

that will be kept.

And there is a better

and an abiding possession

that we have with God

and in God himself

that is greater

than anything else.

Oh, but if we lose that,

but if we let go of that,

if we turn away from that,

what a grievous thing it is.

And the writer is writing

these letters

to encourage us

to keep going,

to persevere,

to press on

in faith.

And if you remember,

that's how he ends it.

We are not of those

who shrink back

and are destroyed,

but we are those

who have faith

and, therefore,

preserve our souls.

And that leads us

to our section

this morning.

Please pray,

or please read with me

Hebrews chapter 11,

Hebrews 11:1–7

verse 1 through 7.

Now, faith is the assurance

of things hoped for,

the conviction of things

not seen.

For by it,

the people of old

receive their commendation.

By faith,

we understand

that the universe

was created

by the word of God,

so that what is seen

was not made out of things

that are visible.

By faith,

Abel offered to God

a more acceptable sacrifice

than Cain,

through which he was commended

as righteous,

God commending him

by accepting his gifts.

And through his faith,

though he died,

he still speaks.

By faith,

Enoch was taken up

so that he should not see death

and he was not found

because God had taken him.

Now, before he was taken,

he was commended

as having pleased God.

And without faith,

it is impossible

to please him.

For whoever would draw near

to God

must believe that he exists

and that he rewards

those who seek him.

By faith,

Noah,

being warned by God

concerning events

as yet unseen,

in reverent fear,

constructed an ark

for the saving

of his household.

By this,

he condemned the world

and became an heir

of the righteousness

that comes

by faith.

How do we keep going?

The writer of the Hebrews

wants us to see

that the answer is

by faith.

It is by faith

that we keep going

in this Christian life.

But what does that mean?

That's what our passage

is going to help us see

this morning.

And what we're going to see

is that faith

is the organ,

it is the instrument,

it is the lens

that God has given us

to see the world

and the reality of the world

as he sees it,

as he defines it,

as he says

that it truly is.

Faith is the gift

of God

by which our eyes

are opened

to see

the world

as it really is.

And as we do that,

we are strengthened

to persevere.

This is what I hope

you will get

from this message

this morning.

is that persevering

is dependent

on faith.

And faith

is God's gift

so that we can see

what is really real.

And when we see

what is really real,

it makes it worth

continuing on.

The passage breakdown

very simply.

Verses 1-3

tell us about

the essence

of faith.

Verses 4-7

give us a picture

of the exercise

of faith.

So let's look

at it together.

First,

the essence

of faith.

Faith has been

described as,

well,

it's been described

in the world

by many things.

I talked about

some of them earlier.

Faith is described

as believing

in something

you know

that can't

possibly be true.

Or faith is hoping

that something

you wish might be true

would be true,

but you don't

really know.

But biblical faith

is different than that.

If you look at me

with me in verse 1,

you will see,

it says,

now faith is the assurance

of things hoped for

and the conviction

of things not seen.

When we talk about faith

in our modern culture,

we often talk about it

as subjective experience.

I have faith.

faith.

And,

unfortunately,

the language

of this translation

seems to reinforce that.

Faith is assurance

or conviction.

So,

so my faith

is about how strongly

I hold

to the things

that I think.

But,

you know,

a hundred years ago,

if someone read

this passage

in the authorized version

or the King James version,

it would read,

faith is the substance

of things hoped for

and the evidence

of things unseen.

We could get into

a whole discussion

about why the translation

has shifted.

But what I want you to see

is that behind this verse,

the definition of faith

is not a subjective experience

of believing something.

But faith is

the ability to see

an objective reality.

And particularly,

do you see what he says?

It is the objective reality

of things hoped for.

And the evidence,

the signs

that something is true

even though it cannot be seen.

It is an incredible thing

that God has given us faith

so that we can

look at the world

and know

what is true about it

by faith.

The promises of God

are one of the things

that the writer of the Hebrews

wants us to remember

that we can see.

He's talked for

ten chapters

and if you've been here,

we've talked for

six or seven months now

about the promises of God,

about what God

has accomplished

in Christ

for us.

And that when we

are in Christ,

we are sheltered

from the storm

of God's righteous

wrath against sin.

We are given

a future promise

of life

eternal

with God

that can never

be taken away

from us.

We are promised

a cleansed

heart

that will one day

be made new

so that the stain

of sin

will be completely

removed from it

and we will no longer

know

the evil,

selfish desires

that spring up

in our heart.

Friends,

these aren't things

you can see.

they aren't things

that you can

pull out

a Geiger counter

or a microphone

or a camera

and record.

They're not

something that

our five senses

can ascertain.

But they are real.

They are as real,

in fact,

I might argue

they are more real

than the material

world

that we live in.

This is why

the writer of Hebrews

in verse 3

goes right to creation

to lay a foundation

stone

for us.

Friends,

there's a lot

of discussion today

about where the world

came from

and how it came

into being.

But to believe

in the God

of the Bible

is to believe

what verse 3

says.

That matter

is not eternal.

That the physical

world is not

all that there is.

And there's

great value

in science

and exploring it

and understanding it.

But we must

not confuse

that with

knowledge

of all things.

For it says

that we know

that the world

came from God

because He spoke

and in the power

of His Word,

the physical world

that we live in,

the universe

that we live in,

came into existence.

It did not

create itself.

It does not

sustain itself.

But an unseen

God

is the source

of it all.

And the writer

of Hebrews

goes there

to say,

look,

the very fabric

of the world

we live in

shows us

that there is

more than

what we can see

with our physical

eyes and measure

and test

with a scientific

hypothesis.

There has always

been more

than that

in this world

that we live in.

And so faith

is the eyes

to see

that the world

is more.

That there is

a reality

that God

exists

and that God

shapes the world

that we live in.

There are

future things

that are certain.

There are unseen

things

that are real

right now.

Do you remember

the story

we just read?

If you followed

Elizabeth

as she read

that story

in great

vigor.

Elisha prayed

that God

would open

the eyes

of his servant

to see

the reality

of his situation.

And as his eyes

were opened

by God

with faith,

he suddenly

saw a reality

that he couldn't

see otherwise.

He saw

God's power.

He saw

God's forces

at work

in the situation.

But friends,

it's not simply

enough to know

something by faith.

That's only

the very beginning.

In fact,

classically,

faith has been

defined as

knowledge,

knowing something,

assent,

agreeing that it's

true,

and then finally

trust.

Trust to live

in light of it.

For God,

as he calls

in us

into faith,

calls us

into a

relationship

with him.

So verse 6

says,

whoever must

draw near

to God,

that is,

come to God

in relationship

and find him

to be the

great treasure

and reward

of life,

those who

draw near

to God

must believe

that he exists.

Now that sounds

sort of silly.

Of course

you'd have to

believe he exists

to draw near.

But you must

also believe

that he is

the rewarder

of those

who seek

him.

Not just

that he is

there,

but that he's

trustworthy,

that he's

worth pursuing,

that he's

faithful,

that the things

he says

are true

about you

and about

himself

and about

the world.

Trusting

means

living in

this relationship

in a way

that changes

how we act.

You probably

have heard

the great,

the story,

this is a

classic illustration

of what faith

is.

The great

blondin

walked in

the 1940s

across Niagara

Falls on a

rope.

In researching

I realized

he didn't

just do it

once,

he did it

like for

weeks.

And he

did different

things.

He cooked

an omelet.

Over Niagara

Falls on a

rope.

There's a

story,

I think it's

true,

I don't know

if it's

true.

There's a

story about

one time

he took

a wheelbarrow

and he

walked the

wheelbarrow

on the

rope,

across the

rope,

and then

he turned

around and

he came

back and

some wag

from the

audience

made a

comment and

blondin

looked at

him and

said,

do you

think I

can do

this again?

He

said,

yes.

He said,

do you

think I

can carry

you in

this

wheelbarrow?

Yes.

We'll get

in.

Friends,

that's a

picture of

what biblical

faith is.

It's not

just knowing,

it's not

just a

sensing,

yeah,

I think

you can

do it.

It's

taking your

whole life

and putting

it into

the hands

of the

thing that

you are

saying is

true.

And here

is putting

our hands,

our lives,

in the hands

of the

living God

life.

You might

be thinking,

isn't this

just wishful

thinking?

Have we

escaped from

just like

Matt and

a bunch of

people thinking,

oh,

this is a

great idea?

Maybe,

maybe,

if only this

were true,

then I would

believe it,

but I don't

know how to

believe it.

On what

basis do we

know that

this is true?

On what

basis do we

understand

God?

Well,

friends,

that's another

sermon,

but briefly.

It's because

God has made

himself known.

He's made

himself known

through this

book,

the Bible,

which tells

us who he

is and what

he's done

in the

world.

But even

more importantly

than that,

he's made

himself known

by sending

his son

into the

world.

I remember

when I

was 16,

exploring

Christianity

for the

first time.

I didn't

come to

faith because

I was

convinced

that God

had created

the world.

I didn't

come to

faith because

I knew

that the

Bible was

absolutely

true.

I came

to faith

because I

became

convinced

that Jesus

was real,

that he

really came

and he

really lived

and he

really died

and he

really rose

again from

the dead.

faith.

And if

God

entered the

world like

that and

did what

he did

for us,

well,

that made

me go

back and

suddenly this

book made

more sense

and suddenly

believing that

God created

the world

fit a lot

better.

It's not all

the answer to

that question.

There's a lot

of good

reasons to

believe,

but if

you're here

looking for

proof,

I don't

know if

you're going

to find

it because

God has

designed us

to persevere

by faith,

by believing

in him,

by putting

on these

lenses so

that we

see reality

as he

defines it,

as he

tells us

that it

is.

One of

the fun

things is

that we're

going to

spend the

next five

weeks,

four weeks,

exploring what

this looks

like because

the rest of

the book,

the rest of

the chapter,

Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

11, is all

of these

pictures of

what does it

actually look

like to

believe.

What

particularly

did people

believe about

God?

How did it

change their

lives?

How did they

exhibit both

knowledge and

trust in

God as

they lived

by faith?

And it

is this

catalog of

people to

give us

examples so

that we

would be

encouraged to

not lose

heart but

to persevere

in faith

by putting

on that

lens and

seeing the

world as

God defines

it and

living according

to it.

So what

does it

look like?

What does

the exercise

of faith

look like?

Let's look

at verses

four through

seven with

me.

You'll see

that each

of these

stories there

are three

main characters

here Abel

and then

Enoch and

then Noah

in verses

four,

five,

and seven

and there's

this pattern

by faith

Enoch Abel

by faith

Enoch by

faith Noah

and this

goes on for

the rest of

the chapter

it happens

in verse

four,

five,

seven,

eight,

nine,

eleven,

seventeen,

twenty-one,

twenty-two,

twenty-three,

twenty-four,

et cetera,

et cetera.

He does it

over and

over and

over and

over and

over again to

say this

is what it

looks like

to live

by faith.

And we

get these

three examples

and the

first two

are very

quick.

Abel,

his story

is recorded

in Genesis

four.

He offered

up a

sacrifice

that was

more pleasing

to God

than the

one that

his brother

offered.

friends,

this is

not

because

Abel's

sacrifice

was

categorically,

quantitatively

better

than

Cain's.

It

seems

very

clear

both

in the

Genesis

four

passage

and

here

that

the

thing

that

was

the

difference

between

Abel

and

Cain's

sacrifice

was the

state

of their

heart

and their

faith.

Abel

came

and he

offered

this

sacrifice

to

God

believing

that he

existed

seeking

to please

him

and to

honor

him

looking

to him

to be

a

rewarder

for his

faithful

offering

giving

the

first

fruits

from

the

work

that

he

had.

Whatever

Cain

did

it was

not

that

for

when

God

did

not

accept

Cain's

sacrifice

there

was

no

repentance

there

was

no

broken

heartedness

there

was

no

grief

there

was

anger

there

was

resentment

and

ultimately

there

was

a

rejection

of

God

and

a

denial

and

so

Abel

is held

up as

this

brief

example

of

a

man

who

wanted

to

please

God

with

his

offering

and

was

declared

righteous

that

is

he

did

the

right

thing

before

God

by

exercising

his

faith

and

then

Enoch

is

mentioned

in the

middle

of a

genealogy

in

Genesis

5

22

through

24

and

it

says

that

he

walked

with

God

and

that

he

was

taken

up

he

was

rewarded

by

being

spared

the

judgment

of

death

by

being

taken

up

into

heaven

because

he

had

walked

because

he

had

lived

a

life

seeking

to

please

God

what I

want

you to

see is

the writer

of

Hebrews

throws

out

these

two

examples

really

quickly

not

because

we're

supposed

to

dig

into

the

details

of

it

but

simply

to

say

look

these

are

two

men

they

sought

to

please

God

because

by

faith

they

believed

that

God

was

there

and

that

he

was

a

rewarder

of

those

who

diligently

seek

him

and

that

that

is

what

Abel

did

and

that

is

what

Enoch

did

and

that's

why

verse

six

is

in

the

middle

of

this

section

and

not

in

the

definition

in

verses

one

through

three

because

he's

just

saying

do

you

see

what's

going

on

here

these

guys

believed

that

God

was

there

and

they

sought

him

diligently

they

sought

his

reward

his

commendation

his

witness

of their

faith

that

they

believed

in

him

and

lived

for

him

in

the

world

and

then

we

come

to

the

last

example

in

verse

seven

the

story

of

Noah

Genesis

six

through

nine

he

was

described

in

Genesis

six

as

having

someone

who

had

found

favor

with

God

who

walked

with

God

who

was

righteous

in

all

his

ways

and

he

stood

out

like

a

sore

thumb

in

fact

it

says

that

the

world

had

gotten

so

bad

that

God

had

repented

of

making

it

that

God

saw

that

men

did

all

evil

everywhere

all

the

time

you

couldn't

get

more

superlatives

to say

how

bad

the

world

was

how

dark

it

had

become

I

haven't

seen

the

movie

Noah

but

I

hear

that

one

of

its

strengths

is

that

it

depicts

the

darkness

of

the

world

not

even

recommending

it

I'm

just

saying

if

you've

seen

it

and in

the middle

of that

darkness

God

repented

of making

the world

God

wished

that he

could

destroy

the evil

because it

was so

terrible

and yet

this one

man

Noah

stood out

and God

came to

him

and God

told him

of an

unseen

future

thing

that was

going to

happen

he

said

Noah

the

day

is

coming

where

there

will

be

deliverance

and

there

will

be

judgment

and I

want

you

to

build

an

ark

so

that

this

deliverance

will

happen

I

want

you

to

obey

and

says

that

Noah

did

all

that

God

told

him

to

he

built

a

four

story

boat

in

the

middle

of

the

arid

high

plains

of

upper

Mesopotamia

there

is

probably

no

boat

that

size

ever

built

anywhere

in

that

millennia

it

was

so

large

and

it

was

not

built

near

any

body

of

water

large

enough

to

hold

it

I

don't

know

if

you're

Keith

Green

fans

do

you

guys

know

Keith

Green

you

just

think

about

Noah

toting

his

umbrella

when

there

wasn't

a

cloud

in

the

sky

all

his

neighbors

would

laugh

when

he

would

pass

by

and

they

snickered

when

he

passed

by

and

God

said

don't

worry

Noah

you

know

just

keep

building

that

boat

just

a

matter

of

time

till

we

see

who's

going

to

float

so

anyway

but

when

you

think

about

it

Noah

stood

out

completely

from

the

world

around

him

he

must

have

looked

like

an

absolute

fool

he

must

have

looked

like

an

idiot

he

must

have

looked

like

he

was

crazy

and yet

the writer

of

Hebrews

tells

us

that by

faith

he did

this

he put

on

the lens

of faith

and he

saw that

what God

had said

about the

world

was true

and he

changed

his life

in accordance

to it

he

believed

he

believed

that God

would

deliver

his

family

by

this

boat

and

by

his

faithfulness

he

condemned

the world

around

him

as it

says

in

verse

seven

Charles

Spurgeon

says

the way

you know

a crooked

stick

is by

placing

a straight

one

next

to it

you

can

tell

how

crooked

it

is

doesn't

mean

Noah

preached

condemnation

to his

neighbors

it

simply

meant

that

by

his

righteous

faithful

obedience

to

God

he

demonstrated

the

unrighteousness

and the

evil

of all

around

him

the

writer of

the

Hebrews

brings up

Noah

to say

this is a

man who

lived

by

faith

because

he

saw

the

world

the

way

God

defined

it

not

the

way

his

neighbors

would

have

seen

it

and so

he

was

declared

righteous

righteous

not because

he was

morally

perfect

but as

it says

in verse

seven

in fact

he became

an heir

of the

righteousness

that comes

by

faith

friends

we have

to get

this

right

faith

isn't

another

work

that we

have

to do

so that

God

will be

pleased

with

us

because

we

do

it

so

well

or

because

we

do

it

so

rightly

faith

is a

gift

that

God

gives

us

so

that

we

can

see

him

and

see

his