Fundamentals Of Faith

Take your Bibles, if you would. Turn to Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11. We are nearing the end, and you'll

be wondering why I said that in a couple of months

when we're still not there yet. Only three or

four chapters to go, 11, 12, and 13, three chapters

to go. So we're nearing the end of our study

on the book of Hebrews. Pray for us as we continue

to prepare these messages. We're about to get

into a chapter, I think, that if you were to

ask most people about the book of Hebrews, this

would be one of the chapters that they would

be familiar with. It's been referred to as God's

hall of faith. We're gonna meet or be reintroduced

to several people throughout the course of this

chapter that displayed faith in their lives and

were thus, as we're gonna see, commended by God

as righteous. Anyway, I hope that it'll be an

interesting time for us. But I kinda wanna back

up and pick up where we left off last week. And

again, great message over these last few verses

of Hebrews chapter 10. One of the things that

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

I think we need to understand and one of the

things that the writer of Hebrews is trying to

help the people that he is writing to encourage

understand is that the Christian life is a life

of patient endurance. You know, if you were to

be asked, to describe the Christian life. What

is the Christian life supposed to be? I don't

know that that would be the first thing on your

list, that the life of a Christian is one of

patient endurance. But indeed, it is. The difficulties

that we're being experienced by these early church

members are difficulties that we continue to

experience today. And as a matter of fact, that

every Christian experiences in one fashion or

another. We are together. waiting for the return

of Christ, right? And so we wait patiently for

Christ to return. I have no doubt as I read the

writings of the Apostle Paul that there was a

time in Paul's life when he was absolutely confident

that Christ was going to come back before he

died. It seems in his later writings that his

mind, of course, had been changed about that

a little bit. But I think that every generation

of believers should live with this expectation,

this confident expectation that Christ could

come back at any moment, that this just might

be the day. And so we wait, we patiently wait

for the return of our great high priest and king.

And then in the process of waiting, we don't

simply wait, but we live, we live our lives and

we seek to live lives that will honor him. That's

the big change that has taken place in your life

since you became a Christian. And it doesn't

really matter at what point in your life you

became a Christian. I shared today in my life

group that for those of us who were saved as

adults, who had experienced some of life's evils

and... troubles, sometimes the change that takes

place when a person becomes a Christian is more

readily evident. Often when you are young, and

there was one at the table this morning who was

only eight years old when she became a Christian,

the change, it may not be quite so evident there

because not much of life has been experienced

at that point. But nonetheless, the one thing

that is true for any believer, no matter when

you were saved, is that suddenly now you are

transformed. You are changed from this person

who is living solely to gratify myself, living

a purely selfish life. Suddenly you are now a

person who is now living for the Lord Jesus Christ

and desiring to bring honor and glory to him.

And suddenly you are living a life that wants

to be a help and a benefit to others as much

as you are able to do so. So there is this great

transformation that takes place. And we are currently

living that life, seeking to live lives that

honor Him. And in the process of that, as we

live lives desiring to honor the Lord, as we

patiently wait for His return, the Scriptures

are clear that we will experience hardship of

every kind. I think that comes as kind of a shock

to some Christians. It shouldn't, right? Not

if you've lived any time at all. Life is difficult.

The situations that we find ourselves in, the

circumstances that confront us, are difficult.

The songs that we sang this morning were absolutely

consistent with the theme of the message this

morning. Life can be very hard. Again, scripture

tells us that it will be. We will experience

difficulties in life. regardless of whether or

not we are Christians, just like anybody else

will. And beyond that, Christians experience

something that I believe non -Christians never

experience, and that's persecution. We are persecuted

as a result of our desire to follow Christ. And

that's what was happening with these early believers

in the book of Hebrews. They were experiencing

that persecution that comes from desiring to

follow Christ. Wholeheartedly of course Paul

tells Timothy in 2nd Timothy 2 10 through 12

that you know Of course he talks about his own

suffering his own enduring of hardships and suffering

And then he says and by the way everybody who

desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer

persecution So again, don't be caught by surprise

when difficulties arise. This is what the Christian

life is all about. It is a life of endurance.

That's why we need the Lord Jesus in our lives.

That's why we need the Holy Spirit of God dwelling

within us to guide us and to convict us of sin.

We need all of these things because life is hard.

And of course, the writer of Hebrews has just

reminded his readers, that what they need in

order to patiently endure through the difficulties

of this life as we await the return of Jesus

Christ is faith. You remember, that's what we

ended with last week. Let me read these words

to you, beginning in verse 34 of Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

10. He says, for you had compassion on those

in prison, you joyfully accepted the plundering

of your property since you knew that you yourselves

had a better position and an abiding one. these

difficulties were already the present experience

of these believers. And he says, therefore, do

not throw away your confidence, which has a great

reward, for you have need of endurance. In other

words, you have endured and you have need of

endurance. In other words, hardship, difficulty,

suffering is not something that will just be

a one -time thing in the life of a Christian.

It'll be an ongoing thing. You have need of endurance,

continuing endurance, so that when you've done

the will of God, you may receive what is promised.

And then, of course, he takes those verses from

the Old Testament, for yet a little while, and

the coming one will come and not delay. So again,

the writer encouraging us and his readers to

remember that Jesus has made a promise to us

that he's going to come again, he's going to

receive us unto himself, so that where he is,

there we may be also. We need to live every day

in light of that promise. Assured that Christ

will keep his word. He is going to come and take

us home to be with him. The coming one will come.

He will not delay. And then this quotation or

this citation of Habakkuk two verse four that

says, but my righteous one shall live by faith.

So again, how is it that we will effectively

endure patiently as we await the coming of Christ

and we confront or we face the struggles of this

life? Well, it's through our faith. The righteous

ones will live by faith. And of course, this

is a statement that Martin Luther discovered.

He read it in Paul's writings. Paul quotes it

in Romans. Martin Luther, and often this was

the struggle with Martin Luther, and it's a struggle

with people today. When we begin talking about

faith, there is this whole... debate that then

ensues. Well is it faith or is it works? Of course

the writer of Hebrews says it's faith. Paul says

it's faith. My righteous ones will live by faith.

Martin Luther had learned that salvation came

as a result of faith plus works. And yet he also

knew because he was an honest man that His works

would never be good enough or of enough significance

or quantity to merit the salvation of God. And

what a glorious relief it was to him to find

out that his righteousness, his salvation was

not the result of his own works, his own performance,

but it was by faith, faith. in God's Son. It

says if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure

in him. But then he finishes with this wonderful

verse. Neil referred to it as a pastoral verse.

You know, as pastors, we want to encourage our

congregations. We want to encourage the people

around us. There comes a time, as the writer

of Hebrews does here, that we need to issue warnings.

We need to be faithful to the word of God, and

often the word of God is a warning to us, as

this text that Neil preached last week was a

warning. But then he closes with this word of

assurance or reassurance, but we are not of those

who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those

who have faith. In other words, why do we not

shrink back? Why are we not destroyed? Why is

it that God will never say to us, I have no pleasure

in you, you don't please me? Well, it's because

we're a people of faith. Because of that, we

preserve our souls or our souls are Preserved

and so now we're going to get into chapter 11.

This is where we're going to pick up this morning

And we're going to talk about this whole idea

of faith what faith is or at least to a certain

degree what faith is and how we see faith lived

out in the lives of God's people and let me just

say this before we read faith is essential if

We are going to triumph over our trials. All

right Trials are going to come. Suffering is

going to come. Hardship is a reality in everyone's

life. But if we're gonna triumph over these trials,

we will do so by faith. 1 John 5 .4 says this,

for everyone who has been born of God overcomes

the world. Let that be a comfort to you today.

Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the

world. And this is the victory that has overcome

the world. What? Our faith. It is our faith.

that is the victory that has overcome the world.

So we're gonna talk about faith today. What is

faith? People have answered that question over

the years. Martin Luther said this. He said,

faith is a living, daring confidence in God's

grace. So sure and certain that a man could stake

his life on it a thousand times. Saint Augustine

defined faith this way. He said, faith is to

believe on the word of God. What we do not see

and its reward is to see and enjoy what we believe.

That kind of is in keeping with what we're gonna

read here in Hebrews. And then a much more contemporary

commentator, Warren Wiersbie, says this. He says,

true Bible faith is confident obedience to God's

word in spite of circumstances and consequences.

Strong statement about faith. Confident obedience

to God's word. We're gonna follow Jesus no matter

what. We're gonna obey the word of God no matter

what, in spite of our circumstances, in spite

of the consequences. So let's take a look this

morning at Hebrews chapter 11. We're gonna read

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

the first seven verses and we'll see what the

Lord has to say about faith this morning. So

please, if you don't have a Bible with you or

a device, follow along on the screens at the

front of the auditorium. Hebrews 11. beginning

in verse one. Now faith is the assurance of things

hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it, the people of old received 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, and by the way, We're gonna see those

two words recurring over and over and over again

throughout this chapter. By faith, by faith,

by faith. 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. 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. Let's pray and we'll look at these

scriptures today. Father, we are thankful for

faith. And Lord, we know it is a gift from you.

It isn't something that we work up in our own

strength. You give it to us. And I'm so thankful

for that today. And I pray, Father, as we work

our way through this passage of scripture that

you would encourage us. As we come to understand

more fully what faith is and what faith does

for us and in our lives, and as we consider the

examples of these men and women of faith who

are listed here in Hebrews 11, Father, Scripture

says that they were men and women of whom the

world was not worthy. Lord, I pray that our desire

today would be to be just that, men and women

of whom this world is not worthy, men and women

of faith. So open our eyes today, Father. Strengthen

our hearts and we ask all of this in Jesus' name,

amen. Verse one, of course, is a verse that many

of you perhaps have memorized at one time or

another in your life. Now, faith is the assurance

of things hoped for, the conviction of things

not seen. And this is a description. That's the

way I have kind of chosen to... talk about it

this morning. It is not necessarily a definition

of faith in the truest sense. It's not exhaustive.

There are other things that could be said of

faith. But this is what the writer of Hebrews

wants his people to understand as they come to

see themselves as people who have faith and preserve

their souls. What does it mean to be a person

of faith? And so he wants us to understand this

whole idea of what faith is. It is the assurance

of things hoped for, the conviction of things

not seen. And of course, St. Augustine said in

his definition of faith that faith is belief.

And we've used three words this morning already

that are... basically the same word in the Greek

language. We sang earlier about, and we used

the word trust, I will trust, trust, faith, belief.

All of these things are certainly synonyms and

often it's the same Greek word that's simply

translated differently in light of the current

context. And I have said over the years that

faith or belief is not simply accepting that

something is true. It is that, but it's more

than that. It's accepting that something is true

and then acting upon that which is true. So it's

not just an intellectual exercise. It's not just

something that happens in our heads, but it is

something that is lived out in our lives as we're

gonna see as we work our way through these various

examples of faith found here in Hebrews 11. So

the writer... describes faith, first of all,

as the assurance, again, assurance of things

hoped for. And so he uses it in the context of

future expectations. How is it that these early

Christians are going to thrive in the current?

context of their lives. They've begun to suffer

persecution. They've begun to experience, well,

they've been ostracized from the synagogue, some

of them from their own families, from their places

of work, everywhere that they at one time had

found comfort and encouragement. All of a sudden,

not so much anymore because they have chosen

to follow Jesus, to stake their lives on him.

How are they going to endure patiently as they

await the return of their Lord and Savior, their

high priest Jesus Christ? Well, it's by faith

that they will do that. Faith is the assurance

of that which is hoped for. And it's the same

way for us. We have hopes for the future. Many

of God's promises that he makes that are promises

that we can claim are really not yet a part of

our experience. I know that one day I'm gonna

go to heaven. But I've not been there yet. And

so even as I stand here and often have done so

and try to describe the glory of heaven, the

beauties of heaven, the blessings of being in

the presence of the Lord there in glory, I'm

speaking of that which I haven't actually experienced.

And yet it is a reality in my life. I know that

that's where I will spend eternity. And that's

what the writer is saying here. Faith is the

assurance of these things that are yet hoped

for. We haven't experienced them, but we know

that they're true because God has promised them.

So it is this forward -looking, this futuristic

view of life that, because of the reality of

that future, will cause us to live differently

in the present. So it is the assurance that That

word assurance has been, well, defined as the

reality behind the appearance. It's also been

described as the foundation, or literally the

word assurance, if we were to translate it literally,

it means that which stands under. So again, foundationary.

Faith is the foundation. upon which we live our

lives and hope that God's promises will become

reality in our experience. Faith therefore is

this forward -looking thing. It is focusing on

God's promise for the future, and it assures

us that what God has promised, what we hope for,

will indeed come to pass. And again, in light

of that, it changes the way that we live in the

present. And then he continues, not only is it

the assurance of things hoped for, but it's the

conviction of things not seen. That word conviction

means proof or evidence. Faith makes real to

us that which is otherwise unreal or something

that's beyond our own personal experience. That's

what faith is. That's what faith It assures us

that those things that God has promised, those

things in which we have placed our hope will

indeed be ours. They are real. And it is that

proof or evidence that God's promises are true.

And though we may not have experienced these

things, these promises in the way that we would

want to, there is no doubt in our hearts that

one day we will experience them. So this description

of faith. And I just wanna add this, and we've

already mentioned it, faith is the gift of God.

I think sometimes we think that faith is our

responsibility. God saves me and now I gotta

live by faith. Faith is God's gift to you. Philippians

1 .29 says this, Paul writing to his fellow believers,

he says, for it has been granted or given to

you that for the sake of Christ, you should not

only believe in him, but also suffer for his

sake. So it combines the ideas that are being

spoken of here. Faith is the gift of God. God

has given you faith. He has opened your eyes

to the reality of Jesus Christ, his son, who

died for you on the cross and rose again and

is seated at the right hand of the Father again,

ever living to be our access to the Father, our

intercession, the one who prays for us, our great.

high priest who sympathizes with us in all of

our weaknesses because he too walked on this

earth as a man, experienced everything that we

experienced and yet never sinned. This is God's

gift. He has granted to us to believe in him,

but not only that, but also to suffer for his

sake. So again, when trouble comes as it had

come for these early Christians, don't be caught

off guard. Trouble, suffering, hardship. will

indeed be part and parcel of the Christian life,

but because of our faith that God has given us,

we have a firm foundation on which to stand.

We have a confident assurance that God's promises

are true and those things that he has promised

will be ours, will indeed be ours. So the writer

describes faith in this way. And then he continues,

look at verse two. He says, for by it the people

of old received their commendation. There is

a distinction that comes about as a result of

faith. Because God has gifted you with faith,

you're not like everybody else in the world,

all right? We're gonna read several times this

word commendation. When we get down here into

this hall of faith and we read of Abel and Enoch

and Noah, all of these men were commended. That

word is gonna be used of God's commending them

as righteous. This distinction. that comes with

being a person of faith. Again, the word commend

speaks of a positive testimony concerning someone.

I just want to comfort you this morning with

these words. God is pleased with you. Because

you are a person of faith, The commendation of

God rests upon your life. God has declared His

approval of you. I mean, it's a wonderful thought.

Again, when we read of the various examples that

are going to be listed for us here, all of these

men and women, they had one thing in common.

They had all sinned and fallen short of the glory

of God, just like us. They weren't super humans,

all right? They were... men and women just like

us. And God's commendation, God's approval, the

very fact that they are listed here in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11 was not the consequence of their having

excelled, although they did. It wasn't the consequence

of any great talent that they had, although they

had great talents. It wasn't because they were

more beautiful than other people in their day,

they might have been. It was because of faith,

God's gift of faith in their lives. These people

of old, it says, received their commendation

because of faith, the gift of God, and nothing

else. What distinguished Noah, and again as we

read on, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, these other men

and women in history was their faith, faith in

God's Word. Again, it wasn't their gifts or achievements.

It wasn't their wealth or popularity. These are

things that receive the commendation of the world,

right? One of the things that you'll notice if

you read history, if you read secular histories,

you won't find the people that are listed here

in chapter 11 of Hebrews listed. The kinds of

things that they did, the faith that they had

that led them to live in the way that they lived,

to accomplish the things that they accomplished,

those don't get written down in secular history

books. But here they are in God's hall of faith.

We should determine to live lives in accordance

with the faith that God has given us and thereby

receive his commendation, his approval. God is

pleased with his people. And he declares such.

And then I also want to say this about biblical

faith. Biblical faith is not blind faith. We

often hear that term, blind faith. Our faith

is based upon the word of God. It's based upon

truth. It's based upon reality. And that's what

this next passage says. For 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. And here I speak of

our dependence on faith. And what I mean by that

is this. We cannot even begin to understand how

our world came to be apart from faith. And most

of what we are taught in school, by the way,

and most of what we hear is not a faith. There

are scientific views of the origin of the universe

and almost without exception these experts, these

scientists, these physicists, they start on the

basis that there is no God. And when you start

your research, your examination, On the basis

that there is no God, you're never going to wind

up in the right place. And so they don't. And

so we end up with theories like the Big Bang

Theory. And let me tell you, there might have

been a Big Bang when God said, let there be light.

But not in the sense that scientists have said.

They are trying to determine something that took

place long before they were ever alive to see

it. And they're doing it. on the basis that there

is no God, and so there is no way that they're

gonna wind up in the right place. Once God is

removed from one's perspective, everything becomes

muddled and meaningless. And so much of our evolutionary

thinking these days and what's taught in our

schools is just that, muddled and meaningless.

But it is by faith that we understand that the

universe was created. It was created by the word

of God, and of course that's exactly what Genesis

tells us, right? In the beginning, God created

heavens and the earth. And then day after day,

God said, God said, it was his word. He spoke

the universe into creation. And again, if you

stand on most secular university campuses and

espouse a belief that God spoke this universe

into existence, you'd be laughed out of the room.

And yet, it is by faith. that we come to believe

that, right? We believe that. We would stake

our lives on that. The universe was indeed created

by the word of God. So what we need to understand

about this is that faith gives us the ability

to understand what God has said. In other words,

as we look to his word, whether we're in Genesis

chapter one or in Revelation, we can understand

the word of God because God has gifted us with

a faith. to understand, to comprehend. And then

we can also understand the world in which God

has given us to live in. And if we don't approach

our understanding of the world and the wonders

of this world from the perspective that God has

indeed created these things for our joy and benefit,

then we're never gonna really understand the

world. So that's why I would say faith is something

that we are absolutely dependent. We cannot understand

God's word apart from faith. We cannot understand

God's world apart from faith, but praise God.

He has given us this great gift so that what

is seen was not made out of the things that are

invisible. That's the other thing. God created

the world out of nothing. That's what the scripture

teaches us. The word created in Genesis 1, it

means to create out of nothing. Again. Say that

on most university campuses, you'll get laughed

off the property. But we know that that's what

God did. He created things that we see now out

of nothing. And of course, according to Romans

chapter one, verse three, he sustains all of

this by the power of his word. So his word is

still at work in the world in which we live.

So, absolute dependence upon faith. Cannot understand

The word of God cannot understand the world in

which God has given us to live without faith.

And then I just wanna take a few minutes that

we have left to talk about the depiction of faith.

And then Neal's gonna pick up in verse eight,

we're gonna continue with examples of faith and

how God's faith was lived out in the lives of

these men and women. But I wanted to start with

these three, these Abel, Enoch, Noah, all three.

lived before the flood, and everyone else that

we're gonna look at came along after that. But

it says, look at verse four, by faith Abel offered

to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain

through which he was commended, there we go,

commended his righteous, God commending him by

accepting his gifts, and through his faith, though

he died, he still speaks. Abel. was a man of

faith. And if you ever wonder when you read that

account in Genesis, well why in the world would

God not accept Cain's offering? Well because

Cain didn't bring the right offering. And Cain

didn't bring the right offering and didn't bring

it in the right spirit. Those two men knew, I

mean we know that they knew how they were to

worship God. God had made it very clear to them

because they both came with an offering, they

both brought it to the place where they were

supposed to bring that offering. They both bought

it at a time when offerings were supposed to

be brought. There's obviously some knowledge

of how they were to worship God. Abel brought

an offering that was acceptable to God, a blood

offering. Cain brought the produce of his own

hard work, and so Cain's offering was not accepted.

Abel proving himself by his actions to be a man

of faith, Cain demonstrating that he was not.

Abel's sacrifice was what God desired. Cain's

was not. Abel's sacrifice pointed toward the

substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ,

the Lamb of God. Cain's sacrifice pointed to

his own good works and merit. Abel approached

God in God's way. You know, God has told us how

we're to worship him. We don't just worship him

any way we choose. We worship God in the manner

that God has prescribed for us. Cain didn't do

that. Abel did do that. He approached God in

God's way. Cain approached God in his own way.

Jude speaks of the unrighteous Cain, even referring

to him as evil. And of course it says of Abel

through this, through which he was commended

as righteous. Again, it was by faith that Abel

was declared righteous by God. He wasn't justified

by his own works, but by grace through faith

in God. And so what we see in Abel is that we

worship by faith in accordance, again, with God's

word and God's instructions. And then of course,

Enoch. Verse five, by faith, Enoch was taken

up so that he should not see death. And I want

you to notice the stark contrast there. Here

comes Abel with his acceptable sacrifice, a life

that was pleasing to God, a life of faith. And

what happens to Abel? Well, his brother Cain

rises up and kills him, right? He's murdered.

Enoch, on the other hand, also a man of faith,

who lived his life by faith. pleasing the Lord.

As a matter of fact, scripture here says that

Enoch was taken up so that he should not see

death, and when he was found because God had

taken him now, before he was taken up, he was

commended as having pleased God. If you read

the Genesis account, it says that Enoch walked

with God, and then he was not, right? And that

expression, walked with God, in the Greek translation

of the Old Testament, was replaced with the words,

pleased God, walking with God, which is the kind

of faith that we see in Enoch's life. Enoch,

by faith, walked with God, and as a result of

walking with God, he pleased God. And so again,

by faith, we are to walk with God. We're to go

the way God is going. We're to seek the destination

that God has established. for us and of course,

only two people in scripture that we know of

that didn't have to experience death, Enoch being

one of them, Elijah the other. We know how God

took Elijah right up in a chariot of fire, took

him to heaven. Enoch, he was just here one day

and gone the next. So again, you see this contrast

in men of faith and lives of faith. Abel, a man

of faith, dying at the hands of his brother,

murdered, Enoch being spared, physical death,

never having to experience he was found, not

found, for God had taken him. And of course he

goes on to say, without faith it's impossible

to please God. You cannot walk with God, you

cannot please God. Without faith in God for whoever

would draw near to God look at what this says

must believe That he is that he exists and that

he rewards those who seek him we must believe

that God exists. Whoever would draw near to God

must believe that he exists. And believing that

God exists is more than a mere belief that there

is a God. I think most people in the world would

be willing to say, well, yeah, there's a God.

Some would not. Most would say, yes, there's

a God. But this isn't talking about just acknowledging

the existence of a God. These words express a

conviction that God is who he has revealed himself

to be, the great I am. It is a belief that he

is God and that there is no other God. That's

what the writer of Hebrews has been telling these

early believers. If you turn from Jesus, there's

nowhere else to go. There's no one else to go

to. He is the true and living God. He is the

only name given among men by which we must be

saved. So to believe that God exists is to believe

that he is the God he has declared himself to

be and that there is no other. God, only one.

And then we must also believe that it rewards

those who seek him. The reward for seeking God,

of course, is that you'll find him. That's what

scripture says. Proverbs 18, nine says, I love

those who love me and those who seek me diligently

will find me. Jeremiah 29, verse 13, you will

Jeremiah 29:13

seek me and find me when you seek me with all

your heart. God assures us that as we seek him

in this life, Believing that he is the one and

only true God, we will find him and be rewarded

in the finding of him. Of course, to seek God

is to return to him and to receive him and his

gift of eternal life. Enoch represents walking

by faith with God. And then Noah, the last one

that we're gonna look at this morning. says,

by faith Noah, being warned by God concerning

events as yet unseen, and of course the event

that was as yet unseen was the flood, a global

flood. Noah being warned by God concerning events

as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an

ark for the saving of his household, and by this

he condemned the world and became an heir of

the righteousness that comes by faith. So again,

Abel. By faith, worshiped God. By faith, Enoch

walked with God. By faith, we're gonna see Noah

working for God. You know it took him 120 years

to build the ark? From the time that God announced

that there was gonna be a global flood and gave

him the instructions for the ark, it was 120

years before a drop of rain fell. That's a long

time to patiently endure, isn't it? And you can

only imagine what people must have said about

Noah as he built this huge ship out in the middle

of nowhere. There was no water around. Some say

that people had never even really experienced

rain at this point in the history of the world.

And there was Noah building this giant ship in

the middle of the field because it was going

to flood. Demanded faith. Noah was a man of faith.

He believed God and he acted in accordance with

what he knew. to be true. He was warned. Noah

displayed faith in the conviction of things not

seen. He had never seen a flood before. Again,

he may not have ever even seen a heavy rain before.

Certainly had never seen an ark, much less built

one. The warning came and then 120 years later

the first drop of rain fell and of course Noah

was vindicated in his work. Notice it says, in

reverent fear. You know, we're often Told that

we should fear the Lord and Again, we've been

reminded over the years that that doesn't mean

that we're to be afraid of God It means that

we're to respect him to reverence him To be obedient

to him and that's what Noah was in reverent fear

He constructed the ark and really we could say

in faith He constructed the ark his faith was

displayed in his obedient service To God his

careful attention to God's plan and design, and

that same thing is true for us today. And of

course, notice he did all this for the saving

of his household. Noah was strongly motivated,

not only by God's command, but also by the truth

that he would save his family in this ark. When

we live lives of faith, when we serve the Lord,

God uses that testimony, that witness to open

the eyes. of our family members, our neighbors,

our friends, that what God has done for us, he

can do for them as well. And of course, he became

an heir of righteousness that comes through faith.

Noah was declared righteous by God, not because

of his works, but because of his faith, his faith

in God's promise, his faith in God's grace. Noah,

it says, found favor in the eyes. of the Lord.

So, we're gonna be talking about faith for several

weeks now as we work our way through chapter

11. The question I would ask you this morning

is this, have you, are you the recipient of faith?

Has God given you the gift of faith? If he has,

then let's patiently endure the troubles, the

struggles, the trials. persecution that comes

in this life and let's live our lives to serve

and honor God.