"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
To begin our lesson, I’d like to ask you a question: Do You Have Faith?
Upon the foundation of faith is based all of the spiritual growth which God requires of us as Christians. In writing about the things that we must add to our Christian character, the apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1, verses 5 through 11, that the reason for this growth is the goal of obtaining grace and peace in the knowledge of God, and Jesus our Lord.
He also said that is through divinely imparted knowledge that we have all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that it’s through this knowledge—which is gained, by the way, through Bible study—that we might obtain those precious promises of God, 2 Peter 1, verses 2 through 4.
[“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord , 3 According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises : that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence , add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” 2 Peter 1:2-11.]
In verse 5, Peter begins a list of the qualities we must add to our Christian character. And the first thing that he mentions is “diligence.” This word, “diligence,” as it’s translated in the King James Version, comes from a Greek word which is the primary meaning of “making haste.” When one is diligent, it’s because there is a purpose, a reason for haste, a goal in which time is of the essence, and we realize that there is indeed a reason for haste, a reason for diligence. God will not wait forever to judge the world, and since we don’t know when that Day of Judgment might be, we must hasten to come to that quality of Christian faith so that we might be found in peace, without spot, and blameless in His sight, 2 Peter 3, verse 14 [“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent [make haste; hasten] that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”].
Diligence , then, is that quality of action which ensures that the Christian will be found righteous in God’s sight. The way to achieve that righteousness is through sincere, daily study of God’s Word. With the sure knowledge in our minds and in our hearts of our limited time upon the earth, we don’t have all the time in the world to grow as God’s children. So, we must hasten. We must study His Word diligently.
In the passage of Scripture that was read to us this morning [Hebrews 11:1-6], the Hebrew writer has supplied us with an eloquent definition of Christian faith. First of all, let’s look at the result of both proper and improper faith described in chapter 11, verses 4 and 5 [“ 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” ].
First mentioned here is Abel. Because he had the proper faith, he “offered to God a more excellent sacrifice” than that which was offered by his brother, Cain. His offering of that better sacrifice to God was a result of his faith, which demonstrated his obedience to God. In this story of the offerings of Cain and Abel found in Genesis 4, verses 3 through 7, there’s no directly stated explanation or reason as to why Cain’s offering was not acceptable to God, but we can assume that God had commanded them to make their offerings in a certain way, containing specifics in terms of what was to be offered and how it was to be offered. Abel demonstrated a proper godly faith by doing exactly what God had commanded him to do. But, apparently, Cain did not demonstrate a like faith in God, because he was not obedient to what God had commanded.
Look, then, in Hebrews 11, verse 5 [see above], where we see related the story of Enoch, the man of God who was taken up by God, or translated, so that he should not have to suffer death. Why did God reward him in this way? Because he pleased God as a result of his faith. His faith caused him to be obedient to God. He did those things in his life which were pleasing to God in direct demonstration of his faith.
If we look at the rest of the 11th chapter of Hebrews, we’ll find that every person who is listed showed their faith through their actions, taken in response to God’s commandments. Each description of a faithful person in this chapter is directly related to obedience to God in some way, which pleased Him. That is the true significance of biblical faith. Biblical faith is ALWAYS accompanied by obedience, and obedience is ALWAYS the evidence of the faith which lives in the child of God.
Notice several other examples from the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Verse 7 says that Noah had faith, and because of that faith he prepared an ark in obedience to the commandments of God [“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”].
Verse 8 says that Abraham had faith, and because of that faith he obeyed. He went out in obedience to the commandments of God, even though he did not know where his travels were going to take him [“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.”].
In verse 11, we see that Sara had faith in God and was obedient, in faith, in the bearing of the son of promise [“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful Who had promised.”].
Verse 17 shows us the story of Abraham’s offering of Isaac. Because of his faith, he was obedient to God, even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his only son [“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son…”].
Truly, in looking at these and the many other examples of godly faith in this chapter, it should be immediately obvious that great faith is made evident, or demonstrated, by OBEDIENCE to the things which God commands.
Tied together into one unbreakable bond are these three things: Faith, obedience and righteousness. After all, what is the definition of “righteousness”? [It is] Doing those things which are pleasing to God. Well, how do we perform those acts of righteousness which are pleasing to God? How do we do that? By being obedient to His commands.
When we are obedient to God, performing acts of righteousness which are pleasing to Him, what are we demonstrating? [We are demonstrating] Our faith. That’s the exact meaning of what we read in Hebrews 11, verse 6: “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Unless we have the kind of faith in God which leads to obedience and righteousness, we cannot be pleasing to God. In verse 6, the writer of Hebrews gives us a precise definition of faith. If we wish to be pleasing to God, then we must, first of all, believe that He is [Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”]. We must believe that God, the Creator of the universe, exists, that HE is our Creator, that HE is the One Who has the absolute power over our lives, that HE is the One Who has the absolute right to tell us what we must do to please Him.
A vital part of pleasing God is the fact that we must also believe that He is a rewarder [Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”]. When we talk about the fact that God is a rewarder, we’re talking about this idea of trust in God. In fact, when Hebrews 11, verse 13, says that those great pillars of faith saw the promises of God afar off, were persuaded of them, and embraced them, what the Hebrew is talking about is trust in God to faithfully provide the rewards that He has promised us [13 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”]. We must, therefore, couple our strong belief in the existence of God with an unshakable belief that He rewards.
But notice that these rewards are not promised to everyone. These rewards are only limited to a certain group of people—“those who diligently SEEK Him.” The Greek word which is translated in this verse as “seek” is not the kind of seeking we might think of when we go about looking for something that we’ve, perhaps, lost. But it’s the kind of seeking a person does when they are investigating or researching something. When we have a question about something, or we’re researching a topic, we use the best means at our disposal in order to find the answers. We might use encyclopedias, dictionaries, the Internet, or, perhaps, we might ask questions of those whose knowledge we respect. The same thing is meant here in this verse—those who DILIGENTLY SEEK God are those who investigate God, who look into those things which speak about God and His promises. Those who diligently seek God are those who do so with haste. They…can’t…wait to find out about God, about what His promises are, and about what we must do in order to be pleasing to Him.
As Jesus said, in Matthew 6:33, we must seek first His kingdom and His righteousness [“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”]. In order to diligently seek God, we must diligently, with haste, seek His kingdom and His righteousness—the kingdom, which is God’s and the righteousness that He demands, and there is only one place where that knowledge can be found. There’s only one place where we should be looking to discover what we must do to be obedient to God so that we might be pleasing in His sight, so that we might demonstrate our faith through our obedience. [And that is] God’s Word.
How can we come to a certain belief that God exists? Through study of His Word. How can we come to know that God has promised us things, that He’s promised us rewards…and what those rewards are? Through the study of His Word. When we understand that true faith comes through studying the Bible, it should become clear that true Christian faith is not the kind of “faith” of which so many in the world speak.
For many, having faith in God means that they have blindly believed in God, thinking that one can have this faith without having any evidence to back it up. This is blind faith, and it’s completely contrary to what is taught in Hebrews 11, verse 1 [“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”].
Many define faith as “a leap in the dark,” and they base their entire religious lives on this idea. They feel that becoming a Christian is only “a leap of faith.” But, we must object to this definition of faith by saying that faith is not irrational. True Christian faith is always supported by solid evidence. Basing one’s faith upon this “leap in the dark” philosophy is an indication that one has completely misunderstood the proper relationship between faith and reason.
It’s interesting to read what George H. Smith, an avowed atheist, wrote in his book, The Case Against God. He said the following:
Reason and faith are opposites, two mutually exclusive terms. There is no reconciliation or common ground. Faith is belief without, or in spite of, reason. If reason can tell us anything there is to know, there is no longer a job for faith. The entire notion of faith rests upon, and presupposes, the inadequacy of reason.
This whole atheistic attack on faith is itself based on faulty reasoning, which might be funny if it wasn’t so sad in its influence upon so many religious people in the world today.
Look carefully what Hebrews 11, and verse 1, says in its definition of what faith truly is. “Faith is the substance, or assurance, of things hoped for, the evidence, or a conviction, of things not seen.” Faith is not some “leap in the dark,” according to the Bible, but comes as a result of studying God’s Word. When a person diligently seeks God through his investigation of the Truths found in the Bible, that person collects evidence...evidence which convinces him that God exists…evidence that God will also reward those who make the correct interpretation and the application of that evidence. It is evidence which convinces a person of the existence of God and the Truths of the promises that He has made.
Belief and trust in God does not come about by some “leap of faith,” but as a result of conviction built on the basis of overwhelming evidence. Many misinterpret Hebrews 11:1 to mean that “faith is a belief in things hoped for, and a belief in those things not seen,” with no evidence whatsoever to support those beliefs. We are taught that we must “just have faith.”
This is completely opposed to what this verse actually teaches. Faith does not come first. Evidence comes first. Faith is BUILT UPON evidence. We investigate what the Bible teaches, and through that investigation we become convinced of the Truth of that which is taught. And when we become convinced if these things—convicted in our own minds—THEN…we…have…faith.
A wonderful example of this is found in Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. First, we read what he said in Acts 2, verse 22: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know…” Then, down in verse 36 of this same chapter: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus Whom ye crucified.”
Now, there are two different Greek words, which are translated as the word “know” in these verses. The first, in verse 22, means, basically, “I see, or perceive, and therefore, I know.” In other words, the Jews knew that Jesus was a Man approved of God by works, wonders and signs, because they were witnesses of these things which Jesus did in their midst. The second word translated as “know” in verse 36 refers to “the process of coming to know the truth of a thing through the presentation of a line of evidence.”
If we take these concepts together, we see that Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, offered the Jews two different types of proof. First, he offered them the proof of the evidence of their eyes. And then, he offered them the evidence of fulfilled prophecy. Now, they knew one thing about Jesus—that He was approved of God through the things that they had actually witnessed. They came to know something else about Jesus—that God had made Him both Lord and Christ—their hearing and understanding of the words which Peter spoke to them from the pages of Old Testament prophecies about Christ.
What was the result of these two lines of evidence presented by Peter? Peter said that they could know ASSUREDLY… In other words, because of the evidence which Peter had presented, they could know…for…certain…that Jesus…was…the Son of God. He proved these things to 3000 Jews on the day of Pentecost. It was the proof, provided by this evidence, which caused them to know ASSUREDLY. It was this evidence which caused their faith. It was their faith which, then, led to their obedience to the command to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins.
Again, let me emphasize that true faith comes as a result of being convinced of the Truth of a thing by the evidence which is presented. One other example will cement in our minds this concept:
In Luke, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, we read the introduction of Luke’s Gospel, and I’d like you to pay close attention to what Luke wrote to Theophilus: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, 2 even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word, 3 it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou was instructed.”
Why did Luke write these things to Theophilus? So that this man might know the certainty of the things which he had been taught concerning the life of Jesus Christ. Notice that Luke based his words to Theophilus upon evidence, “having traced the course of all things accurately from the first,” and that he wrote these things based upon the eyewitness testimony of those who had been with Jesus—evidence which had been provided to him, evidence which had caused his own Christian faith.
One important thing to realize, also, is that Luke and all the writers of Scripture were directly guided by the Holy Spirit in the things which they wrote. Since this is the case, then it becomes apparent that God Himself continually reaffirms, through His Word, the importance of faith based upon evidence. God does not demand that we believe in Him and have trust in Him just because He says so. He does, however, demand that we have faith based upon evidence that He has provided for us in His inspired Word.
Indeed, the whole of the inspired New Testament speaks to us of evidence—evidence, which has its sole purpose the fostering of faith in the hearts of those who investigate, who diligently seek God. This purpose is again made clear by what John wrote through the inspiration of the Spirit in 1 John 1, verses 1 through 3. He wrote, “That which was from the beginning, That which we have heard, That which we have seen with our eyes, That which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life 2(and the Life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the Life, the Eternal (Life), Which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); 3 that Which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ…”
John wrote that he and those other apostles heard, saw, beheld, and handled the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, and that the coming of Jesus resulted in the promise of eternal life in the Son of God. He wrote that it was his purpose to declare these things unto mankind so that those who become convinced of the Truth of his evidence might have fellowship, not only with all who would believe these things, but also fellowship—fellowship…togetherness…with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
Does this sound in any way like “blind faith”? Of course it doesn’t. Faith is based upon evidence—evidence which convinces.
So, what is the definition of true biblical “faith”? Putting all of these we’ve studied this morning into one definition of “faith,” we arrive at this: Faith, which comes from a study of God’s Word—a diligent study of the evidence for God’s existence and His promises—is a CONVICTION and a BELIEF which is based SOLELY on an INVESTIGATION of the EVIDENCE which has been provided. Faith is belief and trust in God and Jesus Christ based upon this evidence—evidence which, itself, is based upon the eyewitness testimony of those who saw the life of Jesus—His death, His burial AND His resurrection from the dead; eyewitness testimony which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus died for our sins, and was resurrected so that we might have hope of eternal life.
Faith is a result of being convinced of the evidence which God has provided of the things which we hope for, and faith is ALSO the result of being convinced of the evidence which God has provided for us of the things which are not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 does not teach that we have faith because we have irrationally wanted to believe in the things for which we hope. It does not teach that we have faith because we irrationally want to believe in the things we can’t see. But it does teach that we have faith because of the evidence of these things which have been provided for us in the Word of God.
For those who teach or believe that it is not necessary to have evidence in order to have faith, I point them to John 20:25-31, where John relates the story of Thomas, who would not believe in the resurrection of Jesus without physical evidence. Jesus provided him with this evidence—evidence which was intended to cause Thomas to be not faithless, but believing. Jesus said that Thomas believed, or, had faith, because he had seen. And He then pronounced a blessing upon those who believe, or, have faith, even though they would never have the opportunity to see the same physical evidence that Thomas had seen.
Jesus was speaking to all of those, who, down through the years since, have believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But was He talking about a blind faith? No, He certainly was not! And neither was John.
Why did John write his Gospel? “…but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His Name” John 20, and verse 31. He wrote it so that those of us who will never have the opportunity to personally see the imprint of the nails in the hands of Jesus and the hole that was caused by that spear that was thrust through His side will, nevertheless, have the opportunity to be convinced by the testimony—by the eyewitness testimony—of John; so that we may be convinced by the evidence, which John has provided through the things that he wrote; so that we, too, might become not faithless, but believing.
Because of the evidence, true Christian faith is the foundation upon which all of the other Christian graces are laid. Faith is what we must have before we can ever hope to add virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, or love to our Christian character. True Christian faith can only come when we seek God through His Word, and if we are diligent in that study, we will come to the conclusion that God is indeed the Creator of the universe, that He has indeed given us a promise of eternal reward, that He has given us a hope, which we have not yet seen, but which is real and true, nonetheless.
Before we end our lesson this morning, I would like to remind you of something we touched on earlier. Those examples of faithful men and women in the 11th chapter of Hebrews teach us the fact that true faith is DEMONSTRATED through being obedience to God, through being pleasing to Him. A true faith does, indeed, come through knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. But faith without obedience is NOT true faith. This is partly what was meant by James when he wrote in James, chapter 2, verses 19 through 24. He said these things:
“Thou believest that God is One; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect;23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God. 24 Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith.”
Have you looked into God’s Word? Have you investigated the things which are taught in His Word? Have you come to the conclusion that God exists and that He will reward those who diligently seek after Him, AND that He has made promises of eternal reward to those who believe in His Son? If this describes you this morning, then you’re to be commended, because your study of God’s Word has rewarded you with belief in God, and faith in His Word and the promises which are found therein, but you have not taken all of the necessary steps for you to be justified in the eyes of God.
You see, as James said, the demons also believe all of these things, and they shudder over them. Yet, their belief is vain, because it is not justified by works. I must tell you that in order for you to go beyond what James calls “barren faith,”—which is really not faith at all—you must add obedience to your belief. Obedience to the Gospel of Christ is what will consummate your belief, making it more than simple belief—making it true Christian faith.
It is through righteous works that one becomes God’s friend. It is by works that a man is justified. The 6th chapter of Romans tells us that we are only justified when we are dead from sin and that there is a work which must be performed in order to obtain that justification, and that this work is baptism into Christ for the forgiveness, or, the remission, of your sins.
If it’s your desire this morning to be justified through your works of obedience to God’s commands, then won’t you this very minute come in belief, repenting of your sins, confessing the Name of Jesus Christ, to be baptized into His death, burial and resurrection, arising to walk in newness of life? These are the works of righteousness which you must do if you desire to be justified in God’s sight, if you desire to be pleasing to God. If you desire to verify your faith in the evidence presented in the Word of God by your sincere obedience to His commandments, if you desire to be the friend of God—and why wouldn’t you?—you’ll have that opportunity in just a few moments.
If you’re a Christian who has, perhaps, lost your faith in God and His promises, we pray that you will return once again to a diligent study of His Word so that you might, perhaps, restore that faith that you once had—a faith that you, at one time, demonstrated through your obedience to God. If you’ve fallen away from your first love, we ask you this morning, won’t you please come back? If you do that, we’ll be here to offer our prayers on your behalf to God for your forgiveness. We’ll be here to help you to, perhaps, live a more faithful life for Christ in the future.
If it’s your desire this morning to become a Christian, or perhaps, it’s your desire to become, once more, a faithful Christian—whatever your need might be this morning, we ask you, won’t you come right now, as we stand and sing?