Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from Hebrews 11. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Faith is one of the most important concepts described, defined, and encouraged in Holy Scripture. Faith is also one of the most poorly understand and maligned things in all of Holy Scripture. Our sinful nature is constantly inclined to misunderstanding and distorting God’s great gift of faith.
- Yes, faith is the gift of God: “By grace you are saved, through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” [Eph. 2:8,9] It is given to us by God through His Word: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” [Rom. 10:17] So there is need for us to be attentive to His Word that we might receive this great blessing and gift from God.
- There are also a number of aspects of “faith” which we tend to confuse – much to the detriment of faith, and loss of blessedness. There is also some “mystery” when it comes to faith – so we must be careful to stick to God’s Word when thinking about and conceptualizing what “faith” is.
- All three of our texts describe faith – using people of faith whose lives are recorded in Holy Scripture to help us grasp what faith is, and to encourage us to grow in faith, to allow God to grant us greater faith through His Word. Likewise, there are many promises in God’s Word to those who have faith – also encouraging and instilling greater faith in us.
- So we consider the Word of God that we also might receive the blessings of faith and escape the condemnation that comes upon the unbelieving, those who reject God, His Word, His blessings, and His salvation!
I. Faith As Defined In Our Text, Is Not Empirically Based, But Rather Based On What God Has Spoken, Accomplished, And Promised
Text: “Now faith is the assurance of things HOPED for, the conviction of things NOT seen.”
A. In Fact, Faith Is Often Quite Difficult And Tough In View Of Empirical Knowledge, Experience
1. Abel had faith, offered acceptable sacrifices, and yet was murdered
2. Noah had faith in God’s Word and built an ark, even when “known” and empirical history would have derided his efforts as ridiculous and insane
3. Abraham and Sarah had faith in what was empirically impossible, God’s promise of offspring when she had passed menopause
4. Abraham and all of God’s children of faith believed in things promised – “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God, and yet “these all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.”
B. Faith Is However God’s Interface With Us – He Gives Us His Word, Reveals Himself To Us; We Believe, Receive Him And His Word By Faith
Text: “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.”
Statement: I suppose that none of this is too difficult for us to grasp and comprehend if we think about it simply. First, that God is – that He exists. Secondly, that this is His creation and that He cares about it, principally about human beings – Adam and Eve, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, and about all people everywhere. Thirdly, that He has created us for communication, fellowship, and relationship – especially for us to have this with Himself. Fourthly, that He speaks to us and establishes this relationship with us, through His Word to us, by communicating with us. Lastly, that we believe His Word – accounting Him to be truthful, faithful, able to keep His Word; that is, that we account Him to be God, and have Him as our God, holding to Him.
Application: So this is fairly simple to grasp, but quite difficult for us to attain to. In fact, it is impossible for us to come to faith on our own – we must be “born again of water and the Spirit,” brought to this faith by the gift of God. And God Himself must strengthen us in this faith, which He does through His Word, now given to us in fullness in Holy Scripture, the Bible. This is how it was with Abel, with Noah, with Abraham and Sarah – they all received the Word of God, and were given faith through the Word of God.
But again, this was difficult for them – for faith preceded any empirical experience and existed and persisted in them even when they died, not having received the things promised. You see, they “saw” them and “greeted” them from afar – not by experience, but by faith. And we are called to this same faith and trust in God – and all those who are of faith “desire a better country, a heavenly one,” that which is promised by God though not seen. They have God as their God, by faith, and “therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.” It is sure and certain – though “hope for” and not yet “seen,” as long we are living in this world.
Transition: And faith is the principle way in which God richly blesses His people – so that faith is not just “thinking” some things, looking at things a certain way. Rather:
II. Faith Brings Great Blessings
A. Faith Brings Us Justification From God, Being Accounted And Declared Righteous By God – All Our Sin Having Been Forgiven And Cleansed Away By Jesus, The Lamb Of God
Gen. 15:6 “And Abraham believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”
Text: “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 [faith] he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
Rom. 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
Eph. 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
B. Likewise, Faith Brings Peace And Joy In All Circumstance – God Has Promised His Love To Us And To Provide Us With All That We Need
1. So that by faith we are not anxious
Luke 12:22 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.”
2. So by faith we always know and live in God’s love
Luke 12:30 “All the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.”
3. So by faith we seek what really matters, and not the minutia of this world, and we are promised treasure, all that we need
Luke 12:29,31 “Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. . . . Instead, seek His kingdom and these things will be added to you.”
C. And So We Too Are Blessed To Live Heroic Lives Of Faith, Accomplishing Great, Eternal, And Important Things, Bringing Heaven To Earth Even Now
Luke 12:32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell you possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Statement: This is simple to understand, but difficult to enact in our lives, for us to live by – and so we pray that the Lord would increase our faith as we meditate upon His great promises. But surely we desire the blessings of faith which He promises – and would agree that it is more blessed to live by faith than by sight. And ultimately, this is what it means to have God – simply to believe in Him, to trust in Him, to acknowledge that He is God, and by this faith our lives are changed dramatically and blessed!
Application: Since this faith is the gift of God, we continue to pray for faith, and for growing faith! And since this faith “comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,” we are eager for every opportunity we have to hear and learn God’s Word! And by and by we too become “heroic” and “notable” in our own faith – just like the other heroes of faith that we read about in our text, as God Himself richly blesses us!
Conclusion: Those who do not have faith cannot understand what it is or the wondrous blessings that it brings, the great power that God exerts for good in our lives through faith. I hope that you can grasp these things, and therefore pursue this great gift of God with all your being. As it is a gift from God, we therefore continue to humbly pray that He would grant it to us in ever greater measure! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.