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TEXT: Hebrews 11
SUBJECT: Exposition of Hebrews #13: The Life of Faith
Today brings us to the thirteenth sermon in our study of Hebrews. Its theme is "Christ Over All". To whomever one compares the Lord Jesus, "He must, in all things, have the preeminence". The doctrinal part of the Letter ends in 10:18. From there on, applications are drawn. The first is something like this: "If Jesus Christ is above all, we must remain true to Him". But how? 10:38 makes that clear: "The just shall live by faith". The importance of "faith" cannot be overstated. If one gives up the faith, God will "have no pleasure in Him"; and worse: the faithless man will "draw back to perdition"--or eternal ruin. Thus "faith" is the principal thing. Chapter 11 elaborates on it.
It begins with a description of faith--what faith is. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". The word "substance" means "confidence". "Evidence" is better translated "conviction'. Thus, what has long baffled readers becomes easy to understand. "Faith is the confidence of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen". Faith, therefore, is not fantasy; it's not wishful thinking or blind optimism. Faith is a firm and fixed persuasion. In the words of Micah: "Now I know that the LORD will do me good".
Faith, therefore, is a persuasion, an assurance. Of what? "Things hoped for" and "things not seen". What are these "things"? The context informs us. They are "A better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven...a "great reward...and "the promise", see 10:34-36. We believe that our full salvation is sure.
Why? Because "He is faithful who promised".
To my way of thinking, vv.2,3 should be reversed. V.3 illustrates the teaching of v.1: "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".
All Christians are sure that God created the world. But why are we so sure? Were we eye-witnesses? No. Can we logically reason back from the present world to a Creator? Maybe. But not to "creation out of nothing". Then, why are we so sure? "By faith we understand". In sum: if we believe that God created the world with no proof but His Word, we must also believe that He will "save to the uttermost those who come to Him". And for the same reason: We have His Word on it. Nothing else is given because nothing else is needed. "God cannot lie".
And so, what is faith? Faith is "believing God".
Next, we have the operation of faith--what faith does, vv.2,3-38.
V.2 introduces the subject: "By it, the elders obtained a good testimony". The men and women who follow are heroic figures, esteemed by Jews and Christians in every age. But how did they become so heroic? By faith.
He begins the list with the Antediluvians (men who lived before the flood).
1.Abel, v.4: "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying to his gifts; and through it, he being dead, yet speaks". Both Cain and Abel brought gifts to the LORD. The former brought fruit; the latter a sheep. God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain's. The offerings were equal; the men were not. Why not? Because Abel offered his gift in faith. This faith made him "righteous". This faith teaches us how to be righteous as well.
2.Enoch, vv.5-6: "By faith, Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, `and was not found because God had translated him', for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 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". Enoch's faith so pleased God that he was spared death. And by his faith, Enoch has shown us that faith is essential to pleasing God.
3.Noah, v.7: "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world an became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Noah's faith exposed the folly of unbelief and made him heir of all things.
Faith, therefore, was operative from the beginning. It is not just "the way to please God now"--it has ever been the way to please Him; the only way to inherit the promises. "The just have (always) lived by faith".
He comes next to the patriarchs. These men were the Fathers of Israel--both physically and spiritually. The Hebrews held them in the highest regard. How did they live? Let's see.
1.Abraham, vv.8-10; 17-19: "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God...
"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, `In Isaac your see shall be called', accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense". God promised Abraham a Land which he would have never received had he not quit his homeland. How did he leave? By faith. The offering of Isaac was the severest test Abraham ever faced. Did he pass the test? He did. Why? Because he believed God.
2.Sarah, v.11: "By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who promised". Sarah was ninety years old, long past the child-bearing age. Yet, she bore the son of promise. How? By faith.
3.Isaac, v.20: "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come". Esau was Isaac's older and favored son. But he blessed Jacob instead. Why? Because he believed God.
4.Jacob, v.21: "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff". Joseph had two sons, Manesseh and Ephraim. Usually, the older son received the richer blessing. He brought them to his dying father for a blessing, only to have it reversed. Ephraim was put over Manesseh. Why? Because God had revealed it to Jacob. And Jacob believed God.
5.Joseph, v.22: "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones". God had promised Israel "a land flowing with milk and honey". And Egypt was not that land. Yet Joseph, though dying in Egypt knew that "God would visit" His people and insisted that they not bury him in Egypt, but put his body in a coffin and give him a proper burial in the Land of Promise. And so they did...more than 300 years later. How did Joseph know his people would inherit the land? He believed God.
The Patriarchs, therefore, also lived in faith. And more: they died in faith. They inherited nothing concrete. But, by faith, they received everything.
Moses is the next man of faith. His story is told in vv.23-29.
His parents had the faith to not kill their son (as Pharaoh had ordered), but to hide him, knowing that God would protect him. And so he did.
Moses early demonstrated his faith by "refusing to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward". The reward of God (which he couldn't see) was of more value to him than the riches of Egypt (he could see). Why? Because of his faith.
He faced down the world's mightiest king, "seeing Him who is invisible". He kept the Passover, knowing that God would not touch his son. He crossed the Red Sea, knowing the waters would fall on the Egyptians and not on him.
In short, every key event in the life of Moses was animated and directed by faith. Moses was the Lawgiver, of course. But he lived by faith.
Following Moses, a random list is given: Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, vv.30-32. They all lived by faith.
The achievements of faith are next presented, vv.33-35a. What does faith do? This: "Subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again..."
The suffering of faith follows, 35b-38: "And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain by the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth."
To sum up: "The just shall live by faith". They always have; they always will. If you want to be "just", therefore, you must believe God. There is no substitute for faith. A knowledge of the Law won't make you just; the keeping of rules won't make you just; a fear of hell won't make you just. Only by faith do we please God. And secure our souls.
The saints of old lived by faith. We must too. Vv.39-40, however, increase our duty. We are under greater obligation than Noah, Abraham, or Moses to "live by faith". Why? Because we have greater advantages than they do. "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise".
These men believed the promise of God but did not see it fulfilled. All of them died before the coming of Christ. But we haven't. We live after the promise has come. And, therefore, we--even more than they--must live by faith.
"God having provided something better for us..." This is astonishing but true: the newest convert knows far more about the Lord Jesus than any of the Old Testament saints. Even more than John the Baptist who wondered "Are you the One or must we look for another?" And, because so much more has been "given" to us--that much more will be "required" of us. We must live by faith.
And, by God's grace, we shall. For "they" (the Old Testament saints) are "not made perfect apart from us". In other words: they are made perfect with us. "Men from the east and west, north and south, sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom".
How were they made "complete"? How are we? By faith. Not an impulsive faith; not a temporary faith; not a wavering faith--but "a confidence in things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen".
May God give us this faith, for Christ's sake. May we cherish it, preserve it, enhance it...and use it.
"The just shall live by faith".
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