What does Biblical Faith look like?

Joel Hayworth

Hebrews: Jesus is Greater • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Transcript

Introduction

What is faith? Some believe that faith is a blind leap of faith like walking off of a building and having faith that you will be able to fly like a bird. Others believe that faith is a hopeful expectation that something might happen. In high school I was on the golf team and we had 1 tournament each spring where we played a “scramble” or you would play with a partner and select the best shot between the two of you and use that ball. My best friend was also on the golf team and our coach put us together as partners for this tournament. We had played golf together for years and years to the point that we knew the strengths of one another’s game. Because of this, I had confidence that he was going to be able to do certain things. Whenever we got to the first green and had our first putt, I had faith that he was going to make it because he’s good at putting the ball. Sadly, though, he didn’t always make the putt even though I had faith in his ability to do so. We can have faith in lots of things that simply don’t happen. We can have faith in other people. We can have faith in a team. We can have faith in all sorts of other things that ultimately let us down and if faith is blind, faith amounts to nothing more than good vibes and feelings.

Is this what Biblical faith looks like? Is Biblical faith a shot in the dark or a last second prayer that something might happen? Thankfully, the Bible shares with us that Biblical faith is rock solid. It isn’t a question, it’s a reality! We have faith that is placed in God.

Did you know that every person has faith in something? The atheist has faith. The Muslim has faith. The Christian has faith. What is the difference? We can’t just tell someone to have faith - this is one of the biggest dangers associated with Christianity - just have faith! Faith in what? Faith in the God of the Bible. Even though we can’t see Him with our eyes, we have faith in God. Our faith is not blind, rather our faith is based upon the evidence of God’s infallible Word. Even though we can’t see it, we believe it.

Today we will begin looking at the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. As we do this it can be easy to idolize these individuals. What is the main story of the Bible? The story of Jesus Christ extending the grace of God to mankind. As we read about these people, look at the faith they had, how they endured through difficult times and be encouraged today. As Hebrews 10 told us, do not draw back, let us be a people of faith and let’s live by faith as these people did thousands of years ago.

Hebrews 11:1–7 CSB

1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 2 For by this our ancestors were approved. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. 5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Biblical Faith is not blind (1-3)

In our opening verse we see that faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. Some people take this to mean that faith is blind because we cannot see it. Faith is the objective grounds upon which subjective confidence may be based. Is faith based upon our opinion, thoughts or feelings? No. It’s based upon God’s Word! This is the only time we see this word “elenkhos” appear in the entire Greek New Testament and it carries the meaning of proof, verification and evidence. This is what we have as Christians regarding our faith in Jesus Christ!

What does the Bible share about those who are in Christ? We see that there is no condemnation, no separation, there is salvation, regeneration, sanctification and future glorification. Do you have to wonder if you this is going to happen? No. You have faith. Our faith is the reality or the assurance of things hoped for. The KJV says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Substance, evidence, reality - do you see that our faith is based upon something?

Several years ago I was talking with some friends and one of them talked about how they had faith in God but they couldn’t respond to an atheist who had asked them why they believed in Jesus Christ. This question took the person back and maybe it’s doing that to you this morning. Do you have faith in Jesus Christ? How do you know that you have faith in Jesus Christ? Do you want to study some apologetics this morning, friends? Let’s spend a minute or two looking at the defense of the faith. There is a book entitled Reasonable Faith that every Christian who is serious about defending your faith needs to read. If you’re not serious about defending your faith then you don’t have Biblical Faith in the first place. The Christian faith is not based upon emotions because emotions change. You might feel really good and emotional about something one day but that can change tomorrow. The Christian faith is not based upon a feeling. One day we might feel one way and the next we feel differently. Sometimes my body feels good when I wake up, other days it doesn’t and there’s no good reason why! Is that how random our faith is? NO! Our faith is reasonable. It is based upon evidence.

What is this evidence? Of things that are not seen. This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it? How can we have faith and confidence and evidence in things that aren’t seen? That seems to go against our natural human understanding! Rather if you look down to verse 3 you see that by faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God. Were you present at the creation of the universe? No. Does the universe exist? Yes. But how do you know that it exists, you weren’t there? We understand this to be the case by faith in God.

Sometimes people question how the universe came into being and this is a question that both Christians and atheists are extremely curious about! One argument that has been used by Christians for centuries is called the Kalam Cosmological Argument which states this:

Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its beginning

The universe began to exist

Therefore, the universe has a cause

We were not present at the creation of the universe, but we know that the universe came into existence at a particular point in time. Science tells us this. Logic tells us this. But most of all, Scripture tells us this in Genesis 1! We see that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In theological words we call this creation ex nihlo or out of nothing. We see in John 1:1-3 that

John 1:1–3 NASB95

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Further down in Hebrews 1 we see

Hebrews 1:1–2 CSB

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

God has created the universe and He did so through His Son. We have faith and confidence in this reality! We don’t have to question this, we believe it based upon the evidence found in Scripture. It is not blind faith, it is reasonable faith. Not only this, but we also have faith in what is not seen. We have faith that there is something more than what we see and experience here and now because the Bible says so. That’s it. The Bible says it and that settles it. We have good reason to believe this.

Biblical Faith involves work (4)

In the next few verses we have 3 examples of men in the Old Testament who lived out their faith in practical ways: Abel, Enoch and Noah all did this. Initially we see that by faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. If you look back to the account in Genesis you see that Cain offered God a sacrifice from his harvest whereas Abel brought God a sacrifice from his flock. Does Hebrews 11:4 mean to say that Abel’s blood sacrifice is superior than Cain’s grain sacrifice simply because of what was sacrificed? There are times in the Old Testament where God called for a sacrifice of the firstfruits of the harvest. There’s nothing wrong with Cain’s sacrifice of his crops, and honestly the book of Genesis never explicitly tells us why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and did not accept Cain’s. While we aren’t told the answer specifically, we can do some investigating to figure this out - turn with me to Genesis 4:4

Genesis 4:4 NASB95

4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;

What did Abel do? He gave God his best. He presented an acceptable sacrifice. A question for us: Are we presenting an acceptable sacrifice to God today? Maybe you’re curious as to what I mean by this question. Paul talks about this in Romans 12

Romans 12:1–2 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Are you living this out? If you are a Christian who has faith in God then that will require you to work and present yourself as a living sacrifice to the Lord. Maybe a better question is, “How can I live this out?” Look at the end of verse 4 - Even though Abel is dead, he still speaks through his faith. Isn’t this an interesting and encouraging thought?! His faith still speaks today. We know that God sees our heart and that matters the most of all.

Consider your entire life. Does your life speak to other about your faith in God? Is your faith in God so deeply woven into who you are that people cannot help but see your faith in God whenever they look at your life? Al Mohler brings up a convicting question here: What will be said at your funeral? How will your life be summarized? Hopefully our lives bear witness to the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ - friends, we can’t take anything with us, we will leave many things behind: possessions, land, cars, clothes and other debts and assets. The most important thing that we can leave behind, though, is a legacy of faith in God that speaks long after we are gone. Do you know someone like that in your life? Perhaps this was a grandparent who has since passed away. Perhaps you don’t have a person who has lived this type of way with this type of Biblical faith - if that is the case, be that person for your family! Biblical faith involves work - not just a little bit of work but a lifetime of work as we present our bodies as living sacrifices to God just as Abel gave God his absolute best thousands of years ago.

Biblical Faith pleases God (5-6)

In the next example we see a far less popular name: Enoch. Enoch’s story can be found in Genesis 5. Now if you look at the great titans of the faith in the Old Testament that came after Abel, we expect to see names like Abraham, Moses, Noah, Joseph and others but we don’t see David or Solomon which is interesting especially as David was the man after God’s own heart. Additionally, the second name is Enoch. Why on earth is Enoch included on this list? What is so unique about this individual? If you’re familiar with the story of Enoch there is something very unique about him! He walked with the Lord for 300 years and was taken by God. There are several different interpretations as to what this means - what does it mean that Enoch was taken by God?

Some people take it to mean that Enoch, like Elijah, was taken directly from earth to heaven without passing away. It is interesting to note that Enoch was only 365 years old whenever God took him. The average lifespan in the United States is 78.5 years and we think that 80 is pretty old. If you look at the genealogy of Noah, you see that there are 9 people starting with Adam. Do you have any idea what the average life expectancy of 8 of the 9 were? 907 years! This is unbelievable! With that said, though, there is one person in this genealogy list whose life is significantly shorter: Enoch, who “only” lived 365 years. He lived a very long time but significantly shorter than other people in his time. Because of this, some scholars note that this is simply because he walked with God and God took him before he aged to the point as these other people. Another view is simply that Enoch was taken away and never found - it is assumed that God called him home. There are other views about what happened with Enoch and the significance of he and Elijah likely being brought up to heaven without passing away. Either way, friends, understand that Elijah and Enoch being taken up to heaven are exceptions to the rule. You can’t look at these examples and say, “If I just live a good life then I can have this happen to me too.” No! These are exceptions to the rule. You and I will pass away. We are not so much interested in the significance of Enoch being taken up to heaven as we are why Enoch was taken up.

Verse 5 tells us that by faith Enoch was taken away because he was one who pleased God! This was a person who walked with God day after day and drew near to God. This was a person who not only knew that God exists, as verses 1-3 talk about, but a person who lived for him with his actions. Are you walking with God this morning? Are you seeking Him? Are you drawing near to him? I pray that you are because as you do this, you will be rewarded and you please God! Verse 6 states that without faith it is impossible to please God. Do you see how important faith is here? There is cold, hard evidence that God exists and that He created the universe. In the Biblical worldview we accept this as fact by faith and as we do this we see that God promises salvation to those who repent and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Have you done this? Without faith in Jesus Christ you might do a whole lot of cool things. You might be a nice person and you might be a popular person, but without faith it is impossible to please God. If you deny the existence of God then you will not receive mercy and grace but rather destruction and judgment. How can we receive this reward? By seeking God and walking with Him day after day - are you choosing to do this today?

Biblical Faith might look weird (7)

Think with me about how some Bible stories where people remain faithful to God and stand out in their community.

Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-nego come to mind, do they not? Nebuchadnezzar built this statue and commanded everyone to bow down and worship him. As followers of God, these men could not do this and they stood out and there was a punishment - the fiery furnace.

In the New Testament we see in Acts 7 that Stephen preached the Gospel to a group of Jews and he was stoned because of his faith in God.

Church history tells us that many Christians used what little funds they had and helped the poor, sick and widowed in cities around the Roman empire. This was done while many people looked out for themselves and lived in a state of fear at times. The church had confidence in God and gave what little they had to others. Even when their things were taken away, if you look in 1 Thessalonians 1, they had joy! Not only did Christians stand out in giving to the poor but they also stood out because they went to the stake and died singing hymns with smiles on their faces.

Church, being a Christian and having Biblical faith in God will make you look, sound and smell a little weird and that’s ok!

In verse 7 we see another example of someone who looked a little weird because of his faith in God as Noah, who was warned and motivated by godly fear, built an ark. Why did Noah build the Ark? Was it because, like people who live in New Orleans, he knew what was coming and wanted to be extra cautious? No. What motivated him was that God told him to do this and he had faith in God.

Can you think of the mocking that Noah would have received while he did this? About 8 hours east of here in Kentucky there is an Ark museum built to the parameters described in Scripture. The Ark was huge! Scholars note that it would have taken Noah between 50-80 years to build the Ark. People can be a little judgmental sometimes, can’t they? Can you imagine the awful things people told Noah and his family? In modern terms, they would have said that Noah was a Doomsday prepper or a conspiracy theorist and that’s being nice about it!

Noah didn’t get bogged down by the naysayers, though, he had faith in God’s word and continued to build the ark. Briefly, consider some observations from this story: the Bible shares with us that the flood was universal and that God was the one who sent the flood. To the person who says that God only wants us to be happy, healthy and wealthy, you have an impossible job trying to fit the flood story into your nice bubble of a worldview. Some pastors note that they “refuse to create a theology that allows for suffering.” Again, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but God sent this flood to judge the wickedness of humanity. Verse 7 says that by faith he condemned the world. Other people say the obedience of Noah and scoffed at him. As the story plays out, though, we know that they would ultimately perish.

As Raymond Brown puts it, “In every generation Christian obedience has powerful evangelistic value.” Whenever you have faith in God and you act upon that faith, you will look different than other people around you. Some people don’t like looking different and standing out but I ask you today, why would you want to look like our world right now? Don’t conform to the patterns of this world, look different and have faith in God and let that faith be evident day in and day out!

As you live an obedient life, as Noah did, you too become an heir of righteousness. Even in the midst of a tragedy and immense suffering as many people perished, there was grace as Noah and his family was saved. Likewise, people today are struggling and suffering, yet there is still grace as the offer of salvation still exists for whoever repents of their sin, turns to Jesus Christ with faith and believes in Him.

Conclusion

Have you repented of your sin and placed your faith in Jesus Christ today? If not, you are facing something even worse than a global flood, you are facing the very wrath and judgment of God. There is still grace and salvation if you repent and have faith in Jesus Christ. Remember though, that faith is not blind. Faith is not mere head knowledge. Faith is not a warm, fuzzy feeling and it’s not even a high confidence. Biblical faith is certainty in the promises of God that He not only exists but that He created the universe, that He rewards those who have faith in Him by forgiving them of their sins and that He promises to save those who have faith in Him.

These are not things that we have to sit around and wonder about. We don’t have to question if Biblical faith is reasonable or not - it is based upon the evidence of God’s Word which is God breathed and true. Biblical faith looks different than earthly faith. Biblical faith will make us look different than other people around us.

The question you have to ask yourself today is this: Do I have faith in God? Maybe you’ve always come to church and this is the story you’ve always been told. Maybe you have all of this knowledge and you simply think that that is enough. Friend, look to Scripture. Trust in what the Bible says and live it out just as these individuals did thousands of years ago. A silent faith is a dead faith - live your faith out day in and day out because without faith it is impossible to please God. To quote a hymn from Psalm 34

“Oh, taste and see That the Lord is good Oh, blessed is he Who hides in Him

Oh, fear the Lord Oh, all you saints He'll give you everything He'll give you everything”

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Trust in Him. Fear Him. Live a life of Faith. Share the Gospel with others, even if they think that you’re a little weird.

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