Please turn with me in your Bibles to:

Hebrews 11:1-3 NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For BY it the elders obtained a good report. 3 THROUGH faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

One of the most important things in all the Bible is this thing we call FAITH. A person is saved from the darkness of sin and brought into the Kingdom of God by Grace, THROUGH faith. Salvation is a gift of God, not a work that you accomplish. We have often read:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For BY GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any {person} should boast.

No one enters the Kingdom of God by their works. When we get to glory, we will not look back and go “didn’t I do good in getting here”. Salvation is a free gift of God, offered to whosoever will. But salvation is not imposed or forced on anyone. It is received THROUGH FAITH. If your definition of “FAITH” is not the same as God’s definition of “FAITH”, then you’re in trouble. Words matter. Truth matters.

Why did God give us an OLD COVENANT before He gave us a NEW COVENANT? Why did God give us a Law of animal sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, circumcisions, and ceremonial restrictions before He unveiled the New Covenant in Christ? It was to show us our utter inability to make ourselves right before God without the blood of Christ.

God gave us the Old Covenant to teach us that faith must be put in the RIGHT OBJECT. Faith in works, sacrifices, feasts, sabbaths, ceremonies will not save. Faith must be placed in God!

The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Galatians 3:24-25 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

God gave the Law to teach us where to put our faith. He gave us the incessant animal sacrifices to teach us that we cannot save ourselves, but “God is our Savior” (1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; Titus 1:3; Isaiah 43:3; 2 Samuel 22:3). No one has ever been saved by the Law of God. The Apostle said

Galatians 2:16 know that a person is NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW, but BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST …. by the works of the Law no one will be justified

The Old Covenant was only given to Israel after God’s people continued to reject salvation by faith in God. The Old Covenant was diagnostic. It proved us sinners. But it had no real means to save us from our sins.

Salvation is by God’s Grace THROUGH FAITH.

What Is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Word Study: As God begins to define faith to us (NOW FAITH) we read that “faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for”. What does that mean? Let’s look at the word translated “SUBSTANCE”. This is the Greek hupŏstasis, {pronounced hoop-os’-tas-is}, which means “the foundation, the structure, the assured confidence”. The word was used in the earlier text of Hebrews, in:

Hebrews 3:14 For we are made {partners with} Christ, if we hold the beginning of our CONFIDENCE {hupŏstasis} steadfast unto the end;

Faith is not just an “I believe”. Faith is an
“I surrender” or an “I cling”.

Faith is an “I don’t understand, but because GOD said so, because His Bible declares it, I BELIEVE”. Saving faith does not have to understand all things. Saving faith looks at God and says, “Lord, what ever YOU have declared, I BELIEVE because YOU ARE GOD”.

The Atheist puts faith in himself and in man. He looks at the world around us and says “All that is seen – regardless as to its complexity and order – is just a happy accident. We are all creatures of evolution. Everything started with a big bang, and randomly evolved into the life that you see now”. God has no place in the created order. There is no Master Architect, because the fool has said that “there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

The Christian looks at the order and the grandeur of the world around us and says, “I do not understand it, but I know that God created this world, this universe, this galaxy, and all that we see. He is the Grand Architect, and His fingerprints are on all of creation.”

Whether you are an Atheist, an Agnostic, or a Christian depends on where you invest your faith.

Word Study: We are also told “faith is …. the EVIDENCE of things not seen”. The word “EVIDENCE” is the Greek élenchos, {pronounced el’-eng-khos}, which means “the EVIDENCE or PROOF of, the CONVICTION”. Faith is a submission of this will to God. An unbeliever comes to a believer and asks, “How do you know that God is real, and that Jesus is the only Way to God?” The believer’s response is simply, “Because God said so”. Faith does not quibble with God.

Illustrate: Consider the Garden of Eden (yes, I believe in the Biblical creation). God tells Adam, “You can eat of anything in the Garden except the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The day you eat of it, you will surely die.” Why this Tree? Why was Adam forbidden that particular fruit? Because God alone establishes what is GOOD and EVIL. We who are created do not make up the rules. God does. God says what is right and wrong, and faith – the surrender of the will to God – obediently trusts and does as God says. When Adam partook of the forbidden tree it was not his action that destroyed his life. Adam’s sin was to approach life apart from absolute faith in God. When the serpent tempted Adam to eat that which was forbidden, Adam’s proper response – the response of faith – was to say “Because God said NO, it must be NO. Period.”

Faith Is What Pleases God

Hebrews 11:2 For BY IT the elders obtained a good report.

It is faith that has always pleased God. The Old Testament believers – many of whom will be mentioned in this chapter – believed on God, but died before “The Promise” came. We are told:

Hebrews 11:13-16 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. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an Heavenly: WHEREFORE God is not ashamed to be called their God: for HE hath prepared for them a city.

The Elders, those who lived before and during the Old Covenant, heard of the promises of God by faith. They lived to follow God, to glorify God, considering themselves “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”. The Elders lived before the Cross, before the completed canon of the Scripture. They had no printed Bibles, but lived by shared truths and stories passed down from generation to generation. Without the modern conveniences of technology, these Elders believed God, and believed what God said. They clung to Him as their only hope in existence. And God was faithful.

The Father of Faith is Abraham. The Bible often returns to this ancient believer, for he is the pattern of the faith that pleases God.

Hebrews 11:8-10 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. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Abraham stepped outside of his “comfort zone” and went where God told him. This pleased God. Compare that attitude to today’s “Christian”.

When God called Abraham He gave Abraham a simple directive. “Follow Me”.

Genesis 12:1-4 (ESV) “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him …

This is the same thing Jesus did in the New Testament: “Follow Me”. That’s how God operates. Follow Me. Submit to My Will. Do what I say, as best as you can. Abraham didn’t question God. God said “Go”, and Abraham went. God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a “GREAT NATION”. So Abraham left. He left the safety and security of his home town, of his family, and went out into a godless wilderness. Abraham stepped out in faith. In time, God would give Abraham a son – Isaac – but Abraham would never see the “GREAT NATION” that God promised him. Nonetheless, Abraham gave his sole allegiance to God. He did as God’s Word directed. He followed God to Canaan, and trusted God beyond that.

Hebrews 11:11 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.

Though Sarah was well past child bearing years, she trusted the God Who made all of creation. She believed that He was able to do as He promised. When the time was right, God gave Sarah her child Isaac. Why? Because she was able? No, but because God is faithful.

Faith trusts in the faithfulness of God. The visible fruit of good faith is obedience and glory to God.

I Wasn’t There, But I Believe It. Do You?

Hebrews 11:3 THROUGH FAITH we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Word Study: The word translated as “WORLDS” is the Greek aiṓn, {pronounced ahee-ohn’} which means “the ages, the eternity, the universe, the worlds”. It is the “WORD OF GOD” that made all things. God spoke this world into existence. God created the order and patterns that we see. God spoke, and the universe became a reality. God created the stars and the planets without end by His Word. When we are told,

the worlds were framed by the word of God

It is God’s Word that made all things. Now, what does this mean? It has two distinct meanings. First, God spoke, and it was. Therefore God’s Word, His Bible, is His very creative power. It is faith in what this great Book says that gives us life. We believe it, because God said it. We believe it, because God wrote it. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

God spoke, and it was. He declared, and it came into being. God did not roll up His sleeves and make all things. He decreed it. He spoke it. And it was. What does this teach us?

God’s Word is trustworthy – it will create life.

The Apostle wrote of the lost, saying:

2 Peter 3:5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God

But there is another application of this. The Bible says:

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

The Word of God, Jesus Christ, made all things. The Word of God, Jesus Christ “became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). When Jesus came, He brought the Word of God, the Bible, with Him. Throughout His ministry Jesus appealed to the Scripture, saying “It is written”. We are to believe in God’s Word, His Only Begotten Son. We are to acknowledge Him alone as worthy.

Revelation 4:11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.

What God has promised, God will do. If you have faith in God, you will cling to His promises no matter what He asks you to do. We are now given another wonderful illustration in Abraham.

Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

This is a reference to the time that God came to Abraham and said,

Genesis 22:1-2 (ESV) After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

By most accounts Abraham was at least 113 years old, and maybe 125 years old. Abraham was 100 years old when Sarah bore Isaac, and his son would have been in his teens. Abraham has enjoyed his son, and watched him grow. God had told Abraham “in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (see Genesis 21:12), and Abraham clung to that promise of God. Out of Isaac would come a mighty nation (Israel) that would bring blessing to the whole world (the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah). God had also told Abraham long before Isaac was born:

Genesis 17:19 (ESV) … Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

God promised that He would establish an “EVERLASTING COVENANT” with Isaac. That is, God would put Himself and Isaac in a non-revocable, eternal Covenant of Grace. And God does not lie. God does not lie.

Then, one day out of the blue, God says “Go sacrifice Isaac”. Here is a test of Abraham’s faith. Why did God test Abraham this way? God already knows Abraham’s heart. “God looks on the heart of man” (1 Samuel 16:7). God knows what Abraham is going to do. Abraham knows what Abraham is going to do. So why test Abraham.

So we can see what type of faith pleases God.
Abraham is our pattern.

God said to Abraham, “I’m going to bless the world THROUGH ISAAC”. God said, “I’m going to create a nation OUT OF ISAAC”. And God doesn’t lie. Now God says “Go kill your son”. And without hesitation, Abraham steps way out of his comfort zone, and goes to comply with God. He arises early in the morning and goes where God tells him. When he gets to Moriah, he leaves his servants at the wagon, telling them,

Genesis 22:5 (ESV) “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”

Abraham fully intended to sacrifice Isaac. But in his mind, both he and Isaac would be back at the wagon in just a little while. Why? Because God is faithful. God cannot lie. God has promised a nation out of Isaac, and Isaac isn’t even married yet. We are told in Hebrews:

Hebrews 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

What was Abraham’s mindset? God promised. God can’t lie. Even if I kill Isaac, God will raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham wasn’t worried. Abraham had faith.

Only Genuine Faith Pleases God

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

What pleases God? Faith. Trust in Him. Faith “come(s) to God … believ(ing) that He is”. God is God. Evangelist Vance Havner said, “Salvation is not a cafeteria where you take what you want and leave the rest. You cannot take Christ as Savior and refuse Him as Lord and be saved.” Saving faith brings you into the Presence of God. You believe God is – and want to be in His presence. But the faith that pleases God “diligently seeks Him”. God only blesses – rewards – those who “DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM”. God is not an afterthought, but in your Forethoughts.

If you are saved your life will reflect that salvation. Those who are saved will diligently seek after God. We who believe seek after God in prayer, in study of the Word of God, and in Christian fellowship or the meeting of the local Church. A Christian is never whole unless he or she routinely and habitually speaks to the Living Word of God (Prayer), studies the written Word of God (the Bible), and then puts the Word of God into action through fellowship in the local Church. I have heard people say, “I can worship God in the woods just as well as I can in the local Church meeting.” What does God say about that?

1 John 3:10-11 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, NEITHER HE THAT LOVETH NOT HIS BROTHER. (11) For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that WE SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

1 John 2:4-5 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (5) But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

God demands of the Christian that we put the Word in prayer, the Word in study, and the Word in action.

Do you know Him? Do you know Jesus Christ by faith? If not, today is the day to give your life to Him. Dr. Voddie Baucham said “Grace means that we deserved death, but received life.” This only comes by faith in God, in God’s Son, in Jesus. Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world (Galatians 1:4). Is your faith in God, or in something else? Today is the day to ask yourself, “Am I saved by Grace, through faith in Christ Jesus?” If not, today is the day to be saved.

May God the Holy Spirit lead you to His bleeding side. Amen and Amen.