THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH HEBREWS 11 SHOWS THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH There are many chapters of the Bible which stand out on important themes such as I Corinthians 13 on the subject of Love, Matthew 5,6,7 on Jesus Sermon on the Mount, and Hebrews 11 on the importance of faith. In this latter chapter we have the assurances and characteristics of faith shown. 1. Faith is the foundation of Hope. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for... Vs. la. What we hope for we have not seen. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he let hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. (Romans 8:24, 25). What the Christian is hoping for is to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21). In the hope of such glorious deliverance we are saved. Faith guides us and hope stimulates us to patient endurance until the deliverance is given. We dont have it now but look for it in the future. Our hope causes us to be patient during the time of waiting. Without hope we would not endure, nor strive to obtain. Hope anchors our soul to the eternal world. If hope is lost, all is lost. Faith in the promises of God is the foundation of our hope of having them. 2. Faith is the evidence of things not seen Hebrews 11:1. One version puts it conviction of things not seen and another puts it certain of what we do not see. Since faith is based on evidence given in the Bible of the things of God (Romans 10: 17), when all the evidence is in we have a conviction of the truthfulness of those things not seen. This is because the evidence is overwhelming and so proven that it cannot be disproved nor denied. There is certainty in faith of the things we do not see yet hope to one day enjoy. Thats how faith overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). 3. Strong faith is that by which we will be commended by God. For by it the elders obtained a good report. (Hebrews 11:2). It was because of their faith that the men of the Old Testament were commended by God. Faith leads people to do whatever God commands, at His command, so they can have His promises. Blessed are they that do His commandments that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14). 4. Faith gives us the understanding of how this world came into being. 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 that do appear. (Hebrews 11 :3). The heavens and the earth were spoken into existence by God the almighty creator. As the Psalmist put it, He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.(Psalm 33:9). The reason the Psalmist said this was to Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him (Psalm 33:8). Man needs to humble himself before God. Man needs to worship God. Man needs to accept the truth of Jesus Christ and obey it (John 8:32). When we understand how this world came into being it will help us also understand that the heavens and earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men: (2 Peter 3:7). This will cause us to get ready to leave this world. 5. Faith is that by which people of God of old have moved to obey the Lord, worship him, and trust in His promises. A. Faith caused Abel to offer the sacrifice that was pleasing to God and efficacious to his salvation. (Hebrews 11:4). B. Faith caused Enoch to so please God that God translated him without seeing death (Hebrews 11 :6). When we read the account of his life in the Old Testament it is said that Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years (Genesis 5:22). Also, And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Four short verses of Genesis records all we know of this man Enoch but what a history he made. When his firstborn son was born he started walking with God. He realized he needed God and that his family needed God. Having a family caused a new attitude on this man. The world was growing increasingly wicked but Enoch refused to follow the crowd. He walked with God. He along with Elijah were the only two people who did not have to die a physical death. He must have been so close to God that one day God took him out of this world by translation. C. Faith caused Noah to move with fear, prepare the ark and to save his house (Hebrews 11 :7). D. Faith caused Abraham to leave his country, and his family to go to a place his seed would receive for an inheritance. Hebrews 11:8 says that when God called him he obeyed and went. What an example to us to do what we are called in the gospel to do. E. The faith of Moses parents caused them to hide him for three months then put him in an insulated basket in the river Nile where Pharaohs daughter found him, rescued him, and raised him to have all the learning of Egypt (Hebrews 11:23). F. The faith of Moses caused him to refuse to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. He had respect for the prophecies of the coming of Christ and wanted to be a recipient of the recompence of the reward Christ brought. (Hebrews 11 :24-26). G. It was by faith that Moses led them from the bondage of Egypt and they all passed through the Red Sea on the path God prepared for them. (Hebrews 11 :29). H. It was by faith that Joshua led the Israelites to march around the walls of Jericho for seven days at the command of God. Those walls fell down and Israel won their first victory in the promised land (Hebrews11 :30). Rahab the harlots faith in God caused her to hide and protect the spies from Israel. She was delivered from destruction when the walls fell and taken into the nation of Israel. She bore a son in the lineage of Christ. (Hebrews 11 :31). 6. Faith in God causes us to seek him and to be pleasing to Him. (Hebrews 11 :6). Be strong in faith and make it perfect by obeying God. C. D.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 11:25:42 +0000
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