Text:
Hebrews 11:1:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Theme:
A Saving Faith
Introduction:
- The Epistle of Hebrews remains without an author. Paul, Barnabas, Priscilla, Luke, and Apollos have all been mentioned as potential authors, but the final author is still unknown.
- The Epistle of Hebrews is noted for its being written in the most sophisticated style of Greek containing over 140 rare words that are not found anywhere else.
- Hebrews is the book of the New Testament written to the Hebraic people and founded upon the superiority of Christianity and its manifestation in the Christian life. The Chapter on Faith, chapter eleven from which our text is taken, is a pillar of Christian literature.
- Faith is the saving principle in the Christian’s life…snatching the child of God from the bowels of sins condemnation…A Saving Faith.
- Webster’s defines faith in three basic ways:
- Loyalty – Being a Faithful friend
- Allegiance to a duty, a person, or a promise – Having faith that our parents will take care of
- Complete confidence – Having faith in a friend
- With this same definition, Faith is an essential element of our Christian experience:
- Loyalty – Being a Faithful church member
- Allegiance to a duty, a person, or a promise – Having faith that God will take care of
- Complete confidence – Having faith in God
- In the Old Testament, faith primarily referred to “loyalty”.
- In the New Testament, faith primarily refers to the Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as it relates to man’s salvation.
Body:
- Where does faith (in God) come from?
- Origin is in the Steps to Salvation:
- Repentance – gives not Faith but freedom
- Believing in Jesus Christ — the born, lived, suffered, hung, bled, died, buried, and rose again for the remission of sins – gives not Faith but direction
- Being baptized – gives not Faith but confirmation
- Receiving the Holy Spirit – plants FAITH in the new believer
- Third person of the Trinity completes the full presence of God in your life.
- Maintenance is in Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
- We get more faith by “hearing” the Word of God manifested in our lives.
- What is the impact of faith on our lives?
- Faith allows the Christian to enjoy the fulfillment of God’s promises before they actually fulfilled.
- FROM A PRINCIPLE TO A TOOL — The text takes the understanding of Faith a step further
- Origin is in the Steps to Salvation:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
- “Now faith” – Faith is the way to a relationship with God. It is a now issue…not a tomorrow issue. It is a now issue…not yesterday’s news.
- “is the substance” – Faith is the reality of God for the Christian. Through faith God is there to wipe to tears away. It is faith which we reach for in troubled times. It is faith that we reach for when the heart is heavy. It is faith that we reach for when the spirit is weak.
- “of things hoped for” – Faith is the power that keeps hope alive and real in our life.
- “the evidence” – Faith is the proof to the mind of the reality of things that cannot be seen by the physical eye.
- “of things not seen” – Faith is the sight of the fulfillment of God’s promises before they actually happens.
How to use faith — Faith as a Tool
- Without faith it is impossible to please 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.”
- We walk by faith
- 2Corinthians 5:7, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
- We live by faith
- Romans 1:17, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
- We have assurance by faith
- Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
- We are justified by faith
- Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
- We are sanctified through faith
- Acts 26:18, “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
- We have righteousness through faith
- Romans 4:3, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
Why use Faith?
- Faith is the tool that we use to save us from the burden of this world’s trials and tribulations – As James 1:6 says, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
Conclusion:
- A Saving Faith
- Salvation is most often referred to as the deliverance from the guilt and pollution of sin through accepting the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus Christ. At this point we are given a portion of faith as a reward.
- It is faith that “saves” the Christian from having the trials and tribulations of this world overwhelm them.
- Faith:
- Strengthens – We have an advocate in Jesus Christ
- Provides – Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and all these things will be added unto you.
- Lifts – Lifts the Christian above their worldly circumstances
- A Saving Faith will:
- Move mountains
- Heal a sick body
- Calm a troubled mind
- Soften a hard heart
- Save a sin-sick soul
- Salvation is most often referred to as the deliverance from the guilt and pollution of sin through accepting the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus Christ. At this point we are given a portion of faith as a reward.
- As the hymn, “Have Faith in God”, says
“Have faith in God, He’s on His throne; Have faith in God, He watcheth o’er His own; He cannot fail, He must prevail; Have faith in God, Have faith in God.”
- Have Faith, A Saving Faith:
- In spite of your sorrow
- In spite of your worry
- Because Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But Faith looks up……..
- Jesus Is a Rock
- Jesus is a rock in weary land, weary land, weary land. Jesus is a rock in a weary land, shelter in a time of a storm.
- Meet me Jesus meet me. Meet me if you please. If I can’t meet you standing up, I will bow down on my knees.
- Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free. No, there’s a cross for everyone, and there’s a cross for me.
- Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.
- A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, an ever dying soul to save, and fitted for the sky.
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