Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I'd like to deal with verses
33 through 40 this evening. And I've entitled this message, the evidence of faith. Before we look at the Lord's
Word, let's ask His blessing. Our Father, this evening we call
upon You and ask Your help. Lord, truly we are needy people.
We ask Your blessing upon Your Word. Lord, if you bless, we'll
be blessed. If you speak, we'll hear. Oh
God, leave us not to ourselves. Help us, we pray, according to
your everlasting purpose for Christ's sake. Amen. During this whole chapter, chapter
11, we've taken quite a bit of time considering
divinely given examples of faith. And we saw in the lives of different
ones, Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, different ones, in the
judges, in the prophets, We saw the evidence of faith. Believers in whom God evidenced
the glorious grace of His blessing in causing these people to set
forth that they believed God. Believe in God. Faith. I was telling the men just before
we came in, faith is something we read about, we talk about it, we preach about
it. But I'm telling you, faith is
like prayer. I don't know a whole lot about
it. People say, you've got to be
kidding me. Do you? Do you? Do you see it truly evidenced?
I mean truly, strongly in yourself. I know what the Scripture says
about it. Hebrews 11.1. Now faith is. It's what it is. It is the substance. That is,
it's the confidence. of things hoped for, it's the
evidence, it's the proof of things, of deeds, of acts that are not
seen. I think about what the scripture
says about the book of life that was written from before the foundation
of the world. I know what the Scripture says
about eternal election, and I hear that, and I truly rejoice in
that. I believe I do. I know that the Word of God says
that the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross as our surety, bearing
all of our sin in His body. Scripture relates that as being
made Sin. Actually made sin. And I don't even know what sin is. Transgression of the law. That's
what the Scripture says. I don't even know the extent
of the law's demand. These things are too high for
me. I know that the Scripture says
that soon This body, this mortal is going to put on immortality.
That we're going to be changed in a moment, the twinkling of
an eye. And for those in Christ, we're going to see Him as He
is. And I believe that, but oh, how
it grieves me how little I believe. I think what I believe helped
my unbelief. Faith. I know it's not common
to all men. I know the Scripture says that
all men have not faith. I know that it's the gift of
God that's given at the moment of conversion. I know Brother Henry said one
time, somebody asked him, which came first, life or faith? He said, you can't separate them.
I thought that was a good answer. I'm glad he said that. I might
need to answer him one day. I might need that, Mitch. I know
that Almighty God gives faith to everyone that He's everlastingly
purposed to save. I know this about faith, that
it evidences life. John 3.36, He that believeth
on the Son, I believe Him. I believe Him. Paul says, I know in whom I have
believed. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Right now, he possesses it. I know that faith evidences His
mercy. 1 John 1.12. But as many as received
Him, That word received is not the
word that means to take something that's offered. That's not the
word. It means one that has been made
to accept. One that has been by an act of
God's sovereign grace, has had God's power wrought upon Him,
and it's given unto you to believe. That's what it means. As many
as received Him, not from my act, from His act. So as many as received Him, to
them, this is what happened, gave He power to become, or that
is, to come into being, to be made manifest, the sons of God. As many as received Him, to them
gave He power gave He evidence that they have come into actual
revelation of that they are the sons of God. Because you are
sons, God has given you the Spirit of His Son. You didn't become
sons. You came into being. Being made
manifest that you were sons. So faith is that marvelous grace
that we know that the Lord must give. We don't have it as being
born in Adam. It's wrought within the believer
by the power and grace of God. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights.
That's what John 1.7 says. I know this concerning faith. The Lord must sustain it. He said, without Me, you can
do nothing. You do nothing. You say, does that mean I can't
even believe? That's exactly what it means.
You don't have the power to believe. Where do you think that you'd
get the power to do that? Faith is the gift of God. The Lord, if it is increased,
I just quoted that, the Lord increase our faith, Mark 9.24. If faith is increased, and evidently
it can be because they ask for it. If faith be increased, here's
how it increases. It always increases in a knowledge,
a growing knowledge, of the Lord Jesus Christ in His sufficiency
and in my weakness. Faith made to grow always shows
a greater magnification of our weakness. Always. But faith given is always referred
to as ours. And it is that faith that the
Lord Jesus Christ is said to see. He sees it. As I said last
Sunday, this is the only thing that I see. Paul says, I see
in me that is in my flesh. There dwells no good thing. That's
what I see. That's the only thing that I
see. Knowing that I see Him is frail. It's embarrassing to me. When
Jesus, Mark 2, 5, saw their faith, remember these fellows that was
bringing their buddy, he was sick of the palsy, and they couldn't
get through to the Lord Jesus Christ. So they went up on top
of the building where he was and took off some of the shingles
and stuff like that and kind of made an opening and lowered
him down. When Jesus saw their faith, I read that and I wondered, was
it the guys carrying him or was it all of them when he saw their
faith? He said to the sycophant, son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. I know this where he sees faith,
there's forgiveness. is that gift by which no man
without it is going to please God. Faith in His Son. Believe in Christ. We live and
walk by it. But the moment we think that
somehow we've cultivated it, energized it, increased it, it
is no more faith But it is now self-righteous works. And we'll
boast in it. Be proud about it. And it doesn't
please God. I'm telling you, it's an amazing
thing, this thing of faith. All of these people that walk
by faith, that walk by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith,
and the moment we think that we've truly done something by
faith, We're proud of it. It's increased by the Holy Spirit's
blessing through hearing the gospel. This right here is the
only way that it comes. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the gospel, by the Word of God. This is it. This
is how it's increased, this is how it's given, this is how it's
maintained. And a believer is always proven
to have it by trials. Trials. 1 Peter 1.7, that the
trial of your faith, the testing, the experience, the proving of
it, Being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though
it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Faith. This blessed
grace called faith is not easily, if it is ever, discerned within
the believer himself. Not easily, if it's ever discerned. We walk and we live and we have
our being in Him. And I'm telling you, there's
a constant battle that goes on all the time. And I know, as I said a moment
ago, Paul says, in whom I have believed. I'm persuaded that
He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day." And a believer is confident in the Lord's ability,
in the Lord. And my old man tells me how proud
I ought to be for believing that. The believer discerns weakness,
weakness, A believer discerns weakness when true faith is exercised. And I'm going to give you proof
of that in just a second. A believer discerns weakness when faith is exercised. That's
what I'm saying. To perceive it. I mean, I'm talking
about truly perceiving it and truly seeing it as the Lord sees
it. The believer sees weakness. Weakness. Two examples of great faith.
Here is my proof of what I just said. Two examples of great faith. Great faith was given by the
Lord Jesus Christ. One of them was concerning a
centurion, and the other was a Syrophoenician woman. A woman,
the Scripture says, of Canaan, a centurion, asked the Lord's
healing for his son. He says, Lord, my son is sick. The Lord says, I'll go and heal
him. He said, Lord, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy for you to come
to my house. I don't know Wasn't worthy. Embarrassed. I'm not worthy. He said, I'm a man of authority. I say to this one, go. He goes.
I say to this one, come. He comes. He said, Lord, if you
just speak the Word. The Lord said, I have not seen so
great faith. And I'm talking about His disciples
who was given grace to be able to work miracles. The disciples that walked with
Him and heard Him preach and dined with Him, stayed where
He was. He said, I've not seen so great
faith. The second one was a Syrophoenician
woman. She came to the Lord. She said,
Lord, my daughter, My daughter's sick. Help her. Help her. He said, it's not meat,
not fish, that I should give the children's bread to dogs. She said, Lord, you're right.
He said, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the
master's table. Have mercy on me. My daughter's sick. She'll admit what she is. I'll
admit what I am. I'm just a dog. I will be right
here to just get the crumbs that fall. If that's all I have, Lord,
that's more than I deserve. And He says, Woman, great is
your faith. Now, I'll tell you something.
I don't doubt that either, either one of those, I don't think for
one second that that Syrophoenician woman or that Centurion perceived
the greatness of their faith. They were hurting. They were
weak. And they were in need. Lord,
help me. I can't do it. Lord, only You
can do it. Is that gift of God that the
recipient always receives and evidences and perceives in himself
to be weakness, hurt? There's absolutely no confidence
in himself. You think that Syrophoenician
woman had confidence in herself? Just a dog. Call her a dog. Not fit to give the children
bread. Dogs. I'm not leaving. That's Centurion. Lord, just speak. I want you
to speak. You can. And the closing verses
of Hebrews 11, we're given some specific examples. of events
that take place. And these examples I'm going
to just look at, verses 33 to the end of the chapter, they're
given for our instruction, for our learning, encouragement.
In each of these examples, though I know that not in the same circumstances
as lives that every one of us have and we go through and we
have struggles, But I'm telling you that these examples set forth
that which Almighty God works within. He sends the trial. He gives the faith. He sustains. He teaches. Faith is His gift. Faith is His grace. Faith is from Him. Faith is not
produced in ourselves. It is the gift of God. But it evidences God's goodness
and mercy and kindness to His people. Verse 33. Who? All of these that we've looked
at. We've been in chapter 11, I would say, probably close to
a year. I'd go back, I'd tell you for
sure, but I'd say we've been here close to a year. Who? Through
faith. subdued kingdoms, that is, who
fought or contended with, subdued by faith the kingdoms with which
we war and contend with, within and without. Paul said, I see in me, that
is, in my flesh. I mentioned that earlier. There
dwells no good thing. That body of sin, that's what
he referred to. Who shall separate me from the
body of this death? There's a battle that's going
on. There's a war that's going on. And do you know how the war
is waged against that body of sin, that body of death? Faith.
Faith. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. There's a war going on. Who threw
faith? Subdued kingdoms. This war from
the outside, the world, Satan, powers and principalities. That's
what the Lord says. We wrestle not with flesh and
blood, but with principalities and powers. We have battles. Not only within,
but without. Most of the time within our family.
Most of the time within our families. Battles that go on. And it's
real. It's real. That battle is waged
by faith. And the Scripture says concerning
the victory that we know, that faith that subdues These kingdoms. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. By faith, we know that in Him
that no power shall prevail against us. We are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us, gave Himself for us. Scripture sets
forth, who wrought righteousness, who through faith subdued kingdoms."
Wrought righteousness. This is what it meant. By faith,
God's people are committed to a walk becoming to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Wrought righteousness, not that
they earned it. That would be self-righteousness.
And we're robed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
wrought righteousness right there is a walk that is becoming of
a believer. A walk that is becoming of a
believer is a walk whereby he realizes, I have no confidence
in my flesh. I need Him. Lord, as I walk,
forgive me. Lord have mercy on me. Ephesians
5.8, the Scripture says, for ye were sometimes darkness. I
notice it didn't say that you were in darkness, though we were.
But ye were sometimes darkness. See, I don't even know how to
explain that. Ye were darkness. I can understand in darkness.
In the darkness of unbelief. And that's true. But ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Walk
striving to not give offense to Him or to others. Now that's what I desire. I desire
that. Oh, but how to accomplish that
which I would? I find not. They obtained promises. By faith, we grasp hold of the
promises of God's mercy to His people. To read His Word, to
hear His voice, my sheep that hear my voice, boy, there is
no comfort as God's Word is comfort. There's no peace as the Lord's
Word is peace. Blessed by the Spirit of God,
to hear, to read of His grace and mercy is one thing, but to
attain it in my heart that it is mine is quite another. Scripture says they obtained
promises. Stop the miles of lines. I don't
doubt for one second that there is surely reference to Daniel
when he was delivered from the lions in that den. But for sure,
deliverance from certain destruction, from Satan who goes about as
a roaring lion seeking who he may devour the mouths of his
spokesmen, liars, who are nothing more than the mouthpiece of Satan,
liars on God, stopped the mouths of lions from getting to me. By faith, we obtained the promise
of God that I'm going to teach you the truth. They'll all be
taught of God. Why is it? that I believe and
someone else left to themselves doesn't. What's the difference?
The grace of God. The grace of God. I'm not smarter. I'm not more spiritual. I'm not
one that has just walked so keenly and so finely and so upstandingly
before God that I've been able, by the grace of God, I am what
I am. Verse 34, "...quenched the violence
of fire." Well, here again, surely, that would be the reference to
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But spiritually, those fiery
darts of Satan that are quenched, his lies, his threats, his deceptions,
extinguished by faith. The shield of faith. Here again,
I read that. I read that. The Scripture sets
forth that the weapons of our warfare, the weapons, the helmet
of salvation... I read where someone says Paul
was sitting there in a jail looking at a Roman guard, and the Spirit
of God moved upon him. He had a helmet on, he had a
breastplate, he had a sword, he had shod his boots, girded
about. How do we quench the fiery darts
of Satan? Faith. Faith that believes God. Quenching the fire. Quench the
violence of fire. Nebuchadnezzar told Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, bow down or not go bow down. Bow down
as you're going in the fire. Well, King, let it be known unto
you, our God's able to deliver us. But if He doesn't, you know, when God Almighty gave
those men faith to say this, but if He doesn't, I'm telling
you, that fire It was quenched to them. Quenched the violence of fire.
That fire right there, if our God doesn't deliver us right
now, He's going to deliver us perfectly in just a moment. But
I'm telling you, we're not going to bow. You throw us in, but
I'm not going to bow to your God. Your little God. Faith. Escape the edge of the sword. I don't know how many times our
Lord has delivered His people from the harm of this world.
How is it wrought? By faith. By faith, I believe
that it's appointed unto man once to die. I came out about a week ago. coming to the services on Wednesday
night because it was it was uh no it was morning it was morning
and uh a truck had parked right across katiemark right there
and i came up to try to turn left to come here just came over
the bridge i was going to turn left and i mean to tell you a
big pile of snow was there and a big 18 wheeler And I just eased
out and eased out and eased out and after a while I eased out
just as far as I could ease out until I'm committed now. I've
got to go. I'm telling you the moment, the
second I eased out, there was a vehicle at the back side of
that 18-wheeler coming here and I just gunned it. And I thought,
it's appointed unto man once to die. It just, I mean one second. One second. Could have made it. Escape the edge of the sword.
By faith, God's people know. I mean, it is a wake-up call.
Believe me. But by faith. Out of weakness, we're made strong. I think about Samson. It was
Samson, confident, confident, confident. And the Lord allowed him, out
of his confidence, or in his confidence, whichever way you
want to say it, to be taken by the Philistines. Cut his hair. No power. Put his eyes out. Put him up
and mocked him. Put him between those two pillars. Called on the Lord. God blessed
him. Scripture says, killed more Philistines
in his death than he ever did in his life. Hezekiah, he was
surrounded by the enemy. The enemy told him, he said,
none of these other gods ever delivered any of these other
kings. Which god ever delivered any king out of my hand? That's
what the enemy of Hezekiah said. Hezekiah took that letter and
spread it before the Lord. He said, Lord, you hear what
they're saying? God blessed him. Gave deliverance. Scripture says they waxed valiant
in fight and turned to flight the armies of the aliens when
David faced Goliath. Did you think that he was just
brave? You think he was just superhuman? He said, you come to me with
a sword and spear. He said, I come to you in the
name of the Lord. Where did he get the confidence
to make that statement? Scriptures? By faith. By faith. Faith has an object. It's Christ. Faith has purpose. His glory. And faith has resolve,
not unto us, not unto us, Lord, but unto you. The honor and glory
and praise. Faith says He is the mighty God
and He shall not fail. I shall not fail in Him. By faith,
the believer knows the victory is through the conqueror. the
one that loved us, and realizes that the victory is wrought for
us by God's good pleasure. Verse 35, women receive their
dead, raised to life again. In reality, yes, but by faith,
spiritually speaking right here, life is given from above. Where did the life come from
for any of the dead to be raised? It came from God. Where does
the life come from in the first resurrection, in regeneration,
in life? By faith we believe that Almighty
God has given us. One thing I know, that old form
of blind man says, where as I was blind, Now I see." That's what
a believer says. I know, I know that I didn't
see anything, but I did not realize I didn't see anything spiritually
until the Lord gave me eyes. The Scripture says that others
were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might
obtain a better resurrection. able to stand in the midst of
come what may. Some, the Scripture says, were
called upon to give all their life. Verse 36 says, others had trial
of cruel mockings. What believer has an experience
somewhat of this? Cruel mocking. for the faith
of God's elect, for the stand that they've taken, for the glorious
gospel of free grace. Cruel markings. They're just scourgings. Moreover, bonds,
imprisonment. I'll tell you, I realized that
at one time in bonds, to sin. But now, trial, mockings, scourgings,
bonds and imprisonment. Paul says, Paul, a prisoner of
the Lord Jesus Christ. People despise those who are
gladly prisoners of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bond slaves. Dying
grace. Bees that tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Cruel mocking, scourging, bonds, imprisonment, stoned, sawn asunder,
tempted, slain with a sword, wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, How does a man or a woman stand and let somebody set them on
fire? Give them a choice. I'll give
you a choice. You recant. You recant right
now. And I'll take you down. I'll
cut you loose. I'll get you off that pile of
sticks. You recant everything that you claim to believe. You
recant. You say that I do not serve God. I do not love the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I'm telling you, by the grace
of God, Scripture bears this out. History bears it out. Just
like those three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I'm not going to do it. I'm not
going to do it. You burn me, you shoot me, but
I will not deny the Lord. My friend, that's a miracle of
God's grace. That a man or woman would say,
I will not deny Him. Of whom the Scripture says, verse
38, the world was not worthy. This world that thinks that those
believers are not worthy to be in it. They're hated and despised. But I'm telling you, there's
coming a day when all are going to behold the miracle of God's
grace when they are shown to be who they are in the Lord Jesus
Christ. They've wandered in deserts,
in mountains, in dens, in caves, of the earth, all these, and
these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received
not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that
they without us should not be made perfect." Now, these last
few verses, God having provided some better thing for us. Now,
here's the thing. There were those in the Old Testament
that had the promise of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we have, the writer of Hebrews says, we have Him in reality. He's come. We have the record
right here. We read Him who walked on this
earth in perfect obedience before His Father. We have the reality
of it. They believed in the Old Testament. They believed by faith that they
were saved by Him who would come. And we believe and are saved
by Him who has come. That they without us should not
be made perfect means that they should not be perfected apart
from us. Same way. By faith. By faith. Not by the deeds of
the law, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Old Testament
saints were saved by grace through faith in Christ, the One that
would come. All God's people saved and kept
by the same way. Remember this in closing. Faith
is that principle, that grace from above. that always looks
to Christ. Faith is that through which we
are kept by the power of God. How do you know that God keeps
His people? They continue, by the grace of
God, to believe Him. It is God keeping them. They are not keeping themselves.
The reason that you continue to this moment, you that believe,
is because of faith. Faith. It's that grace by which
we persevere. Faith, that grace wrought in
God's people grabs hold. It grabs hold. It is that grace
that God working in you by which you grasp hold of His promise,
and it views the future rest as more gracious than any present
suffering. It's a marvel that any man possesses
it. It is a marvel of God's grace
and God's people Those that possess it struggle. Struggle. They know Him. And for that, they're thankful.
Lord, help us. Teach us. Show us of Yourself. And of ourselves. For Christ's
sake. Amen.