We would look at this, and we
will. As we noted, God's Word says
a great deal about faith. A great deal. We know that verse very well,
don't we, in Ephesians 2, verse 8. And we emphasize what we should
emphasize. By grace are you saved. through faith. No one is saved
without faith. No one is saved apart from believing. Our Lord said, Believe, he that
believeth, and is baptized shall be saved. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Believe, believe. Faith, as we said, is believing
God, believing Christ. Faith is belief and trust from
the heart. Very simply, very simply, faith
is believing from the heart that I am a poor, needy sinner, that
God is God. I bow to him as such. He's my
God. I bow to his sovereign claims
and right to be God. And Christ is my hope, my only
hope of eternal life. That's faith. That's faith. The thief on the cross. I'm going to make time, let's
go over there, OK? Luke 23. Luke chapter 23. This is, to me, one of the best
examples of saving faith in all the Spirit. Luke 23. And it's fitting, isn't it, that
the chief of sinners, this man, the chief of sinners, and he
was, nobody could argue that, would be a good example of saving
faith. Here's his confession. Luke 23. Verse forty three forty three.
Now this one. Thief said to the other rebuked
his friend saying does not fear God. The man began to fear God. Seeing
that are in the same condemnation and we indeed justly for we receive
the due reward of our deed. In other words we're guilty.
And we're getting what's coming to us. Fear of God. Admission of guilt. But this
man has done nothing amiss. He's a holy one. And he said unto Jesus. He looked
to Jesus. Looking unto Jesus. He looked
over at Christ crucified. Is that saving faith? He looked
to Christ and said, Lord. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom, your king. You have a kingdom. And the only
way to get there is if you, whoever says, whoever you say gets there. Can I come? That's a good example
of saving faith. beef on the crop. Why? Now go
back to our text. Why is faith important? Why does
God put so much emphasis on faith? Why is faith important? Well,
a few reasons, or more than a few, but here are a few. Faith glorifies God. Faith, true
faith, glorifies God, because to believe God because he said
so, that glorifies God. That says that he is true, that
whatever he promised. Isn't that what the scripture
says that Abraham believed? Abraham believed God, that he
was able, that what he promised he was able. And that was imputed
to him for righteousness. He believed God. Faith glorifies
God. It believes his word. That he's
faithful and true faith to believe what you don't see. See, the
just live by faith, not sight. We believe things that are not
saying Peter said, whom have you not seen you love? To believe
what you don't say, or rather who you don't say. You must totally
trust the one who tells you what you believe. And all that we
believe is what God has told us through his work. So to believe
him without seeing, we read of those people in Hebrews 11, they
didn't receive the promise, but they believed. That That glorifies
the one who told you these things. You trust him implicitly. I have
never seen this place, but like Abraham said, I've never seen
this place. But since you said it, I believe. And so I'm going.
That glorifies God. It's easy to believe things that
you see. Isn't it? Real easy. And faith, why does
God say so much about faith? Faith makes us accountable. Or
lack of faith. Whoever does not believe. God
charges him with that. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Whoever is damned, God can justly
say to that person in the end, you didn't believe. It's your fault. I said believe
and you didn't believe. Right? That makes all men and
women accountable, and whoever doesn't believe is calling God
a liar. See, no one can be indifferent.
All right, now, as we said, faith, very simply, is belief, trust,
love of God in Christ. Now, tonight, we're going to
look at this second part of verse 1, Hebrews 11, the evidence Of
faith, we looked at what faith is Sunday morning, but now here. Talks about the evidence. Of
faith, faith is evidence of things not seen. Verse one faith is
the substance of things, hope things, hope for believing God,
believe in Christ, believe in his word gives us confidence
of having those things that we hope for eternal life. And faith
is the evidence of things not saying. And then this passage
gives all these examples of people who gave evidence of having this
faith. Now, stay with me, this is going
to be a blessing, you're going to be glad you came here tonight,
I'm just certain of that. Faith is evidence, real faith,
real belief, real trust, real love for God and his word, unseen
God, the unseen Christ, is itself evidence that God is. We read
over there in chapter 11, the last part where it talks about
these people being tortured and mocked and scourged and stoned
and sawn asunder and thrown to the lion's den and so forth.
How could people do those things if it were not of God? Why would somebody endure such
things? if it were not of God. I know
there are religious zealots all over the world. I know that.
They suicide bombers. I know that. I know there are
counterfeits all over the world, but these are real. These are true. These are not
religious zealots practicing a hate doctrine, you
know. These are people who love God. Go with me to Ephesians one you
know these you know these things before we. Read them and. Tell them but you know in my
heart but. See true saving faith is a supernatural
work of God. That's what I'm trying to say
is that faith itself true faith like these people showed is evidence
that God is. You, if you truly believe, and
some of you do, I believe, are evidence that God is. You are
a miracle of God's saving grace, of the work of the Holy Spirit.
You are. Ephesians 1 talks about how God blessed us according
as he has chosen us in Christ before the world began, predestinated
us to be his children. Now in verse thirteen, it says,
In whom in Christ you also trusted after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. Paul said, Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing the preached word. And there was a day when you
heard the preached word, preaching of the gospel. And how shall
they hear without a preacher? You heard the preached word,
the gospel of Christ, and you believed. You believe from the
heart, verse 15. And so Paul writes to these Ephesians
that said, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love
unto the same. So that's a gift of God to that's
proof. He says, I cease not to give thanks for you, I thank
God. Because he gave you that. We gave you that. And it's not of yourself, verse
16. He said, well, I'll cease not
to give thanks. Chapter two says you were dead in sins. You walked
according the course of the world, children of disobedience, children
of wrath, even as others, but God. God quickened you, God raised
you up, verse eight, by grace you're saved through faith. He
gave you this gift of faith. Over there in verse nineteen
of chapter one, it says, You believe according to the working
of his mighty power. See, this is proof. And I was
going to have you turn to First Thessalonians, you remember where
Paul said, I know your elect brethren. I know you are. Because the gospel came not in
word only, but in power. Holy Spirit, much assurance.
You became followers of us. You endured afflictions and trials
and persecution and so forth. Your examples, as the word sounded
out from, you turned to God from idols. You renounced your former
religion and on and on. And he said in II Thessalonians
2, you are bound to give thanks to God, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through the sanctification of the Spirit and What? Belief of the truth. Whereunto
he called you by our gospel. So this thing of true saving
faith is evidence that God is. That God has chosen, operated
on, given life to someone. Everybody doesn't believe. He
that believeth, I love this verse, he that believeth hath life.
Doesn't say shall have life. His half-life. Faith is proof
of life. No matter how weak it is. No
matter how weak it is, it's proof of life. Proof that God has done
something to you. All right, now that's where we
get faith. It's a gift of God, the work of His Spirit, His power. But let's look at some of these
evidences of faith. The evidence of faith, faith
itself is an evidence, but let's look at how faith is known. All right. The evidence that
faith produces. All right, we saw over there
that great verse, verse 38, the just shall live by faith, the
just shall live. What is it to live? The live
means to act, think, walk, talk, react, respond, live. It's everything you do when you
live. You long for things, you love things, you look for things,
you laugh at things, you live by faith. The just shall live
by faith. Let's look at some of these people
that live by faith and how we see that they did. Four begins
with this man named Abel. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Now, you know this story.
But this is a real life story of two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain being the oldest, Abel his
younger brother. A real life story. Two brothers
with the same parents. same raising. They were raised
the same way. You know they were. You know
that Adam and Eve taught both of these sons the same thing. Adam and Eve taught both of these
boys about the fall, what happened in the garden. They taught both
of these boys what God, what Christ, whom they talked to,
told them about the woman's Didn't it? You know that it. I bet you
Adam brought it up every other day, if not every day. And they told both of these boys
about God taking that lamb in the garden and slaying that lamb
and shedding that blood and clothing them with the skin of that innocent
lamb and what that represented. You know, they did, don't you? God taught that first center
there is only one way to come before him, one way for his sins
to be covered, and that's by the blood, the blood of a substitute. And Adam and Eve taught both
of these boys that without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sin. Both of these boys came, now
they weren't boys, they were men. Both of them came to worship
God one day. Abel brought a lamb and he cut its throat and poured
out that blood and offered that lamb as a blood sacrifice. Cain didn't. Cain thought that
his garden patch, what he had done, his vegetables and all
that looked better than that old blood. Cain liked what he
did better. And he thought, God will be surely
pleased with my hard work. After all, Abel didn't do anything. My brother Abel, he didn't put
any work into that. And God flat out rejected Cain.
And God accepted Abel because of their sacrifice. How do we know Abel believed?
This is the first example, people, of faith. The first example of
faith in Scripture has to do with the blood. Abel brought blood. The other
did not. And all religions are found under those two headings.
It doesn't matter what denomination they are. Some of us were talking about
that the other day. It doesn't matter whether it's Catholic,
Southern Baptist, whatever. All religion is found under one of these two headings, grace or works. The religion of Abel, blood, the blood of Christ, or
works. God's will, God said, this is
what God said, bring the blood. Or man's will. I know what God
said, but I think. One believed God. Why did Abel
believe God and Cain didn't? Same parent, they heard the same
truth. God gave able to pay. That's
that's it plain and simple sovereign electing grace God chose able
it's fitting in that that the elder. Was serving. That's where it
all started. Sovereign electing grace so the
first and primary evidence of true faith. Is blood. Blood. Christ crucified is the
starting point of all believers' worship, and the ending, because
we read there he's the author and finisher of the fact. So when it comes to worship,
what's the evidence that people really believe when it comes
to worship? Everybody says they do. Everybody
says they do. Come Sunday, these places are
full of people. So-called worship. How do you
know what's evidence of true saving that? Some really come
through Christ. Others don't. That's the first example. All
right, there's worship. Here's a walk. You don't begin
with a walk. You begin with worship. See that? Now, here's a walk. Genesis.
I'm sorry, Hebrews eleven verse five, by faith, Enoch. And over
in Genesis five, verse twenty-two, it says, Enoch walked with God. And you know that story. It's
a blessed story. Enoch, that he was translated, that is, he
did not die, but he walked right on into glory one day. He was
not found. One day he left the house or whatever and never came
back. He didn't die. He walked right
on into glory. And before that, it says he had
this testimony, please God, but without faith. It's impossible
to please God. Well, how did he walk with God?
What do you mean walk with God? Well, I'll tell you. Enoch was
a working man. You can't live 365 years and
not hold a job. Not earn some money. You can't
have all the descendants that he probably had. You laughed at the thought with
me that he may have had as many as 30 or 40 teenagers in his
house at one time. All of them needing new wheels
for their chariots. Seriously, something. This man had to do
some work, had to earn some money. So he worked. He's a working
man, family man. You think he's got a lot of responsibilities? Think he's got a lot of problems?
A lot of things weighing on heavy on his mind? Think he's got a
lot to do? You think there's a lot that occupied his mind
during the day? You think he had to work on the
house, keep the livestock? Twelve hours
a day, I'm sure he worked. Working man, family man. He lived
and walked and worked in the world. But he didn't walk with the world. There's a difference. He was
in the world. He wasn't out of the world. He walked with God. How do we
know that Enoch had faith and loved God? It says he walked
with God. One of my favorite verses, where's
that bell on you? One of my favorite verses, Amos
3, 3, can two walk together except they be agreed? Now Enoch walked with God. It
doesn't say God walked with Enoch. Have you ever walked with somebody? That means they know where they're
going, and you're with them. My wife's dad used to be a brisk
walker. I don't walk slow, but man, when
he walked, he walked. It's hard to keep up with. And
you walk with him, he's ahead of you. You walk with somebody,
he has walked with God, not vice versa. Not this Jesus take the
wheel crap, you know. God might, oh, I don't even know
why I'm brought to this. Well, you know why. Because that's
what the world thinks. The believer walks with God.
And to walk with God, you agree with God. Can two walk together
except they be agreed? Enoch agreed with God on everything. Enoch agreed with God on everything.
His family didn't. Maybe. His neighbors didn't,
maybe. His co-workers didn't. Does this
sound familiar? They weren't interested in his
God. They didn't believe his God. And though anybody else
walked with, didn't, though everybody else did not walk with God, he
did. The world is enmity with God,
scripture says. The world hates God. That's what God says, doesn't
it? Isn't that what God said, Romans 8, 7? A natural person
hates God? The world doesn't believe God.
They don't believe anything God says. You know that? They don't
believe anything God says. Starting with creation. Do they? Come on. The world doesn't believe
anything God says. Believers believe everything
God says, Deborah, don't they? Why? Because God said it. How
do you know it's true? Because God said it. Well, I don't believe it. There was a time when I didn't.
I questioned everything that my parents believed, people believed,
the Bible said. I questioned it all. But God,
man, one day said, You will believe me, won't you? I said, Yes, I
will. Enoch walked with God. The world
didn't. His companions. So if to walk with God, you can't
walk with the world. His companions were not worldly. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Can life have fellowship with darkness? Can
Christ have fellowship with Baal? Impossible. Impossible. David said, I'm a companion of
them that fear thee. If there were any other God companions
walkers with God that's in France. And count on that can to walk
together except that they agree I'm not friends with somebody
that hates my wife. And I'm sure not friends with
somebody that hates my God. You say well old Jimmy Joe my
friend he doesn't hate God. Asking. Have you ever told him
that you're gone? Have you ever declared to God
the Bible for Jimmy Joe? Have you ever told him that God
does not love everybody and that Christ didn't die for everybody
and God elected the people for the world again just simply because
he would. He'll do what he will with whom
he will because he will. He's God. If he sends everybody
to hell, it's what everybody deserves. Have you told Jimmy
Joe that? If you do, you watch the hatred come out in old Jimmy
Joe, for God. You watch it. Your dear old grandmother, you
watch the veins pop out in her neck. We saw it in my wife's
grandmother, sweetest little old lady you could ever know,
until we told her about the God battle. Didn't you, man? You saw the anger and the enmity
rise up in her. That's the way it is with everybody.
Until God does something for them. Like
you. That's the way you were. That's the way you were. Enoch walked with God. Not the
world. He agreed with God. Do you? Do you agree with God? I love,
don't you love that verse, John, David, Psalm 119, 128, is it? I esteem all thy precepts concerning
all things to be right. What's the rest of it? And I
hate every false way. I say God is true and every man
is a liar. I hate everything is anti-God
and anti-Christ. I hate it. Ain't it welcome to God? And
God took it. Now that's something, isn't it? One day God said, come on out
of here. Come home. You come with me.
The righteous are taken. The righteous perish. Spared
from the evil days to come. Noah, look at this. Verse seven,
Noah, by faith, Noah being warned of God. Noah heard the word of
God, faith cometh by hearing the word of God, right? Noah
was warned of God. God told Noah. Now, listen to me. I know we've
already seen before, but this is all. Noah heard from God that God
was angry with the wicked every day. Noah heard that God was angry. It repented me that I made man.
That's what God said, and Noah heard that. And I'm going to
destroy man from the face of the earth. That's what Noah heard,
didn't he? Noah didn't hear that God loved
everybody. God did not tell him that. What Noah heard was the wrath
of God, the anger of God, the holy and just God's anger against
a sinful world. That's what Noah heard. That's
what you hear. Time and time again. And wasn't that the starting
point of Noah's preaching for 120 years? 120 years! People
that heard him said, you're going to preach the same thing today?
Yes, because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Look
at it, verse 7. Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen, moved with fear. Moved with fear. He feared God. That's the beginning.
And moved. He acted. He acted. How do we know Moab had faith?
He moved, buddy. He was working on his salvation.
You know what I'm talking about? He began working out his salvation
with fear and trembling. What? The ark. He got up off his haunches and
went to work on that ark. And that's all he did for the
rest of his days. His life was around that ark. Day in and day out, all he thought
about, he ate, drank, and slept in the ark. Do you reckon he
knew what that ark was, Tammy? Do you reckon he knew what that
ark represented? Do you reckon he, after 120 years,
he didn't know that that ark represented Jesus Christ, didn't
know his name was Jesus? You reckon God told him what
the ark represent? Of course he did. God has made
known the mystery of his will to all his people. That's what
faith is. It's in Christ, not in a boat.
No one didn't have faith in a boat. He believed Christ. And he prepared
that ark. And look at this. It says he
did this to the saving of his house. Listen to me. Fathers,
listen to this. To the saving of his house, he
worked on this boat. He prepared that ark. And you
know, while he was doing that, I know he was thinking, why did
God tell me this? Why did God choose me? You reckon,
why did God tell me this? He went over and told his neighbors,
Sam, Sam, did you hear about it? No, I didn't hear. Well,
it's so, God, I don't believe that. Why did God call me? That's what
Noah thought every day. Why did God choose me? Why did
God tell me this? I'm sure glad he did. Oh, Lord, thank you for calling
me. It says he did this to the saving
of his house for 120 years. How do you know Noah believed
God? Faith is evidence. How do you know Noah believed
God? It says he did this to the savings of his house. Every morning
he'd say, Shem, Ham, Japheth, get out of bed. We're going to
work on that ark. Every day. Shem, son, get up. Oh, Dad, we're not going to work
on that ark again. Yes, sir. Yes, we are. Dad, you really believe that
story? I sure do, son. Dad, nobody else believes that.
I do. Get up. Dad, I don't want to. Get up! You're coming with me. You hear that? Kids, you don't
have to sit in church for 120 years. But bless God, if just a few
years he reveals Christ the Ark to you, you'll be sure glad Dad's
brought you here. Son, get up. You're coming with
me. I believe God, and I want you
in that ark. Do you understand that, Mary?
I want you in that ark, and if I have to drag you in, I'm going
to drag you in. I ain't coming. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. As long as you're under my roof,
you're going to be in that ark. Did Noah believe God? Did Shem,
Ham, and Japheth make it? They said, Dad, what? We don't,
it's never, Dad, come on. He said, sons, you'll find out. You will find out. Everybody's
going to find out. The whole world's going to find
out, son. The whole world's going to know that God is present.
Get in the ark. And bless God, one day they did. And one day the rain started
coming down. And that door shut. And were they ever glad that
Dad made them come around the ark? Huh? How do you know nobody?
And by it, he condemned the world. You see that? It says, by this,
he condemned the world. Stephen? Nobody believed like
he did. Nobody believed like he did.
Nobody. None of his co-workers, his neighbors,
didn't believe that. Every one of them, two of them,
said, Noah thinks he's right and everybody's wrong. Noah says that God must reveal
himself to you. Noah says that God doesn't love
everybody. Noah says that God's going to
destroy everybody. Everybody said, Noah, you're
a fool. Noah said, I'll be a fool for
God's sake. And Barbara, I love when he got
in that, when God told him to come in that ark. And this was the greatest display
of faith by God's grace in power, the greatest display of faith
at all, even over 120 years of working on it. When he went in
that ark and sat there for seven days, when the sun was shining outside,
and the whole world passing by, just laughing and scoffing and
mocking. And they were all felt kind of
a shame, I'm sure. But then all of a sudden, boom. Door shut. Everybody shut out. And Noah shut in. Shut up to
faith. Now, who would do such a thing
like that? Who would do a thing like that?
Like Noah did. But by the grace of God. the
work of God. See, faith glorifies God. Oh, boy, the air of righteousness.
That's Abraham. The next verse, Abraham. I've
got to end with this. Abraham's the father of the faithful.
It says, Abraham, when he was called. Now, Abraham's seventy-five
years old. Henry Sword is seventy-five years
old. What if Henry Sword were right now a dyed-in-the-wool
Methodist Armenian. A deacon and Sunday school teacher. Right now, 75 years old. Would
you have any hope at all for him? Do you think it would be
any point in talking to him at all? Do you think he would listen
to you? Can you tell a 75-year-old religious
man anything? God can. He's the only one who
can. That's why this thing is a call,
an effectual call. Abraham was 75 years old and
an idolater. Scripture says that he was an
idolater. In other words, he had a God. He was religious.
He had a God that he worshipped. And God one day revealed himself
to him, the God of Abraham. He wasn't yet called the God
of Abraham, was he? But he revealed himself to Abraham. He called him. All whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate. Whom he predestinated, he was
called, called by his grace, called by the God of Abraham.
By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
he should have to receive for inheritance, what did he do?
He obeyed. He went out. He went out. And when God calls, you answer. He went out. What'd he went out
of? What'd he go out of? What'd he
leave? To go out, you leave something. What'd he leave? Whoever it was
and whatever it was he was with. His family, 75 years old. You know he had accumulated a
house, possessions, Family and all that. You know that. 75 years,
Dan. He accumulated all those same
connections, you know, all worldly, all these little things you have
after 75 years. He's comfortable. He's now comfortable. He's now fit for retirement age,
Ron. 75 years old, retiree, religious
retiree. He leaves. He leaves his home. He leaves
his religion. He leaves everybody, his friends,
his neighbors. He leaves them all, Hannah. Where's
he going? He's never been there. He doesn't
know. He's going with God. I've never been to heaven, have
you? I've never been to glory. I've never seen it. I know who has been there. That's who told me about it.
And he is away. So I'm going with him. And he
leaves. And it says in verse 9, he sojourned.
That means he's traveling through. Verse 10, he looked for a city. That foundation is builder and
maker of God. Looking forward. Looking for
means looking forward to a city. New Jerusalem. How about you?
Are you looking forward to that? Verse 13. Here's a good summary
of faith, and I quit. A good summary. How do we know someone has faith?
What's the evidence of it? Well, it says these people, verse 13, these people all died
in faith. So and so believes. Well, I hope
so. I hope so. And how do you really
know? They died. And it says here that they died. These Old Testament saints died
not having received the promises, that is, the promised land, but
they saw them afar off. Paul said that same thing in
Philippians 3, didn't he? Forget the things that are behind.
He's just like Abraham. Forgetting those things which
were high, pressing for the prize and the mark of the high calling
of God, far off, all the way to the throne of God. Having
seen them afar off, see faith is sight, and they were persuaded
of them. Are you persuaded? Can anybody persuade you differently?
First of all, did anybody persuade you to believe what you believe,
rather who you believe. Did anybody persuade you? No man persuaded you. God did. Persuaded. And embraced them.
It's one thing to be persuaded. I believe that. You see, with the heart, man
believes. The heart is the affection. Believe the truth. Love the truth. Love for Christ. Embrace them. Embrace something means to hug
tight. Hold on tight. Hug up. And confess. Here's their confession. We don't
belong here. We don't belong here. We're not going to stay here.
This is not my continuing city. This is just not what I'm living
for. This is not what I long for. I'm thankful for all this,
but this is just not what has captured my attention. This is
not what I love. You see, you know, all these
people have these little lights and little bumper stickers. I love
something. I love that. Every believer confesses. strangers
and pilgrims. We're passing through. We're
looking for a city which has foundations of builder and maker
as God. I believe in Him. I trust Christ. I'm looking forward
to seeing Him someday. Being with Him and His people
forever. And He that said it is faithful and true. All right,
stand with me. Our Lord and our God, thank You,
thank You, thank You for Your Word. It is truly Your power, and we've
said this before, but we know, we've felt it, we've heard it.
And without it, we'd be in darkness, even as others. But, God, You
have shined in our hearts to give the light, this blessed
light. which is your Son, the Son of
Righteousness in our hearts. We thank you, Lord. Thank you
for the faith you've given your people and ask that you would
increase it, strengthen it. Keep us, Lord, keep us cleaving
to thyself and still believe it. Deliver us from this world. Deliver the world from us and
make us walk by faith like these witnesses,
this great cloud of witnesses, Lord. May our names be written
along with theirs. It's in Christ's name we ask
these things and have met here tonight. Amen. you.