Hebrews chapter 11, and we looked at this last week, and we're going to continue looking. Some call this the faith chapter. Actually, this is the faith book
because everything about it is that which is of faith and by
faith. Now we read in chapter 11, Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen. For by it, by faith, the elders
obtained or witnessed a good report. 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. Now, last week we looked at the beginning
of this and the definition of faith, and this is a glorious
verse of Scripture. And it is not really that which
the natural man would find much comfort or in or whatever. He
would just simply kind of pass over that. That wouldn't really
be probably any help to him. But by the eye of faith, by the
grace of God giving us eyes to see, this is a glorious definition. is the substance of things hoped
for. Now we talked about the word faith there. It is a word
which literally means persuasion. That which we are convinced of. That which is the thing that
we hold to. In other words, if we are persuaded
of something, then that is the way it is. And that is the way
we see it. And that is what faith is. It
is that which we are persuaded of. Sometimes people are persuaded
of things that are not true. I mean, people have faith in
all sorts of things. And they have a persuasion. And their persuasion, you know,
even the atheist has faith, does he not? I mean, he can no more
prove in natural terms that there is a God or that there's not
a God, then the man who believes there is a God can, through natural
means, prove that there is a God. In other words, we can't, in
natural sense, prove that there's a God. And regardless of what
men might do by nature, they can't prove that. It's something
that God Himself must show a man. Faith is the gift of God. Now
the faith of the atheist is, he says he doesn't have any faith.
He says there's not a God. But how does he know that? He
doesn't know that any more than by natural realm that the man
who says there is a God believes there is a God. But they're both
persuaded, are they not? Sure they are. Now faith, that
is the persuasion. that which we hold to, just like
when Peter demonstrated faith, the Lord said, when many of the
disciples walked no more with the Lord. You see, the Lord,
in the estimation and the way that people decide whether or
not something must be right, He didn't do a very good job
when He was on earth because He had big crowds And then he
preached himself out of a crowd and pretty soon when he wound
up, he was down to a handful. And the Lord looked around and
he said to his disciples, he said, Well, are you all going
to leave too? And Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Now that is an illustration of faith because Peter said,
I'm persuaded that you're it. Now all these other people, they
weren't necessarily persuaded that he was it, were they? No,
they just, they followed him for the loaves and the fishes.
They followed him as long as he was telling them what they
wanted to hear. Now you can fill up a house telling people what
they want to hear. You know, I mean, that's evidence
today. You tell people what they want
to hear, make them feel good, and, you know, explain things
to them in a way that they like to hear somebody explain it,
and, buddy, they're all for it. But you see, that which is of
faith is not necessarily built upon the things that we like
to hear. But it is the persuasion that
we have. Now, the persuasion is the substance
or it is the basis, it is the foundation of the things that
are hoped for or expected. Now, we talked a little bit about
that last week about, you know, a man can say, well, I hope one
day to be rich. and then he sits around and doesn't
do anything, that's really not a true expectation, is it? I mean, can a man really expect
to gain a fortune in this world's goods if he doesn't work or go
out and try to do anything, if he just sits at home and plays
video games? I mean, he can hope to be rich,
can't he? But that's not a real expectation.
But an expectation is something that one sees as a reality, something
that somebody is expecting to occur. Now, how is it that we
could expect something to occur if we are not persuaded that
it shall occur? Now the reality of that, now
having said that, let me back up and say there are some who
get the cart ahead of the horse. And they believe that if you
believe something strong enough, it will happen. That's not what
I'm saying at all. See, because it's not the activity
of faith that causes things to happen, but it is rather a clear
view of the expectation of the basis of that which we rest upon
that causes us to be persuaded. Faith is the foundation of that
which we expect to occur. Now, only the Lord can give a
man that which has a true expectation and a true culmination. I mean, you know, the expectation
is one thing, the culmination is another thing. And the culmination
is the fruit of faith if the persuasion is resting upon that
which has true substance. Now, if that which we expect
to occur, it doesn't have any substance, it doesn't make any
difference how well much you believe it. I mean, you can talk
about it all day long. It is the evidence of things
not seen. It's the proof of those things
that are not seen by the naked eye. When it says not seen, that
is, they're not readily apparent. They're not appearing before
us. And then he carries on with this same thought. Keep that
in mind, the evidence of things not seen. That is, those things
which don't appear. Faith is that which is the basis
upon which we hold on to the expectation of those things which
are not yet seen. For by it, by faith, the elders
witness a good report. Now, this verse right here is
oftentimes mis- applied is mislooked at. And people say, oh yes, the
elders were, the Lord saw the faith of the elders and therefore
he blessed them. That's not what it says at all.
It says here that by it the elders witnessed a good confession is
essentially what that literally means, that they obtained a good
report, that is they declared Even as we go on to read about
Abraham declared that he looked for another country. He declared
that he did. Well, how did he declare it?
He declared it by faith. He said, I'm going out to another
place. Why did he go out to another place? Because God gave him faith
to believe and have an expectation that he had given him these things
and therefore he moved with faith. And so by faith he witnessed
a good confession. He said, this is what I believe
the Lord would have me do. I'm persuaded. I mean, why did
Paul go up to Rome when he knew that they were going to execute
him? He knew that his ultimate end
would be to be given to a sword or be given to a crucifixion.
He knew that that was going to be his end, but why did he say,
He would go because he said, I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded
that these things that I've been given are true. And the Lord
has called me unto this end. For by it the elders witnessed
a good confession. They obtained a good report.
When their report card came out, they had an A in faith. They witnessed a good confession.
They said what they believed and they stood by it and they
walked according to it. By the elders, obtained a good
report. Not a report card to God, but
a report card to us. You see, the purpose of this
chapter right here is to encourage the people of God to stand fast
in the things that they believe. And we see that in the first
verse of chapter 12, wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about without so great a cloud of witnesses. Now I've often
heard that passage taken out of its context and pictured as,
well, yeah, you've got the banisters of heaven, the balcony of heaven
up here, and all these different witnesses are looking over the
the balcony of heaven, and we're surrounded by all that cloud
of witnesses. That's not the context of what
he's saying. He said, we are surrounded by
this cloud of witnesses, these that have obtained a good report. That is, all of these are recorded
here in this 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews for our benefit. We're surrounded by a cloud of
witnesses. Look at Abraham. Look at what
he did. Look at all these other guys.
Now they witnessed a good report. They set forth before our eyes
what it is to stand for the things of God. They were not weak in
that faith. They were not those that drew
back unto perdition. Isn't that what he just said
in verse 39 of chapter 10? But we are not of them that draw
back to perdition. He said we are not the faithless.
But he said, rather we are those who are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses that have already shown us the
way of faith. This is the way of faith. That's
it. For by it the elders obtained
a good report. Now listen to what he says here.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
Word of God. Now, I heard yesterday that they
think they might have discovered the Ark. Now, they've done this
before, but this time they really believe they've got it. And this
guy claims he's actually been inside it. Now, has he and is
he? Well, the world, the religious
world and the world, the natural man says, Man, if they can find
that, I'll believe. And that the thinking, see they
say, well, we'll go over here and find this thing and just
think of all the people that will believe. I'm always reminded
of what Lester Roloff said when they had one of these expeditions
before. And they asked him, Brother Roloff,
he said, will this make you believe any stronger? No, they said,
will your faith be increased if they found the ark? He said,
if they load that thing up and drag it up here in my backyard,
he says, it won't make me believe it anymore. Then I already believe
it. Now why is that? Because it's
through faith that we understand that the world is framed by the
Word of God. It's through faith that we know
that. We don't need the scientist to tell us Well, we've discovered
that all the DNA of humanity all goes back to one individual. Now, they've come up with that,
but what do we need that? Does that cause us to, oh, well,
I didn't believe it before, but now I believe it. No, why? Because,
you see, faith is that which God gives a man, and he understands
these things because that's the way it is. at least in his understanding. I mean, that's the understanding
that we have. Now, can I prove that to somebody else? Absolutely
not. Will I try to prove it to somebody
else? Probably not, because I understand
that you can't prove it to somebody. Am I opposed to these people
that go around trying to prove creation's truth? No, I'm not
opposed to it. Do I think it's necessary? No,
because who are they proving it to? I mean, the people of
God, those who've been given faith, don't need the proof,
do they? What is faith? It's the substance of things
what? Hoped for, expected, the evidence
of things not seen. If a man sees it, why does he
yet hope for it? Because you see, faith is not
that which men in general have any knowledge of. They can't
grasp it. They can't have an understanding
because it's through faith. How do men know? How do we know
that God created the world out of nothing? How do we know it? I couldn't
tell you how I know it. I'll confess to you, I can't
believe anything else. I mean, I sit around sometimes
and think, well, maybe I'm, maybe this is just crazy, you know,
and maybe this just all happened. You know, there was a big bang,
or there was this, or there was that, and I think to it, and
I say, now, maybe this is where, I can't, I can't help it. I'm
okay, I can't help it, I can't believe it. And I know that the
man that's over here without the gift of faith, he said, well,
I can't believe that you think God created it. Well, brethren,
we're just at an impasse, are we not? Because I'm persuaded
that these things are true. Now, how did I get that way?
Because God was pleased to show me these things. By faith we
understand. that the worlds were framed by
the Word of God. Now this word, worlds, here's
an interesting word, the worlds, that word is a-i-o-n, aeon. It's a word we get, that our
English word eon comes from. What does it mean? It means the
ages. That's what the word literally
means. It means more than the worlds. Now think about that
for a minute, the worlds, the ages. Now, what do we know that
God has created? What we see. But is that all
that we, can we unequivocally say that's all God created? Can
you say that? No. That's what you can see. Now, I believe He's created some
things that you haven't seen. He created some things that Paul
saw that I haven't seen. Paul said he was lifted up to
the third heaven, did he not? And he said, I saw things that's
unlawful to speak about. And so I don't know what God
has created, but I know this, whatever there is, that have
been created, it is framed by the Word of God. And the word
that's used here for word is the word rhema. And it is the
spoken Word of God. Now, there are those that believe
that men can possess that. They say, you can speak things
into being. You've heard them. If you've ever listened to some
of these guys on the radio and TV, they can't believe it. You
can say it, name it and claim it, buddy. I mean, you just speak
it in the bed. Now, brother, that's foolishness. It's not only foolishness, but
it's a slap in the face of God. God said He wouldn't share His
glory with anybody. And the spoken Word of God is
the rhema of God. It is the spoken Word of God.
And it is not the Word of the creature. in any way, shape or
form. And we don't share in it there,
brethren. You can't speak anything into
being. God can. And He does. And by faith we understand that
the worlds, the ages, the realms, wherever they are and whatever
they are, the realms, the worlds were framed by the Word of God. That is, their parameters were
set by God. That's what a framework is. It's a parameter. It's something
that holds it up. I mean, a house can't be bigger
than the frame of the house, can it? No. The frame of the
house forms the house. And the world, we don't know
what God may have created. All we can see is the world order
which we presently observe, which is the cosmos, the world order. I mean, we see things going on,
and that's what we know about. That's all that we know about
is that cosmos. Through faith we understand that
these worlds were framed by the Word of God, but we do understand
that this cosmos was that which was, its parameters were set
by God, And it can't either get larger or smaller or whatever,
except it be by that same Word that framed it. And then he says
something that's interesting. He says, So that things which
are seen were not made of things which do appear. Now in my estimation,
this particular verse right here puts to death the notion of theocratic
evolution, that is, those that say that God created a molecule
or an atom or whatever, and out of this, all these other things,
you say, this is the death of the Big Bang Theory, because
the Big Bang Theory says that everything came out of something
which does now presently appear. Because you can see a molecule,
as small as it might be, you can go with a strong enough microscope
and you can see it. Now that would appear, would
it not? But the Scripture says that God made the things out
of those things which do not appear. Now as a dog is not a
higher or lower or whatever, whichever one you think comes
first, form of a cat. A dog's a dog and a cat's a cat. Why is that? Because God made
the dog and God made the cat. And He made everything which
does now appear. And He didn't make things out
of things which do appear. With one exception. With one exception. Scripture says that the Lord
made man from what? The dust of the earth. Now, He could have spoke man
into being, couldn't He? He just said, let there be man.
I mean, He said, let there be all these other things. But He took man out of the earth.
And He formed him out of the earth. Yeah, what do we learn
from that? Well, we learn from that, number
one, that man, by nature, is not of faith, is he? Because
by faith, those things which are made were not made of the
things which do appear. By nature, man is not of faith. By nature, man cannot attain
unto faith, true faith. Now, like we said, all men have
natural faith. That's just natural. Natural
men would have natural faith. But what we're speaking about
here is that which does not appear. Now man does not appear in spiritual
realms and cannot. The Lord said flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has to
be inherited by that which does not appear. The Lord said to
Nicodemus, Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of heaven. Except a man be born from above,
except a man be made something that he is not by nature, that's
the only way that it can occur. And so it is that man by nature
cannot grasp things of God. He can't gain them. And he is
not of faith in that realm, in the natural realm, but except
by the creation of God. Because you see, Paul said, if
any man be in Christ, he is what? A new creature. The word literally
means a new creation. He's been made something that
he was never before. He is a new creation. You see,
the man who was created in Christ Jesus is not just a man worked
over. He's not just a man who's renovated,
but he's a new creature. He's made something that he was
not. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Now, does that mean then that
He is without sin? Does that mean that He is without
what He has been? No, because you see, the Lord
made this new creation and He caused it to dwell in that which
is that which is made of things which appeared. in a natural
sense. While the natural man is not
of faith, that new creation is, because can you now see the wind
blow, and you can hear it, but you can't tell from whence it
came. So how is a man born again? Can you tell me? I mean, is it
possible for a man to go through some training or hear some message
or something of that nature and then be born again? Can He say,
well, if you'll do these things, you'll be born again? No. How
does it happen? It happens the same way that
all creation happens. It's that which is made out of
that which does not yet appear. And it can't be explained. You
can't explain to a man how a man is born again. The Lord didn't
attempt to explain to Nicodemus how a man is born again. He just
told him he must be. And so it is that through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God
so that things which were seen were not made of things which
do appear. This is even more glorious when
we start to think about the creation of the woman. Now, the man was
made of the dust. Now, the word Adam just simply
means man. That is, the Lord made man from
the dust of earth. Now, it doesn't mean man as a
sex. as a gender, it doesn't mean
the Lord made man as a gender from the dust of the earth. He
actually made man, that is mankind, from the dust of the earth. But
think of this a little bit further. And it says that the Lord caused
the man to sleep and He took the woman, He took a rib from the man and
He formed the woman. So that both the man and the
woman were made of something which does appear, wasn't it?
But the man was made first and the woman was made second. Now does that make her a second
class citizen? Not at all. Because think of
this. The illustration here is that
which is most precious, that the Lord would form the
woman out of the man, even as the bride of Christ is formed
in Jesus Christ. Now, that's a glorious thing,
dear brethren, when you pause and think that when the Lord
made the man, He made the woman because the woman was hidden
in the side of the man. that she couldn't be seen. Even
as the Church of Christ cannot be seen, the Bride of Christ
cannot be seen with naked eyes. But in such times it pleased
the Lord He cut that rib from the woman's side and He caused
her to live. Now dear brethren, what a glorious
thing when we pause and think of the illustration there of
the Church of Christ, the Bride of Christ, hidden in His side,
in everything that He came to do when He walked upon the earth. He walked upon the earth with
His Bride in His side. And in such times it pleases
the Lord. He makes her manifest. Now, the
ultimate manifestation of the sons of God, the bride of Christ,
as it were, the ultimate manifestation is in the day of the resurrection.
Now, he has You know, all of these things, they dovetail together,
and they're interwoven, and it's hard to speak of one without
the other. Now, we do know that the Lord has manifested His bride
in this world. He said, By this shall all men
know that you are my disciples, because you have loved one to
the other. So there is a manifestation of the bride of Christ. that
is seen in the earth, but the ultimate manifestation of the
bride of Christ will be seen in the day of the resurrection
when the Lord comes back to receive that which is His, because you
see, He has purchased a possession. Now, think about this now. That rib that was in Adam's side
has been made manifest as the woman. And that rib which was
hidden in Christ's side is made manifest in the day of the resurrection as the Lord is pleased to take
that which he purchased, which is what? That which he created
out of the dust of the ground. Now, the bride in one sense needs
no resurrection. Because she is pure in Christ,
is she not? But that which He created in
Adam is that which is redeemed in Jesus Christ. And why do we
believe that the bodies of God's people shall rise from the ground?
Because He demonstrated in His own resurrection that He, as
a man who walked among men, who came forth from a woman, and
walked among him as the Savior, and died, and then went into
the ground and rose again." In what? A body. Now what? When they went to the
tomb, what did they see? An empty tomb, did they not?
Why? Because the same body in which he walked around in the
earth wasn't in the tomb anymore. And it came out of the tomb.
He came out. He walked among them. He appeared
to them. And the angel said, Why are you
men standing here gazing up into heaven? Don't you know that this
same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go? Now, dear brethren, what is it
that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to receive. He can't come back for that which
is hidden in His side, which has always been. But He comes
back for that which is of the earth, that which He has redeemed
from the earth. He is the Redeemer of His people.
And the resurrection, dear brethren, is the absolute manifestation. of that which is His. He said,
I loved them with an everlasting love, and I will bring them forth
in the day that I call my own. The Lord knows them that are
His. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity. Now, dear brethren, these are
glorious things. And, you know, it's enough to
cause your mind to explode when you think of the beauty that
the Lord would demonstrate in the creation of man out of things
which do appear and then yet make him a new creature in Christ
and then manifest the glories of that love that he had for
his bride even as he created Adam and he created Eve in Adam. So it is that the people of God
are given to Christ from before the foundation of the world.
Now, I don't claim to have all the understanding there is of
that, but I understand this, that it forms the basis upon
which all of our expectation rests. because if Jesus Christ
be not raised from the dead, what did Paul say? He said, that's
right, he said, if the dead rise not, where of all men most miserable?
Now he wasn't talking about just the general resurrection, although
that plays into it, but he's talking about if the dead rise
not, that is, if Christ be not raised, that's what he says in
the next verse, if Christ be not raised. If the dead rise
not, then Christ be not raised. Brethren, you see, that forms
the basis. There's the substance. There's the basis. There's the
foundation of those things which we expect. It's Christ. All that we believe comes back
to Christ and what He did. As He rose from the dead, so
shall we if we be in Him. Even as Eve could not be anything
else but the bride of Adam, See, the Lord didn't, He didn't bring
her forth from Adam and then He said, now look around and
see who you want to marry. What but one choice was there?
She didn't have a big selection. And so it is when the Lord causes
a man to live, when He calls him to be born again, it ain't
but one choice. He is not looking around to see
who looks the best. He is looking at one who is Christ. He is our Redeemer, dear brother.
He is that basis of the hope that we have. All of our expectations
are wrapped up in Him.