In the first few verses of the
11th chapter of Hebrews, we read the following. Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained
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. By faith Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which
he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of
his gifts. And by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation he
had this testimony that he pleased God. 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. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Last week we saw in Mark's gospel,
in the 10th chapter, the contrast between one man that came to
Christ and sought justification, sought to be justified, sought
to be saved through his own works. Christ asked him, why callest thou me good? When
this man addressed Christ as the good master. For there is
none good but one, that is God. And Christ reminded this man
of the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour
thy father and mother. And the young man's response
was, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. And he thought
that by doing these things he might inherit eternal life. He
thought that by his doing he might inherit eternal life. What
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Christ said unto him, One
thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and
give to the poor. For Christ knew that he couldn't
do all these things. And Christ knew the heart of
this man and that which he wouldn't do because he knew that this
man took a pride in what he did. And what he did were riches to
him. What he did, his works, his keeping
of that law, were riches to him. And he trusted in it. And he
thought he might inherit eternal life by it. And Christ knew that
he couldn't. And if he was to give up all
that he trusted in, give up all his riches, then he would own
that he was nothing. And look to Christ alone for
salvation. And cry out unto him. But no,
he sought salvation by his works. But what a contrast that was
with the man at the end of the chapter, blind Bartimaeus, who did nothing. He couldn't
even see, he couldn't even see Christ as he passed him by. But
he heard the crowds and he knew who it was. And he believed that
salvation would be found by this one who passed his way. He believed
that Christ could have mercy upon him. He believed that Christ
could give him sight. And he cried out, thou son of
David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood and asked him,
what wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the blind man
said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, go thy way. Thy faith have made thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus in the way. Thy faith have made thee
whole. This blind man believed. and his belief, his faith made
him whole. His faith gave him that sight which he lacked. And he followed Jesus in the
way. Now what a contrast between one
seeking to be saved by his own strength, his own will, his own
works, and one who was without strength, a blind man, whose
faith made him whole. Oh, what that blind Bartimaeus
saw! Not just when his physical eyes
were opened and he followed Christ physically, but oh, what he saw
of Christ! and oh to have the vision, the
sight, the faith of that man and see something of the wonders
of Christ. Do you long for it? Oh I tell
you I want his faith. I want to see like blind Bartimaeus
saw. That's the faith we need. That's
the faith you need. Because if you have that faith,
you will see something of the wonders of that Saviour, of whom
John spake. When John concluded his Gospel
with these words concerning Christ, And there are also many other
things which Jesus did. The witch, if they should be
written, everyone, I suppose that even the world itself, could
not contain the books that should be written. If they should be written, everyone,
all that Christ did in his short lifetime on this world, all that
He did, if all those things should be written down and the wonders
of it recorded. John supposed that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written. Now if God should give you faith
to see this Saviour as He gave to Bartimaeus, then you'll have
something of a sight of that Jesus whose wondrous works were
so great, so great in number and so great in quality that
even the world could not contain the books that should be written
to describe them. What a sight! There's nothing
you can see in this world with the natural eye comparable to
the sight of faith and the sight of Jesus Christ the Saviour,
which faith writes. You could live to be a thousand
and travel to every nation and see every mountain valley, every
land, every island. every sea, every lake, every
plain, every city. You could see the most marvellous
sights in creation, every animal, all the beauties of this world
and all the beauties of the firmament and you'd see nothing comparable
to the sight of Jesus Christ by faith. by faith. Jesus said unto Bartimaeus,
go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Have you the faith
of Bartimaeus? Have you? What is the faith of Bartimaeus? What is faith? For if faith made Bartimaeus
whole, where all the works of that young man could never save
him, then clearly faith is something wondrous that you and I are in
great need of. And it is clear that not all
men have this faith. because that young man did not
see who Christ was and believe in him as that blind man believed. That blind man believed, but
the man with the natural sight, so full of the scriptures, so
full of his own wisdom, so full of his own zeal in religion,
could not see. Then it's clear that some have
this faith. and some do not. What is it? Well I want to look briefly at
seven descriptions of faith that the scriptures present unto us. Because the scriptures define
this faith and make it plain what it is. That faith which made the blind
man whole. And there's no better chapter
in the scriptures to turn to than this 11th chapter in Hebrews,
the read of faith. And of the wonders of faith.
And of those who lived by faith, those who saw by faith, those
who believed by faith. And those who died believing
and trusting and resting in a promise which in their lifetime they
never received. these who looked unto Christ
as Bartimaeus did, of whom the world was not worthy, these men
of faith, men and women of faith, of whom this world was not worthy,
who looked unto a Saviour who did so much wondrous works that
the world could not contain the books to describe him. And the
author of Hebrews has a similar thing to say of these that live
by faith. He says, and what more shall
I say? For the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah,
of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets. who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong,
waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. The women received their dead
to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,
moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn
asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts, and
in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth. 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. Well the writer,
time would fail him to write of all those men and women through
history to that point that had lived by faith, that had trusted
by faith, that had stood by faith, that had endured by faith. What
an account this is here. of what these people endured
and suffered because of that faith they had which caused them
to hope and trust and rest in the promises of God whilst they
journeyed through a world which hated and despised both them
and their God and Saviour. A world which threatened to put
them to death and a world which for many of them did put them
to death. Oh what a power that faith they
had was. That they could endure and die
believing and resting in their God. What a wonderful thing this
faith is. Then what is this faith they
had? How did they endure? How did
they see? How did they believe? Because they had that faith that
God gives unto his chosen people. Unto Abel and Enoch and Noah
and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses and Rahab, and Gideon,
and Barak, and Jephthah, and David, and Samuel, and all the
prophets. That faith, they had that faith. Which as verse one tells us,
is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things
not seen. What is faith? What is faith? Firstly, it is the substance
of things hoped for. That young man came unto Christ
and asked, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Do
you hope for everlasting eternal life? Do you hope for salvation? Do you hope for something? which
you will experience after your death when you pass through from
this world from time into eternity. Where will you go? Where will
you be? Where will you remain forevermore? What are you hoping for beyond
the grave? I tell you your sin, your rebellion
and your corruption, your rebellion against your maker from the days
of your youth have earned you everlasting condemnation, everlasting
damnation. That's what you've earned. That's
your inheritance by nature. But I doubt that it is that which
you hope for. but faith hopes in something
else. Faith has a sure and a certain
hope for deliverance from the dead, for a resurrection from
the dead. Faith hopes and rests and believes
that when you enter the grave that God will deliver you and
raise you again and grant unto you eternal life. and grant unto
you an inheritance in the world to come. Abraham and these others desired
a better country than the country they dwelt and passed through
in this world. They desired a heavenly country
and Abraham believed that one day He would dwell in that heavenly
country. He would dwell with his God and
Savior. He would see his Savior face
to face and have everlasting life and reign and live with
him forevermore. He believed it. And what made
him believe? Faith. The substance of things
hoped for. The substance the pledge of the
inheritance to come. When somebody writes their will,
they write down, I will leave these things, all my earthly
goods, my estate to this person. And when they die, that will
is the pledge of that which will be granted in due course to that
person until such time as it's theirs and the keys to the estate
are handed over or the money is passed into their bank account
they have nothing but that pledge, that will, that legal document
which says it's theirs. That's the substance of that
in which they hope, that for which they wait. Well faith is
the substance of things hoped for by the believer in Jesus
Christ. By faith in him and in his promise
of salvation we know that eternal life is ours. We know that that
inheritance he has promised to his people will be ours. Without faith, we have nothing
to rest in. It's a pledge. it's certain if
you have this faith like Abraham had you can endure the opposition
of all men in this world you can endure being stripped of
all your worldly goods you can endure trials and suffering because
you know that Christ is yours and you know that everlasting
life is yours because you've been brought to hear his gospel
And you've been brought to hear of a Saviour who entered this
world to save sinners. You've been brought to hear of
the death of the Son of God, who loved the people given unto
Him before the foundation of the world by His Father, who
loved the people named upon His heart, and who came into this
world for that people. and who suffered the rejection
of all men and suffered the crucifixion of himself upon a cross that
he should die for that people and bear their sins in his own
body on the tree and be made sin for them that they should
be made the righteousness of God in him He came to save a
people, and the Gospel makes His salvation known. That He
came to deliver His people from their sins, to wash their sins
away by His blood, to take the judgment of God which is due
unto them and their sins, and to take it upon Himself. And blot it out. And wash it
away. and make them to be righteous.
That's what he came for, that's what the gospel makes known,
and should you hear the gospel, should you hear that truth in
power, should you know it and understand it, should it be revealed
unto you, then faith by that gospel as the gift of God will
cause you to lay hold of Christ and to believe on Him and to
rest in Him and have faith as the substance of that in which
you hope. Because you believe and know
that He died for you. You believe and know that He
washed your sins away. You believe and know that in
the last day you too will rise again with the saints and live
and dwell with him forevermore. It's the substance of things
hoped for. It's that certain real tangible
belief and hope you have in that which cannot be seen with a natural
mind. In that which cannot be understood
intellectually, naturally speaking. But you know it's yours. Because
God's opened your eyes and made you to see and made you to cry
out and made you to call and made you to hear. Because you
cried out, Lord have mercy upon me a sinner and you heard the
answer. Thy faith have made thee whole. Secondly, faith is the evidence
of things not seen. You've not yet seen the inheritance. You didn't see with the natural
eyes Christ crucified upon the cross. You haven't seen naturally
God, for he's hidden from the natural eye. but with faith,
you see. People speak of blind faith. There is nothing blind about
faith. The natural eye The natural understanding
cannot comprehend or see the things of God, but faith is that
spiritual sight by which believers see and know their Saviour. Their faith is not blind. This
is not some natural faith, some worked up hope where you trust
and hope and hope something that you've never seen or really known
or have any experience of might be true. It's not a blind foolish
hope in that perhaps that report that I've been told will come
about. But faith is that supernatural
working in the heart of the Holy Ghost, that gift of God that
God puts within you when he quickens you by his Gospel unto life and
makes you to see. It's that opening of the eyes
inwardly by which you see God, by which you see Christ, by which
you lay hold on salvation. It's the evidence of things not
seen. Not seen naturally, not seen
previously, but when your eyes are open, when the blind eyes
of your heart are opened by the Gospel, by the Spirit of God
through that Gospel, then you see by faith. And that sight,
that faith is the evidence of things not seen. The evidence
of those things you never saw, the evidence of those things
you're yet to see. It's not blind. Thirdly we read in this chapter
in verse five and six that faith and faith alone is that by which
God is pleased. By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
had translated him. For before his translation he
had this testimony that he pleased God. Well how did he please God? By his works? By his righteousness? By his zeal? By his loyalty? By something in which Enoch could
boast? No, by faith. For verse six tells
us, 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. Faith is that which pleases God. Nothing else does. You either
believe that God is, and believe in you seek Him, you cry out
to Him, you call unto Him, you long for Him, you follow Him,
as blind Bartimaeus cried out and cried out for mercy, believing
that Jesus would hear him. And when Jesus heard and answered
his call, he followed. You either believe and follow
by faith, Or you try to please God by your
own works. That young man tried to please
God. And Christ said, you're lacking. One thing they're lackest. You've done all this, but you
still lack. There's no pleasing God by your
works. Because your works are full of
sin. They're filthy rags. You may
think they're righteousness, you may think you're keeping
the law, you may think you're living right, you may think God
should be pleased with you, but you're full of pride and arrogance
and self-righteousness. And there's no pleasing God that
way, you must have faith. And there's a total contrast
throughout all the gospel, throughout all the scriptures, between the
life of faith and a life lived out by works. A total contrast
between works and faith, law and grace. Without faith it is
impossible to please him. All who have ever pleased God,
like Enochia, have pleased him by faith. Abel pleased God because
he believed. He offered a sacrifice but it
wasn't the sacrifice or his offering, it wasn't his offering of the
sacrifice in which he trusted. It was that which that sacrifice
pointed to, Christ. He offered up a lamb for he knew
that a lamb, the lamb of God, must be offered in his place. He knew that a lamb must die
and shed its blood and take his sins and wash him clean and he
believed it. Noah pleased God because he prepared
an ark at God's command and he believed what that ark represented,
that he would be delivered from wrath to come through an ark,
through one in which he was covered, through a covering that kept
the judgment, the reigns of God's wrath off of him. He became an
heir of the righteousness which is by faith because Noah saw
through the ark Christ his Saviour, one in which he would be sheltered
from the storms of God's wrath and one in which he would be
covered from that wrath and in being covered he would be covered
by blood and covered by righteousness which is why Noah's building
of the ark and the message that his building of that ark sent
forth made him a preacher of righteousness. Abraham lived
by faith, he pleased God by his faith, not by his works. He left
all and followed God whithersoever he was led. He offered up his son Isaac,
his promised son that he'd waited years to see born and was miraculously
born unto him by Sarah. This wonderful promise of God,
his son in whom there would be the inheritance, God said offer
him up and all natural reason would have gone against it, would
have said well how can he be my inheritance if I slay him? But Abraham believed that if
he slew Isaac, as God had promised, that God was able to raise him
from the dead. And he saw in the slaying of
his son, the slaying of his greater son, the slaying of God's son,
the slaying of Christ, who would die and take his sins away and
would rise again from the grave. He believed, and believing, he
pleased God. Likewise Moses, David, Rahab,
Samuel, they all believed and it's their faith which pleased
God. It's Moses' faith which pleased God, not Moses' keeping
of the law which God delivered by Moses. All who have ever pleased God
have pleased him by faith. All. And that includes The last
Adam, the second man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man,
the Son of God, the just one. For the just shall live by his
faith. and the reason God was pleased
in His Son, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,
He was pleased because Christ Himself walked before His Father
as a man by faith. Christ lived, communed, believed
and trusted in his God by faith. He walked and suffered in this
world by faith. He endured all by faith and he
went to the cross by faith, knowing that God would raise him again
from the from the grave, knowing that God would lay upon him the
sins of all his people, knowing that he would take that people
through the waters of death, knowing that he would deliver
them and bring them forth safely the other side, he believed.
He believed, which is why the writer of the Hebrews in chapter
12 goes on to say that we look unto Jesus, the author, the captain,
and the finisher, the object of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ
lived. and pleases God by faith. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, that alone by which
God is pleased. And faith is also, fourthly,
not of the law, as I've made plain. You can come unto God
one of two ways. You can seek to be justified
one of two ways, by your works, by your keeping of the law. or
by faith, by looking unto Jesus Christ,
who through his death, by faith, brought in the righteousness
of God for all his people. Faith is not of the law. The law and the gospel are distinct. Galatians 3 verse 12 tells us,
the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. The law is not of faith. And
we read elsewhere that what is not of faith is sin. Then if you put yourself to keeping
the law, which is not of faith, and you try to keep it by your
own strength, you're gonna find that all that comes forth as
you strive to keep that law is your sin. And even when you keep
it, all you'll see is your pride in keeping it. Not that the law
itself is not good, the law is good, it's holy and just, but
you live under that law and all you'll bring forth is sin. The law is not of faith, it doesn't
demand it, it doesn't require it. But faith looks not to your
keeping of the law, but looks to a savior crucified in your
stead. Faith is not of the law, and
the law is not of faith. Fifthly, as Ephesians makes it
plain, faith is the gift of God. You're not born with it. People speak of putting their
faith in this and that. People speak of putting their
faith in Jesus Christ as though you have faith and you can put
your faith, put your belief into this or into that. You can either
believe on Christ or you can believe in Buddha. You can believe
in this one or you can believe in that one. it's not whether
you have faith or not but where you place your faith well this
is nonsense this is just natural trusting and resting and hoping
that's just a natural application of the intellect That's just
a natural application of reason. You read about this, you read
about that, you read about this religion, you read about that
religion. This seems the most reasonable to you and this is
what you trust in. And ultimately what is common
to all this use of natural faith is that ultimately your trust
is in yourself. You've read about this religion,
you've read about that religion, you've picked up the Bible, you've
studied the doctrine and you see that it's like this. and
by your reason and intellect you've worked it out to be like
this and Jesus is like this and I like the Jesus that I heard
by this preacher or that preacher or from this book or that book
and I'm going to follow that Jesus and you rest in it but
you're trusting and resting in your own intellectual comprehension
of a description presented unto you. A description of somebody
called Jesus, somebody called the Son of God. Something in
which you are going to rest and follow. That's all natural faith
is. It's mental ascent. And it will
not save you. It will crumble. It's wood, hay
and stubble in the end. When the fires of God's wrath
come down, when the fires of death approach, you will not
stand. You're not born with faith, you're
born blind. That's why you need Christ to
touch your eyes and open them. That's why you need faith as
the evidence of things not seen. You need a spiritual sight to
see spiritual views, to see Christ whom you never saw before. And this is why God makes it
plain. that faith is the gift of God. Ephesians 2 verse 8,
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. God gives it. He gives it when
we're born again by His Spirit. through the gospel as it's preached
unto your soul. You're not born with this faith,
but you are born again by God, by the gospel. God gives us faith
by a new birth. Sixthly, faith is that and that
alone which justifies. It's that alone which brings
forth righteousness. as Paul makes very clear in the
Roman Epistle. multiple times that works do
not justify, we're justified not by the works of the law but
by faith, by the faith of Jesus Christ and by that faith which
he gives us to rest in him and look under him and believe in
him. It's his death upon the cross for his people that saves
them and the consequence of that death is that in time they're
born again. and they're given faith to rest
in Him, to see Him, to lay hold of Him, to believe in Him. Faith
alone is that by which we become heirs of righteousness, by faith. Noah being warned of God of things
not seen as yet moved with fear prepared an ark to the saving
of his house by the witch he condemned the world and became
heir of the righteousness which is by faith. It's the faith that
brought in the righteousness, the faith that justifies. Not that that faith was some
work in which no one could trust, but God opened his eyes, God
gave him faith, and God brought forth the righteousness of God
in Jesus Christ for him. Faith is that which justifies. And finally, Faith is that, as
Habakkuk and as Romans tells us, by which the just man lives. For the just shall live by his
faith. The just shall live by his faith.
Paul quotes from here in Romans 1 verse 17. Says in verse 16,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power
of God unto salvation. Verse 17, for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, from Christ's
faith unto the faith which he gives unto his people. As it
is written, the just shall live by faith. There's no true life,
but that life which is lived by faith. We're born in this
world, but we're born as dying men, women, and children. Spiritually
speaking, we're already dead. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. We're just biding our time until
we pass from this world into the lake of fire to come if we
know not Christ. We're dead, but when we're born
again by God in the gospel, then we're brought to live with a
life unlike anything else. We're brought to life by that
gospel, we're brought to life by God. And we're brought to
life believing in Jesus Christ. We live by faith. We're brought
to life by faith and we continue to live by faith. We have this
different quality of life which looks and rests in God, which
looks unto God, which cries unto God, which communes with God.
We live by faith. The just shall live by faith. Christ lived by faith and all
his people in him lived by faith too. He looked and trusted in
His Father and they look unto Him and trust in Him and His
Father through Him. The just shall live by faith. This faith governs our whole
way of living, our whole outlook, our whole frame of mind, all
our desires, all our ambitions when we're brought to faith are
shaped by it. We look to Christ. We look to God. We rest in Christ. We rest in God. We look outside
of ourselves. We cease to trust and rest in
ourselves, in our own strength or in the wisdom of man. But
we trust, we rest, we hope, we believe in God. And in His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't work, we believe. And we believe in Him who gave
Himself for us. As Abraham offered up Isaac,
that Son who was slain. Well Christ wasn't just offered
up, He offered Himself up. He suffered on the cross for
sinners. He gave Himself. as he looked
and trusted in God to take him and to lay on him the sins of
his people and to bring them through with him the other side
of death. He rested in what the Father
had promised unto him from before the foundation of the world.
In that covenant he believed it, he trusted it. And he trusted
that all for whom he died would be washed clean, would be justified,
would rise again with him, would be made the righteousness of
God in him, would be saved, would have everlasting life, would
be brought to life by faith, by the Gospel, and would be made
his bride forevermore. Oh, perfect salvation. Perfect
faith. Faith is the substance of things
hopeful. The evidence of things not seen.
That which pleases God. It's not of the law. It is the
gift of God. It's that which justifies and
it's that by which the justified, the just man lives. Have you
got this faith? As Christ touched your eyes like
blind Bartimaeus and made you to see, and said unto you, Thy
faith hath made thee whole. As he opened your eyes, and have
you looked, and seen a Saviour who looks upon you in love, having
suffered and died to wash your sins away. who looks upon you
in love, that Saviour of whom John said, if all that was written
of what He had done should be written in books, I suppose that
the world itself could not contain all the books that should be
written. Amen.