Would you turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 11? I've entitled this message, How
to Obtain a Good Report. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse
1. Now, Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders,
the Old Testament saints, obtained a good report. Now, who gave the Old Testament
saints this good report? God did. This is God's testimony
concerning them. They received divine commendation. Now, what report or testimony
would the Lord God give of me? report or testimony would the
living God give of you? Now remember, his testimony is
the only one that counts. Not what you say, not what someone
else says, but what he says. True story, there was a batter
in a professional baseball game that took a called third strike. Now a called third strike is
when the batter does not swing, but the umpire judges that the
ball was over the plate, so he calls it a strike. And the umpire
said, strike three, you're out. And the batter dropped his bat
and looked at the umpire and said, everybody in this stadium
could see that was a ball. And the umpire said, unfortunately
for you, mine is the only opinion that counts. God's testimony regarding me. Not what I say about me. Not
what you say about me. Not what I say about you. Not
what you say about you. God's testimony is the only one
that counts. What the Lord sees and testifies
is how it really is. He doesn't have to do mental
gymnastics like you and I do to convince ourselves of things.
What he testifies regarding me is what I really am. Not merely
what I may appear to be, but what I really am. And his testimony regarding these
elders, these Old Testament saints, is that they got a good report. They were justified. God said regarding these elders,
they have no sin. They're perfect in my sight.
Look in verse four of Hebrews chapter 11, 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
he by it being dead yet speaketh. Now God says regarding this man,
he in his person is righteous. And that lets me know that the
righteousness of Christ imputed to a believer is not just some
kind of certificate that says you're righteous, but you're
not. No, if his righteousness is imputed to me in my person,
I am righteous before God. That's God's testimony regarding
every believer. Now think of this. Look what
he says about Abraham. Verse eight, by faith, Abraham,
when he was called to go out into a place, which he should
afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out not knowing
whether he went. Yet we know that when God called
him to do that, he didn't obey immediately. He waited for his
dad to die. Yet when God testifies concerning him, he obeyed. God's testimony is accurate. What about Sarah? Verse 11. Through faith also Sarah herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had
promised. Now remember the Old Testament
account is. The Lord appears to Abraham and he says Sarah
is going to have a son. What she do? She laughs. She's incredulous. She said,
shall I have pleasure being old? And my husband's old. She had
already gone through menopause. She laughed. And then the Lord
said, why did Sarah laugh? And she said, I didn't do it.
She lied. And yet look what God says regarding
this woman. God sees things as they really
are. And the New Testament account
is the truth. Look in verse 24 of the same
chapter, by faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto
the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him
who is invisible. Now read Exodus account. Moses got mad at a man for mistreating
an Israelite and murdered him. And he hid his body in the sand.
And when it was found out, he ran in fear, afraid of the king. And yet when God testifies regarding
this man, it says he was not afraid of the wrath of the king. Now, it was through faith that
these men obtained this good report. By faith, through faith,
the elders, the Old Testament saints, and I tell you what,
you read the lives of the Old Testament saints, oh boy, but yet, they
have this good report. And it's a good report. They're justified, they're without
sin, they're perfect in God's sight. I want this good report,
don't you? Oh, I desperately want this good report. I want
God to testify this regarding me. Through faith, the elders
obtained this good report. Now you think of the emphasis
the Bible puts on faith. Listen to these statements from
the scripture. Thy faith, thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. According to thy faith, be it unto thee. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Above all
things, take the shield of faith, wherewith you shall quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. The just shall live by faith. Now these scriptures give us
some idea of the importance of faith. So it makes us want to
understand what is faith? What does the Bible mean by faith? You know, I can remember one
time thinking, what is faith? I believe Christ is the Son of
God, but I don't know what it means to believe. I believe that
God is, but I don't know what it means to believe. I believe
the Bible's the Word of God, but I don't know what it is to
believe. As a matter of fact, it seems something totally outside
of my grasp. I couldn't figure it out. What
does it mean to believe? What is faith? Well, that's a
good question, isn't it? What is faith? Well, let me give
you a scripture that I believe tells us what faith is. Would
you turn with me to 2 Timothy 1? Second Timothy chapter one. Verse 12. For the witch cause, I also suffer
these things because of my preaching of the gospel. Standing for the
testimony of God for the witch cause, I also suffer these things.
Nevertheless, Paul says, I'm not ashamed. For I know whom
I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day. Now here we have the elements
of saving faith. First, Paul said, I know. You can't believe what you don't
know any more than you can come back from a place you've never
been. I know. And catch this. He didn't say
I know what I believed. He said, I know whom I have believed. You see, what you believe is
going to be determined by who you believe. If you believe Jesus
Christ is eternal God, almighty, sovereign, all powerful, you
can't associate anything he does with failure. If you believe
he's God, you believe that what he did must save. I know whom
I have believed." Now, the first part of faith, you can't believe
what you don't know. I know whom I have believed. And secondly, he said, I am persuaded
that he is able. Now here's knowledge, yes, but
more than knowledge, persuasion. Belief. I am persuaded. I'm convinced. I believe that
he's able. Keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. I believe he's able. I believe he's able
to save me. I believe he's able. I really
do. I believe he's able to save me with no help from me. You
believe that? I love the way those blind men
came to the Lord. And he said, when they got into
the house, he said, believe ye that I'm able to do this. You
know how they answered? Yay, Lord. Yes, Lord. I believe that you're able to
save me. It was said of Abraham, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what he promised,
he was able also to perform. Do you believe that God is able,
that the Lord Jesus Christ is able to save you without any
help from you? Do you believe that? First there's
knowledge and then there's persuasion. I'm persuaded that he is able. But you can have these first
two elements and still not have saving faith. Let's go on with
the scripture. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I have committed
to him against that day. Now where there's saving faith
there is Commitment. Now, what do I mean by commitment?
Here's what I mean by commitment. There's an airplane. I believe that that airplane
can fly. I have some vague notion of aero,
what do you call it, aerodynamics. I know that there's a different
speed going over one, part of the wing of the other creates
a vacuum and lifts it up. I understand some of the physics
behind that. I know that airplane can fly. And I believe it'll
get me there. I believe that if I get in that
plane, it'll get me there. I commit when I get in the plane. And when I'm in the plane, I'm
not trying to flap my wings helping it get me there. I know the only
way I'll get to my destination is if the plane gets there. And
I commit to that plane. I commit the salvation of my
soul to Him. My hands are off. If you believe
in works in any way, if you hold on to any kind of work, it's
a failure to commit. You commit when you commit the salvation
of your soul wholeheartedly to Him. I'm in the plane. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which I have committed
to Him against that day. Now, look back at verse 1, Hebrews
11. Now, faith, here's another definition
of faith. Now, faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now, I see
from that passage of Scripture that faith has to do with two
things. Things that are invisible, things that we can't see, and
things that we hope for. That's what faith has to do with.
Things that we can't see, yet things that we hope for. Faith is first of all connected
with invisibility. Things we can't see. Can you
see God? No. God is spirit. Immortal, invisible, the only
wise God. You know, the Old Testament was
very visible, wasn't it? Sacrifices, priest arrayed in
his gorgeous apparel, the tabernacle. The temple, there were things
that you can see, and men like things they can see, things that
are tangible, things they can touch. But you know, the New
Testament, the gospel is invisible. The Lord said, the kingdom of
heaven cometh not with observation, not by, you can't say, well,
here it is, or there it is. It's invisible. It's not something
you can tangibly touch. It's more real than anything
you can touch, but it's not something this flesh can comprehend. It
is invisible. Now, Faith is connected with
the invisibility. I like what Paul said in 2 Corinthians
4, 17, 18. We look not at things which are
seen, but things which are not seen. For the things which are
seen are what? Temporal. But the things that
are not seen are eternal. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I'm going to try to talk in a
minute about what that means. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, faith is the substance of things hoped for. Remember this regarding hope.
Romans 8 says if you can see it, you don't need to hope for
it. Hope has to do with things you can't see. Hope has to do
with a confident expectation regarding the future. Faith is
the substance of things hoped for. Now, I have a hope. I have
a hope that when I stand before God, He's going to see me without
sin. I have a hope that when He calls
my name, He's going to say to me, well done. thou good and faithful servant. And that's not hyperbole. If
he says that to me, that's because that's the way it is. I have
a hope that I'm going to stand before God perfectly conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I have a hope, a
confident expectation that everything that happens between then and
now is gonna work together for my good and for his glory. Now that's some kind of hope,
isn't it? I have a hope that I'll stand perfect before God
and everything that happens between now and then, that great day,
judgment day, is gonna work together for my good and his glory. What
a hope that is. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for. Now what's that mean? That word
substance means a standing under. A standing under. Now, some of you all might remember
when we were meeting back on American Avenue, American Avenue
Baptist Church, we had a little building there. And I remember
the two-story building and the ceiling was sagging somewhat.
And so we took a steel I-beam and put two befores up and put
the I-beam up across the ceiling, kept the ceiling up and everything.
And it was a lot of work. It was hard. I remember it killed
us to do that. But we got it up there, and I
remember that first Sunday, the pew where people normally
sit, where the meme was, they wouldn't get under it. They wouldn't
get under it. It was the Walmsleys. That was
their pew, and they wouldn't get under it. And I remember
Jim looked at everybody, and he got up out of his seat and
sat there under it to show, I'll stand under it. You see, he believed
it would hold up. Now this is what faith is, it's
a standing under. Now what are you willing to stand
under? What are you willing to stand under? What gives you some
security when you stand under? Huh, I can answer that question. Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under law, but under grace. Now I can stand
under grace, and I can stand under grace with joy and with
confidence and with security. You put one work in there that
salvation is dependent upon me in any way, in any respect. And
I'm not going to stand under that. It's going to come crashing
down on me. But thank God I can stand under His grace. Do you
find confidence and security in that? That's faith is the
substance. It's the standing under of things
hoped for. What's the evidence you're going
to have those things you hope for? Faith. That's the evidence. That's the
standing under. You prove you really believe
when you stand under it. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. It's the evidence of things not
seen. I can talk about a lot of things
that are not seen. I can't see the forgiveness of sins. I can't
look at you and say, yeah, your sins are forgiven. I know it.
I can't look at myself and see something about me. Well, yeah,
my sins must be forgiven. Look at me. The forgiveness of
sins is not something you can see. It's invisible. Well, how
do you know you have it? What's the evidence? I believe
the gospel. I am relying, now right now,
I'm relying upon the Lord Jesus Christ as my righteousness before
God. I'm relying on him. That's the evidence that my sins
are forgiven. Justification. What a glorious,
glorious thought to be justified before God. That means I'm not
guilty before God. That means I stand without guilt.
That means right now. I sure feel sinful. I flat feel
sinful, but I've got no sin. If I'm justified, I've got no
sin. Now, how can you tell you're
justified? It's not something you can see. I can't look at
you and say, Bobby, you're justified. I can tell by looking at you.
No. Justification is an invisible thing. It's not something you
see. How do you know you're justified? I do believe the gospel. I do. I believe that Christ is able
to save me without my help. I'm standing under grace. I'm
willing to take my place right there. And that's proof to me. I'm justified. I'm a justified
sinner. I can't see my holiness. I cannot see my holiness. I believe I have a holy nature. I see evidence of that. I love
Christ. There was a time when I didn't.
I do now. I believe the gospel now. There's a time when I didn't,
but as far as seeing my holy nature, I can't see my holy nature. As a matter of fact, I see the
opposite. It's not something you can see,
but I believe the gospel. And that tells me I do have a
holy nature. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I can't see my glorification.
Yet the scripture says, whom he justified, then he also glorified. Past tense, an accomplished act. It's already done. I can't see
that. You can't look at me and tell I'm glorified and I can't
look at you and tell you're glorified. Well, what's the evidence that
I'm actually glorified before God? Faith in Christ. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I've never been able to get up
into heaven and look in the Lamb's Book of Life. You know, I thought
if I had access to the Lamb's Book of Life, I know whose name
I'd be looking for first. And it wouldn't be yours. But I've never seen. I've never
seen. Yet, I know my name is in the
Lamb's Book of Life. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. How do you know? Faith is the
evidence of things not seen. All I have is the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm hanging on Him. And that
tells me my name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I cannot
see my eternal union with Jesus Christ. That boggles my mind
to think about it. That I've always been united
to Him? That I've always had personality
before God? That I've always been in the
Lord Jesus Christ? There's never a time when I was
not in the Lord Jesus Christ? Eternally united to Him? I can't
see it! Well, how do you know you are? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I cannot see Christ in the flesh. But the Scripture says, whom
having not seen you love, whom though now you see him not yet
believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Look at verse 3 of Hebrews chapter
11. Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Through
faith we understand. I love that. You know, it takes
faith to understand. The gospel is a foreign language
to somebody until they're given faith. And when you believe,
you understand. I understand that Christ is my
righteousness before God. I understand salvation by grace.
I understand I'm accepted in the beloved. I understand that
he's made into us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption by faith. We understand. We understand.
I understand how God can love me for Christ's sake. I understand
how I can be perfect before God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
By faith, we understand. But until you're given faith,
there's no understanding. The gospel is like a foreign
language to you. By faith, we understand. Now, what I'd like to do in closing,
knowing that I can't do this, I can't do this, but I want to
persuade you and I want to persuade myself to believe. I know only God the Holy Spirit
can persuade someone to believe, I realize that. But I pray that
God will use this to persuade me and to persuade you to believe. Now would you turn with me to
1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul says in verse 15, this is a faithful saying. Now, this is something that was
said often in the early church, something repeated over and over
again. It had reached the status of
a saying. And it is faithful. You know
what that means? This can be utterly relied upon. You can rely upon this. This
is an utterly faithful saying spoken by him who cannot lie.
Now that's a pretty impressive resume, isn't it? A faithful
saying. And next he says, it's worthy
of all acceptation. In other words, everybody in
this room ought to embrace this as the best news you've ever
heard. This is worthy of all acceptation. Well, here it is. And that's
an impressive resume. A faithful saying worthy of all
acceptation. Well, what is it? That Christ Jesus Christ, that's
his offices. God's prophet, the word of God. God's priest. Oh, I need a priest
to represent me before God. This is God's priest. God's king,
Christ, prophet, priest, and king, the ruler of the universe,
the absolute sovereign king eternal. Christ. Jesus. What a precious name. Matthew
121 says thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save
his people from their sins. Jesus. What a name. I want to
use that name carefully. I hate it when people use his
name flippantly. He's the Lord Jesus Christ, but
how sweet His name Jesus is. Now, this is a faithful saying,
and it's worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world. He invaded human history. He came into the world for this
purpose, to save sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
good people. It doesn't say he came to save
righteous people. It doesn't say he came to save
awakened people. It doesn't say, say he came to
save believing sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
repeating sinners. It says he came to save sinners. Period. Are you one of those? You can answer that. Are you
one of those? Well, what is a sinner? I can
answer that too. A sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin. A sinner is somebody who cannot
not sin. A sinner is somebody who can't
look down their nose in moral superiority over anybody. And a sinner is somebody who
has no claims on God. If God saved everybody in this
room but me, I couldn't say that's unfair. No, sir, I couldn't. That's what a sinner is. Now,
are you one of those? Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Did he do it? Did he do what he came to do? When he bowed his mighty head
and said, it is finished, every sinner he came to save was saved. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am You know what that means? If
you're a sinner, He came to save you. Every sinner, He came to
save. And that is precisely what He
did. Now, I believe that Christ came
into the world to save sinners, and I believe He did it. But
how can I have assurance that he did it for me? I believe he
came to save the elect. I believe he saved the elect.
But how can I know that he came to save me? How can I have assurance? Well, I'm not going to tell you,
well, if you read your Bible enough and are holy enough, you'll have
assurance. That's, that's blasphemous. Now listen to me. There was a
fellow that came up to Paul, the Philippian jailer. And he
came up to Paul in silence and he said, sirs, what must I do
to be saved? What must I do to be saved? And Paul gives this in the form
of a command. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. Now, you don't need to worry
as to whether or not you're one of the elect. You are commanded
to believe on Christ. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. Are you in that group? You are
commanded to believe on Christ. You ought to believe on Christ. You ought to believe the gospel.
It's true. It's the truth. Shouldn't we believe the truth?
God command. This is not an invitation. It's
a command. I mean, sometimes it sounds kind of like an invitation,
I suppose, but it's a command. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now, if I'm commanded to do something,
I don't need to worry about whether or not I have a right to. I got
to do it. You know, I must believe whosoever, listen to the scripture,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, the name of
the Lord is who he is. The name of the Lord is His holiness.
It's His sovereignty. It's His power. It's all of His
excellent, glorious attributes. That's the name of the Lord.
The name of the Lord is who He is. So, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, I'm calling.
I'm a whosoever. That's better than if it said
Todd Niber because there's other Todd Nibers. But I'm a whosoever. So I, that's me. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, if I've never called before,
I'm calling now. Lord, save me! Do you believe that I'm able
to do this? Yes! Save me. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, you're commanded to. Isn't that, isn't it a blessing
to know that you're commanded to. This is not an offer. You
don't have an option. You're commanded right now to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip had been preaching the
gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. And they came upon some water.
And he said, see, here's water. What does hinder me from being
baptized? Now I want to know, if there's
a reason why I shouldn't do it, I want to know. That was a very
honest question. What hinders me from being baptized? And Philip answered, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. Now the heart is the whole man. That's the understanding, It's
the affections and it's the will. If you believe with all your
heart, you may. And he answered, I believe that I'm a Christian. No, I believe that Jesus Christ died
for me. No. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. You believe that? That's faith. You believe. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, the substance of things hoped for. And I, you know, I talked about how
a sinner cannot not sin. A believer cannot
not believe. Try to if you have faith, try
to not believe he's the son of God. Can't do it, can you? A
believer cannot not believe. This is what believers do. They
believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Let's pray.