Would you turn with me to the
11th chapter of the book of Hebrews? I've got a goal for tonight. I want to persuade everybody
in this room to believe. Everybody. I don't want one people,
one person, to leave this place not believing. Men, women, boys,
girls. Now, I realize that I cannot
persuade somebody to believe. If it's just my persuasion, you're
not really believing. But oh, that you and I would
hear God's voice and believe. Now, I've entitled this message,
Faith Commended. In verse 32 of Hebrews chapter 11, the writer
to the Hebrews says, What more shall I say? What shall I say more? What can
I add to this? Now, he has been commending the
excellency of faith in this chapter, and he pauses and says, what
more can I say? Now, faith is an exotic. It does not grow naturally in
the human heart. It's the gift of God's grace
given to God's elect, and while it is the gift of God's grace
given only to God's elect, all men are commanded to believe
the gospel. Now, I can't put those two together
that well, but I believe them. I believe them. Only the elect will believe,
and all men are commanded by God to believe. And your right
to believe comes with God's command. Somebody says, Do I have a right
to believe? Oh, let's go to this. Take it
a different direction. You're commanded to believe.
And my responsibility and your responsibility is not to figure
out whether or not we're the elect. You can't do that. Your responsibility is to believe
the gospel. And believing you'll find out
You are one of the elect because as many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. Now, you don't need to worry
about trying to figure out whether or not you're one of the elect.
You don't need to worry about whether or not Christ died for
you. You're commanded to believe the gospel. That's all you're
commanded to do. May God give me and you the grace
to believe. Now, in this 11th chapter of Hebrews, I've already
brought 19 messages thus far, I counted them. But I couldn't
get past this statement, what more can I say to commend the
excellency of faith? And I want you to believe, I
want myself to believe, I know we will not and cannot
unless God enables us to, but I want to persuade you to believe
by commending the excellency of faith. Faith is the gift of
God's grace. Therefore, you better start asking
Him for it. Therefore, I better start asking Him for it. Lord,
give me this faith. Enable me to believe. I don't so much come to Christ
with faith, I come to Christ for faith. I ask him to give
me this faith. Now, look in verse one of Hebrews
chapter 11. Here's the commendation of faith.
First, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence
of things not seen. Now, what is the evidence of
salvation? What is the evidence that God
has done something for you? What is the evidence that you've
been united to Christ and always have been? What is the evidence
that God has taken the righteousness of his son and imputed it to
you so that it becomes yours? What is the evidence that God,
the Holy Spirit, has done a mighty work of grace in your heart and
given you his spirit and given you a new nature? What is the
evidence? Now, come on, what is the evidence? I need some
evidence that God's done something for me. What is the evidence? There's one answer to that. Faith
in Christ. Now, I'm not asking you if you're
saved. But I'm asking you this. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Do you? Do you? Do you believe that He is the
Eternal Creator? Do you believe that He is the
only Savior of sinners? Do you believe this book speaks
of Him? Does thou believe on the Son
of God? Who is He, Lord, that I might
believe? Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that speaketh
with thee. Do you believe faith? I'm not asking you to try to
figure out how faithful you are, how holy you are, or how good
you are, or what kind of evidences of the fruit of the Holy Spirit
you have. I'm asking you this one question. Do you believe
the gospel? Faith is the evidence of salvation. Look what he says in verse 2. For by it, by faith, the elders
obtained A good report. Now, one of the things I love
about Hebrews chapter 11 is if you read the account of Hebrews
chapter 11 and you read the account of the Old Testament of these
stories, they seem like two different stories, don't they? First person
I think of, Sarah. Remember Sarah? God says you're
going to have a child. She laughs in unbelief. Shall
I be able to have a child? And then the Lord confronts her
with it. And she lies to the Lord and
says, I didn't laugh. He said, yes, you did. You read that Old
Testament account, and then you read the New Testament account.
By faith, Sarah received strength to conceive seed. What about
the one about Moses? He murders a man, hides his body
in the sand, and flees in fear. That's the Old Testament account.
But the account in Hebrews is something different. You see,
by faith, the elders obtained this good. I want this good report,
don't you? Now, the Old Testament is the
account of the flesh. The New Testament is the account
of the spirit. But by faith, the elders obtained this good
report. When God speaks of Sarah, what does He say about her? By
faith, Sarah received strength to conceive seed. By faith, Moses
didn't, he forsook Egypt. He didn't fear the wrath of the
king. That's the good report that faith
gives. Now, can you see how excellent
faith is? Faith is the evidence of salvation.
By faith, you get a good report. He says in verse three, through
faith, we understand that the world were framed by the word
of God. So the things which are made are not made of things which
appear. It's only through faith we understand. You don't understand
and then believe. You believe and then you understand.
And there's no understanding of anything in the Scripture
apart from faith. Through faith, we understand.
I can't understand without faith. Can you see how excellent faith
is if you have it? If you have faith, you understand
how God can accept you. How God can love you. How God
can be gracious toward and have favor toward you. Through faith,
we understand. And then in verse 4 it says,
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
came, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying
of his gifts, and he, by it being dead, yet speaketh. Now it's
through faith that you offer up to God this more excellent
sacrifice. Now what's that mean? I didn't offer up a sacrifice,
slay an animal, and offer up a sacrifice. But I tell you what,
I come into God's presence, there's one name I please. Hear me for
Christ's sake. I'm only coming through the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm only coming believing that
you'll accept me and hear me through His precious blood, through
His glorious righteousness. I wouldn't dare come any other
way. Now, in faith, God testifies. Here's how great faith is. If
I have faith, God testifies that I am a righteous man. I love
what it says about Abel here in verse four. By faith, Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than came, by which
he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of
his gifts. This is God's testimony concerning
this man. He was righteous. Now, how can a sinful man be
righteous? You can only understand that
by faith. By faith. By believing the gospel. How
could Abel actually be righteous to where God says he's righteous?
Because he's united to Christ. Because Christ's righteousness
is his. Faith understands that. Faith
comprehends that Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God
so that I, in my person, As sinful as I feel in myself, by faith
I know that before God I am righteous. Now isn't that a strong commendation
for faith? Verse 5, by faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death and was not found because God
translated him. But before his translation, he had this testimony
that he pleased God, but without faith it's 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,
without faith, it's impossible to please God, but listen to
this. Faith pleases God. You believe His gospel, and the
God of glory is pleased with you. Now, that's an awesome thought. I look only to Christ. Afraid to look anywhere else.
Rely only on Him. Got nothing else. And God is
pleased with me. He's so pleased He can't be any
more pleased. Now, does that commend the excellency
of faith? If you have this thing of faith,
this gift of God's grace, you actually please God. If you're
looking to Christ right now, God is pleased with you. That's a wonderful thought, because
most of the time, I think he's mad for some reason. You know,
but if I'm in Christ, God is pleased with me. In verse seven, by faith, Noah
being warned of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared
an ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned the world
and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Faith makes
us heirs of God. He became an heir of God through
the righteousness which is of faith. Now, what is the righteousness
which is of faith? Well, it's the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the righteousness of faith.
It's believing His righteousness is my righteousness before God.
And what that does in believing, I made an heir of God. An heir of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That means all that Christ has is mine. All that He is. is mine. I'm an heir of God. Now, you want to talk about wealth?
We don't much believe this. If we believed the heirs we were,
we'd never be depressed again, would we? We'd never be upset. I mean, everything would be great.
Everything would be wonderful if we really believed it. Oh, that
God would give me grace to believe. I'm an heir of God. And the only
evidence that I'm an heir of God is faith. Verse 8, By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and went
out, not knowing where he went. Now, there is no true obedience
apart from faith. You haven't obeyed God until
you believe. Believe the gospel right now.
This is God's command. It's his command to you. Rely
on my son. Believe that he is everything
in salvation. There's no obedience apart from
faith. Faith is obedience to God's command. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now listen to me. In
this thing of preaching the gospel, I'm not inviting, God doesn't
invite sinners to believe. This is not an invitation. He
commands you to believe. Right now, I don't care what
your state is. I don't care what doubts you
have. I don't care what struggles you're having. You are commanded
by God right now to believe on his son. And your right to do
it is because he told you to. Isn't that wonderful? I'm so
thankful for that. Faith is a command, and that
gives me a right to believe. God commands me to. No obedience
apart from faith. And it's faith, first of all,
that makes us strangers and pilgrims in this world. By faith, he sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. You know, if you believe the
gospel, it's going to make this world a completely different
place. You know all the stuff that's going on? People get so
upset about all the stuff that's going on. I'm not. God's in control. And His will is being done. And
I'm just a stranger and a pilgrim here anyway. And it's not going
to last. And I'm glad. And I'm a citizen
of another country. This world truly is not my home. I'm just passing through. And
I'm waiting for that time when I behold his face in righteousness. Actually, I'm going to be satisfied
when I awaken his likeness. And until then, I'm just passing
through. That's not why I'm not going
to get too up or too down about anything that happens here. It's
temporary. It's really not very important.
God is on the throne. And we live as strangers and
pilgrims in this world. Oh, may God deliver us from getting
too up or too down about anything that happens here. It's just
not that important. We're walking through this world
as strangers and pilgrims. Verse 11, through faith. You
see what a glorious thing faith is? Faith. This walk through
this world is a lot better when believing. It sure is. I mean, it's just flat out better.
Verse 11. To 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 promised.
Faith is the receiving grace. You don't receive anything apart
from faith. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Nothing. Whatever we have, we've received
it from God, and apart from faith, we will receive nothing. I think
of what James said, let that man ask in faith nothing wavering,
for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with
the wind and tossed. Let not that man think he shall
receive anything of the Lord. Without faith, it's impossible
to receive anything from him. But faith is the receiving grace. You know, receiving is the easiest
thing in the world to do. I know it's impossible apart
from God's grace. But God gives me something, I receive it. He
tells me I'm complete in Christ, I receive it. He tells me all
things are working together for my good and his glory, I receive
it. He tells me his blood cleanses
me from all sin, I receive it. He tells me that I'm united to
Christ, one with Christ, I receive it. Faith is the receiving grace. And look at verse 17. By faith,
Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. And he that received
the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that
God was able to raise him up even from the dead. From whence
also he received him in a figure. Now, this is used as the proof
of Abraham's faith. Faith works. What proof did Abraham
believe God? He offered up his son. And he
believed that God would raise him from the dead. God promised
the Messiah is going to come through Isaac. And then God says,
take him and kill him, offer him up as a burnt offering to
me. And Abraham said, well, God said he's going to be raised.
He's going to come through this boy. So I believe God will raise
him from the dead. So he proved he really believed
God. Faith works. Real faith always
works. Verse 20, by faith, Isaac blessed
Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Faith knows the future.
I know the future. That's what, you know, people
worried about what's going to happen in this country. I know
the future. God's will is going to be done.
Somebody says, isn't that kind of practice? No, God's will is
going to be done. Everything that he's purposed
is going to come to pass. I know the future. I know that
everything that happens between now and Judgment Day is going
to work together for my good and His glory. I know that. I
know I'm going to stand before God justified on Judgment Day.
I know the future. Faith is a present hope regarding
the future. And it's all because of something
that happened in the past. The reason I know that I'm going
to stand before God perfect in judgment days because of something
that happened in the past. When my Lord said it is finished,
my salvation was signed, sealed, and delivered. Verse 21, by faith,
Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and
he worshiped, leaning upon the top of his stack. You see, there's
no worship without faith. Don't you want to worship God?
Whatever it is to worship, I want to worship. And I know the only
way you can truly worship God is by by believing the Gospel. Faith is the worshiping grace.
By faith, Joseph, verse 22, when he died, made mention of the
departing of the children of Israel. That word made mention
is remembered. He remembered the departing of the children
of Israel. He remembered what God says.
Faith remembers what God says. It remembers the Word of God.
Faith has to do with the Word of God. God said the children
of Israel will depart, Joseph remembered it. Faith, here's
what faith hangs its hat on, what God has said. I remember
what God has said, and there's my peace and comfort. Verse 23, by faith, Moses, when
he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw
he was a proper child, a beautiful child. Fair to God is what the
word actually means. Now, does that mean Moses was
just one of these really cute babies that you just couldn't,
just so cute you couldn't, oh yeah. No, it's not talking about
that at all. I mean, he might have been. He
might have been the best looking baby, except the ones around
here, you know, he might have been the best looking baby anyone's
ever seen. But that's not what this is a reference to. Faith makes God look at me and
say, he's beautiful. He's perfect. He's without spot,
without wrinkle, without blemish, or any such thing. You see, by
faith, whatever the Lord Jesus Christ looks like, that's what
I look like. Whoever He is, I am. Whatever He did, I did. That is all realized by faith. Now, do you see what an excellent
thing faith is? It makes me beautiful to God. And look in verse 24. 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
in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
Only faith can make a man make a choice like this and love doing
it. By faith, he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king. For he endured, as seeing him
who is invisible. Through faith, he kept the Passover.
He believed the gospel and the sprinkling of the blood, lest
he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith,
they passed through the Red Sea, and by dry land, the miracles
that take place through faith, which the Egyptians are saying
to do or drown." Listen, if you believe the gospel, you're walking
miracles. Somebody says, where's the miracles? Huh. The fact that
I believe, that's a miracle. The fact that I love the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's a miracle. That's a miracle of grace. I'm
a trophy of grace. Miracles happen through faith. By faith, the walls of Jericho
fell down after they were compassed about seven days. By faith, the
Harlot Ray had perished not with him, but believe not. For she,
when she received the spies with these. Now, what more shall I
say? What more can I do to commend
this thing of faith. You look what faith does. What
more shall I say? Let's go and look, let's go reading
in this chapter, and I'm not going to, I'm going to be preaching
on these in the next few weeks to come, but, but look what he
says. He says, what more shall I say for the time would fail
me to tell of Gideon, of Brack, of Samson, of Jephthah, David
also, and the prophets, who through faith, here's what faith did,
they subdued kingdoms. wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stalked 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. Women received their dead, raised
to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance,
that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had
a trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of
bombs and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawed
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
mountains and 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 be made perfect. Now, is there any question that the
Bible teaches that faith is the gift of God? It's not something you can work
up. It's not something that you decide to do. It's not something
that you of your free will decide I'm going to believe. Faith is
the gift of God. Ephesians 2.8.9 says, For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Since it's a gift, ask God for
it. Write down. Ask the Lord to give
you faith. I think of what James said, If
any man lack wisdom, let him ask God. who giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not, if any man lack faith, let him
ask God. You know, if you lack wisdom,
you lack faith, don't you? If any man lack faith, let him
ask God, who giveth to all men liberally. Oh, he's so generous
in his glorious gift. If you ask God for faith, now
listen to me, If you ask God for faith, he's not going to
say no to you. He's going to give it to you. He didn't give it to me, then
you didn't ask. You tried to strike a deal with him somehow.
There was bargaining. No, I'm talking about you ask.
You had not because you what? Asked not. Ask the Lord to give
you faith, and I guarantee you, on the authority of his word,
he will. What if I'm not one of the elect?
I told you, you don't need to worry about that. Your responsibility is to believe
the gospel. Now, ask him. Ask him. Okay? Not only is faith the gift
of God's grace, faith is a command. It's not an invitation. Now,
if you invite me somewhere, and I don't show up, It's not a crime. It's not a sin. If I don't show
you faith, if all faith is, you're invited to come to Christ. This
is not an invitation. You know, as far as an invitation
goes, if it's an invitation, I always wonder if I'm the one
that's actually being invited. Just forget all the thought of faith,
you know, being invited, you know, God's calling on you, inviting
you. No, God commands you right now to believe on His Son. And your right to do it comes
with His command. He tells you to do it. You've
got a right to do it. Well, what if I'm not elect?
What'd I say? Don't worry about it. Now, the
scripture says, make your calling and election sure. The only way
you'll make your election sure is if you make your calling sure.
Well, how can I know if I'm called? I can tell you dead for sure
how you can know. the called call. Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call. Now God commands
you, God commands, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved. Obey the command right now. Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ
is all you need to make you acceptable before God and rest in Him. Believe on Him. God's command. Faith is a gift. Faith is a command. And faith is also something that
grows. You know, the disciples said,
Lord, increase our faith. That's a simple request, isn't
it? Lord, increase our faith. Lord, increase my faith. I've
got to press it in your word to ask for this. The disciples
did it. Now, Lord, increase my faith. Luke 17, 5. And you know, alongside faith,
there's always going to be unbelief. Looks at me and says, Lord, increase
our faith. I wasn't asking you to turn me around. I was just
quoting that. So you can look at it if you want. But increase
our faith. But you know, wherever there's
faith, this is something that I've thought about. I thought,
why is it that when I believe, I always have unbelief? Because
I do. There's never a time in my experience
when I've been without unbelief. Somebody says, I believe perfectly.
You're a liar. I don't believe it for a second.
You're just trying to make some... No. No. Nobody believes perfectly. When I believe, I always have
unbelief right there alongside of it. You do too. You see, I've
got a new nature that believes, and I've got an old nature that
doesn't believe. It can't believe, so you know
what I do? I pray the same thing that fellow prayed in Mark chapter
9. Lord, I believe. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. I believe that He's God manifested
in the flesh. I believe that when he said it
is finished, the salvation of the elect was accomplished. I
believe when he was raised from the dead, all of God's elect
were justified. I believe even right now he sits
at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning, making intercession
for his people. I believe. Help thou my unbelief. I've got so many doubts, so many
fears. Lord, help thou. Help, help thou
mine unbelief. May I believe? Would it be an act of presumption
for me to believe the gospel? To look to Christ? Would it be
an act of presumption for me to do that? I've got so many Bidings within and fears without,
you know that song, doubting, doubts and whatever, you know
that song. But may I believe, would it be
an act of presumption for me to believe? My dear, dear friend,
you are commanded to believe. And you don't need to worry about
being an act of presumption. You don't need to worry about
whether or not you're one of the elect. You don't need to worry about
whether or not Christ died for you. You don't need to worry
about whether or not you're saved. You are commanded to believe
the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Your right and your ability comes
with the command. I think when our Lord went into
the temple, And there was a man there with a withered hand. He couldn't stretch it forth.
He couldn't. It was withered. It was all drawn
up. He couldn't stretch that thing
forth. And the Lord said to him, Stretch
forth thine hand. You know what he did? He stretched forth his hand.
God says to you, Not only the right, but the power comes with
the command. Let's close by looking at Mark
chapter 10. What more shall I say? Well,
here's one more thing to say. Verse 46, And they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with
his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, blind as a bat, he could not
see. He was utterly in the dark. This man was blind. Blind Bartimaeus, the son of
Timaeus, sat by the highway side, begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth. Now, I don't have any doubt that
this blind man sat there by the highway all day long. People
brought him into the temple. He heard the scriptures read.
And one time when somebody led him by the hand and he was in
the temple, he heard a prophecy regarding the Messiah. The Messiah would give sight
to the blind. And how do you think that registered
with him? He was blind. The Messiah will give sight to
the blind. Now, he'd sit there by the highway
side begging and he heard different things. And one day he heard
one story about a man named Jesus of Nazareth. who gave sight to
the blind. And at that time, he knew he's
the Messiah. You know, he might have heard
people scoff and make fun of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he
didn't. He didn't. He knew he was the Messiah. And I bet he said within himself,
if he ever passes this way, I'm going to cry. Oh, I'm going to
cry. Well, he passed that way. Let's go on reading. And when
he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out
and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged
him that he should hold his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still. I love that. The Lord was on
His way to the cross at this time. The scripture says He set
His face like a flint. And He's on His way to the cross.
And I guarantee you all kinds of people saying, Jesus this,
Jesus that. He kept going. He kept going. But here's something
that caused the Son of God to stop in its tracks. This is something
He heard. This is something that stopped
Jesus stood still. And he commanded, see that? He commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be in good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. There's a
lot of significance to that garment of his righteousness. You throw
it off when you come to him. You'll throw it off. It's no
good. It's rotten. Verse 51, And Jesus answered
and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? Now, that's a good question.
What if the Lord said that to you? wilt thou that I do unto
thee?" Well, what does blind man get asked for? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him,
Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Now, what was his
faith? He believed that Jesus Christ
was the Messiah. the promised Messiah. He believed
that if he gave him sight, he'd have it. Is that all? Yeah. That's what he believed. And he said, Go thy way, thy
faith, and may it be whole. And immediately he received sight
and followed Jesus in the way. Do you believe that Jesus Christ can make you perfect before God. Do you really believe that? Rely on Him right now. Let's pray.