Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it,
by faith, the elders obtained a good report. I have entitled
this message how to obtain a good report. Now, who gave this good
report concerning the elders? God did. They received divine
commendation. What report or testimony would
he give about me? What report or testimony would
he give about you? And remember, his testimony is
the only testimony that counts. There was a batter that took
a called third strike in a professional baseball game. A called strike
is when you do not swing, but the umpire judges that the ball
was over the plate. So he called, strike three, you're
out. And the batter said, everybody
in this stadium knew that was a ball. He said, unfortunately
for you, mine is the only opinion that counts. God's opinion, God's testimony
regarding you is the only opinion that counts. Not what I think,
not what I say, not what somebody else says about you. God gave this testimony, this
good report concerning them. Now, what the Lord sees and testifies
of is how it really is. If He gives me a good report,
and this good report, I have no doubt that what that is a
reference to is justification. No guilt. No sin. If God gives a good report, He
doesn't have to do mental gymnastics like you and I do to try to figure
out a way to make it work. If He gives a good report, it's
because there's a good report. These elders look in verse 4. 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, he obtained witness that he in
his person was righteous. Now this tells me that God imputing
righteousness is a whole lot more than some kind of certificate
that says you're righteous. No, it doesn't say righteousness
was imputed to him, although it was. It says he in his person
was righteous. So when God imputes righteousness,
that means that you are righteous. And that was God's testimony
of Noah. Now, I could show you some grave
inconsistencies in Noah's character, yet God says he's righteous. And you know what that means?
He is righteous. Abraham, verse eight, or Enoch,
I'm sorry. Enoch was translated, verse five,
that he should not see death and was not found. Because God
had translated him, before his translation, he had this testimony
that he pleased God. God testified concerning him
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 he talks about Noah. By faith,
Noah. being warned of God of things not seen, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he
had condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness
which is by faith." These are the elders he's speaking of.
By faith, Abraham, verse 8, 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. Now, this is very interesting.
Abraham did not go out right when God said. As a matter of
fact, you can read in Acts chapter 7 that he waited until his dad
was dead. Yet, when the New Testament speaks of what he did, it speaks
of nothing but his obedience. By faith, he obtained a good
report. And then it talks about Sarah.
Look in 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, do you remember the Old
Testament story? The Lord appears to Abraham and he says, Sarah's
going to have a baby and Sarah starts laughing. She says, I
have pleasure, me being this old and my Lord. She started
laughing and she was incredulous. She didn't believe. And the Lord
said, why did Sarah laugh? And then she lied and said, I
didn't laugh to the Lord. She was scared to death, and
yet when the New Testament speaks of her, what does it say? By
faith. Sarah received strength to conceive
seed. Let's look over in Hebrews 11
verse 24. By faith, well, first, let me
give you the story of what took place. Moses sees a man mistreating
an Israelite and he murders him. And he hides the evidence and
hides the body in the sand. Somebody finds out about it.
Moses is scared to death. He's afraid he's in trouble.
He runs from the king and goes to Midian. Scared to death. Now, that's what the Old Testament
tells us about. But look at the New Testament's telling of this story. 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 of Egypt, for he had respect under 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, do you see the difference when the New
Testament gives these stories? It's totally different. Totally
different. This is what God sees, and what
God sees is the way it is. It's the way it really is. These elders obtained this good
report. Now, you think of the emphasis
the Bible puts on by faith. It was through faith. that the
elders obtained this good report. This good report does not happen
apart from faith. Think of these scriptures. Thy
faith, thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. According to thy
faith, be it unto thee. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God. Above all things, take the shield
of faith. Did you hear that, above all
things? Above all things, take the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Four times we read, the just shall live by faith. Through faith, these elders obtain
this good report. And the report God gives is the
true report. Now, I'm awful interested in
having this good report, aren't you? I want God to make this
testimony regarding me. Now, before we go on, we're going
to have to ask this question. What is faith? What is faith? If it's through faith that the
elders obtain this good report and they're righteous before
God, that's God's testimony. I need to have some understanding
of what faith is. I believe this to be the. Simplest
explanation of faith, would you turn with me to Second Timothy,
Chapter one. Second Timothy, Chapter one. Paul says. In verse 11. Where and who I am
appointed a preacher. and an apostle, and a teacher
of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things."
I'm persecuted for my preaching. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. Four, I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to Him against that day. Now, there is the most simple
verse regarding faith. If you want to know what faith
is, here it is. Paul says, I know whom I have believed. We've got
to begin right here. Knowledge. You can't believe
what you don't know any more than you can come back from a
place you've never been. It's not going to happen. Something's
to be believed. I know. Whom? Not what. Whom? You see, what you believe is
determined by who you believe. If you believe Jesus Christ is
God, it's impossible to believe that He could fail in His intentions.
If you really believe He's God Almighty, you believe He's sovereign,
you believe He's a successful Savior. What you believe is determined
by who you believe, but you can't believe what you don't know.
He said, I know whom I have believed, And I am persuaded, I am convinced
that He is able to keep that which I committed to Him against
that day. Now, not only do I faith is knowledge, but it's also persuasion,
it's belief. I really believe that He's able
to save me with no help from me. Do you believe that? That's
the gospel. He is able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. There's a persuasion
of his ability. But here's the kicker. Listen to me real carefully. You can have the knowledge. And
you can even have the belief that if you don't have the third
aspect, you don't have saving faith. 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, I have committed. This is
what faith does. I commit the salvation of my
soul to Him. That means my hands are off.
I am trusting Him to save me. I really believe that His precious
blood makes me clean. His righteousness is the only
righteousness before God. I commit the salvation of my
soul to Him. Very much like you board a plane. I believe that plane. We'll fly. I believe if I get on it, it'll
get me there. But I don't really commit until
I get on board. And once I'm on board, I don't
have anything to do with the flight, do I? If the plane gets
me there, if the plane's successful, I'll get there. But that's what
faith is. It's getting on board. And you're not flapping your
wings trying to help the plane. You're in the plane. The plane
will get you there. You commit to boarding the plane. There are people who believe
that a plane can fly. Understand aerodynamics, but
they won't get on the plane. And I understand it. I get pretty
nervous sometimes myself. You know, sometimes I think,
what if this thing drops? But you commit to that plane. I know whom I believe, and I'm
persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed to
him against that day. Now, go back to our text in Hebrews chapter
11, verse 1. Here's another one of those definitions
of faith. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. Faith is connected with hope.
And invisibility. I want you to think about that
faith is connected to hope. and invisibility. Now, God is
spirit. That means he is invisible. Now unto the king, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, the honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. Now, under the Old Testament,
everything was very visible, wasn't it? You had a tabernacle. You had a priest, gorgeously
arrayed in clothes that were just so tremendous. You had these
sacrifices. You had these feast days. There
was so many rituals and ceremonies. The Old Testament was very visible. And, you know, men like what
they can see. You can see that in religion, how men feel more
comfortable with that which they can see. But the New Covenant,
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of heaven
is invisible. It's not really something you
can see. You know, the Lord said the kingdom of heaven cometh
not with observation. It's not simple. Here it is.
There it is. It's invisible and can only be apprehended by faith. It's not something you can see
and tangible and touch and get hold of. Look what Paul said
in 2 Corinthians 4. Turn with me there. Hold your
finger there in Hebrews and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Verse 18. While we look, not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. That's what
we're looking at. Things that can't be seen. It takes faith to apprehend them. For the things which are seen
are temporal. They're just for a little while.
They're not eternal. But the things which are not
seen are eternal. Faith is connected with the invisible. Faith is connected with hope.
Now, what is hope? Hope is a confident expectation
regarding the future. Not just I hope so, but a confident
expectation regarding the future based upon what God has said
in His Word. Now, I have a hope in the future
that when my name is called, I'll have a good report. I have a hope that I won't have
any sin, that the thrice holy God will look me over and over
and say, he's justified. He's perfect in my sight. He
is altogether righteous. He is perfectly conformed to
the image of my son. I have a hope regarding Judgment
Day. And I have a hope that everything
between now and then is going to be working together for my
good and His glory. I have a hope that every event,
everything, everything is working together for my good and His
eternal glory. Now, faith is the substance or
the confidence of things hoped for. Now, that word substance
means standing under. You will only stand under something
that you have some confidence in. Some of you were back in
American Avenue. I remember we put up a big steel
girder. The ceiling was sagging in and
it was a two-story thing. We thought it was going to fall
in. And Jim Sly, he made this big steel girder. He didn't make
it. He got it and brought it in. And a truck brought it. We
put the big steel girder over it. It was right over the second
row. And that's where the Walmsley's always sit. And that first Sunday,
you all remember this? That first Sunday, they wouldn't
sit under it. I mean, nobody would. I'm not
picking on them. Nobody would. Everybody just
stayed away from that row, you know, with that thing. I mean,
it's old Jim, bless his heart. He gets up there and just sits
down and looks at everybody like, what's wrong with you all? You
know, I can sit under this thing. He had confidence that you could
sit under it. Now, I'm only going to stand
under something I have confidence in. And this is what this the
substance, the standing up under. Now, listen to Scripture. Romans 6, verse 14 says, Sin
shall not have dominion over you because you're not under
law, but you are under grace. Now, I can stand under grace
with confidence. If you put any works in there
for me to do to save myself, I have no confidence. I'm scared
to death, but I can stand under grace with complete confidence. Faith is the standing under of
things hoped for. Now, if I'm under the blood,
I'm safe. If I'm under grace, I can stand
under that. If I'm in Christ, oh, what confidence
I have. If you take any of that away
and make salvation in some way dependent upon something I do,
I don't have any confidence. But if He did it all, I'm willing
to stand under that and have complete confidence. Faith is
the standing under of things hoped for. You really believe
that what Christ did, who He is and what He did, is all you
need to make you accepted before God. You believe that and you'll
stand under that. You're not afraid of the thing
falling in on you. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. And next he says, faith is the
evidence of things not seen. Now, I cannot see the forgiveness
of sins. This is one of the things you
can't see. I can't look at you and say, yeah, their sins must
be forgiven. I can't see anything about you
that would prove that to me, nor can I look at myself and
say, yes, my sins must be forgiven. I cannot see the forgiveness
of sins. I cannot show you something that proves my sins are forgiven,
but faith is the evidence or proof that they are. I believe
the gospel, and that tells me my sins are forgiven. It's the
evidence of things not seen. Can you see I'm justified? Can you see I stand before God
without guilt? You can't look at me and tell
I'm justified by something you see. Or what's the evidence that
I am justified? Faith. faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you believe the gospel, that's
evidence God's justified you. You can't see that I'm holy. And I sure don't feel holy. You
know, sometimes it is. There are a lot of perks to preaching
the gospel. There's no doubt about it. There's a lot of advantages.
You know, you're not around the world. so much, you're not around,
you know, I'm in my little cocoon in my study, and I don't have
to be facing what a lot of you all face all the time, and I,
there are perks to preaching, there's no doubt about it. I'm
thankful for that. I'll tell you what, Sometimes
when I'm getting ready to get up and preach and I feel something
of my sinfulness and hypocrisy and I it's just that it takes
every cow in the barn just to get out the chair. You know,
you just feel so utterly unworthy to do that. You can't I can't
see holiness. How do I know I'm holy when I
feel so unholy? Because I believe the gospel.
And anybody who believes has a holy nature God's given to
them. I might not see the holiness, but I'm aware of it. I believe
the gospel. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. I love his way of salvation.
I love his word. I love his people. There's evidence. Faith is the evidence of things
we can't see. I can't see my glorification. Yet Romans 8.30 says, Whom He
called, He justified. Whom He justified, then He also
glorified past tense. It doesn't say we will be glorified.
It says we've already been glorified. Is the Lord Jesus Christ glorified?
Is He? Then I am too. Well, what's the
evidence? You can't tell by looking at
you. I believe the gospel. I do. I rely on the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've committed my salvation to
Him. I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed to Him against that day. And
that is how I know I'm already glorified. I can't see my eternal
union with Christ. I can't see that I'm one with
Him. I can't tell you that I've always been. I mean, I can't
see... Man, I've only been around since 1959. I can't see that I've always
been united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what's the evidence
you have then? Everybody who believes the gospel
is eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. You've always been
in Him. There's never a time when you
weren't in Him, united to Him. I cannot see my name written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. I don't have access to that book.
You know, if I did have access to that book, you know whose
name I'd look for first? Well, let me give you a hint. It wouldn't
be yours. It would be mine. But you know what? I know my
name's there, although I've never seen it. How do you know? Faith
is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not
seen. I really am... Oh, I'm telling
you the truth. I'm relying on Jesus Christ as
everything in my salvation. I'm not looking anywhere else.
I'm completely relying upon Him. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I can't see Christ in the flesh,
whom having not seen, you love. Whom though now you see not,
yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. It's through faith. Look at verse 3 for a moment
of Hebrews chapter 11. Through faith, we understand
that the world was framed by the Word of God. You know, it
takes faith to have faith. You can't understand anything
intellectually as far as the Bible goes. It's not something
we can figure out. It's not something we can...
It takes faith to understand. God's got to give you faith.
And when you have faith, you do understand. And you cannot
understand unless God gives you faith. Through faith, we understand. I have some spiritual understanding.
I have some God given spiritual understanding. I know the Lord
and he knows me and I know his gospel and I know his word and
I know what it is to preach the gospel. And it's through faith,
not through intelligence, it's through faith. You know, it doesn't
matter how clearly I preach the gospel. I could be the clearest,
most simple preacher in the world, and you still won't understand
unless God gives you faith. Through faith, we understand
that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. And until we
have faith, hearing the gospel is like listening to a foreign
language. You hear, but you don't understand. But by faith, we
understand. We have this confident expectation
regarding things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Now, this is interesting. As big as faith is in the scripture,
it's only the word faith is only found twice in the Old Testament. Once we read in the book of Deuteronomy
of children who had no faith. Children who had no faith. And then we read. The just shall
live by faith. Through faith, we understand
now what I would like to do in closing. Knowing that I cannot
do this unless God the Holy Spirit does it. But I want to persuade
you to believe. You know, that's what preaching
is. I want to persuade you to believe. I'm talking to every man, woman,
boy and girl in this room. I want to persuade you to believe. Now, here's the argument I'm
going to use. First, You ought to believe the truth. Christ is utterly trustworthy. 1 Timothy 1.15 says, this is
a faithful saying. You can rely on this. And it's
worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the best news they've ever heard. Now, here's this faithful
saying that's worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom Paul said, I am the chief. Now, here's a question I want
to ask you. Did He do what He said He came to do? Did He do
it? When He bowed His mighty head
and said, It is finished, The salvation of everybody He came
for was accomplished. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Now, I do. Now, let's take it further than
that. Do you trust Him to save you? Do you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ to save you. Well, what if I'm not one of
the elect? What if he didn't die for me? You don't need to worry about
whether or not you're one of the elect. You are commanded to believe
the gospel. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. You're in that group. All men
everywhere. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What must I do to be saved? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe on Him. Not just believe
in Him, but believe on Him. Call on His name. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Lord, save me. I'm calling on Your name. I'm calling on Your sovereignty.
Save me as an act of Your sovereign will. I'm calling on Your righteousness. Save me by Your righteousness.
Give me Your righteousness. Save me by Your grace. Save me
by who You are. Whosoever. Are you one of them? I love that word whosoever. I'm
one of those. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be Now, Christ is utterly trustworthy. You are commanded to believe
the gospel. Repent and believe the gospel. And there's no reason not to. There's just no reason not to.
Christ is utterly trustworthy. And you will not be saved if
you don't. That's strong, isn't it? You
will not be saved apart from believing the gospel. Now, what's
not to believe? Here's another question I can
ask you. I want to persuade everybody in this room to believe the gospel.
Who did He come to save? Sinners. Are you one of those? Oh, my soul, I'm one of those.
If He came to save sinners, that means He came to save me because
that's exactly what I am. sinner. Thank God He came to
save sinners. And I can get myself in that
group. I'm so thankful for the way that's stated. It doesn't
say He came to save repentant sinners or sensible sinners or
believing sinners, just sinners. And I'm one of those. And He
came to save me. Trust Him. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I need to know more. No,
you don't. Believe on Him right now. Don't wait for anything.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I think
of when Philip was talking to that Ethiopian eunuch. He preached
the gospel to him. And they came up on water. And he said, see, here's water.
What hinders me from being baptized? And he thought maybe he shouldn't. Maybe I don't know enough. Maybe
I'm not holy enough. Maybe I don't have enough experience.
What hinders me from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. And he said, here was his reply,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say,
I believe I'm saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm
a Christian. He didn't say, I know Jesus Christ died for me. But
he did say this, I believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son
of God. Anybody who believes that Christ
is God, do you know what that is? That's faith. That is faith. Believing who
He is. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Write it down. That's so. Believing that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, that's the substance, that's the standing under, standing
under God the Son, I really believe, because of who He is, I believe
He is able to save me. I believe He's able to save you.
And I believe He saves all who call upon Him. If you ask the
Lord to have mercy on you, He will. There's never been a sinner
who's come to Him asking for mercy that he said, nope, nobody
left. No, it doesn't work that way. Anybody who calls, He saves. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now we're...