Faith in Things Not Yet Seen

Faith in Things Not Yet Seen

“Faith in Things Not Yet Seen”

(Hebrews 11:4-7)

Series: Captivated by Christ (Hebrews)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

  • Please open your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11.

While you are finding that let me say that I will be available after the service to talk about spiritual things.  You can find me in the Response Room right through these doors here.  If you have questions about joining the church, being baptized, or how to be saved and follow Christ, I’ll be available after the service in the Response Room.

Speaking of joining the church, next week we’ll be having our new member class and luncheon.  If you’re interested in joining the church or would like to learn more about what we believe, our “First Steps” new member class and luncheon is next Sunday and you can register online today by going to our website.  More information is in your copy of “First Facts” available in Sunday school, Connection Center, and at the doors.

Also at the doors today, you’ll find a free chart you can take home that will help you as you are reading through Hebrews 11.  We were encouraged to read Hebrews 11 every day last week—read, receive, recall the verses every day.  One of the helpful things about this chapter is that the writer teaches us how to read the Old Testament.  Handouts at the door as you continue reading the chapter throughout the week.

We are in chapter 11 of Hebrews this morning.  The writer has been talking to Christians about endurance and perseverance.  He commended the Hebrew believers near the end of chapter 10.  In Hebrews 10:34 he says, “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”  The “knowing” what they had is what the writer calls “faith.”  And he quotes from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk and says, “the just shall live by faith” and then in chapter 11 he tells us what faith is and what it looks like.  

Last week we studied the opening verses of chapter 11, verses 1 through 3 and spent some time looking at faith defined, the definition of faith, given in verse 1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for (not uncertain hope as the word is often used today, but certainty of that for which we yearn), the evidence of things not seen.”

We talked about the Christian faith being an objective faith, not a nebulous “leap in the dark” faith, but a faith in a real object, the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in God’s Word, the Bible.  It is by faith as the writer says in verse 3 that “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 are visible.”  God called all things into existence, creating all things, ex nihilo, out of nothing.  The author says “by faith” we understand this.

The Christian world view, like all other world views, is accepted by faith.  Science is based on empirical evidence, evidence including things observed.  No one was there to observe the origin of creation.  So all world views are accepted by faith.  The Christian faith also maintains, however, that God was there.  God was there and He is not silent.  By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.

The writer then provides this great catalogue of people from the Old Testament who lived by faith.  He provides them as examples of those who lived by faith.

We are not to moralize them, suggesting that they are ideal examples of virtue.  This is the problem with sermons like, “Be like—be like Abraham, or be like Noah.”  They were not ideal examples of morality.  As we have often noted: “Even the best of men is a man at best,” and all men and women are sinners.  They are provided here as examples of those who lived by faith, thinking forward, looking forward by faith to the coming of One who would redeem them from their moral failures.  In other words, they lived by faith in the gospel.

In fact it seems the writer has intentionally placed them here in chronological order such that their looking forward by faith builds in anticipation from one person to the next, historically and sequentially through the verses of chapter 11, reaching the culmination of redemption in chapter 12 verse 2, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

If the believers in verses 4-38 are meant to inspire the Hebrews to think forward, move forward, and endure, to live by faith—then these same men and women in verses 4-38 will inspire us, too.  So we begin with the earliest examples of faith, before even the formation of the nation of Israel, these three: Abel, Enoch, and Noah, from creation to flood in four verses.  Let’s look at them now.

  • Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

  • Pray: “Help us to place our faith in things not yet seen.”

After the message this morning we have the privilege of observing the Lord’s Supper.  We’ll conclude our service with the Supper or Communion as it’s sometimes called.  The Lord’s Supper is not for everyone.  Like baptism it is for believers.  We eat bread and drink the juice of the vine as a means of fellowship with our Lord and with one another.  You may not be a member of the church but you are a Christian and an active member of a church of like faith and order.  If so we invite you to partake of the family meal later this morning.  It is for believers.  We’re talking about believers this morning because the writer is talking about believers, people who lived by faith.

I want to just read through these verses again noting what they teach and then giving a few questions to consider at the end of our study.  Let’s walk back through this passage and see what it teaches us about having “faith in things not yet seen.”  Verse 4:

4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

The writer recalls the life of Abel from Genesis 4.  And in Genesis 4 we read about both Abel and his brother Cain’s bringing an offering to God.  Abel brought an offering from his flock, an animal sacrifice, and Cain brings an offering from the field, a harvest offering.  God looks with favor upon Abel, but does not look with favor upon Cain.  Why?

Was Abel’s offering better because it foreshadowed the sacrificial system?  Perhaps.  After all, the writer of Hebrews has written much about the symbolic importance of animal sacrifice as the means by which to point forward to the greater sacrifice of Christ.  But is this the real reason God looked with favor upon Abel’s sacrifice and not Cain’s?  Was Cain’s offering from the harvest an inferior offering?  This hardly seems so.

The Scripture actually says elsewhere that God is pleased to receive the first fruits of the harvest and demands the first fruits of the harvest as an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord.  That can’t be it then.

Given the theological point of chapter 11 and the recurring phrase “by faith” used repetitively by the writer to underscore faith’s importance, we may reason why Abel’s sacrifice is regarded as “a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,” not so much because of the offering itself, but because of the attitude and spirit of the one bringing the offering.  It was brought “by faith” and true faith offers our very best (cf Matthew 23:35 and 1John 3:12).

Cain also worshiped and brought an offering before God but is not recalled in Scripture as his brother Abel, obtaining witness that he was “righteous.”  We need not be surprised by this as there are many in the average church today who may feel as though they are doing God a favor bringing offerings to Him but are themselves not righteous, not living by faith, true faith offering our very best to the Lord.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 

The background according to the handout you can pick up later is found in Genesis 5.  Verses 22 and 24 both contain the phrase that Enoch “walked with God,” a way to describe Enoch’s faith as a believer who loved and enjoyed fellowship with His Creator.

Genesis 5, “…Enoch walked with God three hundred years…” (Genesis 5:22)

“And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24) 

Enoch never really died.  He was just taken.  I love the way the writer puts it in Genesis 5: And Enoch walked with God; and he was not…”  He was not.  I imagine his obituary read: “Mr. was not.”  He is survived by his wife of 300 years, the widow of Mr. was not!

Pretty cool.  Enoch needed no tombstone.  No grave.  Just taken.  He was not.  There’s no purgatory.  “God had taken him.”  

He walked with God here and continued walking with God there.

Charles Spurgeon: “One might desire a change of company if he walked with anyone else, but to walk with God for three centuries was so sweet that the patriarch kept on with his walk until he walked beyond time and space, and walked into paradise, where he is still marching on in the same divine company. He had heaven on earth, and it was therefore not so wonderful that he glided away from earth to heaven so easily.”

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

To be saved we must believe that “He is,” that He exists, an echo of verse 3: “by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…”

We also believe “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  We must believe that He will do as He says, that He will grant eternal life, reward our faithfulness, reward our trust.  He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

While no man naturally seeks God, we may be assured that if we are seeking Him, seeking Him as a result of His granting to us the grace of His spiritual empowerment, then our search for God will be successful if we look to Him by faith.  He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

The background for Noah begins in Genesis 6.  Because of sin in the world, God plans to destroy the world by flood.  He commissions Noah to build an ark for the saving of his household.  Noah is “moved with godly fear” and builds the ark.

He had faith in things not yet seen.  There was not as of yet a sea upon which to sail, not a cloud in the sky.  No rain.  Just ridicule by his neighbors, laughing at Noah’s faith in the unseen.  So the writer says it was Noah’s faith “by which he condemned the world.”

You too “condemn the world” when your holiness causes others to feel uncomfortable.  I recall a statement I heard some years ago; I don’t recall the source, but it is: “When we enter the room there ought to be a hush that falls upon certain kinds of conversations.”  Our influence matters.  Not in a judgmental, sanctimonious way, but in a a holy way.  

Because of Noah’s faith he “became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”  From the very dawn of history we see that man is saved by grace through faith.  Man receives righteousness by way of faith, belief, trust in God’s promises.  All of God’s people, all throughout time, are all saved the same way: by grace through faith.

Believers of the Old Testament looked forward by faith to a Savior who would come, believers in the New Testament—along with us—look backward by faith to a Savior who has come.

Building again upon our living by faith and not by sight, how Christians live about “see” level, let’s consider four questions by way of application of our passage this morning.  

** What Do I Need to Change in My Life?

1) Do I live for temporary (seen) or eternal (unseen) rewards? (10:34-35; 11:6)

You might say well Abel believed in the reward—some reward!  Killed by his brother Cain!  But what a short-sighted, worldly view of reward.  How purblind and obtuse to live for this world only!  What a worldly perspective!  Abel had faith in things not yet seen!  He looked ahead by faith to a place where he would live not just for 20 years, 30 years, but for eternity.  A heavenly reward. 

Do you believe that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?”

Faith is the ability to so apprehend, so believe, so receive, that it is as though we see it now.  We live as though God has already done it.  

Someone said: “If gratitude is thanking God after He does it, then faith is thanking God before He does it.”

2) How will I be remembered when I am gone? (11:4)

“…he being dead still speaks.” (11:4)

The writer says this about Abel: though “being dead” he “still speaks!”  We need to hear him!  What about you?  When you are dead how will you “still speak?”  At your funeral when the so-called “eulogy” is given, what will be said?  The word eulogy means “good words.”  Will good words be shared at your funeral?  If not, what needs to change?  Of what do you need to repent?  Let go of that sin and turn to Christ.

3) Does my testimony please God? (11:5)

Enoch “waked with God” (Genesis 5:22, 24) and therefore had a testimony that pleased God.  What about you?  Does your testimony—the way you live—only please yourself, only please others?  

Remember: “Without faith it is impossible to please God,” if you don’t please God it really doesn’t matter who else you please.  Repent of sin and turn to Christ.

4) Am I “moved with godly fear?” (11:7)

Noah was “divinely warned of things not yet seen.”  God has also “divinely warned” us “of things not yet seen.”  Noah could see not just reward, but also judgment.  He believed the prophetic Word of God.  In response, are you “moved with godly fear?”  

The writer will say in Hebrews 12:29, that “our God is a consuming fire.”  There’s a judgment to come, a judgment upon our sin.  

Noah’s faith meant he was saved from the judgment.  He was an “heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”  

Here is the wondrous doctrine of justification by faith! The imputed righteousness of Christ.  

All God’s people are all saved the same way: by grace trough faith in Christ alone.  Old Testament saints looked forward by faith in a Christ who would come, we look back by faith in a Christ who has come.  But all are saved in Christ alone.

Philippians 3:9, “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;”

One of our members came by to visit before a move away to another state.  nine years.  He took his hands to illustrate the imputed righteousness of Christ.  He said (using his hands), “I really like this.”  I do, too!

It is this imputed righteousness of Christ alone.  It is this imputed righteousness we celebrate when we observe the Lord’s Supper.

When we observe the Supper together, we remember the work of Christ by eating bread and drinking the cup, symbols of His body and blood; His body crucified on the cross, the cup of the vine symbolizing His blood shed for forgiveness of our sin.

We remember that Jesus lived a life of righteousness, died a substitutionary death in payment for our sins, and conquered death by rising from the grave. We remember these things and we proclaim these things during the supper.

I’m going to pray in a moment and then we’re going to worship in song, a hymn that encourages examination and remembrance. While our deacons serve you the bread and the cup, we’ll sing about Jesus, in Christ alone our hope is found, preparing to eat the bread—the symbol of Christ’s body, and preparing to drink of the cup—the symbol of Christ’s blood.

After we sing and everyone is served, I’ll lead you in taking the elements, eating the bread, drinking the cup. Let’s pray.

Pray: “Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ, the one who died for us. The one who is coming back to us. We thank you that because of Jesus we can be forgiven of our sin and live in a way that draws people closer to You. Forgive us for our sins. We repent. We love you and we thank you for the hope we have in Christ alone. In His name we pray, amen.”

While the deacons serve you, remain seated, and sing this great hymn together:

1

“In Christ alone my hope is found;

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This cornerstone, this solid ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My comforter, my all in all—

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

2

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save.

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied;

For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—

Here in the death of Christ I live.

3

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain;

Then bursting forth in glorious day,

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory,

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;

For I am His and He is mine—

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

“The Bible says that on the same night in which Jesus was betrayed, that He took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).

[Eat bread]

“Then the Bible says that in the same manner, Jesus also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).

[Drink cup]

Amen. Stand now and let’s sing the final verse, No guilt in life, no fear in death…

4

No guilt in life, no fear in death—

This is the pow’r of Christ in me;

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home—

Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Tonight:

Ice Cream Fellowship & Volunteer Appreciation (many of you signed up in SS to bring ice cream…)

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