Hebrews 11; Faith I

1. Faith:  Root, Fruit

Root:  God gives us Holy Information; It is Truth. Irrelevant of our belief or not. 

We acknowledge It is True. 

Fruit:  We respond accordingly.  Know, Trust, Obey.  Intimacy = LOVE God, 

Affection for God comes and go.  Depends on what sins you happen to love more. 

Christians have the gift of Struggle, Galatians 5

Consider Adam and Eve in the Garden.  When God came walking, they went running. 

Christians struggle with Running or Obeying.  Again, depends if we happen to love our sin more at that moment.  

However, the Holy Spirit empowers and pushes us to Faith. 

2. God is the source of Faith, Not You.   You don’t generate your own faith.  

The world says, Generate your own faith, = Just believe. 

Worldly faith.  Subjective;   You are the source, You are the god, who makes it real. 

Godly Faith.  Objective; It is TRUE, whether you believe it or not. 

God Enables us to believe. 

[Heb 12:2 ESV] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Album: Prince of Egypt, Sung by Whitney Houston and Mira Carey

Many nights we've prayed

With no proof anyone could hear.

In our hearts a hopeful song we barely understood.

Now we are not afraid

Although we know there's much to fear.

We were moving mountains long before we knew we could.

Chorus

There can be miracles when you believe.

Though hope is frail,it's hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles you can achieve

When you believe.

Somehow you will,

You will when you believe.

In this time of fear,

When prayer so often proved in vain,

Hope seemed like the summer birds

too swiftly flown away.

But now I'm standing here(Now I'm standing here)

With heart so full I can't explain

Seeking faith and speaking words I never thought I'd say.

 lyrics http://www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/prince_of_egypt_soundtrack/mariah_carey_whitney_houston_when_you_believe-lyrics-78679.html#ixzz37LdkmOnR

[Luk 17:3 ESV] Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

[Luk 17:4 ESV] and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."

[Luk 17:5 ESV] The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

[Luk 17:6 ESV] And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

[Luk 17:7 ESV] "Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'?

[Luk 17:8 ESV] Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'?

[Luk 17:9 ESV] Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?

[Luk 17:10 ESV] So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"

3. The opposite of Faith is open rebellion towards God.

[Rom 1:16 ESV] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

[Rom 1:17 ESV] For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

[Rom 1:18 ESV] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

[Rom 1:19 ESV] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

[Rom 1:20 ESV] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

[Rom 1:21 ESV] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

[Rom 1:22 ESV] Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

God is the source of Faith: 

[Rom 16:25 ESV] Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

[Rom 16:26 ESV] but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith--

[Rom 16:27 ESV] to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Commanded to have Faith. 

[1Co 16:13 ESV] Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

What about walk by faith, not by sight?  Be careful of Pseudo Dichotomies. 

[2Co 5:6 ESV] So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

[2Co 5:7 ESV] for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Pseudo Dichotomies.

Science VS Religion

Work VS Religion

Politics VS Religion

Education VS Religion

Vacation VS Religion. 

It’s all, really, a sneaky plan to Remove God and His Commands from every area of our lives. 

[Heb 11:1 ESV] Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We did not see, but we have evidence. 

1. The Word of God to tell us. 

2. The evidence of what God Did all around us. 

[Heb 11:2 ESV] For by it the people of old received their commendation.  (Approved by God.)

God told them something, they obeyed. 

[Heb 11:3 ESV] By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Science VS Religion!  Pseudo science VS God

The atheistic world view is the “Naturalistic” world view.  (Anything but God)

Things are made of things that are made, but all of the origin in nothingness.  

Before the “big bang” & evolution. 

[Heb 11:4 ESV] By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Abel knew what God required and obeyed.  Cain knew what God required and did not obey. 

Attitude also played a role. 

[Heb 11:5 ESV] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.

[Gen 5:22 ESV] Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

[Gen 5:23 ESV] Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.

[Gen 5:24 ESV] Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

[Heb 11:6 ESV] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Not Easter bunny, Santa Claus believe.   Subjective

Acknowledge what is True, Objective. 

The Opposite of Hebrews 11:6, The Opposite of Faith. 

[Psa 14:1 ESV] To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

[Psa 14:2 ESV] The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

[Psa 14:3 ESV] They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

[Psa 14:4 ESV] Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD?

Part II

Obeying God’s Holy Information

[Heb 11:7 ESV] By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Obeying God’s Holy Information

[Heb 11:8 ESV] By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

[Heb 11:9 ESV] By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

[Heb 11:10 ESV] For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Obeying God’s Holy Information

[Heb 11:11 ESV] By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

[Heb 11:12 ESV] Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Obeying God’s Holy Information, regardless of the outcome.   

[Heb 11:13 ESV] These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

The Big Picture Faith 

[Heb 11:14 ESV] For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

[Heb 11:15 ESV] If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

[Heb 11:16 ESV] But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

[Heb 11:17 ESV] By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,

[Heb 11:18 ESV] of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named."

[Heb 11:19 ESV] He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

[Heb 11:20 ESV] By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

[Heb 11:21 ESV] By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

[Heb 11:22 ESV] By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

[Heb 11:23 ESV] By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

[Heb 11:24 ESV] By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

[Heb 11:25 ESV] choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

[Heb 11:26 ESV] He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

[Heb 11:27 ESV] By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

[Heb 11:28 ESV] By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

[Heb 11:29 ESV] By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

[Heb 11:30 ESV] By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

[Heb 11:31 ESV] By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

[Heb 11:32 ESV] And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--

[Heb 11:33 ESV] who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,

[Heb 11:34 ESV] quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

[Heb 11:35 ESV] Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.

[Heb 11:36 ESV] Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.

[Heb 11:37 ESV] They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated--

[Heb 11:38 ESV] of whom the world was not worthy--wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

[Heb 11:39 ESV] And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,

[Heb 11:40 ESV] since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Hebrews Chapter 11 Faith Part 1

Click Here to see the power point. 

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/TheSpeaknDeacon-2292072-hebrews-chapter-11-faith-part/