Biblical Faith Explained - 57

I think it could be said that the main point of the book of Hebrews is the centrality of faith in our relationship with the Lord. You recall that the Hebrew Christians to whom this epistle is addressed were evidently being tempted to return to the old covenant. The religion of their ancestors, the religion of their upbringing, the religion that they had followed until the gospel of Jesus Christ and the ushering in of the new covenant had been proclaimed to them and they had professed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but now we're suffering persecution and that persecution was pressuring them to renounce their faith in Christ and just go back to the old covenant where it was safe and where their unbelieving Jewish friends and neighbors would not be bothered and would not persecute them. But they must not do that and the writer of Hebrews is showing them the necessity of moving forward because you cannot have salvation apart from faith, faith in God. And of course their old covenant ancestors had faith in God. They had faith in the revelation that God had given to them but now these current Hebrew people had more revelation given to them. Now the promised Messiah has come.

He has been introduced to them. They have a fuller revelation than their ancestors did and so for them faith means believing the revelation of God that they had received and acting accordingly and if they turn back from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ they are not believing and not believing means no eternal life. And so having received the gospel they must continue to embrace it by faith. And so coming to chapter 11 the writer of Hebrews takes a whole chapter to explain this matter of faith.

He does so by precept. In verse 1 faith is a substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen or verse 6 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. He does so even more by way of example and illustration as he says by faith Abel verse 4 by faith Enoch verse 5 by faith Noah verse 7 by faith Abraham beginning in verse 8 and Abraham's faith is portrayed in one way or another all the way through verse 19 for Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation and therefore the one that they would be most impressed by and most interested in and so they need to understand the nature of Abraham's faith and they need by God's grace to emulate that same faith for themselves. And so as we come to our text today in verses 13 through 16 what we have is a summary of what has already been said in some ways throughout the entire chapter up until this point but more specifically what has been said about Abraham and Sarah and Isaac and Jacob and here's what we read these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off were assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. Biblical faith explained and I think we can walk through this passage in the following order. Number one biblical faith is a tested faith verse 13. Number two biblical faith is a confessed faith verse 14. Number three biblical faith is manifested faith verse 15 and finally biblical faith is rewarded faith verse 16. Biblical faith is tested faith verse 13 opens by saying these all died in faith the question of course is who are the all that he's talking about here is he talking about all of the people that he has mentioned starting with Abel and on to Enoch and so forth and the answer is no and how do we know that well number one because Enoch didn't die he didn't die in faith because he didn't die so he's talking here specifically about those who died which would include all the others except Enoch but it is talking about their sojourn as pilgrims and strangers in a homeland that was not really their homeland one that that was promised to them but they did not consider that to be their homeland and all of these things that are referenced in our text for today apply very clearly to the ones that we call the patriarchs specifically Abraham Isaac and Jacob and of course along with Abraham Sarah and that's the ones that are being spoken of here they lived by faith they died still believing they lived by faith they died by faith that is their faith continued to endure to the end and so I think there are three questions that we need to ask to determine if the faith that we profess is indeed a biblical faith it needs to be tested because biblical faith is tested faith and what are those three questions is my faith a persevering faith question number one number two is my faith a discerning faith and then question number three is my faith like there's a spiritually minded faith and if it is those things and if the tests of time and circumstances and the Word of God shining its light upon our professed faith evidences these things to be present then we can be certain that we have indeed a biblical faith the kind of faith that is being talked about in this chapter the kind of faith that save sinners from eternal destruction is it a persevering faith these all died in faith not having received the promises they lived believing in the promises of God they died still believing in the promises of God even those promises that had not been fulfilled in their lifetime and notice what it was they believed the promises of God these all died in faith not having received the promises again we keep coming back to this simple definition of biblical faith it is believing the revelation of God and acting accordingly here the revelation of God is is identified as the promises of God and they lived according to the promises of God and they died still believing the promises of God the revelation which God had given to them even though they had not received those promises but you say wait a minute they did receive some of the promises of God didn't they God promised that he would show Abraham a new country that would eventually belong to his progeny and he brought him to the land of Canaan a Abraham walked all over the land of Canaan didn't he receive that promise of God and the answer is yes at least in part God made it clear to Abraham after he got there that he personally was not going to settle down and be able to call Canaan his country in fact you remember I read the passage last week where God explained that it's going to be a time period in between and and your children and grandchildren are going to go down into the he didn't mention Egypt but to a land where they will become slaves and then after a period of time they will be freed from those those that slavery and then they they will come back and inherit the land so there's going to be a long period of time here before your descendants actually claim Canaan as their country that passage I read in Genesis even tells us that the reason God delayed was because the cup of the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full God is going to bring judgment upon those inhabitants of Canaan who have so violently and and shamelessly defied his law but there's going to be far greater evidences of their depravity that must develop to the fullness so that when they are destroyed there can be no question in the mind of anyone but what that judgment was richly deserved and so God says I'm going to hold off for a while until they're ready for judgment and then I'll bring your your descendants into the land and they shall inherit it so in a sense Abraham at least saw the land of Canaan that part of the promise was fulfilled but he didn't inherit the land God had promised him a land but he didn't inherit the land he died without inheriting it well you say God promised him a son and that was such a miracle and time went on it seemed like it would never happen but indeed by the miraculous hand of God the time came Abraham a hundred years old Sarah 90 years old they had a son what a fulfillment of the promises of God how can we say that Abraham died not having received the promises and of course he did receive that promise of Isaac his miraculous child but as this passage makes clear we'll see it more and more as we go along deeper and more clearly into it Abraham recognized that the giving of the son to him was just a token a symbol of the real promise of that eventual son that even more miraculous son that son of David that son of Mary not conceived by man at all that son who was the Messiah who would be the Messiah that son who would be the Savior Abraham understood that's what this promise is really pointing to it requires my having a son to let that happen so that that can be fulfilled because the Messiah when he comes has to be a descendant of Abraham but Isaac as wonderful as that is and as wonderful as as this promises this promised fulfillment is and how much I am grateful for it now how delighted it makes me it makes me break out with laughter when I think of this fulfillment of this promise so impossible was it nevertheless Abraham didn't consider that to be the most important promise he lived in faith looking toward greater promises than the ones he saw in his lifetime and he died in faith still looking for and still believing those promises that God gave him about something yet in the future and so these all died in faith not having received the promises that is their faith was a persevering faith they lived by faith they lived by faith time went on years rolled on decades rolled on deaths death came knocking at their door and they died still believing still absolutely certain that the promises that God had made to them would be fulfilled they didn't doubt it for a moment their faith was a persevering faith and I think what should be understood to the Hebrews that the writer is addressing all this to is this if Abraham Sarah Isaac and Jacob clung to the promises of God as bare as slim as those promises were compared to what we have but they saw enough in those minimal promises about salvation and the Messiah and other things in the future if they believed in those and did not waver did not let go persevered in that faith to the very end of their lives then why what excuse do you have Hebrews having received so much more revelation having seen the promised Messiah arrived and know you know his name his name is Jesus you know that he died you know that he rose again from the dead you know so much more than did Abraham Sarah Isaac and Jacob you have so much more revelation from God what justification would you have for wavering and waning in your faith and departing from what you know back to something that is more comfortable these all lived by faith and died by faith not having received the promises their faith was a persevering faith secondly we can see that their faith was a discerning faith they did not receive the promises but having seen them a far off were assured of them we read in the middle of verse 13 having seen them a far off seeing what seen those ultimate promises that rise above the ones that they did see such as that territory in the world called the land of Canaan that miraculous child named Isaac yes they did see the fulfillment of some promises but they saw something that was even greater it was farther off it was of a higher level a higher category than the promises which their eyes actually saw they discerned something far more than what the eye could see they saw them the promises afar off and were assured of them the ultimate promises the promise not just of a child to Abraham and Sarah but a child who would be the Savior of the world not just a land of Canaan that they could call their homeland but a heavenly land that they could call their eternal homeland you see they were seeing those promises afar off but they saw them they understood them we don't know to what degree that's a question we'd like to have answered just just exactly how much information did Abraham have Jesus told the Pharisees that Abraham saw my day well I think we're seeing the same thing declared here in the book of Hebrews but again we we wonder how much how much information how clearly did Abraham see my day I think some people put more into that phrase and probably is warranted some people think that Abraham had more revelation that we don't know anything about and he knew about Mary and Jesus and Joseph and and all of these details about the promised Messiah that we know today I I don't think so I can't say for sure he didn't but I don't think so but I think what is being said here is he saw enough in the promises that were given to him that he discerned this is talking about the Messiah he was probably putting together the revelation that had come before him that had been passed down clear back on the garden of course God said to Adam and Eve after their sin that God would send a seed of the woman who though his heel would be would be injured by Satan nevertheless he would be the Satan crusher the Messiah who would defeat sin and Satan what a wonderful promise of a the first promise of the of the coming Messiah and I think there's no doubt that that was passed down and that's the promise that Abel was holding on to when he died as a martyr for his faith and that was the promise that Enoch was holding on to and that was the promise that Noah was holding on to and I think there must have been some some reminder of that promise even to Abraham though by that time the descendants of Noah had declined into idolatry and Abraham was of that number but nevertheless there must have been some witness to the promise of the Messiah so taking that and coupling that with what God revealed directly to Abraham and knowing about the promised son that God promised to him and knowing about the promised country that God had promised to him Abraham had the ability to discern in these what should we say physical promises these historical promises or they weren't history to him they are now to us but these things that have to do with what's going to unfold in history here upon the earth he was able to see in those types and symbols and illustrations of a greater truth and he understood that that every that though he Abraham and everyone else needs a Savior that God had promised one he believed that and he saw enough to understand that though it's wonderful to have a country you can call your own that that's really not much you enjoy that for a little while then you die and then what but he saw the heavenly country which is everlasting which means that he would never forfeit his citizenship in that country and he was able to understand these things because the faith he had was a discerning faith it was enabled by God to understand spiritual truth and that's exactly what the Bible tells us the natural man unconverted man does not understand the things of the Spirit of God their foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually understood but those who are constituted spiritual by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit are enlightened to understand truth that other people don't understand even in the same reading of the Bible they see things that unregenerate people don't see in the proclamation of God's Word they hear things from the lips of the preacher that unregenerate people don't don't hear that's an evidence of genuine faith biblical faith is persevering biblical faith is discerning biblical faith number three is spiritually minded it goes on to say not only do they see these things afar off and we're assured of them but they embraced them and confessed them they embrace spiritual promises more than physical ones they believe the promise about the land of Canaan given to them but they embrace something greater than Canaan a heavenly city remember it's already been introduced verse 9 by faith he that is Abraham dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise for verse 10 he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and makers God he didn't embrace the promise of the land of Canaan as the wonderful and ultimate promise that God gave to him he looked beyond that that that's just a token that's a symbol of something greater God has promised to him a city whose whose found has foundations whose builder and maker is God obviously a reference to heaven and so a biblical faith is a spiritually minded faith it's not all tied up with the things of this world is not all tied up with things physical and temporal it sees beyond that and it sees things that we we call spiritual because they have to do with the realm of God who is a spirit and they have to do with the realm of that which is is beyond the world and beyond the grave and these are spiritual truths and a biblical faith embraces those truths and they understand those who have biblical faith that these earthly promises are symbols of more important realities they are symbols of the Savior to come has come to us but to Abraham the Savior to come and heaven also to come and so biblical faith is tested number two biblical faith is not only a tested faith but it is a confessed faith verse 14 it actually starts in verse 13 and confessed that means say something and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth for those who say again speaking confessing those who say such things declare plainly another way of saying the same thing confession confession speaking confessing declare plainly that they seek a homeland biblical faith is confessed faith it is a faith confessed with words it is a faith confessed by what we do they confessed with their mouths that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth those who say such things they declare plainly and we find examples of that that that very thing we find examples of for example in Genesis 23 when Sarah has died and here's Abraham who is a wealthy man and yet he's living like a nomad intense and he's moving around from place to place with his herds and flocks and he doesn't have one foot of real estate that he can call his own he doesn't even have a place to bury his wife and so finally he's going to have to acquire at least enough land to bury his wife he's going to have to have that much real estate in the land of Canaan and so he goes to the inhabitants of the land and he talks to the son of heath in the hearing of the elders and he says in Genesis 23 4 and listen to it now here he is confessing he says I am a foreigner and visitor among you isn't that exactly what the right of Hebrews said confessed with his mouth that he's a stranger a pilgrim a foreigner I am a foreigner and a visitor among you give me property for a burial place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight another example do you remember Joseph has been down in Egypt and God has been using him there and preparing him to preserve the line of Abraham so that the promises that God has made that must be fulfilled through Abraham can be fulfilled and finally Jacob and his family about 70 70 to 75 of them some of them were already there because their sons they're the family of Joseph but finally they make it down to Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan and Joseph the we'd call him I guess the the viced Pharaoh of Egypt introduces his father to Pharaoh and what does Jacob say Genesis 47 then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh and Joe Jacob blessed Pharaoh there's a lot there I won't pause and Pharaoh said to Jacob how old are you and here's his answer and Jacob said to Pharaoh the days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years he confessed that after all these years that first his father his grandfather before him and his father before him and he himself had lived in the land of Canaan he still was living in a tent he was still moving from place to place he still was not a citizen a residence of this country he was still a pilgrim a stranger in a foreign land he confessed that to Pharaoh just like the writer of Hebrews tells us those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland and confessed verse 13 that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth and so they confessed with words and they also confessed by their actions they confess their pilgrimage on earth they confess that Canaan was not the homeland that they were seeking their actions of continuing to live as nomads in tents remember when they left the Ur of the Chaldees they left a highly civilized city with beautiful homes mansions we would call them of many rooms and walls walled courtyards around the homes they had all kinds of luxuries that were available to the people of that day and they enjoyed that kind of living Abraham left that kind of living to come to Canaan and just live in a tent move around in a tent and Isaac after him did the same thing wealthy people they could have bought a whole city if they wanted to but they're confessing something by their actions not only by their words but by the way they live they are continuing over and over and over to declare to the people around them that this world is not my home Canaan's not my home I'm just a passing through my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue that's what they were showing by their actions their actions of living constantly as nomads their actions of not seeking a settled lifestyle they could have had one why didn't they they knew we don't find the exact words where God told them not to settle down and build a house but it's obvious that they knew that they were appointed to be pilgrims nomads in this land of Canaan that God had promised to them but not yet they not to settle down yet and they believed God they obeyed God and they confessed that truth to others they declared by their actions that they were seeking a heavenly homeland this is biblical faith it's biblical faith that is confessed by their words it's a biblical faith that is confessed by their actions but number three biblical faith is manifested faith and then of course explore expands a bit upon the second part of our previous point confessed by what we do but biblical faith is a manifested faith because according to verse 15 and truly if they had called to mind the country from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return and their biblical faith is manifested first by their thoughts and secondly by their choices on its manifested by how they thought how their minds processed the truth that have been given to them the revelation of God and how it applied to the life that they were living at the time and we are told here if they had called to mind if they had dwelt upon if they had thought a great deal about the land that they left with all of its earthly advantages what was keeping them from going back nothing except their faith in God they knew that that didn't honor God they knew that that didn't demonstrate their persevering faith in the promises of God that's what kept them from going back if they had called to mind if they had dwelt upon that wonderful land they had left with all of its advantages all of its advances all of its civilization all of its luxuries but of course along with that all of its idolatry but if they had dwelt on all of the physical advantages of the land which they left if they'd thought about it overly much if they dwelt upon it in their thoughts if they'd idealized it in their minds if they'd longed for it with their thinking they probably would have at some point said we're going back why why should we live in tents like nomads pilgrims strangers aliens when we can go back where we came from and live like wealthy people citizens respected enjoy all the pleasures of life why not go back and enjoy those again no no no no no no if they had thought like that they probably would have gone back but they didn't think like that because those thoughts weren't pleasing to God and so they refused to think about that if they had called to mind our writer says in verse 15 if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return but clearly what he's saying is they didn't they didn't think about it they didn't dwell upon it they didn't idealize it they didn't long for it like lots wife remember the angel rescued lot and his wife and his daughters from Sodom and told him to get out of there and lots wife just longed for what she had there and she turned back and she died as a result of that if they had dwelt upon the good things of life that they had enjoyed in the past they would have done the same thing but they didn't why because they had faith true faith biblical faith biblical faith that is manifested by their thoughts the way they thought evidence the kind of faith which they had and that of course would be a self-test only they would know what their thoughts were but also by the choices which they made because again verse 15 says and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return but they didn't and the fact that they didn't go they didn't pursue that particular course of action was a testimony and a manifestation of their faith their thoughts manifested their genuine faith and their choices manifested their genuine faith this is both a personal test in their thoughts and a public test manifested in their actions they had opportunity to go back if they had desired but they refused sternly refused remember when Abraham is seeking a wife for Isaac he says don't take he gives instructions to his chief steward his his his manager of all of his operations and he says I'm entrusting this important job to you don't take a wife from the daughters of Canaan go back to our former homeland and take a wife from among our relatives and kindred and the servant said to him Genesis 24 or 5 perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land must I take your son back to the land from which you came and Abraham said not on your life well that's a very loose translation verse 6 Abraham said to him beware that you do not take my son back there they not only didn't go back they knew they weren't supposed to go back Abraham forbade the servant to take his son back he didn't even trust Isaac to go back and see where they came from because he might be tempted to stay and so he sent the servant and said and said God will prosper your your efforts and we'll trust him to give you a wife will be willing to leave her land and come here and then we'll know it's of God so a manifested faith they had an opportunity to return but they renounced it that brings us there for number four to biblical faith is rewarded faith and that takes us to verse 16 but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them a rewarded faith and their faith is rewarded number one with heavenly desires their believing faith works heavenly desires within their soul now verse 16 they desire a better that is a heavenly country what kept them from wanting the things that people in this world want a nice home a nice nice luxuries to enjoy in this world anything wrong with that not necessarily but not if it goes against what God has told you to do certainly not and not if it causes you to stop valuing things eternal more than things temporal that's the point and in their case they knew that they were to live as nomads rather than to settle down in the luxuries of life they had heavenly desires they desired a better that is a heavenly country by faith they desired what is better their faith gave them better desires their faith obtained their exalted desires did they inherit that heavenly country they did plan when they died they lived in faith they died in faith remember the account that Jesus told about the rich man and he lifted up his eyes we read in that parable I think it is a probably a parable but it has serious realities that are very clearly spelled out in it but he lifted up his eyes and he saw Lazarus the believing man where was he in Abraham's bosom he was he was there with Abraham where was Abraham in the heavenly city that he longed for in that city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God because Abraham lived by faith and Abraham died in faith and Abraham inherited the heavenly city by faith and the point is this that their faith created within them spiritual desires and then God fulfilled those spiritual desires many people misunderstand the verse that says delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart it's like if I have my devotions every day and pray to God and I want to drive I don't know what a Lamborghini God's gonna give it to me he's gonna give me the desires of my heart no no no you missed it first part delight yourself also in the Lord what comes next he changes your desires what comes next he gives you the desires of your heart because their spiritual desires that God has created within you as you are delighting yourself in the Lord not delighting yourself in Lamborghinis you understand that's the point that's the point you say well pastor barkman if somebody gave you a Lamborghini would you drive it you bet would you keep it probably not I don't think I could afford the insurance on it but when you have faith in God in his revelation it creates within you higher desires greater desires spiritual desires eternal desires and then God and his grace fulfills them and so it's rewarded this kind of faith is rewarded with heavenly desires it is rewarded with godly identification they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God the highest title that can be given to any man or woman is that person is clearly a child of God is there out better title than that no and when people live by biblical faith and die with biblical faith that kind of faith God says I am not ashamed to be called their God sometimes to our shame we are ashamed to be called God's children and may God get us over that because the greatest greatest privilege the greatest identification that anybody can have spoken by friends spoken by fellow believers spoken by unbelievers at work that man that woman is a true Christian that man that woman is clearly a child of God amen that's the reward of persevering faith and the reward concludes with incomprehensible delights for God has prepared for them a city we read in verse 16 a better city better than anything on earth how do we know by faith because God said so because we believe the revelation of God and have assurance that that is true how can we be sure that it really is better by faith because God says so but think of this it's a city that God built that's got to be better than anything that man built it reflects the architect and builder who is God that's better than any earthly architect and builder I don't care how fabulous a mansion anyone can build on this earth it is paltry compared to what God the great architect and builder builds for his children Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am to you may be also God build it it reflects his architecture and his his construction prowess it rewards those who believe in him but we don't know very much about this that's why it's sometimes hard earthly treasures we can see we can touch we can hold we can we can talk about we can understand heaven we don't really understand much about do we in many ways it is incomprehensible because I'm confident that in our present condition we're really not capable of understanding much more than what the Bible tells us but the Bible tells us it's wonderful I have not seen here have not heard neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him it is incomprehensible it is wonderful how do we know because God said it how do we know because God is building it how do we know because God is rewarding his children and God rewards his children in the most lavish way possible how do we know that heavens better because of all these things how can we be sure because we believe it by faith and we are assured by faith and that kind of faith is true biblical faith and the question is is that what you have is that the kind of faith you profess do you see the evidences of this kind of faith in your profession of faith and if not go to the one who can give you this faith go to the one who can create this within you go to the one who is able tell him you need it and see what he will do shall we pray father thank you for your word and what it teaches us help us to hear it and apply it we pray in Jesus name amen