Concept of Faith, Part 2

You're convinced of it spiritually, although it hasn't been seen physically yet.

So you're walking in expectation. Dr. Tony Evans talks about the importance of faith. Faith is not one of the things you need. It is the key thing you need if you want to experience God.

This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. Jesus said we could do anything if we trust Him enough, but that can be hard when the problems and pressures of life keep piling up. Well, Dr. Evans has some encouragement for you today as he takes us to Hebrews chapter 11 for today's lesson.

Let's join him. Verse 1, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Read that again. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. In order for faith to be faith, as God defines faith, it must have substance. Faith involves things.

It involves stuff. Faith is tied to substance that is not yet seen or experienced with the five senses, but that you are convinced is real based on the integrity of the subject who is calling for the faith. Who is the subject calling for the faith?

It's God. He says after you've done the will of God. Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, without faith it is impossible to please God.

Don't miss this one. Faith is not one of the things you need. It is the key thing you need if you want to experience God. Why is God getting all upset about whether I have faith or not? Without faith, you have challenged the integrity of God. Now you know why faith is a big deal and why God says without it, you do not please me.

You displease me because you challenge my integrity. Verse 2, for by it, by faith, the men of old gained approval of old, meaning in the Old Testament. He says, I'm going to take you New Testament Christians on a tour, and we're going to walk through what I call the hall of faith, the heroes of faith.

And he says, I'm going to take you on a tour of them so they can help you. Abel is going to come forth and he's going to be the first witness. Enoch is going to come forth and he's going to testify. Noah is going to come forth and he's going to say a little something, something. Abraham is going to come forth and he's going to tell you something.

Sarah is going to come forth and her girlfriend has something she wants to share with you. Rahab is going to tell you a little something, something, because she's going to testify as well. David is going to give a testimony. Joseph is going to give a testimony. The patriarch is going to give a testimony. There's going to be testifying to let you know that verse 1 is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and it will so help you, God, when you understand faith.

He says, I got some testifying to do. In Canton, Ohio, they have the Football Hall of Fame. These are where the football greats, those who exceeded and excelled, their busts are there for them to be remembered. God says, this is my hall of faith. This is my Canton, Ohio, Hebrews chapter 11.

These are the men and women who demonstrate that this faith thing works. You don't get your graduation certificate when you enroll in college. You don't get it upon enrollment.

You get it upon fulfilling the requirements. That's why the end of chapter 10 says, and when you have completed the will of God. See, because some of us are in college for 20 years because we've not completed the course we've been called on. So we've not received the approval of graduation, the validation and vindication of a life of faith. We pick and choose when we want to believe God. We believe God on the things we like.

We disregard Him on the things we don't like. And so we're not living by faith. We are cherry picking by faith.

He says, the righteous, this is how they roll. In other words, non-faith is the exception. Faith is the rule in spite of how they feel. It's like the three Hebrew boys that said, we believe God can deliver us. But even if we don't, if He doesn't, we're not going to bow because we trust God. It's like Habakkuk says in Habakkuk chapter three in the last few verses, though there's no fig on the tree, though there is no cattle in the stall, though I can't see anything God is doing, I'm going to still rejoice because I still know God, even though I can't see a change in my situation because God has integrity in spite of my circumstances. I mean, to think about us living our lives, calling God a liar every day because of our refusal to live by faith. And faith is confidence in something you do not see yet in the visible realm, but you're convinced of it spiritually. You're convinced of it spiritually, although it hasn't been seen physically yet.

So you're walking in expectation. One other thing before we go on to our final point. There are some strange people in this list in Hebrews 11. There are some folk in this list that if we were making the list, wouldn't have made the list. You got a prostitute in this list. You got a liar in this list. You got a murderer in this list. You got a passive man in this list. You got a lady who laughed in the face of God in this list. You got some messed up people who made the list. That ought to be some good news to somebody. Even though you walk through this door, toe up from the floor up, even though you walk through this door of spiritual failure, if you right now will begin to live by faith, God still will let you make a list.

Some folks shouldn't belong here. That means there's hope. If you and I begin to live by faith and stop faking it to make it, playing church, playing religion, playing Christianity, and not taking God seriously and stopping our challenge of His integrity, because why would you answer the prayer of somebody who calls you a liar every day? You lying, God, but bless me. You a liar, God, but give me a better job. You a liar, God, but give me a maid. You a liar, God, but change my circumstance. You a liar, God, but heal me. When God's integrity is challenged, His promises lie dormant and unfulfilled.

He comes to His final point. It's a zinger too. Verse 3, by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God so that what is seen was made out of things which are invisible.

I need to read that again, because this is a zinger. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God so that what is seen, what is visible, was not made out of things which are visible. He said, to make my point about faith, let me take you all the way back to the beginning. He says, we understand that the worlds that we do see was created by someone using something we don't see. Genesis 1-1 says, in the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. That's the Hebrew name for the Creator God, found in Genesis chapter 1, verse 1.

Stay with me here. It says the worlds—and notice the word worlds in verse 3 is plural—that means the whole universe, not just the earth. So the whole universe, all the galaxies that exist, was created by someone you can't see, using stuff you can't see, to create a universe you can see that we're still trying to look at through telescopes, but there are too many galaxies that even our strongest telescopes can't even locate. What is faith? Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So God has operated this way from the beginning of bringing stuff you can see out of stuff you can't see, and He created a whole universe with this strategy.

Now what did you tell me your problem was? God used this strategy to create the universe. And how did He do it? Verse 3 says, by a rhema word. The word word there is rhema. A rhema word means a divine utterance, a spoken word. He spoke it.

You remember Genesis 1, in the beginning God said, let there be light and there was light. God said, let the water be separated from the land, and it was so God said—He uttered, He uttered a word, and what wasn't became because of what was uttered. Somebody who you don't see said something. And the somebody you can't see, because we can't see God, who said something, something you can see happens. That's why the centurion told Jesus, all you've got to do is speak the word. You've got to utter the word, and this thing I'm dealing with will change. But not everyone believes those divine utterances Dr. Evans mentioned. He'll come back to talk about that in just a moment.

First though, what you're hearing today is part of his current series, Your Best You. As we're discovering, it focuses on the extraordinary things we can do when we take God at His word. Along the way, you'll learn how to heal deep emotional hurts, overcome problems and pain you thought would never turn around, and unblock the miracle you've been praying for. Right now, we're making this life-changing collection available on CD and digital download as our gift when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on the station. Just visit tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222 to make the arrangements.

I'll have our contact information for you again after part two of today's lesson and this. Racial tension in our nation is spreading like wildfire. Dr. Tony Evans talks about his book, Oneness Embraced. I wanted to give God's view on race and racism because He has not stuttered on this subject. Oneness Embraced explains why unity isn't just about getting along but getting things done. We don't need more workshops on reconciliation. We need to serve together while we get to know each other along the way. Oneness Embraced.

Get yours today at tonyevans.org. We live in a world where we've been duped. To believe that the world came from this primeval slime that grew into an amoeba, that grew into a monkey, that developed self-consciousness and became a man. You've got to go to college for that.

That's where you've got to go. Faith people understand that God spoke the divine fiat, the divine utterance, and these things came into existence. But modern man has duped a whole generation. And so we have a generation that does not see God move because we've been duped. We've been duped by education. We've been duped by philosophy.

All philosophy is are men doodling with ideas. I mean, Immanuel Kant says, I think, therefore I am. People sitting in philosophy, that's deep, that's deep.

Immanuel Kant said, I think, therefore I am, that's deep. People be getting degrees in ignorance. We've been duped by science. Science. Because most of science is trying to spend its time trying to prove there is no God.

Okay? That kind of science. Trying to prove there's no God. And so all science is is repetition of repeatable events from which they draw a hypothesis.

Science is the recognition of repeatable events from which they draw a hypothesis, which often changes when new information is introduced to the equation. That's why food science will tell you one day you shouldn't drink coffee. Tell you, well you can drink coffee. Well you can't eat wheat, but you can eat wheat. But you can't eat this kind of wheat.

So now everything is gluten free. And so science keeps shifting and turning and twisting. Don't know what to do. I'm so confused. We've been duped. We've let the mind of man cancel out the divine utterance of God, leaving us without His promise being fulfilled and His reality being experienced in our lives. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He still operates on the faith principle. That what you see comes from what you don't see. So if you don't start with what you don't see, faith, in what God says, you can see things you won't see.

You'll just discuss it in science class. Okay, I notice there's nobody sitting over here. There's nobody sitting top there, top there. Because a lot of our folks listened to the weatherman last night. The weatherman, the meteorologist said, it's going to be tough going early afternoon in Dallas, Texas, and they believed the Word.

You see where I'm going? Because they believed the Word, they acted on the Word that they believed, and therefore, they decided to worship at home. And they decided to do it because they believe the Word. Now, all of us who listen to the weather know that the weathermen are often wrong. They say it's going to rain, but it doesn't rain. They say it's going to be cold, but it's nicer than the temperature they predicted.

So they're sometimes hot and sometimes cold, no pun intended. The weatherman is sometimes right and sometimes wrong, but we tune in mightily to their Word because their Word will determine, do we take an umbrella? Do we not take an umbrella?

Do we pick up a coat or do we not pick up a coat? Do I need a jacket or do I not need a jacket? Do I need a rain hat?

Do I not take a rain hat? And we make those decisions on the Word of a man who sometimes is right and sometimes is wrong, but we trust his Word. If you can believe the Word of a weatherman who's up today and down tomorrow, what about a God who's never wrong, never lied, never made a mistake? We act on the Word. We don't say because it's going to be icing outside and he says it's cold, let me go on with a t-shirt because we heard the Word.

We haven't seen the weather yet, but we act on it based on the Word. You go to your doctor, he writes you a prescription. And if you can read the prescription, he's not a real doctor. A prescription you don't understand from a man you trust.

See, that's the difference. Some people read the Bible and say, I don't understand it. The question is, do you trust the author? Even though I don't understand it, do I trust it? And even if I can read it, I don't know what it means. Some people read the Bible.

I don't understand it. I don't know what it means, but I know who wrote it. And because I believe the one who wrote it has integrity, I'm going to take it to the pharmacy.

I'm going to get it fulfilled. But faith has not occurred simply by picking up what was written from a person of integrity, getting what he provides. Faith has not been exercised until you take the medicine.

Until you act on the prescription, all it is is writing on a piece of paper by a person who has integrity that is of absolutely no benefit to you. The question you have to ask with faith is, does God have integrity? And if He does, will I align what He tells me to do in every area of life, not just in church life, not just in, quote, unquote, the religious life, but every aspect of life, my career, my money, my relationships, my singlehood, my this, my that? Does God have integrity on every subject?

You say, but I don't see it. And you won't until He sees you moving in faith. Dr. Evans will come back to wrap up our program with a story about how to get that movement started.

So stay with us. First, though, the kind of faith Tony talked about today isn't just a way of life, it's the way to life. The Bible makes it clear that none of us is good enough or pure enough to make it to heaven on our own, and that putting our faith in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross is the only way to bridge the gap between human failure and divine forgiveness. If you've never made that connection, visit tonyevans.org today and follow the link that says Jesus. There, Tony will explain everything you need to know about what it means to be a real Christian and how to start a brand new life. That's tonyevans.org. And while you're there, don't miss out on your chance to take advantage of our current offer, an audio compilation of five of Tony's full-length lessons, perfect for the new year. It's called Your Best You, and it's yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where team members are standing by to assist you with your request. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org.

The Bible tells us to run away from temptation, but when it's coming from your emotions, there's no easy way to escape. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans talks about how feelings try to control us and how you can decide who directs your thoughts. Right now, though, he's back with a story from when his grandson was little. After the second service on most Sundays, Jonathan II runs out at the end of the service, runs up the step, comes over to the edge and says, Poppy, which is what he calls me, catch me. And he stands up here, and I hold my hands out, and he jumps.

But it always wasn't like that. Let me rewind. Initially, I picked him up and put him up here. And I stood down there and I said, J2, jump. He said, no, no, I'm scared.

I said, J2, I got you. He said, no, no, no, no. But I kept uttering the word, uttering the word, uttering the word. The problem is he wasn't believing the word because he was not confident in my integrity.

He was not convinced I either had the will or the ability to catch him. But after pounding him with the word over and over, J2, jump, J2, jump, J2, jump, J2, jump, J2, jump, pounding him with the word, he came over to the edge. I said, jump, J2. He said, come closer. You're too far.

You're too far. But when he asked me to draw near, when he called on me to draw near, I came a little bit closer and I drew a little bit nearer because I knew the closer I got, the more confident he would have. And so I said, J2, jump. He lifted up one leg but kept the other leg down. He wasn't fully comfortable. And so he didn't jump.

He just kind of typically leaned forward so that I can grab him. I put him back up there. I said, J2, jump. It's time he went up a little higher. J2, jump. He went even higher. Now at the end of the church, he runs out here and say, catch me.

I'm jumping. Sometimes he jumped before I even put out my hand. Because he learned to believe in my integrity. He believes that Poppy is not going to drop him, is not going to let him down, is not going to fall on his face. And once he becomes convinced that he can trust me, he now invites the opportunity to have faith. God wants you to trust his integrity so you can say to him, catch me in this situation. Catch me in this circumstance because I have learned to trust you. I have learned that my God has integrity. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.