The Church of Divine Guidance (CDG) Sunday morning adult bible study group is in a study on faith. These posts are my notes for each session. Please study with us. You can participate by asking your questions or making comments in the comments below. We welcome your thoughts and prayers.
This is one of my daily devotionals from last week and I think it is very appropriate for our bible study.
1 Peter 1:7 (HCSB)7 so that the genuineness of your faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too. Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise Him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities. - Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening
Hebrews 11:1-2 (NKJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. –
1. What two things does faith enable us to do?
2. Why is faint and essential part of our relationship with God?
Because without it we can’t please God
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) 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.
3. What is the evidence that our faith is not irrational or blind faith?
Creation and the Word of God.
4. How do we grow in faith?
The Word of God
Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Last week we started our study of the heroes of faith as recorded in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews and we talked about the faith of Abel, Enoch and Noah. They showed us the nature or quality of faith.
5. Do you remember what they were?
With Able it was trust and loving acceptance of whatever God. We learn from Enoch is that faith means turning from human wisdom to God's revelation and walking in that revelation causes our faith to grow in intimacy. We learn from Noah that faith is persistent.
The folk we are going to talk about today, and probably next week or two, are going to show us the variety of actions that can accompany faith. These actions are not the usual ones that people would take under the same circumstances, and they show a belief that God will do what He says that He will do, no matter how it looks at the time.
As we have said a couple of times, in this study, it takes more than just belief. Belief without action really doesn't have much effect.
James 2:19-20 (NKJV)19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
We start with Abraham who is the role model for all believers in Christ.
Hebrews 11:8-10 (HCSB) By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he
stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Living a life of faith has some risks. Faith enabled Abraham to take an uncertain journey, not knowing where he was going. He took that journey because God told him to do it. Faith can enable us to take risks as well. We can do it because we have example after example from the bible of people who obeyed God and He did what He said that He would do. They obeyed even beyond the point of receiving the promise while they lived. We have evidence from our own lives and the lives of others stepped out in their faith and belief in God who achieved things we and they considerd impossible. Because of this evidence we can even endure long periods of uncertainty, for faith assures us that God's keeps His promises.
God promised Abraham a land, a posterity, a great name and universal influence
Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV)1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Abraham believed God and left his family and comfortable surroundings, and, at the age of seventy-five, set out for Canaan, a land he had never visited and knew nothing about. When he got there he lived as a foreigner, never owning any property except the cave, where he buried his wife, Sarah. Toward the end of his life, Abraham said “I am a foreign resident among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.” Genesis 23:4 (HCSB)
We know a lot of stuff happened to Abraham while he was waiting on God. God’s promise to Abraham still hasn't been completed. The writer of Hebrews says;
Hebrews 11:13 (HCSB) 13 These
all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a
distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary
residents on the earth.
Abraham still waited. There were times where he got off track and wavered but he still believed God and waited. Read Abraham's full story in Genesis chapters 12 through 25. It is a fascinating story of a life of faith.
We are going to talk more about Abraham but let's talk about his wife Sarah now. When Abraham obeyed God and left his family and familiar surroundings so did Sarah. The writer of Hebrews list her in this list of heroes of faith along with Abraham.
Hebrews 11:11-12 (HCSB)11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful.12 Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.
This is a great example for us because when Sarah first heard that she and Abraham was going to have a baby in their old ages, she doubted, laughed, and then lied.
Genesis 18:12-15 (HCSB)12 So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”13 But the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’14 Is anything impossible for the LORD? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But He replied, “ No, you did laugh.”
Before we get too hard on Sarah, Abraham laughed too. Go to Genesis 17:17-18 (HCSB)17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!”
Yes Sarah doubted at first but her doubts were overcome. Faith enabled her, even as an old woman, to receive the promise of giving birth to a child.
Hebrews 11:17-19 (HCSB)17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and he was offering his unique son,18 the one it had been said about, Your seed will be traced through Isaac.19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead, and as an illustration, he received him back.
We know the story but let’s go to Genesis. One day God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. To sacrifice the son that God had promised to Abraham and through who mankind would be blessed and whose descendants would inherit the land that was promised. God said sacrifice him. Again Abraham obeyed and went about doing what God commanded him to do. Here are a couple of telling things from Abraham's comments during this time.
Genesis 22:5 (HCSB) Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
Genesis 22:10-14 (HCSB)10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.”12 Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.14 And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the LORD’s mountain.”
You can see from these comments why the writer of Hebrews said what he did about Abraham's faith in verses 17-19. His faith in God gave him the confidence that no matter what happened things would work out so that he would have more descendants that could be numbered from Isaac, and that mankind would be blessed through him.
1 Peter 1:7 (HCSB)7 so that the genuineness of your faith—more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too. Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise Him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities. - Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening
Foundation Scripture
Hebrews 11:1-2 (NKJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. –
1. What two things does faith enable us to do?
- Enables us to realize that God does exist because we see His creation and realize that things that we see were created by Him who we can’t see but know that He exist.
- Faith enables us to please God.
2. Why is faint and essential part of our relationship with God?
Because without it we can’t please God
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) 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.
3. What is the evidence that our faith is not irrational or blind faith?
Creation and the Word of God.
4. How do we grow in faith?
The Word of God
Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Last week we started our study of the heroes of faith as recorded in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews and we talked about the faith of Abel, Enoch and Noah. They showed us the nature or quality of faith.
5. Do you remember what they were?
With Able it was trust and loving acceptance of whatever God. We learn from Enoch is that faith means turning from human wisdom to God's revelation and walking in that revelation causes our faith to grow in intimacy. We learn from Noah that faith is persistent.
This Week - Actions of Faith
The folk we are going to talk about today, and probably next week or two, are going to show us the variety of actions that can accompany faith. These actions are not the usual ones that people would take under the same circumstances, and they show a belief that God will do what He says that He will do, no matter how it looks at the time.
As we have said a couple of times, in this study, it takes more than just belief. Belief without action really doesn't have much effect.
James 2:19-20 (NKJV)19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
Abraham
We start with Abraham who is the role model for all believers in Christ.
Hebrews 11:8-10 (HCSB) By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he
 |
| Abraham and Sarah |
Living a life of faith has some risks. Faith enabled Abraham to take an uncertain journey, not knowing where he was going. He took that journey because God told him to do it. Faith can enable us to take risks as well. We can do it because we have example after example from the bible of people who obeyed God and He did what He said that He would do. They obeyed even beyond the point of receiving the promise while they lived. We have evidence from our own lives and the lives of others stepped out in their faith and belief in God who achieved things we and they considerd impossible. Because of this evidence we can even endure long periods of uncertainty, for faith assures us that God's keeps His promises.
God promised Abraham a land, a posterity, a great name and universal influence
Genesis 12:1-3 (NKJV)1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Abraham believed God and left his family and comfortable surroundings, and, at the age of seventy-five, set out for Canaan, a land he had never visited and knew nothing about. When he got there he lived as a foreigner, never owning any property except the cave, where he buried his wife, Sarah. Toward the end of his life, Abraham said “I am a foreign resident among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.” Genesis 23:4 (HCSB)
We know a lot of stuff happened to Abraham while he was waiting on God. God’s promise to Abraham still hasn't been completed. The writer of Hebrews says;
Abraham still waited. There were times where he got off track and wavered but he still believed God and waited. Read Abraham's full story in Genesis chapters 12 through 25. It is a fascinating story of a life of faith.
Sarah
We are going to talk more about Abraham but let's talk about his wife Sarah now. When Abraham obeyed God and left his family and familiar surroundings so did Sarah. The writer of Hebrews list her in this list of heroes of faith along with Abraham.
Hebrews 11:11-12 (HCSB)11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful.12 Therefore from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as innumerable as the grains of sand by the seashore.
This is a great example for us because when Sarah first heard that she and Abraham was going to have a baby in their old ages, she doubted, laughed, and then lied.
Genesis 18:12-15 (HCSB)12 So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”13 But the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’14 Is anything impossible for the LORD? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But He replied, “ No, you did laugh.”
Before we get too hard on Sarah, Abraham laughed too. Go to Genesis 17:17-18 (HCSB)17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?”18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!”
Yes Sarah doubted at first but her doubts were overcome. Faith enabled her, even as an old woman, to receive the promise of giving birth to a child.
We often have initial doubts too but we can overcome them by our faith.
Sarah even tried to help God but that didn't work out.
Genesis 16:1-4 (HCSB)1 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the LORD has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.3 So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. ⌊This happened⌋ after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years.4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt.
They had to wait several more years but finally, when Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90 then came the miracle.
Genesis 21:1-3 (HCSB)1 The LORD came to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac.
6. What subtle irony about the power of faith comes out in this story of faith?
That something useless in the sight of man can with faith in God become something that saves lives or changes lives and or circumstances.
Sarah even tried to help God but that didn't work out.
Genesis 16:1-4 (HCSB)1 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar.2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the LORD has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.3 So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. ⌊This happened⌋ after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years.4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt.
They had to wait several more years but finally, when Abraham was 100 and Sarah 90 then came the miracle.
Genesis 21:1-3 (HCSB)1 The LORD came to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac.
6. What subtle irony about the power of faith comes out in this story of faith?
That something useless in the sight of man can with faith in God become something that saves lives or changes lives and or circumstances.
The example to us is that even when we have an initial doubt that doesn't mean that we have no faith. Sarah and Abraham are examples. After some initial doubt their faith quickly removes that doubt. Why because of the evidence that what God had promised in the past He had done. We believe and trust that what He has promised for the future He will also do.
7. In the first session of this study we asked the question what can we do when we don't think we have enough faith? What was the answer?
The answer was to ask;
The answer was to ask;
Mark 9:23-24 (HCSB) 23 Then
Jesus said to him, “‘If You can’? Everything is possible to the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father
of the boy cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”
James 1:5 (HCSB) Now if any
of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without
criticizing, and it will be given to him.
The Ultimate Test of Abraham’s Faith
Hebrews 11:17-19 (HCSB)17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and he was offering his unique son,18 the one it had been said about, Your seed will be traced through Isaac.19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead, and as an illustration, he received him back.
 |
| Abraham and Isaac |
We know the story but let’s go to Genesis. One day God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. To sacrifice the son that God had promised to Abraham and through who mankind would be blessed and whose descendants would inherit the land that was promised. God said sacrifice him. Again Abraham obeyed and went about doing what God commanded him to do. Here are a couple of telling things from Abraham's comments during this time.
Genesis 22:5 (HCSB) Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.”
Genesis 22:10-14 (HCSB)10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.”12 Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.14 And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, so today it is said: “It will be provided on the LORD’s mountain.”
You can see from these comments why the writer of Hebrews said what he did about Abraham's faith in verses 17-19. His faith in God gave him the confidence that no matter what happened things would work out so that he would have more descendants that could be numbered from Isaac, and that mankind would be blessed through him.
It was Abraham's highest hour. God had tried his heart and was satisfied. - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
8. How did faith affect Abraham’s life?
Because he believed God, He obeyed Him and left a place and people where he was comfortable to go where he had never been. He gave up his inheritance there. But along the way he became very wealthy, and with many heirs culminating in Jesus Christ.
The ultimate test was to obey God's command to sacrifice this son of his old age who God has promised would be his heir creating a legacy of descendants, that couldn't be numbered, and by whom mankind would be blessed. Because God had done what He had told Abraham He would do in the past Abraham believe that even if he did sacrifice Isaac son that God could and would make good on His promises. The writer of Hebrews says that Abraham believed that God would resurrect Isaac.
Abraham is mentioned 251 times in the New King James Old and New Testaments. 71 times in the New Testament alone.
Sarah is mentioned 42 times, 4 times in the New Testament and 3 of those times are in reference to her faith for the birth of Isaac.
Hebrews 11:13-16 (HCSB)13 These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return.16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Here is the key to why they died without receiving the promise. God is waiting for those of us who, by faith, have accepted His gift of salvation given to us because we have believed in Jesus.
This is from the Wycliffe Bible Commentary:
They lived in anticipation of the new covenant, but without its full provisions. They had a positive and effective witness, a good report through faith, or as in the CGT, having been borne witness to through their faith, an attestation by God himself.
God unveiled a better plan, or at least a more complete plan, in the generations after the patriarchs and particularly regarding the generations since Calvary. Perfection had to await these generations, that they without us should not be made perfect (teleiōthōsin, teleioō, "to make perfect, or complete"). The whole of the completed redemption is in view.
Each of the people mentioned in this chapter illustrates some phase or aspect of the life of faith—whether obedience, acting on promises of things to come, separation from the world system (Moses), or some other. But the writer still has not completed his argument concerning the superiority of the life of faith over the practice of Mosaic legalism. One example remains, the Lord Jesus Christ. The final phase of the argument by example culminates in the "consider him" statement of Heb 12:3. Having considered all of these other witnesses, the readers are now to "consider him that endured... lest ye be weary and faint in your minds."
The following is from a commentary that I am using for this study written by Ray C. Stedman. I think it captures the what the writer of Hebrews was expressing to his readers about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah.
8. How did faith affect Abraham’s life?
Because he believed God, He obeyed Him and left a place and people where he was comfortable to go where he had never been. He gave up his inheritance there. But along the way he became very wealthy, and with many heirs culminating in Jesus Christ.
The ultimate test was to obey God's command to sacrifice this son of his old age who God has promised would be his heir creating a legacy of descendants, that couldn't be numbered, and by whom mankind would be blessed. Because God had done what He had told Abraham He would do in the past Abraham believe that even if he did sacrifice Isaac son that God could and would make good on His promises. The writer of Hebrews says that Abraham believed that God would resurrect Isaac.
Abraham is mentioned 251 times in the New King James Old and New Testaments. 71 times in the New Testament alone.
Sarah is mentioned 42 times, 4 times in the New Testament and 3 of those times are in reference to her faith for the birth of Isaac.
Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah Did Not Receive the Promise of a Homeland.
Hebrews 11:13-16 (HCSB)13 These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return.16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Here is the key to why they died without receiving the promise. God is waiting for those of us who, by faith, have accepted His gift of salvation given to us because we have believed in Jesus.
This is from the Wycliffe Bible Commentary:
They lived in anticipation of the new covenant, but without its full provisions. They had a positive and effective witness, a good report through faith, or as in the CGT, having been borne witness to through their faith, an attestation by God himself.
God unveiled a better plan, or at least a more complete plan, in the generations after the patriarchs and particularly regarding the generations since Calvary. Perfection had to await these generations, that they without us should not be made perfect (teleiōthōsin, teleioō, "to make perfect, or complete"). The whole of the completed redemption is in view.
Each of the people mentioned in this chapter illustrates some phase or aspect of the life of faith—whether obedience, acting on promises of things to come, separation from the world system (Moses), or some other. But the writer still has not completed his argument concerning the superiority of the life of faith over the practice of Mosaic legalism. One example remains, the Lord Jesus Christ. The final phase of the argument by example culminates in the "consider him" statement of Heb 12:3. Having considered all of these other witnesses, the readers are now to "consider him that endured... lest ye be weary and faint in your minds."
The following is from a commentary that I am using for this study written by Ray C. Stedman. I think it captures the what the writer of Hebrews was expressing to his readers about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah.
They expected God to fulfill his word to them. The fact that they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance indicates their understanding that the promises were in the future and would have spiritual as well as physical fulfillment. For this reason, their own imminent deaths did not diminish their confidence that the promises would be fulfilled. This lively faith was shown by their willingness to abide as aliens and strangers in the land they had been promised.
Though he and his son and grandsons could have returned to Mesopotamia had they so chosen, as Jacob did for a while, (when he ran after tricking his father into giving him the blessing of the first born who Esau ) yet their faith in the promise of their own land not only kept them in Canaan, but also led them to understand that eventually they would live in that city of God which would come down from heaven. Because their faith grew to encompass eternal realities as well as earthly prospects, the writer declares that God is not ashamed to be called their God. Once again we see the deliberate link between the visible and the invisible. We cannot demand instant answers from God for all our earthly problems, but we can welcome them from a distance. We must not lose faith that God will satisfy every promise.
9. How does the promise of a heavenly country help us to keep our faith, even when we don't see our hopes fulfilled immediately?
Because we know that God will keep His promises.
Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB) For I know the plans I have for you”—⌊this is⌋ the LORD’s declaration—“plans for ⌊your⌋ welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (HCSB) Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 (HCSB) Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.
Though he and his son and grandsons could have returned to Mesopotamia had they so chosen, as Jacob did for a while, (when he ran after tricking his father into giving him the blessing of the first born who Esau ) yet their faith in the promise of their own land not only kept them in Canaan, but also led them to understand that eventually they would live in that city of God which would come down from heaven. Because their faith grew to encompass eternal realities as well as earthly prospects, the writer declares that God is not ashamed to be called their God. Once again we see the deliberate link between the visible and the invisible. We cannot demand instant answers from God for all our earthly problems, but we can welcome them from a distance. We must not lose faith that God will satisfy every promise.
9. How does the promise of a heavenly country help us to keep our faith, even when we don't see our hopes fulfilled immediately?
Because we know that God will keep His promises.
Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB) For I know the plans I have for you”—⌊this is⌋ the LORD’s declaration—“plans for ⌊your⌋ welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (HCSB) Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 (HCSB) Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.
Next Week
Next we will continue our study of the heroes of faith in chapter 11. So read it again and do some research on them. We will be looking at Moses' parents, Moses, the Israelites themselves, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and Rahab.
I have some others that I believe are heroes of faith that the writer of Hebrews doesn't include. There’s Joshua and Caleb, Esther, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, Daniel, Nehemiah, Job, Elijah, Hezekiah, and Ruth. That’s just some from the Old Testament, there are lots in the new Testament, including the apostles, and others. We won’t talk about all of them but if I don’t mention one that you think is a hero mention him or her and we’ll talk about them and how they are an example that we can follow in our faith walk.
Be thinking about about people who are not in the Bible that you would put in a Faith Hall.
If you have any questions about faith or want to share your experiences please leave a comment. I will respond to each comment right away. We look forward to you studying with us.
The Bible is your main resource during the study but here are some others that may interest you.
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