Faith is
What is faith?
Here we see in Hebrews what faith really is.
1/. Faith defined verse 1
In the last study we looked at perseverance. This perseverance was achieved by faith. We all need a constant supply of faith to take us to the finish line.
Faith is a essential right throughout our Christian lives.
Verse one really defines what faith is. This is not everything there is to know about faith but it is some of the key aspects.
It is being sure of what we hope for and being assured of what we do not see.
Faith concerns what we hope for. Things that haven't yet happened in our lives. Faith also believes in things that we do not see. God Himself is unseen
The future can be a frightening prospect for many people. They think seeing is believing.
Faith is the opposite of this. We believe in the not seen and the not yet. The basis for our belief is the Word of God.
2/. Faith displayed.
Now we see real examples of faith. 24 times the author will say by faith. Tonight we will look at the first 4.
A/ faith and creation.
This one is not about an OT character. It is about the writer's listeners. He takes them right back to creation. They understand that. God commanded the universe into existence. What was created was made from nothing. We understand that by faith. We weren't present at creation so we have to believe it by faith alone. We do have testimony from the creator Himself.
B/. Faith and worship.
It was by faith Abel. The writer reminds us that God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cains'.
It wasn't the offering that mattered here but it was the offerers. Abel was right with God but Cain wasn't. God doesn't welcome the worshippers who doesn't come to Him by faith.
C/. Faith in death.
Enoch. We meet him very briefly in Genesis. In genesis 5 we have a list of people who dies. Enoch doesn't die. He walked with God. How? By faith. Enoch bypassed death by his faith.
D/. Faith in judgement.
Noah. This was of course an amazing story. Noah was living in this very dry climate. God warns him of something that is unseen. Something in the future.
Noah in faith believed and went ahead and built an arc.
Without faith Noah would not have been saved.
God has promised a coming judgement. The world thinks we are foolish. We need to hide in the arc of salvation. By faith we need to put our full trust in Him and accept Him as our saviour. We need to have faith that He will forgive us all our sins and make us fit for spending eternity with Him in heaven.
Faith is the starting place in our Christian lives. It is impossible to have a relationship with Him without faith. We must be people of faith if we want to be people of God.
We will all face difficulties in our Christian lives. We need to believe in the promises of God. We need to keep the faith. God's promises will help us through our trials and refine us through those trials.
Created 8 months ago
