Sarah's Faith

You have your Bible with you Turn with me to Hebrews 11, verse number 1 Hebrews 11, verse number 1 We dropped off here a few weeks ago because we wanted to look at expanding self-examination, and the first point was the reality of our faith Do we have true saving faith? Second Corinthians 13 5 says that man is to test himself, prove himself, to see whether or not he is in the faith And so we began with self-examination by looking at the reality of our faith Well, for the next several weeks, we're going to help you understand what is faith

Hebrews 11 takes us through the Hall of Faith, and we're going to come to understand what is saving faith, how does it manifest itself We understand that faith is believing in what God has already said Faith is defined by two words, trusting obedience. I trust what God says, therefore I obey what God says Interesting to note that in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew, there are two words that are used of faith One is negative, one is positive Ma'al is negative, and aman is positive Ma'al means deceitful, unfaithful

It's defined in the King James Version as trespass, but aman is a positive form of faith And there are seven different usages of that verb in the Old Testament, and only one of the seven translates into our English word faith, used in the Greek in the New Testament And that word is defined as trust, or believe, or steadfastness, person with conviction And we're going to show you in Hebrews 11 what does it mean to be a man or woman of conviction, because everybody in Hebrews 11 had steep, deep convictions

What does that look like? How do we understand that? Well, we're going to begin by looking at Hebrews 11 verse number one, the first two words, which says, now faith We're going to stop right there That's as far as we're going to get today, because we need to understand, I know we're flying, we're two words in a week, man, we're flying through Hebrews 11 But those two words open up a whole door for us to understand what is faith We understand that Christ is the object of our faith

We understand that faith is a gift given to us by God, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not yourselves, it's a gift of God But we also understand that faith is a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5.22 There it's defined as faithfulness But we also know that faith is a special gift given to the body of Christ, given to individuals in the body that exemplify a special gift of faith. 1 Corinthians 12 verses 8 and 9 tell us that faith is a gift that God gives to the body of Christ There are certain ones of you here today that had that gift

How do you define the gift of faith? Very simple Those with the gift of faith don't see the obstacles before them because they see the omnipotent one beside them Did you get that? Those with the gift of faith do not see the obstacles before them because they see the omnipotent one beside them In other words, there are obstacles that always come before us, right? But the man who has the gift of faith doesn't see the obstacles because the omnipotent King, the Lord of glory, is beside him And so he knows that whatever obstacles there, the power of God overcomes all those obstacles

That's why they live by faith And those people with the gift of faith within the body of Christ help every single one of us live by faith Now every one of us has the gift of faith if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ But there are some that have the spiritual gift of faith that help us understand how to live by faith It's like the gift of mercy All of us are saved because of God's gracious mercy But there are certain ones of us who have the gift of mercy And those people help us understand how to be merciful to other people

Just like the people with the gift of faith help us learn how to live by faith We also recognize that that faith embodies the truth of God's Word, right? So in Jude 3 we are to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints So the faith in Jude 3 is the word of truth Like Paul in 2nd Timothy 4 says, he has kept the faith Not that he has kept the faith that he has, but he has kept the embodiment of the doctrine of truth that was once for all delivered to the saints So he kept the faith

And then we also know from Ephesians 6 that there is a shield of faith that we are to take up that we might be able to withstand all the fiery darts of the evil one Because he wants us to doubt what God says He wants us to disbelieve what God says But when we take up the shield of faith, then we are able to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one So you look at all those different verses that embody the truth of God's Word, which is the faith, the shield of faith, the gift of faith, that Christ is the object of faith And we sometimes can get confused as to what faith really is

So we're going to do that for you this week and next week, helping you understand what is faith So that you will come to grips with it as we go through Hebrews chapter 11 and look at all these different characters who embodied true saving faith That we will learn from their lives because it was God who was at work in them So Hebrews 11 verse number one, now faith Let me give you six words Six words that would take you through the first two words of Hebrews 11 One, faith's inauguration is number one Faith's expedition is number two Faith's reception is number three

Faith's conviction, number four Faith's manifestation, number five And faith's continuation, number six Okay? With each of those words, I'll give you a phrase that helps you understand the Word So let's begin with faith's inauguration How does faith begin? Can I muster up in my own mind the ability to believe and have faith in God? Is there something I can do through all the energies that I extend and expend that will get me to have faith in God? Well the answer is no Why? Because faith commences with the Christ Faith's inauguration says that faith commences with the Christ

It all begins with Christ It never begins with you It can't begin with you Why? Ephesians 4 17 and 18 says your mind is a darkened mind Titus 1 15 and 16 says your mind is a defiled mind. 1st Timothy 6 5 says your mind is a depraved mind Romans 8 6 and 7 says your mind is a dead mind So a dead, defiled, depraved, dark mind can do nothing to muster up faith to believe in God Why? Because that mind needs to be delivered. A dark, defiled, depraved, dead mind needs deliverance And only God can do that So faith commences with the Christ. 2nd Peter 1 verse number 1 is the verse

It says to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours Peter recognizes that the faith that the believers have is the faith that they received God granted them the gift to believe, right? It's been granted you, Philippians 1 29, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for his sake Ephesians 2 8 and 9, for by grace you say through faith that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God Faith is a gift It's a gift given by the divine Lord of the universe

Best exemplified in in Matthew 16 when Christ asked the question, who do men say that I am? And what does Peter say? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God And Christ says what? Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but my Father who is in heaven revealed that to you In other words, Peter just didn't come up with the idea that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God He can never state that unless the Father had granted him the gift to believe and the faith to believe that Jesus is exactly who he said he was and is

That's so important to understand that Face inauguration commences with the Christ because without the Christ you would never ever believe You can't Your mind is dead Dead minds don't think They're incapable of thinking No, you can think intellectually about the things of the world, but the natural man doesn't understand things of the Spirit of God because they're foolishness to him He doesn't get that It's a supernatural faith that only can be granted through a supernatural means that comes from one who is supernatural himself, the God of the universe

So therefore, the faith that I have in the living God is faith that's been granted to me by God We know that grace is a gift We know that salvation is a gift We know that repentance is a gift We know that belief is a gift Well, faith is also a gift Everything having to do with salvation is a gift. I can't earn salvation. I can't earn faith. I can't earn grace. I can't earn belief It's something that God grants me That's why in John 6, verse number 65, Christ says, nobody comes unto me unless it's been granted by the Father You can't come to God because you want to

You can only go to God because He granted you the gift to believe, the gift to have faith Flesh and blood doesn't reveal it to you. I can't reveal to you the triune nature of God. I can't reveal to you the identity of Christ. I can preach that to you, but unless God works in your heart, you'll never believe But I'm okay with that because I'm not here to persuade you. I'm not here to convince you. I'm just here to preach the truth because that's all that matters

And God will use His Spirit with the Scriptures to do a mighty work in your heart and life because it's a supernatural act of God. I can't convince. I can, you know, we can darken the lights, and we can have smoke come out of the ceiling, and we can have all kinds of things to play on the mood of your emotions to get you to respond What is that? Those are all human ways of manipulating your emotions God's Word doesn't manipulate people's emotions That's why I preach That's why I've been preaching for 40 years This is all I do because it's the only thing that works

God saves you through the preaching of His Word So, to understand faith's inauguration, you must understand that faith commences with the Christ Next is faith's expedition That is, faith is sought after sincerely Hebrews 11 verse number 6, he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him In other words, there is something that causes me to seek God But Romans 3 tells me that no man seeks after God Why? He can't His mind is dark His mind is dead His mind is defiled His mind is depraved He doesn't want to seek after God

So, unless that mind is delivered in a supernatural way by the power of God, that mind will never seek after God So, faith's expedition is this God rewards those who diligently seek Him We say, wait a minute, you said that no one seeks after God That's true That's true But Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 29 and 13, you will find me when you seek me with all of your heart Amos said, Amos 5 verse number 4, these words, seek me that you might live The call goes out Seek me You'll find me But unless the Lord grants you faith, you will never seek the God who granted you that faith

That's called faith's expedition There's a journey that takes place that I might come to understand the true and living God You see, I must believe that Christ is the I am Christ says, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins You must believe that I am the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush way back in Exodus chapter 3 Before Abraham was, I am You must believe that You must believe that I am the bread of life, John 6

You must believe that I am the door, John 10. I am the good shepherd, again, John 10. I am the resurrection and the life, John 11. I am the way, the truth, and the life, John 14. I am the true vine, John 15. I am the great I am, John 8, 58 So when the temple police and the temple guards came to collect Jesus on the eve of the crucifixion, he went to the garden entry and says, whom do you seek? They said, Jesus, the Nazarene What did Jesus say? I am And they all fell over backwards Why? Because he is the great I am Unless you believe that Jesus is the I am, you will die in your sins

In other words, do you have to believe that Jesus is the Messiah in order to be saved? Answer, absolutely Everything in the Old Testament is about the arrival of the Messiah, the coming of the anointed one of God And now when he arrives, you can't say, well, I believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. I believe that Jesus is human He's 100% man, 100% God, but I don't believe he's Messiah No, you can't do that Why? You must believe he's son of God, son of man, and son of David, right? You must believe in his deity, his humanity, and his royalty Why? Because as Messiah, he's king of Israel

That's why when he came, he said, the kingdom of heaven is at hand Only the king can present the kingdom, right? So he comes to present the kingdom This is faith's expedition It's a journey that says, I will sincerely seek the one who gave me the gift of faith There's this constant journey that I'm always on to understand more and more about the Christ Who is this one I believe in? Tell me more, give me more, help me understand more of him You can never get enough of the Lord Jesus Christ So faith's inauguration commences with the Christ

Faith's expedition tells us that faith is sought after sincerely And number three, faith's reception Faith's reception Faith is received only through divine revelation Faith is received only through divine revelation There is no other way to receive the faith It is a gift that God grants that comes to you only through divine revelation How do we know that? Book of Romans, 10th chapter, makes it very clear that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

But how will they call on him whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things However, they did not all heed the good news for Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our report Verse 17, so faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word concerning the Christ, the Messiah

These things are written, John 20, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Messiah, and that believing in him you might have life through his name So how does that come? It comes through divine revelation That's faith's reception. I receive the truth about who God is because the truth of God has been presented to me My friends, this is so important This is why we keep preaching the word That's why when you come on Wednesdays, I preach for 60 minutes Why do you come on Sunday? I preach for 45 minutes

Why? Because that's the only way you're going to believe what God says. I can't convince you. I can't persuade you. I can twist your arm Yes, I can threaten you Yes, but God works in the heart, and he only works in the heart through the preaching and teaching of the word of God Faith comes by hearing and hearing concerning the word about the Christ The Bible says in Psalm 19, verse number 7, the law of the Lord is perfect It converts the soul It converts the soul

Paul talks about in Ephesians 5, the washing of water with the word, right? Ephesians 5.26, taken from the book of Ezekiel about the new covenant that God was going to bestow upon his people Israel, how he'd sprinkle clean water upon them and cause them to walk in his statutes, cause him to seek his face That's the promise of the new covenant, and that comes because of the truth of the revealed word of God preached and taught That's why we go door to door and preach the gospel

That's why we compel people to believe in the gospel, because that is the only thing that can convert the dark, dead, depraved, defiled mind that needs to be delivered How does God deliver that mind? Through the teaching and preaching of the word of God It's God's word that convicts It's God's word that convinces It's God's word that crushes the soul Jeremiah 29.13, read this on Wednesday night, right? Is not my word like a fire, he says? Is not my word like a hammer that breaks up, that crushes the soul? Yes, it is

So I can preach the word of God knowing that as I'm preaching the truth, it's like a hammer being beaten on your soul, crushing your heart, stirring up all the inner parts of you that is so hardened and calloused to the truth of God's word God's word does that, so that it softens the heart to receive the truth of the living God Number four, faith's conviction Faith's conviction Faith is characterized by conviction Hebrews chapter 11 verse number one, now faith is assurance of things hoped for The conviction of things not seen Faith is characterized by conviction

You're going to examine the reality of your faith looking through Hebrews 11 and ask yourself, is my life characterized by a deep conviction about what God has said? A deep conviction Listen, it's the assurance of things hoped for It's the conviction of things not seen We're going to look at Hebrews 11 and look at the Israelites who are told to walk around Jericho Wait a minute, this is their first battle as they embark on the promised land God says walk around the city for seven days Why? Why do that? That seems ridiculous And then on the seventh day, walk around seven times

What? Why do that? And then shout and blow trumpets and the walls are coming down Come on, are you kidding me? See, faith doesn't ask why Faith just believes what God says And so God said it, they believed it, they did it, and guess what? The walls came tumbling down What a beautiful illustration of the conviction of things not seen Everybody in Hebrews lived for a city whose maker and architect is God, but they never saw the city But they live with a conviction that the city was coming See, they believe that Why? Because God said that You believe what God says

We're alien and strangers in a foreign land So important to understand this And all through Hebrews 11, you have all these people, Moses, who saw him who was invisible How did Moses see the invisible God? You can't see God, he's a spirit, right? So how did Moses see him? Blessed are the pure in heart, Matthew 5, for they shall see God You see him not with the physical eye, you see him with a spiritual eye And therefore, faith is characterized by conviction It's the conviction of things not seen, but it's a conviction based on what God has said

Do you really believe what God says? That's the essence of faith. I trust what God says, and because I trust what he says, I obey what he says, trusting obedience So faith's inauguration, it commences with the Christ Faith's expedition, it's sought after sincerely Faith's reception, it's received through revelation Faith's conviction, it's characterized by just that word, conviction And faith's manifestation, that is faith is witnessed in my works Faith's manifestation, faith is witnessed in my works

My works don't give me faith, my works don't save me, but my works manifest the fact that I have true saving faith Faith is the root, works are the fruit, James 2, 14 and following, all about living a life of faith as opposed to dead faith It's a living faith The Bible says in Ephesians 2, 10, that we are his workmanship We are his literary masterpiece, so that we would perform good works that were determined beforehand In other words, God has already predetermined all the good works that we're going to do

So if God predetermined your salvation and you're saved, then the works that follow that have already been predetermined, you're going to do them, because God is in charge Interesting note, then in Mark chapter 1, when Christ said to James and John, follow me and I will make you fishers of men Same word used in Ephesians 2, 10, that we are his workmanship We are his making Same word used in Romans 1, verse number 20, by the fact that the heavens that were made by God demonstrate the glory of God In other words, the heavens are a literary masterpiece of the living God

We are masterpieces of the living God Christ says to James and John, listen, I'm going to make you something so unique. I'm going to make you into fishers of men. I'm going to make you into my literary poem that's going to be read by all who see you It's going to be heard by all those who read you And therefore, I will make myself known through the life in which you live Faith is witnessed in works It's witnessed in the life of Abel, right? In his worship It's witnessed in the life of Enoch, in his walk That's the second character Third one is Noah It's witnessed in his work

Here was Noah building an ark in the middle of a desert where it's never rained before, and God says it's going to rain So, what's Noah going to do? I don't know what rain is. I'm not so sure it's going to do that, Lord, because that's not how things work here on earth But God said, this is what you're going to do You're going to build an ark in the middle of a desert where there are no trees It's going to take you 120 years to do this, but you got to do it because faith is conviction in the things not seen So, Noah, his faith was witnessed by his works because he had received that faith

He was convicted of that faith He therefore lived by that faith So, everybody who saw him, mocked him, laughed at him, ridiculed him until it started to rain Nobody mocked him anymore Nobody ridiculed him anymore In fact, we'll see that when he gets into the ark, God shuts the door, not Noah Because if Noah would have shut the door, he'd have opened the door But God shut the door because God said, that's it You've had 120 years to repent You're not going to repent No more opportunity And God shut the door But faith was witnessed in his works That's faith's manifestation

And lastly, faith's continuation Faith promises to always persevere Your faith, because it's not your faith, it's God's faith, granted to you by a gift, will never ever fail, fully or finally Why? Because it's a divine gift given by a divine God to take us as children through this life to the next And the faith that God gives, although at times it might seem fragile, it will never fail How do we know that? Because Christ prayed for us And God always answers the prayers of his son

Remember in Luke 22, Christ says to Peter, Simon, Simon, Satan has desired, has come to me and sought permission to sift you like wheat Isn't it great to know that Satan can't do anything unless he gets God's permission? Right? He can't go anywhere He can't do anything unless he asks permission That's just such a great thing to understand the sovereignty of Almighty God, the Almighty King of the universe, that Satan has to ask permission to do anything that he does So Jesus says that Satan has sought permission to sift you like wheat

But that's okay, Peter. I prayed for you that your faith would not fail, and that after your return, you will strengthen your brethren Now, did Peter? Peter said, no, Lord, that's not going to happen to me But it did He failed He denied the Lord, right? But it wasn't fully, and it wasn't finally It was only for a while But he came back If you read 1 and 2 Peter, you understand all the things that Peter learned that trial He did strengthen his brethren Look at the book of Acts, how God used him at the beginning of the church to move the church through the church age

Peter strengthened his brethren because God brought him back And so when he writes 1 Peter 5, he says, look, be vigilant, be on the alert Why? Because your adversary, the devil, he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour How does he know that? Because I was one of those guys. I was warned by the Lord This is who he is So be vigilant, be under control, be strong, be humble, but make sure you understand that you need to stand strong in the faith Talks about being steadfast in the faith Why? That's how you resist Satan You don't resist him by rebuking him, no

God never called the Christian to rebuke Satan That's God's job God never called us to bind Satan That's the archangel Michael's job in Revelation 12. I'm sorry, Revelation 20 Sorry So what do we do? We just resist Satan How do we do that? Resist him steadfast in the faith, believing that what God has said is true Hey, listen, every one of us in the room who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, there are going to be times where your faith will stumble There will be times where your faith will tumble There'll be times when you might even grumble about your faith

You might even want to rumble with your faith But listen, you will never crumble, nor will it ever fumble your faith Isn't that good? Of course not Why? Because it's the faith that God grants you He keeps you John 17.11, he prayed, Father, keep them in Your Word He'll do that That's what He does We are embarking on the most fabulous journey in Hebrews The all-sufficient Savior of the universe grants us faith to believe in who He is and what He does

And now He's going to give us illustration after illustration after illustration about all these people way back in the book of Genesis to Abel, about people who believed in what God said and didn't waver Oh, there are people that made some mistakes Abraham did, Sarah did, but they are committed because of their faith Look at Rahab She's a prostitute What does she know? Oh, she believed in the revelation of God because she had heard about who the God of Israel was, and she believed in Him That's why God spared her in the book of Joshua Read about her in the book of Hebrews

Read about it in the book of James, right? Abraham, Rahab, the great prophet, the great prostitute, put side by side Why? Because whether you're a prophet or a prostitute, when God grants you the faith to believe, you believe Let's pray Father God, we thank You for today We are so grateful for Hebrews chapter 11 We are grateful, Lord, because it grants us the opportunity to understand how You work in people's lives You're the God who works yesterday, today, and forever You're the same You've always granted men and women the ability to believe, to trust, and to follow

We thank You for that, Lord, because, Lord, if it was up to us, we'd stop following We'd stop trusting We wouldn't want to do it anymore But because of You, faith continues It continues to grow We continue to follow Yes, there are difficult times, but in spite of the difficult times, Lord, we know You are true because what You have said is true, and we believe that, and therefore, we follow You In Jesus' name, amen.