Good morning everyone. Good to see you all this morning. Glad to have some visitors here. We're working through the book of Hebrews. We're in chapter 11, been in the book for several months going verse by verse, chapter by chapter through the book, and we've looked at a lot of tremendous doctrine, truth about Jesus Christ, particularly his high priestly work, his office, and also his sacrifice and how that he's better than the Old Covenant.

It's a letter that's written to a group of Jews in the first century who were in danger of going back to Judaism and who were being pressured by their culture, their friends, their family, all that they had known. The temple worship was still going on in Jerusalem. There was an immense amount of pressure, so the author wants to write to them to encourage the believers that they'd made the right choice to leave Judaism and to go on to faith in Christ, and then for those who had not, who maybe had become part of the fellowship but had not believed, he's imploring them to go on to faith. 

It's really a contrast in religion and faith, and that's what we're going to talk about this morning. I was thinking as we were singing, It Is Well With My Soul, such a powerful song about a friend of mine, a religious man, who we have this constant argument going on between works and faith, and he keeps telling me you have to have works, you have to have works. It's quite a contrast to look at, and for things to be well with our soul, we must understand that salvation is by God's grace. He says, my sins, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sins not the part but the whole. 

He's done the work, and that's really what it's about, and we come into this new covenant blessing through faith in him alone. Well, the common pattern for the writing of the New Testament epistles is doctrine followed by application. We see that over and over. When we study the epistles of Paul, such as Ephesians or Galatians or Romans, we find that he spends the first part of the book laying down doctrine, teaching what we call the indicatives, the underlying truths. Then there is a transition in the book where he begins to exhort the believers to apply that doctrine, to really take that foundational truth and act on it, and here's where we find the commands, the imperatives, but always based on truth about Jesus Christ and the salvation that he provides.

The book of Hebrews doesn't as clearly follow this pattern. We find the author has interspersed warnings throughout his doctrinal teaching, calling on men to respond, but I feel as though we are at that point of transition in this book at chapter 11. The first ten chapters are such an amazing compilation of truth, amazing doctrine concerning Jesus Christ and the new covenant in His blood. We've seen that the author has made an ironclad case that the priesthood, the sacrifice, the new covenant that Jesus brings in His blood is far superior to any and all things associated with the old covenant of Moses. 

We've seen that Jesus is better, better than the prophets of old as the clear revelation of God today, better than angels, better than Moses, than Aaron and the priesthood, than all things associated with that old covenant. And this new covenant that He has instituted in His one-time death on the cross, His full and final sacrifice of Himself is better than the old and it has completely replaced the old covenant of Moses. This is all profound foundational doctrine, truth on which we can rest and find peace and assurance.

And here in this 11th chapter, the great chapter of faith, I believe we find the primary application of the book. We saw in our study last time perhaps the harshest, clearest warning in the letter in chapter 10. And we saw Him in the chapter with this great statement about those who believe Jesus, who do not turn back, who do not shrink away. Rather, He writes, we are of those who believe to the saving of our soul. 

And this statement in the context and flow really gives rise to this 11th chapter and its call to believe, to exercise faith as all those great saints who lived through the old covenant time in Judaism had done. In this 11th chapter, He explains what faith really is, the essence of faith, and then gives a long list of examples from the Old Testament. And the emphasis at the beginning and the end of the chapter is that these great men and women of faith obtained a testimony. They were approved by God because of faith.

Now please notice with me that the exhortation doesn't really come until chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. There He writes, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

My brothers and sisters, in the context of the book, the weights that they needed to lay aside that were dragging them down, holding them back, were those pressures and entanglements with Judaism, with the Old Covenant. And the sin that so easily ensnared them, held them captive, was unbelief. We're going to spend some time in this 11th chapter looking at the great examples of faith from the Old Testament saints, but in that, I don't want you to lose sight of the context and flow of the text from 10:39 down to 12:2. This is a unit of thought. We are of those who believe to the saving of the soul. 

This is all about faith because listen now, faith is the means by which we enter the new covenant in the blood of Christ. These Hebrews were so fully immersed in a works-righteous religious mindset. They could hardly imagine salvation by grace through faith. They could hardly comprehend entering the covenant and remaining in it through faith and faith alone. They were so inclined to a rite or ritual, sacrifices and festivals and Sabbaths, the whole nine yards. The author needs to show them, he needs to convince them, persuade them that what God wants is for men to come to him in faith alone, faith in Jesus and his one-time sacrifice for sins on the cross, his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead.

So what we see here in this 11th chapter is an explanation to the Hebrews as to how a man can enter this new covenant, how a man can be made right with God, approved by God. And the examples of the Old Testament where men and women obtained a good testimony, not because of works, but because they believed to the saving of their souls. And all the great works that they did, that God did through them, were a result of faith, sincere and true faith in the promises and the Word of God. And now the Word of God, the revelation of God, is his Son. He has spoken to us in these last days through his Son.

And the obvious application, the main thrust of the whole book, is that a man must now look to Jesus, must believe Jesus, in order to come into the new covenant and experience the blessing, the approval of God. Well let's read a few verses together, linking chapter 10 verse 29 down to 12:1-2, and we'll do that through chapter 11. So let's look at 10:39 again. He writes, "...but we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he being dead, still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away, so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 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." 

Now look down to verse 39 of chapter 11. In all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Well, I've given you four points on your outline. First, we're going to see that faith is the substance. Second, faith is the evidence. Third, faith results in a good testimony. And fourth, faith is in God. We find in our first verse a most interesting statement concerning faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In our Thursday night study we are in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and in this chapter Paul's dealing with division in the church of Corinth. The problem in Corinth was a focus on self and a desire for self-exaltation, and as a result the believers had begun to divide themselves into groups following after men. 

And one of the points of division that existed was concerning the philosophies or philosophers that they followed, and that was a big deal in their culture in this time. Men were pontificators, orators by trade, and they loved to speak of some new thing, new idea, or wisdom that they had come up with. I'd like for you to turn over to 1 Corinthians 1 and look at Paul's words beginning in verse 18. It gives us a little bit of an understanding of the cross in this world. 

1 Corinthians 1:18, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where's the scribe? Where's the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. In verse 29 he says that God has done this, He has chosen the base things, He's chosen not many wise, not many noble, for the very purpose that no flesh should glory in His presence. Verse 31, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord. The great contrast in this text is between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. 

And my friends, this is something that has continued throughout history to our present day and is a constant threat to the church. The exhortation Paul gives is to look to Jesus, to realize and believe that He's our sufficiency, He is our power, He is our wisdom. As Paul also wrote to the Colossians, beware, he said, look out. Don't let anyone take you captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies of men after the wisdom of this world and not according to Christ. Jesus is the fullness of God. In Him is found all wisdom and knowledge. Look to Him, hold fast to Him, believe Him. This is the call of the Word of God over and over, a warning against the wisdom of men and a laser focus on Jesus and Him alone as our all in all.

But we've seen that the philosophies and wisdoms of the world have been persistent over time in attacking the revelation of God and challenging even the hearts and minds of the believers to find their fullness only in Jesus. The Bible has been challenged at every turn and the devil has made great gains in the minds of men through higher criticism, through the whole movement of human wisdom and the explanation of all things by a rational mind and science. These men tried to take away anything spiritual, supernatural, or miraculous. And this greatly damaged mankind and culture because it attempted to eliminate an essential part of man. 

And it seems to me in the late 20th century and especially in our day, man has rebelled against this kind of thinking by becoming more and more spiritual. The only problem is that any kind of spirituality will do and faith in anything is equally valid. When I was young, the influence of rationalism and of scientific explanation and logical human wisdom was instilled in full force and I bought that line all the way through university. I was taught in school that science could explain everything, that all things could be put in nice little boxes and explained away by human reason and intelligence. But in the course of my lifetime, we have seen the new spirituality take hold because science could not answer the hard questions of meaning, of suffering, of the need of man for God.

But the problem is that man did not seek the true God, but instead he went crazy with creating his own gods to meet his own specific needs, and the thing I want you to see in relation to our discussion here of faith and what it is and why it matters is that in the last fifty years or so we have gone in our world from a God who was pronounced dead where human reason ruled the day, to a world where there is absolutely nothing rational. But all that matters is that you believe something, and in fact we see that now the faith of man has been solidly placed not in substance, but in believing itself. You can believe anything you'd like, as long as you believe. 

And really, faith is now in faith, not in anything rational or any sort of substance. Quite frankly, my brothers and sisters, it's a bizarre world out there where anything goes, and no one can sit in judgment of another's belief, no matter how irrational it is. But this is not the faith of the Bible, the faith the author is discussing in this eleventh chapter of Hebrews. And this is an essential, a paramount distinction to make. Our faith is not a leap of faith. It is not an irrational faith without substance pulled out of the imagination of men, a wisp of wind grasped at by desperate hearts of men. Our faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. 

And the key word here is substance. As I studied these first verses, I couldn't get this word out of my mind, and I fear that I cannot explain it sufficiently, emphasize it adequately. The word is hupostasis, and the word stasis means to stand, and hupo means under. The literal meaning is to stand under. It speaks of a foundation, a basis. So whereas the myriads of the faiths of men today have no foundation, no basis, our faith is the substance. It's the firm ground of hope. 

You know, you can, if you're observant, if you're watching, see strange and bizarre things in our world and the people around you. Every man has faith in something. We live by common faith all the time in our world, but every man has a deeper faith in something that keeps him sane. I know some whose faith is in the idea that there is no God, that we're just evolved from slime and therefore there's no morality, no eternity, we just die and we rot. And there are those who have a deep faith in religion, in their own works, in righteousness. But some have faith in Mother Nature, in living in harmony with the earth and getting their energy in tune with all that is. Just talked to a guy about that the other day.

And some others have faith in the strangest things, odd ways to comfort themselves, to soothe their hearts and minds. I remember a story Guy Folsom told me when he was flying back, I think, from the Philippines. This woman was with him, sitting beside him on the plane, and she had told him she'd been to a conference and she was Buddhist. And he said, what was the conference about? And he said, well, we learned how to carve a Buddha out of a bar of soap. And Guy being Guy said, well, you know, she showed it to him. What do you do with that? Now you take a shower with it? And she said, no, we worship it, faith in a bar of soap. 

I was at the farmer's market in Ironwood the other day and watching the people come and go and there's a young man that comes quite often, he's a little different, I've seen him, I've talked to him for years, he's clearly unsettled in his spirit, I guess maybe searching for peace, but he's known to march to the beat of a different drum. And this week he came with his hair dyed a couple different colors, an odd attire which wasn't unusual, but what was was what he had attached to the front of his shirt. He had a very realistic-looking iguana, maybe two feet long, attached to his shirt just below his chin all the way to his waist. And he was stroking it. I had to look a few times to see if it was real. It was very realistic, but it wasn't. It seemed to be like a security blanket for him. He'd just stroke it, look at it, seeming to find some sort of comfort or stability in his fake pet. 

At some level, he had some sort of faith in this thing. I'm not sure I understand anything anymore, but it made me think of how fickle and strange the faith of man is. How as long as you believe in something, you're okay. Now assuming there was some measure of faith in this iguana on his shirt, it'd be hard for this young man to give me an explanation as to why there is substance to his faith, or the lady who had the bar of soap carved into a Buddha. But this is the way the faith of man is, there's no substance. 

But our faith, my friends, faith in the cross, in Jesus, in His Word and promises, is the substance, is the undergirding, the foundation on which we stand and it produces hope. And the idea here is that we so believe, we are so convinced and convicted in these truths that they result in a steadfast confidence in things hoped for. And this results in a commitment and entrusting, a dedication of our very lives to the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. And this is what we see in the examples in the rest of this chapter. 

The word translated substance was used as a legal term for all the documents gathered bearing ownership on a property. We suggest that the faith, that faith is the title deed of things hoped for. It is the guarantee to us of all that God has promised. Simply put, if we believe Jesus, then all that He has promised in His Word is ours. Sanctification from the penalty and the power of sin, His constant presence and provision with us, in us. Sanctification and the boundless freedom and abiding relationship with Him, glorification and separation from the very presence of sin and eternal life in heaven with Him. An endless list of promises from the God who cannot lie when we enter into this new covenant in His blood through faith. 

You see, my brothers and sisters, this is the hope. The confident assurance we have in Him. The word evidence here speaks of proof. Thayer comments that by which invisible things are proved and we are convinced of their reality. He says it is conviction. Vincent says that these are not two distinct and independent conceptions, substance and evidence. They work together to bring full assurance. He writes, a suggestion of influences operating to produce conviction which carry the force of demonstration, of being convinced, therefore it's not a rash, feebly grounded hypothesis, a dream of hope, a child of a wish.

So we see that faith in Jesus and all the promises and the truths of the Word of God and their influence in our daily lives produces a conviction in us that results in a demonstration or action in our thinking and our living. And isn't that what we see with all these Old Testament saints? I mean, what was Abraham thinking? He believed that God was able to perform what He promised. And his faith was substance. This is the substance, the ground, the foundation and the evidence, the proving, testing, resulting and living. And my friends, this is what we see in the lives of all saints. Our faith in Jesus is not like that young man's faith in a plastic iguana, or even the faith of the most zealous religious men in our world, or even the great and amazing faith of the evolutionary so-called scientist in the most prestigious university. Our faith is based on substance. It has reality, so much so that it results in a firm conviction which cannot be moved by the wisdom, the philosophies, the struggles, the trials and persecutions of this world. 

And this results in a life based on this conviction, actions that are congruous with this faith and particularly in the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. See, our faith is not in faith. Our faith is in Jesus. Really, truly, Christ is the substance. Christ is the evidence, the firm foundation of our faith. 

Well, before we move on, I'd like to just pull one example out of our text later in the chapter, verse 24, if you'd look at Hebrews 11:24. It says, by faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. What an amazing application we could find in our world from that verse. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 

We could speak of the faith of any in this chapter, but this is a good illustration of what faith in Christ produces, esteeming the reproaches of Christ as greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. Moses had it all in Egypt, and he stood to lose a great deal, even to suffer the wrath of Pharaoh, but his faith produced such a conviction of the truth of the hope set before him in the reward that he forsook it all and held fast to the promise. 

There's a tremendous text in Romans 8 I'd like for us to look at regarding this as well. Romans 8 beginning at verse 18, if you'd turn there with me. Romans 8:18, Paul writes, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. And not only that, but we also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Look at verse 24. For we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. He writes, we were saved in this hope. My friends, hope saves us now, today, from fear and doubt and worry. 

How fearful it must have been for Moses to face Pharaoh. What a faith. What a trust in God. And that hope produced, and the hope that produced saved him, saved him from this fear. It gave him boldness and conviction to follow through and do what God commanded him, even in the face of the ruler of the world of that time. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence of things not seen. It's a firm foundation. It's an undergirding on which we can stand. 

Well, next we see that faith results in a good testimony. Hebrews 11:2 says, for by it the elders obtained a good testimony. The words here speak of approval by God. And this is so important, so instructive. Remember the context here. The main point is the explanation to these Hebrews of how they can enter into the covenant in Christ's blood, how they can be approved by God. And that's so clear throughout the New Testament. The faith in Jesus alone results in a good testimony. It's the only way that we can come into a right relationship with God, that we can be approved by Him. 

Romans 3:19 says, now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law, by good works, by religion, by rites, by rituals, by the deeds of the law, no man will be made right, will be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Then he says, but now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, the Old Testament. Even the righteousness of God, how? How can we receive the righteousness of God? How can we be made right with Him permanently, eternally, through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe? 

Because God set Him forth as a full payment, a propitiation for our sins, to demonstrate His righteousness and so that He might be just, punishing all sin on Christ and also the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law, Paul said. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 

First Peter 3:21 is an interesting verse, it says there's also an antitype, a picture, which now saves us, baptism, not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the promise, the answer, the promise, the pledge of a good conscience. God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That verse tells us that we have a promise from God, a pledge from God, that if we believe Jesus because of His death, burial, and resurrection, we can now have a good conscience toward Him. There's only one way to obtain a good testimony with God, only one way to enter the covenant in Christ's blood, there's only one way to be justified, and that's through faith in Jesus Christ and His one-time death on the cross of Calvary. 

Faith is the way to obtain a good testimony, and that's the message to these Hebrews and to religious men in our world today. Faith is the substance and the evidence, faith results in a good testimony, and last we see that our faith must be in God. Hebrews 11:3. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. In the context here, the author brings up the creation of the universe and the ages as an example of faith. All of these Hebrews would have believed this, they would have believed that God made the worlds. 

Faith is exercised concerning the created world precisely because the world was not created from material things that were in existence, but the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. So the creation, the fact that God made the world in six literal days and rested on the seventh day as recorded in Genesis, is a matter of faith. We believe it. Why? Because God said it. The origin of all things is not something that was or can be observed. Science is a process of observation, of testing and finding results and eliminating hypothesis. Therefore it cannot be applied to origins. 

Whether man believes in evolution or believes in creation, it's a matter of faith. And for those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ who believe this book to be the very Word of God, we place our faith in God. This is so important for us to understand. Our faith is in God, it's in His revealed Word, and this, my friends, is the only way that we know anything, that we can be certain of anything. Think about creation versus evolution. The scientists will tell us that ours is a leap of faith, but think about the basis of their faith versus ours. We believe the eternal God of the universe who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and who cannot lie, recorded for us in the book of Genesis how He created the world. Our faith is in Him. It's in His Word because we know and are convinced that He cannot lie. 

The evolutionists has a much greater faith than we do. His faith is in the Trinity of time, chance, and matter. Chance is not a causal force, it's a mathematical probability. And His formula to which He entrusts His eternal destiny is this, nothing times time equals everything. Both of these systems represent faith because no one observed creation, nor can origins be observed. But our Heavenly Father was there and He created all things and He told us how He did it. You see, our faith is in God, not in man and his philosophies and wisdom and pseudoscience, but in God. 

And ultimately, the substance, the reality of our faith is Jesus Christ, all that He is, all that He has done, and all that He has promised. The author of Hebrews here gives us an understanding of how to enter into the new covenant in Christ's blood only by faith, and he gives us an understanding of what faith is. It's the foundation, the undergirding, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence, the assurance of things not seen. The real essence, the substance of our faith, the firm foundation, the assurance and firm conviction we have is in Jesus. He is the explanation of our faith. Jesus is the substance of our faith, an assurance of our salvation. 

All of this is wrapped up in Him, who He is, what He has promised. And my brothers and sisters, what we see in our text is that this faith in Him, this firm, solid conviction we share because of our faith, results in a life of anticipation, of hope, of dependence on Him. And this means that no matter what we may suffer, no matter how bad things may seem, or how much we don't understand or know that what we should do, we can always look to Him, we can always trust Him, we can always believe Him, because we know that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 

This is the essence of faith, and faith is the means by which we enter the safe and secure covenant in His blood. This is not some hope-so faith, some child's wish, as Vincent said. It is a firm, solid confidence. We know that He is, and believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. We know that what He says is true, and that we can trust Him. This is the essence of faith. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank You for these words again, Your consistent Word so rich and full and deep and so practical for our lives every day. Thank You for Jesus, our faith, our salvation, our promise, our hope. Thank You that You save us each day from fear and doubt and worry through faith in You and trust in You. Thank You that we can know that You keep Your Word and that You will bring all these promises to pass and that You are sufficient for today and for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.