“What Faith Does”
Hebrews 11
Sermon Series: “Give Me Faith”
Introduction: Real faith is more than a feeling. It is ultimately belief in action. Last week, we looked at some characteristics of faith as we laid a foundation for understanding faith. This week, we are going to build on that foundation by looking at what faith does as we see the application of faith in our daily lives.
1. Faith pleases God (11:2, 6a). Our forefathers, the Old Testament saints, obtained a good witness from God by their faith. Verse 6 affirms that God is only pleased through faith. Why?
- We cannot come to God without faith because the only way to be made right with God is trusting Jesus (Romans 3:19-4:8, Galatians 3:1-14). Pastor Judah Smith has written, “Only faith pleases God because only Jesus pleases God and faith is nothing more than trusting Jesus.”
- Faith honors God because it acknowledges His trustworthiness.
- Faith glorifies God because it gives Him the credit (I Corinthians 1:26-31).
2. Faith causes us to diligently seek God (v. 6). This means that faith is active instead of passive. Real faith prompts us to consistently and passionately seek the Lord. This refers to seeking to know God instead of just trying to get something from God. I think that sometimes we think that faith does not work, but the real issue is that we are only seeking God occasionally and for selfish reasons (see Matthew 7:7-11).
3. Faith takes God at His Word and acts on it. To me, that is the real essence of faith, and it is my preferred definition for faith. We see example after example of this truth in this chapter of Scripture (Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua and the children of Israel, Rahab, etc.).
4. Faith allows God to accomplish great things through us.
Once again, we see example after example of this truth in this chapter. The phrase, “by faith,” is specifically used 18 times in Hebrews 11. It literally means, “by means of faith,” and it is saying that God worked through their faith to accomplish all of these great things that He did. In other words, faith is the instrument that God’s power flowed through. Through faith, Enoch was taken to heaven without dying, Noah saved his family, Abraham and Sarah supernaturally received a child and all the promises of God for them, the children of Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt and brought through the Red Sea, and the walls of Jericho were brought down and they claimed the Promised Land. In addition, verses 33-35 say, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.” Daniel 11:32b says, “But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” People with real faith will change the world!
5. Faith enables us to overcome trials and endure until the end (v. 35-40, see also 10:32-39, Philippians 1:6, and 2 Timothy 1:12). Verses 35-39 speak of a variety of trials that people went through, but it says that “all these…obtained a good testimony through faith.” 10:35-39 speaks of not casting away our confidence, enduring, not drawing back, and believing to the saving of our souls. This shows us that, despite what some people falsely teach, that faith does not protect us from hardships, but it carries us through those hardships because Jesus carries us through as we trust Him. Faith is not living in denial as some people believe, but it is very realistic about the difficulties of the human condition. However, faith gives us a higher perspective because it allows us to see that God is ultimately in control and that He loves us and has a good purpose even for our trials.
Conclusion: Are we truly living by faith in our daily lives?
