WEDNESDAY 3rd
Hebrews 11:1-6
Over the next few days, and into next week, we will look at this chapter and look at the verses that cover Abel, Enoch and Noah and if lockdown continues, we will get to look at some more of the characters that are mentioned in Hebrews 11 at a later date, we often give them the title of ‘heroes of faith’, they became heroes because they believed God in their circumstances.
The circumstances of each one of them was different, but they all looked toward and served the same God, the true and living God, the God of the impossible. They learned that without faith it is impossible to believe in the God of the impossible. 11:6 ‘And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.’
In the following chapter, 12, the Hebrew writer encourages us to learn from these heroes or examples of faith, to let their testimony and experience be a model to encourage us in our personal relationship and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ to help keep us focused and to spur us on to finish the race. 12:1-2 ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’
We all need encouragement and we all need to encourage one another, we all need at times to be given a reminder or a boost or a lesson or an experience to spur us on, life can become wearisome, ofttimes it can become challenging, there are moments when life even causes us to doubt or falter, but the testimony from these heroes of faith should remind us and encourage us that in the midst of it all the God of the impossible is with us. In fact, when we think we have got it tough, it is a good thing to read verses 32-38 of chapter 11 and then line up our circumstances with their circumstances and realise life is not too bad for us after all! This is just from verses 35-38, ‘. . . Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.’
The Hebrew writer commences this chapter with (1-3) ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.’
Faith enables us to believe the unbelievable and the invisible because what seems unbelievable and invisible is possible with the invisible God of the impossibility! The invisible God has made himself known, he has made himself known through that which he has created, and through his upholding of that which he has created. (Romans 1:20, 1 Timothy 1:17) He has revealed himself through his Word and he has also made himself known through his Son, the Lord Jesus. (Hebrews 1:1-3) By faith we see the hand of God in the created world around us, by faith we see God at work in the cross and as a result it is also by faith we see the hand of God in the circumstances of our lives.
But how do we get the faith to believe? Ephesians 2:8, the chapter of grace reminds us that we are given the faith to believe as a gift from God, faith to believe in his mercy and grace, faith to believe unto salvation, and the faith he gives to us is not limited to the realm of salvation but it is also given as an essential component toward our ongoing walk as believers, faith to believe that in all of our life situations God is working out his eternal plan and purpose, and Hebrews 11 helps us to see that this faith that was outworked in the Old Testament heroes can also be outworked in our lives as well.
Peter in his first epistle, shows to us that God’s saving faith given as a gift to us is also what guards us and keeps us till we receive the outcome of our faith – an eternal inheritance. 1 Peter 1:3-9 ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’
By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight
By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign
We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight
By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave
By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth
We will stand…
By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name
Keith and Kystyn Getty CCLI788682