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Roll
Call of the Faithful
Introduction
The
doctrine of faith is a fundamental doctrine, in that it deals with the
foundation of what we believe. Its existence and operation in our lives,
defines whether or not we are a part of the family of GOD. The
nature of faith then, what faith is, is something on which we must have a
firm grip. As
with all things pertaining to God and godliness, there will be perversion,
corruption and denial. These
are the mechanisms that the enemy (Satan) uses as he tries to destroy
God’s people. Satan’s
attacks come from various points; from inside men pervert the idea of
godly faith, and redefine it in unbiblical ways, for Satan has sown tares
among the wheat, and so deviant and perverted definitions of faith
sadly have become pervasive in the church.
At the same time outside the church, intellectuals of all stripes,
purport all manner of worldly doctrines that deny the reality of faith. If one
rightly divides the word of truth, all such abhorrent doctrine will be
exposed as such to us by the Holy Spirit, and one should wisely flee them. It is
extremely important that we all have an accurate knowledge of the nature
of faith and be able to examine ourselves and if necessary correct
ourselves. For, without faith, that is, true faith, we cannot please God. As we
have previously learned, the writer of the book of Hebrews addresses
primarily Jewish believers, who were experiencing substantial persecution
and some of whom were drifting, in danger of the disease of hardening of
the heart, and who may have been in danger of defecting from the faith. We
face similar conditions today, and many of us should rightly take heed to
the warnings in the book of Hebrews. Thus
he endeavors to demonstrate the true nature of faith, first by defining
it, and then by demonstrating its work in the lives of their most revered
ancestors, who also faced tremendously difficult circumstances. These
words of admonition hold true for us today, thus when we feel overwhelmed,
we aught to examine where we are in the faith and lay hold on the true
nature of faith and exercise our faith as the patriarchs did. To more completely understand our text we will briefly review the previous discussion and the reminder is to the brethren found in chapter 10. THE REMINDERSIt had
been stated that the brethren had started out well, for after they had
been enlightened, they had regarded their spiritual possession in Christ
as so valuable to them, that they had rejected the things of the world,
had endured great conflict of suffering, reproaches of the world, sundry
tribulations, including seizure of their property. (10: 32-34) But as
time went on, the temptations and pressures had led them to devalue their
spiritual possession in Christ, something that had previously meant a
great deal to them. They were falling under the temptation to change their
commitment and once again looked to the goals of the world and its
treasures, as things that were important. They
had been reminded of the inability of the sacrifice under the Old Covenant
to truly take away sin, and had been shown again the prophecies and the
biblical foundation for the perfect sacrifice of Jesus under the New
Covenant. They finished and
efficacious work of Jesus had been stressed. The
brethren then were reminded that because of this New Covenant, there was a
dramatic transformation in them and their lives and behavior had been
completely changed, since they now had a new motivation and a new power in
and behind them. Since
the brethren were now under the New Covenant they had confidence to enter
the Most Holy Place, believing in the new life in the Spirit, for this is
what the New Covenant provided. This
new confident Spirit which believers have, is buttressed by the fact that
they also had a great High Priest over the House of God, who is confident,
always available, completely aware of everything about us, always working
everything for our good, concerned about the welfare of everyone who is in
His House. With this in mind believers are therefore encouraged to:
Then came a most somber warning. Since
there has been full enlightenment, there must be no deliberate and willful
sinning, and a continuing attitude of resistance. If there is no change in behavior, and if sin continued to rule, as one writer puts it: “
the professed believers will find no other hiding place from God’s
wrath, for there is no other sacrifice than Christ’s which will avail
for sin. Since by unchanged
behavior such individuals give evidence that Christ’s sacrifice is
rejected, the one way of escape is rejected also.
Only judgment and “ blazing fire” after death awaits, as one of
the enemies of God (2 Thessalonians 1:7).
This behavior parallels those “ having fallen away” of 6:6,
where apostasy also led to be irremediable judgment.” It is
important to stress here that this kind of sin involves three things.
It is not a passage which refers to the normal failings of a
Christian, who is still learning how to walk in the Spirit.
Neither does it refer to the continual sinning that some church
members do because of ignorance. This
refers to those who choose to live behind a veneer of Christianity and
refuse to be delivered from the reign of sin.
They are fully enlightened, know that Christ has the power to
deliver them, but they have no interest in deliverance, but are fully
satisfied in appearing respectable in the eyes of the world. These apostates are described as people who have:
It is
clear that it is a dreadful thing, a terrifying and awesome experience to
meet the perfectly majestic and Holy God, when He is angry. The
brethren were therefore encouraged to persevere and endure, to keep on
obeying God through the discouraging trials and difficulties of life. He
called for renewed confidence, and a rejection of despair. They
could do all this when they lived by faith, which really was accepting the
word of God, accepting who Christ was, that events would work out as he
said it would, and that the true and important things of life are defined
by him. Those
who are made righteous by God will have this faith, and life would revolve
around this faith. The
prophecies of Scripture would be fulfilled and in just a little while
Christ would come. The
unjust or unrighteous will not live by faith and therefore will displease
God. They would be the
specific objects of God's displeasure and they would go to perdition. But
the Apostle encouraged the brethren, expressing his confidence that they
were in the group who were truly saved, and who were remaining under the
New Covenant. He was sure
that they would stand firm and enter into eternal life. Faith was therefore indispensable to believers, for that was the means by which they would overcome temptation, the subtle and unsubtle deceptions, and pressures of the world. The Apostle then turned to detail what faith was all about and to show how it operates in the life of the true believers that had lived before them. As one writer puts it, he shows: “ Faith is the way we begin the life in Christ; faith is also the way it is maintained; and faith is what will bring us at last in triumph through the gates of glory into the very presence of the Lord himself. Chapters 11-13 provide a fitting climax to the letter, pursuing its themes with vivid pictures of faith in human life.” THE TEXTVerse
1. ‘Now faith is…’ This most important verse
deals with the nature of true faith, and its importance cannot be
downplayed. Mark 16:16 reveals that eternal life depends on the existence
of faith. It is therefore paramount that we have an accurate understanding
of it nature. The
word ‘substance’ is rendered from the word ‘hypostasis’,
elsewhere rendered ‘confidence’.
Thus a preliminary definition in part would be that faith makes one
confident of the things hoped for, giving them reality or substance. The
meaning behind the word is “that which is placed under”, and
therefore it is the ground or basis, the foundation, the support for what
one believes. It also means
reality, substance or existence, as opposed to that which is unreal,
imaginary or deceptive. Our
physical eyesight shows us evidence that the material world exists, and if
this physical eyesight was all we had, we would properly think that this
world is all that there was. But
there is more to this world that the material world.
There is a world made up of invisible things, which are more
important than the material world. We
cannot control, touch, or feel this world in the same way that we can the
material world, but these invisible things, though intangible and unseen,
are supremely important, and determine life and death. Faith
then imparts to the mind the reality of those things that are not seen but
are undeniably real. Note that faith is not positive thinking. It is not just a hunch. It is not just hoping for the best, and wishing that everything will work out. It is not wild optimism. It is not bare belief or intellectual understanding. It does not involve a ‘blind leap’. There
are reasons for faith, but these reasons cannot be mentioned in a
laboratory. The
emphasis here, is that in addition to the fact that there are certainties
and realities which we cannot see with our physical eyes, the future is
more important than the present. Faith
is the assurance of things that are hoped for, that is, faith takes hold
of what is in the future, so that our understanding of reality, and the
things we choose are dominated by things which have not yet occurred. The
word ‘hope’ does not in any way imply that something may or may
not happen. This is a certainty. When
we speak about “things hoped for”, it is clear that we are
talking about persons with a sense of discontent, dissatisfaction with the
things that are happening now, and with the present condition. It is
only when this dissatisfaction exists that a person will be led to long
for something better. Those
that are content with the things of the world, will never be in a position
to exercise saving faith. This
is why the prophets and the Apostles throughout Scripture, always
identified a complacent spirit, and an attitude of satisfaction with self
and the status quo, as the great enemy of faith.
This situation always leads to neglect of the word of God, and
warnings from the messengers of God. With
this discontent, “the hoping for”, comes the desire for
something better, an awareness that there is something else. This
is faith, for then a person becomes aware that there is more to the world
that what can “be seen, weighed, measured, analyzed, or touched”. But
yet, though the things are invisible, they are as real and important as
anything we can see. This is an understanding that a spiritual kingdom exists. This
faith of which the writer speaks, compels us to act in accordance to what
we believe and what is hoped for. Remember that the Bible tells us that if
we had seen it, it is not truly of faith. Now the object of our faith is most important. There comes the recognition of the true and living God, the Creator. Verse
2. It was by this
same act of faith that the elders, that is, those Hebrew patriarchs,
obtained or received a good report. Their
faith was of such a nature that the testimony of their faith lives on. The
elders longed for something better, and were aware that there was
something else in the universe, other than the material world and that
there was someone, their God, that had revealed real truth to them about
this world. Therefore they
acted on this faith, this revelation, and achieved the better things that
they hoped for. Note
what the writer is saying, for he makes clear that in the past faith
enabled people to overcome. All
of these great people, the great examples of godliness, though they had
different personalities, and faced different circumstances, they all had
one thing in common. They had
faith. The
faith of these patriarchs got them a place on the roll call of the
faithful, but really requires no less of us.
Through their example and testimony we can learn to trust God
faithfully. Here we find the answer to the often asked question, “What about the heathens that never heard the gospel?” One writer puts it this way: “
They have the opportunity to exercise faith, for faith at its simplest
level is, “he that comes to
God must believe that God exists and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.” Any man who wants to be better, who believes that
God exists and who will obey the revelation that he has, no matter at what
ever level he finds it, expecting God to give him more as he goes along,
will come to the place where he wins divine approval, the place of knowing
Jesus Christ. Without that
faith it is impossible to please God.” As
we go on we will see that the beginning of the life of faith, the starting
point, is quite simple, for it does not require one to clean up our bad
habits, or achieve certain things, or get a certain status. There
are two simple requirements, one, recognizing that God exists, and two,
believing that it is well worth knowing him. God will always reward those
who seek him. Then
these very imperfect beginners, who will not get everything all at once,
will begin to grow in faith, and begin to please God more and more. Verse
3. “By faith we understand…”
Faith gives men understanding of the invisible world. Clearly the
material world has a beginning and we begin to properly understand this
when we understand that unseen things or powers exist. There
is overwhelming evidence as seen in the physical creation, to convince
every one of the reality of God. Yet
man (the creature) continues tirelessly to search for a creator other than
God. Why, because they
don’t really believe what they see. As
the writer begins to unfold the true nature of faith, he literally starts
right at the beginning. Referring to Genesis 1:1, he demonstrates that the
first, the most profound and the most fundamental exercise of faith – is
to believe the word of God concerning the creation. ‘In
the beginning God created…” One could only come to know this by
faith. For we could not know
this by any empirical means for there is no physically observable proof.
One could not arrive at such a conclusion by mere intellectual deduction,
neither could you have known this by our own experience, for no one was
there when God created. In
fact the writer of Genesis was not there when God created.
How then can one believe? Only by faith! The
Scripture declares that the worlds were framed by his word. This phrase
demonstrates the awesome wisdom and power of God. The sense here is that
God did not merely create the worlds and leave the universe in chaos; but
he framed or ordered the entire universe with such precision and care,
that even today’s scientists are utterly baffled.
The complexity of an ordered universe is great indeed. Scientists
know that the slightest change in the orbit of the planets or the distance
of the earth from the sun, or any of the laws that govern the universe,
would spell catastrophe. The
harmony of creation displays the infinite wisdom of God. That all this was accomplished by his word, demonstrates the awesome power of the word of God. The word used here is ‘Rhema’ which means the spoken word, and in this context the sense is command. (compare Gen 1:3,6,9,11,14; Ps 33:6) Of course, we know that it is the Logos, the Son, otherwise called the Word of God, which spoke and created. ‘…so the things which are seen were not made of things which are invisible’ The
doctrine taught in this verse is that matter is not eternal or
pre-existent; this physical universe that we can see was created out of
nothing at the command of God. Note
that the word used in Genesis 1 for created is ‘bara’ which means to
create from nothing. Note
the implication of this. Prior
to creation, the unchangeable, invisible, eternal God existed, and it was
his word that created all the things that we see. Clearly
therefore, the older things, the first things, the invisible things, are
superior to and pre-eminent over, the newer things, the things which we
can see. Faith
makes us understand that, and will encourage us to keep our eyes fixed on
God, for He is the reality. Note
also the falsity of the doctrines that say that God created the world with
faith, as if to say God needs ‘faith’ and that ‘faith’ is a source
of power for God.
Since God sees and knows all things, faith in the human sense is
superfluous to him. He is
all-powerful, all knowing, all wise and infinite in every respect, and
unlike us. He simply creates out of nothing with his word. Having
shown that the supreme object of our faith is to be God and that the
awesome wisdom and power of God is demonstrated by bringing the entire
universe into being by the power of his word, there is therefore no reason
not to believe that God has ample power to perform whatever he wills.
Therefore those who believe should exhibit peace and complete confidence
in God. This
whole chapter is designed to encourage and build up the faith of the
believer. Thus the writer now
goes on to give numerous examples throughout the rest of the chapter, of
those who exercised such faith. Verse
4. The writer of Hebrews passes by Adam and Eve and
moves to Abel as the first to have shown exemplary faith. This does not
imply that Adam and Eve were not believers after the Fall. But their
children, who had never walked with God, longed for something better, and
wanted God. Adam
walked and talked with God in a way that we have not experienced.
God freely communed with man before the Fall, but sin has severely
damaged that line of communication and now requires the exercise of
‘faith’, a hoping for the future and what God had promised. Both
Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God, but we are told that Abel offered
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, because it was offered in faith. Genesis
does not give us this detail, it simply states that Abel ‘brought of
the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof, and that the Lord had
respect toward Abel and his offering’. We
only know that Abel's offering was done in faith, and God was pleased with
it. Obviously he believed
God, trusted and obeyed God, doing his sacrifice in the way
God had wanted. Cain’s
sacrifice did not meet with God's approval, and at that he grew angry and
rebellious, revealing the way he felt toward the sovereign choices of God.
Cain confirmed his bad attitude by rejecting the opportunity God
gave him to repent and to again make his offerings with a contrite spirit.
He clearly had a heart of pride, an “evil heart of unbelief”. The truth expressed here is that if a man says he has faith in God, it implies that he accepts the testimony of the word of God – for ‘faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Rom10:17) and thus he believes the word of God to be true. He cannot disobey God and call that faith. If he consistently acts contrary to the word of God, though he says he believes, the Scriptures say this man does not have genuine faith. The Scriptures emphasize: “But
become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves.” James
1:22; Jam_4:17; Mat_7:21-25 Many
have speculated why Cain’s sacrifice was rejected and not Abel’s.
What
ever the case may be, the only thing that can be said with any degree of
certainty, is that Abel’s sacrifice was accompanied by genuine faith,
whereas Cain sacrifice was a sham and mockery, a ritual perform by a
profane and unbelieving heart, in which no true faith resided. We
cannot be certain how God testified of Abel’s gifts; it is simply stated
that He did. “And by it
he, being dead, yet speaketh” Solomon
says that the memory of the dead is soon forgotten. But it is evident that there are some who have pleased God
and their testimony He preserves, surviving long after they are gone they
continue to speak. The record
of these men and women of faith are forever recorded in the word of God,
they continue to speak and all the heirs of salvation hear and are blessed
by their testimony. Abel therefore lived by faith. Clearly
his faith in God reflected his trust and acceptance of God’s love. In this case we see that his faith was not rewarded on earth. He had to wait for God to deal with the injustice. This case of faith teaches us that we have to trust God, and be faithful to him, even when we are under persecution and face death, for we too, because of faith, know that we have to wait for the ultimate vindication of injustice and mistreatment. Faith leads us to cry out to God to avenge us, and we leave vengeance to God. That is a witness to our righteousness. Verse
5. The Scriptures
do not tell us a great deal about Enoch, but in those few verse in Gen
5:21-24, we learn that Enoch was undoubtedly an awesome man of faith. In
fact, the testimony of the word of God is that the faith of Enoch so
pleased God, that he bestowed on him the inestimable blessing of being
translated. A blessing only
he, Elijah and the Lord Jesus have experienced. It is
stated that Enoch started this close communion or walking with God when he
was sixty-five years old, at the same time that his son was born.
There is much speculation as to whether or not this birth of his
son jolted him into beginning this steady, daily growth in intimacy with
the unseen God. As a result however he experienced the continuous presence of God, and a fellowship that not even death could interrupt. “Moses
does not say expressly that Enoch was translated.
He says “he was not, for God took him.”
The expression “he was not…”means he was no more among
people; or he was removed from the earth.” The writer says that he “was not found” that is, he simply disappeared. It is actually on the authority of the writer of Hebrews that we know that Enoch was translated. The reason he could not be found was that ‘God took him.” So Enoch was translated, he was physically translated from earth to heaven Thus the writer says “he should not see death.” He
had this testimony, that he pleased God - Implied in the declaration in
Gen_5:22, that he “walked with God.” This denotes a state of
friendship between God and him, and of course implies that his conduct was
pleasing to God.” Verse
6. Following these two examples the writer informs us
that it is impossible to please God without faith.
That faith is our confidence in his fidelity, his truth, his
wisdom, his power and his promises. God
cannot be pleased with one who has no confidence in him; who doubts the
truth of his word and his promises, and who does not accept his way to be
the right way. Or that he is
indeed the creator and ruler of the universe. The mind that is deliberately resisting the evidence that is seen all around us in nature, the overwhelming evidence that there is a wise and powerful intelligent being that is God, is not an honest mind. One writer states: “So
we learn from him that faith means turning from human wisdom to God’s
revelation and walking in daily obedience to it until it leads to a
fellowship which death cannot interrupt.” Anyone who comes to God or professes to be a worshiper of God, must first believe that he exists. This is not optional, it is impossible to approach God in an acceptable manner if we doubt His very existence. “…he
is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him…” The
motive for seeking God is in order that we may know him, and worship him
is spirit and truth. If one is motivated by the promise of rewards, you have
missed the point. The greatest possible reward we can obtain in diligently
seeking God, is to know Him. Thus
the examples the writer puts forth are of ordinary men and women who have
extraordinary confidence in God, their faith defies the natural intellect
or reason, they have learned to completely trust the word of God.
They obey his voice and act on his word. This is the kind of faith that God requires. The writer now continues listing the exploits of ordinary men with extraordinary faith; Hebrew heroes with whom the readers of this epistle would be very familiar. The design of the writer is to encourage his readers by showing that unwavering trust or faith in God will bring them through any trial, no matter how difficult the circumstance. Verse 7.
The writer now takes a look at
another outstanding man of faith, that is plainly seen in his obedience to
the word of God.
Noah
lived in a time when there was literally no righteous person to be found
on earth, but himself and his immediate family that were saved in the ark.
Noah was repulsed by the wickedness that surrounded him; but held
fast to what he believed and honored God with his life. Note
that Noah was warned of something that had never happened before. This was
great faith, for he agreed with God that this new thing, this invisible
thing, would occur. His faith enabled him to do what God wanted him to do
with respect to the coming Flood, despite the terrible mocking and
opposition from the world outside of his family. It was
because of this faith, that he found favor in the eyes of God. This led
God to warn Noah as to His intent to destroy the all the inhabitants of
the earth, but that he would save him and his family. Noah’s
faith is then further demonstrated in that what God intended to do and the
means by which He would accomplish it, had never before been seen.
God told Noah that he would flood the earth with water; to a man
who had never seen any rain before, he could only believe by faith.
This Noah demonstrated by his obedience. Noah
is given detailed instruction on how to construct an ark in which his
family would be saved. This
he did without question. He
is told a specified amount of every animal will also come to be saved in
the ark, and for one hundred and twenty years he continued to preach that
the judgement of God was at hand. There
is no doubt that Noah believed and rested on the word of God. The
Scripture says that he was moved with fear. That was not fear of damnation
or the loss of salvation, for he believed the word of God that he would
save him. The sense of the
word ‘fear’ as used here, is that of reverence and respect for
the awesome judgement that God had pronounced on the earth. Without
delay Noah ‘prepared an ark for the saving of his house’, thus
we can observe that true faith is always accompanied by obedience to the
word of God. The
faith of Noah stands in such stark contrast to the world, that along with
his preaching and demonstration of faith in building the ark, the
Scripture says the world stands condemned by the demonstration of such
faith. Noah
was declared righteous because of his faith, not of the law, and thus
having the righteousness of Christ, as expressed in the belief that God
would save him, he has eternal life, which is obtained by faith like any
other new testament believer. Noah’s
faith persisted despite the tremendous resistance. Only a transformed
inner spirit caused by the presence of God would enable him to survive.
His sturdy faith was born of God. His obedient faith showed the world how
wrong it was, for his behaviour condemned the world. This made Noah
an heir of the righteousness that comes from faith. Note
carefully that his faith makes him act differently from others, not
drifting along with the multitude. Verse 8.
The writer now speaks of Abraham a
man of renowned faith, that at the time of his calling, was living in an
environment of idolatry. It
was from this place in Ur of the Chaldees, that he was chosen to be a
special vessel for God. He was to leave and go to a place that he would
inherit one day. God did not
yet tell him where this place was, he simply gave him the command to move.
Abraham
obeyed the divine call ‘…and he went out, not knowing where he
went..’. The
demonstration of faith again is obedience and in particular the
realization that we aught to begin to move for God, though He does not
reveal all to us in a single moment, but requires continued trust. All
the odds were against them. They trusted God for a family even though
everything militated against that. They sought for a home, a family, and
roots, things which there did not seem to be any possibility to obtain. Both
Abraham and Sarah stepped out of their place of comfort, though their
faith was not quite perfect. Even
Sarah’s faith was weak and she laughed in unbelief. They lived in tents,
with no permanent status, aliens in the land, with no family or tribe to
protect them, traveling from place to place, always vulnerable to the
pagan inhabitants of the land. He and
Sarah went through many difficulties and often made wrong compromises.
He passed through periods of difficulty and discouragement. Still, every time he responded with unwavering obedience to God’s call. He believed God. God had promised him an inheritance, a land and a posterity, a great name and a great influence, and he believed God. He knew that God would fulfill his promise. Verse 9.
Canaan is the land of promise and
would be his inheritance, for him and his descendants; and it was here
that Abraham sojourned, that is, lived as a resident alien, with no
permanent status. Yet,
despite the promise, Abraham still considered himself a stranger in the
land.
Note that this faith of Abraham was shared by his family, and his descendants, Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise. God's
people acted in the same way since they focused on the same promises. So
all God’s people are to consider themselves, pilgrims and strangers who
sojourn here for a little while, but constantly look for a better country. They are to focus on the same promise.
Verse 10.
It is amazing that Abraham looked
so far down into history and understood that eventually, even past our
days, that God would bring about his reign on earth, and create a city
with eternal foundations. Life
on earth would one day be run according to the order of God.
Abraham
longed for that Day and was content to live in a tent, and traveling
around, but always looking for that coming Day.
Faith
brought with it a great anticipation, and a looking forward in expectation
to the coming of God and great blessings for His people. He had a great
conviction that God was going to do exactly what He had said.
It would happen for certain. Again
we prove him to be a man of faith ‘for he looked for a city which
hath foundation whose builder and maker is God’. The city for which
he looked, was not the earthly city of Jerusalem or any other earthly
empire, but the New
Jerusalem.
Abraham
was "looking" by faith; he looked through, and above temporal
things, to spiritual things; he went through difficulties with
cheerfulness, did not greedily covet earthly things, but looked with
disdain upon them, and to heaven with faith, affection, and earnest
desire; and this proves his faith… To those who believe the word of God, display genuine faith by putting spiritual things, the things of God first. They place very little value on the temporal things, but have by way of the wisdom of the word of God, learned to set their minds on things above, storing up treasure where moth and rust cannot corrupt. Abraham truly knew what it meant to ‘seek first the kingdom of heaven’. And because of his faith, his inheritance is far greater than the land of Canaan. He is by way of example and the promise of God, the ‘Father of the Faithful’. Verse 11.
‘By faith also Sarah received
strength to conceive…’
some versions add ‘being barren’, this seems to clarify the
nature or greatness of her faith, for women who possess no faith also bare
children.
Note that both Abraham’s and Sarah’s
initial thought to the possible birth of a child in their old age was
laughable, Gen 17:17; 18:12. Yet
the scripture declares that Abraham didn’t waver in his faith, Rom
4:19-20. This is seen as he responds in faith to the word of God. Gen
17:17-27. So it is often with us, that our initial or at
least our human intellect is amused or rather bewildered at the promises
of God. Mercifully we are not
judged on our natural thought process, but on the action we take
concerning the word of God. As for Abraham and Sarah they believed. Verse 12.
So a child was born to both
Abraham and Sarah, though they had once considered their bodies dead and
incapable of bringing forth life. Trusting
the promises of God and believing his word brought about the miraculous.
From this one child, Abraham and Sarah would have countless heirs. They are compared to the sands of the seas, being of earth represent his biological offspring, while the countless stars represent his spiritual offspring, those who are the heirs of the promise of salvation. Verse 13.
‘These all died in
faith…’ that is not
all the seed of Abraham, but the patriarchs of whom he speaks, who lived
and died by the doctrine of faith they professed.
They are the Lord’s, both in life and in death.
Though
they did not live to see the complete fulfillment of the promises, the
land of Canaan, the Messiah and the blessings of the Gospel dispensation;
they died believing that they will one day be fulfilled as every other
promise they received had been. Though
these promises they had received were in the distant future, they were
fully persuaded and completely embraced them.
They had the full assurance of faith, and look steadfastly for the
heavenly city, they confessed and believed that they were only strangers
and pilgrims passing through this world. One commentator says: “…nor
are believers ashamed to own and confess their mean estate in this world;
for it is only with respect to earth, and earthly things, that they are
strangers and pilgrims, and only while they are on earth; and it is
therefore but for a little time that they are so, ere long they will be at
home, and know as they are known.” CONCLUSIONFaith
is the first principle of spiritual understanding, it is the foundation by
which we are able to accept as absolute infallible truth, the word of God.
It is the means by which the revelation of God is transmitted to us. We can
see that the true nature of faith manifests itself in complete obedience
to the word of God; that faith based actions are rooted solely on the word
of God. Merely
saying one has faith is not proof of genuine faith; it must be accompanied
by action directed by the word of God.
Thus James says, ‘Faith without works is dead…’ From
the examples of faith given, we see that faith is ultimately essential to
our salvation. As in the case of Noah, he and his family were saved
because of their obedience to the word of God, which is the primary action
of faith. They
were all people of action. Their faith made them act at the present time,
in their day. They changed the course of our history. Note
however that their actions were directed toward God, and the things
required by God. They did not act blindly, but they took tremendous risks
to fulfill the call of God. They
all sacrificed for the future. They never denied God in the present, but
denied themselves, so that they would have a future approved by God. They
looked at the world and chose God. Enoch
walked with God and pleased him. He
so pleased God, that he did not even experience physical death, but was
translated. Though we may not
escape physical death, we know through faith, that we have already passed
from death to life, John 5:24; 1 John 3:14. Abraham’s
faith displayed the willingness to go at God’s command, without having
to know the complete plan of God before he moved.
His life also is characterized by obedience to the word of God;
that is faith. By this faith he not only received miraculous blessings
from God, but through him, the whole world would be blessed and he would
become the father of the faithful. The people of faith all expected God to fulfill his promises. Most
significant is that they saw them and welcomed them only from a distance.
They understood the promises were in the future, and that there would be a
physical as well as a spiritual fulfillment. Though
they knew they would die soon, they still maintained their confidence.
They had a vital faith, and were willing to live in very difficult
circumstances, so that they would receive the promises.
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