By Faith

Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that 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 report. Through 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 do appear. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaks.

By faith, Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. By faith, Noah, warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. By which he condemned the world and became heir of righteousness by faith.

And by faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Let's pray. God, as we take time this evening to look at this portion of Scripture, I pray that You would speak clearly to us about faith, this key to our walk with You, Lord. Would You open the Scriptures and just give us illumination? We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. You can be seated. Let's go ahead and bring up the other fluorescent lights as well in the house here.

As we've been going through the book of Hebrews, we've seen so far in the first ten chapters...

The superiority of Christ over the prophets is evident throughout the book of Hebrews. We saw how He was superior to angels and to Moses, how His priesthood was superior to that of Aaron, and how His sacrifice was superior to the old sacrifices. Furthermore, the new covenant is superior to the old covenant.

As we come into chapter 11 and move out of the doctrinal portion of the book of Hebrews, we enter the last three chapters that focus on the three keys of the Christian walk. In chapter 11, we see the key of faith; in chapter 12, the key of hope; and in chapter 13, the key of love. Paul also spoke of these in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. As he concludes that chapter, he states that now abide these three things: faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love. We see the same theme in the book of Hebrews. The doctrinal portion of the scripture is complete, and now we focus on faith, hope, and love. Tonight, we will take a look at faith.

We read in verse 1 that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Just as our physical eyes take in the world around us, our ears hear the sounds, and our mouths taste physical things, faith perceives the spiritual world. It is our faith that senses these spiritual realities within our souls. It is by faith that we, as believers, have a relationship with God. This is the only way we can connect with a spiritual God—through faith.

We are told that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. The substance of things hoped for means having absolute expectation of coming good—the assurance that the promise will come to pass. Paul states in Romans chapter 8, verse 28, that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose. Thus, we have this hope and faith in that hope, a full assurance that it will come to pass.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things that are not seen—things we cannot quite grasp or lay our eyes upon. Yet, it serves as the very evidence of God's presence. By it, we read in verse 2, the elders, or those of old, obtained a good report.

Hebrews chapter 11 is really an outline. It's the hall of faith of all those elders that we will look at over the next couple of weeks. We are only going to examine a few of them tonight, but this whole chapter is a beautiful testament to those who, before us, had faith in God and followed Him. They sought after Him and knew Him through faith. They knew the unseen God by this key to our Christian walk: faith. By their faith, they obtained a good report or a good standing with the Lord. They were well-pleasing to Him.

We saw last week, and we just read a couple of minutes ago, that those who draw back from faith, the Lord will have no pleasure in them. But here we come into chapter 11, where we see those who are well-pleasing to the Lord. They earned a good report with Him because they believed in Him. Through faith, we understand, as stated in verse 3, that the worlds were framed by the word of God, and that the things which are seen were not made of those things which do appear.

There are people who will say to you and say to me, "I just have a hard time understanding the scriptures, understanding how this whole creation thing works. I just don't see how it all goes together. It doesn't make sense to me." But you see, that's speaking apart from faith, because it is through faith that we understand these things. Only through faith can we truly comprehend that the world was framed by the word of God. As the Lord spoke in Psalm 33, verse 6, it says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth." In verse 9 of Psalm 33, we read, "For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." It was done. It was God's word that spoke forth all of creation. All the worlds were framed by the word of God, and it is only through faith that we can truly understand that.

Those in the world who don't have faith, who refuse to believe, look at the world and say, "It just doesn't make sense to me. I don't see; I don't understand how that could happen, that God in seven days could create the world." I had a young man come up to me on Wednesday night this past evening, and his mom brought him to speak with me. He goes to a public school here in town and is enjoying it. He's in junior high, and they've been discussing evolution in his science class. His teacher has been kind of debating back and forth with him, and a lot of the things she says seem to make sense.

And this science teacher of his rejects the word of God and rejects that God could create everything in seven days. It just doesn't make sense. Of course, there's radiocarbon dating and all this evidence that shows it's impossible. Well, it's impossible for that person to understand these things apart from faith, apart from believing in the only true God and His word.

In Genesis, we read, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Apart from faith, it's impossible for someone in the world to truly understand that. But through faith, we understand that the world was framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. God spoke it out of nothing; He spoke this whole creation into existence from nothing.

Now, for science, that's absolutely impossible. They don't understand how that can happen. They hypothesize that everything just happened all of a sudden, just a big bang, and there it was. There have been many who have said it, and I believe it to be true, that it takes more faith to believe in evolution and to accept what science is postulating than to believe in God. When you go back and continue to trace it all, it just doesn't make sense.

I remember when I was in high school and junior high, having many debates with my teacher. The things they said were so circular; it didn't make sense. It was harder to understand than to believe that God spoke it into existence. For many in the world, they'll look at you and say, "Well, you're a fool because you believe that." Yet, the testimony of Scripture shows that they, in fact, get the big fat F for fool. The Scriptures say, "The fool has said in his heart that there is no God."

But by faith, through 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 do appear. God just spoke it into existence, and we can only understand that through faith. We can only grasp that through this key called faith and believing in Him, the only true God.

Then we get into these men of faith and women of faith spoken of in Hebrews chapter 11. Those who obtained a good report, those who had a good testimony, those who believed upon the Lord, who truly did believe and understand that God was the one who created the earth. They saw that this...

Everything around them was spoken into existence by God, and they believed that. We read in verse 4, "By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, and by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it, he being dead yet speaks." The first one spoken of here is, by faith, Abel. Many of you know this story. In fact, we're going to look back at it in just a second in Genesis chapter 4.

The story of this man, Abel, whose brother Cain was also begotten of Adam and Eve, the very first human beings created by God, takes place in a perfect environment that had just come from the fall of sin. God had given the curse to Adam that man was to now till the ground and work. As we look at the story of Cain and Abel, we see that they were out working.

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 4. It tells us there in verse 1, the first book in the Bible, that Adam knew his wife, or he had a physical relationship with her, and she conceived and bore Cain. She said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." She again bore his brother, Abel. Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Now fulfilling the curse, as God had spoken of in Genesis chapter 3, we see that Abel goes out and is a keeper of the sheep, the shepherd. His brother Cain tills the ground and is a farmer. In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. As time went by, Cain's ground was tilled, and as he planted seeds and began to bring forth a crop, he brought to the Lord a gift, an offering from the ground. From all of his labors and works, he brought to God this offering.

Abel also brought, in verse 4, of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering, He had not respect. Cain was very wroth, or very angry, and his countenance fell. In the process of time, Cain brought to the Lord this offering of the first fruits of what he had done.

Of his labors and his work, Cain set it down before the Lord. At the very same time, Abel came and brought a sacrifice from the sheep, from his flocks to God. He laid it down before God as well. However, God respected Abel's sacrifice more than Cain's, which made Cain very angry. The reason God respected Abel's sacrifice over Cain's was that Abel brought it as the fruit of his own works, what he had done.

Cain came before the Lord with his works and his labors, saying, "Here's what I'm going to do for you, Lord." We've been looking at this in Hebrews over the last several months, understanding that this is not how the Lord desires us to come before Him—in the strength of our own power. It's not something we can do. Yet, that's what Cain brought before God: his own works and his own labors. In contrast, Abel simply brought a lamb. He brought a sacrifice that cost him something from his flocks. He laid that before the Lord, and the Lord had respect for it. This made Cain very angry.

You know the story. Cain became angry with the Lord, his countenance fell, and he went on to kill his brother. How long did Cain hate his brother? As long as he was Abel. That day, he killed Abel, revealing a wicked and malicious heart—one that was more focused on his own efforts, accomplishments, and what he had done.

It's interesting to look throughout the Scriptures and the ages to see that there are two types of offerings. One comes to God with a pure heart, knowing that there is absolutely nothing in us that can make us right with God apart from the work of God. The other offering, the offering of Cain, comes before God saying, "Look what I've done. Look what I can do." That second sacrifice will always be unaccepted; the Lord will never accept it. Our righteousness is as filthy rags and cannot stand before the Lord. The only offering that can and will atone for sin is the one that acknowledges our complete dependence on God.

The offering that God gave for our sin through His Son, as we spoke on last weekend, is significant. There's only one way to God, and yet there are still many people in our day who are trying to offer the sacrifice of Cain. They attempt to do their own things to purify themselves, to clean themselves, to bring themselves before God, or to make themselves powerful in some way, shape, or form. But it will never work. This is really what the entire book of Hebrews shows us: there is only one way to God, and it is through His Son, Jesus Christ, and faith in Him.

As we look at Hebrews chapter 11, often referred to as the hall of faith, we see several examples of individuals who exemplified faith. The first person mentioned is Abel, who worshipped God by faith. If you're taking notes, note that down: Abel was one who worshipped God by faith. By his offering and his worship, he obtained a witness that he was indeed righteous, that he had a right standing with God, and that his heart was right. This shows us that Cain's heart was not right before the Lord, but Abel's was. His offering, his sacrifice, and his worship to the Lord proved that his heart was correct with the one true God. God testified of his gifts, and though he is dead, he yet speaks. Abel's sacrifice still speaks to us today, as he came to the Lord with a pure heart, offering something that wasn't of his own efforts but that cost him something.

Continuing on in verse 5, we read that Enoch was translated so that he should not see death. He was not found because God had translated him. Before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. As we continue, we see the second individual mentioned here, Enoch. He was translated, it says, and did not see death.

Turn in your Bibles back to Genesis, specifically Genesis chapter 5, where we will look at this man's life a little more closely, especially verse 22. We will start in verse 21: "And Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah 300 years and begot sons and daughters."

And all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Abel was one who worshipped God by faith, and Enoch was one who walked with God by faith. He walked with the Lord for 300 years. In those early days of creation, there was Enoch, and he had a relationship with God. He walked with Him and knew the Lord. He had such a close and intimate relationship with the Lord that God decided one day, "Hey Enoch, I want you just to come up here and be with Me." And so the Lord took him. He didn't see death; he didn't die. He had his own little personal rapture. The Lord caught him up and said, "Come on home. Come on, be with Me."

Why? It says there that he had this testimony before he was translated, before the Lord took him, that he pleased the Lord. He was well-pleasing to God in his faith. He was not one, as we looked at last week, who drew back, but he followed faithfully the Lord. He walked with God by faith. God had such a close relationship with Enoch that the Lord said, "Just come home. Let's go."

As we continue on in verse 6, we read, "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him." Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God because he was a man who walked with God by faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

We, like Enoch, must believe in God. Enoch was a man who believed in the God that he could not see, and he walked with Him and diligently sought after Him by faith. As he did, he was well-pleasing to the Lord, and the Lord said, "Come home. You're well-pleasing to Me."

We too need to be those who live and walk by faith, who follow after the Lord through faith, the One that we cannot see. He who believes in God must believe that He is, that there is a God. That person who believes that He is must also diligently seek after Him, seeking to get to know Him. And that's exactly what Enoch did. Because of that, he was rewarded.

He had this testimony before he was translated, before he was taken up, that he pleased God. I pray that this would be the testimony of my life and of your life as well, before the Lord takes us home. I believe that we may be living in those days when we will see the rapture, when we, like Enoch, will be translated to be with the Lord. I look forward to the day when He will look into my eyes and when He'll look into your eyes and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." He'll say, "You were well pleasing to me. You had this testimony that you pleased me because you walked by faith with me. You believed in me and you diligently sought after me." What an awesome day that will be to stand before the Lord.

If we don't see the rapture, every single one of us will have our own personal rapture when we die. How wonderful it will be to hear the Lord say, "Well done. You were pleasing to me." Abel worshipped God by faith, and Enoch walked with God by faith. By faith, in verse 7, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his house. By this, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Noah is a man that many people know well in the Scriptures. He is a man that a lot of people who don't even know the Scriptures have heard of. Did you know that every major civilization has some sort of legend, some sort of story going back to a man who built some sort of box, boat, or ark that saved him and his family from a huge flood? As you study and look back at all the different major civilizations, you will find that in Chinese ancient history, they have legends of a man who saved himself and many animals in a box that he created. He saved himself from a flood.

If you look into the Incan civilizations, you can study back into their history, and they too have stories of someone who saved his family and many animals from a flood by building a boat. All these different civilizations have legends of this event happening, and yet many today in our modern civilization say, "Oh, it's not possible, it's not true." Yet we read here that by faith, Noah, being warned of God...

Of those things not seen as of yet, by the time Noah lived in Genesis chapter 6, the scripture doesn't speak anything of rain. It doesn't tell us that it ever rained. It does say that there was a mist that went up from the earth that watered the garden, but we don't see anything of rain.

The Lord comes and says, "Noah, it's going to rain. There's going to be a flood." He had never heard of those things before. Being warned of things not yet seen, he was instructed to build an ark, a boat. He didn't know what a boat was at that point in time; no boats are mentioned. How odd would that be to hear a voice, the Lord speaking to you, saying, "There's going to be a flood, and I want you to build an ark."

I'm warning you that I'm going to destroy the whole earth with a flood and everything that breathes, but I want you to build this ark. Being divinely warned, he was moved with fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his household.

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, back to Genesis, Genesis chapter 6. We will again look at this man, Noah, and take a closer look at his life. The first seven verses of Genesis chapter 6 tell us that the Lord looked upon the earth, and man had begun to multiply upon the face of the earth. He was doing all sorts of wicked things, and wickedness was abounding.

The Lord said in verse 3 of Genesis chapter 6, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." It repented the Lord that he had created man.

In verse 8, Noah is mentioned: "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." In verse 12, we read, "And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." God said unto Noah in verse 13, "The end of all flesh is before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them."

And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Rooms shall you make in the ark, and you shall put pitch in it within and without.

Then in verse 17, the Lord continues, "Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die. But with thee I will establish my covenant," in verse 18, "and you shall come into the ark."

In verse 22, we read, "Thus Noah did according to all that God had commanded him." So he did. Abel was one who worshipped God by faith. Enoch was one who walked with God by faith. Noah was one who worked by faith. He worked by faith. Being divinely warned of things that were not seen, he built something that no one had ever heard about; God gave him the plans. He showed him that he was to build this ark, and he did according to all that the Lord had said.

Surely there were many people during that time who would walk by and say, "What in the world are you doing, Noah? You have lost it." He would respond, "God spoke to me. He said that there's going to be a flood, and I've got to build this ark." They would look at him and say, "You're insane. You've lost it. You're off your rocker." Yet by faith, he built it. He worked when everybody else looked upon him and said, "You're a fool."

It says back in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7, "By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." He condemned the world by his faith.

A couple of years ago, when Eric and Rick Kirstead, Eric Siaka, myself, and Mark Cato went to New York City right after 9/11, we were there just a week after the terrorist attacks. We were walking down the street, and there were a lot of people who had gone to New York City with their Bibles in hand to do the work of the Lord, quote-unquote. We passed many who were on their soapboxes, literally, with their loudspeakers in hand, pointing the Bible at people as they passed by.

And condemning them for their sin and all the things that they had done there in New York City, look, this is because of your sin. Repent. Now, I have no doubt that the Lord is continuously calling man to repentance.

But I want you to note something here in the life of Noah. By his work of faith, he condemned the world. Matthew Henry once said that good examples will either convert sinners or condemn them. The best way for the people of God to condemn the wicked is not by harsh and censorious language, but by holy and exemplary conduct.

I don't so much believe that it's our place to run around and point fingers at people and tell them that this sin, this sin, this sin, makes them wicked and condemn them. What does the Scripture say? The Scriptures tell us in John 3, verse 19, "And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." This is the condemnation that has come into the world: that light has come into the world, God's light, through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is shown in the darkness, but men love darkness.

The best witness, I believe, is not for that person to stand on their soapbox and point their finger at you or at people and say, "You're a bunch of sinners, you're this, you're that," because most people, deep down inside, when they consider it, realize that there's something wrong. Rather, as John would tell us in 1 John, chapter 1, verse 7, we should walk in the light as He is in the light.

When you and I, as believers, walk in the light and work by faith, as Noah did, our very works—the light that is shining through our life—will expose the darkness and the evil that people are living in. That witness is enough to show them that they're wrong and to condemn them. They will either be converted by the life that we live in Christ or they'll be condemned, one or the other.

What a great witness it is for us to live a life before our family, our friends, and those we work with, where they look at us and say, "There's something different about that person and the way that they live." Our lives should shine the light of Christ upon this dark world.

And expose the wickedness that is therein. I believe that Noah was one of those people who, by his work of faith as he walked with the Lord, condemned the world by it. He became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith alone.

Abel worshipped God by faith, Enoch walked with God by faith, and Noah worked by faith. Then we come to Abraham in verse 8, one of my favorite characters in all the Word. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went. He went out not knowing whether he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker was God.

So far, we have seen the worship by faith, the walk by faith, and also the work by faith. In Abraham, we want to note three things. The first thing is that he went in faith. By faith, when he was called to go out, he went.

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 12, verse 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I will make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. I will bless them that bless thee, and I will curse him that curseth thee. In thee, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. At this time, Abraham was living his life in Ur, and he was 75 years old. As a shepherd, he seemed to be doing very well for himself when the Lord spoke to him.

I want you to leave all this stuff. I want you to go into this country, west of here, far from here, by foot. Leave the protection that you have. You see, during this time, in this culture, you were protected by the clans that you lived within. Each group of people lived within clans, and to go outside of that clan would expose you to great danger.

God says, "I want you to leave all, leave the protection that you have, leave this house and the comfort that you have, and all the things that you have. I want you to go into this new land, this promised land that I'm going to give to you. I'm promising it to you. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to make you a blessing." And Abraham went. He went by faith. Not knowing where he was going, he obeyed when he was called. He went, not really seeing exactly what was going to come of it or what was going to happen. He just had a promise that God had spoken to him, and yet he went in faith.

We read back in Hebrews chapter 11, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." This man of faith, the father of our faith, is described in Genesis chapter 15, verse 6, where it is written that Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him as righteousness. He went in faith, but then he waited in faith.

In verse 9, he sojourned in that land of promise. He dwelt in tabernacles and tents. He was a pilgrim, and he waited for the fulfillment of that promise. He waited upon God in faith, just trusting. "You spoke this to me. I've gone in faith. I went where you called me, and now I'm going to wait for the fulfillment of this promise."

Now, the Lord had promised him that he would have a son. When he left, he didn't have a son. Twenty-five years later, the fulfillment of that promise came, but the fulfillment of him taking the land, of him actually taking possession of the land of Canaan, the promised land, was never fully seen during his life. But he waited in faith. He went in faith, following the Lord.

Who had called him? He then waited for the fulfillment of that promise in faith. Surely, there were times when he was tempted to think that it would never happen. In fact, you see that in his life as you follow the life of Abraham in Genesis. There were times that he faltered, as do we. Although the call of God that came to him in Genesis chapter 12 at times probably seemed like an illusion, it never became a delusion for him. There never came a point in time when he rejected it and said, "Forget it, I'm going back to Ur; this whole God thing is foolish." Although there were probably people who told him that, he waited.

Why? For, in verse 10, he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham went in faith, he waited in faith, and then he watched in faith for a city to come. He wasn't looking for a city in the land of Canaan where he could have high walls surrounding him, where he could build big buildings in his own name and have people come and say, "Wow, look at this man, Abraham." He watched and he waited for a city that has foundations. It's not going to fall apart, whose builder and maker is and was God.

What an example he is to you and me, as well as to the entire book of Hebrews. The entire chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, gives us examples of all these different people who lived by faith, but especially those we look at tonight. That we, like Abel, would be those who worship by faith. Like Enoch, we would be those who walk with the Lord by faith. Like Noah, we would be those who work by faith—not working to save ourselves, but working by faith, following Him.

Then, like Abraham, we can be those who go where the Lord tells us. We went in faith, we wait upon Him in faith, and we watch in faith for the day when He will call us home. When we, with the other saints, with all the saints of God, will behold, as John did in Revelation chapter 21, future history being spoken of. In Revelation 21, verse 2,

I, John, saw a holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and their hearts, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."

That was the city that Abraham was looking for, that he was watching and waiting for—a city that hath foundations. That is what we are waiting for as well. But until we see that city, as John did that day, we wait. We worship in faith, we walk with the Lord by faith, we work for him by faith, and we look to him by faith. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to follow this God by faith.

Sure, there are times when it seems difficult and painful. People look at you and say you're a fool, like they did to Noah. They think you're nuts when you, like Enoch, talk to thin air. "Who are you talking to? You pray? You actually think that God hears you?"

I remember a friend of mine who was in the military. He was told that after he got out of the military, he had to see a psychiatrist. He is a believer, and while sitting there speaking with this psychiatrist, she was just kind of listening to what he had to say. He was telling her how he loves the Lord, talks with the Lord, and prays to the Lord. She just looked at him and said, "Uh-huh." Then she looked down at her piece of paper and began to write, probably thinking, "Yep, sure enough, this guy's lost it."

They think we're nuts because we follow by faith. They don't understand, but by faith, we understand. We understand and we know him. One day, we will see him. We watch and we wait for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

There's a beautiful progression here in chapter 11 of Hebrews, and we're not going to go any further. I think that these four people we've looked at tonight are enough as we see them worshiping, walking, working, going, waiting, and watching. Blessed is that servant whom his master finds watching when he comes, Jesus said.

What a great opportunity God has given us to worship Him tonight as we partake of communion. We do this by faith, remembering what He did for us on the cross: His work, His death, His burial, and His resurrection. This work is superior to all the other sacrifices we've looked at in Hebrews, and it is enough. As Jesus would say on the cross, "It is finished." He has made it possible for us to come before Him, but those who come after Him must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

They must have this kind of faith laid out for us in Hebrews chapter 11—a faith that is ready to go when God calls them, a faith that waits when God doesn't seem to speak, and a faith that watches when everything else seems to be failing. We live by faith. The just shall live by faith. Habakkuk was told in Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 4, and Paul repeats it in Romans 1, verse 17, Galatians chapter 3, verse 11, and also here in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. It's the only way to live; it's by faith.

Sometimes it's not easy, and as I mentioned, it can be painful. But there's coming a day when He will wipe away all tears, and there will be no more sorrow, no more crying, and no more pain. All the former things will pass away. But until that day, the just shall live by faith. It's the only way. What a blessing it is! I've seen in my life, as I've followed the Lord over the last several years, how I came to know the Lord.

When I was young, my parents raised me in the church, and I thank the Lord for that. I have had the opportunity to witness other people walk by faith, and I have seen it work in their lives. Over the last five years, I have had a chance to see the Lord work in my life in that way—just trusting Him, simply trusting Him and saying, "Lord, You have a plan," although I may not completely understand it.

When I was getting ready to graduate from high school almost six years ago, I remember not completely knowing what I was going to do, but I knew I wanted to go to Bible college. However, I had no money. By faith, I said, "Well, I want to go to Bible college," and I sent in the application. I got accepted there; it's not really hard to get accepted. Then I came here and participated in the summer internship program right after I graduated from high school.

I remember my dad talking to me. I remember where we were; it was like it was yesterday. We were walking away from the air show down at Miramar back to the car, and it must have been late July. I didn't have any money to go to college, and he said, "Miles, you didn't get a job this summer. I mean, it's great that you served at the church, but you don't have any money, and we don't really have any money to send you to Bible college." I just said, "Well, I believe that God is going to provide the money." He didn't completely understand that at that point in time, and he just kind of said, "Okay."

It was only a couple of days before I left for Bible college that Richard called me one night and told me that someone had given a thousand dollars for me to go to the school. It was just, "Lord, You provide; by faith, You provide."

Another time, I remember when I had come back down here to the church to intern. I had this beater car—a lovely little car, a Toyota Starlet. If you've never heard of a Starlet, there's a reason for that; I think Toyota would like to forget the Starlet. One day, I was in the Vons parking lot, leaving, when I heard this horrendous sound from my car. Then I heard a thump on the ground, and my car wouldn't go anymore. I looked underneath my vehicle.

The drive shaft had broken, so I pushed it into a parking space. Richard and I went back up there and took it to the 76 station. They said it would cost roughly a hundred dollars to fix it. I was thinking, I don't have any money at all. Richard just said, "Oh, the Lord will provide."

We came back down to the church, and as we walked into the office, Lisa said, "Hey Miles, a check just came in for a hundred dollars for you." God will provide; He has promised to do so. As we worship Him, as we walk with Him, and as we serve Him, we are working for Him. As we go in faith and do what He has called us to do, we wait upon Him and watch in faith. He does it amazingly; it's just awesome to see Him do it.

We are at a point with our church right now where we have the opportunity to watch and wait and see what God will do. There are a lot of things going on within the church, and people wonder, "What's going to happen?" But God is in control; He has a plan, and we can trust Him. Although other people in the world may look at you and say, "Well, you're kind of foolish for doing that," we can sit back and say, "Well, I'm a fool for Christ; whose fool are you?" I may be foolish, but I know who is in control. When He calls, we go and do what He calls us to do, and we serve Him.

I received a call a few months ago about an opportunity to serve the Lord, and I've been praying about it for the last few months. The Lord has revealed that this is what He wants me to do. So in August of this year, I'm going to take some time off from the church and move to Germany for the last four months of the year to teach at a Bible college in Siegen, Germany. I don't know quite what the Lord has planned; I just know that He said, "Hey, I want you to come over here and do this."

By faith, I'm going to step out and say, "Alright, Lord, that's what You want me to do." There's a part of me that's kind of like, "Whoa, what are you thinking?" But by faith, I'm going to follow Him and trust Him. I trust and know that the Lord has a good plan and that He will continue to do great things here. I can hardly wait, after I go to Germany, to come back and see all that the Lord is going to do. We live and walk by faith, trusting in Him.

That He'll provide everything we need for every step that we take. We can know certainly we have this hope, absolute expectation, that He will come through, for that's what He's promised to do.

So I'm going to be, and we're going to have the worship team come back up at this time. We're going to spend the remainder of our service this evening worshiping the Lord by faith and partaking of communion, remembering what He did for us. We can come before Him in faith.

Let's pray. God, I thank You so much for Your Word and for this portion of Scripture laid out before us here in Hebrews 11. You have given us great testimonies, and You wrote them down for a purpose: that we would be encouraged when things don't seem to be going the way we want them to, or when people are poking fun at us, or when our family hates us, as with Abel. God, we can follow You, the sure foundation of our faith, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Thank You for all that You have done, all that You're going to do, and all that You're doing right now. I thank You, Lord, just personally, for all the things that I've seen You do in my life and how You've always been faithful to provide. When I am faithless, You remain faithful still because You cannot deny Yourself.

But God, I pray that as we continue to go through this book and through this chapter over the next couple of weeks, You would strengthen our faith. For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Lord, strengthen us that we would trust You even more.

As You told that man in the Gospel that day, if you believe, all things are possible to him that believes. He cried out to You and said, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief." God, would You strengthen us in the areas where we're weak in faith, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.