Hebrews 11:1

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 that 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, being dead, he 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 God. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Father, as we stand here this morning, I think it's the desire of many people's hearts here today to diligently seek You. That's why we come here and open Your word. We study it, we read it together, we think on these things, we observe and interpret it so that we may apply it to our lives. It is our desire, my desire, that we would be those who are seeking and following after You. As the psalmist said, my soul seeks after You, seeks hard after You, and Your right hand upholds us.

We pray, God, that there would be that dual thing going on, Lord, that we are seeking You and You are upholding us in that work. So, God, teach us, speak to us, and grow our faith as we consider the topic of faith here in this passage. I pray that You would strengthen our confidence and our trust in You, and that our confidence and trust in You would be evident by our faithfulness and devotion to You.

So, God, be working in us by the power of Your Spirit, by the working of Your word. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

Before us today is one of the great chapters of the Bible. That's not to say that all the other chapters in the Bible are not great.

It's just that this one stands out among all the others. It's like 1 Corinthians chapter 13, which is often referred to as the love chapter. It's a very well-known and famous passage, or Isaiah 53, that great passage written 700 years before Jesus came to the earth that describes His crucifixion for our salvation, to deal with our sin. Or Psalm 119, the longest of the Psalms, that speaks so beautifully about the Word of God and its importance in our lives.

There are these famous standout passages of Scripture, and Hebrews chapter 11 is one of those passages. It's commonly referred to as the Hall of Faith because here in this passage of Scripture, there are 16 names of 16 men and women who were faithful to God, who had trust in God, faith in God. Not only does it refer directly to those 16 individuals, but there are many others that are given kind of a passing reference to who were men and women of faith. As a result of their faith, their trust, and their confidence in God, they are listed in this chapter. Not only are they listed in this chapter, but they are with the Lord in eternity in heaven. They are given this great reward of being listed here because of their trust in God.

It is this great passage dealing with the important topic of faith. I could honestly spend several weeks going through this chapter. I've kind of wrestled with it over the last few weeks, knowing that we were going to be in this passage. I could take quite a bit of time going into each of the characters, talking about Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Barak, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, and discuss every single one of the individuals and the stories of their lives, the stories of their faith.

There's a part of me, kind of the Bible college teacher side of me, that would love to do that. However, the problem with doing that is that sometimes when we get stuck in a passage of Scripture, we can fail to realize the main point of the passage. Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that deep Bible study is not important. I think that deep Bible study is very, very important, and I believe that every Christian, every faithful Christian, should be one who is seeking to study God's Word, especially on their own throughout the week.

You cannot only rely upon the teaching of a pastor or a preacher to take you through the Scriptures. We need to be those who are faithful students of the Scriptures. I would echo Paul's exhortation to Timothy in the last book that Paul wrote, Second Timothy, chapter two, verse 15. He said to Timothy there, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who is not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." That would be my exhortation as your pastor: you should be diligent as a faithful worker of God who is rightly dividing the word of truth and studying through the Scriptures on your own.

However, I do fear that sometimes when we gather together in a setting like this and study through the Scriptures, we can get fixated on every little particular syntax of the sentence and miss, if you will, the forest for the trees. We can overlook the main point of what is being said. This is why, over the last several years, I've endeavored to give more of the sense of a passage than the specific syntax of every little thing happening in a sentence. That's why we sometimes move a little bit more quickly.

All this to say, we are not going to spend five weeks in Hebrews chapter 11. I will endeavor today, in the 41 minutes and 19 seconds that I now have, to get through the entire 40 verses of Hebrews chapter 11. You will notice, if you look at your sermon guide, that there are 11 points listed, which is way beyond my own rule. It's like twice my rule plus one. I try not to have more than five points in these things, but we are going to consider 11 things about faith from Hebrews chapter 11.

Before we get into it, we need to understand the context of why this is even in this passage of Scripture. The context is given if we step back a few verses to Hebrews chapter 10 and look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 35. This will be familiar to you if you were here with us last week: "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition or waste, but we are of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

Now, after reading those words in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 35 through 39, it might seem like a perfect point to make the step right into Hebrews chapter 12 and the exhortation that the author of this letter gives in Hebrews chapter 12, verse one. You can skip down to Hebrews 12:1; it's just one page over to the right, and you'll see the exhortation there in the middle of verse one, where the author says, "Let us lay aside every weight and sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us."

That would seem like a logical progression from Hebrews chapter 10, verses 35 through 39. However, in Hebrews chapter 10, he told us that we have need of endurance so that after we have done the will of God, we may receive the promise. Then, Hebrews chapter 12, verse one says, "Let us run this race with endurance. Let us lay aside every weight and sin that does so easily entangle us, and let's run this race set before us with endurance." It would seem like a perfect transition to go from Hebrews chapter 10, verse 39 to Hebrews chapter 12, verse one.

But instead, the author takes a detour and spends 40 verses talking about these men and women of faith in the Hall of Faith in this passage. Why does he do that? Well, again, notice the last words in verses 38 and 39 of Hebrews chapter 10. He says, "Now the just shall live by faith." That is our life as Christians here and now; the just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back, God says, "My soul has no pleasure in him."

The author continues, "But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe, who have faith to the saving of the soul." What the author of the book of Hebrews is going to do here in Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1 through 40, is talk about men and women who had every opportunity to draw back, to give up, to throw in the towel, to quit in this whole thing called the walk of faith and following God by faith. They had every opportunity to give up, and yet they remained faithful in the face of difficult circumstances, persecution, and all kinds of opposition.

They had every reason in this life, in the day-to-day realities of life, to just throw in the towel and give up. And yet, they persisted in faith. Now, again, it's important to remember the context of why this letter was written in the first place.

Timothy is writing to Christians who came out of Judaism, and he now references a scripture from the Old Testament. It's in the book of Habakkuk, chapter two. This is a small book, containing four chapters, and is classified as a minor prophet. Habakkuk chapter two, verse four says, "The just shall live by faith," and it is quoted three times in the New Testament: once in Romans, once in Galatians, and once here in Hebrews chapter 10. The phrase means that those who are righteous are righteous by faith.

The original audience of this letter, Christians who came out of Judaism, knew nothing of righteousness by faith. They lived a life that exemplified righteousness by works, specifically the works of individuals before priests, offering sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. That was their day-to-day life: seeking to be righteous with God by going to the temple, appearing before a priest, and confessing their sins over an animal that would be sacrificed for their sins. This was done to deal with their unrighteousness and to make them right with a holy God. That is religion, and that is what they had come out of—this day-to-day religious experience.

The world is full of religion. Almost every person you meet is religious. Even those who profess to be non-religious are still religiously devoted to their non-religion. In my experience, and having met a number of people over the years, perhaps you have as well, there are those who say, "I'm not very religious," yet they are very devoted to their non-religion. Their religion can be fitness, and they worship at the church called CrossFit.

Their religion, which some might consider a cult, can also be a devotion to nature and Mother Earth, with their religious expression found in hiking. Wherever it may be, whatever it is, people are religiously devoted to whatever they choose to follow. We are religious because it has so much to do with the hardwiring of how God made us. Whether you believe in God or not, God created every single person. The Bible makes this very clear, and we know this experientially as well as theologically. God created us with a conscience.

The Bible says that it excuses or accuses us. It tells us that the behavior we are engaging in is right or wrong. Our actions, words, and thoughts are often at odds with the conscience that God gave us. As a result, we are convicted by our conscience.

There are some people who, fearfully, seem to lack a conscience. This occurs because they have seared their conscience; they have gone against it so often that it has become callous. When a person reaches that point, they are generally considered a sociopath. It is not a good place to be. However, God has hardwired us with a conscience, and we convict ourselves through our thoughts, words, and deeds. Therefore, we feel guilty and ashamed because we have gone against our conscience.

To soothe our conscience and deal with the guilt and shame, we often turn to religion. It makes us feel better. Engaging in some sort of religious practice gives us the impression that we are living up to our potential and fulfilling our purpose. This is why religion is so prevalent; everywhere we turn, there is religion.

The author of the book of Hebrews references a wonderful statement from Habakkuk: "The just shall live by faith." Righteousness, or having a right standing with God, is not based on our actions, deeds, or works, but rather on faith in God and His finished work. We can have a right standing before a holy God based on faith.

If all you have ever known is a life before God based on your good works or sacrifices to atone for your bad works, the concept of righteousness by faith is liberating and freeing. It brings rest. This is the kind of rest that the author of Hebrews spoke about in chapters three and four, where we are encouraged to strive to enter into this rest—the joy of having perfect righteousness before a righteous God because of our trust in Him, His sacrifice, His finished work, and His grace given to us.

This is a glorious and freeing prospect, but it raises a few questions. What exactly is faith? Even in a culture where there is a growing sense of irreligiousness, we must explore this concept further.

Still, this understanding of the concept of the importance of faith raises several questions. What is faith? Why is faith important? For the Jewish reader of this text 2,000 years ago, they might object and ask, how come we don't see this under the Old Covenant? How come we don't see this in Genesis through Malachi, this idea of righteousness by faith?

To answer the third question first, Hebrews chapter 11 shows that this was and is present in the first covenant. The author lists 16 individuals by name and alludes to many others who lived under the first covenant, demonstrating that they lived before God on the basis of faith. That is why they are included in the hall of faith. The author points back to these individuals and asserts that they lived by faith, and we are also called to live by faith.

But what exactly is faith, and why is it important? Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 begins to answer that first question. It states, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Another translation, the New Living Translation, renders this as, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It gives us assurance about things we cannot see." I love that translation. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It is the steadfast conviction that those things we hope for, such as being with God in eternity, will indeed come to pass.

Point number one on your outline: get ready, buckle your seatbelts. Point number one is that by faith, we have confident hope in the invisible God. It is important to acknowledge that we are living in a culture that is increasingly antagonistic towards those who have a confident hope in the invisible God. More and more in Western culture—specifically in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe—there is a growing antagonism against people who believe and have a confident hope in an invisible God. There is a rising group of individuals who dismiss this belief as absurd or foolish, and they often mock that view. Perhaps you have experienced this mockery from neighbors, coworkers, or friends, and you understand the kind of embarrassment that can accompany such ridicule.

And that's more and more growing. It's going to continue to grow in our culture, and we will see it move forward. In the 21st century, Western culture is increasingly pitting reason against faith, as if they are incompatible and cannot coexist. This is what we are told by thinkers within a group that is antagonistic towards religion, particularly Christianity. They assert that reason and faith are incompatible, claiming, "I believe in reason," while simultaneously robbing from the word "belief" to make that assertion. They hold to reason, believing it to be superior, yet they fail to recognize that it takes faith to believe in the theories of evolution and their origins. In the same way, it takes faith to believe in the biblical explanation that God spoke these things into existence.

Reason and faith are not in opposition; they are not in conflict. We are reminded in the opening words of Hebrews chapter 11 that it takes faith—this confidence in the invisible God—to be pleasing to God and to gain a testimony with Him. Look at verse two: "For by it, by faith, the elders, those of old, obtained a good testimony."

Point number two: by faith, we build an enduring reputation. I think this is a really important point because, again, in the Western culture we live in during the 21st century, there is a growing desire among a large populace for celebrity, recognition, and reputation. Research conducted in the last six months shows that the generation currently in high school, junior high, and just entering college has placed fame and celebrity recognition in the number two or number three spot of their greatest ambitions in life. When asked about their goals, fame or celebrity ranks as a top aspiration. This marks a significant change in American culture over the last 50 years. We now live in a culture where anyone can attempt to build some level of celebrity recognition or reputation merely by having a smartphone.

A lot of times, people establish their recognition and reputation based on their likes, subscribers, and whatever it is in social media. We now have YouTubers and social media celebrities, and there are people who are striving to get into that sphere where they can be the big person at VidCon. You may not have any idea what VidCon is, but it is the convention for all the YouTubers out there. This is a big deal, and people are seeking recognition, reputation, and fame.

Just this last month, a young couple of YouTubers, a boyfriend and girlfriend, faced serious consequences. One of them is now going to serve 10 years to life for murder because they were filming a video where they attempted to stop a bullet with a book. He held a book in front of him, and she shot, resulting in his death. This tragic incident highlights the lengths to which some will go for celebrity in this new culture.

However, when you start to look at it, it's clear that this kind of fame is as temporary as it gets. Likes and subscribers are fleeting, but we are told about an enduring reputation. How does that come about? By faith. We build an enduring reputation, as the men and women mentioned in this passage have. They have an enduring reputation not just because their names are written in the bestselling book of all eternity, but because their names are written in heaven. That is an enduring reputation.

When all of these paper books are gone, because this whole creation has been renewed and remade, and we are with God in eternity, their names will still be written with God in heaven. That is an enduring reputation. If you are going to seek to build a reputation, it is far better to build that enduring reputation than one that is absolutely temporary and lasts only as long as the next picture you post on Instagram.

He goes on in verse three, stating, "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, we understand mysteries. Of course, I just spoke a moment ago about those in our culture who try to pit reason against faith, as if these two are incompatible.

Most of those who say they believe in reason over faith are essentially identifying as atheistic or agnostic. They do not believe in God or are uncertain about His existence, yet they accept evolutionary theory as the explanation for how everything came from nothing to what we see today. Within the realm of science and evolutionary theory, it is widely accepted that the universe, everything we observe, had an immediate origin—a birth at some point in the past. Generally, they refer to this event as occurring around 15 billion years ago.

Everything we see came into sudden existence. Physicists have been telling us this for some time, and many within the scientific community now agree that everything came into existence at a specific point in time, which they call the Big Bang. It is important to understand that this narrative about origins requires faith to believe. Although there are some very old individuals in the world, no one is 15 billion years old, and we do not have a way to travel back in time to verify this claim. We cannot go 88 miles per hour in a DeLorean to witness what happened. Therefore, we take it on faith.

This faith may seem reasonable to those who prioritize reason, but it requires the same level of faith to accept the scientific narrative of origins as it does to believe in the biblical explanation. According to the Bible, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. The Spirit of God hovered, and God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Ex nihilo, out of nothing came something. Where did it come from? The biblical explanation is that God spoke it into existence.

In contrast, the non-biblical explanation posits that at some point, 15 billion years ago, everything that was not there before suddenly came into existence after the Big Bang. Over the last 15 billion years, through random chance, mutation, and the evolutionary process, everything transitioned from chaos to order, which contradicts the second law of thermodynamics and other scientific laws. It takes faith to believe that as well. By faith, we understand mysteries, including the mystery of origins. Christians comprehend this through faith, and here’s the awesome thing.

Christians understand not only the mystery of origins by faith, but they also understand the mystery of identity, the mystery of purpose, the mystery of destiny, and the mystery of morality. All of these aspects are questions that scientific evolutionary theory cannot answer. What do I mean? The Christian faith understands the mystery of the origin of the universe as God creating it, and therefore understands that God created it for a purpose.

If you ask evolutionists why we are here, they say, "I don't know." They admit they do not know what the purpose is. If you ask them where we go after this life, they respond, "I don't know. You just die and go into the ground." The mystery of destiny is understood by faith after death. God, who created us for a purpose, has an eternal purpose.

The issue of morality is another significant question. What is right? What is wrong? Evolutionists cannot answer the question of what is right and what is wrong. We see the chaos of not knowing what is right and wrong in 21st-century Western culture, don't we? We witness the chaos every single day around us.

However, the Christian, by faith, understands these mysteries: the mystery of morality, the mystery of identity—who am I? What is my purpose? What is my destiny? Evolutionary faith has insufficient answers for those mysteries, but the Christian faith provides good answers.

The author continues in Hebrews 11, stating, "By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." Who is Cain? Who is Abel? Well, you need to do some study on your own and read Genesis to learn about Cain and Abel. You can find the story in Genesis chapter four. It says that by faith, Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than his brother Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous.

Now, understand what the author is saying here. Point number four: by faith, we obtain righteousness. You see, if you read Genesis four, the story of Abel, you might wrongly conclude that Abel became right before God by his sacrifice. That's not what happened. Abel's sacrifice showed that he was righteous, and he was righteous how? By faith, we obtain righteousness.

Not only Abel, but we will see it again in verse seven, where we talk about Noah. It says this in Hebrews 11:7: "By faith, Noah became heir of the righteousness, which is according..."

To faith. Even under the old covenant, the Old Testament, men and women are made right with a holy God, not on the basis of their works or their obedience, but on the basis of their trust in God for salvation. All the way back in Genesis, thousands of years ago, by faith, we obtain righteousness. We do not obtain righteousness by our works, but by our trust in the living God.

He continues in verse five of Hebrews 11: "By faith, Enoch." Who's Enoch? Well, go read Genesis chapter five, and you'll learn about Enoch. By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him. Now that's far out! What in the world is going on here? The explanation generally given about Enoch is that he was a man of God who lived thousands of years ago, who walked with God and trusted in God. One day, God just said, "All right, I'm going to take you to heaven," and boom, he didn't die; he just was gone. What is that? I guess it's like a rapture. I don't know; it's just that God did it. He was not found because God took him. But before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God.

Point number five: by faith, we please God. By faith, we please God. Now, I'm assuming that you came to church today because it's a desire of your life to be pleasing to God. That's one of my desires in life: to be pleasing to God. I want to fulfill the purpose for which He made me and be pleasing to Him.

Well, how can I be pleasing to God? Look at verse six: "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he who comes to God must believe." Underline those words: "must believe." What must he believe? This is the lowest level of faith. He must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The lowest level of faith that is pleasing to God is that God exists and that He is gracious. That's what we see in those words: God exists, and He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He's gracious.

The lowest level of faith. Many today are seeking, by their religious observance and by their keeping of rites and rituals, to be pleasing to God.

But if you do not have trust in God, there is no pleasing God. You must believe in His existence and His grace. One of the first people to receive grace, in fact, the first person to receive grace as we see it written in the scriptural story, is found in Genesis chapter six. It is the story of a man named Noah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Look at verse seven of Hebrews chapter 11. By faith, Noah, the first recipient of grace, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, was warned by the invisible God of a coming global flood that had never happened before. Some people think that rain had never happened before. So God comes to him and says, "Listen, Noah, it's going to rain," which to him is like saying, "Noah, it's going to snarflat." What's snarflat? I don't know. And then there's going to be a flood. What's that? Well, you just have to take it on faith. So I want you to build a boat. What's a boat? Well, here, I'm going to tell you how to build it. You build a boat. It took him 100 years to build the boat, and he did this every single day.

Do you think some people that lived around Noah were like, "What the heck are you doing? You're building a what? Because it's going to what?" Yeah, it's going to rain because I'm building a boat because a big rain and a big flood are coming. "You're an idiot," that's what they said. He prepared an ark. Why? By faith, he prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became the heir of righteousness, which is according to faith.

Going on, we see another man, Abraham. His story is mentioned in Genesis chapter 11, beginning at the end of the chapter and continuing all the way through the book of Genesis. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going.

What do we see as the similarity between these two men, Noah and Abraham? Well, Noah did something that, in spite of all other indicators, seemed foolish. There was going to come this thing that had never happened before: rain and a flood. He decided to build a boat to save himself and his family from the flood. He chose to do what the invisible God was telling him to do, even though it seemed kind of crazy.

Abraham, on the other hand, followed God in spite of not knowing where he was going. By faith, he dwelt in the land of promise as a foreigner in a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise. He waited for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Noah and Abraham teach us point number six: by faith, we obey and work righteousness.

Obedience and good works are the product of saving faith. Religion causes us to think that salvation is produced by obedience and good works. If you obey God, do good works, and you might get salvation. However, the Bible teaches us that obedience and good works are the response of saving faith. They are produced by faith towards God that brings salvation, stirring in us the response of good works and obedience out of gratitude. That's what the Bible teaches.

Religion teaches that you have to do this and do that, and avoid certain things, and then you might receive salvation. But there is never any real confidence in that approach because you don't know if you did enough or if you avoided the things you weren't supposed to do. In Christ, we have absolute certainty because of His finished work.

In Hebrews 11:11, it states that by faith, Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age because she judged God faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as the sand which is on the seashore.

Point number seven: by faith, we are strengthened to do the impossible. The first book of the Bible tells the story about Abraham and his wife, Sarah. God spoke a promise to Abraham that he would have descendants as many as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. God spoke this to him when he was 75 years old and his wife was 65, and they had no children because she was barren.

Another 15 years went by as God continued to speak this promise, but nothing happened. Abraham began to wonder what was going on and thought maybe he needed to help God out. This led to a total mess. Don't try to help God out.

So, another 10 years passed, making it 25 years in total. Abraham was now 100 years old, and his wife was 90. God came back and said, "Listen, your wife, Sarah, the 90-year-old who is barren and has never had children, is going to have a child." When she heard this, she laughed because it seemed incredible. Yet, at 90 years old, she conceived and had a child. Can you imagine having a child at 90? Good God! Gracious God! By faith, we are strengthened to do the impossible.

God made good on His promise in spite of the apparent impossibility. He continues in verse 13 of Hebrews 11: "These all died in faith." We'll read a big section here. These all died in faith, having not received the promises. That's pretty heavy. They looked forward to the promise of God and followed Him by faith their entire lives. They died without receiving, in this life, the fulfillment of that promise. It would seem like that was worthless, but He goes on. They were assured of them, having seen them afar off, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. He said, "This isn't our home." The promises of a better home and a better place are not here. So, we are going to follow God by faith for that promise. We may never receive it in this life, but we will keep following Him.

For those who say such things, they declare plainly that they seek a homeland. They are looking for the fulfillment of this promise. Truly, if they had called to mind the country from which they had come out, they would have had the opportunity to return. If their focus was here, they would have every reason to give up, throw in the towel, and quit. But remember the end of chapter 10, which says, "But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

Now, the author gives us the story of these men and women of faith who continued to persist in faith against all odds, trusting in the invisible God for the invisible promise that would never come in this life. If they were totally focused on this life, they would have just said, "Oh, forget it. I give up," and fallen away. This is the concern of the author of this book for his readers—that they would give up and fall away. But these ones persisted.

Why? Verse 16 tells us: "But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country." Therefore, this is awesome: God is not ashamed to be called their God. This implies there are some who say, "I know God," but God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them.

By faith, Abraham, in verse 17, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. The story is told in Genesis 22; you can read it later. He who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it is said, "In Isaac, so shall your seed be called," concluding that God is able to raise him up from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Abraham was willing, when tested by God in Genesis 22, to sacrifice his only begotten son. Although God told him in the end not to do it, he knew this God. If Isaac died, he believed God would raise him from the dead. He had faith in the resurrection.

Isaac blessed his sons, Jacob and Esau, concerning things to come by faith. Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning upon his staff by faith. Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his remains, his bones, by faith.

Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's command by faith. When Moses became of age, he 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. He esteemed the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked for the reward by faith. He forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. He was looking towards the invisible God by faith.

He kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them by faith. The entire nation, the children of Israel, passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned by faith. The story of the walls of Jericho is told in Joshua chapters six and seven. The walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days by faith. The harlot Rahab, mentioned in Joshua seven, did not perish with those who did not believe when she received the spies with peace.

What more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and also David, Samuel, and all the prophets who, through faith, subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, and escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness, they were made strong, became valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of foreigners. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.

They wandered in deserts, in mountains, in dens, and in the caves of the earth. Considering the lives and stories of these named and unnamed individuals—names like Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Brock, Samson, Jephthah, Samuel, and David—it's clear that their journeys were significant.

By faith, we endure the suffering of affliction and reproach. It is by faith that we walk through these trials. The men and women of faith in times past found that the walk of faith was not easy, and it is not going to be easy now. We have lived for most of our time in a nation that has been predominantly Christian, with a Christian view of the world. Therefore, there has not been huge opposition to men and women of faith. However, that is slowly changing, and perhaps it will pick up speed. History shows that those who have followed the invisible God by faith, in spite of all the odds, have often been mocked, beaten, tortured, tormented, and even put to death. Some have been sawn in half or thrown to lions. All kinds of insane things have happened to them, but they have endured those things.

Why? They looked for the promise of the invisible God. Their focus was not on this world; by faith, they looked at the unseen instead of living by sight. We live in a culture that constantly tells us that all there is, is sight. We are encouraged to live by sight—what we can see and what we can tangibly touch. But there is more to it than that; there is more than meets the eye, and it extends beyond this life.

They endured suffering, affliction, reproach, trials, mockings, beatings, imprisonment, torment, and death. Perhaps you are reaching a point where you have endured a little bit of mocking because you believe in the invisible God. People might say, "Come on, really? You go where on Sunday mornings? Give me a break. You give what? You give your what? You give money? You take vacation time to do what? Vacation Bible school? What is that?"

Are you a fool?

Point number nine: by faith, we see miracles. What sort of miracles? Well, we are told of the children of Israel who crossed over on dry ground; that is, they crossed the Red Sea. Later on, they crossed the Jordan River. We hear stories and read about those who stopped the mouths of lions. I think of Daniel and the lion's den. If you don't know that story, you should probably teach children's ministry. You'll get there.

We read of those who were raised from the dead and those who subdued entire kingdoms. Consider the 150,000 Midianites coming against the children of Israel, while Gideon, a man of God, stood there with just 300 individuals. But the greatest miracle of all is the resurrection.

In verse 39 of Hebrews 11, we read, "All of these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise." What? Read that again: "All of these having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise." The promise is not here, but we are clued into point number 10: by faith, we become good witnesses. They obtained a good testimony with God and with man.

We live in a culture where many people want their names to be known. However, there is only one person you want your name known by: God. If no one else knows who you are and you die in obscurity, but God knows your name, you win. If you have one person on the like list and it's Jesus, that's awesome. That's a thumbs up. If He's not on there, well, they don't have that on Facebook as far as I know, but it's not good if He's not on there.

By faith, we become good witnesses. In verse 40, we see that God has provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. They are going to receive the promise just as we who believe in God will also receive the promise.

Point number 11: by faith, we receive the promised inheritance of eternity. By faith, we receive the promised inheritance of eternity.

Therefore, chapter 12, verse one states that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Who are these witnesses? They are those who lived by faith faithfully until the end. Therefore, let us lay aside every weight and every sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher, or perfecter, of our faith. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Having considered those of old who walked by faith, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us and lay aside anything that might trip us up. Because Jesus is at the other end of the finish line, we are looking unto Him. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Dear God, thank you for your grace. Thank you for your word, which is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. God, strengthen us in our resolve to trust you and to follow faithfully after you. The Psalmist said, "My soul follows hard after You, and Your right hand upholds me."

There it is again: the responsibility of man and the sovereign grace of God. As our soul follows hard after You by faith, would You uphold us and strengthen our faith this week? In spite of opposition, in spite of mockery, and in spite of any other thing that might come against our resolve of faith, strengthen our faith, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.