Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Biblical faith is not like the faith that the world exercises. Those who have placed their faith in the government and the medical officials over the past two years have been on quite the roller coaster ride. We have been told that we need to follow the science. There are a few honest scientists, doctors, and nurses who have shown us that the science does not support the mandates that they have tried to ram down our throats. Sadly, most people do not think very deeply and they have bought everything that the manipulative politicians, medical officials, and media have fed them. They have followed it so closely that as some provinces want to get rid of the mandates (mainly those who are facing elections), these same people are afraid of having to take their face diaper off and act in a more responsible manner.
I am thankful that God has shown me the importance of putting my faith in Him. God is not evil. He does not try to manipulate man. He created all things and He knows how to lead us safely through life. We can trust Him.
Most people hope for a peaceful life. Parents hope their children will behave themselves and that they will not get into too much trouble. Most people hope that when they die, they will be in a nice place. They may not call it heaven, but they want to be at rest. Of course there are some who do not believe in life after death. However, even false religions like Hinduism, believe in life after death. They believe in reincarnation and they are never sure what they will come back as. They might be a rat, or a cow or some other thing.
True Biblical faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is based on that which is real.
Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
We have already seen that God declares that death is a reality. He also declares that the resurrection is real. For those who like Job, trust in the true God, that resurrection will be to our eternal home in heaven! That is not a mythology. That is a fact of God.
God also stated here that faith is the evidence of things not seen. The Bible gives us some description of heaven in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. John the apostle was taken up to heaven in the spirit and God showed him some things about the future. He showed him some of the wrath that will be poured upon this world in the Tribulation He also showed him some of the glory of Heaven. The Bible tells us that Heaven is a place where there is no suffering and no pain. It is the place where Jesus dwells and where all the saints will be with Him for ever! Heaven is the place of great glory and beauty. God designed Heaven to be large enough to provide a permanent home for all of humanity. The sad reality is that most people throughout history have chosen not to go to heaven. They would rather live in their sin now and end up in hell after death. That is not God’s design, but that is the choice that many are making.
In verse 2 we read that the elders gained a good report by faith. The “elders” refers to Old Testament saints like Abel, Noah, Job, David, Daniel and others who trusted in God and thus they had a good report.
The only way anyone can have a good report with God is by trusting in Him.
Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
The apostle Paul was directed by God to write those words. They are true words. We can understand why our P.M. is making such foolish choices right now. We can understand why our Parliament is such a failure. We can understand by Dr. Roussin and others get in front of the cameras and make such bold and absolutely false statements time after time. All of them are in the flesh (they are lost) and they cannot make wise decisions. They are incapable of guiding themselves, never mind an entire nation in the right way.
King David was able to lead Israel in the conquering of the land that God had promised to Abraham because He trusted in God. God directed him in killing Goliath. God directed him in his wars with the Philistines. God directed him in many ways. We can see what happened in David’s life when he tried to do things according to the flesh. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and he then had Urijah murdered. He caused his own sons to commit immorality in public because of his sin. God warned him of that.
God gives us this past history so that we can understand what Paul was writing in Romans 7:18. If a saved person decides to listen to the flesh, they will sin. If the saved person walks in the Spirit he or she will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. He or she will not commit sin while walking in the Spirit. This is different from the lost. The lost cannot do anything good. Even though they may try to copy some of the good that a saved person does, the Bible tells us that the lost person is incapable of doing anything good.
In verse 3 of our text we see that it is through faith that true saints accept the Creation account. Charles Darwin and his father and grandfather rejected the truth. They developed a lie that others before them had also worked on. Charles put those lies in writing and lost people were happy to believe his lies because they did not want to accept the truth. The saddest part of that all is that there were professing Christians who were so weak in the faith that they did not have a true Biblical response to these lies. They adopted a false theology known as “Theistic” evolution. That false theology suggests that God was the “first cause” and that He then allowed things to evolve to where we are today.
True Christians do not need to find some way to accommodate the devil’s lies. True Christians walk by faith and they believe God because He cannot lie. We have been put to the test over the past 2 years and for the most part, we have failed in our response to the lies of the lost. We, those who are saved, have not believed God and we have allowed wicked people to tell us what to do even when they were in direct defiance of the true God. Where we have done that, we need to confess that as sin and then based on God’s forgiveness, we need to take God at His Word and follow Him faithfully and be ready to give an answer to every man of the reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and with fear.
Hebrews 11 shows us how God blessed people who walked by faith, in the past. He shows us this to help us to see that He will bless those today who also choose to walk by faith. We know from God’s Word that is the way of blessing. Let us choose to walk by faith today and observe how God will bless His Word in our time.
Pastor Bartel
