The Function of Faith

Introduction

In my own heart, I have been learning more and more how to walk by faith. I want my faith to be deepened because I don’t want to wait until heaven to be in fellowship and to walk with my God. I have a firm conviction that I can walk intimately with God even now on earth, and I want you to have that firm conviction in your life.

Theme: Faith in the Key to victorious living.

Faith is the theme of chapter 11, and it points us to those that have gone before us and have walked in faith.

What is faith?

To be simple, faith means to trust. Now, we cannot just have faith in anything for it to be meaningful. Placing your faith in the wrong things is deadly, but placing your faith in the Lord is to have victory.

In Hebrews 11, what we see is a description of faith. We see it’s function in our lives.

Read Hebrews 11:1-3:

Faith functions as substance during seasons of doubt; as evidence (conviction) during seasons of darkness; and a testimony during seasons of disappointment.

A. Substance in Seasons of Doubt

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for”

The word substance means “foundation” or “support”.

That is, when God makes a promise in His word, we are to have faith in that promise and it will be our foundation and support when we experience seasons of doubt.

When we find ourselves wondering if everything is going to turn out ok, when we find ourselves hoping that God has a plan, we can always go back to His word, read what He has said, and set our hope on His word.

His word serves as our substance (foundation) in seasons of doubt.

B. Evidence in Seasons of Darkness

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Evidence means “conviction” or “proof.”

Someone can talk to you and make you feel one way or another, but a person cannot so easily talk you out your sincere convictions.

Life is a journey that is shrouded in darkness unless we are following the light. When we have the Light of Life, the Lord Jesus, He illuminates our path.

Psalm 119:105 NKJV

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

That doesn’t mean it shows us every jot and tittle of what we are going to live through, but what it does is allows us to make sense of the world and to stay on the path that God has set before us without tripping up or giving up. His light is a light that shines in the darkness.

C. Testimony During Seasons of Disappointment

Hebrews 11:2 “For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”

Past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior.

What we can do through His word is we can look down the corridors of history and see God’s great love and His great truth played out through the ages.

And when we read of these great triumphs listed here in Hebrews 11, it tells us that if God was faithful to them, that He is also going to be faithful to us. That if they were able to walk in faith and claim the promises of God, then so can we.

And in your own life, it shows others that there is a God worth living for. That during the darkest night of the soul there is a Counselor that walks with us. We, as God’s people, are not always to walk in happiness, but we are to walk in confidence, knowing that our God is completing His work in us.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

This chapter is all about faith. These first three verses are the function of faith, and then in Hebrews 11:6 we see the application of faith in our life.

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

I. By Faith We Please Him

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

A. Abel’s Worship Pleased God

Hebrews 11:4 “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 he being dead still speaks.”

Don’t you want your worship to be pleasing to God?

Worship is living life God’s way. And worship, like all of these things we are discussing tonight, must be done in faith.

1. Worship is not Emotionalism

Worship can be filled with emotion, but it is not emotionalism. Truly worshipping God is not rooted in emotion, it is rooted in truth and in sober-mindedness. When we base our worship on how we feel, then we could not consistently worship God. Instead, worshipping God is grounded and truth and often comes out in emotion expressed to Him.

So many men don’t sing the songs during the praise portion because they operate emotionally, and they believe that the praise portion is the emotional part, and that the preaching is the logical part. The truth is that when we truly understand God’s word, we are able to express ourselves in praise in a way that is honoring to Him. We can sing to Him in faith, knowing that He is taking delight in our praise to Him.

Other people reduce the worship to the praise portion. But worship isn’t just about singing. When Abel offered his sacrifice, there isn’t any mention of singing. But one thing still remains, that Abel was worshipping God in faith by his actions.

In his heart, Abel took the best he had to offer, and he lay it on the altar of God, and there he worshipped God in faith.

2. Worship is not Legalism

I want to remind you that Christianity is not an intellectual pursuit and it is not a performative art, but it is a matter of the heart.

Worship is more than just performing the right rituals, because the Bible says that anything done without faith is sinful. Therefore, mere action isn’t enough to please God.

Think of Cain, Cain was religious, but he wasn’t righteous. He performed the ceremony, but he didn’t have faith. He was doing everything that he was supposed to do, but he wasn’t doing anything the way he was supposed to do it.

John 4:24 NKJV

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

God says we will worship Him in truth. We like to say things like, “It doesn’t really matter how it’s done, the only thing that matters is if you do it with the right intentions.” A man who physically abuses his child with the intent to make him a well-behaved member of society doesn’t justify that child’s black eye. It’s not always about intention…we have to do things sensibly and according to the truth.

God also says we will worship Him in spirit. This means that we will worship Him with more than just our mind, but that we will worship Him with our very person.

Whenever Abel sacrificed that firstborn of his flock, he did it with a humble heart of adoration. When Cain sacrificed the fruit of the field, he did it in pride, in arrogance, and in an expectation of recognition.

When we employ the right method, and have the right motivation, we will always measure up. God is not interested in your perfection, He knows that you cannot be perfect. God is not interested in what you can give to Him, He has it all. God is primarily interested in how and why you love Him.

3. Worship is not Sensationalism

Sensationalism is defined as the use of shocking or exciting subjects, language, or style in order to interest the public. I hear people say, “Wow! Now that was worship!” And what they are doing is they are confusing worship with a sensational performance. Sensationalism is a method of appealing to your senses.

Does this mean that worship has to be boring? No! But the excitement needs to come from our reverence for a holy and loving God, not from what they eye can see.

4. Worship is Obeying God in Faith

Because when you aren’t feeling well emotionally, you can still obey knowing that God has commanded you.

When you know that you aren’t measuring up legalistically, you can still obey knowing that God loves you and has redeemed you.

When things don’t excite you, you can still obey knowing that your labor isn’t in vain.

By faith, Abel offered his sacrifice. It was not a sacrifice grounded in emotion, in legalism, or in sensationalism…it was a sacrifice rooted and grounded in truth, in adoration, and in reverence.

B. Enoch’s Walk Pleased God

Here’s the thing about faith. True faith is found in how we walk.

To “walk” means to be in “agreement” with. The Bible says that Enoch was so close to God in His walk that God took him before he ever died.

Hebrews 11:5 NKJV

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.

In the book of Genesis, the Bible says that Enoch walked with God for 300 years!

1. Enoch Had the Desire to Please Him

The Bible says that in the generation that Enoch lived, “every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was evil” and that men “walked in the vile lusts of their hearts.”

Now, Enoch was a man like any other man, and he was captured by sin like all of these others, yet Enoch’s desire was to please God. How is that possible?

It was possible for Enoch through faith. By faith, Enoch was able to overcome a “debased mind.” Instead of having a mind set on sin, the inner workings of faith in God’s filled Enoch’s life, and he begin to desire Godliness more than sin.

2. Enoch Had the Diligence to Seek Him

I can hear the conversation. Generations have gone by, and little Enoch asks Adam, “PawPaw, what was it like to live in the garden?”

Adam begin to cry, and he says, “Enoch, how I wish I could tell you what it was like. How I wish that I could tell you how wonderful it was to walk with God. Enoch, son, if you will pray to our Father, if you will meditate on His word, if you will worship Him in spirit and in truth, and if you will be disciplined to stay away from sin, you can find out what it’s like to walk with God.”

And so Enoch did, and in faith, day by day, Enoch walked in purity of heart, he walked in holy reverence before God, and for 300 years Enoch had fellowship with God, and God took him. And he did it all based on the word of testimony given by his grandfather Adam.

It is by faith that we please Him. Not with emotionalism, not with legalism, not with sensationalism. But faith. And when we desire to walk in faith and when we are diligent to walk in faith, then we have fellowship with God.

II. By Faith We Believe That He Is

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is.”

Since the basic definition of faith is trust, if we do not believe that God is Who He says He is and can do what He says He can do, then we don’t have true faith.

Through Noah and Abraham, we see true faith.

A. Noah Worked, Believing that He is.

Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

God comes to Noah and says, “Noah, I am God, and I am going to flood the earth.”

God then says to Noah. “Preach my word, and build an ark for the salvation of man.”

And the Bible says that in faith, moved with Godly fear, that Noah worked for 120 years to build that Ark.

Noah teaches us that faith involved the whole person.

1. His Mind was Warned

The Bible says that faith comes from hearing God’s word. Well, when Noah heard the word of God, his mind began to be transformed.

Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Noah faced an evil generation, and yet, because of God’s word, he was not concerned with the things of this life, but his mind began to operate in faith, and he heeded the warnings of God.

2. His Heart was Moved

Because of Noah’s faith, he was able to see things that were unseen. He took the Word of God, he hid it in his heart, and it went from a simple idea to deep conviction.

A conviction is far deeper than a feeling. A conviction is truth applied. When God told Noah that, on His word, He would flood the earth, that truth was applied to Noah’s heart, and it was something that couldn’t be removed. It was a conviction.

3. His Spirit was Strengthened

It took a resolve to build the ark in the face of persecution and ridicule. But there he was, in faith, worshipping God with his entire person. Once God gave him a task to do, he didn’t get side tracked with the affairs of life. He didn’t get overwhelmed with the heat of the day, but for 120 years he preached and he built that ark, as God strengthened him

Noah did all this by faith.

B. Abraham Went Out, Believing that He Is

Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

God tells Abraham, “I am going to give you an inheritance” and so Abraham went out in faith before he ever saw the promise, simply trusting in God’s Word.

God has told us that He has prepared a place for us, and if we will just walk through this life knowing that He has, we will be able to withstand all kinds of trial and tribulation, because we are walking knowing that He is.

III. By Faith We Are Rewarded

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

A. Abraham Waited for His Reward

Hebrews 11:10 “for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

For all of his life, I can imagine that Abraham waited for that inherited land just like he waited for his son. And yet, he never got to the Promised Land. Instead, Abraham was brought to a far better place.

There he lay, and with his dying breath, Abraham finally knew what God meant when He said to Him, “I am your shield and exceedingly great reward.” Up until that point, Abraham was obeying in faith, seeing what cannot be seen with the human eye.

But in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, Abraham saw exactly what his reward was.

Hebrews 11:16 “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”

John 14:2 NKJV

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Revelation 21:2 NKJV

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

With the same eye of faith that Abraham had, we can see heaven. We can walk in patience knowing that we will receive our reward just as Abraham recieved His

B. Sarah Wanted no More When She Received Her Reward

Hebrews 11:11 “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

In Genesis 16, we see Sarah’s desperation, we see her wanting, we feel her tears, and we empathize with her doubt…but when she stepped foot into the presence of the Living God, she didn’t want anymore.

All of those years of longing, all of those years of waiting, overcome by the joy of the presence of the Lord.

Romans 8:18 NKJV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Revelation 21:1–5 NKJV

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

Conclusion

Without faith it is impossible to please God. The Bible tells us that our faith is deepened when we live according to His word.

Faith is not a ‘maybe’ and faith is not a ‘hope so’. Faith in the Living God is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen, and a witness to those that are coming after us that there is a God in Heaven Who is making all things new.