The Just shall live by Faith

Hebrews 10:32–39 (NKJV)

32 But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings:

33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated;

34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.

38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

What it means to live by faith or the statement the Just shall live by faith.

In the eyes of God, those who will be deemed as just are those who live their life by faith.

Living by faith, is much deeper than just believing.

Three elements of what it means to live by faith is revealed to us in this passages.

COnfidence:- Confidence in the word of God, in what God has promised , this confidence is purely based on faith and not something tangiable. We will look on this a little further late.

Endurance: This confidence in the promise of God must be accompanied by endurance. It must pass the test of time.

Fullfilling the will of God.

If do not cast away our confidence, if we endure and fullfill the will of God, we will see the promise fulfilled and we will have great reward.

Chapter 11

Many examples of those who lived by faith.

Looking at lives of several of them especially Noah we will learn qbout what it means the Just shall live by faith.

Genesis 6:13–22 (NKJV)

13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.

15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Noah believed God and had confidence in the word that was spoken to him through faith.

his confidence in the word of God was not based on tangible thing, something that is seen but rather it was based on faith.

This faith was also based on knoweldge of the character of God.It was not merely blind faith.

That God does not change, he is immutable. Once he has spoken, he will do it.

And God does not lie.

Our confidence is based on the character of God.

2 Timothy 1:12 “12 For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

If you know him you should be pursuaded of what he is able to do and accomplish.

What God had spoken and promised to Noah

God told Noah what he was going to do and gave him a promise that he and his family would be saved.

The Word of promise God spoke to Noah did not come with a time stamp.

When God give a promise he does not give the detail when it is going to happen nor how it is going to happen.

When God spoke to Abraham he did not tell him when it was going to happen.

When God spoke to Joseph in a dream, he did not tell him when it was going to happen.

When the Apostle asked Jesus, about when the Kingdom would be restored to Israel, He did not tell them when

Acts 1:6–7 NKJV

6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

It is not for us to know when something will happen.

This in of itself can be a trial. Not knowing when.

Psalm 105:19 NKJV

19 Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.

You don’t throw away your confidence in what God has spoken because you don’t know when it is going to happen.

Sometimes, we can construct in our minde a time in which we believe God will do it, and when it does not come to pass, we are dissapointed in God) this should not be so.

We must be confident in God to the very end.

Psalm 126:1–2 NKJV

1 When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

Our confidence is our strength

isaiah 30:15 “15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,”

Being confidently quetely without complaining, or asking when, this will be our stregth that keeps us diligent in fuffiling the task God has given us.

David as an example,

1 samuel 27:1 “1 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.””

David lost his confidence in what God had said. As a result he despiared and lost stregth to continue to live in the land of promise. he went to go dwell in the land of the enemies,

he was in a pit, in a low place. We need to come out of our horrible pit. When we loose our confidence it will only draw us back.

He did not know when, and as the time passed by he taught he was going to perish in the hand of Saul when God has spoken Saul would perish and he would be king.

Since God is faithful, suddenly he heard the news that Saul had died in Battle.

Suddenly God would do what he has purposed to do, what he has promised to do. Don’t lose your confidencce

Fullfilling the will of God

Out of the eigth verses that God spoke to Noah, 6 of those verse are instruction given to Noah of what he need to do, what he need to build. Only two verse is on what God is going to do.

In our life, when God has given us 6 verses to focus on, we focus on the two.

There is a task God has given, God has revealed to us his will, what we need to do, how we ought to live while we wait for the fullfillment of the word of God.

God’s will is not obscure

Sanctification

1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 NKJV

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

Pray without ceasing 1 thess 5:17

We have to build ourselves as Noah build the ark

Jude 20–21 NKJV

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

To partake of the divine nature

2 Peter 1:2–10 NKJV

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

having all this things to pursue and fullfill, how do we have time to worry about when God is going to do something.

A time spent worrying about what God ought to do is a time not spent on what we ought to do.

We are in control of what we have to do, God is in control of what he needs to do

The connection between Confidence and the will of God.

When you are not confident, fully convinced in what God has spoken. You will be neglectful of what you ought to do,

Confidence in God’s word is what moves you to accomplish the will of God.

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)

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.

When people who were living in unbelief were busy living their lives, eating and drinking, giving in marriages, celebrating, indulging in all kinds of pleasures.

Noah who was living by faith, was confident in what God has spoken was busy building the ark.

Are we fullfing the will of God for our lives.

Are we sanctifiying ourselves.

2 Peter 3:10–14 NKJV

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;

It is worth doing the will of God.

1 John 2:15–17 NKJV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Noah who did the will of God lived, while those who did not perished.

We must Endure

With our Confidence in God’s word, while fullfilling the will of God we must endure somethings.

Hebrews 12:1–4 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

The cloud of witness (all those who have gone before us living their lives by faith, including christ) endured hostility from sinners.

There was scron, there was persecution, there was despisement, there was ungodliness, unrigtheousness, hatred towards the things of God.

We have to endure this things without being weary or discouraged,

Hold fast your confidence, stregthen your weak hands, don’t be discouraged, don’t be weary. The Lord will come, he will come to visit you.

Isaiah 35:3–4 NKJV

3 Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”

Conclusion

Let us live by faith,

let us keep our confidence in what God has spoken.

Let us fullfill the will of God.

Let us endure.

Faithfull is he who promsied, who will also do it.