Intro

Hebrews 11:1-2 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”

Series Theme: The Faith that Pleases God

Hook:

What percent of AMERICANS claim to have FAITH in Jesus? 65% (down from 75 in 2015, goes down every year)

What percent do you think ACTUALLY have faith in Jesus?

What is the difference between nominal and actual?

Look:

How do we distinguish REAL faith from false faith? What tools do we use?

If we have the tools and SPECIFIC passages like this to clarify WHAT faith is, why do so many not have it?

Need

Many people have FAKE FAITH - unapproved by God

Too evangelize in a 65% Christian society you NEED to understand what faith pleases God

Book:

In Groups: Re-write “faith is assurance of things hoped for” in 5 different ways

Faith in unseen brings SUBSTANCE to life NOW.

Old testament saints PLACED THEIR FAITH - they trusted TOTALLY in a promise of God that had no yet been fulfilled - the cross of Jesus. Faith gives present substance to things in the future. Faith is confidence in things not yet seen/ realized.

ILLUS: Road signs - we see a sign with an arrow to exit the freeway and we trust there is an offramp there, there could be anything, a cliff, the cartel, a wall. But we TRUST in something we have not yet seen.

Now we TRUST in that situation because OTHERS have seen, and we have many experience of getting off the freeway.

That is a natural faith that everyone has BUT it ILLUSTRATED a SUPERNATURAL faith Christians have. Because no one on Earth has seen or experienced the things which we hope in. No one has seen heaven and come back to Earth except Christ himself. But we live today in the belief and trust and hope and assurance of the things which we have not seen. Heaven, eternity, glory.

Its not just substance of things we haven’t seen but it is a conviction of them.

Whats the difference between knowledge and conviction? answer: action

Example: whats the difference between I know that the sign means there is an offramp vs I have a conviction there is an offramp -

What does it mean then that faith is a CONVICTION of things unseen?

Example: Noah - was told it would rain when it had never ever rained. He built a boat in the desert for 120 years as his neighbors would walk by everyday and say you're crazy, wasting your life.

He didn't just KNOW the word of God he was CONVINCED of it. - Assurance brings conviction which leads to action

Took:

If faith is hope/ assurance of Gods promises yet to be fulfilled, How does this affect our Bible reading?

Search for promises - study them, understand them, create convictions over them an LIVE as if they are true (Noah)

Does faith change how we view and fight sin? How?

We have future reward, future desire to hear “well done”,

How can you make sure your faith is approved by God?

evaluate your faith in light of this texts AND all of the examples provided in this chapter that we will do little studies of to PULL out different aspects of their faith like Noah, David, Gideon, Joseph

All of us have something to take from this brief series; we need our faith strengthened, we need our faith tested, we need our faith to grow and be sanctified, and we need to KNOW more about God’s truth, so that we are CONVINCED over His truth so that we LIVE His truth.