Fight the Good Fight

We are talking about a faith that is Tried & True…There’s a Testing of our Faith to determine if it is true.

When we hear the word faith a lot of ideas come to mind…some people think about “blind faith,” something crazy, some people think about “positive thinking,” some people think about a belief system, some think about something that you just need to have more of…So, a lot of things come to mind when we think about faith, but they may not be biblical faith…may not be Christian Faith.

How can we have faith or keep the faith in the midst of trying circumstances...if we’re not sure what the faith is? How to stay firm in it and how to see it grow...

Hebrews 11:1-16

Hebrews 11:1–16 (NIV)

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Foundational Faith

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists AND that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

+ So, we can see that faith is pretty foundational. Without it it we can’t please God…you must first believe that God exists…and that He rewards those who seek Him...

So, what is faith? Let’s look at how the word is defined here in this passage to get a better idea of what Christian Faith looks like.

Faith = Confidence in what we hope for AND assurance about what we do not see.

11:1-2 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.

Hypostasis = confidence in what we hope for...

Elenchos = assurance about what we do not yet see...

Right before this we’re told that faith is something that we live by.

Hebrews 10:38 “But my righteous one will live by faith…

Faith “is how we live life with God here and now as we wait for then and there...”

+ I’m going to give you some characteristics of a biblical faith to give us a fuller picture of what we’re talking about.

Faith is hope, trust…expectation that ...

Trust & Expectation that Engages our Mind

11:11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

...17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

…you could call it an Epistemological Faith…it involves thinking and knowing.

It is not a rejection of science or thinking, but it begins with facts.

Begins with our mind…not blind faith…But it doesn’t end there.

- Sarah “believed” with her mind...

Based on her past experience with God she could trust God.

- Abraham’s faith came from reasoning...

But why? There was some evidence and experience to support this knowledge.

Trust & Expectation that is Evidence-Based

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible...

Our very understanding of life, existence, significance begins with God.

You could even say it’s existential…we must believe in something related to our existence…and what we believe about how we exist will determine why we think we exist which will inform what we do in our existence!

It is by faith that we believe that everything was formed out of nothing…everybody believes this, even atheists...

As followers of Jesus, we believe that GOD is the uncaused cause of all creation.

Evidence in Creation:

Colossians 1:15-17 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Romans 1:20-21 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

- If there’s a Design there must be a Designer…if I recognize that there’s a Designer then He is the one who Defines reality, Decides what is right or wrong for His creation, and who gets to Determines our Destiny because He’s the one who Designed it.

Trust & Expectation that is Evidence-Based

Faith is NOT what you have when there’s no evidence…when there’s not a good reason to believe…that’s just moronic.

That kind of faith would lead you to believe that nothing exploded into everything…and that a completely random explosion of nothing not only created all matter but formed systems and structures that could support life…and intelligent life to boot! Believing that everything was caused by nothing means that nothing has any purpose or significance…it’s unscientific and is what you would call blind faith.

You would have to be denying the evidence of a designer in creation to come to that conclusion…in fact, you’d have to disagree with the 1st law of thermodynamics, aka the law of conservation of energy, which states that the energy of a closed system must remain constant—it can neither increase nor decrease without interference from the outside…energy does not cease to exist but simply changes form.

Pale Blue Dot

If everything came from nothing…then our lives are truly meaningless…in the vastness of space and time our lives are meaningless…this photo was taken February 14th, 1990 by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft as it turned back to take 1 final picture pointing back to our planet as it left our Solar System…that’s vast and that’s just in our solar system...

- The scientist Carl Sagan later said: "Everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

- We’re a pretty big deal, right!?! Well, biblical, foundational faith would say that our existence is evidence of a designer and that that designer gives significance to everything that happens on that pale blue dot.

Jeff Allen: Tells the story of when he was an Atheist and first met someone who had a reasonable faith... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3_aQLbddyc

Trust & Expectation that is Evidence Based:

Evidence in Christ

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Trust & Expectation that is Exercised

Not something that you just sit around thinking about…none of the people listed in Hebrews 11 were sitting around thinking about something…they did something because of their faith.

Abraham believed and obeyed…they each made a decision to obey…

Not just thinking…and not just acting based on the evidence…it also opens up an experience to taste this thing that you hope for…you experience the evidence of it in the act of faith…

The Message: “It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.”

- He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him!

Trust & Expectation that is Experienced

“Is about experiencing the reality of what we hope for…”

Example: Winters…45* day in March people are wearing shorts and short-sleeves…summer clothes come out…even though it’s going to snow again…little patches of snow recede…crocus flowers begin to bloom…

Wearing t-shirts and shorts…is a little taste of the summer…Crocus flower is the evidence that spring is ending.

Obeying and following Jesus in ways that don’t make sense in light of your present circumstances but that only make sense in light of the future!

There IS evidence that we have a basis on…death and resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith.

Getting out your summer wardrobe doesn’t make sense unless there’s evidence that winter is ending and that we’re moving towards spring and summer.

Trust & Expectation that is Eschatological

The Message: 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Has to do with the expectation of His return…

If this is really where the world is headed, it makes complete sense to obey Jesus!

If we’re headed towards that it makes sense for us to live today in light of eternity…

Living in the present as though the future has arrived.

The truth of his coming and of his return then impacts all of my life decisions…

Redemption, Reconciliation, Renewing, and Restoration…are God’s purposes that we’re headed towards…and a reality that we can live towards today.

Foundational Faith:

Engages our Mind

Is Evidence-Based

Is Exercised

Is Experienced

Is Eschatological

Tim Mackie, of The Bible Project, talks about Biblical and Christian faith being “Risky radical faith” not blind and ignorant.

Is your life exemplified by that kind of faith? If not, why not?

- Maybe you need to receive God’s gift of forgiveness and his presence today by recognizing His existence and preeminence and Repenting of living according to your own Designs rather than His…and you need to accept His Direction and Definitions for your life.

- Maybe you need to move from opposed, like Jeff Allen, to being OPEN to say there “might” be a god…based on the evidence.

Maybe you have faith…but not quite the kind we’ve talked about today and you say like the disciples did, Lord increase our faith!

What can you do to grow in faith?

Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

- Faith comes through hearing the word of Christ...

- Read the Bible every day…listen to it…memorize it…think about it/Meditate on it.

- Learn about Jesus…engage your mind…study to show yourself approved as one who is able to handle the word of truth.

- There IS a God! We may not fully understand it all, but we can look back at the Historical Evidence of Jesus and go from there.

Books:

- Evidence that Demands a Verdict - Josh McDowell

- Mere Christianity - C. S. Lewis

- A Reason for God - Tim Keller

- If you’re interested in thinking more deeply about God and how His existence impacts life, and even the significance of Jesus being God, the Father being God, and the Spirit being God…I’ll be sharing a video on Faithlife later tonight that talks about that.

- Exercise your faith by obeying what God says…when He says it...

- Experience more of God by spending time in the Presence of God…the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth…and truth is the foundation of our Faith.

- Begin to live your life today in light of eternity…that’s an eschatological faith!

PRAY for opportunities above to:

- to begin in faith…to Grow in faith...