HEBREWS 11:1-72009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hebrews 11:1-7

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. This morning we are beginning chapter 11 as we continue our journey through Hebrews. And here in chapter 11 we're kind of in a transition. The author of Hebrews has been dealing with much doctrine.

In sharing with us the reality of Jesus Christ, His superiority over the Old Covenant, over the sacrifices, over what people had under Moses and Joshua and the different seasons there and times where God was working with His people and how what we have in Jesus Christ is...

Far superior in that we have access to God and that you and I, normal people, are able, by faith in Jesus Christ, we're able to have a relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And we have access into His presence and are able to have a relationship with Him.

And now as we are continuing on in the book, he's moving on, he's transitioning from all of these things that we've learned about Jesus Christ into how these things apply to our lives, the way they impact our lives, and what our lives should look like as Christians now as we continue on in this walk with God. And here in chapter 11, the author of Hebrews is giving for us some great examples that we would know

That we would understand, that we would be reminded of all of those who have gone before us and the reality that God requires of us

Not something that He has not required before, but He requires of us the same things that He's required of every generation. And that is a walk by faith, a relationship with Him by faith. And so you and I have the same command, we have the same request from God that we approach Him by faith and He gives us these examples that we would know we can put these things into practice in our lives.

Now in approaching the subject of faith, we often know that you can turn to Hebrews chapter 11 because faith is mentioned over and over again. We call it the hall of faith sometimes. It's a chapter that's entirely devoted to faith and examples of faith. In fact, it's mentioned 23 times here in chapter 11 and by using many examples of those who have gone before us. Verse 1 is often given as

If you ask for a definition of faith, often you will receive, you know, turn to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. And verse 1 says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now I've shared with you for some time that faith is obedience to God at His word.

And I continue to maintain that definition. But understand that faith is not one of those words that you can define in three or four words. It's really, it's taking a chapter devoted to it for us to be able to get a grasp on what faith is. There's many different elements and aspects to faith. Sometimes we confuse the subjects of faith and hope. Faith...

is about believing in God, but applying that belief to today. Hope is believing in God, believing His promises, but leaving those promises on the horizon. Let me give you an example. We have the hope of resurrection.

One of the speakers tonight will be talking about our blessed hope. The blessed hope that we have of being with Jesus, of new bodies, of being transformed into His likeness. That is something that I believe, yet I do not operate today as if I had this new body. I don't try to walk through walls. I tried when I was young and it didn't work and I learned my lesson.

I don't try to act and live my life as if I have a perfect and glorified body that cannot be harmed or hurt. No, I understand that is a promise. I believe it's of God, but it's not yet. It's something that God will do either when I go to be with Him or He returns and I am caught up to meet Him in the clouds. And so it's a believing in God, but it's something that I acknowledge it's not yet fulfilled.

Faith, on the other hand, is a believing in God, and you can use the example of forgiveness, or as we've been looking at in Hebrews, access to God through Jesus Christ. And those are things that I believe. I believe that I am forgiven, and that my sin is washed, and that it's cast as far as the east is from the west. I believe that through Jesus Christ, I have access to the throne room of God, and that

But I believe it in such a way that it's not put off until later, but that it's for today. That today I can go and I can spend time with God. That I can have and enjoy a relationship with God. Faith is always in the present, accepting God's word and promises for right now.

Hope is always in the future. It's those promises of God that are yet to be fulfilled, that will be fulfilled at the appropriate time. And so as we look at the subject of faith, understand we're looking at things that God wants to apply and impact our lives on.

today. He wants to work in our hearts and transform us today. There's things that he wants to accomplish in us that we're to live accordingly right now and not to put on hold and not to wait for. Faith is obedience to God at his word for today, for this moment, for this time.

Here in Hebrews chapter 11, we will get to see this over and over again as we learn about faith, but we also get the examples to see how faith is applied in a person's life. And we'll take a few moments to look at those examples.

Yet I encourage you, because we won't be able to develop everything and all the different aspects, I encourage you to take some time this week and go through these examples on your own and look up the original portions of scriptures that he's referring to and take some time and consider what it was like for them

to have this kind of faith that we see demonstrated and that is written about because there's some wonderful things that God would love to show you as they are given for us as examples of how to walk with God and apply His Word to our lives.

Each example is an example of someone who did what God asked them to do. Sometimes it was in an offering. Sometimes it was in waiting. Sometimes it was in moving or building and so on and so forth. Faith is obedience to God at His word. And I remind you, God does not require of us anything else.

that He has not required of every generation before us. As we look at these examples, it's easy to dismiss them and think that it would be so much easier for them to do what they did and to walk like they walked. And we have it much more difficult, we often think, and our situation is so much more different. But be reminded, don't be deceived, God requires of us exactly the same as He required of them.

To walk by faith. To walk in relationship with Him. And so as we look at the subject of faith, we'll have four points this morning about faith and three examples to look at in application of these truths. The first point this morning is that faith is not invisible. Again, verse 1 says, "...now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

And as I shared a moment ago, this is often given if you want to know what faith is, the definition of faith. I was told when I was younger, turn to Hebrews 11.1 and there is the definition of faith. And so in wanting to know what faith was, I turned to 11.1 and I saw faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

And it's one of those times when I was young, and maybe I'm the only one, but I hope not, I didn't quite get it. And it felt like whenever you look up in a dictionary, you know, you had one of those words that you look up and it says something you don't understand and then says, well, if you want more information, see this. And so you go to this other definition that it points you to, and you go to look at that definition, and that definition points you back to the original one that you just came from. You ever had one of those experiences?

And you're trying to figure out what does this word mean? And it's taking you in circles and kind of leaving you lost and really not knowing what in the world is going on. And that's how I felt as I read that when I was younger and wanting to know what faith is. And even still, I look at that and go, what is that supposed to mean? Now, you can look at different versions and get a little bit different wording and perhaps that would help us. And so the New International Version says,

puts it this way, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And that is a little bit clearer. It does bring some clarity to it, that it's being sure of what we hope for and certain

Now, again, faith is not one of those words that can be defined in just a few short words.

It's something that has many aspects and elements. And so I would suggest to you that the whole of Hebrews chapter 11 is the definition of faith and that we're looking at different aspects and elements throughout. But here we have a good starting point, a good place to start our talk about faith. And I pointed out this way, faith is not invisible because of the words that are used.

He says, faith is the substance of things hoped for. Substance, it's something that exists. It's something that is real. The word substance literally means something that has foundation.

Something that has foundation. And you and I know what foundation is. If we talk about a building or a structure, the foundation is the underlying support. It's what holds everything up and it holds everything together. And if you have a good foundation, well, that's really good and that's important for your structure. If you have a bad foundation...

Well, you're going to have some problems. Whatever you build on that bad foundation is automatically, by default, going to have some difficulties and problems with it. Although you cannot see the foundation directly after a structure is built upon it, you can see the quality of the foundation in a building.

Now, I like to use this building as an example whenever I talk about foundations because, well, this building has some character, if you haven't noticed. And it has some interesting things about it that maybe not everybody notices. But if you will come early on Sundays and vacuum with us, you'll notice that the floor slopes down.

And in this back area here, well, it's a few inches lower than where you're sitting right now. When we built the stage, we had to take that into, I say we like I was, you know, some part of it. They had to take some consideration and the back of the stage, it's actually much taller than the front of the stage.

so that it would be level because the floor slopes. It's an older building. It was moved originally down on Main Street and then moved here quite a few years ago. And so it's got some difficulties. The foundation, well, it's going to be tested. And you are people of faith just because you're here and you're sitting here and during the service. That's great. So you're growing in faith all the time. But...

You can't really see the foundation, you can't see what's supporting it, but you can see the effects of it. And you can see the indications that there might be some difficulties in the future there with the foundation. Well, in the same way, faith is the foundation of things hoped for. It's the foundation upon which our whole Christian life is built.

It's the foundation upon which the whole plan of God for you and I is built. And if the foundation is bad, if we're lacking in faith, if there's an issue with our faith, well, the whole building is affected and can teeter and can totter and can fall over if the foundation is not settled, if it's not solid. You remember the parable or the example that Jesus shared in Matthew chapter 7?

He said, Jesus said, What's faith's definition? Obedience to God at His word. Whoever obeys me, Jesus said, whoever hears my words and obeys me, who puts it into practice, I will compare him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock.

And upon that rock, as the house is built, when the storms come and the floods come and the winds come and they beat against the house, it will not fall. It will stand because they built it on a solid foundation. It was built upon the rock. But he goes on to share the opposite of that. If someone hears these sayings and does not do them,

He says, well, that's like a foolish man who goes out and builds on the sand without the foundation. And without the foundation, when the floods come and the winds come and the storms come, well, the house is destroyed. It's completely wiped out because there's no foundation. There's nothing to hold it up. And people experience that in life. Storms come in our lives.

We experience the trials and the winds and the waves and the floods. They come and they beat against us and there's these difficulties that we experience and it tests and it proves and it shows our foundation. Although you cannot see the foundation directly, you can see the evidence of the strength of the foundation, the quality of the foundation in the structure or in a person's life.

Faith, being obedient to God at His word, builds a solid foundation so that when those storms come, your house, your life will not collapse. Now I would like to, just for a moment, share that sometimes, perhaps you've experienced, we do have a collapse. There are storms that we experience, there are storms that we go through and sometimes

And there's, well, there's breakdowns in our lives. There's destruction that takes place. There's a collapse that happens. And I want to share with you, and maybe you're experiencing that currently. If your house has collapsed, things are happening and man, it just seems like everything's falling apart. If your house has collapsed, it's okay.

I'm sure you'd rather do it a different way and you'd rather have things done differently. But you know what? It's okay. Because now you have an opportunity to rebuild on the rock. Our house collapsed when we've built upon the sand. And so we have an opportunity. It's a God-given opportunity. Then to recognize that and to rebuild on faith. Obeying God and His Word. Sometimes there's those elements and areas of our lives where...

Well, it's not an area of faith, and it's not in obedience to God, and it's in disobedience to God, and so, naturally, there is a collapse. And sometimes, it's not even brought to our attention until the destruction happens. And so, I encourage you, hey, if you're experiencing that, yeah, I know it's hard, I know it's difficult, and trust me, I've been there many times. Rebuild upon the rock. Take in God's Word. Take heed to what God is saying, and rebuild upon

Upon the truth of God's word. Faith is the substance. It's the foundation of things hoped for. The evidence, he says, of things not seen. Now, evidence, the word evidence, it means a proof or that by which something is proved or tested. It's that by which something is proven or tested. Faith is the evidence of things not seen.

It's the evidence. It's the proof of that which is not seen. What is that which is not seen? Now, let me start off by sharing with you that faith and sight are contrary. They're polar opposites in God's economy or in the spiritual arena. Paul the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5.7, "...we walk by faith, not by sight."

We walk by faith, not by sight. Faith and sight, they're different. They're opposites. We don't walk by sight based on what we can see and what we can understand and what we know. We walk by faith, obedience to God, even when we don't see it, even when it doesn't make sense, even when we don't understand it. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. It's the test. It's by which we're tested.

In those areas that are not seen. James chapter 2. The author there, James, is dealing with this same subject of faith. And he gives it this way. He says, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. He's dealing with the subject of faith and works. And it's a discussion that we could spend a lot of time on, but I'm not going to. He simply says, faith without works is dead. He goes on to say, but someone will say, well, you have faith and I have works.

And James replies, show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. There, James is making the point that faith produces some effect in a person's life. It produces change. It produces works. It produces activities. It produces action in a person's life. Faith without works is dead, he says. If there's no substance...

no evidence of that faith, if there's no outflow of that faith, if there's no action or activity as a result of that faith, it's not faith because faith without works is dead. And that's why I say faith is not invisible.

There's going to be some demonstration of it. There's going to be some evidence of it. It's the foundation which our lives is built upon and it will be evidence and demonstrated as we endure and how the structure endures through the storms and through the trials. But it will also be demonstrated that the evidence will be there in how we live our lives and what we do in the lifestyle that we have.

Faith is not invisible. It's action. It's activity. It's going forward. It's making change. There's transformation as a result. As you are obedient to God at His Word, His Word is living and active. It's powerful. It's sharper than any double-edged sword. It's not just going to kind of, you know, fall upon you and then, you know, nothing happens. It's going to produce growth. It will not return to me void. Remember God said in Isaiah 55,

It's going to have an impact in your life and there's going to be change. There's going to be life as a result and therefore faith is not invisible. It's the foundation that things are built upon, that our life is built upon and it's the evidence of things that are not seen. We see the results of it and the proof of it by the way that we live our lives.

And that point is kind of intertwined as he goes on with the next point. Point number two this morning is that faith produces a testimony. Faith produces a testimony. Look at verse two. He says, "...for by it," that is by faith, "...the elders obtained a good testimony." Verse three, "...by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

By faith, he says, the elders obtained a good testimony because it's the evidence of things not seen. Faith caused them to have a good testimony. Faith produced in them a lifestyle that was

Well, it was in such a stark contrast. They lived in such a way that it demonstrated to the world that God is real, that His Word is real. Their lives testified of God. And by faith, the elders obtained a good testimony or a good witness.

And we'll see this throughout the portion this morning as well as the coming weeks as we continue in chapter 11. The good testimony that was produced in them as a result of faith. Faith produces a good testimony. And so I would ask you, and I think it's appropriate for us to challenge our hearts this morning, is your life producing a good testimony? Does your life testify of God?

Does it testify of His goodness, of His grace? Does it testify of His mercy? Does it testify of Him? Or does it testify of you?

Is your life, can it just be accredited to you, you know, your great education, and because you went to this school and got this degree and did this education, and that's why you have the life that you live, is your life a testimony of you and what you have accomplished and what you have done, or is your life a testimony of God?

And his work and what he has done. Is your life a testimony of you and what you've been able to accomplish in your career or as a business person or you're savvy and your wits there in the marketplace and you are able to then have a testimony that, man, that's a really good business person and they're really smart and they've got it all together and I want to buy their book and learn how I can get rich too. Does your life testify of you or does it testify of Jesus Christ?

The world around you as they look upon, what is your life proclaimed to them? What does your life say? Is it a testimony of God? Is it a good testimony? Or is it a testimony of you? He says, by faith the elders obtained a good testimony. A good testimony. He goes on in verse 3 to say, by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.

The worlds were framed by the Word of God. The people who do not have faith have a hard time with this statement and this thought. The whole idea of creation and seven days and God speaking it into existence. If you don't have faith, this is a very difficult thing to accept. Of course, because, well, that's what faith is.

By faith we understand the worlds we're framed by the Word of God. I like what the psalmist said in Psalm 119. He says, I have more understanding than all my teachers because I meditate on your precepts. And you and I as believers in Jesus Christ, we have more understanding than those scientists and biologists. With all the education, with all the PhDs, we have more understanding because by faith we understand that the worlds we're framed by the Word of God.

And they try to come up with other reasons and other causes and this theory and that theory and they try to bounce it. Anything but God, essentially, is what they're working for. But by faith, we understand because we believe God's Word when it tells us there in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, over and over again, God said, and the earth produced, God said, and this took place, God said, and there was light, God said, He spoke the universe into existence. We believe God's Word. We believe...

what it says. We believe that He said that, that it happened exactly the way He has said it and communicated it to us. So by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. He goes on to say that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. The things which are seen, the things we can taste, the things we can touch, the things we can feel, they were not made with things which are visible.

They were spoken into existence by God. They were framed by the Word of God. And just as the world was framed by those things unseen by the Word of God, a person's life is formed by the things that are unseen by the Word of God. You see, the elders obtained a good testimony because their life was formed, it was framed. There was the evidence, the substance of their life

That was there because they believed in God and walked in obedience to Him. Faith produced in them a substance. The world was framed by the Word of God and their lives were framed by the Word of God. And it produced in them a good testimony. It produced in them a witness, a proclamation of the reality of God, the truth of His Word, and the importance of walking with Him. We continue this thought in verse 4. It says...

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. Here we have the first example for us in Hebrews chapter 11. And it's the example of Abel. And you can read about him in Genesis chapter 4, specifically verses 3 through 5.

is what the author of Hebrews is referring to. There when Abel and Cain offer sacrifices to God. And you're probably familiar with this account and Cain and Abel being the sons of Adam and Eve and how they both offered sacrifices to God. Cain, he was a farmer. He offered to God of his produce. Abel, being out there with the sheep, offered God one of the lambs.

And they offered to God their sacrifices and Abel's was received, God received it, and Cain's was not received. Now, there's lots of discussions I know that we could have around this. Why was his received and the other not received? You know, we could ask a lot of questions like that, but I don't want to get distracted on those things.

The difference between Cain's sacrifice and Abel's sacrifice, kind of boiling it down to the point, was that Abel's sacrifice was by faith and Cain's was not. Abel's sacrifice was by faith. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

So whatever discussion you want to have about that, that's fine. But the point is that Abel's sacrifice was by faith. It was out of obedience to God.

Cain's was not. And God continues to demonstrate that in Genesis chapter 4, where he's talking to Cain in verse 7, and he's asking Cain, hey, how come you're upset? Your sacrifice wasn't accepted. Why are you upset about that? And he says in verse 7 to Cain in Genesis 4 verse 7, if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. Its desire is for you, but you should roll over it.

God says to Cain, why are you upset that your sacrifice was not received? If you do well, if you will obey me at my word, if you'll believe my word and respond to it, you'll be accepted. God gives him an opportunity to repent. He gives him an opportunity to make it right. But Cain's offering was not of faith. He doesn't believe God at his word and he goes on to prove it by murdering his brother Abel.

Abel offered a sacrifice by faith and through it produced a good testimony. A good testimony. There in verse 4 it says, "...through which he obtained witness that he was righteous." That word witness is the same word as testimony. It's produced in him a testimony that he was righteous, that he had right standing with God because he believed God and was obedient to Him according to His word.

His sacrifice testified that He was righteous and God testified of His gifts. God proclaimed, God acknowledged, yes, this is true. God testified of His gifts and through it,

He, being dead, still speaks. The testimony is still going on. The word is still being spread. The testimony is still having an effect. The testimony of Abel and the sacrifice that he made still speaks to you and I today and still testifies of God and His righteousness and the importance of obedience and walking with Him because he believed God and was obedient to Him and His word. And so we find Abel

very good example for us an example for us to offer an excellent sacrifice you and I have been commanded by God like Abel to offer to him a sacrifice Jesus died upon the cross as our sacrifice taking the penalty for our sin the punishment that was due to us there's no more sacrifice for sins but there is a sacrifice and

that we are commanded to give. There's an offering that we are commanded to sacrifice to God. And I'm sure many of you know where I'm going with this. Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. You and I are commanded to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice.

Jesus said in Luke chapter 9 to lose your life for his sake and then you'll find it.

But if you try to hold on to your life and keep your life for yourself, he said, you'll lose it. But if you'll lose your life for my sake, if you'll offer yourself to me as a sacrifice, if you'll surrender completely to me, well, then you'll really find fulfillment and you'll really find the life that God intends for you. If you'll seek first the kingdom of God, as Jesus said in Matthew 5.33, you'll

surrendering to Him, seeking Him first, losing our life for His sake. We find in the example of Abel, as he offered an excellent sacrifice, the encouragement for you and I to do the same, to follow suit, to obey God at His word and surrender ourselves completely to God and offer Him our lives as a living sacrifice. To say, I'm yours, Lord, completely. Your plans, Your will, You do Your work.

I'm yours completely, wholly, fully, 100%. The person who will do that, their faith will produce a good testimony in their life. It will produce a powerful witness. Faith is not just about what we say. It's not just about having an intellectual understanding or acknowledgement. But faith, well, it impacts our life in such a way that we respond to God and surrender to Him.

And it produces in us a good testimony as we offer ourselves to Him. The world around us sees the proclamation, the reality of God, the reality of a relationship with Him, and the importance of walking in that relationship. Point number three this morning, faith pleases God. Look at verse five and six. Verse five says, 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. Let's stop there for a moment. Here in verse 5, he now mentions another example, the example of Enoch. Now, Enoch is an interesting character in the Bible.

He's referring back to Genesis chapter 5, verse 23, 24. There's a couple of verses there in Genesis mentioned about this person, Enoch. He's mentioned another time in the book of Jude. But other than that, we really don't know anything about Enoch. We don't have a lot of information about him. We only have very short summaries of his life.

And yet the interesting thing is, most of you have probably heard of Enoch. Why? Well, because there's this curious thing about him that he didn't die. And it can cause us to wonder, why didn't he die? What's going on here? Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, it says. And he was not found because God had taken him. He didn't die. God took him. What's the deal with that?

Well, we could have lots of theories and lots of speculations. Again, I don't want to get sidetracked on those things, but I can assure you it wasn't just God testing out his Star Trek equipment. But perhaps it was so that we would take note, that we would pay attention to this person and what he did that was so important. It tells us that he had this testimony that he pleased God. He had this testimony that he pleased God. How did he get this testimony?

that he pleased God. Well, Genesis chapter 5 verse 24 tells us, and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him. He walked with God. He got the testimony of being pleasing to God because he walked with God. And for whatever reason, he decided to rapture Enoch and take him off of the earth without death. We don't know why, but we do know that he walked with God.

And it was pleasing to him. It tells us there in verse 5, before he was taken, he had this testimony. Before he was taken, he had this testimony. Before he was taken, he walked with God. Before he could see it, before he knew what was going to happen, he walked with God. Before he knew how it all worked out, he walked with God and was pleasing to him. His life bore witness that he pleased God. Because faith pleases God.

God loves it when His children take steps of faith. God loves it when His children believe His Word and live accordingly and respond to it. God loves it when His children put His Word into practice and trust Him with their lives and throw themselves at His mercy. He loves it when His children look to Him and trust in Him and rely upon Him. God loves it. It pleases God when we have faith. Verse 6 says,

But without faith. So we have the contrast here. Enoch pleased God. He walked with God. He had the testimony that he pleased God. But, verse 6, but without faith, it's 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. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God.

He had faith, but without faith, it's impossible to please God. Now, I think this would make sense for us, right? Faith is obedience to God at His Word. And so, without that, it's impossible to please God. Without faith, without obedience to God, without believing in Jesus Christ, without...

Without that, it's impossible. There's no way. Jesus said, no one comes to the Father except through me. There's no other way. This is the work of God, he said, to believe on the one whom he sent. There's the only way. That's Jesus Christ. Only one way. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. Without faith, it's impossible to have relationship with God. There's no way. We want to try to be pleasing to God.

without living according to His Word sometimes. But it won't work. Sometimes we just want God to bless our lives regardless of whether or not we put His Word into practice. I mean, wouldn't it be nice if I could just live however I want and just say, God, just bless my life and make everything I do and everything I try and just make it work out, God. Just make it perfect for me. It doesn't work that way without faith. Without faith, it's not possible to please God. If you want to be pleasing to God, be obedient to Him and His Word.

Enoch had this testimony because he walked with God. He walked with God. Now, I suggest to you that Enoch walked with God. The correlation to that is there in verse 6, that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Those two things are interchangeable. He walked with God. He diligently sought the Lord. He diligently pursued God.

with God, things of God, filled his life. He walked in intimacy with the Lord. And so he had the testimony. It produced in him the testimony that he pleased God. Without faith, that's impossible. But

But we have for us Enoch as an example to encourage us, to challenge us, to walk with God, to diligently seek him, to be persistent, to be disciplined, to continue on and seek after God and get to know God and fill our lives with the things of God. Just like the Apostle Paul said, I

think it's in Colossians, it might be Philippians, but to know Him and the power of His resurrection. And so the one thing that He's pursuing, the one thing that He's chasing after, that's what He's going for. He's going all out to know God and the power of His resurrection. He's diligently seeking Him.

That brings pleasure to God. It pleases God. We have Enoch as an example for us that we would be encouraged and challenged to walk with God, to diligently seek Him, to pursue Him and fill our lives with the things of Him because He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Diligently seek the Lord. Follow the example of Enoch because faith pleases God. Finally, number four,

Faith is obedience to God at His word. Look at verse 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 righteousness, which is according to faith. He became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith. How? By faith. By faith. By faith.

Now the account of Noah is in Genesis chapter 6 all the way through Genesis chapter 9. You can see here the author of Hebrews is kind of working his way through history starting very early with Abel then working a little bit farther down with Noah then now with Enoch and then now with Noah. We'll move on farther later in history as we continue on in the chapter. But here in Genesis chapter 6 through 9 we have the account of Noah this incredible account of this man

That God saw this man that walked with God and that God was going to... Well, remember we talked about the collapse. Sometimes the foundation is bad. Sometimes the building is... Well, it's in such shape that it just needs to be leveled and rebuilt.

In studying Jeremiah on Wednesday, we started chapter 1 and God told Jeremiah that He had called him and appointed to him as a ministry that he would be, as part of his ministry, tearing down. There would be some destruction that was taking place and then also there would be a rebuilding and new growth.

And sometimes God needs to do that. He tears down so that he can rebuild something new. And that's why I encourage you, take this opportunity, if there has been a collapse in your life, to rebuild upon the foundation, upon the word of God, to rebuild upon the rock. But here in Noah's generation, the world had become so corrupt. Well, there needed to be a collapse. And so God brought judgment. He flooded the earth with water. But he preserved Noah.

How did he do it? Well, it tells us there in verse 7, Now, again, I think it would be interesting for us to take some time to consider what it would be like to walk a few days in Noah's sandals. God warned him of the coming flood, but prior to that time, there was no rain upon the earth.

So he warned him about this water that was going to come from the heavens before he was experienced with that. He warned him of this flood that was going to come when there was no prior experience. He didn't have, you know, Hurricane Katrina a few years before to help him understand, oh, that's what you're talking about.

There was nothing like that of the kind before. There was no rain. There was no water coming down. The ground was watered by dew every morning. And that's how the system worked. It was quite different than what we know today. God warned him ahead of time. I'm going to bring rain. There's going to be a flood. They were things that were not yet seen. Things that were not yet understood. Things that Noah would have kind of scratched his head and tried to figure out how...

What's going to happen? How's that going to work? And I can relate it to, you know, sometimes we look at the book of Revelation and we scratch our heads and go, what? What kind of creature is that? What is that talking about? We don't quite understand it, but one day it'll be revealed. And Noah there, he's warned. There are things he's not yet seen, things he's not yet understood. But he was moved with godly fear. He moved.

with godly fear and he prepared an ark for the saving of his household. I love how scripture can sum up in just like a piece of a sentence a really long period of time. You know how long it took for Moses to build that ark, to prepare that ark to save his household? It took him a hundred years. A hundred years! And he was just barely starting a family at the same time. That's pretty difficult. A hundred years building an ark, looking in the sky saying,

Scratching, he said, what's going to happen? Are you sure? A hundred years of his life. I mean, he had to put the whole, he was all set. He was going to build a vineyard. You know, he was going to school for it. He had these great ideas. He was really good at making grape juice. And he had his whole life planned. And God says, and he's like, I got to devote a hundred years to building this big wooden box. It looked like a coffin if you look at the dimensions.

Picture yourself, put yourself in his shoes. See, again, God doesn't require of us something that he has not required of every generation before us. To walk by faith, to believe him at his word and to respond. And sometimes it feels like a hundred years in our life. Sometimes it does. But God told him the flood was coming. And Noah believed God and he obeyed and he was diligent and he was persistent. And for a hundred years, he built the ark, he finished the ark.

He was faithful. I'm sure he had bad days. I'm sure he had difficult seasons. I'm sure some months were harder than others. But he believed God and he continued forward and he completed the ark. He obeyed God at his word. And as a result, he was saved and his family was saved. And so we have for us Noah as our final example for this morning through which we're encouraged to move with godly fear. Move with godly fear. Faith doesn't just sit there.

Don't just hold up the wall, stand around doing nothing. Faith is obedience to God and His Word. It's action. He put it into practice. He put it in gear and He built the ark. Even though the danger was not seen. In the same way, we have a danger that is not seen, a judgment that is proclaimed upon the world. We have the return of Jesus Christ coming and the tribulation that is coming upon the earth.

And so this judgment is coming upon the world in the same way as it was in Noah's day. Move with godly fear by faith. We've been given some commands. We need to put them in practice to make disciples of all nations, God said. Are you doing that?

Are you making disciples? Have you been moved? Has it become important enough to you that knowing that the time is short, knowing that the season and the time is high time to awake, knowing that today, well, it's nearer than when we first believed, has it come to an urgency in your life that you've decided, I need to be obedient to God and I need to make disciples?

Or I need to forgive this person and not hold on to the bitterness just as God commanded me in His Word. Or I need to, as we talked about last week, not forsake the assembly. And I need to gather together and figure out how I can encourage and stir up others.

has it come to a point in your life that you've been moved with godly fear, that it no longer matters what plans you had for your life and what vineyards you wanted to plant and what schools you wanted to go through. And maybe God will do some of those things, but that the most important thing is that I be obedient to God and that I put into practice His Word and that I live it out and I don't just read it and

sit around and have intellectual understanding and thoughts about it, but have no action, no fruit of it in my life, no evidence, no foundation. Noah was moved with godly fear. This morning, I think it's a great challenge for us. As we're moving from the doctrinal portion of the book of Hebrews, now kind of transitioning into the applicational, we have this subject of faith. Because we can study Hebrews 1-10,

backwards and forwards and have it memorized and have no impact, no real change in our lives if we don't have faith, if we're not willing to believe God at His Word, to act right now knowing and believing that His Word is true, to put it into practice in our lives right now because God said it. This is not something that He is requiring of us that is more than what He's required of previous generations. That's why He goes on to say,

We have this great cloud of witnesses. Let us run, therefore, with endurance the race that is set before us. Because it's the same race that they ran. The revelation is a little bit different. What God has shown Himself and revealed of Himself, yeah, that's a little bit different. We have a little bit further understanding, but it's the same race that we've been called to. The run of faith. The walk of faith. The marathon of diligently seeking Him. Faith is not invisible. And so I would challenge you.

to examine yourself. Is there evidence of a strong foundation in your life? Or is there some structural damage? Is there evidence of faith in your life? Is there evidence of God at work? Is there evidence of His Word being put into practice? In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul challenged the Corinthians to examine themselves to see whether they were in the faith. I think it's a good challenge to examine ourselves.

Consider. Let's take stock. Let's take inventory. Is faith producing a good testimony in my life? Am I like Abel, presenting an excellent sacrifice to God? Am I presenting myself and surrendering myself completely to Him? Am I like Enoch? Do I walk with God? Do I diligently seek Him? Is the testimony that's produced in me that I'm pleasing to God, that I please God? Is that what I'm known for? Is that what the world around me knows me for?

Am I moved with godly fear like Noah? Am I obedient to God at His word? Do I respond as He gives warnings, as He gives instructions, as He gives commands? Do I search out His word and seek to apply it and seek to put it into practice? Does it make an impact, a change, a transformation in my life? Faith is obedience to God at His word. Examine yourself, Paul said, to see whether you're in the faith. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,

Lord, I pray that you would really help us to evaluate and examine. God, I pray that you would pierce through any self-deception. Lord, when we try to fool ourselves that we can just live our own life and do our own thing and that it's no big deal, it doesn't matter. God, help us not to be deceived. Help us, Lord, I pray that you would help us to really see where we stand with you. Lord, that you would use your word to

Because it's sharper than any double-edged sword to pierce through, to bring conviction, to bring change and transformation. God, I pray that you would bring forth your word to set us free as we look and understand and recognize what you have done for us. Jesus, you've accomplished it all for us upon the cross. And the work that you have called us to do is to believe in the one that God sent, to believe and act accordingly, to live as a result of

in response to what You have done and what You have said. God, faith is not invisible. It won't be impossible to find in our lives. So Lord, if there's not that foundation, if there's not that evidence, Lord, help us to rebuild upon the rock, on the solid foundation. God, give us a thirst and a desire for You and Your Word. And Lord, help us to diligently seek You that we could rebuild upon a sure foundation

God, I pray that you would help us to offer ourselves to you an excellent sacrifice. Help us, Lord, to fully surrender to your will, to your plan. Lord, that you would produce in us a good testimony, that the world around us would know and recognize that you are God, that you reign on high, that you are King of kings and Lord of lords. Lord, that the world around us would see the testimony of your love and your grace and what you can do with the life that is surrendered to you.

Lord, by believing in You and being obedient to Your Word, we pray, Lord, that You would help us to be pleasing to You. Lord, just like Enoch, help us, God, to walk with You. And Lord, there's tough days, there's difficult seasons, but Lord, may we be diligent to seek You, to put You first, to pursue You and chase after You. And God, as You reveal Yourself to us and You show us Your Word, help us to be moved with godly fear.

Lord, not to disregard it because it doesn't suit our plans or fit within what we wanted or what we had scheduled. Lord, if it requires for us to take a significant amount of time to build a big box, help us, Lord, to be obedient.

Lord, whether it's in dealing with sin and dealing with those kind of areas in our lives that we need to be obedient and turn, or whether it's taking steps of faith and going forward or reaching out or discipling others or moving to a different location or whatever you want, God, help us to be moved with godly fear that we would be prepared for your return. And God, if there's anybody who's not prepared, anybody who's not ready, Lord, I pray that you would speak to them

that you would reveal yourself to them, that they would know you, the power of your resurrection, the new life that is found by believing in your finished work upon the cross. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.