"What Is Faith?” Hebrews 11:1- 4

“WHAT IS FAITH?” Hebrews 11:1- 4 6-7-08

Today I want to talk for a little while about “faith”. Every body has some type of faith, people have faith in many different things, when we get into our car we have faith that it will crank and get us to our destination, we have faith that our doctor knows what he or she is doing, every body has this mindset of faith of some kind or another.

No one can live a single day without exercising faith.

Faith is also expressed in the spiritual realm. Each of us regardless of our backgrounds expresses faith. The difference between the faiths we exercise in our daily routine and our religious faith is the object of that faith.

Everyone places his or her faith in something or someone. The Moslem puts his faith in the Koran and in Mohammed. The humanist put his faith in himself, a religious person in his own good works. None of these can save, because in each case the object of faith is wrong.

Our faith is only as good as the object in which we place our faith.

We’re told in the Bible that we are to personally put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Listen as I read Heb. 11:1-4

1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

I. WHAT IS FAITH ?

To understand what faith is we must get past certain misconceptions about faith.

There are people that think that as long as they are sincere about what they believe then that faith will be good enough.

But Paul says in 2 Tim. 1:12 -- for I know whom *I have believed- so saving faith is not in an object or some self concocted idea, but its in Jesus Christ.

If your beliefs are not founded on the right person it don’t matter what else you believe.

Hebrews chapter eleven tells us what real faith is. Listen as I read our text again in Heb. 11:1-3 1Now faith is the sub stance* of things hoped for,--we notice the word “sub-stance”, a good way to understand the meaning of “sub- stance” is to think of a sub-floor, it is what is holding up what is above it, it is the unseen support.

Faith is the affirmative response to God’s will and Word. Man possesses faith when He takes God at His Word. We don’t need to see something to believe it. Faith is the acceptance of something simply because God has said it.

Jesus said in JN.20: 29 “… blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”

1Now faith is the sub stance* of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. Hope is faith relating to the future; conviction is faith relating to the present

2For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

. No man was present to witness the Creation; it must be accepted by faith. He created something out of nothing, so that things that are seen were not made of things, which do appear. The book of Genesis explains the events of this creation, and that explanation must be accepted through faith.

True faith is simple obedience to and believing God’s word in spite of circumstances or consequences. Faith is described in a two-fold way. It is the “substance of things hoped for,” and “the evidence of things not seen.”

again, the word “sub stance” means literally ‘to stand under or to support.’ Faith is the foundation that gives the believer the confidence to stand. “faith is the confidence of things hoped for.”

God has two ways in which men can come to Him today. The first is that you can come to Him by works. That is if you can present perfection in your works, God will accept you—but so far nobody has been able to do that. Adam didn’t, and no one since has ever been able to do it. Abraham didn’t, and David didn’t, and Daniel didn’t. None of them made it by being perfect. Therefore, this is not a satisfactory way to come to God, but many people are hobbling along that futile route.