Sorry, I just turned this thing on a lot.
Then we discussed what repentance actually is.
! Number one, we said repentance is seeing one's sin, recognizing one's sin, seeing it for what it really is, seeing it in light of how God sees it.
Number two, we said repentance is sorrow over one's sin, results in a brokenness, results in a contrite heart.
We see that in Psalm 51 and other places in Scripture, Psalm 38.
Thirdly, we said true repentance was confessing one's sin.
That's kind of the verbal expression of repentance in the life of a believer.
And then fourthly, we said that it's a turning away from one's sin, which is kind of what we normally want to think about when we think about repentance.
It's first and foremost in our minds, often a turning away from one's sin.
But that's kind of the last stage in the process of actually repenting.
It's turning away.
So, okay, in light of last week's lesson, this week we're going to be talking about the other subtopic of conversion.
So we have repentance in one side and we have faith on the other side.
Okay, so the other aspect of conversion is faith.
Jesus Christ came in Mark 1.15 and he said, repent, and then he said, and believe in the gospel.
So first he said, repent, then he said, believe.
These are the two aspects, main aspects of what conversion actually is.
If repentance is a turning away from sin and thusly a turning around towards something else.
Okay, so I'm going this way and then I repent and I do an about face and I turn a different way.
Then faith is the thing that propels you forward toward something else.
Okay, so I'm walking this way.
I repent.
That means I turn the other way and then I walk towards something else.
Faith is what enables a person to do that.
Okay, it's the actual going the different direction that faith is.
I kind of gave you a flawed illustration last week by saying that, by saying or telling you to think about conversion as a body
and then faith and repentance as the legs of that body that enable it to walk around and move.
I think it would be more accurate to say that conversion is the body, okay?
Repentance is the legs of that body and then faith is kind of like the muscles.
That give movement, that give mobility or strength to the legs to actually function and work.
I think that's more accurate.
So repentance by itself is not a mobilizing thing.
Just like legs without muscles are not a mobilizing thing.
You have to have faith in order to move.
So no man has ever come to Christ solely on repentance.
Repentance.
It's kind of like taking a sip of water when you're thirsty, but not exercising the proper muscles to swallow.
Okay, it doesn't benefit you if you don't swallow the water and let it digest in your system.
So the same thing is that if you only have repentance, if you only have the taking in of water,
but you don't actually exercise that repentance with faith,
it's kind of like you're wasting your time.
So again, no man has ever come to Christ solely on repentance.
Many people genuinely repent for crimes against others or for misconduct or for acting irresponsibly.
They genuinely feel broken about stuff like that.
I recently was watching the news and I saw this guy,
a young man whose face was covered in tears.
He was sobbing, crying, yelling because he had been driving drunk and it had hit an oncoming car that was,
I think, filled with children and killed them.
Okay, so this guy's in an orange jumpsuit, you know, on the defendant's side of a courtroom with his hands behind his back,
you know, in handcuffs and he's crying out, he's sobbing, he's crying out,
begging for mercy from the families that were prosecuting him for this crime.
Okay, that's an element of repentance.
I think the guy was genuinely broken about that.
But that isn't biblical repentance.
It's not going to get him anywhere.
It's not going to benefit him in Christ.
It would not bring the man any closer to Christ.
And so a like-mannered repentance by you will not bring you any closer to Christ.
There's a lot of things that we repent about, we feel sorry for, we get upset about,
maybe tears stream down our faces about, that is not genuine repentance.
Okay?
Genuine repentance is God-centered.
God-centered.
On the last day, if that man wanted to use an argument of,
hey, well, I mean, I was genuinely repentant about this thing that I did.
But he had no repentance or sorrow because he had committed some kind of offense against God,
that wouldn't do him any good on the last day.
He would still be judged as a sinner and still condemned to hell because he did not repent to the right person,
to Christ.
True biblical repentance is directed towards the Creator and not fellow creation.
Psalm 51.4 is a great verse.
Turn there really quickly.
I'll show you.
Psalm 51.4.
This is a really common, again, chapter of Scripture, kind of like Hebrews 11.
And David is kind of had freshly committed adultery with this lady named Bathsheba.
And then he had killed her husband to cover it up.
And he is approached by a prophet who exposes this for him.
And he's led to kind of write this psalm or pen the psalm and his brokenness.
And he says this in verse 4.
So mind you, again, keep this in mind.
He has just killed the husband of the woman that he committed adultery with.
And he says, against you, referring to God, you only have I sinned against.
And done what is evil in your sight.
He says, against you and you only have I sinned against.
So David saw his sin as against, even in this situation, as against the Father.
And that's how you should think about true repentance.
It's against God.
You have sinned against God.
He's the one supporting you accountable.
You can sin against other people as well.
And we need to ask for forgiveness for them as well.
We need to be given forgiveness when we sin against other people ourselves.
But true repentance is against God.
And that's where it's got to start.
Okay?
Against you and you only have I sinned against.
And done what is evil in your sight.
So many men feel sorrow for sin.
Not because of their crime.
Not because of their offense.
But because they were caught.
Because by what they had done, they harmed themselves.
They harmed some other person.
So ask yourself this question.
What good will it do me, having repented, to take a step in the wrong direction?
Okay?
What good will it do you if you repent truly and then take a step in the wrong direction?
If that step is anywhere that's not Christ, it's in the wrong direction.
You could say it like this.
Just because you change lanes on the wide road doesn't mean you're not headed towards death.
Okay?
A not God-centered repentance is kind of like changing lanes.
But you're still on the wide road headed towards death.
You're not avoiding it at all.
You're just changing lanes.
Getting a clearer view to it, in a sense.
The direction of one's faith, or the object of one's faith, or the person of one's faith,
is by far the most important element of one's faith.
An element of repentance.
Okay?
There's only one way to get to God, and that is through Jesus Christ.
John 14, 6 says what?
I am the way.
I am the truth.
I am the life.
Nobody comes to the Father except by me.
So it starts with Christ, it ends with Christ.
Your first step of faith after repentance must be towards Jesus.
And must remain towards Him until the day that you die.
And that is the work of conversion.
When somebody is converted, okay, when you are truly saved,
you get an interest in Christ.
Your eyes fix on Jesus Christ.
You see Him for who He truly is.
You see your offenses against God, and you repent to God.
Then He forgives you.
He regenerates you.
He enables you to believe on Him savingly,
and you start walking towards Him.
And that happens for the remainder of your life.
It's an ongoing thing.
And so the life of a Christian is a life of repentance.
It's also a life of faith.
Okay?
We talked about repentance last week.
This week is faith.
That was the introduction.
Let's get into it.
Hebrews 11.
If you turn to Psalm 51, go back to Hebrews 11.
Again, now faith is the assurance or the substance of things hoped for.
The conviction of things not seen.
Here we are given the preeminent description of faith in all Scripture.
The best one is right here.
It's only one little verse, and it's small, but it is loaded with truth.
And I'm looking forward to getting into it.
And I want to start, as we begin to unpack this verse, I want to start with the very first word.
It says, now.
Okay?
It says, now.
We're going to start here.
The author begins by saying, now.
Now, this word is a transition word.
Meaning, that the reader should change the way that he was thinking to a new line of thinking.
Or he's, the author, in a sense, is going to transition the reader from what he just said to a new line of thinking.
So, kind of like, in light of that, or like a therefore, or like a thusly, we're going to say this now.
Okay?
It's a transition phrase.
A transition word.
And because we're just jumping into this text, I need to give you guys some context.
So you can understand what's happening here.
It's going to help you understand the fullness of this verse, as we need to.
We need to be very careful to allow the verse to speak to us in its natural flow.
So, here's a little context for you.
For ten chapters now, the author has been laboring to prove one primary main point.
For ten chapters.
That being, that the new covenant of grace, or of the blood of Jesus Christ, is better and is superior in every way to the old covenant of works.
Okay?
There's these things called covenants.
God makes covenants with man.
In the old covenant that God made initially with Adam in the garden, he said, you've got to keep my word perfectly.
Now, Adam wasn't a sinner at this point in time.
Okay?
He had free will.
He was completely free to choose to obey God.
This is the Adamic covenant.
Okay?
And it has a lot more attached to it.
But this is kind of where it starts.
So, Adam had the choice to either choose to obey or not obey God.
He did not.
All of us fell into sin as a result of it.
And so, that's the covenant of works that we were once in.
We were enslaved to the law of Moses, to the old covenant of works that said, hey, you can't earn me my favor, my righteousness apart from Christ.
So, they were living in this old covenant.
Now, this new covenant came into play when Jesus Christ came on the scene, died, shed his blood, purchased for you life.
Freedom from sin.
Perfection by faith in him.
That's the new covenant.
Okay?
So, for ten chapters, this author, we don't know who the author is in this book, but the author has been trying to prove to these people, these Jewish people, that the new covenant of grace or the blood of Jesus Christ is far better, far superior to every way, to every way and everything in the old covenant of works.
And MacArthur once said this.
He said, Christ is a better priest with a better sacrifice by which he sealed a better covenant.
And he's writing to Jews to prove to them that the new covenant is the best.
He says Christ is better than angels, than prophets, than Moses, than Aaron, than Joshua, than everything.
That's what he's talked about throughout the first ten chapters.
All these things.
He's better than all these things.
He's better than anyone and everything connected to the old covenant.
So, in essence, okay, when he gets to verse 1 of chapter 11, he's saying, you have got to appropriate the new covenant of grace.
You've got to possess it.
You are not underneath this old covenant any longer.
You need to possess this new covenant of Christ.
Okay?
See, the Jews were trying to earn their salvation.
They had twisted this old covenant that God had set forth for them over the years into this cultish, works-based salvation that was filled with rules and all kinds of ethical obligations.
I think it's something like, I mean, the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' time had actually imposed upon the text of Scripture that they had at that point in time.
So, imposed upon God's covenant something like 400, 600, I don't know what it is, something, hundreds, hundreds of, like, rules that were not what God had said.
All these rules.
You can't do this and this and this and this and this and this.
I mean, it was all this total legalism.
And they thought, hey, I'm going to earn God's favor by keeping these rules.
They were wrong.
They could never do that.
They never could do that.
God never intended it to be that way.
So, they twisted the old covenant.
And so, the 10th chapter closes with a warning to appropriate the new covenant.
To make the new covenant yours.
To step away from Judaism.
To step away from this temple stuff.
This priesthood stuff.
And all that came with that.
And come to the new covenant.
Okay?
Now, this brings up a question in the minds of the reader.
Especially this early Jewish reader.
That is, how?
How do I do that?
How do I appropriate this new covenant of Christ?
How do I come into the new covenant?
What do I do?
See, this Jew was, again, he was used to this work system.
He had no idea.
He had no concept of grace.
He had no idea what grace was.
And these works weren't even involved.
So, how then, one might ask, am I supposed to come into the new covenant?
There weren't any sacrifices to make.
Okay?
There was no particular feasts that they had to observe.
Under this new covenant of Christ.
There weren't any ritual washings to go through.
There was not any ceremonies to go through.
There was no circumcision any longer.
There wasn't even any memorization of ethics or the law anymore.
All these things were nullified when Christ came and fulfilled it all and then died in righteousness.
Perfect righteousness.
All the works of the law were fulfilled in Christ.
Someone said, or he corrects somebody I was looking for earlier.
I couldn't find it.
He says, I have not come to do away with the law.
I've come to establish it.
I haven't come to abolish the law, all these regulations.
I've come to fulfill it.
To become it for you.
Okay?
And a lot of people, I mean, I'm saying all this stuff, but a lot of people these days are still underneath the same thing.
They believe they have to tack on to what Christ has done.
It's Jesus Christ plus my exterior ability.
Plus my ability to go to church on every single Sunday.
Plus my, you know, going to Thursday night Bible study on fall break.
Plus my, you know, like baking cookies for the Thursday night Bible study.
You know, they have to do all these things to earn God's favor outside of Christ.
And that is a, God hates nothing more than that.
Than you thinking you have to do anything to earn His favor outside of Jesus.
That diminishes His glory.
Okay?
And you get glory.
That's why faith is a work of God.
That's why your salvation is a work of God.
That's why you're saved by grace through faith in Christ.
That not of your own doing.
It's a gift of God.
Not of works.
Lest you can boast.
So God strips away from all of you the ability to boast.
Okay?
In this new covenant.
So the answer to the question that these Jews are posing,
how do I do this?
How do I get this?
This new covenant applied to me.
The answer is believe.
Have faith.
It's so simple.
Have faith.
Have faith in Christ.
Jesus' words when He died, His last words were what?
It is finished.
Right?
It is finished.
That's a pretty awesome statement.
That's a loaded statement.
Because that means everything that was required of us for salvation was finished.
It is finished.
So now we can justifiably say,
all it requires is faith in Christ.
Now we're going to see what real faith actually is.
That's not simply intellectual descent to something.
It's not simply walking down an aisle.
It's not signing a card.
You know, we've said this a million times.
It's not for the faint of heart.
Okay?
True faith is serious business.
I think I said last week it's warrior work.
It's serious.
Okay?
We're going to see what this is.
So having established this author,
having established the preeminence of Christ over all areas of the Old Covenant,
that the author now transitions in verse 1 of chapter 11
to reaffirm, firstly for the Jews, what faith is.
That's verse 1.
He reaffirms, this is what faith is.
Here's a good definition of what faith is.
I'm going to describe it for you.
Verse 1.
And then he goes on to reassert for these Jews
that it's always been faith that's saved.
It's always been faith, or by faith,
that the righteous have lived and pleased God.
So when someone asks you,
how would somebody say before Christ?
By faith.
It says it repetitively in Hebrews 11.
It's never not been faith.
It's always been intended to be faith.
All the sacrifices that they were doing back in the day
were meant to point to a Savior.
To say, this is what you need.
You can't, every day you're cutting lambs and bulls' throats
and it's spilling blood
because you don't have the ability to ever stop this work.
This is kind of cool.
The only thing that was missing from the tabernacle,
the only piece of furniture that was missing from the tabernacle
was a place to sit down
because the work was never finished.
Okay?
So those priests never sat down
because it was never done.
Then Christ came and said,
it's finished.
I've done it.
Okay?
So he's going to reassert for them
that it's always been faith
that saved you.
Now,
the author of Hebrews
doesn't exactly tell us
what the object of our faith should be
until chapter 12.
He simply kind of describes its nature.
He wants to kind of get into general,
the general truth about faith first
before he kind of gets specific.
That's a common way
that common way people write in the New Testament
is to go from general to specific.
So he does this.
He goes general first.
And I want to,
I want to draw your attention
for the sake of this teaching
to chapter 12,
which clearly,
as you're going to see,
distinguishes Christ
as him
to whom
all of our faith,
all of our confidence,
all of our conviction
should be applied.
Okay?
Because if you don't know
what you're aiming at,
you're going to miss.
Okay?
So all your faith,
all your conviction,
all your confidence
has got to be aimed
at Jesus Christ.
Look at 12 verses 1 and 2.
Therefore,
since we have so great
a cloud of witnesses,
that's,
he's referring back
to what he just said
in the entire chapter
of Hebrews 11.
Okay?
Those are the witnesses.
These are the people
that have come before us
and witnessed for us
this thing,
this truth,
this faith.
So therefore,
since we have been surrounded
by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside
every encumbrance
in the sin
which so easily entangles us
and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us.
How?
Fixing our eyes on Jesus
who is the author
and the perfecter of faith.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus
who is the author
and the perfecter of our faith.
This is so crucial.
If you don't see Jesus
as the one who has authored
or written
or created
your faith
and he is the finisher
of your faith as well,
he's the one that drives it on,
he's the one that energizes it
day to day,
you will burn out.
You will find yourself
trying to
create faith
from a human's ability.
You will find yourself
exhausted by ministry
and exhausted
by the scripture
and exhausted
by preaching
and exhausted
by praying
and exhausted
by loving
and worshiping Christ.
You will find yourself
burnt out
if you do not
see Jesus
every single day
as the author
and the finisher,
the perfecter
of your faith.
Okay,
you have got
to remember this.
This is so big.
He's the one
that gives you strength.
Apart from me,
you can do
nothing.
He says in John 15, 5.
Repentance is a turning away
from sin
and faith
is that element
of conversion
by which the sinner
comes to Christ.
It's that element
of conversion
by which the sinner
places their faith,
their eyes of faith
on Jesus.
In the Gospel of John,
chapter 6,
Jesus finishes
speaking to
a multitude
of people
of his disciples.
All these people
gather around
to hear him speak
and he said
some crazy,
crazy stuff.
He says stuff like
eat my flesh,
drink my blood.
It's really cannibalistic
and weird
and strange.
But Jesus says this,
okay,
and it freaks
everybody out.
And a lot of them
leave.
Okay,
a lot of disciples
part away from him
and say,
I can't handle this.
This guy is strange.
He's a Charles Manson
kind of character.
I'm not going to deal
with this guy.
Okay?
So Jesus turns
to his 12 disciples
and he says this,
you do not want
to go away
also do you?
Simon Peter
answered him
and said,
Lord,
to whom
shall we go?
you have the words
of eternal life
and we have believed
and we have come
to know
that you are
the Holy One
of God.
Okay?
So Jesus said
some crazy stuff
and a lot of people
turned and left
and went away
from him.
But he says
through Peter,
through Peter says,
but you have the words
of eternal life.
We can't go anywhere else.
I know it's hard
to hear what you just said.
It's a struggle
for us to deal with that
but we can't go anywhere else.
We have to stay with you.
You have the keys
to the kingdom of God.
Realize that Jesus
is not an easy man
to follow
but he alone,
okay?
He alone,
there's only one person
that possesses
the key
to his father's kingdom
and we must
by faith
follow him
no matter the cost.
So I say this,
okay?
I mention that verse
to make a point.
And the point is this,
okay?
The Jews struggled
with Jesus.
When he was on earth,
they struggled.
They said,
you say hard things.
You say things
that are difficult
to understand,
that are difficult
to believe
and to comprehend.
And not only that
but you're from this town
and your brothers say
that you're not
the real deal
and there's all these
kind of speculative issues
with Jesus Christ.
You know,
I mean,
you're teaching
your doctrine.
It's really authoritative.
It's unlike anything
we've ever heard.
It's kind of new.
We're afraid of new.
You're authoritative.
You know,
you're doing all
these crazy miracles.
We don't know
if it's demons
or God.
It's just,
they struggled.
The Jews struggled
with Jesus.
Okay?
But those that knew
Jesus,
those that knew him
experientially by faith,
said,
even though you're
difficult sometimes,
Jesus,
I've got to stay with you.
So,
you may struggle
with questions.
Okay?
You may struggle
with questions
about Jesus' teaching.
About the inerrancy
of Scripture.
About certain doctrines.
Okay?
About truth
that we may speak
about Jesus Christ.
About his resurrection.
But I want to encourage you.
God will answer you
in due time.
He says
to seek him
with all your heart
and you're going to find him.
Ask
and you're going to receive.
Not,
the door's going to be open to you.
Okay?
I'm begging you.
I'm asking.
I'm pleading with you
to just labor with Jesus.
Don't get discouraged.
Don't run away.
Don't be like the crowd.
Tarry with them.
Okay?
Trust in the Lord.
Take him at his word.
And I promise
that he's going to comfort you.
He's going to answer you
in the end.
All right.
First point.
I only have two points tonight.
First point.
Faith
gives things
substance.
Faith
gives things
substance.
The first phrase there
in our verse,
Hebrews 11.
One says,
faith is the substance
of things hoped for.
The word substance
is hypostasis
in the Greek.
And it could be translated
ground or foundation
or substructure.
That which has actual substance.
Real being.
In the Greek.
Real substance.
Real being
is what it says
in the Greek.
Literally.
A thing hoped for
is not a tangible thing,
is it?
This is a strange phrase.
I'll give you that.
Listen.
Faith is the
assurance
or the substance
of things hoped for.
Something hoped for
doesn't have any ground.
Doesn't have any foundation.
Doesn't have any tangibility.
It's hoped for.
Okay.
If I
or I don't
hope for an ice cream cone
if I've got it,
if I've got one in my hand.
I hope for an ice cream cone
when I'm standing
on the corner
at my house
waiting for the ice cream
truck to come
through my neighborhood
and make it stop.
You know,
like that's what I'm hoping
for that ice cream cone.
It's not when I have it
in my hand
and I can lick it.
That doesn't make any sense.
I'm not hoping for that
if it's in my possession.
So if the thing is already
in your possession
then you don't hope for it.
Somehow
faith
has the ability
according to the verse
to give a thing
hoped for
realness.
Substance.
Okay.
Realness.
It's like tasting
the ice cream cone
before it's in your mouth.
That's kind of what
faith does.
So from the beginning
this eliminates
any notion
that faith is whimsical,
faith is emotional,
unintelligible,
silly,
easy,
mystical,
fantastical,
anything like that.
Okay.
Biblical faith is rocky.
It's real.
It's tangible.
It's got content.
It's got substance to it.
It's not some
fan,
you know,
idea.
It's real.
It does things.
What does this mean though?
What is this?
Faith is the substance
of things.
What does that mean?
MacArthur
kind of put it like this.
Faith gives things
hope for
a present
substance.
A presence.
I'm going to explain this.
A present substance.
The examples of our author
that he's about to give
and illustrate
in the rest of this chapter
illustrate
time after time
a person
that believes
in a promise of God
so much so
that it radically
affects the way
they think
about things.
I'm going to say that again.
Okay.
Time and time again
the author illustrates
for us
a person
believing in a promise
of God
so much so
that it
radically affects
the way they
think about things.
They can be in a crazy,
bad,
horrible circumstance
and yet be content
somehow.
They can have joy
in the midst of suffering
somehow.
Now,
this,
okay,
I'm pausing
because I want this
to sink into your brain.
This is incredibly important
for you to understand
what faith actually does
to you
when you exercise it rightly.
They believe so strongly
that what God said
that he would do
so much so
that it radically
affected the way
that these righteous saints
thought about life.
Take Abraham and Sarah
for example first.
Okay,
Abraham trusted God
for 19 years
after he received
the promise
of a son.
19 years.
His name was,
this is kind of cool,
his name was Abram
initially
which meant
father of many.
Then,
God said,
I'm going to make you
a father
of multitudes
and your name
is now Abraham
which means
father of multitudes.
Now,
Abraham
was kind of a
stationary guy.
Okay,
he was kind of like
the first person
you would see
when you walk into town.
So,
what do you do
when you meet somebody?
Hey,
I'm John.
You are Abraham.
Oh,
father of multitudes.
How many sons do you have?
None.
And it was incredibly,
this is a very,
sons and daughters,
like that's an incredibly
important thing
back in the day.
I mean,
if you didn't have a family
like you were
considered to be,
you know,
you were like the,
what's it called?
The Brahmin
and like the what?
Untouchable.
You were untouchable.
Yeah.
Okay.
It was,
it was incredibly embarrassing.
For 19 years,
this guy just suffered
through this.
He was like,
come on God,
19 years.
I was already
father of many.
That was embarrassing.
Now I'm father
of multitudes.
And my wife
is feral.
This is embarrassing.
Okay.
So somehow,
faith for Abraham
and Sarah,
we learn this in
Romans 4,
20.
It says this about Abraham.
He didn't waver in faith.
Even when he considered
his own body.
It was as good as dead,
it says.
He was like a hundred.
You can't have kids
when you're a hundred.
Not wavering in unbelief,
but growing strong
in faith.
He grew strong
in faith
and that gave glory
to God.
He did not doubt God.
He did Abraham's wife,
Sarah,
doubt God.
Look at verse 11
of our chapter.
It says this,
by faith,
even Sarah herself
received the ability
to conceive.
Even beyond the proper
time of life
that she was considered,
keyword,
considered,
or thought,
remember I said
it changes the way
you think about things?
So Sarah considered
a thought,
God faithful
who had promised.
Faith for her
translated into
a new way of thinking
that gave her
the ability
to trust God.
Even though
it was impossible.
The elements said
it was impossible.
She's 90 years old.
Her husband's 100 years old.
They're past the time
of childbearing.
There's no possible
way this is going to happen.
They didn't bear children
when they were healthy
and vibrant.
Now they're definitely
not going to do it
when they're old
and decrepit.
But they do
and they have faith
and it makes it happen.
Faith gives the thing
they hoped for,
which is Isaac
in their case,
that was their son,
son of promise,
a present substance
enabling them
to patiently,
faithfully,
and even joyfully
wait for the promise
to be fulfilled.
Okay?
That's what faith is.
Real biblical faith is.
That's one of the
descriptions he gives you.
There's a lot of them.
And that gave glory
to God.
They didn't have
a physical Isaac
in their possession yet,
but they believed
so much so
that it brought them
real joy
when they thought about it.
Okay?
Abraham believed God
so much so
that it changed
the way that he thought.
Okay?
Now realize this,
okay?
You are called
to have the same
kind of faith.
What does Jesus say
in John 14,
verse 1?
Don't let your heart
be troubled.
Believe in God.
Believe also in me.
Then what does he say?
He says,
in my Father's house
are many mansions,
many dwelling places.
If it were not so,
I wouldn't have told you that.
I go to prepare
a place for you.
When I'm done
with my stuff,
I'm going to come back
and get you.
Now,
you realize
that's a promise
that he's making to you.
I'm going away.
I'm going to come back.
I got dwelling places
in my Father's house
for you.
That's a promise
that's meant to
quench your worry.
It's meant to pacify
your anxieties.
Okay?
When you think about
things that are heavenly
like that,
when you set your mind
on heavenly things,
it makes these earthly
issues that we're
dealing with
obsolete in a lot of ways.
It kind of puts them
in perspective.
It's not really
that big of a deal.
I don't have a car.
I don't have a job.
I just got a job yesterday.
I didn't have a job
for a long time.
I was poor.
But at the same time,
in light of the reality
of me being saved
by God's grace
and God is coming back
for me on a white horse
with blood on his robe
to kill all sin,
death, and hell,
and I'm going to be
a part of that,
I'm not really worried
about it.
It's not a big deal.
That's what faith
is meant to do.
It's meant to free you
from these kinds of things.
He says,
don't let your heart
be troubled.
How?
Believe in God.
Believe also in me.
Here's my promise.
I'm coming back.
Don't worry about it.
This is faith.
Same thing of Matthew 6,
32 and 34.
Through 34,
he talks about,
hey,
if you're worried about
your food and shelter
and your clothing,
I'm going to make
a promise to you.
Seek first my kingdom
and my righteousness
and all these things
you're worried about
will be added to you.
Don't worry about tomorrow.
Tomorrow,
today has enough
trouble of its own.
Just focus on right here,
right now.
I'm going to,
I have you in my hands.
I love you.
My righteousness
is applied to you.
Don't worry about
that stuff anymore.
I'm going to provide.
And he always has.
Show me a verse.
Show me a point in time
in history.
Show me a point in time
in any true Christian's life
when God really deserted them.
And you can't do it
because it hasn't happened.
That's the reality of faith.
The thing to admire
about these Old Testament saints
we read in Hebrews 11
is their faith.
They're incredible
in the way that they persevere.
The promises that came
to those people
were so real
that even though
they never saw them,
they based their life on them.
Do you realize that?
They never saw
these promises fulfilled.
I mean,
Abraham had one son.
That wasn't multitudes of people.
God said,
go look at the stars.
As many as you can see,
that's how many sons
you're going to have.
faith.
Like the grains of sand
on the beaches.
He saw one.
He grew strong in faith.
He believed in what God said.
And his people
continued and continued
and continued.
And the story of the Old Testament
is incredible
to see how God
raised up a people
through Abraham's lineage,
through Isaac
and Jacob
and the sons of Judah
and all these people.
and he preserved them.
You see things like Joseph,
you know,
he was traded into slavery
in Egypt
and then he was shipped off
and he was in jail
for running away from
Potiphar's wife,
I think,
or something like that.
And then he was brought back up
and Pharaoh put him
as his second hand man
and then he was able to save
the rest of his family,
the lineage of Abraham,
because he was in that position
to do so.
God is just time and time again
providentially answering
and answering
and saying,
my promise is going to be fulfilled.
My promise to Abraham
is going to be fulfilled.
All these things are happening.
My Davidic covenant
is going to be fulfilled.
Abrahamic covenant
is going to be fulfilled.
All these things
God is doing
and is doing
and preserving
and he's never not
fulfilled these promises.
2 Corinthians 1
something
20 says this,
for as many
as may be the promises
of God and him
that's in Christ,
they're yes.
Wherefore also
by him
is our amen
to the glory
of God
through us.
So we have nothing
to worry about.
These Old Testament people
simply took God
at his word
and they lived
on the basis of that.
They were people
of faith
and that faith
gave substance
to what was in the future.
Maybe you're still confused,
okay?
Maybe you are.
I don't know.
I'm making it
more practical for you.
Have you ever hoped
for anything
with such certainty
that it became
a present reality
to you?
Have you ever
so hoped
for something
that it became
a present reality
for you?
Maybe like vacation,
right?
It's May.
No.
It's April.
Crazy school April
where all my tests
are happening.
I'm psyched out
and there's that,
there's those few moments
when I know that,
hey, my vacation in May
is coming up
and I'm thinking about it
and I'm thinking about
my feet being in the sand
and in the ocean
and I'm thinking about
just relaxing on the beach
with a book
and hanging out
with my best friends
and soaking in the rays
and I'm just like,
I can feel,
oh my gosh,
I cannot wait
to that moment.
Right?
You so dwell upon
that moment
that it becomes
a present reality
for you
and you take joy in it.
Right?
That's an example.
Another example
is a baby, right?
You don't have a baby yet
but you prepare
for the baby.
You get all excited
about the baby.
You paint the room.
You get all the,
you get the cradle.
You get all these things
set up.
You get the colors.
You, you know,
see this sonogram
whatever thing it's called
and then finally
the baby does come
but before that
you're still,
you're rejoicing
in that baby's preparation.
You can,
you're thinking about it.
You're anticipating it.
You have faith
that it's going to come
and because of your faith,
because of your certainty
of that thing happening,
it gives you
a present substance.
A present reality.
A realness.
A tangibleness.
Right?
Steak dinner is the same way.
Going home after a long day
is the same way.
Heaven is the same way.
Read Revelation.
It's incredible
what you agree
about reading about heaven.
John MacArthur,
what he was like,
he was saying this,
this,
a great sermon I listened to
kind of preparing for this
on this passage.
He was like,
you know,
I've,
I've basically been to heaven
in a lot of ways.
Like I've read so much
about this
and I've studied it so hard
and I've seen the pearly gates
and I know,
and I know the dimensions of heaven
and I've been to the,
to the,
you know,
glass or crystal sea
and I've seen that tree of life
and all these things
and I've,
I've pictured
and I've imagined
and I've meditated on
God sitting on his throne.
He's like,
I've been there.
I mean,
it's given me present reality
and joy
even though it's not here yet.
Right?
But it is here.
Already,
but not yet
kind of idea.
So,
J.
Mac said,
faith is the ability
to take that
which is in the future
and give it a present substance.
That's what it is.
Here's the difference though
between bringing present substance
to those things
that I just mentioned
and being able to bring
real and present substance
to Jesus Christ.
It is the supernatural work
of God
that enables a man
to see
and to believe
in Christ
with such assurance
that it becomes
a present reality.
Okay?
Everybody
can do that
for a steak dinner
or for a vacation.
But not everybody
can do this
with Jesus.
So,
the difference is
faith
is a thing
that God
must give you.
He is the author.
He is the finisher.
The perfecter
of your faith.
Okay?
So,
if you don't have this,
this faith in Christ
that enables you
to have Him
as a present reality,
to go about your days,
to endure persecution
or suffering
or bad days
or good days
or whatever else it may be,
if you don't have that Christ,
then you need to pray
on your knees
for that Christ.
you need to ask God
with all your heart,
soul, mind,
and strength
to give you
Jesus Christ
no matter what it costs you.
There is nothing
in this world
that is better than Him.
There's not a single thing.
Okay?
So,
if you don't know
Jesus in this capacity
where He is a real thing
to you,
if He's just some
distant idea
or some guy
that you've learned about
like you've learned about
a John Calvin
or a John Wesley
or if He's just
some historical figure
to you,
then you're not saved.
Because salvation
produces this faith
that takes hold
of Christ
and says,
this is my Christ
now.
He's my possession.
I'm going to cling
on to Him.
It's a cool...
Mary, right?
Mary,
another good example.
She sees Jesus
at the tomb.
She's so elated.
She's so filled
with joy to see Jesus.
He says,
don't cling to me.
Don't cling to me.
We should be
that kind of way.
You know?
May Jesus say,
get off me.
You're clinging
too close to me.
You know?
He's not going to say that.
I'm just saying,
in this scenario,
we should be like a Mary
that just grabs
on to Jesus
and holds on to Him.
The Scripture says
that Jesus knows
His church
like Adam knew
His wife.
That's an intimate thing.
I mean,
it's sexual intercourse
between Adam and Eve.
And that's meant
to be reflective
of God's intimacy
with His people.
It's intense.
It's not sexual.
I'm just saying
it's intense, though.
You know?
True faith
isn't mystical longing.
It's a certainty
about Christ.
It changes the way
you think about everything.
A true man or woman
of faith
will be able to
actively believe
in the promises of God
so as to bear
the fruits of faith.
Love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness.
These things
are a reality
for the believer
because of their faith
in Christ
who supplies them
with it.
And it's not circumstantial.
I want to give you
one more illustration
from the Scripture.
Turn to 2 Corinthians.
This is just a good illustration
of what I've just said.
Faith has the ability
to change the way
you think about things.
2 Corinthians 1,
beginning in verse 8.
This is Paul.
He says,
We do not want you
to be unaware, brethren,
of our affliction
which came to us in Asia.
So in Asia,
they were afflicted.
They were persecuted
for something.
That we were burdened
excessively
beyond our strength
so that we despaired
even of life.
So Paul,
in a sense,
was suicidal.
Okay?
He was so afflicted
in Asia
that he despaired
of even living.
He didn't want to live anymore.
He was so afflicted.
Indeed,
we had a sentence
of death
within ourselves
in order that we
should not trust
in ourselves
but in God
who raises the dead.
Who delivered us
from so great
a peril of death
and will deliver us.
He on whom
we have set our hope
and He will yet
deliver us.
So Paul is burdened
excessively
beyond what he can bear.
And he says,
the only thing
that sustained me
was that promise
that you see
in verse 9 there.
I put my hope,
I put my trust
in God
who raises
the dead.
That was the promise
that Paul
clung to
in his persecution
that enabled him
to endure.
And then he goes on
and he starts
praising God
and he says,
who delivered us
from so great
a peril of death
and He will deliver us.
He on whom
we have set our hope
and He will yet
deliver us.
Three times
in one verse
He says He's going
to deliver us.
He's going to deliver us.
I know it is true.
It was a certainty
about Christ.
There wasn't some
mystical,
you know,
wishful thinking.
I hope it happens.
It wasn't a
maybe this is going
to happen.
I hope it happens.
It was a
I know
in Christ
this will happen.
He will keep me.
He will enable me.
This is faith.
Okay,
this is what faith is.
Changes the way
that you think
about things.
Secondly,
oh,
good quote for us
from Spurgeon.
Little faith,
a little bit of it,
will bring the soul
to heaven.
But much faith
will bring heaven
to the soul.
Little faith
will bring you
to heaven.
But much faith
will bring heaven
to the soul.
Now,
do you lack
in joy?
Do you lack
in hope?
Do you lack
in peace?
You've got to
grow in your faith.
Start taking God
at His word
and just reading it
and saying,
all right,
God,
you said,
you said this today.
I'm going to apply
it to my life.
You said it's better
to give than
to receive.
So give me the grace
to give today.
I'm just going to
trust it.
Right?
And sure enough,
I promise you,
God's going to come
through on that.
He's going to prove it.
Second point,
she's going to be
shorter.
One page.
Faith gives
things feet.
First point was
faith gives
things substance.
Second point is
faith gives
things feet.
Feet.
faith says
verse one.
Faith is the
assurance of
things hoped for.
It is the
conviction of
things not
seen.
These are very
closely related.
These two phrases
are just a kind
of a description
here.
But the big
discrepancy between
the first phrase
and the second
phrase is the
idea of action.
OK, the first
thing changed the
way you thought
about it.
The second, the
conviction of things
not seen changes
the way that you
live.
Changes the way
that you live.
The word for
conviction is I
can't say
L.
That's the Greek
word for conviction
and it means a
proof.
That by which a
thing is proved or
tested.
L.
but it's also in the way that one lives.
This is a little bit further step from the phrase of our verse.
It implies action, as I said, okay?
It implies an action, activity,
something that I do in light of what I believe now.
J. Max said, this is banking your life on your hope.
This is putting all your chips in to Christ.
The faith, this faith is lived out.
I like to think of it as an expression of one's faith.
Have you seen God?
Have you smelled Him?
Have you tasted Him?
Have you touched Him?
Have you heard Him?
No.
Yet you believe.
Not one of your five senses has ever sensed Him,
yet you believe.
Can you observe Him?
No.
Can you test Him in a test tube?
No.
Can you look at Him through a microscope?
No.
Yet you believe in Him.
So although you cannot prove God scientifically,
you still believe in God.
That's a strange thing.
That's weird that you would do that.
The word elechaz could also be translated evidence.
Okay?
Evidence.
It's the evidence of things not seen.
Faith in the life of a regenerate person
is the greatest evidence that there is a God.
God has seen fit to shame the wise people,
the worldly wise people,
by enabling
the...
What was it again?
Not the Brahmin and the...
The untouchables.
We're the untouchables.
He's enabled the untouchables
to do His will.
To live a life of faith.
To accomplish things
that really can't just be explained.
I don't think it's coincidental
that God has ordained
the majority of His salvations
to come through
the faithful witness
of His people.
You can see more of God
in the life of a believer
than anywhere else.
Okay?
So faith is something that's supernatural.
It's not going to be simply
ascertained by
a Bunsen burner
and microscopes
and test tubes.
Okay?
God is an invisible God.
And He has revealed Himself
in Christ.
So if you want to
know about God,
if you want to study God,
if you want to
understand Him,
if you want to get
evidence for Him,
first look at Christ
who says,
I have...
If you've seen me,
you've seen the Father,
He says.
If you've seen me,
you've seen the Father.
So look at Christ,
firstly,
and then look at His people.
And you will know
that there is a God.
Faith in the first place,
first phrase of our verse,
actualizes a future truth.
It brings it into one's possession.
Okay?
Faith in the first phrase,
which is the substance
of things hoped for,
brings a future truth
into your possession.
It brings it into the heart
and the mind
of the believer.
The second phrase
commits a life to it.
It commits your life to it.
It changes the way
that you think,
then it changes the way
that you live.
Look at Noah,
verse 7 of Hebrews 11.
By faith,
Noah,
being warned by God
about the things
not yet seen,
in reverence,
prepared an ark
for the salvation
of his household,
by which he condemned
the world
and became an heir
of the righteousness
which is according
to faith.
This is ridiculous
what Noah did.
Okay?
Backward information
on Noah.
Noah lived in a time
in which it had never
rained before.
He had never seen rain.
Ever.
There was a vapor canopy
surrounding the earth
at this point in time.
This is pre-flood.
It was different back then.
People had to be
900 years old.
UV rays were basically
non-existent
in a lot of ways.
It's wild.
Okay?
He had never seen rain.
God says,
build a ship.
I'm going to flood this place.
Noah says,
okay,
120 years later,
God lets rain happen.
120 years.
Okay,
if you think
Abraham's ridicule was bad,
imagine Noah's.
What are you doing?
You're building a boat?
It's been 80 years.
It's not rain.
It's not going to happen.
The guy's an idiot.
Right?
120 years.
It's one thing to
think about rain
and say,
that might happen.
Yeah,
I hope that happens.
It's another thing
to commit a life to it.
This is the example
of faith that we're given.
This is God saying,
hey,
your faith should be like this.
It's ridiculous sometimes.
It doesn't make a lot of sense
sometimes.
You know,
we're worried about putting
more than 10%
in the offering plate.
Noah's worried about
rain coming after year 85.
Okay,
faith is nothing.
But this is the kind of faith
we're called to have.
This is the kind of faith
that God will give
to His people.
Faith is to believe it
and then bet your life on it.
Boom.
But the natural man
can't do this.
He cannot,
like Moses in 1127,
see Him who is unseen.
They can't see this.
They can't see God.
They can't see the reason
in doing that.
They think it's foolishness
the Gentiles do.
Foolishness,
atheists will call you.
Idiot.
Wasting your life.
Missing the point of life.
No.
Not the last day.
We'll see if it's the last word.
This faith in which we speak
cannot be acquired
through observable proofs.
1 Corinthians 2.9
establishes this.
Things which eye
has not seen,
ear has not heard,
which have not entered
the heart of man,
all that God has prepared
for those who love Him.
For to us...
Who's that?
Who's the us?
Christians.
All that God has prepared
for those who love Him.
For to us,
God revealed them
through the Spirit.
So if you have Christ,
you have His Spirit.
His Spirit is a guarantee.
His Spirit is a pledge.
It's a down payment.
That this is true of you.
You have this ability.
You have this salvation.
I'm going to give you
my Spirit to prove it.
But the world can't see it.
Their ears can't hear it.
They can't perceive it.
It hasn't entered
their heart yet.
It's a supernatural thing.
How do you know
what real faith looks like
in a very practical sense?
I think you should turn
to the parable of the sower.
Okay?
Test yourself to this.
In Matthew...
You know what?
I'll tell you what.
I'll just explain it.
Matthew 13.
Alright?
Matthew 13.
Jesus describes
the parable of the sower.
And He says,
the first...
He says,
a sower goes out
to sow some seed.
He sows some seed
against the rock,
against the pathway,
basically,
on the rock.
Then He sows some seed
on...
No.
Okay.
Forget about it.
I can't recall it.
We're going to read it.
Alright?
I know it's already
10 till...
It's fall breaks
and nobody's got a test
tomorrow
so I can keep you longer.
Let's just read this.
It's so good.
13.1
On that day,
Jesus went out
of the house
and was sitting by the sea
and great multitudes
gathered to Him
so that He got in the boat
and sat down
and the whole multitude
was standing on the beach
and He spoke many things
to them in parables,
saying,
Behold,
the sower went out to sow.
And as He sowed,
some seed fell beside the road
and the birds came
and ate them up.
Other seeds fell upon
the rocky places
where they did not have
much soil
and immediately they sprang up
because they had no depth of soil.
But when the sun had risen,
they were scorched
and because they had no root,
they withered away.
And others fell among the thorns
and the thorns came up
and choked them out
and others fell on good soil
and yielded a crop
and some 100 fold,
60,
or some 100 fold,
some 60,
some 30.
He who has ears to hear,
let him hear.
Okay?
So He tells the story,
He says,
Hey,
some seed fell upon
the side of the road,
some seed on the rocky soil,
some seed in the midst
of thorns
and some seed on good soil.
Then He explains it
in 18.
And He says,
Hear then the parable
of the sower.
When anyone hears
the word of the kingdom
and does not understand it,
the evil one comes
and snatches away
what has been sown
in his heart.
This is the one
on whom the seed
was sown beside the road.
And the one
on whom the seed
was sown
in the rocky places,
this is the man
who hears the word
and immediately
receives it with joy.
Yet He has no firm
root in Himself.
It is only temporary.
But when affliction
or persecution arises
because of the word,
immediately He falls away.
And the one
on whom the seed
was sown
among the thorns,
this is the man
who hears the word
and the worry of the world
and the deceitfulness
of riches
choke the word
and it becomes
unfruitful.
And the one
on whom the seed
was sown
on the good soil,
this is the man
who hears the word
and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit,
and some are bringing forth
some a hundredfold,
some sixty,
and some thirty.
So you want to know
if you have faith or not?
Test yourself
to this passage.
Are you the kind of person
that it goes
in one ear
out the other?
You never really
even consider
the things
that you hear
in church?
Buildings?
Number two,
are you the kind
of person
that has
the seed
of the gospel,
the truth
about Christ
sown upon you?
You receive it
with joy
for a moment
at a New Year's
conference
or at a Thursday
night Bible study
or Sunday morning
church service.
You receive it
with joy
in a moment.
You feel convicted
the lights are dimmed
low and the candles
are lit
and the aroma
is nice
and the preacher
was hilarious.
And you receive it
with joy
and you're so happy
for a week and a half
and it's
ah,
Jesus isn't really
as exciting
as it used
to be.
You forget
about Jesus
and it withers
away.
Persecution
comes,
somebody approaches
you by your
faith,
the going
gets hard,
the road's
a little bit
rocky,
and you just
forget about it,
I'll deal
with it later.
That's not
faith.
Thirdly,
are you the kind
of person that
is the word of
God sown upon
you,
the seed of
Christ,
the gospel of
Christ comes
into your ear,
you hear it,
you receive it,
it springs up
for a time,
it looks like,
hey,
this is genuine
faith,
this guy,
we should bring
him into the
church.
Then all of a
sudden you see
this guy has
got a strange
interest in
riches,
and he just
cannot get away
from the pleasures
of the world,
and worldliness
just chokes
him out.
It's not true
faith either.
True faith,
when it comes
into your heart
and into your
mind,
takes root
and bears
true fruit.
Some 60,
some 30,
some 100,
but it bears
fruit.
And it
continues and
it persists.
And Jesus
says himself,
those that the
Father gives
me, I don't
lose them,
any of them.
If you're truly
his, he's not
going to lose
you.
That's a good
way to test
it.
So what a
salvation we
have.
Worthy is
the Lord
of all the
glory.
There is a
natural faith
people are
acquainted with.
Everyone lives
by the
principle of
natural faith.
You go to
the doctor's
office, they
say, you
have cancer.
You say,
okay, you
come back,
right?
He says, I'm
going to cut
you open with
a scalpel,
cut this tumor
out, so you
back up and
then send you
on your way.
It's going to
cost you $100,000.
And you say,
all right, fine,
I'll talk to my
insurance company.
You go back,
you willingly get
stuck with the
needle, shot
drugs up you,
you pass out,
you get cut
open, sliced
open, they
fool around
inside of you,
and then after a
few hours, you're
back out.
That's natural
faith.
I don't know,
I mean, I'm
trusting this guy
who knows what
he's doing.
You drink water
from a water
fountain, I hope
it's clean.
I hope I don't
get Ebola
virus from this
water, you know?
Not here,
obviously, but
other places.
That's natural
faith.
God is requiring
of you a
supernatural faith
that you can't
conjure up.
An enduring
faith.
Trusting
faith.
Faith.
That is
patient.
That is
steadfast.
That is
immovable.
A faith that
results in
work and
love and
joy in
Jesus.
It moves a
man to
action.
Right?
Okay, so
faith is
gives things
substance and
faith gives
things feet.