Text:
Hebrews 11:1-6
September 23, 2012
INTRODUCTION:
1) You need magic eyes: Julie¡¯s cousin brought a
book of Magic Eye to a party. Images look like ordinary two-dimensional
patterns, but viewed in a certain way, the flat image appears
three-dimensional. Everyone in the party took turn trying to train their eyes
to make the three-dimensional images pop out. But one in the group had trouble
seeing the extra dimension. He had the book open, looking at it from all
different angles, different direction and distances. Even though he couldn¡¯t
see anything three-dimensional but kept trying because he believed that it was
in there since many others had seen it.
2) No need of magic eyes: While I am impressed on his
persistence in something unimportant, his tenacity in pursuit inspired me to
relate to something far more important: our faith in the almighty God. There
are people who stop search for God after few failed attempts and concluded that
God is beyond their reach or he just doesn¡¯t care. During the years when the
Israelis wandered in the wilderness and was at the brink of losing their faith
in God, Moses assured them of God¡¯s promise: Those who seek God with all their
heart and soul will find him. (Deut. 4:29) Hebrews 11:6 confirms that God
rewards those who diligently seek Him.
THE ESSENTIALS OF FAITH: According to online
dictionary, here are a few ways to define faith: a) A strong belief in a
supernatural power that controls human destiny. b) Complete confidence
or trust in a person or a plan. c) An institution to express belief in a divine
being, and d) loyalty or allegiance to a course or a person.
1) Essential to survival: Through our life journey,
there are people whom we need to have faith for us to survive: our parents and
their good will; our environment of supplies and safety, people we depend on
for our needs to live. If we don¡¯t have faith or confidence on the above, our
basic needs of survival is in great jeopardy.
2) Essential to knowledge: When we go to school, we
need to have faith in our teachers, books and all the information presented to
us as we learn to know and to do things. That is why we need to make sure that
the knowledge and information our teachers present to us are right, correct and
truthful. Anytime we have doubt on them, our learning process or results are in
jeopardy.
3) Essential to our soul: The soul here represents
the total of heart, mind and emotion and the spirit. For anyone to live a complete
life in body and soul, he need to have faith or confidence of God our heaven
Father, to connect our souls with him through Jesus Christ. Man is more than a
physical being; he is also a spiritual being. He needs to connect with God by
faith to be complete.
4) Essential to normal life: If you can¡¯t trust the
food at McDonald or the medicine from your pharmacist, or you can¡¯t trust the
airline can fly you to your destination. If you can¡¯t trust the car you drive;
the man or woman you married to or the company you work will be there at the
end of the month to give you your paycheck, your normal life is impossible. To
have faith or trust in some people, business or something is not an option but
a must to have a normal life.
DIFFICULTIES TO TRUST:
1) We trust self more: From very early in our
life, we trust our self more than trust anyone one else. When we want to cross
a street, we want to go by ourselves instead of trusting our parents to lead
us. When we eat as a child, we love to use our own hands and fingers and make a
mess more than being fed by others with spoons. This may be good to build
self-confidence and training, but it is the spirit of ¡°I want do it myself.¡±
2) Pride blocks trust: Some people don¡¯t want to
trust anything of their life to others because to them that means they can¡¯t do
it better by themselves and that is a no, no. Pride can be a problem to put our
trust on others because it admits our inadequacy.
3) Culture of society: If you live in a society in
which dishonesty is rampant and seen as a norm, trusting others would be seen
as naive at best or plain stupid at worst. There are countries, societies and
cultures that have no respect of honesty or trustworthy, you just can put your
well being in the hands of anyone. When you can never be sure of the quality of
things your buy, the price you pay, the word or promises others make, or the
words of the law in the land, you just won¡¯t trust anyone of anything.
4) Personal bad experience: Trust or faith is not
something you can demand but need to earn through experience. It is difficult
if not impossible to trust anyone if you have been cheated once and again. This
is the most common reason some people will never trust others. Most of us can
relate to this personally. This is true in marriage, friendship, business deals
and other interpersonal relationship. Once you have lost trust in people, it is
very hard to forget the painful experience.
PROPER WAYS TO BUILD FAITH: (Hebrews 11:1-6)
1) The meaning of faith: ¡°Faith is being sure of
what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.¡± (11:1) ¡°Being sure¡± or
¡°substance¡± is from Greek hupostasis it means assurance, a title deed or guarantee to
some estate or property. This biblical definition is very different from human
experience. Human definition of faith has very little base on ¡°hope¡±, but the
Bible defines faith of God¡¯s children as something not empty hope or wish, but
with solid guarantee like a title deed to a property. This is why
non-Christians can never understand why we can have so much confidence in our
faith in God. When we talk about faith, we are not talking wishy-washy empty
hope or a wish but something is there, guaranteed and deeded.
2) The witnesses of faith: ¡°This is what the ancient
people were commanded for.¡± (11:2) ¡°Ancient people or men¡± who had faith in God
were listed in this chapter as witnesses of the confidence or guarantee of
¡°that they hope for but did not see.¡± Throughout the Bible and the 2,000 plus
years of Christian history, the faith God¡¯s people had built a solid proof on
the validity of faith in God. The guarantee of faith in God didn¡¯t just happen
to a few special people, the elites, it has been and still is going strong to
all who can and will put their trust in the almighty God.
3) The evidence of faith: ¡°By faith we understand
that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen has been
made from things that are not visible.¡± (11:3) God wants us to see a few proofs
that building faith in Him is not just wise but also logical. First, God wants
us to see his creation and all the beauty and magic in it. ¡°Worlds¡± here means
all the things God has created. Paul explained the importance of faith in God
through creation in Romans 1:19-20, ¡°Since what can be known about God is
evident among them, because God has shown it to them (the unbelievers). From
the creation of the world his in-visible attributes, that is, His eternal power
and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what he has
made. As a result, people are without excuse.¡± Throughout the history of man,
there were many investigations, speculations, theories by scientists,
philosophers and anthropologists on the origins of the universe, but nothing
has brought a consensus of any kind, including the most recent one, the
evolution theory. If one truly wants to build his faith in God, the best
starting point is from God¡¯s creation of the universe, the human body, etc.
4) The examples of faith: ¡°By faith Abel offered to
God a better sacrifice than Cain did¡By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he
did not experience death.¡± (11:4-5)The main reason Abel and his sacrifice were
accepted by God is not the kind of sacrifice, but the kind of his faith and
life, better than that of Cain. (Gen. 4:7) The fact that Enoch was taken by God
without experienced death was because he ¡°walked with God 300 years.¡± (Gen
5:24) Walking with God means trusting God, being obedient to God and faithful
in following God. Both Abel and Enoch are worthy examples of people of faith in
God and the rewards God bestowed on them and they deserve to be our examples of
faith.
5) The rewards of faith: ¡°Now without faith it is
impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to God must believe that
He exists and rewards those who seek Him.¡± (11:6) Here God promised two kinds
of reward He will award to those who have faith in Him: First, God is happy
with him, he is pleased. While believers of other religions never have any
assurance of making their gods happy by offering their sacrifices of devotion
and material possessions, our God only asks us to believe in Him to make him
happy with us. Then when we approach Him in good faith, God promise to reward
us. No one may imagine how and what will God reward those who have strong faith
in Him. To receive God¡¯s reward is not by working hard in human things, but by
trusting God; believe in His existence and grace.
CONCLUSION:
1) No need of magic eyes: You may need magic eyes to
see some funny pictures in 3-D effect. But you don¡¯t need any magic eyes to see
God and His blessings through faith. To believe in God is not anything of
wishy-washy, but an act on solid ground----because he is God, he created the
universe; he rewards those who believe in him in this life and the life to
come.
2) Where do you put your faith? Although we all have to
believe someone or something in our life time, who or what is the best object
of your trust or faith? Do not put your faith in human being, worldly objects,
or anything of this world, they won¡¯t get you anywhere. You may end up in dead
end without guarantee of rewards. Turn your faith to Jesus, make him the Savior
and Lord of your life, and see how He is going to make your life amazingly
different.