Title: THE PROMISE THAT CALLS FOR FAITH
Focus: Christians live by God’s promise, which calls for faith
Function: To move the people to anchor their trust or faith in God and his promise.
Text: Hebrews 11:1-16, 39-40
INTRODUCTION
When a man and woman pledge fidelity to each other on their wedding day, what holds their marriage together? What is the glue that bonds a husband and wife? What is it that gives children security in a family?
The answer is simple: trust and a promise hold a marriage together; the response of trust to our partner’s promise bonds us as husbands and wives; and children find security in their parents’ response to keep trust and fidelity pledged on their wedding day.
Take away the promise, and the marriage begins to shake; become unfaithful to your spouse, and your marriage will crumble; yell and scream at each other and treat each other with disrespect, and the children will become insecure and afraid that Mom and Dad are going to split ways.
Making and keeping our wedding vows and placing our trust in our spouse--the maker of the vow—are the ingredients that hold a marriage relationship together.
So it is also with God and us. Christians live by God’s promises. And a promise of God calls for a response of trust or faith by us. God is the maker and keeper of his promises. And God looks for a faith response from us. As we explore some aspects of faith tonight, we notice that the Scriptures move us to anchor our trust of faith in God’s promises.
THE PASSAGE
The flow of the passage that we just read is very simple. The inspired writer begins with a definition of faith: (vs.1) “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Shortly after this definition we encounter three examples of people who lived by faith: Abel, Enoch, and Noah.
Then, beginning with vs. 7 we meet Abraham, the man of faith. In verses 8-10 we notice that Abraham embraced God’s promise of land; in verses 11-12, we learn of Abraham’s faith in God’s promise of a son; and in verses 13-16 we notice that the ancient people of faith all were looking for something that is bigger, far richer than the actual promises they received from God. Listen (vs. 16) “…they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.” Our reading concluded with verses 38 and 39, where we receive some startling insights about how the promise of God unites us with all God’s people of faith, from the beginning of time to the end. Such, then, is the flow of the Scripture reading.
Now my hunch is that if we ask 6 people for a definition of faith, we may get 6 different answers. When I say, for example, “let’s recite the articles of the Christian faith”(such as the Apostles’ Creed), you know that I am talking about a body or collection of statements of belief. That’s one way of defining the word “faith.”
The Heidelberg Catechism gives us a more common way of speaking about faith. In Lord’s Day 7 we learn that faith can be defined as “…not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation.” Here, faith includes not only knowledge or conviction, but also a heartfelt trust in God and his promises.
Building upon this definition of trust in God, the Belgic Confession, in Article 35 speaks of faith as “the hand and mouth of our souls.” I like that way of speaking.
The writer of Hebrews, however, uses imagery centered on “seeing.” His way of speaking about faith may lead us to talk about the “eyes of faith.” Listen: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
In light of the Scripture passage, I want to make a number of observations:
· About seeing things: We speak of “the naked eye.” By that we mean our eyeball which enables us to see natural, material, visible things. Our eyeballs enable us to navigate throughout creation and to enjoy the beauty therein. The “eyes of faith,” however, enable us to see things that are not visible such as: God, the angels and the heavens; these all relate to the spiritual, invisible realm.
We also need eyes of faith to see the future. For example, when Noah received God’s instruction to build an ark because sometime in the future God would send a great flood to judge the earth and all mankind, Noah went to work. For 40 years he hammered away at a boat which he needed for the future. Thus we read in the text: (vs.7) “By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family….” So, this much is clear: with the naked eye, we see visible things; and with the eyes of faith we see spiritual things and are able to envision the future.
That leads me to my next
observation, namely that
· Eyes of faith are necessary to please God: Listen: (vs. 6) “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Many atheists and secularists, today, reject the Christian faith, arguing that the Christian faith is irrational—it seems to put our minds or thinking abilities in neutral.
But that’s not the case. The scripture does not ask us to love God mindlessly; it asks us to put our love of God above the limits of reason. It asks us to put our trust--the hand and mouth of our soul--in the invisible God who lives in both the visible world and in the invisible, spiritual world. Instead of faith and reason being in conflict with each other, they are complementary.
Both faith and reason are God’s gifts to us by which we learn to live in relationship with God. Since faith calls for trust in that what is not seen, God is pleased when we walk in faith, when we lean not on our own understanding but upon the Word of God, which calls for faith.
My third observation from the text is that
· The Word or promise of God calls for a trust response from us: Just as a wife responds to her husband’s promise of fidelity by putting her trust in her husband and his word of promise, so God calls us to put our trust in him as he makes promises to us.
From the Bible we learn that God, from the beginning to the end of human history, has made a promise that calls for a trust response from us. Think of God’s promise to us as a mighty river with many tributaries. The mighty river declares in power: “I shall be your God.” And the river woos us unto a covenantal relationship with God, saying, “And you shall be my people.” God said this to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all their descendants; God fulfilled this promise in Jesus Christ; and because of Jesus’ work, there shall come a day when the promise of God shall be perfected, totally cashed in, fully experienced by all God’s people. Thus the apostle John, in reference to the renewal of all things, can say: (vs.3) “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
God’s mighty river—his promise—always goes deeper than we might believe at first sight. God promised Abraham land. But it turned out that this land goes beyond the land of Canaan. For with the eyes of faith, Abraham was looking for “…a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (vs.16).
A country, a city—these are references to God’s kingdom, to God’s heavens and earth, to God’s creation—the visible as well as the invisible. These are references which point to the location where all God’s people receive their inheritance (the promised new heavens and earth); these references pertain to our redemption, our salvation, our resurrection from the dead, our glorification of the body.
All these references concern God’s promise of eternal life—a promise which runs through the scriptures from first to last, which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and which will come to full expression when Jesus comes again and makes all things new.
Here’s another observation from the text:
· Believers in Christ Jesus will receive the fulfillment of God’s promise together with all God’s people throughout the ages: Think of this: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and countless other people who drank from God’s river, who lived by God’s promises are all waiting today in the presence of God. They are waiting to receive their inheritance TOGETHER with us.
Like us today here on earth, they are waiting in heaven for that moment in history when God in Christ renders the heavens, shakes the earth and makes all things new.
When they lived on earth, they needed to learn to live by faith; we must do the same. The promise of God calls for faith. We, however, have a tremendous benefit: we have the gift of hindsight—God fulfilled his promise in his Son, the Lord Jesus.
The ancient believers struggled to grasp God’s plan of salvation. Thus we read in I Peter 1:10-11 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.” The saints of the past only had the promise. We have the benefit of Christ’s accomplished work. By looking back to Christ’s work on the cross, in the tomb, and on the throne in heaven today, we can steady our living with the compass of faith.
My wife and I used to live near the shoreline of Lake Ontario. On a clear day we could see the Blue Jay stadium and the CN Tower more than 9 miles across the lake. On a foggy day, however, you could not see 10 yards ahead of you. Yet, we knew where Toronto was.
Sometimes, everything related to faith in God seems quite clear. Things are smooth sailing. Other times, we are in the fog of doubt and despair. But because of Christ and his abiding Spirit, we know the end of the promise; we know that Christ’s Word and Spirit will lead us to the new heavens and earth.
May God move us to anchor our trust in his mighty promise. Someday, soon, very soon perhaps—we shall be there, together with all the saints, from every age. Then…then our faith shall turn to sight. And we shall see Jesus as he is. And all shall be well.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.