BETTER FAITH - Part 1 of 7
Hebrews 1:1-7
I. FAITH
A. From Hebrews
1. Hebrews 10:32-39
a. Faith is closely tied to knowledge, confidence, patience, endurance, hope
b. The righteous one “shall live by faith”
c. Faith is the opposite of “shrinking back” and in which God has no pleasure in. We must press on in faith
d. If faith is not prevailing we are on the broad way that leads to destruction - even if we have been baptized
2. Hebrews 11:1
a. Assurance and Conviction of things hoped for and unseen (Romans 4:21)
b. "Things hoped for" are things God has promised. In summary, these include the resurrection of the body (Phil 3:11,20), the new heavens and the new earth (2 Pet 3:13), the possession of the heavenly country (Heb 11:16), and the possession of eternal glory (Rom 8:17; 2 Thess 1:10).
B. Faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:17) and cannot be separated from the Word of God. The world was created by the Word and is sustained by the Word and we have been created and are sustained by the Word (James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23, Luke 4:4)
C. Faith is not just a condition of salvation and the means of salvation “by faith men of old gained approval” and “we are saved by grace through faith.” “This (faith) is the basic criterion by which men and women are measured by God” – Given Blakely
II. BY FAITH MEN OF OLD GAINED APPROVAL
A. Gained Approval or Obtained a Good Testimony –the most important thing in the world is gaining approval from God Almighty
B. Faith is the means by which men of old gained Divine approval
C. Even before the Law, men found favor by their faith
D. Men of old gained approval (2), Abel obtained a testimony (4), Enoch obtained the witness (5), all these gained approval (39)
III. BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND
A. Worlds spoken into existence
1. Logic isn’t going to convince anyone apart from the Word
2. Philosophy isn’t going to convince anyone apart from the Word
3. Evidence isn’t going to convince anyone apart from the Word
4. Faith opens our eyes up to the truth about God (believing is seeing)
B. Ex nihilo – created out of nothing
1. Faith is the substance of things we cannot see
2. We can grasp the huge things of God, heavenly things through faith
3. Without faith it is impossible to understand these things and impossible to please God
IV. BY FAITH ABEL OFFERED A BETTER SACRIFICE
A. Better than Cain’s – because it was offered in faith
B. He obtained testimony of his righteousness
C. By his gifts, and through faith
V. BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TAKEN UP
A. Obtained the witness that he was pleasing to God while the rest of the world was completely wicked.
B. He pleased God and preached against sin (Jude 14-15)
C. Without faith or faithfulness it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God
D. Must believe that “He is” – “I am”
E. He rewards those who aggressively seek Him
VI. BY FAITH NOAH PREPARED AN ARK
A. He was warned about things not yet seen – rain? World wide flood/destruction?
B. He prepared an ark that his household might be saved
C. He prepared an ark that the world might be condemned
D. He became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith and is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:21-26)