Lesson 21 Hebrews 11:1-16  New King James Version

11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

First Impression?

Others answered, “faith is important” and “seek it out”. I had heard this referred to as the faith hall of fame, but this is not about the people in the stories, but the faith they exhibited and what the stories teach us on how to be faithful.

The substance of things hoped for – What does this mean to you?

Someone said, “Pray or worry. Not both.” To me the phrase means that it is the faith that is important, not the things that are hoped for.

The evidence of things not seen – How would you explain this to a seeker?

We spent the first week discussing just these three questions and how the weakness of our actions plays out in our health. One option was to talk in terms of the science of things too small to be seen. Another was to talk about how our lives have been impacted by God. My view today is that we should not seek to show that there is evidence in the world around us or that our stories prove there is an active God, but to show how we and our actions have been shaped by belief in God and how that is the result of allowing Jesus to love through us and not of us simply following a set of rules.

A good testimony – How does your faith provide you a good testimony?

We started week two with this one. The first level of response was that we could talk about the good things that God has done for us. But I wanted to get to the fact that our lives are impacted by our faith, and it is those actions of ours that give us the good testimony. Yes, glorify God for giving us a job or a house or a car, but testify that we helped our neighbors because we loved Jesus.

That the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible – How does science impact your faith and vice versa how does your faith impact your belief in science?

We spent so much time on this week one, the I almost skipped it here. But I wanted to talk about how I view science as theories made up by man about things he does not understand, and faith is knowing that God knows everything and nothing man makes up will ever override what God says is true. I have faith that God is truth. I have faith that science had an experiment that gave me a clue of how to use nature to do something worthwhile but expect another experiment to show how the first was wrong before too long.

And through it he, being dead, still speaks – How does Abel’s faith still speak beyond his death?

I am at a loss for what we discussed or what I intended. Abel did what God asked, and he did so regardless of the outcome. Sometimes people do good to get good. But here he simply followed and was killed for it. The outcome is not the goal. Our goal is the action and to then let God handle the outcome.

Abel was righteous, Enoch pleased God, Abel died, Enoch did not. – Can we learn anything from the difference?

This was just to repeat the our actions based on faith are not about the outcomes good or bad, but are only about being obedient and that is the end, in and of itself.

For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him – We must believe that God exists in order to please Him, and we must believe that those who diligently seek Him will be rewarded. Why?

This was a big point in the discussion. The verse tells us that to be saved we must believe in God, and we must believe that He will reward us for doing. In this case, our reward for believing that He can save us through the gift of His Son is salvation. We cannot be saved if we do not believe in God, and we cannot be saved if we do not believe we have to take the leap of faith to be saved. The best answer was a classic “If you don’t, you won’t.” We need to make shirts that say that.

Noah condemned the world and became an heir of righteousness. – How can we condemn the world and remain righteous?

We started week three here. We camped on this some to make sure that our condemnation of the world is not by standing up and saying, “You are wrong, and you are going to burn in hell”, but by standing up and saying I believe in this, and I do not care what the outcome is, but I am going to do the right thing.

Abraham waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God – What city was this?

Heaven. Short answer, but really important that it is understood to be the city in question.

Dwelt in the land as a foreigner – What made Abraham different?

Abraham did not get involved in the petty politics and personal problems of those around him. He took care of his own and did right by others. He left them alone until they did not leave him alone. Of course, he asked God to help him slaughter a whole bunch of people to get his family back, but he did not plunder.

I always think of Sarah laughing and find it hard to believe she was credited with faith, but it says it here in plain English. – What plain things do you struggle to accept?

What is so funny is that my version of this verse and at least one other version were worded exactly opposite in meaning. In this version Sarah had faith, which did not fit with my reading of the story in Genesis. In the other version, the only faith was that of Abraham and Sarah was simply the vessel. I struggled to admit Sarah was faithful despite what my version of the Bible told me. In the end, I was looking for a real-life example like how people struggle to believe they do not have to do anything good to keep their salvation. They should want to do good, but salvation is never earned, only received.

Were assured of them, embraced them and confessed… – Is this not a formula we too can follow?

It is. Find the promises of God and use them to live them out in your life.

God is not ashamed to be called their God – Do we have to change for God not to be ashamed of us?

No. Christ covers all our sin. We should never want to bring shame to the Lord, but He still loves us and claims us as HIs children even when we do sin.