Bible Study HF194 - Hebrews 11 (#19 The Testifiers of Faith)
To: Hebraic-Foundations@YahooGroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Monday, June 16, 2008
Subject: Bible Study HF194 - Hebrews 11 (#19 The Testifiers of Faith)
Hebraics,
Our last study saw dire warnings to those who may be wavering in their
allegiance to Christ. Were they to turn from Jesus, they would be
discounting the testimony of Moses, and of David, and of all the
prophets. This is exactly what Jesus said to the Jewish leaders;
"Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses
you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you
would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his
writings, how will you believe My words." (John 5:45-47)
In this study we want to look at some of the Old Testament hero's who bore
witness to their faith in God and to their faith in His promised Redeemer.
But rather than comment on each individual, I'll simply deal with the heart
of this chapter, which has to do with faith in God and in His promised
Redeemer.
At the beginning of the next chapter, the apostolic writer will call
these testifiers, 'a great cloud of witnesses.'
This is Bible Study HF194 - Hebrews 11 (#19 - The Testifiers of Faith)
Heb 11:1,2 - "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction
of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval."
It is important to understand what the apostolic writer means with the term
'faith.' Faith is a matter of the heart. It takes to itself the realness of
that which pertains to God, that is, things that cannot be measured or
apprehended by natural senses. The things of God are real to the person of
faith. He is able to act on what others are unable to see or know. Faith in
Jesus carries its own witness in one's heart.
Rather than take time to explain the Greek terms used here, it is enough to
let the apostle Paul explain what our faith in Jesus Christ allows for us.
He writes,
"For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of
glory far beyond all comparison, while *we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen*; for the things which are seen
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2CO4:17,18
nasb)
The true test of a person who is born of heaven will always be their faith
in Jesus Christ. Jesus is real to this person. The things of God are real to
this person. The promises of God are real to this person. Moses gives
witness to this in verse 27. It says, "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing
the wrath of the king; for he endured, *as seeing Him who is unseen."*
**
This is why the term 'faith' and the term 'truth' are closely allied. Where
Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through Me,' the Greek term for truth literally speaks of
the unveiled reality or the essence lying at the basis of an appearance.
True believers walk in the reality of life that comes from above.
Heb 11:3 - "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the
word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are
visible."
What science so blindly searches for, the child of God already has the
answer. Faith accepts as true the Bible account of creation.
Heb 11:4,5 - "By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain,
through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God
testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still
speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he
was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that
before his being taken up he was pleasing to God."
Again we see the testimony on how very real a true walk of faith is. Abel
and Enoch both lived under the divine regime of faith. No so with Cain. John
tells us that Cain was of the evil one. (Cf. 1 John 3:12)
Heb 11:6 - "And 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
seek Him."
Faith in God rests on the belief that He truly exists even though He cannot
be seen. The literal for 'those who seek Him,' is, *'to them that seek Him
out.' *Anyone who wishes to find God can find Him. In speaking to the
philosophers and pagan followers on Mar's Hill, Paul said, *"He is not far
from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of
your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'" *(Acts 17:27,28)
Heb 11:13-16 - "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises,
but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having
confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who
say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went
out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a
better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God; for He has prepared a city for them."
While this chapter speaks of others, it is here that we find our summation
for the venture of faith. Earlier in verse 10, it says that Abraham was
looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is
God. Where did Abraham and all these faith hero's get the idea of a heavenly
city?
This idea of there being a heavenly country and a heavenly city had long
been a hallmark of faith for the Hebrew people. They considered themselves
to be pilgrims in much the same way that we Christians see ourselves.
David wrote, *"Your statutes are my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage." *(Psalm 119:54)
Peter wrote, *"If you address as Father the One who impartially judges
according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of
your stay on earth." *(1 Peter 1:17)
Heb 11:17,19 - "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and
he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it
was he to whom it was said, 'In Isaac your descendants shall be called.' He
considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which
he also received him back as a type."
This offering up of Isaac is one the most clear-cut types of the cross to be
found in the older testament. Isaac prefigured Christ. But he also
prefigured the children of the cross, that is, God's new creation in Christ.
Once again in Abraham and Isaac we see the gospel presented in the Old
Testament.
Rather than speak to each of the hero's of faith in this chapter, let's
focus on the conclusion of this chapter and what the writer's goal in
presenting the short narratives.
Heb 11:39,40 - "And all these, having gained approval through their faith,
did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better
for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."
All these gained approval and were accepted among the Redeemed because of
their faith in God, in His promises, and in His promised Redeemer. They
could not yet receive what was promises because the work of the cross had
not taken placed.
Where it says, *'apart from us they would not be made perfect,' *this is to
be understood in the sense of their completion. It is only in Christ that
men can be made whole. It is only in Christ that we become heirs of God. It
is only in Christ that all the promises of God become ours.
Adam Clark says it well enough -
"They all heard of the promises made to Abraham of a heavenly rest, and of
the promise of the Messiah, for this was a constant tradition; but they died
without having seen this Anointed of the Lord. Christ was not in any of
their times manifested in the flesh; and of him who was the expectation of
all nations, they heard only by the hearing of the ear. This must be the
promise, without receiving of which the apostle says they died."
The study is open.
Blessings,
Buddy
--
Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
"How beautiful upon the mountains..." Isa 52:7
Web: http://ChristianChallenge.Org <http://christianchallenge.org/>
blog: http://www.buddymartin.net/blog/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)