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What we’ll do, able to literally shake the stadium. Just a lot going on. And one of my favorite things that takes place at the games within the crowd is when the crowd echoes the PA announcer. So this really is kind of a sight to behold as the entire crowd, in unison, one voice, one loud, energetic, passionate cry, responds back to that which the PA announcer said.
Okay, so now let me tell you a quick story. And hopefully by now, if you’ve been with us for a little bit, you know, every good story starts off with the words, “So there we were,” and when we were where we were. So this was a few years back, a couple of years back, a group of us were going to a Badgers football game on a picture-perfect early fall season game.
The group that I went with included someone who is not like a huge football fan; at best, maybe more of a casual fan. But this person is a major fan in like creating crowd interaction—like all in when it comes to crowd interaction. So for this person, going to the Badger football game for the very first time was like being a kid going to Disneyland for the first time, and this person’s mind was about ready to be blown by all the interactions that were about to take place.
So we get to the stadium, we find our seats, we settle in, and as the game kicks off, the Badgers have the ball with the PA announcer declaring, “1st and 10 Wisconsin.” If you’ve been to a game, you know that’s one of the echoes that the entire crowd does in unison. So PA announcer: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.” Entire crowd, one voice, echo response: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.”
For this individual, their eyes lit up right away with excitement; a smile spread all across their face. This excitement continued to build with every first down the Badgers were able to gain.
So PA announcer: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.” The entire crowd, one voice, one cry, including this first-time attender in my group: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.” By the second, third call, and echo of this “1st and 10, Wisconsin,” this person in my group quickly became the most passionate fan in the stands, crying out with every ounce of energy: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.”
Now, the team the Badgers were playing that day was not one of the better teams they had ever played. So over and over again, the Badgers continued to gain first downs. Over and over again, the PA announcer: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.” And the crowd echoing, including this person in my group: “1st and 10, Wisconsin.”
This kept happening over and over again as the game moved along. The first quarter came to an end, the second quarter was well on its way. I mentioned already many times the echo of the “1st and 10, Wisconsin.”
So this person in our group, this more casual fan, someone who was yet all in, great passion, great zeal with this echo “1st and 10, Wisconsin,” at a timeout turned to the rest of us in the group and asked us a question: “Guys, what does ‘1st and 10, Wisconsin’ mean?”
Now I tell you, this story today sets us up for our text this morning, which is a text of study that really begins a new section in the book of Hebrews, which is a section that speaks often about faith. We know this is an important word for us, one that we can talk about often, where we can be all in with the word “faith,” all in with passion and zeal on how important faith is. But I do wonder, as much as we talk about faith, if we know or understand what it is, what it actually means.
Now, in our study of Hebrews, the word “faith,” or like “faith in action,” the word “faithful” has come up multiple times already for us. Let me just remind you of some of the passages we have already covered.
So in chapter two, Jesus is the faithful high priest. In chapter three, Jesus is appointed by God to be apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him. In chapter three, Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Again, Moses was faithful in God’s house as a servant. In chapter three, Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. In chapter four, there’s a warning to not go back to the Old Testament faith because those people were not united by faith with those who listened. In chapter six, there’s an encouragement to grow into maturity instead of struggling with the most basic elementary doctrines of faith towards God. In chapter six, there are warnings not to be sluggish, but to imitate others who through faith and patience inherit promises.
In our text last week in chapter 10, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. In our text last week, “My righteous shall live by faith,” which is a quote from Habakkuk 2, which is perhaps the most famous verse in Scripture with faith in it. Finally, where we stopped last week, we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and preserve their souls.
So the word “faith” and “faithful” has come up a number of times for us already in Hebrews, but as mentioned, we’re entering a section of this letter where faith is really that much more front and center. All throughout chapter 11, we see this word “faith,” where chapter 11 is actually maybe the most famous chapter in Scripture on the topic of faith. In fact, this is often referred to as the “Hall of Faith.” Throughout chapter 11, we see different examples of those who by faith went before us. This word “faith” is front and center because it comes up actually 24 times, and “faithful” comes up another time. So 25 times just in this one chapter.
Today, starting where we’re at, the next few weeks, we’re spending a lot of time with faith. Over and over again, we’re going to be thinking about what it is and consider how to best apply it, or what that looks like to apply it to our lives today.
As we kick off this section of Hebrews on faith, we do so by the author giving us a definition of what faith is, which hopefully helps us not just to talk about faith over and over again, even with zeal and excitement, but actually not knowing what it is. Hopefully, this morning, as we go through this definition, we will know what faith is in ways that our hearts are stoked and filled with faith.
So if that is an introduction, really look back with me at our text starting in verse one, where we read this definition:
“Now, faith—what it is, how to define it? Biblically, faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.”
Now this definition here, let me hit pause and try to point out a few things for you. First, let me just remind us of the context of this letter, this context of this definition of faith. Throughout the study of Hebrews, we learned over and over again that the writer of Hebrews is concerned that his first readers were actually considering walking away from Jesus Christ and becoming apostates.
This concern that the writer had, we worked through a number of different times already in our study, that he had different strategies with the hopes of helping these readers to not follow through on that which they were entertaining. Just by way of reminder, let me just remind us of some of the stuff we’ve already looked at in our study before I circle back to our text today.
In our text of study in Hebrews, we read how the author uses the strategy of teaching biblical theology to help prevent against apostasy, where the writer of Hebrews used various characters, various Old Testament forms or themes to help his readers see how, as we follow the theme, they actually take us to Jesus Christ. For example, in chapter one, long ago God spoke through the prophets, but now he has definitively spoken through his Son. Right? That’s biblical theology.
Or in chapter two or four, among other places, Jesus is like the better high priest because he’s the one that didn’t offer up the blood of animals where he had to cover his own sin. Rather, the blood that Jesus offered up is his own blood, not for his sins, but for the sins of his people.
Or in chapters three and four, we had the picture of rest and how the picture of rest is scattered throughout the Old Testament narrative, which is a rest that actually leads us to Jesus Christ, that we might find rest with him, like a relational rest with him.
In chapter seven, remember how we had the mysterious Old Testament priest and king Melchizedek? That’s where Christ came from. He came from the order of Melchizedek, where Christ proved to be the truest priest, the truest king who ministers to his people eternally as he reigns on his throne on high.
In chapters 8, 9, and 10, more biblical theology, where we see how the Old Covenant was given to God through Moses, but that was a covenant that had fault because that covenant could make no one perfect. So it was a shadow, a pointer to a better covenant that was to come that Christ ushers in.
Many times throughout the book of Hebrews, the writer wrote in terms like biblical theology to help us see how the storyline of the Bible was always leading us to Christ. He did this with the hopes that the readers would hold fast, not become apostates, but hold fast.
Similarly, throughout the book of Hebrews, the author used a strategy where he sought to help his readers see that Jesus is simply better; he’s simply superior to all things. In the beginning of our study of Hebrews, Jesus is better, superior to angels. Jesus is better, superior to even Moses, who seems like he was the par excellence of the Old Testament. Yet Jesus is better multiple times.
In Hebrews, Jesus is better because he has this new and better covenant that he ushers in, one that has no fault to it. Jesus is the better, superior high priest because, as mentioned earlier, he is the one who is without sin.
In Hebrews, in this strategy, this is the writer of Hebrews basically appealing to reason. How could his first readers become apostates? How could they leave Jesus Christ, the one who’s simply better and superior to all things? That makes no reasonable sense.
Perhaps most famously, in our study of Hebrews, the author has used a strategy of warnings to help his readers stay close to Christ. Warnings are scattered throughout the letter, where he warned the readers of the dire consequences that come from leaving Jesus Christ, which perhaps the strongest of these warnings is in our text last week.
The warning that when we walk away from Christ, there is fearful judgment; there’s a fury of fire that will come by falling into the hands of the living God, the one who declares that vengeance is mine to all who trample Christ underfoot by rejecting him. These warnings are given in ways that are meant to be heard, heard in such ways that the readers keep going back to Christ.
Let me also mention that in the letter of Hebrews, the author uses a strategy of encouragement, which is also scattered throughout this letter, where in this letter are actually some of the most encouraging passages, I think, in all the New Testament.
Some of the encouragements we’ve read already include how we can boldly approach the Lord Jesus Christ on His throne because he sits on his throne as our great high priest who can sympathize with us in all our weaknesses, yet without sin. And as we boldly approach the Lord Jesus Christ, we do so knowing that he can help us. He gives us grace in our times of need. I mean, that’s an encouragement.
There’s encouragement that Christ is the sure and steady anchor of our soul. We read in Hebrews. There’s encouragement about the full, complete, and eternal forgiveness of sin that Christ gives to all who, by faith, come to him. In our text last week, incredible encouragements where the author reminded his readers of all the things they’ve already endured. And as they continue to endure, it’ll only be for a little while because Christ will come without delay.
When he comes, he will reward his people. Even the last passage we looked at, the last verse we looked at last week, just this encouragement: “You’re not those who shrink back, those who go apostate and who are destroyed, but you are those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
This is the encouragement all throughout. So throughout the book of Hebrews, multiple different strategies used by the author to get the attention of the readers with the hope that each of the different strategies would be used by God to help the readers to persevere in their faith, to stop thinking about becoming apostates, to hold fast to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who’s ultimately holding fast to his people.
Now, today, just to bring us back around as we kick off this section here on faith, as we get to the definition of faith in verse one, we’re coming to now another strategy the author is implementing. A strategy grounded in faith. A strategy where not only is the author giving the definition of faith, which is in our text today, but the author also gives multiple examples of faith for his readers to look to and be inspired by so they would hold fast to Jesus Christ—definition and examples of faith.
These are really on the opposite end of apostasy. As we work through the text today and the next few sermons, take note of the strategy the author is using. The strategy, as mentioned, starts out with a definition, which is definitely not simply to put in our Bible dictionaries, but a definition that’s meant to help us persevere as we apply it to our lives.
Okay, and by the way, let me just pause also for this year, just maybe a little bit more of a practical note before we move on. The second thing here in verse one, all these different strategies I just mentioned, this is a good model for us and the importance of having different tools in our toolbox as we seek to share Christ with others, as we seek to make disciples, as we seek to become all things to all men.
There’s not just this one-size-fits-all strategy that we use. Rather, at times we come at multiple different directions, multiple different strategies as we seek to point people to Jesus Christ.
Okay, second, let me just try to help us think through this definition of faith, which is found in two linked phrases. I’ll look back at our text. The assurance of things hoped for, which is the first phrase. The conviction of things not seen, which is the second phrase.
Let me try to speak to each of these little phrases here.
First, faith is assurance of things hoped for, or other translations use words similar to assurance, with the ESV saying something like faith is like the confidence, or faith is the firm conviction of things hoped for. Other translations actually go even a little bit further by saying faith is actually the reality of things hoped for.
So not just like a confidence or assurance of things hopeful, but like a reality. Most scholars agree that confidence or assurance is probably the better way to translate. But even at that, those words—confidence, assurance—they communicate that faith is not some type of wishful thinking or some type of pie-in-the-sky desire, or some type of shot-in-the-dark, last-ditch effort.
Faith is not something that’s just kind of flopping around out there and perhaps, maybe by small chance, it might flop the way we want it to go. That’s not faith. It’s not a last-ditch effort where we just kind of throw something out there and see what happens. Rather, in our text, in the definition, faith is a conviction. It’s an assurance. It’s a confidence that what we’re hoping for will come into reality because we believe it’s true.
This leads to the second phrase. This assurance, this conviction, on one hand, is in things that are not seen. I think this is maybe where faith is hardest for us. It almost feels like maybe a contradiction to what I just said. How can faith be a conviction if it’s not seen? How can it be true?
This week, my mind went back to the disciple Thomas, remember him? After the resurrection, who did not have faith in Jesus Christ until he could see with his own eyes, putting his hands into the wounds of our Lord. Which, by the way, perhaps is true of some of us here today. You don’t have faith because you can’t see with your own physical eyes.
Yet for those of us here who do believe in Jesus Christ, believe in his death and resurrection, right? That’s our faith. It’s rooted in that which is not seen. In that same scene with Thomas, Jesus actually said, “Blessed are those who have not seen yet believed.”
Now, the unseen things we have confidence in—if we’re going to have faith—are not just stuff aimlessly floating around. Rather, these things that we have not seen with our own physical eyes, these things we have assurance and conviction that ground our hope.
These things relate to the work that God is doing around us, specifically the work that we actually see in His Word, which includes works that are unseen that God has done in the past. Starting with creation, where God created the heavens and the earth and all that fills it, which our text is going to pick up too when we get to verse three.
But it’s not just God’s unseen work in creation that gives us assurance and confidence, but it’s also his past work which fills the biblical storyline, which verse four and the following pick up on. I’m actually going to run through a little bit of some of these in just a second.
All this work, how it ultimately relates to God’s work he’s done in the past, especially in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which chapter 12 starts out with. By the way, this faith and this past work of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is actually mandatory if we’re going to have faith in ways that are true to Scripture.
For us, none of these past acts of God we have seen with our own physical eyes. In our text, these acts—they were unseen to us, even though we have conviction concerning the truth of them.
It’s not just faith in God’s past work that gives us assurance and confidence, which is at the heart of our faith that grounds our hope. There’s also God’s work in the present, the work that he’s presently doing in the world around us, including that which he’s doing in our own hearts, which at times is hard for us to see.
Often, this is unseen. The present work of God that he’s doing, or maybe our own physical eyes don’t see, is work where Christ is dwelling in heavenly places. Work where he’s living to make intercession for his people, where Christ is always presently at work, calling his people to draw near to him, where Christ is always presently at work in ways maybe we don’t see yet.
He is the anchor of our soul, where Christ is always presently at work through His Word, through His Holy Spirit, to keep and preserve his people, using all sorts of means to do so, including different strategies that we just went through.
For the first readers, God’s work in the present was a work they weren’t seeing because they were suffering, which we know when we’re suffering in the moment. It’s so hard to have faith because when we’re suffering, we feel that all we can see is that which is causing us trouble.
The things of God maybe look like they’re unseen to us. Yet in those moments, this is where we have conviction of God’s work in the present. We have faith in that which is unseen, that indeed he is at work.
Keep going. We also know that this faith, this confidence, this assurance is not just in God’s work that he’s done in the past or in the present. We also have faith in God’s unseen work in the future and all that which is to come and all that he has promised to his people.
In the book of Hebrews, in the future we have this promise. In a little while, Christ will come again. When he comes again, he promises to take his people to an eternal reward that awaits as his people enter a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Friends, there’s so much of the hope that we have, this assurance, the conviction that we have in faith and that which is to come of God’s work in the future that he promises to his people. Really, go back to the context of the first readers; this unseen work to come that they were to set their eyes to. This is where the great reward was found, where their current suffering that they were enduring would ultimately be shown to be worth it.
So, yes, faith is assurance, conviction of that which is not seen. Keep going. Does it mean that our faith is not grounded in some type of reality? This actually leads to the third thing I want to point out about our faith: our assurance, our convictions of things hoped for, not seen, ultimately is grounded in the trust and the truth of God’s Word, for sure.
Even though with our own physical eyes we do not see all the things that we just mentioned in the past, in the present, or the future, that we do see. We do see as we read God’s Word, as through the power of the Holy Spirit, that which is not seen to us becomes revealed.
So that through the eyes of faith, we see God’s work, specifically the work that he has done for us through Jesus Christ. Friends, that’s where our conviction, that’s where our assurance, that is where our hope is found and secured in the reality of Jesus Christ as he is revealed to us in Scripture.
That’s why Scripture actually tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God. Where we hear so that by faith we might see. So by faith we can look to Jesus Christ.
Keep following our text, verse 2: “For by it, by faith in God, faith in his work, faith in the Word that He has given to us.” “For by it, the people of old received their commendation,” where they were approved by God, which is which we’re actually going to see over and over again in the verses to come.
In Hebrews 11, the people of old who lived by faith, who were honored by God through their faith. For the sake of a little bit of flyby here, we’re going to be working through in the weeks to come. Let me just point out a few of the names we’re going to come to. This is going to help us see that these people who were commended by God for their faith.
So in verse 4, if you want to take your eyes there, Abel lived by faith, was commended by God through a more acceptable sacrifice, and was counted by God as righteous. In verse 5, Enoch, by faith, walked with God and was commended by God as having pleased God before God took him up so he did not see death.
In verse 7, Noah, by faith, constructed an ark and was commended by God as an heir to righteousness. In verse 8 and following, Abraham, by faith, left his land, believed in a promise, looked forward to his city that was to come, was commended by God as Abraham was given not just a son, but an entire lineage too great to number.
In verse 11, by faith, Sarah considered God faithful and was commended by God for receiving the power to conceive, even though she was past the age. I’ll just stop here. It’s mentioned in the weeks to come—name after name after name of old, including names that are not named in verses 35 to 38 of chapter 11—who lived by faith, most of whom were in very difficult, challenging situations where all they could see were troubles, who did not in this life receive the promise. Yet they were commended by God for their faith.
Finally, where our text is going to end today, in verse 3, which goes back to the unseen work of God that he’s done in the past. We read in verse 3: “By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God,” where God created the universe out of nothing, ex nihilo, where through his word, God spoke everything into existence, like every atom, every molecule, all created by the word of God.
So that which is now seen, which refers to all things that now exist in creation that we can now see with our physical eyes—all that is now seen was made out of that which is invisible. For us, I think this is an encouragement that we are to read. Certainly, this must have been an encouragement for the first readers, once again, said at the current moment, they were perhaps struggling to see the invisible work of God that was going on in their life.
Verse 3 is a reminder that in time through God’s work in the visible, one day that work will be seen. It will be visible, just like it was with creation. That which is unseen, one day it will produce that which is seen.
By the way, this week, reflecting on this reality, I was taken to the great hymn “It Is Well,” which so correctly sings: “And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trumpet shall sound, and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul.”
Friends, that’s why we persevere in our faith, trusting that one day our faith shall be sight. That which is unseen will be seen. As you see the Lord Jesus Christ with our eyes now, as I close, I do want to quickly give you some organized thoughts from this passage when it comes to our faith—some of the things we actually already talked about. I want to give you these thoughts again just to help ensure that we know what we’re declaring when we talk about our faith.
Okay, so faith, what is it? Faith is an assured conviction. This is something that’s deep, it’s grounded. Faith is something that’s much weightier than our ever-changing feelings or emotions or the ever-changing situations we might find ourselves in life, where there’s so many ups and downs.
Faith is deep, it’s grounded, it’s conviction. I think this reality of what Scripture defines faith as is so much different than maybe how the word “faith” is defined by the world around us. Go back to what I said earlier. I think the world around us sees faith as almost like a shot in the dark sometimes, kind of flopping around there aimlessly.
That’s not faith in the text of Scripture. God’s Word defines faith as assured. It’s a conviction. It’s something that’s grounded in that which is true.
Which is the second thing I want to point out: faith is grounded in God’s Word. That’s where we find our assurance. That’s where we find our convictions. It’s not in ourselves and how we might feel, but it’s in who God is and what he has revealed to us in the word he has given to us.
Saying that faith is not like aimlessly flopping around attached to nothing. Rather, our faith is tethered to God’s Word, the truth of God’s Word, the work that God reveals to us over and over again. Where we see in God’s Word how God has worked in the past, in the present, in the future, starting with what we see in God’s Word concerning the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s what tethers our faith: the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in Hebrews who tells us it’s the same yesterday, past, today, present, and forever—the future. Friends, keep saying that’s where our conviction, that is where our assurance is found, is in God’s Word. It is in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is sure and steady, who is the eternal truth.
Third, faith is something that leads us to action. When we have faith, there’s action as we seek to follow and obey God’s Word. Maybe not perfect action, but there’s going to be action. I mentioned earlier, Hebrews 11 is one of the most famous sections of Scripture on the topic of faith.
The other one is maybe James 2. It’s actually something we covered this summer. Will preached on that. It was a great summary. If you want to go back and listen to that, let me just read a summary of James 2. It says this: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warm and filled,’ without giving him the things needed for the body, what good is that?
So also, faith by itself, that does not have works, is dead. But someone will say to you, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I’ll show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with the works, and faith was completed by the works. And Scripture was fulfilled that God says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteous,’ and he was called a friend of God. You see, a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
In the same way, was not Rahab the prostitute justified by works as she received the messengers and sent them out on the way? For a body apart from the spirit is dead. Also, faith apart from works is dead.”
Friends, when we have faith in Jesus Christ, faith is defined by Scripture. That faith will be put on display by our works, by our actions. When we have faith, our actions follow.
In our text today, in verse two, the people of old, including the ones that are spoken about throughout chapter 11, received a commendation as they lived out by faith. Faith put on display through their works—works that were in line with God’s Word.
Fourth, faith is honored by God. I mentioned they were commended by their faith. They were approved by faith. It was through faith that they received their reward. As we learned last week, the righteous shall live by faith. Friends, our works by themselves are not what God honors. It’s not what he commands.
In the passage next week, it’s impossible to please God without faith. Rather, it is our faith that leads to works. That’s what God commends. If I can give encouragement to you here, all of our acts of faith are honored by the Lord, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.
God honors them—like by faith serving others in the church. God honors that. Or by faith, like giving of tithes and offerings, or by faith not forsaking the meeting together, like we’re doing right now, which is the habit of some, which our text last week mentioned. But by faith coming and being part of the body, by faith, like living in community, God honors even when it’s really hard for us to do so.
God honors by faith when we suffer in ways we’re seeking to set our hearts towards God to glorify him, even in our suffering. God honors that. God honors when, by faith, we try to talk to our neighbors about Jesus, even if the delivery is kind of clumsy as we do so.
God honors when we live by faith, when we strive to be faithful at our jobs, or in our relationships, or in our marriage, or in our parenting. God honors that. Or by faith, when you seek to confess your sins to one another, where you’re actively seeking to flee from your sin, making no provision for the flesh, God honors that.
Friends, if I can bring encouragement to you here, all acts that we do by faith, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem in the moment, these are acts that God honors. He commends his people who live by faith.
And by the way, even on this little side note here, this actually really simplifies what at times feels like a very complicated life. You know, with everything that’s set before us, whatever it may be, including the simplest things like eating and drinking. Friends, all God is calling us to do is to walk in them faithfully by faith, where we’re seeking to bring glory to him by faith.
Let me just give you one more before I close. Fifth, faith is how we see and understand. This is where, too often, I think we get this flipped around, where we want to be more like Thomas, who declared, “Unless he saw and understood.”
Do you want to have faith? But we see in our text that actually the opposite is true. We live by faith on that which is not seen, the invisible, doing so so that we might see verse 1 or verse 3. We live by faith in order to understand whatever it is we’re seeking to understand because it is by faith, friends, that’s where we see Jesus Christ.
It is by faith that we hear his voice coming from his word. So that through faith, as we see Jesus, as we hear Jesus, we better understand who he is, what he has done for us, specifically the work he’s done for us on the cross, where he died in the place of sinners to take on the punishment of our sin, only to rise again on the third day to prove that he is the author and perfecter of our faith.
Friends, it’s by faith that we go through life so we can see, so we can understand. This is mentioned as by faith. That’s how we see Jesus Christ. And as we see him, we see all of life in light of him.
Now, it doesn’t mean we fully see or fully understand all the different things we’re going through in life, whatever situation we might find ourselves in. My friends, by faith, as we see and understand Jesus, we see that he’s good. We see that he’s for us. We see that he loves his people.
As we look to Jesus by faith, we see and understand that there is an eternal reward on the other side that proves that our faith was worth it, that he is worth it. Friends, by faith, that’s how we see, that’s how we understand.
Just actually, as we wrap up, this is a plea to live by faith. Friends, as I close, by faith, look to Jesus Christ. Look to him in ways that you’re laying aside every weight and sin that clings so closely and with endurance. Run to him in ways that you’re clinging to him, where you’re clinging to him by faith all the way to the end.
Trust that in the end he is actually the one who’s clinging to his people. By faith, look to Jesus Christ, trusting that one day he will come again for his people, where together we’re going to be in this great heavenly crowd.
Where our faith will be met with sight, where over and over and over again in this great heavenly crowd throughout all eternity we will joyfully sing out with one voice, one loud, passionate cry: “Hallelujah! For the Lord, our God, the Almighty reigns.”
Real church, may we not just talk about faith, and may we not just know the definition of what faith is, but may faith penetrate every fiber of who we are as individuals and as a church family, so that by faith we may pour out our lives as an offering to Jesus Christ who gave himself up for us, that we might draw near to him.
Let’s pray.
Lord, thank you for Jesus. And Lord, thank you for revealing Jesus through your word and through the power of your Spirit that we might see him. And Lord, I do pray that you help our little church here to live by faith, that we may see and understand, that we may taste and see that the Lord is good.
And Lord, I pray for those here this morning who may be wavering in their faith, that today, through your word, through the Spirit, you draw them into deeper faith, deeper assurance, deeper conviction. I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.