HEBREWS 11:1-6

There are two times in Scripture where it is recorded that Jesus was astonished or amazed. The first is when the Roman soldier came to Jesus and said he knew that Jesus could heal his servant with a mere word. When Jesus heard this, He was astonished and said to those following Him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." Matthew 8:10. The second instance is in Mark 6:6 where, coming to His own hometown, He encountered unbelieving resistance. "And he was amazed at their lack of faith." Jesus is never amazed at great accomplishments or even great sin -- He is amazed by the largeness, or lack of, faith. To illustrate faith, let me tell you about a group of Roman soldiers. Forty Roman soldiers to be exact. They were part of a band of 100 soldiers who had been bound together through common experiences, facing common dangers, and just by sharing life day by day. Sixty of these 100 were pagans who believed that Caesar was god. The forty, however, were of a different persuasion. They were Christians. They had transferred their faith from Caesar to Jesus Christ. They served Caesar in the military but they served Jesus Christ in their hearts and lives. They had come to accept the truth of the gospel and to place their faith in Jesus Christ. Today I want to talk to you about faith. Let's consider the first question about faith.

1. FAITH: WHAT IS IT?
1. Paul defines it like this: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. Faith involves assurance, hope, and something just short of sight. If we see it, it isn't faith, it is knowledge.
2. The Greek word for faith means, literally:
1. "Firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing producing a full acknowledgment of God's revelation or truth." Vine.
2. Strong defines faith as "persuasion, credence, moral conviction of religious truth, especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; assurance, and belief."
3. Faith is not a leap into the dark, it is a step into the light. As Arlie Hoover says in his book, Dear Agnos, "Faith is trust, informed trust, reasonable trust, trust based on some evidence." Further, he said, "Faith lies midway between certitude and credulity, between confidence and gullibility." That is, faith is not just gullibly accepting everything that comes down the pike as true, nor is it absolute knowledge. Genuine faith involves:
1. Belief of what has been proclaimed. If you don't believe, you don't have faith.
2. Trust in the reliability of God. If you don't trust, you don't have faith.
3. Obedient surrender to what we are commanded to do. If you don't obey, you don't have faith.

2. FAITH: WHY IS IT NECESSARY?
1. There are a number of reasons why faith is a necessity.
1. Hebrews 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."
2. Acts 15:8 says that our hearts are cleansed by faith.
3. Romans 1:17 says the righteous will live by faith.
4. Romans 5:1 shows that we are justified, or put right, and at peace with God, by faith.
5. Romans 5:2 says we are introduced into grace by faith.
6. Galatians 3:22 reminds us that we receive the Promises of God by faith.
7. Ephesians 2:8-9 teach us that we are saved by grace through faith.
8. James 1:6, 7 teaches us that we cannot pray effectively without faith.
9. 1 John 5:4 assures us that faith is the victory that overcomes the world.
2. Pleasing God requires faith; living the victorious Christian life requires faith; being right with God requires faith; prevailing in prayer requires faith; accomplishing anything eternally worthwhile requires faith.
3. Now, don't tell me you don't have faith! Everybody has faith! And everybody needs faith daily!
1. You won't go to a doctor without faith
2. You won't eat what someone else prepares without faith.
3. You won't put your money in the bank without faith
4. You won't sign a contract without faith
5. You won't get to heaven without faith!

3. FAITH: HOW DO WE GET IT?
1. The disciples came to Jesus and said, "Increase our faith!" Luke 17:5. That's a good prayer to pray. But there is more to it than that. How we get faith is not a passive thing. We must invest in it!
2. Paul said, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Romans 10:17 Consider:
1. I would become a proficient mathematician only by spending time in studying mathematics.
2. I would become a capable chemist only by studying chemistry.
3. I would become a good doctor only by completing medical school, an internship, and constant practice.
4. I become strong in faith only by reading and applying what produces faith: God's Word.
3. Now, this is not automatic. Some read the Bible and don't ever come to faith. We must come honestly, humbly, openly, and consistently. To build your faith, read, study, memorize, meditate on, and live by God's Word. Merely hearing the Word without doing it never produces faith.
1. We read of the ancient Hebrews, "For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard." Hebrews 4:2.
2. Witness the house built on the sand falling in storm. Matthew 7:26ff.
3. No wonder James warns, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." James 1:22.

4. FAITH: IN WHOM SHOULD IT CENTER?
1. Some say, "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere." Now that doesn't work at all in many areas of life:
1. It doesn't work in the classroom: try it on a test sometime and see if the teacher thinks so.
2. it doesn't work in medicine. Try taking the wrong prescription sometime.
3. It doesn't work in chemistry.  "Jason was a chemist; Jason is no more; What he drank for H20 was H2SO4!"
4. It doesn't work on the highway; try driving south in the north lanes of I-5 and see if a policeman just winks at it.
5. If it doesn't work in the physical world, why would it work in the spiritual realm? If it doesn't prove true where we can test it, why does it prove true where we cannot test it?
2. My point is: it matters greatly where we put our faith. It matters eternally in Whom we put our faith! In the New Testament the word "faith" is always used of faith in God or Christ.
3. It is the intent of Christian churches / Churches of Christ to have no creed but Christ; i.e. He is the center, the focus, the object of our faith. We say with Paul, "... I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day." 2 Timothy 1:12. Listen to the Biblical statements of the "whom" of faith:
1. John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
2. John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
3. John 8:24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins."
4. Acts 8:36-38 "And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, 'Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?' And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized him."
5. Acts 24:24 Felix sent for Paul, and "heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus."
6. Romans 10:8-10 "... The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart - that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

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