New Salem Baptist Church

The Invocation of Faith

Nov. 3, 2024

Read Hebrews 11:1-7.

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ^[1]

This is a famous verse. It is not a definition of faith. Rather, it is a description of what possessing faith does for us. You could say that this verse tells us what faith invokes within us.

Faith invokes things within us but it also invokes things in God! It invokes the pleasure of God! This makes faith fantastic and wonderful! Faith changes us and pleases God! This scriptural truth is mightily important.

Faith changes us and pleases God.

Faith changes us and pleases God!

Thus, we ought to cherish faith and seek to cultivate it in ourselves in greater measure.

First, we ought to be clear on what faith is. Two popular ideas of faith, that even Christians have subsumed, are either that faith is a feeling, or that faith is agreement to something, that is, just believing facts. Both of these ideas are wrong. They are not what the biblical authors mean by faith.

There was a very popular song by the band, Journey, entitled Don’t Stop Believin’. The song still gets a lot of airplay. It’s a very memorable song in that the melody is pleasant, the vocals are outstanding (by Steve Perry), and the band consists of very talented musicians. It’s a song about lonely people seeking romance. Remember the chorus?

Don’t stop believin’.

Hold on to that feelin’

Streetlights people.

In the song, and in popular culture, believing is just a synonym for a positive feeling. If you hold on to a positive feeling you have faith.

The other idea is that if you just agree with some facts then that is faith. That is not biblical faith either.

Faith is trusting in what God has spoken. That what he said is not only true, but that he will bring it to pass despite any obstacles.

Faith is not based on a feeling. Rather, it is resting in what God has promised. Therefore, whenever the Bible speaks of faith we ought to consider what God has said prior to the faith that follows.

If God has not spoken on a matter there is no reason to have faith about it. You may even feel that certain things won’t happen, but if God has said that they will, then you can still trust that they will come to pass even though contrary to feeling. In fact, that is the strongest kind of faith: one that goes against popularity and even our own feelings.

When verse 1 states that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for,” it means that we have a hope coming from a promise of God and trusting in that promise gives us assurance. So, this is the first thing that faith invokes within us: assurance! It makes the things that we hope for so real to us! We are so sure that we will receive them that it’s almost as if we have them already!

Faith also brings about conviction of that which is invisible. This is the other invocation of faith. It creates conviction within us. Though there are things we do not perceive with our five senses, yet we are certain they are true. Why? Because God has spoken about them!

³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. ^[2]

No human being saw the universe created. We believe it to be created by God out of nothing, simply by His power to call things into existence, because he has said it through his prophet Moses:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ^[3]

While it is true that reason alone can provide powerful affirmation that creation is true (because it is impossible for matter to be eternal), the only definite assurance we can have is through trusting in the testimony of God Himself.

² For by it the people of old received their commendation.^[4]

The apostle Paul[5] will list some of these “people of old” in the rest of this chapter. The commendation to which he refers is the commending of God Himself. See how highly God views our trust in Him! Sometimes we can get the notion that nothing we do can please God. But this is a lie. God is pleased with certain motives and actions. This is seen many times in the Scriptures. And one thing that he is quite pleased with is our trust in Him. He commends the people of old mentioned in this chapter and he commends you when you trust Him!

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.^[6]

Why was Abel’s sacrifice to God more acceptable than Cain’s? Many commentators point out that Abel’s sacrifice was one where blood had to be shed (because he offered an animal) whereas Can’s offering was bloodless (offering vegetables). Thus, Abel’s sacrifice prefigured Christ.

They have also said that it takes more work to cultivate vegetables than to allow an animal to graze off the grass of the field. Therefore, Cain’s sacrifice pictures man’s futile attempt to be acceptable to God through his own efforts.

While these things may be true, Paul states that it was because of Abel’s faith that his sacrifice was more acceptable. We must remember that faith is based on what God has already spoken. Therefore, God must have either spoken to Abel about sacrifice or spoken to Adam and Adam then told his sons. Faith is always based on what God has spoken, not on some sense of right and wrong (because our sense of right and wrong may itself be wrong!).

Why did God commend Abel? Because of his faith. God will commend you, too, because you trust in what he has spoken.

Abel is now talking to you. By being an example of faith, he is saying, “I believed God and God called me righteous and accepted my sacrifice. If you have faith, God will call you righteous and accept what you offer him!”

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ^[7]

God was so pleased with Enoch that he did not allow him to die but took him directly to paradise. Again, we see that it is possible to please God. Not only is it possible to please him, but there are so many that have, that Paul will write later in this chapter saying time would fail him if he wrote about them all. So, its not a rare thing that God is pleased with some people. Of course, not people in the world because they do not possess faith. But among the followers of the Lord there have been many that pleased him, and you can be among that number!

How did Enoch express his faith? Genesis 5:22 says that Enoch “walked with God.” This means that he had an intimate relationship with him and they talked with one another. (God interacted with man in different ways in those early years after creation than he did afterwards.) Thus, God would reveal his will to Enoch and then he, by faith, pursued it.

God may never speak to you directly as he did with Enoch; but he still speaks, primarily though his word[8], and you can still trust in what he says, as Enoch did.

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.^[9]

That is a strong statement. It is impossible to please God without faith. This excludes most of the world, at least at this present time in history. God rewards those who seek him.

In what way does God reward those who seek him? Earlier in this letter Paul had alluded to the fulfilled promises to the overcomers as being a reward. This was one of the strong encouragements he gave, that a reward awaits those who pursue it. But here he refers to a different reward. This reward is for those who simply seek God. He may have I Chronicles 28 in mind:

⁹ “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.^[10]

God’s reward for those who seek him is for the seeker to find him. Not only must the lost seek him (and they will only do this when the Spirit softens their hearts), but the ones already claiming him, like Solomon, must continue to seek him.

• Don’t stop seeking God!
• If you continue seeking him, he will be found by you in a deeper way.
• If you continue seeking him, he will stir you to serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind!

⁷ By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. ^[11]

God spoke to Noah. Again, we see that faith is based on what God has spoken. Consider Noah’s situation. As he was building a huge vessel for a flood that was to come, no one believed him. The sky was clear and no one expected a flood to come. But Noah trusted in what God had said would come to pass and he followed the instructions that the Lord gave him on how to build it.

The situation is similar today. Just as the people did not believe Noah’s speaking, they will not believe what you say. Just as Noah continued to believe God in the face of opposition, you must also believe God in the face of all the naysayers.

[Application and Conclusion]

What have we learned today? We learned that faith invokes two things. It invokes a change within us and it pleases God.

• It changes us by giving us assurance and giving us conviction.
• It gives us a greater understanding of truth (11:3).
• It makes aware that God is commending us.
• It makes us to anticipate the reward which is just God Himself.
• It motivates us to serve God with our whole heart and a willing mind.

Oh! What changes are wrought by simple faith! And, God is pleased with us!

What are we to do? Of course, we ought to exercise faith. But how? Practically, what this means is that we must find a promise of God or a statement from the Lord that applies to our situation in life. When we find that, we believe it. We trust in what we know God’s will is for us and we wait for it to be fulfilled.

God has a timing that is often contrary to our timing. We want things to happen now or tomorrow. God often desires us to wait because things are better in his time.

You  can trust God as Abel did. As Enoch did. As Noah did. Then, the blessings of the Living God will come upon you because he will be pleased.

Find the promise!