-Transcript-
00:35 Amen. Thank you for joining me. Good to be here today.
00:38 Welcome to the cafe. Today we are talking about a most wonderful topic and that is faith. The role of faith in Christian life and what the Bible says about faith.
00:53 You know Hebrews 11, that’s our chapter, our text chapter if you will, for today is so powerful and the way that it discusses faith and what the writer of Hebrews does, which I believe to be Paul, is they create an illustration of really lofty spiritual ideals about faith and they ground them in actual biblical true characters that demonstrated great faith. And so we see something very lofty like in Hebrews 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And many people, you ask them what faith is, if they’re in the Word, that’s what it is.
01:38 They’ll explain, use that sentence, that verse, Hebrews 11:1. But then what Paul does is he starts giving us examples in the Bible of men and women of God that exhibited great faith and godly characteristics. And I believe that that is how God would have it. God gives us the principle and then He gives us people to help us understand the principle.
02:00 And we have that today at a recent recording I mentioned some Saints of God in Laos that Voice of the Martyrs had written about that were exemplifying great faith in the face of persecution. So we have the principle and we have the people. And we understand here that faith is believing in the unseen.
02:22 And so Paul says here in Hebrews 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Well, okay, if we can’t see it, then we just have to hope for it. Well, who is God? Can we see Him? Remember Moses asked to see God.
02:40 And we understand from the Old Testament that actually seeing God eye-to-eye, so to speak, because he’s a spirit, he’s so righteous, his righteousness would kill us. And so even just the tailwinds of God would leave a glow on Moses, the glory of God would leave a glow on Moses’ face so bright he’d have to wear a veil when he came down off the mountain. And so we cannot see him in his appearing, amen? I also heard great preaching maybe a year or two ago about how the angels were so interested in seeing Jesus, because that was the first time they were able to see God in human form.
03:20 And they were really interested in their scripture on how they beheld Him, Amen And so we see here that we can’t see God. We see that we can’t see. I know that’s a little tricky, but we see that we can’t see God, and that’s actually in Scripture.
03:35 God is a spirit and he desires to be worshiped in spirit and truth. John 4:24, God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit.
03:41 And so we understand that God is not seen as we would say, okay, I saw my friend at the dry cleaners yesterday, or I saw my co-worker at the office yesterday. We can’t say that of God, Amen We don’t physically see Him manifesting. And of course the movies in Hollywood wish that they would be able to represent this, but truly the Bible tells us He’s a spirit.
04:12 But then the Bible gives us this other element of faith, and that they worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and truth. So we are to worship God in spirit and truth. So that is what God desires of us.
04:28 And the idea is that if we are just physically animated, for example, yes, if I wore all kinds of priestly clothing, and I bowed my head at everybody, and I appeared to be praying all the time, that would look animated physically like I was worshiping God. But inside I could be a raging wolf. I could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, so to speak.
04:54 I could be anybody inside. And God looks upon the heart, and he desires a holiness, a set-apartness about us, to have that faith in him, and to get right with him, to repent of our sins, of course, to accept Christ as Savior as the first step. Then we get the Holy Ghost, and then not grieving that Holy Ghost within us by right living, by avoiding sin, by finding sin as disgusting as God finds it, and aligning with God on sin and not culture in the world.
05:22 Amen Think about this. The world says that sin is okay. The world communicates this through their movies, through their music, through their social media posts, through all manner of media, okay? The world says that sin’s okay, and you just go down the list.
05:41 And you say, oh, Brother Clark, the world doesn’t say murder’s okay. No, but the world says that greed’s okay, coveting’s okay, lying can be okay, selfishness is okay, gossip is okay, the world publishes gossip like it’s nothing, on and on and on. And the Bible teaches us if we have broken one piece of the law, I was in James this morning in my Bible study, and as it clearly says, if we’ve broken one piece of the law, then we’ve broken all the law.
06:08 We’re transgressors completely. And so we realize that we don’t want to represent the world, that we want to get right with God and be set apart and holy, living for Him. And that’s part of having faith, is worshiping Him in spirit and truth.
06:22 And so the idea is God’s a spirit, we can’t see Him, and He wants us to worship Him through our Holy Spirit, which we can’t see either, which He gave us, which is part of the Holy Trinity, the Comforter, Amen, when we were saved. And He wants that kind of worship, not big, out loud, animated worship. It has to come from the Spirit, and that’s why if someone is not theologically sound in the Word, they don’t have to be an expert, they don’t even have to be a good student, but just understanding the Word.
06:51 What is, again, what is the Bible? I just mentioned it is people working out principles that God has given them, Amen, is it not? It is all a big picture of who God is. It shows His characteristics. You know, I was talking to a loved one yesterday, and they’re going through a difficult time, and they seemed like there was no way out, and so I said, oh, well, that’s like the Israelites at the Red Sea, and they didn’t, you know, they’re standing in front of the water, they don’t know what they’re gonna do.
07:19 Pharaoh and the army’s coming to get them, they think there’s no hope, and all is lost. And God shows up, and through Moses, splits the Red Sea, amen, and they get across safely, and the enemy is drowned. Yes, it’s a true historical account of what happened, I believe it 100%, Amen, but it is also a picture for us to follow.
07:37 And so we have to have that faith and understanding that we are to worship Him by the Spirit living within us, and worship Him as a spirit in truth, and truth comes from His Holy Word. That’s why the Bible is so important. Now we see one of these pictures that I’ve described here.
07:53 In Hebrews 4, by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it being dead yet speaketh. Oh, I love this verse so much, because it shows that just the wisdom of God, and the beauty of how God operates, Amen. You know, God could have stopped Cain from killing Abel, couldn’t He? But God didn’t, because there was a bigger lesson to be taught here.
08:22 And I believe that Abel is with God and in heaven, Amen, and we don’t really have time to get into that, but as I understand it, they were basically believing on what would be Jesus before He was, you know, before He had His earthly ministry. He was still there, amen. We know He was there from the beginning of time, as John 1 points out, but they were believing on that.
08:42 They’re believing on Him, they’re saved, amen. They don’t know all the details at that time, just like anybody before Christ’s earthly ministry, there is that group there. Abraham would be another one, right? So Abel here, he’s in heaven with God, he’s safe, he’s in paradise, all of his earthly work is done long ago, and he is allowed to be killed by Cain to show a truth, Amen, and that he speaks from the grave about that truth.
09:11 And what is that truth? That truth is that obedience is better than sacrifice, that man’s way is never better than God’s way, and that we must submit and humble ourselves, and then we’ll be highly exalted. And we see all this with Abel, with Cain and Abel, but specifically with Abel. We see that God had asked, there was worship going on, and God had asked for a certain kind of offering, something that was specific, right? Like the first fruits, and Abel brought that, but Cain brought something else, saying, I’m gonna do it my way.
09:45 Maybe Cain brought something that he thought would impress God, whatever it was, but he ends up killing Abel out of jealousy, right? And then what happens is Abel’s able to testify from the grave, because it’s been memorialized in God’s word, that obedience is better than sacrifice, or trying to do it your own way, and so on and so forth. I know there’s many ways to preach that message, but the idea here is that Abel had faith. That’s the context of Hebrews 11, always important to look at the context in which scripture is in.
10:15 Abel had faith, and he was obedient, and even though it looked like, oh, this is awful, he’s murdered by his brother, I believe with all my heart, he’s in heaven with God, and he’s memorialized in God’s word. How many people will read this account? How many people will learn this very important spiritual truth? How many people will understand what it means to have faith through what Abel endured? Does that make sense? I hope it does here today. We have a great testimony of faith in that what had happened through Cain and Abel.
10:53 Think of Matthew 23:12, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Well, one exalted himself, the one didn’t want to follow God’s program, and he became a vagabond, abased, destitute, and the one that was humble is now exalted through God’s word. So we see scripture matching up with scripture perfectly.
11:11 Quickly here, another example of having great faith, as mentioned in Hebrews 11:5, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him, for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. And we see that Enoch lived by faith, and that he never died, and that God translated him, took him home, Amen. What is faith? It’s believing God in his word.
11:39 There’s no other way to please God, and Enoch pleased God. We see that in Genesis 5 22-24, and Enoch walked with God after he beget Methuselah 300 years, and beget sons and daughters, and all the days of Enoch were 365 years, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. So Enoch lived 365 years, that’s a really interesting number, same amount of days in the year as I’m sure you thought or realized, and God took him.
12:04 He never died, and what we see here is a great faith that he, I believe, didn’t see God as we don’t see God, Amen. He just had the Spirit about him, amen, and he never died, and that great faith was then recognized through the word. So even though it happened many thousands of years ago, it still is true today, and it’s still in God’s Word to show us.
12:32 And Enoch, people name their children Enoch, hoping that they’ll walk with God, and Enoch is looked at as somebody of a hero, as he’s mentioned in Hebrews 11, and he is someone that we should look to and say, how can we walk closely with God? Recently I preached about how beautiful the feet are of those that preach salvation, and preach God’s gospel message, the good news, and I thought it was so interesting that God could have said anything through his Word, how beautiful the hands are, and the mouth, the eyes, he said the feet, because the idea is that you’re walking with God, the idea that it is a walk, it is a journey, it’s not something that’s static. Faith is something that will be tested, and will be challenged in life. When you become a Christian, you don’t just get sat on like a chair and say everything is great, don’t worry anymore.
13:20 No, your faith is constantly tested, and the old tempter, Satan, he’s the one that tempts, say Amen. Again, I was in James today, you know, God can’t tempt, Satan’s the one that tempts. The great tempter is tempting you, and trying to break your faith, and trying to get you to take things in your own hands, and trying to get you to recant, to bow the knee to Baal, to bow the knee to him, and we have to stay on fire for God, and stay firm for God, as Enoch did.
13:39 Surely in those 365 years, he faced great temptation, and each year, those 365 days, we will face great temptation, and we have to have faith that God is a wonderful God, and that he’s a just God, and that he cannot lie, and that his promise in the Word is true, and then if we just bank on those promises, and live our lives based on God’s promises, we will see it through to glory, Amen. It’s just a season, it’s just a time, the Bible calls it a vapor, stand strong for God in these last days. Thank you so much for listening, take care, God bless, and Amen.