Everyone in this room owes a debt of a gratitude to his or her mother. Whether your mother is the greatest mother in the all the world or whether she had a few rough edges, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your mother! One person honored his mother by detailing the important life lessons his mother instilled in him from the earliest age. Here is the list:
- My mother taught me logic: "If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me."
- My mother taught me medicine: "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they're going to freeze that way."
- My mother taught me to meet a challenge: "Boy, answer me when I talk to you. Tell me, what were you thinking?"
- My mother taught me humor: "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
- My mother taught me how to become an adult: "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
- My mother taught me about genetics: "You are just like your father."
- My mother taught me about my roots: "Do you think you were born in a barn?"
- My mother taught me about the wisdom of age: "When you get to be my age, you will understand."
- My mother taught me about anticipation: "Just wait until your father gets home."
- My mother taught me about receiving: "You're going to get it when we get home."
- My mother taught me justice: "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you. Then you'll see what it's like."
Our mothers sure are special, aren't they? If you were fortunate, your mother also taught you something about faith. Mothers who know the importance of faith can have a profound impact on their children. If you're a mother you can inspire an entire new generation to follow in your steps. You can influence whether your children will know Jesus Christ, whether they will become God pleasers, whether they will stay the course, and whether they will share in your eternal destiny. You can leave all sorts of things for your children including family photos, family heirlooms, antiques, furniture, wealth, real estate, your business, and fond memories. But of all the things you can leave, your faith will endure the longest. But don't take my word for it.
The Bible in Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) tells us, "...without faith, it is impossible to please God." As you browse Hebrews 11 you will notice that it is a kind of hall of fame. I like to think of it as a hall of faith. It is a listing of men and women who courageously lived a life of faith and who inspired hundreds of successive generations by their examples. Their authentic faith has endured through time. Hebrews 11 begins with a simple description and illustration of faith. Hebrews 11:1-3 (NIV) defines faith. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
A description of faith is, "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
The time dimension of faith.
There are two dimensions to faith. The time dimension is being sure of something that lies in the near and distant future. It is forward looking. It sees beyond the moment and beyond the present circumstance in which it finds itself. It can delay gratification. It can wait on promises and it can hope in rewards. The trust dimension is being certain of something that cannot be seen. We can be certain that creation exists because we live and walk in it every single day. But there is no way to prove God. We can logically deduce from creation that God exists. We can remove every reasonable doubt. But we cannot put him under a microscope, run experiments, see him, taste him, or touch him. Ultimately we must take that leap of faith and trust that an unseen God created the visible universe in which we live.
To be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see is to have the kind of faith that the ancients were commended for. They could see beyond the present and put their hope in the future. They could look beyond the visible and trust in the invisible God of the universe.
In Hebrews 11:4 Abel offered a better sacrifice than his brother Cain. Cain is like so many of us today. He refused to see beyond the moment. He was afraid that if he let go of even a portion of his storehouse of grain, it might be lost forever. So he held back and offered a lesser, safer sacrifice. The reason Cain could not let go of the visible and material is because he could not see the invisible and spiritual. He couldn't see the living invisible God. He could only see himself and what he could do for himself in his own strength. He could not see beyond his present circumstance of need. In contrast, Abel saw beyond the moment. Because he saw the invisible living God he could let go of the visible and material. He could make a greater sacrifice. He could say "no" now because he knew God would say "yes" in his future. Guess who God was pleased with? God was pleased with Abel because Abel had faith.
In Hebrews 11:5 we learn about Enoch. We learn quite simply that Enoch was commended as someone who pleased God. We can only surmise that Enoch was willing to set aside his own desires in order to please the invisible living God of creation. We all know how difficult it is to live for God. At times our desire to disobey is as strong as our gasp for fresh air or our thirst for water or our hunger for food. We convince ourselves by saying, "If I cannot satisfy this desire now, I'll never be happy. I'll be miserable forever! I'll just die inside."
Because we cannot see beyond the instant gratification of now, many of us can never bring ourselves to live a life pleasing to God. We don't trust that God can have something better for us in the future. We refuse to let go of the visible and material for the intangible and unseen realities that God has for us. But not Enoch. He could let go of the pleasures of sin because he trusted that God had something much greater in store for him in the future.
The trust dimension of faith.
Listen to Hebrews 11:6 (NIV). "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." I hope you see both dimensions of faith illustrated. Notice the time dimension that spans beyond the present. God will reward those who seek him! We will not be left with empty hands. The future is bright! But notice the trust dimension. We must be certain that the invisible God exists. The key to letting go of the visible and material and the key to saying "no" to the very real and present temptations of sin is knowing that God is with alive and with us. We cannot please God without this two dimensional faith.
Consider the life of Noah in Hebrews 11:7 (NIV). "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."
You can imagine poor Noah as he trusts in the promise of God and begins building this large ship in the middle of dry land, miles from any body of water. Every day as he obediently continues his work, he is ridiculed and scorned. As he preaches about God's righteousness and condemns the evil that surrounds him, he is mocked by those who live in the now." Hey Noah, let's eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! Ha ha ha ha! Hey Noah, when we going to go for a boat ride?" As difficult as it was, Noah trusted in the invisible God. He built for a future that was unseen and that by all logic seemed like a virtual impossibility. He'd never seen a flood of epic proportions before! But as the heavy rains fell and the mocking laughter of faithless men ceased, Noah found himself right where he had hoped. He'd been in the care of a living God.
There are so many other great examples in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith.
Hebrews 11:8-40 (NIV) tells us, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."
"By faith Abraham, even though he was past age— and Sarah herself was barren— was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore."
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country— a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."
"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death."
"By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones. By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict."
"By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel."
"By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient."
"And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground."
"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."
When I read Hebrews 11 I feel quite humbled. I think to myself, "These ancient people were extraordinary people who demonstrated extraordinary faith." I am tempted to believe that they are so much different than you or I that they had some advantage or some edge in their relationship with God that you or I lack. I think that their faith was stronger because of what they knew or saw.
But this isn't true. They couldn't see the future. They couldn't see God. Like us, they had to look beyond the present to see a different future. They had to look beyond the visible and material to trust the invisible and spiritual. The playing field is level! If anyone has the edge, it is us because we have seen in history how time and again God has honored the faith of his people! In the end, no one who has trusted in God has ever been left disappointed!
But I want us to see something else in Hebrews 11 as an application to us. What promise of God are you struggling to trust in? What visible and material thing can you not let go of in order to trust the living God? What sacrifice are you unable to make? What God-pleasing action can you not bring yourself to make? What future can you not bring yourself to build for? What place, land, or country do you refuse to go to for God? What thing will you not do for God because you think you are too old or tired? What promised land are you unwilling to enter? What inheritance are you unwilling to claim? What opportunity do you continually squander? What child or family member are you unwilling to entrust to God? What stand or risk or journey are you unwilling to take for the living God? What part of your life are you holding back?
Walking by faith.
We will never do anything extraordinary in our lives until we learn to walk by faith. We must bring ourselves to a point where we can see beyond the moment and into the bright future that God has promised those who walk by faith. We must bring ourselves to a point where we can trust in something outside ourselves. We must come to the point where we can trust in the invisible living God of creation.
I meant what I said earlier about faith. Hebrews 11 proves it. Our faith can inspire an entirely new generation of faith. Mothers, fathers, all of us can leave something priceless for those who follow in our steps. There is more than what we can see now in this life. There is the future. There is an invisible, living God who is worthy of our trust.