Bible Text: Hebrews 11 | Pastor: Eric Danielson | Series: Hebrews – Glory of Christ | Sometimes we live the Christian life as if the gospel is too good to be true. Rather than believing God approves and accepts us by faith in Christ and on the basis of what he accomplished for us, we feel like we have to earn God’s favor and approval. How can we be certain that God is pleased with us simply by faith in Jesus?

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Endurance in Faith
Hebrews 11

If you’re familiar with computers, you’re probably familiar with the package of software programs called “Microsoft Office 365.” This includes popular programs like Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, Outlook, Publisher. I use these programs all the time to create different kinds of documents and presentations for church and home, and to manage my calendar and task list. They’re very valuable to me and I depend on them every day. But they’re not free. Microsoft makes a lot of money from selling these programs. And if you go on their website right now to buy them, their most popular package is a personal subscription that gives you one license to use their programs on one computer. This costs $7/month or $70/per year. They also sell packages that allow you to use all their programs on 5 or 6 computers under one license for $10-$12/month.

So if you’re like me, this is an expense I’m willing to make, but it can end up costing $100-$150 every year if you have multiple computers in your home. Well, last year when Caleb had Middle School orientation, the principle of his school said something that caught my attention. He said that every student in the Amery School District had a license that allowed them to download full versions of Microsoft Office 365 on 5 separate computers, and since they only needed to use one for their school computer, that meant there were 4 additional licenses available to family members to use for every kid they had in the school district.

So I did the math real quick and realized that with 4 kids in the Amery School District, what he was saying was that we could put Microsoft Office on 16 computers without any additional fees. Initially I thought, “This sounds too good to be true. There’s no way this can be legal. I must be missing something.” So the next day I called the Middle School Office and talked to the tech guy and I couldn’t believe it – he confirmed that what I heard was true – and legal. And he agreed that it was an amazing deal. So I got the instructions, went home and installed the programs on the first computer – and it actually worked without any problems! Now we have Microsoft Office 365 on all our computers and won’t have to pay for it until Ayla graduates from high school.

Most of the time when we hear about things that sound too good to be true, we find out that indeed, they are too good to be true. But sometimes we find out they actually are true. And that’s the way I think it is when it comes to the gospel. “You mean to tell me that if I put my faith in Jesus Christ for salvation that all my sins will be forgiven and God will just give me the free gift of salvation, and I don’t have to do anything to earn it?” That sounds too good to be true. But it is true! And I think that we often struggle with that. “It can’t be true. Certainly I must do something to earn God’s forgiveness for all the sins in my life. Certainly I must do some good works to earn his favor and approval.” It’s easy for us to treat the gospel like it’s too good to be true and rather than trusting in Christ we revert to doing good works to try to earn God’s approval. It would be like me refusing to believe the school district and continuing to pay full price for Microsoft Office.

We’re continuing our sermon series in Hebrews this morning and in Hebrews chapter 11, I think the author is trying to convince his readers that the gospel isn’t too good to be true. After writing to them about all that Christ had done to secure their eternal salvation, and how they could obtain all that by enduring in faith in him, and that the old covenant that they thought they had to follow to earn God’s approval was now obsolete, I think he probably anticipated some skepticism. “This all sounds too good to be true. How can we know that we will receive our promised eternal inheritance by faith and not have to earn it by observing the old covenant?” I think it’s that question he addresses in Chapter 11. He begins by making it clear what faith is and what it accomplishes.

Read Hebrews 11:1-3.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 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.

He tells them what faith is in verse 1. Faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Leading up to this verse he has written a lot about “things hoped for” and “things not seen.” Some of the “things hoped for” are the joy of entering God’s rest, the awesome gift of receiving eternal salvation, the second coming of Christ to save those who are eagerly waiting for him, and the incredible blessing of receiving our promised eternal inheritance. So when he says that faith is the assurance of “things hoped for,” I believe he’s talking about these things. They are things that have to do with salvation and all the promises God has given to people of faith. So faith is the assurance that we will come to receive all these wonderful promises we hope for.

But it’s also the conviction of “things not seen,” and he’s written extensively about these as well. Many have to do with who Jesus is, what he’s done, and what he’s now doing. Jesus is the eternal Son of God who created and upholds the universe. He is serving as our great high priest right now in the heavenly places, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He offered his blood as a sacrifice that was accepted by God as the fitting payment for our sin. These are all unseen spiritual realities they had been taught. The author also wrote about an eternal rest for the people of God and judgment for those who deliberately reject Jesus. All these are “things not seen” and I believe that’s what he has in mind when he says, “faith is the conviction of things not seen.” It’s believing that invisible spiritual realities revealed to us by God are true.

So faith is the assurance that we will receive all God’s promises that we hope for and the conviction that the things the Bible says about unseen spiritual realities are true. That’s the kind of faith he’s been talking about in this letter – the kind of faith they need to endure in, and if they do, they will receive forgiveness and their promised inheritance. They would be made perfect. And they didn’t have to follow the old covenant for that to happen – now that Christ had come it was obsolete. It could never make them perfect before God anyway, only Christ could. So rather than turning to it, they must turn to Jesus – they must have faith. Faith has always been what has made us pleasing to God. And that’s what he says in verse 2.

By faith the people of old received their commendation… What does that mean? As we go on in this chapter you will see that this “commendation” is from God and has to do with his approval. By faith, the people of old received God’s approval – that means their lives were acceptable and pleasing to him. He considered them to be righteous – by faith. Not by observing the old covenant. By faith.

And this is something we too need to see. The gospel is not too good to be true. It IS true. We don’t have to earn God’s forgiveness and approval by doing good works. We have his approval by faith. Faith is what unites us to everything Christ has done for us. It’s not by works, not by sacrifices, not by offerings, not by church attendance, not by obeying commands – it’s by faith. These other things are pleasing to God when they flow out of faith, but not when they replace it. God wants our faith to be in him and what he’s done for us in Christ and he wants that faith to result in obedience and good works, but he doesn’t want our faith to be in our own attempts to earn his approval.

So after making it clear what faith is and telling them that it was actually by faith that the people of old received their commendation, and not by observing the old covenant, he goes on to give them multiple examples from their history of people who were commended by God because of faith… these are the evidence to prove that what he’s saying is true.

In verse 3 he gives them an example of faith from their own lives: “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.” The creation of the universe by the word of God is an unseen spiritual reality that God revealed to them in Scripture and for them to believe it was an act of faith on their part. Then he goes all the way back in human history to give several examples of how this kind of faith was demonstrated by the people of old and how God responded to it. He goes all the way back to Adam and Eve’s first son, Abel.

Read Hebrews 11:4-5.
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. 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.

So both of these examples were men who had faith and though we don’t know many details we know that because of their faith they were commended by God. They were pleasing to him. They had good works that flowed out of their faith, but they did not replace their faith, and because of that, they were blessed by God. Faith is what we need in order to please God. And that’s what he says in verse 6.

Read Hebrews 11:6.
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.

This is basically the same definition of faith that he gave in verse 1. Believing that God exists is the conviction of things not seen and believing that God rewards those who seek him is the assurance of things hoped for. This is the kind of faith that pleases God and without it, no one can. His next example is Noah.

Read Hebrews 11:7.
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.

God warned Noah that there was going to be a flood, but he and his family would be saved if he would make a giant boat according to God’s instructions. Noah believed God, even though what God said was unseen. And by faith he endured 120 long years of building the ark. But in the end God commended him and saved his whole household while the rest of the world perished in the flood. One of the clearest examples of faith in the Bible is Abraham.

Read Hebrews 11:8-12.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Abraham is known as the father of all the people of faith because his faith was so evident and influential in redemptive history. He did things that didn’t make any sense because God gave him wonderful promises and he believed God would fulfill those promises. He trusted God even though the fulfillment of his promises wouldn’t take place in his lifetime. He believed in an eternal inheritance to the end and because of that he will come to take possession of it. Sarah, his wife is also mentioned here because she put her faith in God’s promise that she would have a baby, even though she was 90 years old and had never had any kids. But God gave her the power to conceive because of her faith, and she had a baby boy. Both of these were blessed by God and received his promises because of their faith. After these first few examples the author gives a brief summary.

Read Hebrews 11:13-16.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Because these people endured in faith, believing that they would receive their promised eternal inheritance even after they died, God is not ashamed to be called their God. He is pleased with them and he has prepared a heavenly city for them. By faith they were commended as being righteous, their sins were forgiven, and they received eternal life.

He goes on to write even more about Abraham and then walks his way through Old Testament history mentioning person after person who walked by faith – many through terrible suffering and hardship. Because of their faith they were commended by God; God was pleased with them; and they would receive eternal life.

Not by works, not by observing the old covenant, not by earning God’s favor and approval – by faith. Salvation by faith through the finished work of Jesus Christ is not too good to be true. It IS true. There is no other way. So like the people that Hebrews was written to, we can lay down the struggle with trying to earn God’s approval. We already have it in Christ. And instead we can live our lives according to faith.

And as I close, I want to talk about some practical ways for us to do this. You can picture faith like the heart muscle of the Christian life. Faith is that foundational virtue that influences everything else in our lives and like our heart muscle it needs regular exercise and a good diet in order to strengthen and endure. If you’re going to have a healthy heart, you have to have regular cardiovascular exercise and a healthy diet. If you don’t exercise and you eat only junk food, your heart is going to be weak. The same is true of your faith. You need to exercise your faith. How can you do that? By seeking the Lord in regular Bible study, prayer, and by getting together with fellow believers for encouragement and support. By doing these things you strengthen your faith so you are able to endure. You also need to feed your faith the right diet, which comes from the Word of God. There are a lot of ways you can feed on God’s Word. Some of you listen to sermons and read Bible study books. These can be helpful, but I encourage you to start with and always continue to go directly to the Bible itself to feed on it. Take time to read and meditate and dig in deeper and deeper so that by his Spirit God will strengthen your faith.