October 1st, 2006
What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1-12:14
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. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 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.
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.
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.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
I can’t say that I have ever run these chapters together before, but what Chapter 11 does for Chapter 12 is very enlightening.
Hope (11:1):
elpizō (verb):
- To hope, in a religious sense, to wait for salvation with joy and full confidence
- Hopefully to trust in
- To expect or confide: (have, thing) hope (for), trust.
By Faith (Chapter 11)
pistis (noun):
Conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it
Relating to God: the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ
Relating to Christ: a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God
- The religious beliefs of Christians
- Belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same
- Fidelity, faithfulness
- The character of one who can be relied on
Persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: - assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
I can’t look at the “running the race” scripture the same. I don’t know, it just has way more depth to it. But the deepest part about all this is who the witnesses are. This is interesting:
Witnesses (12:1):
martus (noun):
A witness (legal sense), (historical sense), one who is a spectator of anything, e.g. of a contest, (ethical sense)
Those who after his example have proved the strength and genuineness of their faith in Christ by undergoing a violent death
A witness (literally, judicially, or figuratively); by analogy a “martyr”: martyr, record, witness.
I have these witnesses, historically speaking and martyr-lee speaking. And what does that mean for me? Well, it shows that before Jesus died, people died for God. God’s son came down and died for me, and then more people died, but not only for God, but for Christ, and me. And then we can go back to the people before Jesus’ time and then say, well, since they were preparing the way for Christ, what does that say about their death? It says a lot more than what I typed just a minute ago. I see it that they were dying for Christ and they were dying for me. That’s what a martyr does.
Martyr (noun):
- A person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion.
- A person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Hope (Romans 5:2, 4, & 5):
elpis (noun):
- Expectation of evil, fear
- Expectation of good, hope
- In the Christian sense: joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation
- On hope, in hope, having hope: the author of hope, or he who is its foundation and the thing hoped for
- To anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: faith, hope.
Ah – the puzzle. Or, I guess it is more the dominos falling in order. The 1st domino is suffering. The 2nd domino is perseverance. The 3rd domino is character and the last domino is hope. You can’t get to the last domino without first knocking down the first domino. That’s the way this thing works. You line them up and then knock them down. But also notice that hope and faith are interchangeable in this verse. Interesting…
U2: YAHWEH
Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn
Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don't make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn
Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?
Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it great
Marvin’s message made me think of this song. And then I heard it on a CD I made up with songs that encourage me. I can’t get it out of my head. Na-Na-Na… Anyway, the last time I sent out a post, I did a math problem that didn’t really make any sense. And the reason is because I did it wrong. So, to readdress that, I thought about it, and wanted to just address here at the end of this post.
#1: The problem is a problem dealing with two speeds, fast and slow – do not know the speeds of either set. I do know there are three speeds.
#2: Speed: Fast – 3
Speed: Normal – 2
Speed: Slow – 1
#3: The problem:
(2 x 1) + (1 x 3) and then divide the whole sum by three to get answer
#4: Answer: 1.67
Anyway, to answer the question: “did I loose sleep over this problem?” That answer would be YES. But that’s OK. I do love math. I love Jenny. I love Mackenzie. I love the LORD. Johnny Out.
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