Chapter 11: 1-12

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”

Living by faith has always been a part of the walk of all of God’s people on this side of eternity. Yes, at times and for short encounters, God revealed Himself to some of our spiritual patriarchs, but they lived by faith, just as we do. Faith, we are told in verse 1, is about hope. Hope that is founded in the character and person of God. Faith that is based on God’s goodness, faithfulness, and power. Faith that says that we can trust God no matter what we see, hear, and think we know. When all else fails, God simply cannot fail. Notice that this is the only way to obtain a ‘good testimony.’

As I was reading this morning in the Gospel of John, I could see that the apostles and the disciples that followed Jesus had to exercise faith even when they saw Him. They had to trust in very harrowing times that He was who He said He was. They had to have this faith as He was leaving; His journey here was just a short spot in all eternity. Peter and others believed by faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

• Creation Faith, verse 3

Genesis 1:1 is the most important verse in the Bible. If one can accept this by faith, then everything else the Bible tells us is possible. This is why there is such a deliberate effort on the part of many to undermine this Creation account. If they can create doubts that there is a creative God, they can claim there is not a saving God either. One cannot pick and choose; most all will take John 3:16 at face value but turn around and reject Genesis 1:1 at face value. The same faith is necessary to have both.

• Blood Sacrifice Faith, verse 4

God established this principle in Genesis 3:21 when He took skins and clothed Adam and Eve’s sinful shame. Abel took this lesson to heart; his brother did not, and it cost Abel his life. The battle has never stopped; for those who believe by faith, the blood covers our sins versus those who want to come their own way.

• Rapture Faith, verse 5

Enoch was taken before he saw death. He pleased God, and God took him. We, too, are looking to be taken. One day, if Jesus tarries, those of us who are alive will be ‘caught up’ in the air and live with Jesus forever. In a similar way, the dead will be called up from their graves and meet Jesus in the air as well. There was a precursor to this in Matthew 27:51-53.

• Seeking Jesus Faith, verse 6

There is the faith that is needed for salvation, that ‘at a moment faith.’ But we need to have daily faith to trust Jesus in every aspect. This is the hardest thing to do at times – to surrender control, to accept that God is in control and that no matter how it looks, He always, always has our best at the forefront of His mind. The faith to trust what we cannot see and frame all we see in the goodness and faithfulness of God. To have the faith to drown out the doubts.

God rewards faith. God respects our faith. He never takes our faith in Him lightly. Jesus understood firsthand the limits of the human condition. The One who created food was, at times, hungry. The One who invented water thirsted. The Author of truth was often lied about and lied to. We can go on. Jesus, the friend who is closer than a brother, was betrayed by a friend. He knows where you are, and God appreciates your faith.

• Rainfall Faith, verse 7

Noah had to trust that God was going to do something that he had never seen and did not know what it was. Since God had spoken the world into existence, He could speak rain into existence. So, Noah obeyed, and Noah took the ridicule of his society and the rejection of his message of salvation. Nonetheless, he led his family, and when no one else was saved, his family was. You and I are here today because Noah led his family to have faith in God, God’s word, and God’s power.

How are you leading your family? Do you trust God? Do you live by faith for your children to see? Do you tell them about the trials and tests that you go through so they can learn and have faith just as you do?

Live out your faith with all your faults and failures and speak to them in love and with kindness, and they will follow you into the Kingdom. Fathers, 93% of kids born into families that are led spiritually by you will also follow Jesus. What a hope we have for our kids.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 10:32-39

“But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: ³³ partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; ³⁴ for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.

“³⁵ Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: ³⁷ ‘For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. ³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ ³⁹ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

More and more as I read these passages, I am convinced that Paul was the author. In the verses we explore today, you will see that the author commends the readers for how they treated him. In verse 34, they ‘had compassion’ on him in his chains. One can argue that most, if not all of the apostles, did endure prison at one point or another. But when we pair this evidence with the structure of the writing and the pure knowledge of the Old Testament, I am convinced more and more that this is Paul.

And what a writing about Jesus this entire book is! No Jew, no Hebrew, and now, no Gentile could claim ignorance of the person and purpose of our Lord Jesus. He came to pay for my sins and yours, a once and for all payment that transcends time. A payment that cannot be exhausted and that cannot expire for those that fall under it, and a hope that brings back life to the dying masses around us.

In lesson 38, we talked about what happens when a person rejects the Gospel, the free offer of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. That person then has no other options and no way to appease the pure Holiness of God the Father. There is no hope then for that person; there is only judgment and then Hell. Today we will explore the opposite; we will explore what happens to that one who accepts the free gift of salvation.

• We become illuminated, verse 32

For the very first time, we can truly see the world as it is. This can be disheartening to some, and at first, one can be a bit disoriented. This kind of change is very hard. We go from being comfortable citizens of ‘earth’ to being uncomfortable aliens from another world.

1 Peter 2:11 (AMP) says this: “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges [those dishonorable desires] that wage war against the soul.”

We are now aliens, and this can be a bit tough at first; there may be a cost. Some friends will go or leave. For others, we will have to limit our contact. Some will think this is just a phase and wait for us to come back. Places we used to go to, things we used to do, etc., will begin to feel foreign, and the Holy Spirit in us will begin to talk to us about the world around us. We stop believing everything we hear, and we have questions. That is wonderful; we want to know more and more about the Lord.

If we are truly seeking, God will lead us to a good church, one that teaches the Bible in its entirety, one that magnifies Jesus and not the pastor, one that is honest about the flawed people in the pews, and one that longs to love Jesus more, and by doing so, becomes more and more obedient.

• We become compassionate, verses 33-34

We begin to feel for our brothers and sisters around the world. We have a dear family that serves the Lord in Pakistan, and they like to communicate. They are in a predominately Muslim world, and there are not many Christian ministers to talk to, so they talk to me a lot. Sometimes late at night, they talk about the pain of seeing the people they try to help. I have never seen these folks face to face, but they love Jesus, and they preach Jesus was crucified and resurrected; they are a part of my alien family, and one day when the Lord returns, I will see them, and they will know me and I them.

We see the lost around us, and we want to open their eyes for them and show them what they are missing. We hurt for their hardness of heart. We ask God to soften their hearts and open their eyes as He did for us. We become more and more thankful that we saw the light.

• We become Heaven-minded, verse 34

We begin to think about meeting Jesus one day. We think about the judgment that we will go through. No, not one about Heaven and Hell, but how we managed the life that God gave us. We are told this in 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV): “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

All of us will give an account of the stewardship that we lived with when we got this new life from Jesus, this new sight, this new heart, this new eternity. How did we obey the Lord? Did we lay up treasure in Heaven? (Matt. 6:19-21). Did we love each other as Jesus loves us? (John 13:34-35). I can go on, but you get the point. Here is not all there is; we begin to live and love like there is more.

• We become Focused on Jesus’ return, verse 37

Jesus promised He would come again and get us. Acts 1:11 (NIV), “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

This echoes the promise He made to His disciples in John 14:1-3 (NIV), “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

We begin to look for Jesus; we see the signs of the times, and we rejoice, even amid harsh and troubling times. Jesus will come soon and set everything right. Or, we will go to Him and escape this mess. Either way, WE WIN! Jesus be praised.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How To Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca