The what and why of faith. I suppose we had a text for this study. It would be Hebrews eleven, six. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Our first section is a definition of faith. I feel this is very important because there are so many wrong notions about this. So, number one, false ideas of faith. A, that it is anti-intellectual. Mark Twain is supposed to be a great writer. I think he was a very foolish man and a very wicked man. In one of his books, he makes a boy character in one of his books say, I reckon faith is believing what you know ain't so. There's that general feeling among people that somehow or other you have to park your brains outside if you're going to really believe God's word. This is wrong. And B, there is a false idea that you need only be sincere. But somehow or other, faith depends upon your sincerity. And C, what you believe is immaterial as long as it's religious. This is not far-fetched. I've talked to hundreds of people who have expressed this very same feeling of what you believe is immaterial so long as it is religious. I've heard preachers argue that the only reason Cain's offering wasn't accepted when Abel was was that Cain didn't have faith with him. If he'd had enough faith, well, he as often would have been accepted too, although the scripture plainly says that Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice. And then, D, one must see a miracle in order to believe. He seemed to feel that faith depends upon what you can see. The Jews were like this. They believed on him when they saw the miracles that he did. But the Lord Jesus did not believe in them. That's at the close of John two. And last of all, one must feel a certain way as a proof of his faith. In trying to lead people to Christ, you find that this is one of the greatest problems. They want to feel a certain way. And if they feel this right, they assume that their faith is correct. Now, number two, faith depends on its objects. First John five and nine says we believe men. We receive the witness of men. The witness of God is greater. So put that down under A, we believe men. B, on reputation. We believe them on their reputation. Proverbs, and you might make a correction there, that is not Proverbs fifteen and five, but Proverbs fourteen and five. This cue in our copying here, Proverbs fourteen and five says, a faithful witness will not lie. This is how we decide. and we believe men or don't believe men. Do we know them to be faithful? If we do, we believe them. See, misplaced faith leads to tragedy. I've given you a little story from First Kings chapter thirteen, the story of a prophet of the Lord who was told not to stop in a certain place, but an old man said, the word of the Lord came to me. and said that you should stop here. But it says he lied to him. As a result of the prophet believing this man who lied to him, he was slain by lions. In this place, say, it leads to tragedy. And D, Isaiah forty-five tells us that there are some gods you cannot save. For instance, he says about a graven image, it cannot save. And then he said, there is none beside me. There is no other God. Now, don't think of the value of your faith. Think of the object of your faith. Number three, some explanatory terms. I might say these are not exact synonyms, but they are terms that are used sometimes interchangeably, sometimes along with the term of faith. But they help us to understand what faith is. A, Second Chronicles sixteen and eight says, because they relied on the Lord to rely on a person. And B, in Ruth, two-twelve, it says, Trust, the God of Israel under whose wings thou art come to trust. And C, Isaiah forty-five, twenty-two, says, Look unto me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. This is carried over into John three and verse fifteen, where he speaks about Moses lifted up the serpent. And you remember in the twenty-first of numbers where that story is given, it says, it came to pass as if whoever looked upon the serpent of grass lived. When a banker says, you look to me and I'll take care of your financial problems, he doesn't mean stand and stare at him. He means depend upon him, count on him. And D, the word lean to lean on. Second Kings, eighteen, says that they leaned on Egypt for hell. So we can lean on God. We can lean on his word. And E, Matthew eleven, twenty-eight uses the term come. come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest this is not a physical motion you don't move toward God by moving to the front of the church building but you come to him by faith and finally if there is the word commit in second Timothy one twelve I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him Incidentally, this word commit, we're told, in the Greek language is very similar to our word deposit, which is used in connection with banking. When you make a deposit in the bank, this is what you do when you commit yourself to the Lord's keeping to his salvation. And number four, faith is defined in the faith chapter, as it's called, Hebrews eleven. first verse says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. A, it gives substance to unseen things, which means assurance. It gives substance to unseen things. This is our assurance. And B, it gives conviction or convinces of reality. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. This is the word that is used sometimes interchangeably in the Koine Greek of the first century for title deeds. So see, it is the title deeds to unseen things. This is the way you take title to spiritual blessings and to heaven itself by faith. Now if a piece of paper signed by human beings is good enough title to a piece of property, certainly the Word of God ought to be good enough title for us for evidence of things not seen. Now the second section, the importance of faith to God. One, His character is that of absolute truth. I've given you a verse that is not often quoted, Second Corinthians one, eighteen. It says, But as God is true, our word unto you was not yea and may that is we didn't say yes and no we didn't we didn't vacillate because we wanted to give you what is the word of God and God is true it's important for us to understand the character of God this is why faith is important to him because he is a person who is truth itself he is a God of truth now in a in Exodus thirty four six He is said to be abundant in truth. And B, Isaiah twenty-five, one tells us that his counsels are truth. His counsels, of course, would be whatever he tells us. And C, in John seventeen seventeen, the Lord Jesus said in his prayer to the Father, sanctify them through thy truth. thy word is true. So the word is true. And D, his works are true. Daniel four thirty-seven tells us this. His works are done in truth. Now number two, God the Son came to bear witness of the truth. This is what John, eighteen thirty-seven tells us. He has come into the world. He said, I am come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. That is, of God himself and of the Word of God. Let me give you six things said about the Lord Jesus, all of them in John's Gospel. This is what you would expect because John's gospel emphasizes the Lord is the Son of God and emphasizes truth. In fact, you have faith mentioned more times in John's gospel than anywhere else, usually under the term believe. A, he is the truth. John, fourteen, six, he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. and B he is full of truth full of grace and truth John one fourteen says out of the abundance of the hearts and mouth speakers and our blessed Lord Jesus was full of truth for everything he said was true we're full of other things and C he told the truth John eight forty He said, you don't believe me, a man that has told you the truth. You hate me because I told you the truth. And D, in John one and nine, he is said to be the true light. This is the true light which lighted every man that cometh into the world. Light, of course, is to dispel darkness. Light is to lead us in the right way. to teach us what is true. And E, he called himself in John six thirty-two, the true bread that came down from heaven. A bread, of course, is necessary to the body for a physical life. And the Lord Jesus, as the true bread is necessary to the Spirit for eternal life. And F, In John fifteen one he called himself a true vine. This was in contrast to the false vine of Israel. Israel was a vine that brought forth fruit to itself. It was a vine that bore wild grapes. But our blessed Lord was all that he claimed to be. They said to him one time, What do you say of yourself? Who are you? And he said, I am even that which I said unto you. That is, I am exactly, I am as a character exactly what I say. So his character and his words agreed exactly. On number three, God asks us to believe him. In numbers fourteen and eleven, he said, how long will it be ere you believe me? God was continually promising and showing and telling and proving to the children of Israel, and still they didn't believe it. In Isaiah forty-three ten, he said, You are my witness that they might know and believe. So put down under B, know and believe. Most people want to see and believe. But we believe because God has said it, and we know. And last of all, in Hebrews, eleven and six, you have that statement I gave you in the verse at the beginning. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Well, that's how important faith is to God. If you take a concordance and just look up the word faith or the word believe, I think you'll hear quite a surprise. It's one of the most used words in all of the Bible. Now section three, unbelief is sin. It's no sin to doubt a human being. In fact, I'd be a fool if I believed every human being. It's no sin to doubt human beings. I've got good reason to doubt. David the Psalmist said, I said it in my haste, all men are liars. Someone said he could have taken his time and still said it. Because it's perfectly true. But it is a sin not to believe God. One, it caused the fall of man. Genesis three. Adam and Eve sinned through unbelief. They believed the lie of Satan instead of believing the truth of God. And two, it caused the failure of Israel. In Hebrews chapter three, in fact, the third and fourth chapters are pretty much filled with this one topic. He tells us that the reason the children of Israel were not blessed was because of unbelief. And one particular verse in this section that I've given here, Hebrews three, sixteen and nineteen says, So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. The failure of the whole nation of Israel was due to this one thing. In the section in Romans, chapters nine, eleven, nine, ten, and eleven, the deals of Israel, why Israel is set aside at the present time. This is the thing that is continually brought up. They refused to believe God. They did not accept the word of God. They didn't believe God about his righteousness. They didn't believe him about his Messiah. Now number three, it hindered the flow of blessing from Christ when he was here on this earth. It hindered the flow of blessing from the Lord Jesus. A, to the people. Matthew thirteen and fifty-eight says he could not do many things there because of their unbelief. And B, through his disciples. In Matthew seventeen and twenty, When he came down off of the Mount of Transfiguration, he found that the disciples were unable to cast out a demon from the child. And he cast it out and they said, why couldn't we do it? He said, this kind cometh not out but by prayer and fasting. And then he said, it was because of your unbelief. There are many so-called divine healers today. who lay the blame on the person who comes for healing. But there are several cases in the Bible where the blame is laid on the person who attempted to do the healing and not on the person who came for healing. In fact, there are many cases of healing where nothing, whatever, is said about the faith of the person who came to be healed. The four men who carried the man to the Lord Jesus and led him down to the road. It says, because of their faith, he says, as a man, right, and pick up by bed and walk. So, unbelief hinders the flow of blessing. Now, number four, it insults God. Even we feel insulted when people don't believe us. We're very touchy about this, and yet we know sometimes there's reason for it. But first John five and ten says, He that believeth not God have made him a liar. So it makes God a liar. Unbelief is an insult to God because it makes him a liar. B, it is sin. John sixteen, seven to nine says that when the Holy Spirit has come, he will convict the world of sin. And then he says, because they believe not on me. So the sin of which the Holy Spirit convicts the world is the sin of unbelief. And number five, unbelief will bring damnation. A. Second Thessalonians two twelve uses the very strong word damned. that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but a pleasure and unrighteousness. It's a very serious thing to believe not the truth. And B, Jude five uses the word destroyed. After it destroyed them which believed not. Now destroyed in the Bible never means annihilation. It always means spoiling for the original purpose. For instance, it says that at Calvary Satan was destroyed. Well, of course he still exists, but he lost his power and is unable to carry out his plans. And see the lake of fire. It said in Revelation twenty-one eight to be the destiny of those who do not believe. When he lists the sins for which men are cast into the lake of fire, it might surprise you to find out that the two leading sins are the fearful and the unbelieving. And then he goes on to add murders, harmongers, and all the kinds of sinful men. But at the top of the list, he puts the fearful, that is those who are afraid to trust God, and the unbelieving, those who refuse to believe God. And D, John three eighteen says they're condemned already. He that believeth not is condemned already. It's a good thing to point this out when you're trying to lead a person to Christ. They're not waiting till they die to find out if they're going to be lost or saved. They're already condemned. by the simple fact that they have not believed God. And the fourth section, the son's life of faith. Now this gives you some idea of the importance of faith. Why it means so much to God? One, he took part of flesh and blood. Hebrews two, fourteen. Now, in reading this passage, you want to differentiate between the word took part, which refers to Christ, and the word partakers, which refers to human beings. The children, we are partakers of flesh and blood. But he also took part are the same. He chose, in confidence in his father, He chose to take part. The act of incarnation was a tremendous act of faith. If you think of the Lord Jesus coming down to take human nature, not sinful nature, but human nature, and then think if it were possible for you as a man to become a worm. The step from where he was down to humanity is many, many times greater than the step from humanity down to a worm. This was a tremendous step and the real step of faith. A. It involved complete subjections. In Hebrews ten, five and seven, he says, A body hast thou prepared me, lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. And in John six thirty-eight, he said plainly, I came not to do mine own will, that the will of the Father was sent me. For there was complete subjection in that step, and B, total dependence on his Father. Matthew eleven twenty six is a wonderful verse. Our Savior said, Even so father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. There's no rebellion, there's perfect confidence, total dependence upon his father. And in John eighteen eleven, when Peter cut off Malchus' ear with his sword, the Lord said, Put your sword up into his sheath, the cup which my father has given me, shall I not drink it? So there was total dependence upon his father. No questioning. Now, number two, his trust in his father is seen, and I've given five ways, A, his prayer life. And the whole book of Luke stresses this, as we've already seen in studying prayer. Seven times in the book of Luke, the Lord Jesus is seen in prayer. Prayer is an indication of your trust and dependence upon God. And B, in his lowliness. Matthew eleven, twenty-nine, if you recall, says, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Ye shall find rest to your soul. And C, it was seen in his poverty. In second Corinthians eight, nine, though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor the only man who ever had any choice as to what kind of a family he would be born into chose to be born into a poor family and to live in a poor town and to work at a poor trade this way he was in poverty and so in total dependence upon his father And D, it is seen in his teaching. Luke twelve, thirty to thirty-two is a good example of this, where he said, Fear not, little flock. Just trust your father. Look to him. All of his teaching encouraged us to trust in the father, even as he himself did. And E, last and greatest of all, it is seen in his descent into death. In Hebrews, and make a change here, this is two instead of three. Hebrews two, fourteen, fifteen. We read about the Lord Jesus' encounter with Satan in death, that by dying he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. In Acts two, twenty-five to twenty-eight, he prayed, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Remember that while death to the Christian is merely sleep, it is gentle and it is without fear. For the Lord Jesus, he was descending into the jaws of death, and the teeth had not been pulled from it yet. He was going into all the horror of what death meant. for one who died in his sins, for he was dying with our sins upon him. And I have offended the note here that David, meaning Goliath, faintly depicts this confrontation with Satan.