S26 || When Belief Becomes Action, Lives Change || Hebrews 11:1-7 || Session 26

We explore how Scripture frames faith as reasoned reliance on a trustworthy God, not a blind leap. From creation’s order to fulfilled promises, the Bible supplies a track record that invites confidence. We unpack why hope is expectation, not wishful thinking, and why belief in God’s existence is necessary but not sufficient. Faith produces works; works never purchase salvation. Along the way, we clear a common misunderstanding: faith is not a free-floating force. Like the woman who touched Jesus’ garment, faith is the channel; Christ’s power does the work.

Three portraits bring this home. Abel offers his best and the right sacrifice because he trusts God’s way over his own. Enoch walks with God and is taken, a quiet witness that fellowship with God is a life posture. Noah builds an ark for decades in dry land, absorbing ridicule while following precise instructions—long obedience anchored in promise. We also get practical about growing faith today: return to the Word that generates trust, stay close to a church family, and take the next small step that aligns with what God has said.

If you’re weighing a decision and wondering whether to step out, this conversation will ground your courage in God’s character and give you clear next moves. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review telling us: what step of faith are you taking this week?

Chapters

• 0:00 The Wheelbarrow Test Of Faith
• 2:02 Defining Faith In Hebrews 11:1–3
• 5:10 Evidence, Reason, And Trustworthy Authority
• 9:20 Hope That Expects, Not Wishes
• 12:28 How Old Testament Saints Were Saved
• 15:05 Creation, Unseen Things, And Science
• 17:20 How To Grow Faith: Word And Community
• 18:40 Abel’s Better Offering
• 20:30 Enoch And Walking With God
• 23:05 Faith That Produces Works
• 24:07 Noah’s Long Obedience
• 26:23 Closing And Next Study Preview

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:19

When we talk about faith, I'm reminded of the story of the man who walked all a tightrope across Niagara Falls pushing a wheelbarrow and then walked back again. He then asked the crowd, Do you think I can do it again? Everybody said yes. Well, he says, Well, who's willing to get in the wheelbarrow when I push it across this time? Well, people can say we have faith, but the question is, what happens to the people that won't put it into action and the people that will put it into action? Is it truly faith if we aren't willing to put it into action? That's the question that will get answered today as we turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 answers the question: what are some examples of people that expressed faith? This chapter, if anybody knows anything about Hebrews, they think of chapter 11 because it has a long list of people who did faithful actions. As we go through this and the study and preparing for it, it struck me that it's not really talking about the people so much as it's talking about the actions that they did on faith. They all stepped out on faith. This chapter has been called the Hall of Faith simply because it has a long list of people who have done wonderful faithful actions. Up to now, in the book of Hebrews, it has been mainly talking about doctrinal things around the person of Jesus Christ. Now it's going to give us some very, very practical examples of real-world people, some of which were very flawed, but they stepped out on faith and trusted God. We're going to talk about this as we get into it. So let's go ahead and dive in. The first three verses are more of an introduction. So, Steve, can you read the first three verses of Hebrews chapter 11?

SPEAKER_01: 2:10

Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

SPEAKER_00: 2:30

He starts off the very first verse talking about faith.

SPEAKER_01: 2:33

Steve, what is faith? Well, I I think this verse one here is not so much a definition of faith as it is a description of faith. In here, he says it's things hoped for, uh the conviction of things not seen, just taking that on its own, he uses an example there of creation. I think that using that example he's saying is if we have faith that God created the things that we are and created us, we weren't there whenever this world was created. We weren't there whenever the animals were created and the trees and the waters and the fish and all of that. Yet we have confidence and faith that God is the one that created it. Well, that was something that we didn't see. Therefore, we can have confidence and faith in things that we haven't seen in the future, but we are know that we're going to see at some point. In this particular example here, he's giving a practical application of things not seen. He's saying basically, we have faith if we believe that God created the things that we have here on earth. Because we didn't see it, therefore, we can have faith in the promises that he's made in the future. And he brings about these two ends of time together to give this description of what faith is. It's the faith of things hoped for, yet things not seen. In fact, he says confidence of things not yet seen.

SPEAKER_00: 4:09

He says faith is the confidence of things not seen. The old King James said evidence of things not seen. I always think of a very practical example that I think will help us understand this. Let's say we have an expert in some field, and the expert is telling us this, I've studied this field of study all of my life. I've done many experiments with it, and here's the facts about this situation. Let's say it's physics, possibly, and the expert is saying, you know, if you take water at sea level, it's going to boil at a different temperature than it does on top of the mountain. Now, if we take that expert's statements at face value and say, well, this expert has told me the truth all the other times I've ever heard him, and every other thing he's told me has proven to be true. But I haven't actually boiled water at sea level and then tested it on top of a mountain. So I'm just going to take his word for it because he's the expert. Well, that's faith. The expert has proven himself true, and therefore I trust him. And therefore, I'm going to continue with what I'm doing based on his faith and his expertise. If, on the other hand, I say, you know, I'm not sure that's true, and I'm doubting this expert. So then I go to the seashore and boil water and then go up on top of a mountain and boil water again and measure the temperature. Well, that's no longer faith. I've doubted this person and I'm going to try to prove it for myself. That way would be demonstration, not faith. Faith is always built upon past evidence. It's built on a, for example, a trustworthy person that has always told the truth in the past. Now he's telling me something that I can't see. Therefore, how do I know whether it's true? Well, I have faith because the person talking to me has been proven trustworthy. For example, in the Old Testament, David fought Goliath on faith. But David didn't go in blindly. If you remember the story, David said, No, when I was a shepherd, God protected me from the bear and the lion. If uh I was protected from the bear and the lion, then I can be protected against this giant. Faith is only as strong as the authority that's giving us the statement. If the person talking to us is trustworthy, then we can have faith in their word. What it says here in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3, if we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God. Now, Steve, I don't know about you, but I wasn't around when God made the world. So I'm gonna have to take his word for it. I'm taking his word for it because every other thing he's ever told me has proven true. So I can have faith that God is telling me the truth here, that he made the world. That's the way I think of it is I have faith in the person giving the statement because they are trustworthy. That's faith.

SPEAKER_01: 7:05

I think we also have the evidence of creation that we can look at as well based on the diversity of the different kinds of animals that we have, the way that they're put together. And I won't go into detail, but you know what I'm talking about. They have different types of wings, they have different types of eyes to be able to see. Animals, some of them have eyes on the side, some of them have eyes kind of in the front, where they have depth perception. And within the fish in the sea, we have mammals that are air breathing in the sea, as well as fish that have gills. And it's just a myriad of things when you look at creation, and especially when you get on the microscopic level, it's just hard to deny that there's a designer behind the creation. So I think that's a good example that the author gives here related to creation itself. We have the evidence that there is a designer and a creator of creation itself, and that we weren't there, and we can't say for sure as to how it was done, but we can say that there was a creator that created everything. Therefore, we can have the faith of what's going to happen in the future because we have faith that there is a creator that gave us everything and our creation, including the way our body works.

SPEAKER_00: 8:31

I think one story out of the Gospels will help us to learn and get a grasp on what is meant by faith here in a biblical sense. Remember in the Gospels, there was the woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years. Jesus shows up one day, there was a crowd of people, and the woman believed if I can just touch the fringe of his garment, then I'll be healed. She presses her way through the crowd, touches the fringe of his garment, and she's instantly healed. Jesus turns to her, and in the conversation, he says to her, Your faith has made you well. In that sense, the faith was the channel by through which Jesus made her well. The faith was not the force that caused it. Jesus was the one that caused the healing. The woman's faith healed her in the sense that it was the ability of Jesus to work through her and to her. So by the reason I tell that is because there's people today that have misunderstood and think that faith by itself, an empty faith just hanging out in space, is a force that causes change in reality, and nothing could be further from the truth. That is occultism. No, we have faith in a person. We have faith in the Lord because he is trustworthy. The woman, we could say her faith made her well simply because the faith was the channel by which Jesus' power made her well. Jesus' power was out there for everybody in that crowd that day, but they didn't have the faith. She had the faith, and therefore the channel was open to where he could work in her life. That's the sense here. Faith is the means by which God works. So faith is not hoping, it's not wishing, it's not, I kind of sort of think it might help me. No, faith is built upon, like back to our expert we talked about a while ago. This person has proven himself trustworthy over and over again. Now they come up with something that I can't prove to myself. I'm going to take this expert's word for it. Like here, verse three, again, it tells us God made the worlds. None of us were around. So we have to take his word by faith simply because everything else in the scripture is proven true, that is told to us by God. Therefore, when he says he made the world, we take his word for it because he is trustworthy. Therefore, faith is always built upon something solid. Faith is always built upon something reasonable. Nobody ever makes a blind leap in the dark, and nobody ever believes things that are absurd. Therefore, faith is always built upon reason and logic. But it is, as it says here, the assurance of things that we can't see.

SPEAKER_01: 11:15

Yeah, one of the things to look at before we move on, it talks about in verse one the assurance of things hoped for. Well, what are some of these things that we're hoping for? We're hoping for spiritual maturity. We're hoping for the blessings of the Messiah's return of the messianic kingdom. We're looking for the glorification of our bodies. We're looking for the entrance into heavenly rest. Those are all things that we're looking for, the redemption of creation. Those are some of the things that are mentioned here where it says the things that we're hoped for. And I'm sure that there's those that are in our audience listening, there's many, many other things that they're looking forward to as well. And the last point is again, this word hope is not something that is just wishful thinking. It's something that is expected. So the hope that we have is all of the things that we expect to receive whenever Jesus Christ returns again.

SPEAKER_00: 12:18

In verse two, it says, by it, and it there's faith, by faith the men of old gained approval. The men of old, of course, were people in the Old Testament. Steve, how were people in the Old Testament saved?

SPEAKER_01: 12:32

They were saved the same way that we are today, Glenn. They're saved by faith in Yahweh, in God, in the promises that were given. We've mentioned that in a couple of sessions ago, that Romans 3, verses roughly 19 to 26 give an explanation that all of those sins in the Old Testament scriptures, what we call the Hebrew scriptures, they were overlooked until Jesus Christ came as the satisfactory sacrifice. And at that time, those sins were forgiven. In our case, the sins that we have committed were forgiven whenever we expressed faith into God, because we are on this side of the cross and Jesus Christ. All sins are forgiven by the sacrifice and death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, both in the Old Testament or Hebrew Scripture saints and the New Testament and present-day saints, every one of them. And it's based off of the faith and the promises of Yahweh. Jesus is Yahweh. We have those promises that he has given us. We've expressed our faith, belief, and trust in him. He's paid our sin debt. Therefore, we have salvation. The Hebrew scriptures, people in old times and old ages, they expressed faith in Yahweh and the promises, and they were actuated in practicality at the cross and the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00: 14:08

The end of verse three tells us that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Now, when I read that, I first think of the chemists and the physicists tell us that everything around us is made up of molecules. And the molecules, if you go down there far enough, are made up of atoms. Now, I've never seen molecules nor atoms, so I have to take their word on faith because they seem to know what they're talking about around that system. The physicists tell us that if we look at those atoms and we go down far enough, then those atoms are made up of protons and neutrons and electrons. And I'll have to take their word for that too, because I've never seen those either. But those physicists tell us that if we keep going down there far enough below those subatomic particles, there's really no matter there. It's all non-material. So say the physicist. Now, if that's true, then the physicists and modern science have finally caught up with the word of God because Hebrews 11:3 says that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. And the nuclear physicists these days are telling us that if we go down to the smallest levels, there's no matter down there. There's nothing that's visible. And so we'll trust the word of God and the we'll trust the physicist when it lines up with it. I don't understand physics and I don't understand chemistry, but I understand the word of God. And it tells me that what is made is not made out of things which are visible. Many people wonder how do I get faith? Because it's talking here about faith. And I think this whole chapter is talking about reassurance of faith so that we can have it. How do we get faith? Romans 10, 17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. People have had crisis of faith. Some people end up in seasons of doubt in their life. So, my friend, do you need more faith? Then stay in the Word of God. Romans 10, 17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. That's where the faith comes from. It's no surprise that people lose their faith when they get away from reading or hearing the Bible and they get away from hanging around other Christians, then they lose their faith. My friend, do you need more faith? Then stay in the Word of God and stay in church. The next passage starts talking about, again, a list of people that have done actions that are demonstrate their faith. All the people listed make these life decisions based on faith in God's word. Hebrews 11:4 says this by faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous. God testifying about his gifts through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. Steve, what were the sacrifices that Abel and Cain made way back in Genesis?

SPEAKER_01: 17:10

Abel's sacrifices were animal sacrifices. Cain's sacrifices were vegetable sacrifices. He brought ones that came from the gardens that he grew. Abel brought sacrifices of blood. And those were the type of sacrifices that God was requiring was a blood sacrifice. Therefore, the sacrifices that Abel gave were pleasing to God, and the ones that Cain was bringing were not satisfactory.

SPEAKER_00: 17:43

And I think part of what was going on there was Abraham bought it, said the best of his flocks, but Cain was just bringing whatever he thought was good. Not only was it not a blood sacrifice, but it wasn't the best. There's no mention there of Cain bringing the best. What we see is that Abel did it God's way based on faith, and Cain tried to do it his way. Cain really didn't believe that God cared or wanted or deserved the best. The scriptures don't really tell us a whole lot about Cain and Abel, other than what was mentioned here, which was Cain got jealous of Abel. And Abel, it really just tells us that he made this sacrifice. And that's the point here by Hebrews 11: is that by faith Abel offered what God intended, and Abel trusted God. Steve, I would really hope that even if not much was mentioned about me in life, then it would be mentioned that I had faith. Abel's only mentioned in that one place, but yet here it's saying his life had eternal consequences because he had faith.

SPEAKER_01: 19:02

He offered a better sacrifice than Cain. In other words, it went to what I explained a while ago. Abel had faith in Yahweh and offered the better sacrifice, the ones that Yahweh wanted to be sacrificed. Through that faith in the promises of Yahweh, he obtained righteousness. Just like righteousness was reckoned to Abram, righteousness was reckoned to Abel by God because in part of the better sacrifices that he gave to Yahweh.

SPEAKER_00: 19:37

This chapter, Hebrews 11, started way back with Cain and Abel, and it starts walking through different people in the Old Testament in the history there. I'll read the next verses starting in verse 5. By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death, and he was not found because God took him up, for he obtained the witness that before his His being taken up, he was pleasing to God. And without faith, it was impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. So, Steve, what's the story of Enoch back in Genesis?

SPEAKER_01: 20:17

Well, this particular instance of reference to Enoch is talking about where he was taken up, or another word that is used is translated, meaning that you have an indication there that his body was transformed as well. We see that because of the wording used here, taken up so that he would not see death. You don't have an indication that he's going to return someday so that he could die again. The indication is he was taken up, his body was transformed, and he was taken up to heaven. And who took him up? God is the one that took him up. Therefore, he is obtained a witness before God, and that it was taken up to be pleasing to God. Whereas Abel is an example of worshiping God in faith, Enoch is an example of walking with God in faith.

SPEAKER_00: 21:11

Back in Genesis 5.24, it mentions Enoch, and all it really says there is Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Now, here in Hebrews 11, it makes it crystal clear what happened with that. Verse 5 says that Enoch was taken alive by God. So it also says here that Enoch walked with God. Steve, here's a question. How did Enoch walk with God?

SPEAKER_01: 21:39

He walked with God in faith. That's the way that he the relationship that he had with God. It also gives an indication of what Paul has told some people whenever Jesus Christ comes back to get his bride. Paul says there are going to be some of us who will not taste death, and that we will be caught up in the air with Jesus. This is an example of that, of Enoch walking with God, God taking him up alive, translating his body, transforming it, and taking him up into heaven. It's an example of walking by faith with God.

SPEAKER_00: 22:21

Verse six tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. God's way of salvation is built on faith. God's way of pleasing him and staying in fellowship with him is built on faith. Faith is just merely trust. Do we trust God or do we not? If we do trust God, then we're going to do the actions similar to what the people in Hebrews 11 are or have done, which is act according to that. The actions of these people are not what saves them. It was the faith. But the faith produced the actions. If we truly trust God, then we're going to take his word and we're going to act on it. Good works done to earn righteousness will fail. If we rather have faith and trust in God, then that will produce good works because we've trusted what he's told us, and we will also obey him out of gratitude for what he tells us. He who comes to God must believe that he is, it says. Believing that God exists is a logical prerequisite to salvation. It's a logical prerequisite to trust and faith in him. Believing the existence of God is not enough. We have to trust him in what he says. Just believing that he is, that's a logical prerequisite, but it's not sufficient. We have to believe that our faith down here will have consequences, that God is a rewarder of those who seek him, and therefore I'm going to act according to my beliefs. If God rewards those who seek him, then he will also punish those who won't give him the time of day. That's what the lesson here is. Verse 7, by faith, Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Steve, what did Noah do that demonstrated that he had faith?

SPEAKER_01: 24:29

He built the ark that God commanded him to build. He told Noah that the rain was going to come, that the world was going to be flooded, gave him instructions to build this ark that was going to take his family and all of the animals as far as a representation of them. He did it. And it took him over a hundred years to build this. It's a picture of somebody that was taking God's word and obeying God's word over a long period of time. In an earlier session, back in chapter 10, encouraged us not to have our faith waver. Well, Noah is an example of someone's faith that didn't waver. He continued to build this ark. Now, at the time, there wasn't any indication that there had been rainfall on the earth before. And certainly not something of bringing a flood. So you have this picture here of Noah building this ark in a place where there had never been any flooding or anything else like that. This thing was a huge structure based upon the dimensions that are given in scripture. You can just imagine the people walking by Noah and looking in and saying, Noah, what are you doing? You've been working on this thing for decades. You know, this is never gonna happen. But yet Noah kept at it in obedience and weathered through, did not waver all of the disparaging thoughts and disparaging words that probably came his way. Through that, he provided an ark for salvation of his household, and by which condemnation of the world came through the flood.

SPEAKER_00: 26:15

The idea here is just trust God. Noah heard God's word, he trusted it and acted on it, and therefore saved his family. That's the message here. A good place to pause for today, simply because the next passage is going to talk about the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph. We'll reason through that next time.

SPEAKER_01: 26:35

Just whenever it was getting good, we have to stop. But don't worry, we'll be back, and we want you to join us as well. Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.