By Faith

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 17th of August, 2025.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

A few weeks back, I mentioned that we don’t really know who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews.  For the longest time, we attributed this letter to Paul, a very prolific letter writer himself.  But in latter years, in careful examination and comparisons to the letters we know Paul wrote, most scholars now believe Paul did not write this letter.  It just doesn’t match his style of writing.  So we don’t know for sure who wrote it.  We’re not even sure when it was written, but references within the letter itself puts its authorship in the late 60s, or a little more than 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The primary theme of the letter is the superiority of Christ Jesus - in His person, His priesthood, and His power - and therefore the superiority of Christianity itself, of being Christian.  And when we look at Christ’s power, we get into the subject most commonly associated to this letter: the power of faith in Jesus.  We’re familiar with the opening line of the 11th chapter when our author assures us that, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”, as the New King James Version puts it.

Now, we acknowledge that faith is a gift from God.  Each one is given some measure of faith.  It then falls to us what to do with that faith, whether to use it and exercise it, or let it lie fallow and slowly wither and die.  Another very important consideration is what – or who - to put that faith in.

This morning I’d like to dig a little deeper into what it means to have faith, to put it to use, to live by faith.  Please listen and follow along to a slightly different version of the Letter to the Hebrews, starting with verses 1 and 3 of chapter 11, then skipping down to verse 29 and going through to the 2nd verse of chapter 12, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

11:1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 

3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.

30 It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.

31 It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women received their loved ones back again from death.

But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

39 All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

--Hebrews 11:1, 3, 29-12:2 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we wish we knew who it was, but thank You for inspiring the author of this great letter.  Thank You for leading them to write it in the first place, and then ensuring that it would survive through all these years so we would have it to read and study today.  You gave us faith, and we chose to put it in Jesus.  But we don’t always put that faith to good use.  With all the busyness of life, we sometimes struggle to make the time and effort to share our faith with others, trying to lead them to Jesus.  Please forgive us our failures, Father.  Help us be more obedient to Your will, showing Your love to others so that they too might find salvation through Jesus.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better grasp the message You have for us this day.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service.  And please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Author and lay theologian C. S. Lewis, in his book A Grief Observed, noted that, “You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death.  It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong as long as you are merely using it to cord a box.  But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice.  Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?”

Mr. Lewis makes a very good point, although it goes unstated.  It isn’t a matter of believing or not believing, but of what we believe in.  We believe that rope is strong enough to tie up a box, but would we trust our life and limb to it?  It’s not a matter of having faith, but of what we have faith in, where we place our faith.  Is our faith in the rope, or the hands holding the other end of the rope?

Chapter 11 of our letter gives all kinds of examples of the good things that can come, even in this life, from living by faith.  Faith gives us a clearer understanding of how the universe came to be, even though nothing existed before.  Faith saw the people of Israel through some very dangerous times, even destroying their enemies more than once.  Faith saved a sinner who obeyed God when all around her refused to.  Faith powered mighty men who overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and escaped death by the edge of the sword.  Faith shut the mouths of lions and quenched the flames of furnace fire.  Faith turns weakness to strength.

Yes, some who had faith were treated poorly by life while others enjoyed success, but God has even more, ever better, in store for all who have faith.  So chapter 12 encourages us to rip away anything that impacts our faith, any weight that slows us down in our pursuit of righteous, faithful living.  Let us keep our eyes on Jesus, who perfects our faith.

One day Jesus was teaching His disciples about temptations to sin, about forgiveness, and about faith.  Hear what the Apostle Luke reported of part of the conversation that followed this lesson, in verses 5 and 6 of the 17th chapter of his Gospel account…

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!”

--Luke 17:5-6 (NLT)

“Show us how to increase our faith.”  In my mind, that begs the question, can we actually increase our faith?  I believe the answer is “yes”, depending on how we define “increase”.

In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul clearly states that, “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith”, meaning we’ve all been given some amount of faith, whatever amount God saw fit to give us.  To me, this says we are given that specific amount of faith and its size, the amount, cannot be increased.  But then, in his 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, Paul notes that as that church family’s faith is increased, he and Timothy are encouraged to continue spreading the Gospel message.

Now – and again, this is just my interpretation – I believe that in this Paul means an increase in the strength and vigor of the faith given, an increase in its use, not its size.  So the unspoken gist of this lesson is that the size of faith, the amount of faith, is not nearly as important as what we have faith in.  If our faith is truly and fully in God, He can do amazing things through us as we exercise and use that faith.

A little later on, after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and clearing the Temple of the money changers and sellers, Jesus comes right out and says where we should put our faith, as reported by the Apostle Mark in verses 22 through 25 of the 11th chapter of his Gospel account…

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

--Mark 11:22-25 (NLT)

Have faith in God and even a mountain will move at our command.  But we’ve got to fully, completely, without a shadow of a doubt believe that it will happen, otherwise it won’t.  In fact, we must believe that it has already happened.  Jesus says we can pray for anything and if we believe we have received it, it will be ours.

But for some things we might ask, it can be very difficult to believe we’ll receive them.  That’s what faith is all about, believing in what may seem impossible.  Oh, and from previous lessons, we know that what we ask for, and our reason for asking, must both be seen as right in God’s eyes.

Family, we need to carefully consider where our faith lies?  In what or in who is our faith?  Is it in the rope, or the hands that hold the other end of the rope, in God’s hands?

If we put our faith in other men, or in man-made things, we will be greatly disappointed, for man and man’s things will fail us.  But God will never fail us, nor disappoint us.  We just need to believe, to trust, to have full faith in God.  And let Him do great things through us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for giving us the faith to believe in and follow Your Son Jesus as our Lord and Master.  And thank You for all the important and useful information contained within the pages of our Holy Bible.  We just need to spend more time with it, studying it, to learn more of Your great plan and Your will for us, building a closer relationship with You as we grow in our faith.  Father, we know that we don’t always do what is right in Your eyes.  We’re not always very obedient, not always.  But we do try to be better servants.  Remind us that You want us to grow to be more and more like Your Son.  Remove our moments of hesitation and stubbornness, please God, and forgive us those times we fail to live and behave righteously.  Please help us reach out to others and share with them all You teach us through Your word.  Help us lead them to Jesus so they too may be saved. 

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what comes our way.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us insight into that wonderful gift of faith.  With faith, we can believe in You and trust fully in our Father God.  Please forgive us, Lord, when we don’t fully exercise and strengthen our faith.  We know it disappoints You when we hesitate to witness for You to others.  Please help us be more like You in how we live and behave.  Help us serve You by telling more people all about You and what You taught.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to do to lead the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.