Hebrews 11

Bible study with Pastor Terry Gray

BY FAITH 

Our faith in God allows our lives to be bigger, allows us to see things that others do not see--not the other way around.

Placing our faith in God is the key to getting to see the bigger world. 

Evidence without seeing: Micro-organisms, such as bacteria. Hundreds of years ago, science did not have the technology to visualize micro-organisms. However, scientists back in those days knew that something in the air was causing certain diseases, and that certain diseases can spread. They could not see the micro-organisms that caused the diseases, but THEY KNEW THEY EXIST. Were they crazy? No. Hundreds of years later, the microscope was invented, and their knowledge of the micro-organisms is correct. (Side track: Science is limited by technology. Just because science can't prove something that exists doesn't necessarily mean that thing doesn't exist. It could very mean we are limited by the technology and have yet discovered the methods to detect what we cannot see.)

Similarly, we don't see angels, the Holy Spirit, God, but We know they are all real. Satan and demons, we don't see, and they, too, are real.

There are so many examples where, given the tools, we can finally see what we cannot physically see. Christians see spiritually by faith. Just like how magnetism cannot be seen by physical eye but by a magnetic needle, the spiritual world can only be see with our faith and spiritual eye. 

Hebrews 11:2
By faith, saints got in good with God. Only by faith can we please God. We please God through our believe in Him, our confidence in him; not by works. 

Everything we do, we must do in faith. That's what pleases God. 

Hebrews 11:4
Cain represents those who do godly work on the outside but have no faith in their hearts. Those who do good works by ritual but not by heart. 

Again, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Living by faith is knowing of a future promise tomorrow and living accordingly today. We need to build a life knowing we have a future life in Heaven!

Hebrews 11:13-16
These Hall of Faith saints never got to see the promises fulfilled, and yet they lived according to those promises as if they were present.

They show us how to build a life knowing we have a future in Heaven! 

Hebrews 11:36-38
Faith allows us to live through tragic things. If martyred saints did not have the truth, why in the world did they put up with all the suffering? 

Hebrews 11:39-40
Having seen more and been blessed more, how could we not live by faith with even more bravery than those who have gone before us?!