Among those who know and love the Lord Jesus, the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a well-known and favorite passage of Scripture.  It’s the chapter that points us back to some of the more famous examples of faith given in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Abel is listed there, as is Noah, Enoch, Jacob, and Joseph.  Of course, Sarah and Abraham are there.  Men and women are remembered who trusted the promises of God -- men and women to whom God had promised something great, something special, something out of the ordinary.

It’s a wonderful passage in the Bible, this chapter on faith.  And the message it contains actually spills over into the next chapter, and is deeply rooted in chapter ten, and in the chapters before that.

Faith that surpasses the common.

In Hebrews 11, we’re told about a special kind of faith, a confident conviction that draws the attention of our hearts and minds upward to God Himself.  This kind of hopeful expectation is fully centered and anchored in the promises of God.  This isn’t the kind of faith we see in most people everyday..

Every human being has some kind of faith.  We all place our confidence and hope in someone, in something.  We are able to expect certain things to happen in life because we believe certain things about the people and the objects, even about the universe itself, all around us.  We live by faith, to some extent, just about every day.

But not everybody places a lot of faith in God.  And there are many superficial reasons for this.  Maybe we once wanted something, hoped for something or expected something, at an earlier point in life – a desire of hope that was never fulfilled.  Maybe we were bitterly disappointed when God failed to do something that mattered a lot to us.  We may argue that God simply hasn't proven Himself (His love, His power, His goodness and truthfulness) to our satisfaction.

No matter how we may try to excuse our unbelief, the real reasons for our lack of faith in God go much deeper than the arguments we express to ourselves and to others.  The real roots of unbelief are found in our own past sins and in the ever-present desires we have to sin again.   The Bible says (see Romans 8:5-14; and Galatians 5:16,17) that the desires of the fleshly or sinful nature in human beings wars against the desires and wishes of the Holy Spirit of God.  Sin (and the continuing desire to sin) opposes everything good, right, holy and true.  It bitterly opposes our ability to simply trust God, taking Him at His word.

And the same spiritual principle is at work in those who truly possess (and act on) godly faith.  In order to for us to grow in such faith, we must look away from earthly things, focusing our hearts and minds on the heavenly things that God is promising us in Jesus Christ. 

For example, take a look at what God’s Word says in Paul’s letter to the Christian believers in Colossae:

“If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.  Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).”  (Colossians 3:1-5)

Godly faith, as expressed in Hebrews 11 and in many other places in Holy Scripture, flows out of a kind of spiritual bond that must be established between our human hearts and the very Spirit of God.  It is based on a growing relationship between us and God -- a relationship that actually begins, according to Scripture, before we’re even born.

It might seem, then, that the kind of faith shown to us in Hebrews 11 is beyond our personal control.  And it's true that such faith is not of a purely human origin.  It’s the gift of God.  But it’s freely given to everyone who chooses to take the promises of God seriously.  Any of us can choose to believe God and to anchor our hopes and expectations in what He says.

The passage of Scripture in Hebrews 11 talks about the importance of faith, and about what has accomplished in and for godly people through genuine faith.  Then it makes an astonishing comment: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them..."  (from verse 13)

None of the saints mentioned in this important New Testament lesson on faith received in their lifetime the fullness of what was promised.  They all died still waiting for the promises.  Yet it says of these unfulfilled promises, that the men and women of faith "embraced them, confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."  (last part of verse 13)  For these men and women of God, the promises were greater than anything they might ever expect to receive in this world, in this life.

In fact, the same passage has much more to say about these people and their walk of faith.

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.  And truly, had they called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."  (Hebrews 11:13-16)

Please note three important things in the above passage:

1.   But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.

2.   Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God

3.   He has prepared a city for them.

First, even when the promises given to the people listed in Hebrews 11 didn’t reach complete fulfillment, they continued to set their minds on God Himself, and on what He had said to them.  They did not die in bitterness of heart or in disappointment.  They lived and died in an ever-growing faith.

Their faith had gone from a purely earthly expectation to a hope aimed at higher things, desiring the place to which God Himself was calling them.  And they didn’t allow anything in this life to break or twist away or weaken the confidence they had placed in God, and in what He promised.

Therefore, Scripture says, God is not shamed to be called their God.  What a testimony for any human being to achieve! 

God is not ashamed to be called their God.  Why?  Because they proved that their faith in Him was not rooted in the passing events and circumstances of earthly existence.  Rather, their faith was and is rooted in the very character -- the faithfulness and eternal goodness -- of the God who has spoken (and not just to them, but to us as well!).

God is worthy of our confidence.

God has done enough in each of our lives to demonstrate and prove forever the nature of His heart and intent toward us.  God has done enough in each of our lives to demonstrate His power, His unfailing love, His just nature and trustworthiness to us all.  That is, He’s already proven Himself worthy of our trust.

The third important thing in the passage above is what God does in response to our faith.  God has prepared a place for those who truly hope in Him.  Hebrews 11 says that He has prepared a city.  The Apostle John also talks about a city in the apocalyptic Book of the Revelation.  But Jesus Himself (in the gospel written by John) simply calls it a house -- the Father's own house.  And the Lord Jesus also makes it plain that in the Father's house there’s plenty of room for everyone who trusts in Him.

God has prepared a place and time for all who truly believe in Him. 

Do you believe what God has said to us? 

Do you believe what God says about human beings? 

Do you believe what God says about sin and its consequences? 

Do you believe what God says about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?

It isn’t so difficult to believe what God has said when we know God, when we believe in God Himself.  To know God, to know and understand His character (Jeremiah 9:23,24), as He’s revealed it throughout the long history of His interactions with human beings, and as He reveals it today in our own lives, is to gain the power to believe all that He says -- no matter how strange or impossible it may sound to human ears and minds.

None of the names mentioned in Hebrews 11 were perfect people.  They were all sinners saved by grace, just as we are today.  They had plenty of faults and weaknesses.  They had times of doubt, times of exhaustion and frustration, times when nothing in life seemed to make any sense at all.  But when all was said and done, they stood with God, trusting in what He had promised. 

"Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."  (Hebrews 11:16)

Our Lord Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."  (John 14:1-3)

Life in this world is often very difficult.  It’s often hard, if not impossible, to fully understand life.   Our own walk of faith may become so chaotic at times that it can seem as though God has abandoned us.  But God never abandons His own.  Nor will He turn His back on anyone who calls out to Him -- on anyone who hopes in Him. 

The Bible makes it clear:
Romans 10:13 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  And the psalmist says, “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”  (Psalm 145:18)

God is faithful. 

God is trustworthy. 

And God is fair and just in all things, just as the Scripture says. 

In fact, the Bible says to those whose patience is wearing thin: "For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.  And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."  (Hebrews 6:10-12)

As we each learn how to continually turn our hearts and thoughts back to God, trusting in what He has promised, we also increase our understanding of how we should live out our time in this world.   One result, as John writes in his first letter to the churches, is that our lives will become more godly, more Christ-like.

John writes:
"And now, little children, abide [continue to live and remain] in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming...  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.  (1 John 2:28 & 3:3)

Stand firm in your faith.  Do not allow the cares of this passing world to choke out your confidence in the God who gives you life and every blessing in Jesus Christ.

Please join me in this prayer to God for each of us:

As the saints of God in Hebrews 11 gained a good testimony, so may we also earn the testimony that we will trust in the Lord Jesus, no matter what.  And may Christ be able to say of us that He is not ashamed to be our Savior and God, but that He has in fact prepared for us a city, a house, a dwelling place, so that where He is, there we may be also -- forever.  May this be so through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen and amen.

Jim