Trusting God's Words Means Living as Sojourners
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Hebrews 11 is all about trusting God’s words in action.
Learning from the Reformers
Learning from the Reformers
We can learn a thing or two from the Reformers when it comes to thinking rightly about faith or trust. The Reformers understood that all believing is not the same. This is a very biblical idea.
They taught that there were three elements to genuine faith or trust or we could say saving faith or trust.
Notitia- faith is, first of all, a kind of knowledge.
Notitia- faith is, first of all, a kind of knowledge.
The notion that genuine faith ought to be blind faith is demonstrably false. God does not require of you blind faith, but a well thought out faith.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV)
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us,
Paul explains that the first step of the Thessalonians faith in Christ was knowledge. They received the word of God.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Jesus makes this same distinction about faith in the parable of the different soils.
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
The first kind of hearer in the parable was the hardened wayside soil. Faith begins with knowledge and understanding. In the parable this hearer doesn’t even make it to this first step. He who hears the Word of the kingdom and does not UNDERSTAND it is like seed sown upon a hardened path. It does not even penetrate the soil. He seed of the word lies atop an unreceptive, uninterested heart and penetrates no deeper. Therefore, the devil comes and take the seed of the word away. Why?
12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
Side note: In our evangelism it is utmost importance to first and foremost make sure the seed of the word gets planted into the soil. This only happens when a person hears the Word and understands. If you can accomplish that much you have planted a seed. If they merely hear the word, but do not understand the seed is taken away before it can do any good. We need to work at helping people understand the Word of God, the gospel. That is what planting a seed looks like.
Assensus- genuine faith acknowledges (assents) that what God says is true.
Assensus- genuine faith acknowledges (assents) that what God says is true.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV)
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God,
The Thessalonians not only understood and received the word of God, they took the next step in biblical faith—they accepted it. The acknowledged as true that the words Paul spoke were indeed the very words of God. Can you see the progression from knowledge to acknowledgement?
Jesus taught it this way:
13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
When these hearers receive the word, it makes a small amount of penetration into their hearts. There is an immediate and sometimes an emotional reception of the Word, but it does not last. The soil on the rock is not speaking of stony soil, but to a shelf of stone just beneath the surface. They hear the word, but they have no root, no depth of commitment. The response, though emotional, is shallow, superficial, and temporary. This kind of reception of the word is not enough to produce new birth.
Fiducia- the final component in saving faith is a personal persuasion that acts.
Fiducia- the final component in saving faith is a personal persuasion that acts.
“Full-grown faith is confident in the reliability of God’s words to the point that it operates on the basis of what God says.” —Layton Talbert
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (ESV)
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
They heard and received the word of God (notitia). Then they acknowledged and accepted that those words held divine authority, the were the very words of God (assensus). Finally, those words were at work in the lives of the Thessalonians. That is fiducia. When one acts on what he has both heard and acknowledged, by putting his faith in, that is entrusting himself to, God and to His Word.
15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.
CLING TO IT! I love that. Personally and whole-heatedly embracing God’s words—that’s trust.
Faith- illustration (trust exercise)
The word ‘promise’ (both the noun and the verb) occurs more frequently in Hebrews that in any other NT book—and always with reference to God’s promises.
“It’s not amiss to say that Hebrews grounds its call to believe and obey God specifically in the trustworthiness of His words.”
Hebrews 11 is a catalog of people who ‘by faith’ ACTED solely on a word from God.
What word from God did Abraham have? How was it unseen?
The primary feature of the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob highlighted here is its pilgrim character.
Faith-based sojourning is emphasized through a variety of expressions.
‘he went out, not knowing where he was going (v. 8)
‘he sojourned in the land of promise’ (v. 9)
‘as in a foreign country’ (v. 9)
‘dwelling in tents’ (v. 9) —implying transience, temporariness
‘for he waited for the city’ (v. 10)—expresses anticipation, a quest
‘confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims’ not just in the land of Canaan but ‘on earth’ (v. 13)
‘those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.’ (v. 14)
How did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob act upon their faith as pilgrims and sojourners?
“Trust is that principle by which a believer, on the basis of God’s words, lives for what he does not yet posses and in light of realities he cannot see.”
“Trust is that principle by which a believer, on the basis of God’s words, lives for what he does not yet posses and in light of realities he cannot see.”
In the following passages:
Develop a principle that explains the actionable part of Abraham’s faith.
Make at least one application from this principle to your personal life or ministry. (You can use cross-references is applicable)
Create a specific plan for how to implement your application.
Principle #1: (Hebrews 11:8)
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Write out your principle:
Make your application:
Create your plan:
Principle #2: (Hebrews 11:9)
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
Write out your principle:
Make your application:
Create your plan:
Principle #3: (Hebrews 11:10, 13)
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Write out your principle:
Make your application:
Create your plan:
Principle #4: (Hebrews 11:14-16)
14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Write out your principle:
Make your application:
Create your plan: