 All right, good morning and welcome to this morning's class Thank you for being a part of the session We will pray and get into what we are going to learn regarding the subject of faith So let's start with a word of prayer. I'll just lead us in prayer. Okay. Let's pray Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for this day. We thank you for your word in our lives Father, we thank you for Lord your grace and strength with which you are leading us and guiding us Father even as we Spend time in your word Lord. We pray that the Holy Spirit will just bring it alive Make it alive to us Father God that we may continue to be Firm and anchored in the things of the kingdom. Thank you Lord. Thank you for Your presence. We commit the rest of the time into your hands in Jesus name. We pray amen so we're talking about faith and We saw how in the ministry of Jesus Jesus taught us Insights about faith. He helped us understand what faith is how to apply faith in our lives and we also saw how You know, we must engage or we must have faith in our hearts and when we apply it We will see mighty things So there are many aspects that we have discussed but today what we will touch upon is two things one is Faith in the Old Testament So so far we saw the gospels where Jesus is speaking about faith. Jesus is teaching about faith Jesus is walking in faith And several incidents in the life of Jesus. So all of that is in the New Testament But what about the Old Testament? Are there any incidents? Are there any? You know sort of Life experiences of people that tell us that they also walked in faith Well, we have an entire passage in the New Testament, which is Hebrews chapter 11 that talks about the faith journey of People in the Old Testament. So when we look at the passage in Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4 Habakkuk in the Old Testament is a book You know, if you want to turn to it, but we have that right here In our notes that scripture from Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4 Which says behold the proud his soul is not upright in him, but the just Shall live by faith. So In the Old Testament, there is a mention of this word called as faith We may think that faith is only mentioned in the New Testament But even in the Old Testament the word faith has been used But the other word that we see are used most often is the word believed So instead of faith which directly tells us about applying faith The word believed is used now. We know that believe is what? Believe is to have faith Isn't it? So there are people in the Old Testament who have walked in faith who have believed in God So, let's just see who are some of these people. What is it that they were able to accomplish through their lives? So Hebrews chapter 11 Verses 1 to 40 It's quite a long passage. So I'm just thinking how we are going to read this Okay, I'm not sure if we can pass the mic around to Make distance Okay Okay, Nonsingh, can you read 10 verses? Will you be able to read 10 verses? Yeah Read 10 verses then we can have somebody online Maybe I'll just call out names. Then it's easier at least you're prepared. So Hebrews chapter 11 Verses 1 to 10 Nonsingh will read from verse 11 to verse 20 Okay, we can have anyone here Maybe as the as the Clement sister, is that okay? Can you read 10 verses? Okay, yes, okay. She says yes, then verse 21 to verse 30 one more person Who will read? Mike can come. Okay. Who would like to read? You can volunteer anyone Okay Okay, so Deeksha We read from verse 21 to verse 30 and sister Gertrude, you can read the last portion. Is that okay? Yeah, I think we have divided it. So let's start just read slowly so that we can understand what it says and true in he being that still speaks By fat enough was taken away so that he did not see that and was not found because God had taken him for before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased God But without that it is impossible to please him Poor he who comes to God must believe that he is and That he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him By fat Noah being divinely warned of things not seen yet Not yet seen moved with godly fear Prepared and up for the saving of his household By which he condemned the world and become here of the righteousness which is according to fat By fat Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place Which he would receive as an inheritance and he went out not going where he was going By fat he dwell in the lane of promise as in a foreign country Willing in the tents with Isaac and Jacob The hears with him of the same promise For he wait for a city which was foundations Whose builder and maker is God? Okay. Thank you. Thank you non-sing. So we have seen this passage that explains What faith is? Okay verse one it says now faith is the substance of things Hoped for the evidence of things not seen so the definition of faith and then what does it say it says For by it the elders obtained a good testimony So basically what it's saying is elders is who elders is all these people Who have been listed and maybe even others who are not listed here But what is the testimony of their lives? What is the testimony had faith? Okay, even though in the old testament you don't find such a sentence where it says Noah walked by faith or Jacob walked by faith you won't see a sentence like that because that word faith is not directly used But we can understand from their lives that they believed now. How can we understand from their lives that they believed? Okay, God spoke to them. God spoke to them. That's right Anything more that tells us that these people believed in God. They believed in the promise of God Just think of all their lives right now in this passage. We've heard some names able Noah Abraham So how can we tell that these people believed in God? What what is it about their life that makes us understand these people believed in God? They obeyed God then Okay, here also in the comments it's Lucy says they obeyed When God asked them to do something Okay, they obeyed God I couldn't hear you Have a relationship A little bit louder By action, okay, very good. That's true. So see we could by looking at somebody's life. How can we tell Whether they had faith or not Because the actions that they took That tells us What they had in their heart for example able It says what does it say about able verse 4 by faith able offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than kain Okay Think about this able in the bible Right You don't read about him after Genesis Only once Kain and able, you know, they made the sacrifices kain killed able. That's all We don't know anything more about able in the bible, right? But in Hebrews chapter 11 Which is talking about faith It mentions the name of this man called as able why Because God remember we said God can recognize faith Where is faith? Faith is in the heart So when God looks at people, he knows Who is carrying faith in their hearts? That is why when we look at the life of able God understood that this man able In what he did we only read about him making a sacrifice only one activity It's not like, you know a story Like Paul Paul with Paul had so many missionary journeys. He established so many churches He raised up so many leaders nothing much compared to Paul is written in the bible only one sacrifice Only one But what is so special? He did only one thing That was recorded But he did it with faith You got it So that's so important That God did not Uh talk about the number of things that people have done He did one thing sacrifice at least one thing that's recorded here But God knew here is a man of faith Whatever he is doing he's doing with faith Isn't it? So both came and able gave sacrifice But why did God accept the sacrifice of able? And Keynes was rejected Not because you know what they brought to God that is not the issue The issue was Was their faith in the sacrifice This is the same way in which God works today When he looks at our lives, maybe I'm doing one small thing very small thing but Even in that small thing, what does God notice? Faith Isn't it? That is what we understand from the life of able. Why is able mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 that man did only one a so-called Recorded thing which is to make a sacrifice to God but faith of able Is what pleased God Okay, so think like that God is recognizing faith and there are people men and women of God noticed in The Old Testament whom God is praising or commending for their faith So able a man of faith who else is there? Let's look Enoch It says Enoch. How much do we read about Enoch in the Bible? Anyone are we reading our Bibles? In the Yeah, just one or two sentences. What does it say Enoch walk with God? Okay, and then you know God took him that's all But again, what is so special about Enoch? man of faith So unless he had faith He would not fellowship so deeply with God So God is recognizing that and he's saying again Enoch a man of faith Enoch walk with God, right? and Continues to say in verse 6 that without faith that is impossible to please God So what does it mean that without faith that is impossible to please God? It simply means That when we want to please God with our lives With every offering that we give what are all the offerings our praises our obedience our You know giving to God and our commitment to the things that God has called us to do So all these things The question is am I doing it just like that? Or am I doing it with faith because God can recognize So if I want my life to be pleasing to God in everything Everything I must do it with faith Faith pleases God without faith. It is impossible to please God. So if I do something In some activity, um, I engage in some ministry, but I don't have any faith in my heart God actually doesn't like that, you know, when we are functioning in unbelief doubt He doesn't like that But when we are functioning in faith, he's very happy about it So that is why even though there are people like Abel and Enoch who don't have great accomplishments in scriptures We still talk about them because Whatever little they seem to have done They did it with faith And God never forgot Isn't it he never forgot Abel Enoch he remembered their names and it got included in the New testament when God was trying to explain to us about faith. Okay. Who are the other names here? Let's notice Noah Okay, so what is so special about Noah? How did he demonstrate his faith? You know, no, I know the man who built the ark Yes, yes, sister Okay, okay, sure. Thank you. So, um, sister Gertrude says he demonstrated his faith with godly fear That's true. Um, what about the actions of Actions of Noah, what did he do? Yeah So he built an ark in response to God's instruction It's only if he believed That what God said is true That he would need to build an ark because Till that time you don't really read about a rain You don't really read about floods Isn't it so, uh When God told him there is going to be a flood. I'm going to destroy the whole world It would have taken faith. Why because you know faith is about the unseen things Nobody has ever seen a flood before that but When God told Noah there is going to be a flood He believed He just believed God And it's not easy to build the ark That he built you know the dimensions of the ark if you just go and study that a little bit It was a huge vessel huge ship that he had to build So you can think about the life of Noah That Faith was not for one moment. It would have taken him months of you know, so many Days to actually build that that ark lot of effort Daily you can imagine him going and you know sitting and Sort of nailing the wood on the ark and Continuing to to build it the way God wanted it People would have laughed at him and said what are you doing? What is a flood? We don't know what a flood is so He would have experienced Shame from the community for what he believed But he continued to do it. He trusted in God. He believed God. He obeyed God He had the fear of God if God said it he will do it. I better have this ship ready Okay, so that is the example of Noah and there were sinful people around him Right, we don't find that Noah went and he preached to the people nothing just by his life example People around him were convicted or people around him felt that you know Um They see it says by which he condemned the world How did Noah condemn? He didn't go around telling everybody you are wrong. You are wrong. You are wrong. He didn't do that But when he lived his life by faith That automatically even though he never said a word People around him were condemned for the wrong that they were living in So a good testimony a good life Is very very important and that Through faith now, let's move on the next person who's talked about here is Abraham So it says Abraham. What did he do? Couple of things are mentioned here But we will learn more about Abraham in the next chapter. It says by faith Abraham obeyed And he went right not knowing where he was going. So obviously he also believed Because unless somebody believes How can you leave everything which you have and then go To a place where God is calling you now when we look at the life of Abraham and his background He seems to be quite a wealthy man meaning quite rich So when somebody is rich when somebody is very comfortable Why would they leave what they have to go in search of something else? Only because of faith Abraham was willing to go To the place that God had promised to him. So that is the faith journey of Abraham. So he went He went in search of that promised land and Yeah, he trusted in God Because God is the one who is the builder right of of Um the eternal city. So now let us read from verse 11 to verse 20 Um sister ester ester clement. Yes, sister. Yeah, he grew chapter 11 verse from 11 by faith Abraham even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren Was unable to become a father because he considered himself faithful who had made the promise And so from this one man and he is as good as dead came descendants as numerous As the stars in the sky and as countless as a sand on the seashore All these people were still living by faith when they died They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own If they had been thinking of the country they had left He would have had the opportunity to return Instead they were longing for a better country for heavenly one Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them By faith Abraham when God tested him offered Isaac as a sacrifice He who had received the promise was about to sacrifice his one and only son Even though God had said to him it is through Isaac that your outstring will be reckoned Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead and figuratively speaking He did receive Isaac back from death by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Isau in regard to their future Okay, thank you. Thank you so much So we see the life of Abraham Over here and then you know towards the end How he's blessing Jacob and Isau so when we consider the life of Abraham It lists out some of the other things that happened. So there's a mention of his wife Sarah We all know that God promised Abraham that he will have a son in his old age He and his wife both of them were old And he promised that they will have their own child and descendants right through that child but It required faith For Abraham to believe this it required faith for Abraham to Journey with God to receive the promise of a son Was that journey easy? It was not easy We will study about it when we learn the life of about the life of Abraham You know he He God gave a vision First of all, you need to be walking in faith to receive a vision Second to a journey towards that vision You need faith Okay to receive the manifestation of that vision. You need faith. So Abraham has an exceptional faith journey. That is why we call him the father of faith The father of faith because from the life of Abraham We can learn many things about what faith really is Okay, so about Abraham we've seen even Sarah it says By faith Sarah meaning In her old age she bore a son Obviously, it's not Common thing for somebody who is so Older in years to bear a child and she was also, you know, sort of Barren at that point and yet a miracle happened How was a miracle possible? Giving birth to a miracle starts with faith In the midst of an impossibility Right, how did the miracle happen? It says by faith Sarah So in the midst of an impossibility for us to See a miracle take place. We need to have faith in God. That is the testimony of Sarah and then we go on to read. What are some of the other things in the life of Abraham? You know, he continued in faith Out of whatever was promised to him some things took place in his lifetime But there are many other promises which were meant to be fulfilled later Right in the generations to come and then we also see how Abraham was faithful to God to even offer up his son Isaac So think about this His dream was to You know to Have a son and Have his generation continuing Finally after waiting upon the Lord God gives him blessings him with a son called Isaac, right? Isaac means what laughter? So Isaac brought joy into Abraham's life But then came a period of testing Where God said can you sacrifice Isaac? What does the bible say the bible says that in verse 19 In verse 17 it says he offered up Isaac meaning whatever God said he did it He was ready. He woke up early in the morning took his son to the mountain He was ready to sacrifice his son. But why why was he ready to sacrifice his son? Let's read verse 19. It says concluding that God was able to raise him up So think about the the Faith of Abraham What did he know? God said He will bless me with a son and through the sun I will have descendants on the earth. So here is the son Isaac God's promise is still not fulfilled. But what is God telling him? Go and sacrifice Isaac So in Abraham's understanding he thought How can God kill Isaac? He cannot Because the promise of God says that he will give me a generation through my son So God is asking me to sacrifice Isaac. I will do it because I know That God is the God of resurrection Even if Isaac dies, he'll come back to life I believe that and with that confidence he took Isaac went and was ready to sacrifice So you can imagine How much he knew God? How he understood God? You know, how um, his heart was filled with confidence About the goodness of God the greatness of God, right? So these are all things for us to think about From the journey of Abraham and then it goes on to say that by faith You know like after Abraham Isaac is there Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come So We won't get into the details of this But just for us to understand that they kept believing God for the blessing upon their generations So how did they how did they speak? Over the lives of their children for example Isaac Isaac has two sons Jacob and Esau so he blessed them by faith Okay, so faith is continuing. Whatever these people are doing. They are doing because they believe Right. So even blessing the the Children They even they won't be here to see their children thriving But by faith they are blessing their children and saying that yes They will do well and that shows faith in their hearts. Now. Let's read on. We'll read the next section here Let's go from verse 21 to verse 30 Who will read it diksha Please go ahead by faith When he was dying blessed each of the sons of joseph and worshiped leaning on the top of the staff by faith When he was dying made mention of the departure of the children of israel and gave instruction concerning his boys By faith moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents Because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command By faith moses when he became of age Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer Affliction with the pupil of god then to enjoy the passing pleasure of sin Steaming the The reproach of christ greater riches than the treasure in is it for he looked to the reward by faith He also is it Not fearing the breath of the king for he endured as seeing him who is invisible by faith He kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood Let's Mr. He who destroyed the first born suit Just then by faith they passed through the red sea as by dry land Whereas the egyptian and tempting to do so World round by faith the walls of xerico Well fell up fell down after they were encircled for seven days. Okay. Thank you for that. So we can see um new names We can see jacob jacob, uh, how he blessed his sons and uh, we See how joseph When he died When he was about to die He mentioned to Uh, the people how he must be buried. So all these things they did by looking into the future They had no idea how the future would be but they had the promises of god They had the guidance of god Um regarding the way things would go. So based on all this they made decisions. They blessed people they gave instructions and you know, they Passed on then we come to the life of moses Uh, moses is another man of faith We see that his parents had faith at a time when the young ones were being sacrificed They believed that their son could escape Okay, uh, and uh, we all know what they did. They hid him In a basket and they kind of you know, uh, um sent that basket towards Uh, the the palace and then finally moses ended up becoming pharaoh's daughter's son and he was raised in the palace but Uh In his heart moses was stirred up to do something for the people of god because he recognized Where he came from, uh, and we see the various accomplishments that took place through moses the way he led the people for the way he, uh guided the people out of egypt and even uh in the Here the mention is more about Being led out of egypt. Okay. So, uh, that is mentioned but then he did it by faith Okay, and uh, we see how the people they passed through the red sea That is also by faith. Obviously, you know, you cannot do something like that. Uh, just through your logical understanding So people pass through the red sea by faith But notice what it says it says whereas the egyptians attempting to do so were drowned What is the difference? the red sea parted right and uh, the uh, the israelites They walked out safe and sound Why did the egyptians Who were also trying to walk Through the red sea. Why did they die? What is the difference? Was there any difference? correct correct, so faith is the that differentiator or faith is the element which the Israelites had Whereas the egyptians did not have it Now the egyptians might have thought this is a formula We can go we can you know show us stuff The civil part we will walk through because that is what they observed Moses do and the Israelites do But even if they were to copy the principle It won't work Because it's more than those actions. It's more than the formula. What is there behind the actions? faith God will protect god will lead god will guide Isn't it god will give us a better future that is the faith with which the Israelites actually Yes, yes sister get through but even if the egyptians they had faith they would not survive because it was not In god's plan, no Even if they had faith they would not survive because it was god's plan that they will be drowned Hmm Even if they had faith in who faith in god Yes, they would not survive crossing the red sea So when we say it was in god's plan Um Like are you saying that based on some some worse sister? Is that a is that an earlier verse because i'm not able to recall where it says that Egyptians had no faith so they got drowned But even if they had faith It was not in god's plan that they would be saved Okay, I I get what you're saying. I'm asking you When you say that it was not in god's plan Uh, is there a scripture? Where we can see that it was not in god's plan for them to live Uh sister because they were I mean they have I mean mistreated the israelites and god's plan was to save them And you know, I'm sure that he's the glory to egyptian till the end that he is the god in control, right? From the scriptures we understand Okay, so sister see, uh, I do know that the scriptures promise Deliverance deliverance for um the israelites Now egyptians if let's say one egyptian had faith, okay? The reason why I am asking you is because unless it says outright Outrightly that yes the egyptians all egyptians will die We can't make that comment and say it was in god's plan For them to die even if they had faith they would die Unless there is a scripture that says that's what god intended for every egyptian to die Or the ones who are chasing the israelites to die So at least I can't think of a scripture like that. I'll just come to the others. There are some comments here where Sanja says if the egyptians had faith in god, they would not have opposed moses they would have let the israelites free and a child says Exodus 14 13 and moses said unto the people fear hearing not stand still and see the salvation of the lord Which he will show you today for the egyptians whom he have seen today He shall see them again. No more forever. Okay. Sure. Okay. So based on that. I think you could Uh, you could say that the oppressing egyptians It was that god said That they would not see them anymore, which may imply that you know, they would die Okay, so Fine that that is established. Now this hypothetical scenario where a sister get out of saying what if if they had faith Okay, what if they had faith? Now, I really don't know. I really don't know how that that Can be assessed Can I can I please go ahead? Please go ahead? Yeah, uh, it bible clearly says that They trusted in their horses in their chariots and they were unbelievers. So As we go by the word, they never had any faith in uh, the heavenly father so Whether they had faith also, they would have opposed The people of god who has whom he has selected and relieved. So in this situation, it is very evident that their faith was in their might in their horses in their chariots And uh, so that is where we can say that they never believed that you know, they will be able to overcome the heavenly father Yeah, so yes, uh, uh, sister. I agree with you. So what Uh, sister get through to saying is What has happened that we know? Okay, they didn't have faith and that is why based on the scripture which a charles has posted They died Now this is a hypothetical situation where we are saying we know what has happened, but what if What if is a it's an imaginary situation? Okay, now If they had faith i'm thinking Maybe the scripture which we see here I don't know if god would have said something different Uh reason is i'll tell you why i'm thinking along these lines because if they had faith to destroy the believers It is not uh, they would have had faith to do what They would have faith that they would overcome the israelites. What would they have the faith in this scenario? Okay, fine. So, uh, the way I have understood sister get through this statement is faith in god for something positive if at all Okay, the reason is see you have people like root You have people like rehab They are all not From abraham's line. They are not descendants of abraham's line and yet they expressed faith in god And because of which their lives their destiny was changed. So there are times when god has Accommodated or he has accepted people outside of the jewish Uh line You got it But that is only in the situation when they had faith in god in the positive way So any other faith is not faith at all. So when sister get root said what if they had faith? I was thinking along those lines. So I hope You know, we we are just good with that discussion and that discussion didn't confuse anyone Okay, akhil Sister, I didn't say that what if they had faith I said sister that even if they had faith it was in god's plan that they would not survive If they had faith It it was god's plan that they would not survive because they had oppressed the people of israel And god had already planned, you know that the israelis will go through the red sea and he will drown the egyptians Okay, so based on uh, this passage that we saw Yes, you know god did know that they will not survive All right, sure Yeah Yes Exactly Exactly. So that's the whole point when we use the term faith itself Yeah, so see faith is not a standalone. That's what we discussed in our last class We can't just say that I believe and it'll happen That is not faith at all So whenever we use the word faith it is understood that we are talking about faith in god faith in the promises of god Faith towards god. So that is our understanding of faith Just believing is not faith. I we can believe anything we want Okay, so anyway, so I guess uh, it was uh an interesting discussion there Uh, so thank you all for that. Uh, we can move ahead. So we talked about uh, moses And we talked about the israelites coming out of egypt Did we see anyone else's name so far? No, but we Read about jericho. Okay jericho led by Joshua the people led by joshua Saw the jericho wall fall down Okay, and we've talked about this many times that this is also unusual. How can something like this happen? It's similar to the red sea parting only because of faith. All right, so let's um move ahead Uh, if there is any question you can ask me or if not We'll just read the last section. So who is the person who will read the last section Hebrews 11 30 31 By by faith the harlot rehab did not perish with those who did not believe When she had received the spies with peace and what more shall I say for the time would fail me to Of guideon and barak and samson and jeftar also of david and samuel and the prophet Who through faith subdued kingdoms worked righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions When the violence of fire Escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong became valiant in Battle turned to flight the armies of the aliens women deceived their dead race to life again Others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection Still others had trial of mocking and scourging yet and of change and imprisonment They were stoned. They were sawn into what tempted was slain with the sword They wandered about the ship skins and goat skins being destitute afflicted Tormented of whom the world was not worthy They wandered in deserts and mountains in dens and caves of the earth and all this having obtained a good testimony through faith did not receive the promise God having provided something better For us that they should not be made perfect apart from us Okay, thank you sister. So as we can see here There is a list of other names such as Um, Rehab remember I told you Rehab. She's not from the line of Abraham, but only because of her faith God blessed her. So when we say faith it means faith in God Okay, so she escaped all the people in Jericho died But Rehab escaped because of her faith in God Then we see other names over here such as uh, Gideon Barak Samson Jefta David Samuel and the prophets to each one We can actually meditate on their lives and learn so much No, it'll be a sermon in itself But we don't have that kind of time But I would encourage you you can go back and reflect on the lives of these people and see what makes them special For example Gideon. He was a very fearful man He had no confidence, but when God called him, you know, and and he was uh, uh called a mighty man of valor God called him for war and he said God you call somebody else. I can't do it but by faith He went and he won the battle to protect his people Similarly, each one has a story Barak You know the the uh life of Deborah how she she instructed, uh, you know Barak How they killed the king of Cicera So there is so much that you can learn about how they function in faith for the victory which they received Samson, you know even Samson, uh the the various victories that he had it was by faith Okay, of course initially he carried on his faith and towards the end He tried to play with God and you know, it really uh destroyed his life. So Samson and Jephtha David Samuel so each one has a story So the Bible tells us there are great things that people have done By faith what kind of great things it says substitute kingdoms meaning they have one Wars they have won the enemies one over the enemies Right, they have subdued kingdoms. They've taken over kingdoms It also tells us that they have worked righteousness or they have lived a life of righteousness how by faith In a sinful world, how can one live a life of righteousness by faith? We can live the life of righteousness then obtain promises Stop the mouth of lions. So there are so many accomplishments, but everything is possible by Faith and this is a real reminder for us that people have walked by faith and God still Is so happy about it. Uh, why not each of us also has a life of faith? Imagine if we were mentioned in this passage, what would God say about us? You know, what would God say about our lives? Okay, so at this point, let's go ahead Let's take a break. Uh, there's a question, but we will take it after the break. Uh, all right So 10 minutes break. Let's come back at 10 o'clock and continue our discussion Thank you