 Good morning and welcome everyone. Thank you for connecting to our class. Today we will take time to study the very famous chapter, Hebrews chapter 11, which is all about faith. So before we get into our study, let's begin with the word of prayer. And I want to request one of us on the call to kindly need a prayer. So please unmute and pray please. Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you under the name of Jesus. I thank you for this day. Thank you for the class that we are about to have, Jesus. God, I pray that Jesus, even as we look into the chapter of faith, we will be equipped in our faith. We'll be fully convinced in our faith and God, every story, every life story that we read, God, it will build our faith Jesus so that God, we could stand much more stronger for your kingdom. God, I give an answering moment to your hands. We declare your health over her and God, you be with her as she teaches us or fill her with your knowledge and wisdom so that God, we could understand the deep truths of the Bible and help us to open our spiritual minds and listen to what God and to accept it in our hearts, to imprint the words in our hearts and mind Jesus and God, I pray for good bye-bye connection throughout the session. May this class be done for your glory. We give you all the glory and honor in Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Jafina. Let's look at straight to Hebrews chapter 11. We are going to read portions of it and then, you know, I'll quickly go ahead and explain them to us. So Hebrews chapter 11 verses one to four, if someone can please read four verses, we'll go to the rest of them later. Now let's look at the substance of the things of God, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders have been a good testimony. By faith, we understand that the walls were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen, you're not meant to things which are visible. Okay, verse four also. Okay. By faith, I will afford to God a more excellent sacrifice than came through which of them witness that he was righteous, God testified of his deeds and through it he being that still speaks. Amen. Thank you, Zellie. Thank you for reading this. All right. So we've just seen the introduction to faith and earlier the author was encouraging the believers to continue in faith and to not draw back. So that was the section we stopped at earlier in Hebrews chapter 10 where the scripture said that verse 38 of Hebrews 10. Now, the just shall live by faith. So the just shall live by faith. One of the earlier references to this is in the book of Habakkuk. So Habakkuk 2.4, the just shall live by faith and then it is repeated in these portions of the New Testament, Romans 1.17, Galatians 3.11 and Hebrews 10.38 where we know that as believers, we've got to live by faith. So this whole life, what is it all about? It's about faith, isn't it? And so for any believer, we've got to learn what faith is all about because if that is what our life with God looks like then I have to understand that particular subject. So faith is what I want to learn so much about. So this entire passage has examples of people who have journeyed that way with faith. So what is it that we can learn from each person and their experience with God and their walk of faith? So that's the essence of what we are going to study today. Hebrews chapter 11. So verse 1, it starts off by introducing faith as it is something that helps us perceive the unseen realm. So it says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So in the unseen, even if things are invisible in the natural right now, faith is a spiritual sense that God has given us and that enables us, that is the evidence that the things that we hope for which are in the future are going to take place. And while it is invisible, faith is what gives us that assurance that yes, these things are going to take place. So today we have an evidence in our spirit about what God is going to do tomorrow and that is what we call as faith. That is an evidence so you may want to call it a substance, so you may want to call it a sense or assurance, a confidence which we carry now about the things that are going to take place tomorrow as promised by God. So right now they are not seen but very soon they will be seen or they will manifest in the natural realm. Verse 2 says, for by it the elders obtain the good testimony. So the elders are who, those who have gone before us, many of whose lives have been recorded in the scriptures for us. So what gives them a good testimony? What makes a good testimony for these elders? Their faith, so their lives were lived by faith, whatever God called them to do. Now we can of course notice that each one's life was different, each one's assignment was different but there was a common thread running through all of their lives which is faith and it is faith with which they have fulfilled the purpose of God for their lives and we are told that they have a good testimony because they lived by faith. Had they not lived by faith, they would not have had a good testimony. So then we go back to what we started earlier, Romans 1.17, the just shall live by faith. Who are the just? We are the just ones, a made just, made righteous through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus as believers and so we have to live by faith and we have to learn to live by faith. Faith is very powerful, that's what he's stating here in verse 3, that's what we are going to learn that through faith we understand that the words were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. So in order to give us an example of how this faith works because in verse 1 he said the evidence of things that are not seen, what is that evidence? Faith which we carry. So he's giving an example about the creation of the world. The world at that point was invisible but what existed the word of God and when the word of God was spoken we know that the world or the universe came to be. So the visible appeared later but before that how did God function? So many people call this the faith of God that to God spoke, God believed God spoke and things took place and then the things that were faith and they were invisible at that point became visible when faith was exercised. So that is how the worlds were formed and we understand that this is the manner in which the like this is the law that God has in place that while things may be invisible when we exercise faith those things which God has promised those things which we work for they will become visible. But right now while they are invisible what we carry with us is faith that is why it says now faith is. So faith is there in our hearts but the evidence of this faith or the manifestation of this faith will soon take place and they will be visible in the future. So who are some such people who have held on to that assurance that evidence that substance and trusted God for the promises to manifest later in their lives? A list is given for us over here and we are going to look at various people's lives. So we read verse 4 as well which is about Abel. Now Abel there is not much said about Abel in the scriptures. We only observe that he together with his brother made an offering to God and the lives of these two people Abel and Cain you know when we look at it we see that Abel his sacrifice was accepted whereas Cain's sacrifice was not accepted and we know that Cain gave God from the fields and he did not give his best okay he just gave him whatever you know anything but Abel made the sacrifice of animals and Abel's sacrifice was accepted. So then we have this question about why is it that God accepted Abel's sacrifice and left out Cain's sacrifice so Hebrews chapter 11 verse 4 has the explanation. Basically the reason for why Abel's sacrifice was accepted is faith. So it's not even the quality of the sacrifice. We recall that example in the Gospels where there's a widow she offers only two coins whereas a rich person who may be offering way more but God was pleased with the attitude at the heart of this widow who gave so little. So it was not really the quantity or the quality of the material which was being offered as much as it was the heart with which it was being offered. So here again between Cain and Abel what God noticed was Cain's Abel's faith okay and that is why Abel is listed here in the men of God the women of God who live by faith. Isn't it beautiful that there's only one recorded sacrifice of Abel and that is now pointed out in Hebrews chapter 11 when God wants to talk about faith. So it was so precious to God that though we don't read many other things about Abel's life God is still speaking of one sacrifice that was made by this man. The reason why God was impressed is because of the faith with which he made that sacrifice and that is very encouraging for us. Let me read that verse one more time. It says by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts and through it he being dead still speaks. So God was blessed by his gift and you know he obtained the witness like how we said earlier those who walk by faith obtained a good testimony. Here Abel he obtained the witness that he was righteous and God testifying of his gifts okay God accepted his gifts. It also says though he is dead his gift still speaks so it's very very powerful. Abel his one sacrifice is being spoken of by God because the element there is faith. Now today you and I we do so many things for God but the question is how are we doing it? Even if we did one thing but we did it by faith it stays with God that oh okay you know my child my son my daughter they did this but I can see their heart of faith behind what they are doing and notice Abel is gone. It was a very unfortunate thing that he got you know killed by his brother because of jealousy but what does the Bible say it says that though he is dead his work his sacrifice still speaks. So we can move on you know into eternity because all of us as we read Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 for it is appointed for man to die once after which is judgment. So our life we will run the course of our life and come to the end of it but even when people are dead and God works of faith still speak okay there are many works of faith maybe there are songs that people wrote by faith there are ministries people started by faith there are books which were written by faith you know we can trace back things like that or or our own loved ones decisions that you know our parents made or prayers that we made choices of faith people may be gone but the works of faith continue to have an impact okay for God and that's the reality that's what we learn from the life of Abel that his sacrifice was accepted because there was faith attached and even one deed done by faith impresses God not just not just a bunch of things that we do and also the third thing we see is that a work of faith speaks and continues to cause an impact and that itself encourages us to be people of faith so that is something we learn from the life of Abel let's move forward and let's look at verses five and six put somebody kindly read these two verses and someone was wanting to read earlier at least the chance so over that was you could please go ahead that was five and six by faith you know was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him for before he was taken he had the testimony that he pleased God but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is at the border of those who diligently seek him thank you Jeffina so we need about Enoch here and we know that he again is a unique personality not too much written about Enoch there is a passage in Genesis chapter five verses 21 to 24 that describes his life and obviously was a man of faith which is why he's in this list and we are being told by faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death so it's unique that a human being did not taste death how did that happen to faith he walked with the Lord and God took him without tasting death and we are also given an insight into his life that he had a good testimony which means he was a man of God he was desiring to live for God live for the purposes of God live for the glory of God that kind of a man so he had a good testimony and he pleased God and his journey with God was such that because of the kind of faith that Enoch carried he is one of those rare people in scripture who has not tasted death which otherwise you know is a part of every human being's journey so after having spoken about Able and Enoch and their life of faith in verse six there is an encouraging word for all of us and that is that without faith it is impossible to please God so how can we please God you know there's a question that we all ask can God be happy with me every day of course he can be happy with us every day what makes him happy when we walk by faith no when we walk with when we overcome our fear when we you know work on our doubts when we spend time with God's words strengthen our faith and live by faith that is what will bring a smile on God's face so if we want to bring a smile on God's face here is the key walk by faith of course our lives and the circumstances that we are in today are so different from the people who we are learning about but in any given circumstance you know we can ask ourselves the question am I doing this in faith or am I just doing it because it needs to be done or am I in a place of doubt if we are in a place of doubt or apathy or ignorance to just move ourselves to a place of faith which always brings a smile on God's face and makes him happy so faith is what makes God happy that's what we are told and without faith it's impossible we can never impress God and God is always looking for faith if he finds faith he's impressed okay so that is the key that we are being given and we're also told for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him so that again is a very beautiful scripture that encourages us about God's faithfulness that we must obviously we know that God is there and these are his certain attributes that God is good but you know when it comes to our personal faith in God because of a tough journey okay many of us as believers we can say things like I know God is good I know God is faithful but for whatever reason he's not working with my life you know for whatever reason I think you know he's not he's not hearing my prayers but that actually shows a lack of faith we are saying that we believe in God we believe that God is good and we believe that God is faithful but you know he is probably busy with everyone else's life so okay let him be but I will be faithful that's a very self righteous attitude but as when we really believe in God and we are walking by faith we will also be rejoicing because there's a very real hope that if I am in faith I'm going to see the fruit of that if I am walking by faith you know I'm going to enjoy the rewards of faith the blessings of faith and so that is true faith you know like a child where there is an expectation that I am doing what God is requiring of me and there is going to be a reward but if we don't have that attitude and when we are saying yeah God is good but you know it's going to be like this it's always going to be hard I don't think and I'm not even seeking and I've heard people say this seek the face of God but don't seek his hand you know so we have to be so deep and so strong in God that we're always looking at him and his attributes and all but we don't want any blessings from him like if he doesn't bless us also it's okay but the beauty is that the God we serve you know when the face comes the hat also comes isn't it it's part of the same person and so the blessings of God are also very real and he's a God who blesses so when we stand in faith we are going to see his blessings and that assures us as believers we need to carry and that gives us great joy to know that truly he's a God who is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him so when I am seeking God the efforts that I'm making to know his word to be in his presence to walk by faith I'm going to see the fruit I'm going to see the result no it keeps us happy faith pleases God but faith also doesn't work in us that causes us to rejoice now let's move on let's look at a few other people verse 7 talks about Noah could someone kindly read about Noah from verse 7 by faith Noah being divinely warned by things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared an arm for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became here of the righteousness which is according to faith okay thank you so much Zellie we see what Noah did so we all understand we know his story that God spoke to him and told him that there is going to be a flood and we know that this came by revelation to Noah and the unique aspect is that it was an unprecedented event in the sense that before Noah the world did not experience a flood so it was the first time ever that a flood was going to take place and to this great magnitude so obviously it would have taken faith on Noah's part to believe the unprecedented now when God is saying I'm going to do this and no one has ever seen that before including Noah for Noah to say okay God I believe I know you're going to do it was a great thing and you know it's it's so beautiful that each of these scriptures about the people start with by faith Noah by faith able we'll go on by faith Abraham so by faith Noah he believed he believed okay and another beautiful thing that we see about faith reality about faith is that faith is also about actions when we say that we have faith James talks about this he says if you have faith you need to show it through the work that you do so James 226 is a reference that speaks about this faith and works go hand in hand Noah believed and therefore he did what did he do he prepared an arc so today that's a lesson for us when we say that we are believing God for our ministry you know are we are we diligently serving God in the ministry knowing that yes the increase will come the blessing will come my faith is seen by my actions or you know if you're saying I know God will bless the work of my hands are we working because then we are showing that we are believing God that he's going to bless the work of our hands or it can be anything else that we are believing God for something you know and and work has to be a part of that because it's simply showing that we believe and that's the example of Noah he first of all believed something so amazing and it takes courage to believe God like that secondly he did something because he believed and thirdly we noticed that scripture says by what he did he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith so do we see Noah going ahead and condemning people and say you know if you don't believe you'll go to hell you'll go to hell you are not believing that God is going to send a flood we don't read about Noah doing things like that but when Noah obeyed God and he started building the Ark God spoke to him and said okay you build the Ark Noah's obedience okay automatically what it could have done is it could have brought conviction in the hearts of people who saw him they would have looked at Noah and said why is this man so convinced why is he so assured and how come he's doing these things and the actions of Noah would have spoken in people's hearts and brought conviction so that is the kind of condemnation that we are looking at right now so even when we are obeying God it might happen that unbelievers around us or people who are walking in disobedience feel convicted by just our lives look at our lives and they go you know if they are living like that that's the right way to live maybe I'm missing something I too should be living in that way so the truth that we learn is that even a life of faith let's say we don't speak words and we instruct people or you know we preach at people maybe we are not doing those things even when we don't don't do those things a life of faith is good enough to point people to God to point people to righteousness and for people to be able to sense that hey there's something missing and maybe you know I should be like this person who is walking in faith towards their God so a life of faith is a powerful life and that's something we learn from the life of Noah okay are you all with me are you all able to get what I'm saying okay so please continue being engaged let's look at versus 8 to 12 so I request another person I think Zahli and Jeffina have already read put another person please go ahead and read this passage versus 8 to 12 by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going by faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob the hairs with him of the same promise for he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God okay at 12 job my faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed as she bore and she bore a child when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who had promised therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore okay thank you John so we've looked at Abel Noah now Abraham and Sarah and as the scriptures are describing here the example of Abraham teaches us obedience because here is a man that God spoke to there is a man that God promised a land as his inheritance but here is also a man who was not given you know all the answers that he probably would have wanted so being in a place where Abraham did not have all the answers there's one thing we know he did and that is he just obeyed God he took God at his word and he went ahead he left everything he went forward with God trusting that God would lead him on his journey so he's an example of obedience great obedience he's an example of faith and trust what God said Abraham believed and we know another portion of scripture that says that it was accounted to him as righteousness what was accounted because Abraham believed so his example is an example of obedience it's an example of trust and faith in God that he did not even know where he was going scriptures say but he still went okay he he was courageous to journey with God and again what else what else do we see from Abraham's life we notice from verse 9 and 10 that he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise verse 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God so he said Abraham a man of obedience man of faith and trust Abraham a man of patience okay a man of patience and this is already quite obvious when he trusted God for Isaac okay but even beyond that Abraham is trusting God for the inheritance that God had already spoken about and it's interesting to note that his entire life is a journey towards that promise of the inheritance and we are being told that in that journey there were times when Isaac and Jacob were with Abraham so you see a part of the promise is fulfilled his sons are there right his his children are there his descendants are there and that part is being fulfilled but another part where he has to see that promise land is not yet done it's not yet done so the journey is continuing and Abraham's patience is still continuing he already got the results through his patience for Isaac but this time around Abraham is waiting for that promise land and there is a deeper insight being given to us in verse 10 where we are told that Abraham is waiting for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God so the picture we get is that Abraham probably had prophetic insight beyond that portion of physical land that God was God had told him he would receive right what is that prophetic insight he probably had that revelation that one day Christ would come you know and redemption would come and we will have eternal life the builder and maker is God the foundations of a city the godly city do we talk about the heavenly Jerusalem way beyond way beyond okay the earthly life that Abraham had and it's amazing to think how is it that people under the old covenant could have insight like this how could they have revelation like this it's the work of the Holy Spirit right in their lives and Abraham is being seen as a man of obedience a man of faith and trust a man of patience we could also say a man who received revelation from God because of his faithful walk with the Lord and so beautiful that people could live like this and journey like this with God and so this is Abraham's example for us okay and Abraham if we go by what has been spoken to us he remained a sojourner no a sojourner is a person who is traveling he's on a pilgrimage and who is seeking a destination and quite literally you know Abraham did not receive that promised you know the boundaries of the promised land and the way we would imagine in his lifetime he would walk into it but we will see later on that Abraham started the journey and you know the journey kept progressing as Isaac came into the picture Jacob came into the picture and then you know we see how God's people for 400 years they were they were slaves in Egypt and then eventually you have a deliverer Moses showing up and then the Joshua generation actually walking into the promised land but Abraham started it and you know Abraham through faith you know that there's a place for a man to dream and have a vision and Abraham was that man who dreamed with God or dreamt with God whatever is it I think but you know he he journeyed with God through faith rejoicing that one day his descendants will have that portion of land and that's the beautiful journey of Abraham now coming to Sarah Sarah also experienced the blessings of God and the promises of God in her life and one of the highlights of Sarah's life is giving birth to Isaac and how did that happen it was an impossible thing because could just very clearly tell us she was past the age past the age of what the past the age of what she you know what she desired for which is to have a child and she was past the child bearing the age and we know it's an impossibility at Sarah's age to bear a child and we know that she was around 90 years now tell me if something like that happens it'll be on YouTube it'll be trending that okay there's a woman of this age who has born a child naturally and God did the impossible in Sarah's life and it's nothing I mean it's a big thing that has happened in history that a woman of her age could bear a child now how could the impossible happen see how the scripture starts by faith Sarah you don't say by faith able by faith Noah by faith Abraham by faith Sarah so it's a story of faith and by faith we are told Sarah received strength to conceive seed so whatever capacity was required to bear a child physically Sarah got that how could she get it faith made it happen for Sarah and she was able to bear a child even in her old age and Sarah judged God's word faithful right his God is faithful his promise has real and that's also the testimony of Abraham we said earlier Abraham believed God and that was counter to him for righteousness Sarah believed God now where they perfect no you talked about the steps of Abraham's faith right like from Romans chapter 4 the faith journey which they made they grew stronger in God okay there were parts of their journey where they were immature they were maybe you could say doubting all of that is there as part of their journey but eventually you know their faith grew stronger and stronger and stronger and they came to a place of assurance and then they were able to receive the promise so even in the case of Sarah we know we read about how she initially laughed right when she was told you're going to have a child you know around this time the scriptures say share Sarah laughed okay but look at the beauty of this once she learned to believe God yeah it's sounding crazy and so she laughed but when she learned to believe God God gave her a son called Isaac and what is the meaning of Isaac laughter okay her laughter of unbelief is turned into a laughter of faith that it can happen God gave an Isaac which is a laughter into her life which was the impossible made possible by faith so by faith Sarah made this journey of pairing a son and he is the son of promise through womb all the blessings came about right and so it's really beautiful that these two people God worked with and God worked through and they became a testimony of faith for us in verse 12 we are told therefore from one man and him as good as dead they're born as many as the stars of the sky sky in multitude innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore so both Abraham and Sarah if you do a case study if they are impossible impossibilities are the reality of their lives the man is very old I'm here verse 12 it says a man him as good as dead he's too old okay that's the impossibility Sarah too old that's the impossibility but you notice that God can rewrite a story the impossibility can become a possibility but what is the ingredient which is required to make the impossibility or possibility by faith Abraham by faith Sarah and their lives became the beginning of lives of faith with their descendants you know coming through as men and women of faith impacting you know thousands and millions of people generations of people but it took two of these people to believe God to begin with to make that long journey and that is the beauty of lives of faith okay somebody got it started and these two people found their impossibility God worked something miraculous so come on let's read let's read from verse 13 to verse 16 I want to request another one of our students here on the call to go ahead and read please okay brother Lupega if that's possible or success Rosalind can I get back what you're saying mom yeah I'm requesting you to read brother from Hebrews 11 verses 13 to 16 verses 13 to 16 yes these all died in faith not receiving the promises but having seen them far off we assured assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrim means on us for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland and truly if they had 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 that for God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them amen amen thank you Lupega so some highlights I'll just touch up the highlights here one highlight is they saw the promises are far off so these people they knew that God is going to do certain things in the future some in their own lifetime some way beyond their lifetime but they had a vision of that or you could also put it as they received a promise and that is the first step to hear from God to receive the word to receive the vision okay and that's the first step and they did it so they saw the promises afar off secondly the second highlighters they were assured of them they were assured of them so in the faith journey once we receive the promise the next one is to become strong in that promise what was the example of these people they were assured of their meaning they were convinced okay they were they believed God they knew yes God is going to do this there was no doubt they came to a place of believing it strongly so they were assured of them that's the second highlight the third highlight of course is they embraced them meaning they gave themselves to that promise they thought of the promise often they lived for the promise they looked forward for the promise so it shows that they they completely received it they accepted it they embraced it so three highlights which will help us in our journey first is we need to see the promises you see the promises second be assured of them third is embrace them begin to walk towards those promises give our lives for that promise and then you know we will see God fulfill those promises in our lives and the last part that I'll touch on I know we have just about a minute verse 16 here it says therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared the city for them you know that as we sing that song right miracle worker what is it that line even when we are not seeing his working right like the line goes something like that so yeah correct correct I was mentioning that one line that says you know while we are not seeing his working how does it work okay even when I don't see it you're working okay so that's that's the line so when we embrace the promises this is the reality that even when we are not seeing right now we feel like oh nothing is happening but God is working on our behalf okay that is one reality second reality God is not ashamed to be called their God meaning earlier we said faith will put a smile on God's face second faith makes God proud of us okay so God would be so proud that here is my child who has put their trust in me who has believed me for the believed me at my word so it's a you know very encouraging passage here that we're looking at where we see the lives of people who walk by faith it pleased God it made God proud and that's what God wants from us to live to hear his promises be assured of his promises embrace his promises and you know God is so proud to be called as our God when we walk by faith okay so we'll stop right here we can pick up from verse 17 tomorrow and I want to request one of our students to please pray and close off yeah anyone can please let us pray Father in heaven we thank you for this wonderful moment we thank you for the lesson we've had Lord as we've been studying about the 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews as a world of faith of faith Lord there are also be emulators there are also be doers and not only hearers of the word we pray to bless the pastor who has been teaching us bless everybody who has been on this call in the name of Jesus Christ let us meet next time in peace but not in pieces I do pray in the name of the Father the Son the first spirit and everybody says amen amen amen thank you brother thank you God bless you God bless you all see you all tomorrow