 Okay, let's go. So we have to read Hebrews chapter 11 verses 5 and 6. We're just going through Hebrews 11. Just wanted to get a real feel of the fact that people in the Old Testament also walked by faith in God and chapter 11 just highlights different ones. So let's read it please. Verse 5 and 6 of Hebrews 11. Somebody could read that for us. Verse 5, why faith Enoch 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 this testimony that he pleased God. Verse 6, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Thank you. So the next person, so you know literally the writer of Hebrews is starting from the very beginning, Abel and that he's going one after the other and saying hey right from then people walked with faith in God. So he's talking about Enoch and he says you know Enoch by faith he was taken away that he didn't die. Now it doesn't mean that he used his faith to go to heaven or what it means is in his day Enoch walked with such faith in God that he pleased God, the end of that verse. He had this testimony pleased God. So Enoch walked in such a manner that he's so pleased God. Enoch by faith walked in such a manner that he's so pleased God that God decided to just take him. And then he goes on into verse 6 and tells us, teaches us that it is faith that pleases God. He's already mentioned that in verse 2 because he said look it's by faith you get a good report from God. But he's now bringing that same truth out in this context of pleasing God. So Enoch by faith he walked in such a way he pleased God. So did people in the Old Testament please God? Yeah they please God. How do they please God? By the works? No. By faith. By faith in God they pleased. And of course faith in God then enabled them to live a life that pleased God and they were caught up. Enoch was caught up. Verse 6 it says so he's saying understand this that without faith it's impossible to please God. I mean there's no or you can put it in another way there's no other way to please God. No other way. We have to walk by faith or we can say this faith pleases God. When you and I live by faith in God his word his promise it actually pleases God. God says I love it. I love to see my people my children walk with faith in me. So faith pleases God. And it says well when you come to God I'm looking at verse 6 when you come to God you must believe that he is. You must have faith that he exists. So how do you know that God exists? I have faith. Faith is the conviction of things not seen and my faith says God is. God exists. Now is there tangible proof to the existence of God? Yes. The first big tangible proof is all of creation. Romans step to one. It says you know the invisible attributes of God are revealed to us in creation so that we are without excuse. Nobody can say I didn't know God was there. God says hello all of creation is a big evidence that I am here. All my invisible attributes are revealed in creation. For instance somebody might ask why is there such a big universe? Because the universe is expressing this attribute of God that God is infinite. So when he creates something he has to create something that expresses who he is. He's infinite. So that's why the universe is so big it's infinite. We don't even know what's beyond the universe. There could be other universe we don't. So it's infinite. Why? Because God is infinite. Why there's so many billions and billions and billions of stars because God is so big. So the invisible attributes of God are revealed in this creation. So it says here Hebrews 11 6 when we come to God first we believe that he exists. I know God is because I believe I believe I have faith faith that God exists. Secondly says you must also believe that he rewards those who diligently seek him. That means the time, the energy, the effort that you are making to seek him is not wasted. Because you believe you and I believe that God rewards those who diligently seek him. So when you are diligently seeking him what does it mean to be diligent? It means to be consistently consistent in seeking him. That means you don't just seek him one day but diligence is expressed through consistency. But on the second day and the third day and the fourth week and the fifth week you're constantly diligently seeking God. You're earnestly consistently seeking God. Why do you do it? Because you're convinced you have faith that he will reward those who diligently seek him. So our faith helps us to understand this that we are pleasing God when we walk in faith. Secondly we have faith that God exists. Thirdly that God rewards us for diligently seeking him. So that's verse 6. By faith this is what we believe. Verse 7 and 8, someone else? By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance and as he went out not knowing where he was going. So Noah was another hero of faith and what did Noah do? God spoke to him ahead of time of something the earth had not yet seen. So God spoke to him, said Noah this is going to become a flood so I want you to build an ark. The earth had never seen a flood. Noah probably didn't even understand what a flood was. They never seen it, never experienced it. And so God spoke to him of something no one had yet experienced and he built an ark. And the Bible says by faith he did it. So today you and I, maybe God speaks to us of things yet to come. And he says I want you to do take this action because of something that is going to come. And so you and I by faith do it. That's what Noah did. And then verse 8, Abraham, Abraham was a great man of faith. In fact the Bible calls him the father of faith and in the next chapter we're going to focus in on the faith of Abraham. How did he have faith in God? So verse 8, by faith Abraham, what did Abraham do? Abraham obeyed and what do we know about Abraham's faith? The last part of verse 8 says he went out not knowing where he was going. Just think about that. Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. So he obeyed but he didn't have all the answers. And that's faith. So faith obeys God even when you don't have all the answers. Because he didn't know where he was going. God just said Abraham get up go to a land that I will show you. So he got up and it was a daily walk of faith. Day by day he was joining with God and finally he came to the place that God said that's the place I'm going to give you as an inheritance. But it was a walk of faith because he really didn't know where he was going. So can you and I today obey God? Even when we don't have all the answers. Even when we don't know everything about the future. But you obey God. That's what Abraham did. Abraham obeyed. He trusted God that God will give him this inheritance although he didn't know how he's going to get into that inheritance. He obeyed. He went out not knowing where he was going. He didn't have all the answers. And God calls you and me to walk by faith in a similar manner today. You just obey and you know that God will give that to you. But you don't know exactly how to get there. You don't have all the answers of how are you going to get there and how it's going to be done and how God's going to give it to you. You don't have all the answers but it's okay. You just obey God. He'll get you there. That's what Abraham did. Verse 9 and 10. Verses 9 and 10 please. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country. Dwelling in tents and ends with Isaac and Jacob. That has with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God. So thank you. So when he came into the land of promise, which he did, you know, so Abraham basically began his journey up somewhere near the river Euphrates, modern day Iraq. And then he made his journey down south into modern day Israel. So he came into this land of promise. And he lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob. In other words, God is saying this is the land I'm giving you. But right now you're dwelling there in temporary dwellings in tents. I got to this land I'm giving you. So you're tasting of it. But at the moment everything seems temporary. But verse 10 says he was waiting for our city whose foundations, builder and maker is God. He's in the land of promise. But he's dwelling there in temporary dwellings. And he's waiting for God to fulfill the promise and make it permanent. So that's another aspect to walking by faith. That is, you're joining, you're coming into the promise. But then you're going through what may be temporary while you're waiting for what is permanent, the finality of everything. So Abraham did that by faith. So God, okay, I'm here. I know I'm dwelling in tents, but I know this land, you will give me a city that you have established. You will give me a permanent dwelling here. You will do it. So even so, this is talking about our journey of faith, that you're going through the temporary believing God for the permanent. Verse 11 and 12. By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed 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, as honest, many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as the sand, which is by the sea shore. Powerful verses. In verse 11, Sarah, it says by faith, by faith, Sarah, she received a work of God done in her physical body. So our physical healings there in the Old Testament, of course, many of them, and Sarah's one example. She received a healing taking place in her body because it says here she was past age. She was barren and she was old. So she had two problems. One is she was barren. She never had children even in her young age, but at this time she was old. But when she had faith, it overrode those natural limitations and she conceived and bore a child. Why? Because it says in verse 11, she judged him faithful who had promised. She judged him faithful who had promised. Now, when we look back at Sarah's journey of faith, she also started from the place of no faith. And she came to the place of little faith and then she came to this place of full faith. So how do we know? Because remember, if you read the story of Abraham and Sarah, you know, in the beginning, Sarah was the one who said, maybe somebody else born in my house would be the descendant God is speaking about. So even she didn't think that she would have a child. She thought somebody else would have a child. Then God had to correct that and say, no, no, no, Sarah, you're going to have a child. And when the angel of the Lord came and said, you know, Sarah, you're going to have a child, she laughed. Right? So she like, how is it possible? You know, so her reaction was one of disbelief. So she went, she was still in a place of little faith. But eventually she came to this place where Hebrews 11, 11 was true. That means she counted him faithful or promised. So somehow she owe that 25 year period. She made that journey from no faith, a little faith to complete faith. She judged him faithful or promised. And then she received strength to conceive seed and she bore Isaac. And so we see a physical miracle through faith. We also see a journey in progressive, increasing faith in the life of Sarah. And then it goes back to Abraham verse 12. I think this is such an amazing verse. It says, here's a man was as good as dead. And yet from a man who's as good as dead comes a nation as new like the stars in the sky and like the sand on the seashore. Can you imagine? He has a man who's dead. Like nobody expects anything from him. He's as good as dead. There's no life. And yet from such a man, something impossible comes out. Descendants like the stars and like the sand on the seashore. How? By faith. So tells us, you know, this is what happens by faith. When people have said dead, nothing can happen. It's over. Then God releases something so beautiful, so powerful. It staggers human understanding. So verse 12, verse 13 and 14. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They didn't receive the truth from us. They only saw them and welcomed them on this planet. Admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things so that they are looking for a country of their own. So the writer of Hebrews says, you know, these people had faith even for their future. God had given them promise. They were journeying into it, but they didn't come into the fulfillment of everything. Because he will explain this later on towards the end of this chapter that God wanted all of us to enjoy the fulfillment together. So they saw things happen in their lifetime. They saw the work of God. They saw certain things fulfilled. But there were still things that they saw afar off which they didn't experience. And they died without those things. So you and I can also imagine even in our journey of faith. For instance, all of us expect to be in heaven. All of us expect that we will have a mansion in heaven. All of us expect that one day we will rule and reign with Jesus in the millennium. All of us believe that there will be new heavens and the new earth. But today, we are only seeing them from afar. But yet we embrace them as though they are real. That's what these people did. They embraced and confessed them. So you and I embraced these things. We confess it. Yes, I believe there's a mansion for me in heaven. Yes, I believe I'm going to see Jesus. Yes, I believe, you know, we embrace and confess these things. But yet we know we will die should the Lord tarry. We will die. And we're not going to taste those things here. The same thing with these Old Testament saints. They experienced certain things in their lifetime which God wanted them to fulfill. But they were also looking at things into the future which they embraced and confessed but they didn't experience. Same thing with you and me today. In our journey of faith we embrace and we confess things that we believe that are out there and we're going to die. We may never experience it. We will not experience it in this side of life. But Hebrews 11 when it closes it says together the Old Testament saints New Testament saints together we will enjoy these things. A city whose builder and maker is God. Revelation chapter 22. That's the heavenly Jerusalem. Together the Old Testament saints New Testament saints together will experience that. So it's teaching us here in verses 13 and 14 that faith enables us to walk today our life on earth embracing and confessing things about our life in the future. Just like them so do we. Verse 15 and 16. Verse 15 and 16 please. Verse 15 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. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. Very interesting. I like how the end of verse 16 ends. God therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. Isn't that interesting? Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. God is saying like hey I'm really happy if you say I am your God. Therefore meaning on what basis verse 15 and 16 tells us that these are people who are not looking at their earthly things but it says in verse 16 they were desiring a heavenly thing that means they lived their life with their eyes not on the temporal but on the eternal. They lived their life on earth as pilgrims, people just passing by. They lived their life on earth holding to things on earth very lightly because their eyes and focus was on the heavenly and to such people God says I am not ashamed to be called their God because it is true I have prepared a city for you. That's the heavenly, the eternal, the unseen. You all with me so far? You understanding these things? So we are learning about the faith that pleases God Hebrews chapter 11 and these are the different aspects of faith the faith life that is being highlighted. Verse 17 and 18 I am trying to go a little fast because we want to finish this. Verse 17 and 18 By faith Abraham when he was tested offered a bicycle and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called. Thank you. So now another aspect of faith Abraham was tested by God. So just a side note here there's a difference between a test and a temptation. A test comes from God a temptation is from the devil. A test is for us to move to a new level a temptation is for us to go down. A test is for us to go up a temptation is to pull us down. Genesis 22 verse 1 God tested Abraham A test calls us into a greater level of obedience. A temptation always induces us to a greater level of disobedience. So these are two separate things. When God tested Abraham so here it's saying that Abraham responded to God's test by faith. So how do you and I pass the tests of God by faith? And in Abraham's case the test was Abraham I've given you Isaac but can you offer Isaac up as a sacrifice? Now the real test was do you still believe my promise my word? That's the real test. God's tests are an invitation to a greater place of faith. Do you still believe my word to you? And the Bible says here Abraham responded saying yes God even if I offer Isaac as a sacrifice you have to raise him up because your word says in Isaac because God had given his word Isaac is the seed through which the promise will be fulfilled and Abraham believed that means he had come to this place where he was he just believed the word the word of God if God had spoken it will be so and that's why he was able to go up to the mount to offer Isaac as a sacrifice and God said don't kill the son you've passed my test that means your faith is still in the word. It also tells us one thing before receiving the promise our eyes are on the word of God after we receive the promise our eyes must still remain on the promise of God maybe you and I are believing God for something looking at the word the promise of God Lord I believe my needs will be met or I believe my body will be healed or you know whatever and then God fulfills the promise you receive it. Don't take your eyes off the word of God and put it on what you have received no keep your eyes on the word of God keep your eyes always on God and his word not on the blessing that's what Abraham did and that's why he was willing to let go of the blessing because he knew if he let go of the blessing God still has to bring the blessing because God is faithful to his word okay verses 19 and 20 please concluding that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which he also received a figurative sentence by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau considering things to come so verse 19 is actually the continuation of Abraham's faith that when Abraham obeyed God he was believing that God would raise him up from the dead verse 20 is talking about Isaac that Isaac could bless Jacob and Esau concerning things to come so by faith Isaac prophesied over Jacob and Esau if you want to just put verse 20 very simply by faith Isaac prophesied over his two sons that means he spoke of things that was still in the future verses 21 and 22 by faith Jacob when he was dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worship leaning on the top of his staff by faith Joseph when he was dying made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones so you see some similarity between Isaac Jacob and Joseph all three of them by faith spoke of things in the future they believed it and they spoke of it so Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau of unconcerned future Jacob he blessed all the sons of Joseph speaking of their future declaring their God's plan for their future same thing with Joseph he was dying but he spoke hey you know he was an Egypt but he said God's going to take you back to your land to the land bones and bury me there so he's all he's speaking of something out in the future so by faith you know we are speaking for prophetically we are speaking for the purposes of God verses 23 and 24 please by faith Moses parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king's edict 24 by faith Moses when he had grown up refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter thank you let's just go on and read the next two verses let's read this full passage concerning Moses verses 25 and 26 somebody else he chose to misunderstand mistreat along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of the sin for a short time he regarded disgrace for the sake of the Christ as a greater value than the pleasures of the Egypt because he was looking ahead of his reward yeah okay so let's comment on this some Moses here we read about Moses parents again they acted in the present believing God for the future right it says they hid him they were not afraid of the king's command why they saw he was a beautiful child I mean they saw something in him they said okay we're not going to let go of this child we don't want to end this child's life so that was an act of faith on the part of Moses parents right and then about Moses himself that was 24 25 and 26 that though he you know he grew up in the house of Pharaoh he had all of these things he let go of all of that to step into what he believed was God's call right so he believed that God called him to be a deliverer of the people of Israel in his heart so he let go of all the riches of Egypt and he said I'm going to step in there to be a deliverer of my people so that is really expressing you know that he said why the pleasures of Egypt he could have stayed there and maybe he could have become the next Pharaoh and ruling over Egypt he said no I'm letting all of that go I'm going to go out and I'm going to identify with God's people and you know move into the call of God so that's what Moses did that's verses 25 and 26 he looked for the reward he's looking for a future reward also leads us to do today that there are times God calls us to make these kinds of choices and we do that we let go of things that we could enjoy in order to pursue the call of God on our lives and to fulfill what God wants us to do right let's look at verses 27 and 20 27 to 29 please by faith he first of Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who was invisible by faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood lest he who destroyed the first born should touch them and verse 29 also by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned so each of these which we you know we read in the Testament were acts of faith so by faith Moses stepped out of Egypt why did he do that because it says he was seeing him who was invisible right so he was not afraid so that's basically saying he's stepping out of Egypt going out of Egypt was an act of faith and the reason he did it is because his eyes was on God by faith they even kept the Passover so God had spoken do this but for them to do that was an act of faith so as they kept the Passover by faith and you know God protected them by faith across the Red Sea and each of these you know we know the stories connected with each of these how they were standing before the Red Sea and you know God says Moses stretched out your rod and the sea parts and they cross over the Red Sea and so this is that also was an act of faith but you look at all of these things the act of Hebrews was saying hey you look at the people in the Old Testament they were all people of faith and they did all these things by faith in God so they were people of faith let's just quickly try to finish up let's read verses 30 to 34 please 30 to 34 somebody by faith waltz of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days by faith the harlot Rehab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spice with peace and what more shall I say for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephtha also of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms worked righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouth of lions quenched 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 so the writer of Hebrews he started listing one by one and then he says even the walls of Jericho came down by faith we know the story they had to march around it you know seven days that was an act of faith they obeyed the word of God Joshua just obeyed what the angel of the Lord told them and they you know it was an act of faith and they saw the result and then he begins to mention different people Rehab the harlot how she would receive these spies because she believed God would protect her even though she was a Gentile then he mentions Gideon, Barak, Samson all these people and through their faith in God they did great things in their day and time so he mentions they conquered kingdoms they received the promises stopped the mouth of lions escaped the edge of the fire all these great things in their lifetime they did by faith so people throughout the Old Testament they also walked by faith in God they believed the word they did the same things you and I are called to do today okay let's continue we'll read from verse 35 to 40 let's finish it verses 35 to 40 please women received their dead they wasted life again others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection still others are trial of mocking and scouting yes and of chains and imprisonment they were stoned they were sown into two they were tempted were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheep's skins and God's skins being destitute afflicted, tormented and desert and mountains indents and caves of the earth and all these 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 so the writer of Hebrews he lists some amazing accomplishments that women receive the dead life again great things happen through faith but then he also shifts emphasis and says hey but also endurance the ability to endure the ability to stand strong through adversity the ability to go through persecution and difficulties in life is also a work of faith right so there are two sides to this on the one hand we see the miraculous we see the supernatural we see the wonderful works of God that is also through faith but the other side is we go through the hardships of life we go through the persecutions the difficulties of life that also takes place through faith that is also a work of faith right so I want us to keep that in mind that while you know the supernatural displays of God's power and glory our expressions of faith don't forget that in the event you and I are when God's people actually make this journey of endurance going through hardship that is also an expression of faith don't only think about the miracles miracles are true but also the ability to endure going through challenges difficulties hardships that is also an expression of faith and then he says you know about the Old Testament people they all lived by faith I was 39 and they caught a good testimony so again that's what he mentioned Hebrews 11 verse 2 that means God gave them a good report through faith but they didn't see the culmination of the great things that God had in store why because God kept that for us and he's kept it for us and he wants to make sure that they together with us will enjoy what he has prepared for us which he's referring to all the good things that will come out in the future we are going to be with the Lord in heaven we are going to rule and reign with him here on earth we are going to step into the new heavens and the new earth so all that we are going to enjoy together both the Old Testament and New Testament Saints but Hebrews chapter 11 it's in the New Testament but it's actually talking to us about the Old Testament it's talking to us about all the Old Testament Saints and says hey look at these people different things they did they did it through faith okay now I'm just going to quickly share my notes I know we have only a few more minutes but in this pdf I have already mentioned it as we went through Hebrews 11 but I'll just highlight those things so we looked at the whole chapter so what we mentioned walking in faith gives us a good testimony before God so this is how we obtain a good testimony when we walk by faith God sees and God himself gives us a good report second we live by faith in the promise of future things so just as much we have faith for the now we also have faith for the future like we shared and then we see that through faith the people inherited the land of promise that means what God has promised for us now we also inherit so there are things that we will walk into here and now in this life by faith but we also have faith for things God has kept for us in the future and talks about David you know I just highlighted we can highlight each of these people Gideon and all of them but if you look at David and how Shepard killed a warrior it's just an amazing amazing story of how a David all odds when we put it in our language today we will say the odds were against David so imagine David going out there facing Goliath I had David facing Goliath who's going to win well most people say hey Goliath is going to win David is an inexperienced young boy Goliath is a soldier who's been trained up from his early days and their meeting in man to man combat who's going to win but it's just through faith David that means we kill our Goliaths just like our David did through faith in God and God takes what we have what he has put in our life and he uses it to conquer the Goliaths that you and I might have to face in life so I just want to leave us with that thought here you see there are things that God wants to do through each of us there are Goliaths that he wants to kill he wants us to conquer who are you and I going to conquer the Goliaths we face just like David through faith through faith we will conquer every Goliath that we face so what we're going to learn in this course is going to help you and me like David conquer Goliaths and do great exploits for the kingdom of God okay so pause here next week we'll get into chapter 7 where we look at the faith of Abraham and we're going to study the steps of faith how if you and I want to exercise faith what the steps we must take in order to exercise faith in God we will learn that from Abraham alright I would like to invite somebody to please close in prayer and then we will dismiss for our break we will just pray with us as a class and dismiss us father we come to the throne of grace in the name of Jesus Christ your son we ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit I pray for all my teachers and my fellow students body we thank God for your grace we came till here we thank you for each and everything we started on 2nd August and today on 3rd September we have completed your one month by the grace of God may it continue forever and may God be with us in Jesus name we pray amen thank you alright everyone thank you for being on the class today have a good break enjoy your next hour I'll see you again next week God bless thank you