Heroes of Faith

Hebrews 11
A great deal is said in the Bible about FAITH. We
live by faithwhen we believe in things we cannot
see, and then act as if the things were true. That is
what the first verse teaches us. Now faith is being
sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do
not see. We hope that God loves us. If we become so
assured of this that we take the hope into our hearts
as a fact, that is faith. If we really believe that God
loves us, the truth means a great deal to us. We are
not then afraid of GodHe is our Friend. We have
many hard things to endurelosses, sorrows,
sufferings, disappointmentsbut if we really believe
that God loves us, we shall not be greatly disturbed
by such experiences. If we actually believe that
Christ rose from the dead, we know that we have a
living Savior who is our Friend, our Companion, our
Helper, our Guide.
Faith is being certain of what we do not see. That
is, it makes us as sure of the unseen spiritual things
in which we believe, as if they were visible to our
natural eyes. Columbus believed there was a land, a

continent, another country, beyond the sea, and the

belief became such a strong conviction, that he
pushed out upon the sea to find the land he believed
in, and sailed on until he found it. The Bible tells us
of an eternal world beyond the earth, our Fathers
house, home, eternal life. We cannot see it. But if we
have faith, this heavenly country becomes as real to
us as England is to the tourist who puts out upon the
sea this month to cross the ocean to Liverpool.
This is what the ancients were commended for.
The men who have won an honorable record in the
past, have won it through faith. People who have no
faith, never make much of their lives. It is so even on
lower planes. We can have friends only through
faith. We cannot always watch people to see if they
are true to us. We cannot keep them always in our
sight. When they are away from us, we cannot have
spies following them to see if they are friendly to us.
Then, we cannot see in people the virtues we want in
our friendstruth, goodness, gentleness,
unselfishness, faithfulness, nobleness. We can see
these qualities only by faith. So we can never have
friends, except by faith. All lofty attainments and
achievements of every kind are reached only by faith.
All true heroesare heroes of faith.

By faith we understand that the universe was

formed at Gods command, so that what is seen was
not made out of what was visible. Nobody saw God
making the worlds. Only by faith do we know how
they came into being. The Bible tells us all that we
know about this. We turn back to Genesis, and we
have a vision of a period where there was nothing
but God. In the beginning God. Then we have a
vision of the earth as chaos, waste and void, and
the Spirit of God brooding over it in love, as the
future home of Gods children. Then we have the
story of creation, completed at last in man made in
Gods image. Whatever theory of the manner of
order of creation we may accept, we know at least
that By faith we understand that the universe was
formed at Gods command, so that what is seen was
not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered
Isaac as a sacrifice. Abrahams whole life from his
call was a life of faith but the supreme test came
when he was bidden to give up his son, his only son.
He raised no questions. It was not his business to
ask why. It was God who had given the promise
which centered in Isaac, and it was God who now
sent Abraham to Mount Moriah to offer Isaac on the

altar. He could not understandbut God

understood, and that was enough; Abrahams only
duty was to obey. That was faith. He accounted that
God was able to raise up Isaac from the dead.
Nothing that God commands us to do, ever can bring
harm or real loss to us. His commandments never
annul or cancel His purposes or clash with them. No
painful and costly sacrifice He ever demands can
possibly interfere with Gods covenant of love.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of
the sons of Joseph. The faith of Jacob, shown in this
incident, was in the way he crossed his hands when
he blessed these boys. Joseph heard that the old
man, his father, was sick, and he took his sons to
have the grandfathers blessing upon them before he
died. Jacob loved Joseph, and he loved Josephs sons
and adopted them, taking them in among his own
sons, kissing and embracing them, then stretching
out his thin, trembling hands and laying them on the
heads of the lads, while he uttered this beautiful
blessing upon them: The God before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has
fed me all my life long unto this day, the angel who
has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let
my name be named on them. Joseph had set the

boys before his blind father, so that his right hand

would rest on the elder and his left on the younger.
But Jacob crossed his hands so that the right lay on
the head of the younger, guiding his hands
wittingly. Joseph tried to correct the old mans
mistakebut Jacob knew what he was doing.
Ephraim, the younger, should be greater.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made
mention of the departure of the children of Israel;
and gave commandment concerning his bones. We
are looking for faith in our study of these old-time
stories. Joseph took an oath of his brothers that they
should not bury him Egypt. God will surely visit
you,. .. and you shall carry up my bones from hence.
That was faith. Egypt had been the place of his glory
but he was not an Egyptian; he was a patriotic
Israelite. He believed Gods promise that He would
lead His people to their own land, and he left it in his
will that then his body should be carried up and
buried among his people.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three
months. .. when he was grown up, refused to be
called the son of Pharaohs daughter. The first
example of faith was in his parents. They were led to

believe that their boy was to be the deliverer of his

people, and so they determined that his life should
be spared. It is a beautiful story that tells of the way
they preserved him and secured his bringing up,
first, under his mothers care that he might be a loyal
Israelite, and then under the princess of Egypt, that
he might have the best education the world of that
day could give him, so as to be ready to be the leader
and lawgiver of his nation.
The other example of faith was in Moses himself,
who, when he came to know and understand the
condition of his people, and their wrongs, renounced
Egypt with its honors and wealth, that he might
devote himself to the interests of his people. It was a
tremendous cost and sacrifice that Moses made
cause with his people. But faith never counts the
cost. It sees the good before it and gives up
everything to attain it.
He endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Here
we have the secret of the endurance of Moses in all
his noble life. He did not see Godno one ever saw
God, who is invisible. But his faith made God as real
to himas if he had actually seen Him. If we had the
faith, we might have and would have, Christs

presence, which is promised to us continually, would

be as real to us as it was to His first disciples when
they were with Him in Galilee. Then we would be
strong, invincible, victorious. Why should we not
begin to practice the presence of God?