Lay Speaking Message #3

Here is the third and final Lay Speaking message.

Hebrews 11:29-11:32a

The author of Hebrews gives us some examples of faith.

In Exodus chapter 14 and 15 the Israelites reached the shores of the Red Sea and the people feared for their life. But after Moses spoke to them and told them God’s blessing was upon them, they went forward in faith.

Moving ahead to Joshua 6, the people didn’t do anything physically clever or militarily sneaky to knock down the walls of Jericho, they simply followed God’s instructions in faith.

Rahab was not killed with everyone else. She acted in faith. These are just some examples of faith that we see in this chapter and throughout the Bible.

But what is faith? How do you define it? How do you describe it?

Thankfully, God gives us the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

So, faith is the substance of things hoped for. That is simply the current assurance of the future reality. This is making Christ Lord and Savior of your life, thereby giving you eternal life in heaven.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. True faith is not based on empirical evidence, but on divine assurance. It is a gift of God. It is difficult to describe faith and as the author of Hebrews realizes it is much better and easier to show it.

Faith is a common attribute of God’s servants since the beginning of the world. God will do what He says He will do. The Bible gives us the true account of creation. Everything in it is true and we are to believe it. We aren’t to change or adjust what the Bible says to meet our needs or today’s standards. The Bible says what it says and God means what it says. So believe it, trust it, and obey it. It is the Word of God. We accept it and believe it through faith.

Great. How do I get faith? Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” In order to have faith you must hear the Word of God. This doesn’t involve simply having someone read it to you, but encompasses your reading, studying, meditating, and praying through the entire Bible. This is something that needs to be done regularly, preferably daily. You also need to realize that the Word of God is Christ. John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

How about you? It takes only a few minutes a day to read some scripture and then think about it throughout the day. Try it for a week or month, and you will indeed notice a difference in your life. Take time to be with Christ and hear the Word.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your Word and that it has been so well preserved over these many years. We ask that you continue to enable us to serve you and proclaim your Word to your people. AMEN.