'Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
'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, admitting that they were foreigners 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, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
'And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawn in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
'These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.' (Hebrews 11.1, 13-16, 32-40.)
The beginning point of faith is believing in God’s character: He is who He says. The end point is believing in God’s promises: He will do what He says. When we believe that God will fulfil His promises, even though we don’t see those promises materialising, we demonstrate true faith.
Abraham by faith left his home, believing he would obtain the promise (v8): My whole life has been like that. I’ve spent 70 years going out and doing the job, believing that I would see God’s promises fulfilled. By faith, I evangelised Siberia in 1994, visiting every major town and city. By faith, God has twice healed me of cancer. By faith, God released me from a communist prison, in answer to prayer. By faith, I seen God calm storms. By faith, God has backed up the promise of Mark 16, ‘Go ye into all the world, preach the Gospel, heal the sick’; from the earliest days of my ministry, I’ve seen incredible healing miracles.
They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance (v14): I expect to see answers to prayer; like the saints of old, we are pilgrims and strangers here; we are citizens of a different country. We live, work, and die here, believing we will inherit the Coming Kingdom; if they had been looking back to the countries they had left, they might have gone back: what we are giving up, is nothing compared to what we will receive in Heaven. There is a reward for faithfulness.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, (v17): By faith Abraham offered Isaac, the child received in old age by the promise of God. He was ready to sacrifice the only hope he had, believing that if necessary, Isaac would be raised from the dead.
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect: faith is the life you live. All that I do is by faith. And aged 91, I’m still living by faith, ministering in Ukraine, Central Asia and Europe. The vision God gave me over 70 years ago, I am still fulfilling today. My encouragement to you is, endure! Endure to the end! Keep enduring until you receive all the promises of God! By faith, we obtain a good report (v2). Your faith pleases God! (v6.)