Biblical Faith - In The Things of God

In Hebrews 11.1, it says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. What we've said so far is that this is the biblical essence of faith. In Hebrews 11.1, it has nothing to do with our personal faith. What we always do is get mixed up with personal faith and the pure essence of faith. We looked last week at what is the essence of faith, and specifically we covered what's its source.

We looked at Hebrews 12.2, that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Then we asked the question, how does God convey this faith?

And we saw in Romans 10.17 that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So, as we pictured this, we looked at it this way.

In terms of the pure essence of faith, that faith is the substance of things hoped for. And the word substance means reality. Faith is reality. And it's reality of things. The things that are hoped for are things that are certainty. And I've added the word absolute certainty. It's the reality of the things of God. and that Jesus Christ is the author or he's the originator of the things of God. And a question has come up. How do you know that the things there are the things of God? Why don't you interpret this that my faith is the substance of things that I hope for and the evidence of things that I can't see?

So I thought what I'd do is just go through this and show you why I think things in Hebrews 11.1 means the things of God. For example, as you go through scripture and look at things, there are things of the law. There are things of the flesh. In contrast to that, there are things of the spirit.

There are things that are present. There are things that are to come. There are things for edification. There are things that are pure. There are things of the world. There are things that are seen, and there are things that are unseen. There are things that are temporal, and Scripture talks about the things that are eternal. There are things that pertain to death, and there are things that pertain to life. And faith is the substance of things hoped for. So the question is, what does things mean? What are the things? Are these my things?

We have a couple of clues in Hebrews 11.1 that they're not our things, but they truly are the things of God. The one big clue is this. When it says faith is the substance of things, or the reality. Things have to do with reality. This is a very big clue because reality is truth. We are not the source of truth. The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of truth. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

The things in Hebrews 11.1 have to do with things that are hoped for. And the word hope has to do with certainty. I've added absolute certainty because I believe that things are the things of God. Question, is there certainty with me?

No, there isn't. But I can tell you what is true of me, that there's doubt in me. There's questions. Lord, why me? Have you ever asked that question? There's discouragement in my life. because of things in my life. There's anxiety. There is a lack of faith. And I sense that sin that Hebrews talks about that so often besets me, that surrounds me, that encompasses me, that sin of unbelief. So are these my things? My things have to do with uncertainty and not certainty. And my things have to do with unreality versus reality.

So, the things in Hebrews 11-1, by definition, have to do with the things of God. Only the things of God are certainty. Only the things of God are reality. And He is the only source of reality. The only source. There is no other source of reality but God. So that's why I think the things in Hebrews 11 are things of God. Will you turn with me to Romans chapter 15 and look at verse 13.

Now the God of hope filled you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now look what it says. Now the God of hope, and there's a definite article there, now the God of the hope, the God of the certainty, the God of the absolute certainty.

God desires something. God desires that we believe, that we rest, that we simply rest in his certainty, in his reality. God desires that we believe. And believing is simply resting. Resting in what He reveals to us about His things. When we do, there's a benefit. And the passage tells us that the benefit is joy and peace. His joy. His peace. And His peace is the peace that surpasses all human understanding. It's not our peace. But it's history. This is the fruit of the Spirit. This is the very life of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. This is talking about several aspects of the fruit of the Spirit.

This passage also tells us one other thing. That God has a purpose. He has a purpose in us resting. Just resting in the God of hope. who He is. And the purpose is defined in the text, that we may abound, that we may be abundantly furnished. With what? Look at the text in Romans 15-13. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing purpose clause, that you may abound, that you may be abundantly furnished in hope. And there's a definite article there in the hope. What hope? Our hope? Our certainty? No, it's His hope, the hope, the very hope that comes out from God and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So it's His hope, His absolute certainty that we're to rest in. Now, what I'd like to do is make some other observations on things of God, because we're interpreting this in Hebrews as things of God. That faith is the substance or the reality of things hoped for. The things of God which are in absolute certainty. How do we know that?

Well, let's correlate Scripture with Scripture. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. We're going to look at this incredible purpose that God has for you and me, starting at verse 9. has prepared things for the ones loving Him. He's prepared things for you and me, the ones loving Him. And if the aorist tense means that it's a fact, past tense, it's already happened, we can say that this is a done deal, that God has prepared things for us that love Him. He's prepared these things. They're already prepared. There's nothing more to prepare. He's done it all. And He's made them ready, right now, in your life and in my life. So from this passage, what can we say about these things?

Well, number one, it says that man's eye has not seen these things of God, nor has man's ears heard these things of God, which were already made for us. Do you know what this is saying in our vernacular? This is saying that you can't know the things of God by experience.

You can't know the things of God by observation. You can't know them by the empirical method. And that's the empirical method of seeing, observing, and hearing. You can't know them that way. So the whole scientific method goes out when it comes to the things of God.

Look what else it says, that rationalism doesn't work. That you can't rely on any reason within yourself and understanding within yourself to know the things of God. Because it says, neither have entered into the heart of man these things of God, which God has prepared. It hasn't entered into man's heart.

It's talking about his heart, his mind, His reasoning so you can't reason these things of God in terms of what they are So if I can't know the things of God by my observation by my experience by my reasoning Then how can I know the things of God which he has prepared for me? I Love him. I'm one of the ones loving him. How can I know about these things which were already prepared for me? Look at verse 10.

Wonderful contrast. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. So God has revealed them. The word for reveal means uncover or to unveil These things were before the foundations of the world, but now they're uncovered, they're unveiled. By the way, that's an heiress tent. It's a fact indicative mood. It's happened. All of these things are uncovered, unveiled.

So here's my question to you. If these things are uncovered and unveiled, and they're prepared for you, and they're prepared for me, do you know what these things are? Do you know all about these things, yea, the deep things of God, the things that are humanly unsearchable things of God? Do you know about all of these things in terms of what they are, the things that are so profound that in and of yourself and in myself, we can't search enough?

The answer is no, we don't know them. We don't know them all. We may know some, but we don't know them all. And in fact, God's infinite. And these things are infinite. Here we have an infinite God, and here we have finite man. So the question is this, but why does God then say He's uncovered them for us? And they're all uncovered, but we don't know them.

Look at what it says in verse 10. But God has revealed them, done deal, unto us, how? By His Spirit. So it's only through the Holy Spirit that we can know them. God has uncovered or unveiled everything He has for us. His desire is for us to know them. And the Holy Spirit searches out all of these deep things of God that were prepared for you and me. How can you And how can I personally know that? It's one thing knowing them objectively and another thing of knowing them subjectively or personally. Look at verse 11. For what man knows things of the man except the spirit of man which is in him?

What it's saying is this. I know your spirit and you know my spirit. Because we have the same human spirit. Talk about the human spirit. So, in your life, let's say at work, someone else gets the job, someone else gets the promotion. I know the temptation that comes into your life.

One of discontent, maybe resentment. Why did he get the job, not me? I mean, I've been here longer than him. What if the circumstance comes up in your life that somebody blames you? It's your fault. No, it's your fault. The temptation that comes up is, first of all, you're defensive. Not me. And there's that self-preservation lust that we must preserve self and how we look.

That happens in your life. You have family problems. And the family problems are not easy ones for you to solve. In fact, some of these problems are impossible for you to solve. And so what happens? You get irritable. You get irritable because you can't fix it. Not only do you get irritable, but you get angry. You get angry because you can't fix it and you don't have the control and you want to be in control. And so there's anger. There's the temptation of anger.

There are financial problems that come up in your life. The temptation comes that you're discouraged. And you can't understand why this is happening. And it continues on. And you get discouraged. And anxiety builds up. You get very anxious about it. And you start worrying about it. And there are health problems that come up.

And there's a temptation, with all of the problems concerning your health, to start complaining. There may be some bitterness involved in it. Why am I going through this problem? There's the temptation of self-pity for me and no one's feeling sorry for you.

How do I know that this is your response to those circumstances in your life? Because I've got the same spirit that you have. I've got the same sin nature that you have. I know because I have that same spirit. I know the things of man because I'm a man. The thing is, I don't know the things of God unless I have the Spirit of God, because only the Spirit of God can know the things of God. Look at the second part of verse 11.

Even so, the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God. So if we want to know the things of God, we must be given the Spirit of God. So what does God do? In God's sovereignty, in his God's grace, in his God's love, in his mercy, God gives us his Spirit so that we can know the things of God that have been prepared for us before the foundations of the world that have now been uncovered or unveiled to us through the Holy Spirit. So he's given us the Spirit of God to know those things. And so look at verse 12. Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is of God. Purpose, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. It says that we have received the Spirit of God. Eris tense. Eris tense means what? The fact you've put your trust on the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the Spirit of God indwelling you. It's all about the indwelling Spirit of God. You have received the Spirit of God. Aristotelian, it's a fact, indicative of truth, it's a reality. It's a reality in your life and it's a reality in my life. And it's the Spirit which comes out from God.

We're talking about the third person of the Trinity. The third person of the Trinity is indwelling each one of us who have put their trust and faith in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. we have the indwelling Spirit of God. What's the purpose of the Holy Spirit indwelling us? Look at verse 12 in.

The purpose is introduced by that little word, that, in the middle of the verse. That, purpose clause, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. The word for know there is to know actually, to know the facts, in making a distinction between knowing the facts and entering into those facts. And there's a big difference. And we can know all of the Bible doctrine, and we can be grounded in all of that doctrine, but yet we might not really know it. And the second no is to enter into those facts.

It's to enter in by arresting and appropriating that to your life and to my life. How do we do that? By faith, by resting. And we take ownership of those things. Here is the million dollar question. We've been talking about these things. What are these things of God that have been planned for us, that have been uncovered now?

I want you to turn to John chapter 16. Look at verse 12. Here the word Jesus Christ is talking to apostles And he says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Nevertheless, when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all the truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come.

Here are the things again. And verse 14, He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine. He shall receive that which comes out from me. That's what the Holy Spirit is going to receive. And remember that the Spirit of God searches the deep things, and He's searching the things that come out from the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says, He shall show it unto you, shall reveal it unto you.

Look what verse 15 says, all things that the Father has are mine. So all of the things of God that we've looked at in Hebrews 11 and one come out from the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, because all that the Father has are his, but it doesn't tell us what those things are. So what are those things? I just made a partial list here.

We're seated with Him in the heavenlies and looking at the things of Christ. Christ's life is one of the things, and therefore He's my life. Christ's desires are one of the things that come out from Christ. And I'm in this wonderful union with Him, and therefore His desires are my desires. Christ's glory is my glory. Christ's will is my will. His mind is my mind.

Now, are these unsearchable things? I mean, humanly unsearchable things. But the Spirit of God searches these things, yea, the deep things of God, yea, the deep things of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you can see, if you go down through any one of these, the depth of any one of these, Christ's obedience is my obedience. Christ's righteousness is my righteousness. Christ's abode is my abode. His rest is my rest. His sufficiency is my sufficiency. His image is my image. I want to close by having you turn to Romans chapter 8.

In verse 31, it says, what will you then say to these things? These things in the context. are that God the Father is for us, that God the Son is for us, that God the Holy Spirit is for us, talking about those things. If God be for us, who can be against us?

He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him, notice what it says now, also freely give us all things. He's given them to us and he's prepared them before the foundation of the world. He's uncovered them to us and the Holy Spirit searches these things and they're for us. All things, not one thing has been left out. Amen?