It is amazing in this economic climate to see how many people are affected in so many ways and in varying degrees; not only those in the world but also those of us who belong to the household of faith! Having been able to talk and minister to many people I have come to see that through it all faith is a common denominator.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:1-3

We all express faith in something everyday; no one can live a single day without exercising faith – faith in the physical world. When you awoke this morning and went into the bathroom, you flipped a light switch and had faith that it would work. When you get in your car you have faith that it will start. When you mail a letter you have faith the postal system will get it to the right address. When you go to the pharmacy you have faith that the pharmacist will give you the right drugs. Every time you walk in and out of buildings you are expressing faith in the architect and the workmen.

Faith is also expressed in the spiritual realm. Each of us regardless of our background, education, social status or talents can express faith.Your faith is only as good as the object in which you place your faith. The difference between the faith we exercise in our daily routine and our religious faith is the object of that faith. Again, everyone places their faith in something or someone. The Muslim puts his faith in the Koran and Mohammed. The humanist puts his faith in himself. The follower of religion puts his faith in his own good works. None of these can save because in each case the object of faith is wrong.

Your faith is only as good as the object in which you place your faith.

The Bible insists that we personally put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 says, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

In this Spirit Wind I want us to do a small study on the greatest teaching in the Bible; the subject of faith, found in the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews. Today as you read this teaching, my prayer is that you see two things, “what faith is and what faith does”.

What faith is not

To understand what faith is we must get past certain common misconceptions about faith.

Manipulate God

First, that faith is the ability to manipulate God. This is the approach of the "health and wealth" prosperity gospel. This approach only sees faith as having one aim, one fruit, a life of ease and blessing.

Just the right doctrine

Second, that faith is adherence to a set of beliefs. You must believe the right doctrine. But Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12, »I know whom I have believed«. If your beliefs are not founded in the right person it does not matter what else you believe.

A leap into the dark

Third, that faith is a blind leap into the dark. To many unbelievers faith is the direct opposite of science. Saying to these people, “You just have to have faith” is the same as saying “Just act contrary to everything you know and trust that it will all work out for the best”.

Follower with devotion

Finally, that faith is simply devotion to whatever god you happen to follow. It can be said, “He is a person of deep faith” about a follower of Mohammed, the Ayatollah or of a Christian; what matters is that they are sincere. Unfortunately none of these is true faith. Hebrews chapter eleven portrays what real biblical faith looks like.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible" - Hebrews 11:1-3

True faith is confident obedience to God’s word regardless of circumstances or consequences. Faith is described in a two-fold way; it is the “substance of things hoped for” and “the evidence of things not seen”.

The word “substance” translated from Greek, means literally “to stand under or to support”. Faith is the foundation that gives the believer the confidence to stand. The verse could be translated, “Faith is the confidence of things hoped for”.

This is illustrated in the life of the famous missionary, Hudson Taylor. When he first went to China, it was in a sailing vessel. The ship was caught in calm weather and was slowly drifting towards the shore of cannibal inhabited islands where the savages were eagerly anticipating a feast.

The captain came to Mr. Taylor and asked him to pray for the help of God. “I will”, said Taylor, “Provided you set your sails to catch the breeze.” The Captain declined to make himself a laughing stock by unfurling the sails in a dead calm. Taylor said, “I will not undertake to pray for the vessel unless you will prepare the sails”, and it was done.

While engaged in prayer there was a knock at the door of his stateroom. “Who is there?” The captain’s voice responded, “Are you still praying for wind?” “Yes." “Well”, said the captain, “You better stop praying for we have more wind than we can manage!”

The word describing what faith is, is translated “evidence” and means “conviction”. “You better stop praying for we have more wind than we can manage!”This inward conviction enables the believer to believe things not yet seen, that God will perform what He has promised.

Another story told by the captain of a ship on which George Mueller of Bristol was travelling illustrates this point. Mueller was a man who had several children’s homes and depended on God alone to provide for them. During his lifetime he received more than £1,000,000 from the Lord without fundraising – every penny came as an answer to prayer.

“We had George Mueller of Bristol aboard”, said the captain. I had been on the bridge for 24 hours and never left it and George Mueller came to me and said, Captain, “I have come to tell you that you must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon”. “It is impossible.” I said. “Then very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement in 57 years; let us go down into the chart room and pray.”

I looked at that man of God and thought to myself, “What lunatic asylum can that man have come from, for I never heard of such a thing as this?” “Mr. Mueller”, I said, “do you know how dense this fog is?” “No” he replied, “my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.”

He knelt down and he prayed one of the simplest prayers. When he had finished I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to. “As you do not believe He will answer, and as I believe He has, there is no need whatsoever for you to pray about it.” I looked at him and George Mueller said, “Captain, I have known the Lord for 57 years and there has never been a single day when I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up Captain, open the door and you will find the fog has gone.”

I got up and the fog indeed was gone and on that Saturday afternoon George Mueller kept his promised engagement.

That my friends is the conviction that only faith can bring.

What Faith does

"By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith" - Hebrews 11:4-7

Faith caused Abel to worship God

"By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks" – Hebrews 11:4

We do not know the details of Abel’s faith or just how much had been revealed to Abel about how he was to worship; but his father Adam had walked with God. We do know that his faith caused him to worship God. This verse tells us, “Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice.” He chose the choicest lamb as an offering and he brought it to the place of sacrifice.

I am no one’s final judge but I find it extremely hard to believe that a person whose faith never compels them to come into the Lord’s house to worship is truly saved. True faith looks for an opportunity to worship! This is however my personal opinion.

Faith caused Enoch to walk with God

"By 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. 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" - Hebrews 11:5-6

Enoch is a fascinating biblical character who lived in one of the darkest periods of the history of the world. Enoch lived just before God had to destroy the earth because of man’s evil, yet he managed to keep himself pure. Enoch walked with God yet the Genesis record indicates that this was not always the case in his life (Genesis 5:21-24). For the first 65 years of his life, Enoch did not walk with God. Presumably he was a man of his times but from the birth of his son, Methuselah and the remaining 300 years of his life he “walked with God”. The Hebrew form of the verb means he walked closely and continually with God. The walk that Enoch experienced was one of deepening intimacy with God. He lived every day in the presence of the Lord and in constant communion with Him. His faith and his obedience, as well as his worship, were outstanding.

The hallmark of Enoch’s life was that “he pleased God”. What a wonderful description of a believer’s life. Can that be said of your life? Is God pleased with how you use your time? Is God pleased with what you read? Is God pleased with the words you speak? Is God pleased with your plans for the future? Have you even bothered to consult God with your plans?

This is really something that I am trying to continually apply to my life, not as a preacher or in ministry but just because I am a child of God. It is very easy to try and make God fit into “our” plans to use our “faith” to walk through life instead of being as Enoch was; this takes time, effort, diligence and most of all, a disciplined life.

Enoch’s walk of faith delivered him from the consequence of death; will yours? This verse does not say that faith is simply one way to please God: it is the only way.

Faith caused Noah to work for God

"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" - Hebrews 11:7

The story of Noah’s generation is the story of the degeneration of humanity into sin. Genesis 6:5,11 says: “The wickedness of man was great… every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually… The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” It is also the story of the marvellous grace of God in saving believing Noah and his family. Noah stood alone against the whole world. Jesus used the “days of Noah” as representative of the condition of the world before his own second coming (Matthew 24:37-39) and indicated that his followers should be prepared to face the same kind of scornful hostility that Noah met day after day.

Noah built an Ark because he believed God. Every tree he felled shouted faith. Every board he sawed shouted faith. Every swing of his hammer shouted faith. Every seam to which he applied the pitch shouted faith. Do our works reflect our faith? Faith will make us work. Only his steadfast belief in God kept Noah faithful for the 120 years cutting the trees and planning the construction of the ark; many of us struggle with 120 days!

The ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high, that means that it was nearly one and a half times the length of a football field and more than four stories high - it could hardly be hidden from the ridicule of the scoffers.

Can you imagine the mockery and jeering that Noah must have faced on a daily basis as he built this huge ship? It was a hundred miles from the nearest ocean and far too big to move. The majority of the people simply refused to believe Noah’s witness concerning the coming flood. Yet, he in faith went right on working and witnessing, building the ark and warning of the coming judgement. Then as a final act of faith, he and his family stepped into the ark and closed the door.

Noah was a man of faith and his life continually showed his faith; does ours? Noah worshiped God faithfully as Abel had, walked with God faithfully as Enoch had and worked for God faithfully.

Faith surrenders control over to God

This is a challenge that these great men who have gone before us have left for us, but we now have the precious Holy Spirit to help us through and lead us on the journey of faith - even when it is tedious and difficult or when it feels like we are on the mountain top! To end this let me leave this story below with you.

“The three year old felt secure in his father’s arms as dad stood in the middle of the pool. Then for fun, dad began walking slowly towards Our temptation is to panic for we feel we’ve lost control.the deep end, gently chanting, ‘Deeper and deeper and deeper,’ as the water rose higher and higher on the child. The lad’s face registered increasing degrees of panic as he held all the more tightly to his father, who of course could easily touch the bottom.

Had the little boy been able to analyse his situation he’d have realised there was no reason for increased anxiety. The water’s depth in any part of the pool was over his head and even in the shallowest part had he not been held up, he would have drowned - his safety anywhere in the pool depended on dad.

At various points in our lives, all of us feel we are getting out of our depth – problems abound, a job lost, someone dies. Our temptation is to panic for we feel we’ve lost control. Yet, as with the child in the pool, the truth is we’ve never been in control over the most valuable things of life. We’ve always been held up by the grace of God, our Father who does not change. God is never out of His depth and therefore we’re as safe when we’re ‘going deeper’ as we have ever been.” Perhaps God wants to move you “deeper” than ever before. It is faith that will give you confidence and conviction to worship God faithfully as Abel did, walk with God faithfully as Enoch did and to work for God faithfully as Noah did.

We have started this incredible journey and come so far so lets press in and go “deeper, deeper, deeper” in Him.

Gayle Claxton