Text: Hebrews 11:6-7 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Cast not away your confidence -- there is great reward
Hebrews 10:35-36 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1-2 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Our faith overcomes the world
1 John 5:4 "…this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith."
No approval from God apart from faith
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch…had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
God has no pleasure in a Christian that draws back
Hebrews 10:38-39 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and obtain life. (HCSB)
Endures only for a while
Matthew 13:21 "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
Many of God's people did not please God and were destroyed
1 Corinthians 10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
We must believe that He is
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith lives with the constant awareness that he is
Psalm 139:7-10 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Faith lives in the eyes of the Lord
1 Kings 15:5 "…David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
We must believe that God rewards faithful living
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
“...It may sound pious for someone to say: ‘I am not interested in rewards! I serve God out of love and gratitude alone!’ But such a person is claiming to be more loftily motivated than even the apostle Paul himself!...Those who disparage rewards as a powerful Christian motivation ought to read their NT again - this time, with their eyes open.” -Zane Hodges
"If the Christian is not looking in faith for the reality of future reward in all that he does, he is not fully obeying God, no matter how diligent he is in the duty of sacrificing" - Pastor Joey Faust
The power of future reward
Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance;(Why?) that they might obtain [reward] a better resurrection:
God warned Noah about future things -- "things not seen as yet"
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
World wide destruction by a flood
Genesis 6:13,17 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Substance and evidence of Noah's faith
Hebrew 11:7 "By faith Noah…moved with fear…prepared an ark…"
"Construction of the ark prior to the perception of the danger was itself a prophetic act of symbolic realism announcing to the world the forthcoming judgment of God. It also proclaimed a dynamic faith in the truth of God’s warning despite all appearances to the contrary"
Noah shall be rewarded
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. ["of the righteousness according to faith he became heir." YLT]
An heir of the kingdom -- to the rich in faith
James 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Noah's righteousness of faith
Genesis 7:1,5 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me 5 And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. in this generation.
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