What faith is. Without faith we cannot please God. The worthy fruits thereof in the fathers of old time.
Anno Domini 63.
THE apostle, in the end of the foregoing chapter, after mentioning the persecutions to which the Hebrews were exposed, had comforted them by suggesting a remarkable saying of the prophet Habakkuk; The just by faith shall live. In this chapter he illustrates that saying, by bringing into the view of the Hebrews examples from their own scriptures, of persons who by a strong faith in God and in his promises, resisted the greatest temptations, sustained the heaviest persecutions, were preserved in imminent dangers, performed the most difficult acts of obedience, and, at length, obtained a distinguished reward. This beautiful discourse, therefore, may be considered as an animated display of the triumphs of faith over the allurements and terrors of the world.
And, first of all, to shew that this noble grace of faith is attainable through the Spirit of God by men in every age and country, the apostle tells us that it consists in such a firm persuasion of the things which God hath declared and promised, as clothes them with an evidence equal to that of sense, Hebrews 11:1.—and as examples of this faith in the declarations of God, Abel, Enoch, and Noah are mentioned, who were all so firmly persuaded of the truth of the things made known to them by God, that through grace theyregulated the whole tenor of their lives by them, Hebrews 11:3-7.—Next, as an illustrious example of faith in the promises of God, the apostle mentions Abraham, who left his native country and kindred at God's command, and set out for a land which he was afterwards to inherit, not knowing whither he was going. And being come into the promised country, he lived there all his life, with his children Isaac and Jacob the joint-heirs of the same promise, as in a land belonging to other people, because he knew that it was promised to him chiefly as the type and pledge of a better country, Hebrews 11:9-10.—In like manner Sarah, Abraham's wife, to whom God promised that she should be the mother of nations, lived long in the faith of that promise, though it was not performed to her till she was ninety years old, when she brought forth Isaac, who became the father of children innumerable, Hebrews 11:11-12.—All these patriarchs died, without receiving the country that was promised to them, yet they died in the faith that they should receive it; and by confessing themselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth, they declared that in the promise they looked for a better country than Canaan, even a heavenly country; consequently, that they expected to be raised from the dead to enjoy that better country.—Moreover, Abraham, when tried by the command to offer up Isaac, the very son for whom he had waited so long, and by whom he was to have the numerous seed, obeyed without hesitation, firmly believing that after his son was burnt to ashes on the altar, God would raise him from the dead, Hebrews 11:17-19.—The same Isaac, and his son Jacob, and his grandson Joseph, when dying, expressed the strongest faith in the promise of God. Particularly Joseph did so. For, before his death, he commanded the Israelites at their departure from Egypt to carry his bones with them into Canaan, Hebrews 11:20-22.
Farther, the apostle describes the faith of the Israelites in Egypt; and especially of Moses, who, although educated in the court of Egypt, when he came of age, through the faith which he had in God's promises to Abraham and his seed, refused to be called any longer the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and thereby at once renounced all the grandeur and pleasures of the court of Egypt, which as the son of Pharaoh's daughter he might have enjoyed; choosing rather to be evil-treated with the people of God, than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin, Hebrews 11:23-26.—By faith, Moses carried the Israelites out of Egypt, not afraid of the wrath of Pharaoh who pursued them with the armies of Egypt, Hebrews 11:27-28.—By the same principle the Israelites were emboldened to pass through the Red Sea, which, the Egyptians essaying to do, were drowned, Hebrews 11:29.—And with respect to the Israelites who entered into Canaan, although their fathers disbelieved and disobeyed God in the wilderness, they went round Jericho sounding their trumpets, in the firm faith that the walls thereof would fall down by miracle, according to God's promise, Hebrews 11:30.—By faith also Rahab received the Israelitish spies in peace, and did not perish with the unbelievers, when Jericho was sacked, Hebrews 11:31.
Many likewise of the Israelitish judges, prophets, and kings, were most remarkable for their faith. But, because to speak of every individual separately would have been tedious, the apostle introduces them in one group; and, in a noble strain of eloquence, celebrates their fortitude, their victories, and their rewards, all obtained under grace, through the influence of their faith, Hebrews 11:32-34.—not forgetting to mention some women whose faith was honoured with particular marks of the divine approbation, Hebrews 11:35.—And having thus praised the ancient worthies for the great actions which they performed through faith in God and in his promises, and for the signal deliverances which they obtained, the apostle speaks with equal rapture of the reproaches, afflictions, persecutions, tortures, and death, which others, in later times, endured for the sake of the true religion; so that they were as illustrious for their passive, as the former were for their active virtues, Hebrews 11:35-38.
And all these ancient saints and servants of God have received an honourable testimony from him in their respective generations, and in the infallible records of the sacred oracles which are handed down to us, relating to the signal obedience, sufferings, and achievements, which they were animated to by means of the steadfastness and lively exercise of their faith: but yet they never received the actual accomplishment of the grand promise, so as to live to see the exhibition of Christ in the flesh, to fulfil the great work of atonement, and introduce all the glories of the gospel-state through the gift and great outpouring of the Spirit of God, Hebrews 11:39.—Now, the reason why God, in his infinite wisdom, did not fulfil the promise of the Messiah and of the Spirit in their days was, because he had a view to us, and has accordingly provided for us, who believe with the heart in Christ as now actually come in the flesh, this better thing, with which they were not favoured in their state of nonage under that preparatory dispensation, Hebrews 11:40.
Thisadmirablediscourse,thoughmoreimmediatelydesignedfortheinstructionand consolation of the Hebrews, is most valuable on account of its use to the church in every age. For, in the first place, by putting us in mind, that Abel was declared a righteous person by God himself, that Enoch pleased God, and that Noah became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, we are taught that the justification of mankind by faith did not begin in Abraham, but was the method appointed for the salvation of sinners, from thebeginning of the world.—Secondly, By shewing that faith has for its object, not the discoveries of revelation alone, but the manifestation also of the will of God by Christ as the light of the world, and by the general operations of the Holy Spirit, the apostle has displayed the catholic nature and influence of faith, and has taught us, that men of all ages and countries, and under all dispensations, may, through divine grace and the infinite merit of Christ, attain such a degree of faith as is pleasing to God. This instruction was very necessary to those of the Hebrews, who were unwilling to allow that the Gentiles might be saved by faith without obedience to the law of Moses.—Thirdly, By celebrating the great actions and sufferings of the ancients the apostle has taught us, that faith is by no means an inoperative speculative belief of the doctrines of true religion, but an active principle, which leads to the greatest fortitude in doing, and patience in suffering every thing which God commands: in which account of faith St. Paul is supported by St. James, who has in so many words taught that faith without works is dead.—Fourthly, By calling faith the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, we are taught that it is faith through grace which gives to the invisible and distant things of the life to come, set forth in the promises of God, the power of operating upon our mind, as if they were actually present to our senses.—Lastly, From the account here given of the faith of Abraham and of his immediate descendants, we learn that these ancient patriarchs knew that the promise of giving to Abraham and to his seed all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, was a promise, not of the earthly country alone, but of a far better country, even a heavenly, of which the earthly country was only a type and pledge; and that as they all died in the firm expectation of inheriting that blessed country, they died in the belief of their resurrection from the dead. Wherefore, the views and expectations of the people of God, evenin the most ancient times, though not so full and clear, were not in substance differentfrom the views and expectations which believers now entertain through the more perfect revelation of the gospel.