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Following The Footsteps of Faith

By Pastor J.D. Link

Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX

The Word of God tells us in 1Cor 10:11 that the stories in the Old Testament were written for our admonition (to build us up and also warn us); and the things that happened to them were to be examples to us. With this in mind, let’s go to Hebrews chapter 11, also known as “The Faith Hall of Fame”. Here we have an in depth look at the people of faith in the O.T., and are encouraged to follow in their footsteps. While many O.T. characters were not perfect by far, and even set some bad examples; Hebrews 11 shows us that these people had something that is sadly lacking in Christianity today, which is faith in The Word of God.

What is faith? The Bible defines it in Heb 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The word substance means foundation or reality. Faith is the foundation of things hoped for. You see, hope is in the future; but faith is in the present. Because hope is always future, it is worthless without faith. Let me explain: If someone says “I hope some day I get to heaven”, they won’t. Why? Because their hope is not based on anything; they are just simply wishing. They have no basis or foundation to hope on. On the other hand, when you put faith in The Word of God, you have a foundation for the future hope that will be fulfilled. Your hope of going to heaven should not be some abstract wish, but it should be a blessed assurance because of your faith in God’s Word (Jn 3:16, 14:1-3, 1Cor 15:35-58, Phi 1:23, 1Thes 4:15-18, Rev 21-22). Let’s look at another example.

In Romans 4:18, it says that Abraham against hope, believed in hope….according to that which was spoken (God’s Word). What does this Scripture mean? It means that because Abraham had faith in God’s Word concerning he and Sarah having a child; that although in the natural it looked like there was no hope of this happening (he was 100, and Sarah was 90!), yet he still hoped because he had a basis for that hope: a promise from God. His faith in God’s Word was his foundation for his hope. Natural hope only wishes; Biblical hope knows (read verses 19-25). By the way, 25 years passed between the promise and the fulfillment. Don’t give up on the promises of God! You may be looking at your watch; but God may be looking at some calendars!

Noah had a hope of salvation, because he put faith in God’s Word concerning building an ark because a flood was coming. How do you know you really believe? Corresponding action. James 2:20 says faith without works (corresponding action) is dead. You really don’t believe if you do not act. Noah really believed, and he was saved. Scholars disagree on exactly how long it took Noah to build the ark (120 yrs., 100 yrs., 56 yrs., etc.); but needless to say it took a long time to build a boat almost the size of Texas Stadium without any power tools or a Home Depot nearby. Also, He didn’t have much help, because the people were ignoring him, going about their business as usual, the whole time he was building it (Mt 24:37-39). Noah just kept preaching The Truth (2Pt 2:5) and following God’s instruction (Gen 6:22). Any born-again, Bible believing preacher can relate to this story!