to the book of Isaiah, chapter 65, for our Old Testament reading. And if you're using your Pew Bibles in the seats beside you, that can be found on page 793. We begin reading in verse 17 through the end of the chapter and then verses 22 and 23 of chapter 66. Here the Lord himself testifies to the creation of a new world. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. The former things shall not be remembered or come into mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy. and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people. No more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days. For the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be. My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity. For they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord and their descendants with them. Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. I shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. 66 verse 22. For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring. your name remain from new moon to new moon from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh will come to worship before me declares the Lord now turning with me to our New Testament reading the Hebrews chapter 11 we finally make it out of Hebrews 10 We'll read all of chapter 11 this morning and the first two verses of chapter 12, and then we'll give our attention to verses 1 and 2 of Hebrews 11 this morning for our sermon. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Provided the people of old receive 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 the things that are visible. 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. He was not found because God had taken him. And before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, 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, Rev. Fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household, and by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going, and by faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob. Heirs with him, the same promise. For he was looking forward to that city, the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive even when she was past the age. And since she considered him faithful, he would promise. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. People who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. And by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And so he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith, Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff. By faith, Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw that the child was beautiful. They were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated by the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ of greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith, he left Egypt not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith, he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. By faith, the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith, Rahab, the prostitute, did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. What more shall I say? For time would fail to tell me of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped at the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release. so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were killed with a sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us. But apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him entered the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Our gracious God and Father, we do thank you for your word. for the testimony that it brings to your faithfulness. So this morning we ask that you would bless your word by your spirit's power that we might hear, understand, and believe. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. Somebody once asked the atheistic philosopher Bertrand Russell what he would do when he stood before the judgment seat of God on the last day. Bertrand Russell gives a very famous response, simply says this, not enough evidence God, not enough evidence. Like if ever there would be a courtroom drama to watch, it would be that scene right there. As a man tries to bring an accusation and a charge against the creator of heaven and earth, Yet at the same time, I think for those of us who struggle with doubts, it does raise a question that I think nags in the back of many's minds. What evidence do we have? Not simply of God, but the promise of the world to come. It's pretty tall order that we confess as believers, everlasting life. Where is the proof of the world to come? What do we say to the charge of those who say your hope in a future heaven and earth is just a man-made drug to get you through the pains and the cares and the sorrows of this life? What I'd like to have us consider this morning is that Hebrews 11 is exhibit A. It's the evidence that Christ has indeed ushered in a new world by his death and resurrection from the dead. And it gives us the confidence to cling to Christ and his promises as we await that final day and reach our heavenly destination. Here the author gives a witness list a mile long. or at least 40 verses long of the men and women who have testified to the unseen realities yet to be revealed. Before we can begin plotting our way through Chapter 11 as a whole, I think we need to give a great amount of time to the first two verses here in chapter 11, as we are given not a definition of faith so much as a description of faith. And here, two particular facets of faith are brought into view. First, we'll consider the substance of faith, as seen in verse 1. And secondly, we'll consider the testimony of faith, as we will see in verse 2. So first, the substance of faith, verse 1, and the testimony of faith in verse 2. There's an old Western that came out about 10 or 15 years ago. It's one of my favorite movies. I'm not going to tell you the name of the movie because I don't want to spoil the fact that I'm going to spoil the ending for you. But here is a military captain, an old war hero. He's bitter, he's cynical, he's angry at God because of the way in which the fallout from the war transpired, the way in which he had lost so many of his friends. Here is a man who does not believe in anything anymore. Throughout the course of the film, he befriends the town preacher. It's rather an unlikely friendship between these two men, the man who doesn't believe in God and the man who does. There's this pivotal moment in the movie where the preacher is gunned down by the bad guys. There's the big plot twist, right? And as the captain is holding his friend dying in his arms, preacher looks up to him and stares his friend in the eyes. and says this. He says, I don't care what you believe. Just believe. It's quite possibly one of the stupidest things I've ever heard in my entire life. Set you up. Told you it was my favorite movie. It is. Still dumb. But I think it perfectly captures our culture's notion of faith, doesn't it? Faith is a feeling. It's a sentiment. It's a matter of confidence or assertion. It doesn't matter if it's true. It's simply a disposition or frame of mind. So long as you're confident about it, that's all that matters. I don't care what you believe, just do it. As if faith does not have an object, it's all about the inner assurance that we have. Well, if that's all that faith is, then perhaps Karl Marx was right. Perhaps faith really is just an opiate given to sedate us, given just to help numb us to the pains of this world around us. And unfortunately, I think when it comes to Hebrews 11, there are a lot of translations that follow down this very same path, where faith is translated and described as something as being purely subjective, a matter of assurance, a matter of mental certainty. Don't worry, I'm about to pick on many translations here. As we have in the SV before, it says faith is assurance, it is a conviction. The NIV, faith is confidence. I'm a new American standard kind of guy and I thought surely the new American standard will get this right. Yet here too, for like the three of you who also still use the new American standard, faith is translated as assurance. Well, let's assume that this translation is correct for a moment and let's think through what the implications would be. What would I have to be preaching? If we said that faith equals assurance, what happens if tragedy strikes? It doesn't even have to be a tragedy. Let's say one night the past memories of old sins come back to haunt you. Now you're plagued with doubt. Now you don't have an assurance that your sins truly are forgiven. You've lost any confidence that you belong to Christ. Well, if we follow these modern translations that faith equals assurance and you don't have assurance, then what does that mean? What's the implication? You don't have any faith. Right? If this is the correct definition or description of faith, then this leaves zero room for doubt and for struggling. It makes it real hard for us to square with Mark chapter 9. What happens in Mark chapter 9? Here you have a father whose boy is dying and he comes to Christ. pleading for his son's life, and what is it that he says? I believe. Help my unbelief. If faith is assurance, then perhaps we need to scrap chapter 18 of our own confession of faith, which says that assurance is not essential to faith. It certainly attends faith. The two are to be distinguished. The assurance of faith, of course, is built on faith. But it is possible to be a believer, as our confession of faith says, and never have any sense of assurance a single day in your life. At the end of the day, if we say that faith is assurance, it sounds like a nice precious moments bumper sticker. But for the man who wrestles with doubt, this is a soul-crushing statement. simply lead you down to the pit of despair. We could put this slightly differently. If Hebrews here is defining faith simply as your frame of mind, then what is Hebrews 11 simply telling us to do? Buck up. Become more self-confident. Be more assured. It's the implication here. So I think we have to ask ourselves if the word assurance is a good translation. And here, I'm going to do the very thing that I swore I would never do. I'm going to quote from a lexicon. Those of you who are familiar with lexicons, the most important one that we use in translating the New Testament, BDAG is what it's called. It's short for things. It's German. You don't have to worry about it. But this is what the lexicon says regarding this word here that we see translated before us as assurance. It says this, it says, the sense of confidence or assurance as seen in Hebrews 11.1 has enjoyed much favor since Luther and Melanchthon, right? This is how Luther translated it. But it must be eliminated because examples of it cannot be found. So here's the most important lexicon saying, no translation should ever translate this as confidence or assurance. Yet, nearly all of our modern translations translate it. following Luther's confidence or assurance. It really makes my job difficult to preach as a preacher. But the long story short here, the word does not mean assurance. You go, okay, well, that's great. What does it mean? And how does this matter? Why the grammar lesson? You're a nerd. What we see is that Hebrews has actually already used this word twice already. You've seen it once in Hebrews 1.3. And then again in Hebrews 3.14, Hebrews 1.3 tells us that Christ himself is the exact imprint of the Father's hypostases. That's the word there. Often translated as reality or nature or substance. And yet in 11.1, it says faith is assurance. It'd be rather odd for us to say that Christ is the exact imprint of the Father's assurance, wouldn't it? No, what this is, this is not a subjective disposition or frame of mind. It is an objective reality. Faith is substantive. So the King James puts it like this, faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's a very different connotation there. It is not simply a disposition or sense of confidence or being self-assured. It is an objective reality. Hebrews 3.14 tells us the same thing, that those who hold fast to the substance, to the reality that Christ has ushered in greater benefits than Moses ever could, to that person, you have indeed become a partaker of Christ. So there's a distinction here that we see in chapter 3 that the author of Hebrews makes between the shadowy realm of the old covenant and the substance to which the old covenant pointed. So faith is not an issue of mental certainty, at least not here. Rather, faith lays hold of the substantial reality that Christ has indeed ushered in a new world. The word itself carries the idea of a title deed. Let's say it's your birthday. You get a birthday card from your folks. You open it and inside the birthday card is the deed to a brand new F-150. Hasn't even rolled out yet. It's actually a 2025 model. Won't come out for a couple years. Do you see the pickup truck? No. But that title deed is the substance that that which is unseen is in fact in your possession. That's faith. Of course, that's the basis for our assurance. That becomes the basis for our confidence. But there's that distinction between the title deed that is substantive and the assurance and confidence that we have on the basis of that title deed. And that is the purpose here of Hebrews 11.1. Hebrews is describing faith along these very lines. I know this is kind of hard to grasp for sure. In the fourth century, one of the most famous preachers in the early church, John Chrysostom, says this. How can we say that faith is a substance? In short, how do you preach this? What does this even mean? Well, fortunately, verse 1 doesn't end with this first phrase. It continues to describe the nature of faith, as faith is described not simply as substance, but also as evidence. Again, it's how the King James translates it. I think the King James gives a much better rendition. Again, nearly every modern translation makes this a subjective thing. ESV, faith is conviction. NIV, faith is now an issue of assurance. Just kind of swap the words as if they're synonymous. The T in NIV, faith is, in the second half of verse 1, being sure. But again, it's not a matter of assurance or self-confidence. The word is used as a matter of evidence. Let's say you're attending a trial. Let's say you're on jury duty. And here you have the lawyer standing before you and go, honor exhibit A. Here's the bloody knife with the murderer's fingerprints on it, and the videotape, and the confession that he did it. That's the evidence. And that's the word here. Faith is the evidence of things not yet seen. Faith is the eyewitness testimony of the age to come. It is Exhibit A. It is substantive like a title deed, and yet it is also evidential. It is like eyewitness testimony. Hebrews 11 is the answer to Bertrand Russell's demands. What evidence do we have that there will be a final judgment? The author of Hebrews points us to chapter 11, and in chapter 11 he points us to the whole of the Old Testament. I want you to remember our particular context. What was it that happened at the end of chapter 10? Here we are told that there are some who have stopped going to church because times are too tough. Persecution has hit. They want to go back to the old covenant system. And what has been the point of Hebrews all along? What has the preacher been asserting over and over and over again? The old covenant is the shadow, and the new covenant is the substance. And so when he says that faith is the substance of unseen things, he means this faith lays hold of the substance and not the shadow. So to repudiate the new covenant and to return to the old is to abandon the substance for fleeting shadows. The author in effect says, you want to go back to the old covenant? Okay, cool, let's go back to the old covenant on its own terms. Let's go back to the very beginning. Let's start at the creation of the world. Let's consider the testimony of the saints of old. What was it that they were bearing witness to? And that's what leads us to the testimony of faith. As we see here in verse 2, for by it, for by faith, the most repeated phrase you'll see in this entire chapter, for by faith the people of old received their commendation. It's a good word to say that they received their commendation, something that was attested to them. And again, just so you know, I think we can maybe refine it a little bit better to bring into focus what's taking place. This is the Greek word that we get the word martyr from or witness. This is a legal setting. By faith, the people of old received their testimony. Might be a better way to understand what is transpiring here. Here's a word that's used eight times in Hebrews. Think of what happens in Hebrews chapter eight. It says, it is testified in scripture. Same word is here, receiving their commendation. It's testified in scripture that Christ lives forever as our great high priest. According to what? Where's the testimony to be found? Psalm 110. Hebrews 5 to 10 is basically a massive exposition of one phrase and one verse. Psalm 110 verse four. That Christ is that there is a high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, one who has come to put the Levites out of business. Something that the old covenant itself anticipated was its own expiration date. It's the testimony of the old Testament itself. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 15, the Holy Spirit testifies to us in the scripture. So now five times in chapter 11, as a lot of translations say, they've received their commendation or there was a commendation that was given. It's the same word for testimony, but what we need to understand it to receive their commendation is fine. But I want you to understand this is not simply a pat on the back. Hey, they received their commendation. Good job, buddy. Employee of the month. It's not what it means. that there is a solemn testimony that is taking place, that there is witnesses, there are witnesses who are attesting to what is transpiring in the world around us in our hope of the world to come. In other words, in every instance in Hebrews, God's solemn testimony to his people is found here. Notice that the men received their testimony. It's not simply that the men testified to God. You see that in verse one, they're giving the evidence of the world to come through their testimony that they give. But here in verse two, there is, as it were, a double witness. Not just the men and the women of old, the old covenant saints testifying to God's faithfulness, but in verse two, they are testified about. Who is it that is testifying to the truthfulness of what they say? It's God. God placing his seal of approval on the testimony that they give concerning his own faithfulness. So that Abel in his own death is itself a testimony to the death of Christ. That's verse four. Enoch in his ascension testifies to the ascension of Christ, verse 5. Noah in building the ark testifies of a greater judgment to come, of a judgment that will take place and cover the whole world not by water but by fire, as Peter tells us when Christ returns, verse 7. Abraham in setting out for Canaan testifies to the heavenly city that awaits. Isaac in his own sacrificial death or near death testifies to the great truth and reality of the resurrection of the dead. And that the exodus of the people of God under Moses testifies of a greater exodus to come by one greater than Moses, verse 22. Of an exodus that is secured by a blood more precious than the Passover lamb of old, the precious blood of Christ, verse 28. You see, one of the things that Hebrews has been concerned with this entire book has been explaining to us that Christ is better. And the bulk of this letter has been focusing on how Christ is better than the high priests of old according to Psalm 110. But what he is now bringing into view is that this is not simply an isolated feature where the Old Testament just happens to give, you know, get prophecy right, you know, once. Here's one verse. that we can apply to Christ. Rather, what we see in the testimony of the saints of old from the creation of the world to Christ's own day in Hebrews 11 shows us this, that the whole of the Old Testament is a giant witness to the person and work of Christ and the new world that he brings and has ushered in by his death and resurrection from the dead. Jesus himself says this to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and these are they which testify concerning me. It's that legal language again of testimony. Jesus tells the Pharisees again, Abraham saw my day. Abraham saw it though from afar and he was glad. Again, this is our Lord himself saying this. If you believed Moses, you would believe me. Why? Because Moses wrote of me. Luke 16, Jesus even goes so far as to say, if you do not hear or believe Moses and the prophets, you won't even be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead. So strong is the divine witness of the Old Testament. Jesus' resurrection prior to his ascension, he again repeats this same thing that the law, the prophets, the Psalms. In other words, the whole of the Old Testament bear witness to this very fact that Christ, again, has ushered in a new world by his death and resurrection from the dead. That's why we had Isaiah chapter 65 read. The Lord himself says, I create a new heavens and a new earth. Second Corinthians chapter 5, all who trust in Christ, he is now what? creation. He has entered into the new creation by faith. So what we see in these first two verses of Hebrews 11 then is a double witness where the focus is not on the certainty or sense of assurance where you walk away going, well, I just need to feel more confident in order to have more faith. No, faith is what we see in pointing back to the Old Testament is the legal witness and testimony and evidence and all that you need to know so that you might have certainty that there is a world to come. a world where righteousness shall dwell forever, a world where the Lord will wipe away the tear from every eye, where everything sad come untrue. Here we have the testimony of the saints whose faith is the legal evidence of the world to come. Verse one and a verse to the witness of God himself who testifies to the credibility of the faith of the saints. In other words, verse one, Faith testifies. In verse 2, their faith is testified and attested by God himself. Just as the faith of the Old Testaments pointed forward, it pointed beyond the shadows to the substance. It pointed forwards to that substance, that objective reality of the heavenly realities secured by Christ. It is also said that God testifies to their faith for our benefit. so that we would continue to run with endurance? Do you struggle with doubt? Do you feel like you're beset with fears that perhaps I have bet on the wrong horse, so to speak? What if Christianity isn't true? What if God won't pardon my sins? The exhortation here is to look to the testimony of the saints of old where both their works and their words point to the coming of the Messiah, of the one who is fully satisfied for all of our sins as we confess what the scripture teaches. The Heidelberg Catechism question and answer one. The Lord testifies to the faith of these Old Testament states for our benefit so that we would lay hold of these very same promises, that we would cling to those unseen realities, that though we do not yet see the heavenly city, we know that it is there. Remember Pilgrim's Progress. As Pilgrim keeps making his way to the heavenly city, though he has not even seen it, he knows it is there because scripture has testified. And we're called, jumping ahead, chapter 12, going to ruin the ending for you, as we are called to join not the cloud of spectators in an arena, but we are called to join in a cloud of witnesses who bear testimony to the unseen realities of the world to come. who attest to the great truth, the truth that is the substance of this entire letter, that Christ reigns at the right hand of the Father, both in this age and in the age to come. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for the testimony of your word found in the lives of the saints of old. We ask that the faith of the Old Testament saints, as they clung to the promises of Christ and laid hold of those objective realities, would give us the confidence we need to run the race with endurance that we too would join them as we bear witness to those things that we have not yet seen. As we await that day when our faith will be made sight. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.