Hebrews 12:1-2

Heb 12:1-2 (NLT) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.”

Heb. 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please God.” So it is important for us to know what faith is and how to apply it. I believe faith has three essential elements, in the same way that fire must have three specific ingredients to burn: oxygen + combustible material +heat, without any one of these ingredients fire cannot burn. Likewise faith must have these three ingredients to activate it: hope + plausibility + questioning, without any one of these ingredients faith cannot work.

1st - Hope: Hope is the active ingredient of faith, as heat is the active ingredient of fire. There must be something you are hoping for; otherwise having faith in it would be irrelevant. We ultimately have hope in the promises of God. Therefore, God’s promises acts as the catalyst that motivates our faith (a catalyst causes a reaction.) “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Rom. 10:17.

2nd - Plausibility: The thing that you are hoping for must have at least the smallest degree of possibility. Something that is absolutely impossible or totally untrue is unworthy of faith. For example, one should not put any faith in the ability to become invisible or to jump off a building and fly. Plausibility is the fuel for our faith, the combustible material. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” (Heb. 11:1.) Substance means material. If it is plausible then it is the real or essential part of the element of that thing. A substance is the physical matter of which a thing consists. It is the REAL part of our lives. In the end, there must be substance in what we have faith in otherwise our faith in it will be impossible to maintain over a long period of time.

3rd - Questioning: A small degree of doubt must exist otherwise faith becomes a fact. “and (faith) is the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1.) However, there must be a balance because God never asks us to believe without giving sufficient evidence upon which to base our faith. But at the same time if something is a proven fact, faith in it becomes obsolete, for example, the fact that “the earth is round.” This fact needs no faith to accept it as truth because we already know it is 100% true. A hint of question will always exist in everything because God never removes the possibility of doubt. This is why our faith must rest upon evidence of things unseen, not things proven. Here is the dichotomy, on one hand; you can snuff out a fire by removing its source of oxygen, like you can snuff out faith by turning it into a fact. Likewise, on the other hand; if you have too much doubt, it will blow out the faith in the same way the wind blows out a match.

Hebrews Ch. 11 traced the history of some of the great men and women of the Bible leading up to Hebrews Ch. 12 (the huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith spoken about.) Let’s look at a few of them and see how their faith consisted of hope + plausibility + questioning.

We are told in Heb 11:7 that Noah was “warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” Noah had hope because God promised to save him from the flood, it was plausible because God said it would happen, and was there room for doubt? Sure there was, the whole earth covered in water, that was an enormous question! Abraham in Heb 11:8 was “called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” There was hope, God promised him the inheritance of a “city whose architect and builder is God.” Was this plausible, yes, the New Jerusalem, in Heaven is the city he looked for. Was there the possibility of doubt? Yes, there was. He searched for that city, but never found it, but still claimed it as the inheritance of his children. Abraham and Sarah were promised descendants as “numerous as the stars in the sky,” they had hope. But they were past the age of having children and had none up to that point, they had doubt, nearly too much doubt. This is what made Abraham’s faith so great, to anyone else the promise was implausible, but to Abraham, because God said it He believed it even though Sara laughed at the idea. Moses and the children of Israel “crossed the Red Sea on dry land.” They had hope; God promised them that he would deliver them from out of Egypt. The Egyptian army was swarming down upon them to kill them and take revenge on them for the plagues. They were trapped between the mountains on two sides, the Egyptians behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. To Moses the escape was plausible, so he struck the Red Sea with his rod, and the sea divided. Was there the possibility of doubt that God could rescue them? You better believe it.

The Christian life involves hoping in circumstances where the plausibility seems to be an enormous question. Do we have faith to overcome the doubt or not? To be able to trust God without questioning Him requires that we are spiritually strong. To become strong we need to give up those things that weaken our relationship with God. Our faith needs to be able to run life's race with endurance. The scripture suggest that we cast off any sins because they slow down or faith. Surrender your load of sins at the foot of the cross and by the power of the Holy Spirit start running by faith. To not just walk by faith, but in order to run by faith effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. If we keep our eyes on Him we will not stumble. Looking away from Him in order to to look at ourselves or at the circumstances surrounding us makes the doubts grow so large that they can snuff out our faith. Finally, we need to be running this race for Christ, not for ourselves, because when we win the race and people see our great acts of faith we will glory God, who is the author and finisher of our faith.

God's promise to us is that if we are faithful, and continue follow him, we will stand before His throne and sing for joy a new song about how he redeemed us. (Rev 14:3)

Have you ever had faith that God could really do something outrageously big, almost implausible? What was it? Describe any hint of doubt you had that He would actually do it?

II Chronicles 14:11

2 Chron 14:11 (NIV) Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, "Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O Lord, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you."

When Asa became King of Judah he “did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” He brought about a revival in Judah by removing idols from the land, and removed people and places that were associated with idol worship. King Asa also deposed his grandmother (the queen mother) because she had made an idol of Asherah. He did what he could to follow God. After reigning 10 years in peace and safety, the King of Ethiopia or Egypt, King Zerah, came to invade Judah. Zerah had an army of a million men and 300 chariots (A host of a thousand thousand, vs 9.) This is the largest assembled army recorded in scripture to come against God’s people. On the other hand Asa had a small army of men that “bare large shields and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand.” (2 Chronicles 14:8). Only a fool would face an army so outnumbered and so better equipped. But Asa had been faithful to God, and trusted God, and claimed God’s promises, and went to battle, powerless, but claiming victory in the name of the Lord. Asa's prayer in vs. 11, in KJV reads, [It is nothing with thee to help] in other words, God can as easily help the weak as the strong. So what does our being hopelessly outnumbered have to do with God’s ability? In the same way it is nothing for God to answer your prayers, whether really small or great big prayer request, both are just as easy for Him to answer.

The defeat of Zerah is one of the most remarkable events in the history of the Jews. Not only did they defeat them but all the food and supplies that Zerah’s army brought with them in order to sustain such a large army was captured as bounty.

God promises if we are faithful to Him, He will defeat the devourer. One way we show our trust in God, as well as our faithfulness to God is to return back to God one tenth of what He has given us. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Mal 3:10 (NIV). Like Asa our faithfulness will be rewarded from the storehouses of heavens riches and power. When we are faithful to God then God says He will be faithful to us, “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal 3:11-12 (KJV)

When you are facing battles you feel you cannot possibly win, don't give up. In the face of a vast horde of enemy soldiers, Asa prayed for God's help, recognizing his powerlessness against such a mighty army. The secret of victory is first, like Jacob, to make a covenant with God, Jacob said, "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." Gen 28:20-22(NIV). Jacob made this vow, repeating what God had already promised him. Jacob claimed the promise and surrendered dependence on God's faithfulness, as a conditional agreement, not a bargain. Then the second secret to victory is to admit the futility of unaided human effort and then to trust God to overthrow our obstacles. His power works best through those who recognize their limitations, “Gods power is made perfect in our weakness” (2 Cor 12:9). It is those who think they can do it all on their own who are in the greatest danger.

Describe a time that you cried out to God for Help? What kind of covenant have you ever made with God? Explain how you believe God answered your prayer?