By Faith Abraham obeyed God. By Faith Sarah conceived. By Faith Moses led a people across the Red Sea. “By Faith,” – these two words are profound and interwoven throughout the pages of the book of Hebrews and various other places in the Bible. But have you ever wondered how you can personally live and lead by faith? What does the life of a faithful follower of Christ look like today?

Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.

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the hallmark of a hero bravery integrity

selflessness they saved the day ask for

no reward and ride off into the sunset

the Bible also tells the stories of

heroes but they are always brave good or

selfless in many ways they’re people

just like you and me missing the mark or

dropping the ball what is it that in

Abraham or Sarah or Moses have in common

that we should be telling their stories

even today what makes them heroes

abraham believed God and became the

father of many nations

Sarah believed God and became a mother

in her old age Moses believed God and

became the delivery of the people in

bondage they’re all connected by virtue

of their great faith the harbor

[Music]

there are many people today who are

living with the sense of hopelessness a

sense that it’s not working it’s not

worth it it’s not fair I quit I give in

I throw in the towel I can’t take it

anymore

a sense of profound despair that was

true of the folks that the author of

Hebrews was writing they were on the

verge of quitting quitting the faith

going back to the world they didn’t

think this Christian thing was worth it

just wasn’t working out for what leads

him to discuss this concept is

summarized in chapter 10 beginning with

verse 35 in chapter 10 of Hebrews verse

35 he says therefore do not throw away

your confidence which has a great reward

for you have need for endurance so that

when you have done the will of God you

may receive what is promised for yet in

a little while he who is coming will

come and will not delay but my righteous

one shall live by faith and if he

shrinks back my soul has no pleasure in

him but we are not of those who shrink

back to destruction but of those who

have faith to the preserving of the soul

he says I am writing you so that you

don’t throw in the towel for endurance

and then he throws the zinger for the

righteous shall live my faith okay watch

this whatever faith is we’re gonna talk

about at the moment

it’s supposed to be a lifestyle not a TV

the righteous shall live by faith

in other words whatever faith is is how

you should roll it should be how you

flow it should be your normal modus

operandi of life faith is not a concept

you visit it’s a lifestyle you possess

because the righteous shall live by

faith so if you’re not living by faith

it’s because you’re not yet righteous

cuz that’s how the righteous live and

the righteous who learn to live by

whatever faith is get to experience God

in action that’s what he says

you get to experience God fulfilling his

word so you’ve got to ask the question

am i living by faith because if I’m not

rolling by faith then I’m not

experiencing God in my circumstances cuz

that’s how the righteous roll they live

by faith but that raises a question what

is faith

and how does it work verse one now faith

is the assurance of things hoped for the

conviction of things not seen they then

must have substance it must have some

stuff that you can rely on now what this

means is faith is only as meaningful as

the substance to which it is attached if

you’ve got faith in bad substance then

your faith will be insufficient no

matter how much of it you possess cuz

the substance you’re placing it in it

much

oh maybe not real at all faith has to do

with an expectation in a hope that must

involve a substance so the amount of

your faith is not tied to how much faith

you have is tied to how much substance

you possess a little faith insignificant

substance produces great results a lot

of faith in insufficient substance will

produce no results because what makes

faith faith is the substance to which it

is attached so to understand faith you

have to look at the substance of things

hoped for that is what the object is and

the evidence of things not seen

so this let me clarify something then

about what faith is not faith is not how

you feel faith is not let me put in a

word necessarily how you feel you can

feel faith less but be full of faith you

can feel full of faith and have no faith

because faith is not first and foremost

and emotion emotions do not have

intellect emotions don’t think that’s

what emotions are it’s how you feel and

feelings shift based on the information

received faith is tied to substance that

is not yet seen or experienced with the

five senses but that you are convinced

is real based on the integrity of the

subject who is calling for the faith who

is the sub

calling for the faith it’s God he says

after you’ve done the will of God now

let me tell you why this sermon and this

series for many may be the most

important one you’ve ever heard because

Hebrews 11 verse 6 says without faith it

is impossible to please God don’t miss

this one

faith is not one of the things you need

it is the key thing you need if you want

to experience God because without it it

says you are displeasing to God because

when you don’t exercise faith you are

challenging God’s integrity let me put

it in everyday language to not live by

faith is to call God a liar so let me

give you or remind you again of the

formal definition of faith balling it

all down

faith is simply acting like God is

telling the truth faith is acting like

God it’s not feeling that God is telling

the truth it’s not saying that God is

telling the truth faith is acting like

God is telling the truth that’s why the

Bible calls it walking by faith and not

talking by faith or feeling by faith or

even thinking by faith unless it is hit

your feet it’s not faith its

intellectual except to a concept that

hasn’t gotten mixed with action

therefore nothing concrete has showed up

in the life if you want a concrete

manifestation of God then what you

believe about God must be married to

what you do in light of that belief now

you’re exercising faith so that God can

now become concrete in your life and not

a theory in your hand God is real

God has power God makes promises but you

won’t see it until he sees motion if

there is no motion it lies dormant

although it’s really their faith is

acting like it is so even when it’s not

so in order that it might be so simply

because God said so acting like it is so

even when it’s not so in order that it

might be so merely because God said so

verse 2 for by it by faith the men of

old gained approval for by it by this

definition of faith the men of old

gained approval he says I’m going to

take you on a tour of the men of old men

and if you’ll have that means men and

women because he has men and women in

chapter 11 of old meaning in the Old

Testament he makes the statement in

verse 1 about what faith is and then he

asks are there any witnesses he reaches

back into the Old Testament and he pulls

out witnesses from the Old Testament for

us New Testament Christians to know that

what worked for them is what you need to

work for you he got some witnesses so

when we go through this hall of faith we

go we go look at some witnesses because

Sarah is gonna come forth and a

girlfriend has something she wants to

share with you

Damon’s gonna give a testimony Joseph’s

gonna give a testimony the patriarchs

ago give a testimony that’s gonna be

testifying to let you know that verse 1

is the truth the whole truth and nothing

but the truth so help you God

when you understand faith he says I got

some testifying to do

he said by it the Saints of old were

approved that means validated and

vindicated hmm there’s nothing like when

God validates you the end of chapter 10

say and he will come he’s going to

validate you that’s why the end of

chapter 10 says and when you have

completed the will of God

sheekha some of us are in college for 20

years because we’ve not completed the

course we’ve been called on so we’ve not

received the approval of graduation the

validation and vindication of a life of

faith we pick and choose when we want to

believe God we believe God all the

things we like we disregard him all the

things we don’t like and so we’re not

living by faith we are cherry picking by

faith he says the righteous this is how

they wrote in other words non faith is

the exception faith is the rule in spite

of how they feel it’s like the three

Hebrew boys that said we believe God can

deliver us but even if we don’t we’re

not going to bow because we trust God

it’s like Rebekah says and Rebekah

chapter three in the last few verses

though there’s no figure on the tree

though there is no cattle in the stall

though I can’t see anything God is doing

I’m go still rejoice because I still

know God even though I can’t see a

change in my situation because God has

integrity in spite of my circumstances

there’s some strange people in this list

in Hebrews 11 there’s some folk in this

list that if we were making the list

wouldn’t have made the list you got a

prostitute in this list you got a liar

in this list you got some messed up

people

who made the mess

Oh that’ll be some good news of somebody

even though you walk through this door

toe up from the flow up even though you

walk through this door a spiritual

failure if you right now we’ll begin to

live by faith God still will let you

make a list some folks shouldn’t

shouldn’t long it means there’s hope

there’s hope if you and I begin to live

by faith and stop faking it to make it

play in church playing religion playing

Christianity and not taking God

seriously and stopping our challenge of

his integrity because why would you

answer the prayer of somebody who calls

you a liar every day uline God but bless

me you a liar God but give me a better

job you liar God but give me a me you

liar God but change my circumstance

you’re a liar God but hear me when God’s

integrity is challenged his promises lie

dormant and unfulfilled he comes to his

final point it’s a zinger to verse 3 by

faith we understand that the worlds were

prepared by the Word of God so that what

is seen was made out of things which are

visible I need to read that again

because this is a singer by faith we

understand that the worlds were prepared

by the Word of God so that what is seen

what is visible was not made out of

things which are visible he said to make

my point about faith let me take you all

the way back to the beginning he says we

understands that the worlds that we do

see

was created by someone using something

we don’t see Genesis 1:1 says in the

beginning Elohim created the heaven than

the earth that’s the Hebrew name for the

Creator God found in Genesis chapter 1

verse 1

stay with me here it says the world and

notice the word worlds in verse 3 is

plural

that means the whole universe not just

the earth so the whole universe all the

galaxies that exist what’s created by

someone you can’t see using stuff UKC to

create a universe you can see that we’re

still trying to look at through

telescopes but they’re too many galaxies

that even our strongest telescopes can’t

even locate them what is faith faith is

the substance of things hoped for the

evidence of things not seen

so God has operated this way from the

beginning of bringing stuff you can see

out of stuff you can’t see and he

created a whole universe with this

strategy now what did you tell me your

problem was God used this strategy to

create the universe and how did he do it

verse 3 says by a Rhema word the word

word there’s Rhema a Rhema word means a

divine utterance a spoken word he’s he

spoken you remember Genesis 1 at the

beginning God said let there be light

and there was light

God said let the water be separated from

the land and it was so God said he

wouldn’t he he uttered a word and what

wasn’t became because of what was

uttered somebody who you don’t see said

something and the somebody you can’t see

cuz we can’t see God who said something

something you can see

that’s why the Centurion told Jesus all

you got to do is speak the word you got

out of the word and this thing I’m

dealing with will change stay tuned in

we live in a world where we’ve been

duped did you know you have to to

believe in evolution you got to go to

college first to believe that the world

was came from this primeval slime that

grew into an amoeba that grew into a

monkey to develop self consciousness and

became a man you got to go to college

for that as well you got to go faith

people understand that God spoke the

divine Fiat the divine utterance and

these things came into the Justice but

modern man has duped a whole generation

and so we have a generation that does

not see God move because we’ve been

doing we’ve been duped by education

we’ve educated ourselves into becoming

fools we’ve been duped by philosophy all

philosophy is are men doodling with

ideas since God is the same yesterday

today and forever

he still operates on the faith principle

that what you see comes from what you

don’t see so if you don’t start with

what you don’t see faith in what God

says you can see things you won’t see

you’ll just discuss it in science class

some people read the Bible said I don’t

understand it questions do you trust the

author even though I don’t understand it

and even if I can read it I don’t know

what it means some people read the Bible

I don’t understand it I don’t know what

it means but I know who wrote it

and because I believe the one who wrote

it has integrity I’m going to take it to

the pharmacy I’m going to get it

fulfilled but faith has not occurred

simply by picking up what was written

from a person of integrity getting what

he provides faith has not been exercised

until you take the medicine until you

act on the prescription all of this is

writing on a piece of paper by a person

who has integrity that is of absolutely

no benefit to you the question you have

to ask with faith is does God have

integrity and if he does well I align

what he tells me to do in every area of

life not just in church life not just in

quote/unquote the religious life but

every aspect of life my career my money

my my relationships my single hood my

this matter my and does God have

integrity on every subject you say but I

don’t see it and you won’t until he sees

you moving in faith normally sitting

right there is my grandson the littlest

grandson J to become j-tube Jonathan’s

second after the second service on most

Sundays Jonathan the second runs out at

the end of the service runs up the step

comes over to the edge and says poppy

which is what he calls me

catch me

he stands up here and I hold my hands

out and he jumps I did this with the

other grandkids too whenever that’s

small they come up here and jump so he

comes to me almost every Sunday he runs

up here

he says puppy catch me so I’ll hold up

my hands and he jumps but it always what

like that let me rewind initially I

picked him up and put him up here and I

stood down there and I said Jay – no no

I’m scared

I said Jay – I got you he said no no no

no I said Jay – but I’m right here I got

you he couldn’t say it like that but his

baby sounds bird but I kept uttering the

word uttering the word uttering the word

the problem is he wasn’t believed in the

word because he was not confident in my

integrity he was not convinced I either

had the will or the ability to catch you

and that I would let him fall but after

pounding him with the word over and over

Jay to jump takes you jumps Jake you

jump did you jump Jay to jump pounding

him with the word he came over to the

edge I said jump Jay – he said come

closer

it too far it too far but when he asked

me to draw near with winning when he

called on me to draw on me huh I came a

little bit closer and I drew a little

bit nearer because I knew the closer I

got the more confident he would have and

so I got I said J to jump he lifted up

one leg but kept the other leg down he

wasn’t he wasn’t fully comfortable he

was and so he didn’t jump he just kind

of typically typically lean forward so

that I could grab I put it back up there

I said you jump it’s time he he

what a blow hiya Jake jump

you wouldn’t even hire nice into the

church he wants out is they catch me

sometime he jumps because he’s lying to

bleed in my integrity he please that

puppy is Michael Joplin is not gonna let

him down is not gonna fall on his face

and once he becomes convinced that he

can trust me

he now invites the opportunity to have

say God wants you to trust his integrity

so you can say to him catch me in this

situation catch me in this circumstance

cuz I have learned to trust you I have

known that my god has integrity praise

God that we possess a God who possesses

integrity when we act on the unseen

[Music]

well faith is measured by your feet not

by your feelings feelings change based

on circumstances based on how you how

things are going on around you people in

your life if times are up you’re gonna

be up times and down you’re gonna be

down you can’t base your faith on your

feelings you base it on your feet

that means faith is measurable it’s not

this amorphous concept where you’re not

sure you have it or don’t because you

can always know which way your feet are

moving which way your decisions are

taking you when you define faith by the

movement of your feet then faith becomes

very real in your life in fact you can

be operating by faith even when the

feelings are in the opposite direction

you can feel very full of faith when you

actually faith less because your feet

are not moving at all so become a person

of great faith because your person of

great movement and the bigger you make

God in your life and your movement

consistent with the scope of his size

the greater your faith will be when you

move and concert with a big God you

really are exercising big faith if you

keep God small then you’re gonna have

many steps you will be exercising much

thing so keep moving with your feet in

spite of how you feel and the greater

the movement the greater the faith

the Bible tells stories of people that

today we call heroes they sought to

inspire humanity for over 3,000 years

we also have a story and has connected

to these heroes by virtue of our faith

[Music]

my CD series heroes of the faith until

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