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Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16
Sunday Between August 7 and 13 (Proper 13) C (Second Reading) August 9, 1998
Hebrews 11:1-3
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. [2] This is
what the ancients were commended for.
[3] By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is
seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:8-16
By faith Abraham, when 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. [9] By faith he made his
home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did
Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. [10] For he was looking
forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
[11] By faith Abraham, even though he was past age--and Sarah herself was barren--was
enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
[12] And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the
stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
[13] All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the
things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted
that they were aliens and strangers on earth. [14] People who say such things show that
they are looking for a country of their own. [15] If they had been thinking of the country
they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. [16] Instead, they were longing
for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared a city for them.
(NIV)
Hebrews 11:1-3 (The nature and power of faith described)
Faith always has been the mark of God’s servants, from the beginning of the world. Where the principle is planted by the regenerating Spirit of God, it will cause the truth to be received, concerning justification by the sufferings and merits of Christ. And the same things that are the object of our hope, are the object of our faith. It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those things now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a full approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good. This view of faith is explained by many examples of persons in former times, who obtained a good report, or an honourable character in the word of God. Faith was the principle of their holy obedience, remarkable services, and patient sufferings. The Bible gives the most true and exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wrest the Scripture account of the creation, because it does not suit with the differing fancies of men. All that we see of the works of creation, were brought into being by the command of God.
Hebrews 11:8-19 (By Abraham and his descendants)
We are often called to leave worldly connexions, interests, and comforts. If heirs of Abraham’s faith, we shall obey and go forth, though not knowing what may befall us; and we shall be found in the way of duty, looking for the performance of God’s promises. The trial of Abraham’s faith was, that he simply and fully obeyed the call of God. Sarah received the promise as the promise of God; being convinced of that, she truly judged that he both could and would perform it. Many, who have a part in the promises, do not soon receive the things promised. Faith can lay hold of blessings at a great distance; can make them present; can love them and rejoice in them, though strangers; as saints, whose home is heaven; as pilgrims, travelling toward their home. By faith, they overcome the terrors of death, and bid a cheerful farewell to this world, and to all the comforts and crosses of it. And those once truly and savingly called out of a sinful state, have no mind to return into it. All true believers desire the heavenly inheritance; and the stronger faith is, the more fervent those desires will be. Notwithstanding their meanness by nature, their vileness by sin, and the poverty of their outward condition, God is not ashamed to be called the God of all true believers; such is his mercy, such is his love to them. Let them never be ashamed of being called his people, nor of any of those who are truly so, how much soever despised in the world. Above all, let them take care that they are not a shame and reproach to their God. The greatest trial and act of faith upon record is, Abraham’s offering up Isaac, Genesis 22:2. There, every word shows a trial. It is our duty to reason down our doubts and fears, by looking, as Abraham did, to the Almighty power of God. The best way to enjoy our comforts is, to give them up to God; he will then again give them as shall be the best for us. Let us look how far our faith has caused the like obedience, when we have been called to lesser acts of self-denial, or to make smaller sacrifices to our duty. Have we given up what was called for, fully believing that the Lord would make up all our losses, and even bless us by the most afflicting dispensations?
(Matthew Henry Concise Commentary)