“Now faith is the substance of things hopedfor, the evidence of things not seen. ”

ChurchLiving

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This series of lessons has been designed for private study or classroompresentation. The purpose of this foreword is to explain certain conventionsutilized throughout the program. The overall concept is to begin with the basicconcepts necessary for the new convert to understand and progress towardmore complex doctrine. The lessons are numbered in order to maintain theproper sequence of study.

When Scripture references are encountered in the text, various actions arerecommended. When in parenthetical bold (Genesis 1:1) the verse is to belooked up and read right away. Frequently, the next textual statement willcomment on that verse. Reading verse and text in proper order will enhanceone’s understanding of the verse. Direct quotes from Scripture will be “bolditalicized and contained in quotation marks” and, unless otherwise noted,will be from the King James Bible. When the reference is in parentheticalnon-bold (Genesis 1:1) it is to provide the Scriptural basis for the statement ifconfirmation is desired. References in blue Genesis 1:1 will be listed in thelesson section entitled FURTHER STUDY.

FURTHER STUDY is the “homework” section. Its purpose is to encourageBible study at home. The referenced verses have a short summation to assistthe student desiring more knowledge about a subject to find what they arelooking for.

The DISCUSSION QUESTIONS section is primarily for classroom use.Open discussion with the exchange of ideas produces growth for all involved.Most of the time the answer is contained in the referenced Scripture butsometimes the question is offered for open discussion. Even in private Biblestudy, analysis of the question and the search for its answer can be rewarding.

This work is offered to anyone with a desire to better understand God’s Word.It is our hope and prayer that the person studying these lessons will come awaywith a better understanding of God’s will and a closer walk with our Lord,Jesus Christ.

With Loving Concern for all those seeking God’s MessageThe Church of God Rocky Mount

Rocky Mount, Virginia

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, theevidence of things not seen. ”

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When you traveled to churchtoday, did you cross a bridge?As you approached it, did youstop the car, get out and walkdown under the bridge tocheck the understructure tomake sure it was intact? Ofcourse not. You drove right onacross it without any thoughtof any calamity taking place.That is faith. You were so sureof the integrity of that bridge,you never hesitated to cross it.This is the kind of faith ourLord wants us to have con-cerning Him. The faith that letyou cross that bridge withoutseeing the condition of its sup-port beams and pilings was the

“evidence of things not seen.”Belief in the love and power ofJesus without ever seeing Himor hearing His voice is alsothis evidence. His promise ofthe resurrection and eternallife thereafter is the substanceof things hoped for. This thingcalled faith is the most essen-tial attribute we must have toaccept that promise.

We accept the Creationthrough faith. No one alive inthe world today was there towitness it. There are no offi-cial documents with theBuilder’s signature to certifyit. We understand throughfaith the world and everythingin it was made by God, thatthose things which we seewere made by One whom wecannot see (Hebrews 11:3, 6).It is impossible to please God

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Faithwithout faith. By faith we be-lieve that He exists, by faith webelieve that He will keep Hispromises and reward thosewho keep His commandments.

Can you appreciate the degreeof faith inherent in Noah whenhe was told by God to build anark in the middle of nowhere?Here is a man nearly 500 yearsold being told to build a shipthe size of a modern passengerliner with no way to launch itand no body of water nearby tofloat it in. Did Noah shake hishead and walk off muttering tohimself about the total non-sense of such a command?Because of his faith, he didexactly as he was told. Be-cause of his faith, he and hisfamily lived. It was his faiththat made him listen, plan, andobey. God is pleased by obedi-ence and obedience comes byfaith.

Abraham experienced a simi-lar event when he was told toleave the comfort and security

of his familiar surroundingsand go to a strange wildernessand live there as a nomad,moving from place to place asthe grass was depleted by hisherds. He was promised aninheritance of vast land andmany descendents. Abrahamdidn’t know what lay beforehim, but by faith he obeyedand began his sojourn into anunfamiliar land. When hedied, Abraham had not re-ceived the lands or seen hisprogeny but he knew throughfaith that God would keepthese promises and that someday all that He said wouldcome true (Hebrews 11:13).The greatest challenge to a

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Faithman’s faith related in the Biblewas when God told Abrahamto sacrifice his own son. Hav-ing been promised that his de-scendents would be many,Abraham knew that withoutIsaac this was unlikely tohappen. With a mighty faithAbraham obeyed, believingthat God could raise Isaac fromthe dead and keep this promise.Not until the last moment, ashe raised the knife to take thelife of his son, was Abrahamgiven a reprieve from God.This great faith that enabledAbraham to offer up his onlyson placed him in the same roleas God the Father when Heoffered up His only Son to re-deem all mankind from theirsins. This Bible narrative dem-onstrates the power of faith.With enough faith, anyone canperform any deed that God as-signs to them.

The faith of Moses was repeat-edly demonstrated during theExodus and the journey ofIsrael through the wilderness.

It took a strong faith to face upto the mightiest man on Earth,Pharaoh of Egypt, and com-mand him to let Israel go. Ittook faith to announce to himall of the plagues that wouldoccur, not knowing that theywould happen until they actu-ally did. Moses never doubtedGod. He told Pharaoh that theNile would turn to blood withabsolute assurance throughfaith, having no visible evi-dence that it would. The samedegree of faith was exhibitedwith all the other plagues.

Knowing through faith, forthere was no visible means ofdefense available to them,that they would escape theEgyptian army, Moses ledthem to a dead-end at the edgeof the Red Sea. Through faith,he obeyed God and raised hishand over the sea and it parted,opening a path of escape forIsrael. Once across the sea,Moses raised his hand again infaith and the sea closed overthe Egyptians and Israel was

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Faithsafe. For forty years, day byday and miracle by miracle thepeople of Israel were ledthrough the wilderness byMoses and Moses was led byfaith. There is not enoughspace in the confines of thisbook to relate the many exam-ples of faith chronicled in theBible, but each one had onething in common; the one exer-cising the faith and performingGod’s will had an absolutetrust in God’s ability to be ableto do what He said and abso-lute faith in His intent to do it.

Jesus taught that we shouldhave faith in God to providefor life’s needs (not wants).The child of God will not gowithout sufficient food, drinkor raiment to ensure survival(Matthew 6:25-30). Noticethat He indicates the cause ofworry over such matters is alack of faith (verse 30). Davidoffered testimony of the valid-ity of this promise in the 37th

Psalm, verse 25: “I have beenyoung, and now am old; yet

have I not seen the righteousforsaken, nor his seed beggingbread.” The righteous andtheir children, as observed byDavid, did not go hungry.Jesus promised, moreover, thatwe should, through faith, turnthese matters over to God andspend our time in the pursuitof righteousness and theKingdom of God (Matthew6:33).

The only recording of Jesusbeing impressed is the encoun-ter with the Roman centurion.The story is told twice, in Lukechapter 7 and Matthew chapter8. Offering to go to the man’shouse and heal the sick ser-vant, the officer told Jesus thathe believed that all the Masterhad to do was speak and itwould be done (Matthew 8:5-10). Jesus marveled (admired,wondered) at the man’s faith.The trait most often praised byJesus was faith (Matthew15:28) and the most frequentlyrebuked (Matthew 8:26). Nosmall wonder, either. Jesus

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Faithconsidered faith to be one ofthe more important matters,and He included it among jus-tice and mercy (Matthew23:23). Paul tells us inGalatians that we are childrenof God by faith. Children ofGod means heirs to theKingdom, saved, not lost (seeFurther Study). Salvationcoming through faith is plainly

affirmed (2 Timothy 3:15).The redeemed individual is inChrist and Christ is in them.This relationship is accom-plished by faith (Ephesians3:17). The stronger the faiththe closer the relationship.Remember: Faith is like amuscle; the more you use it,the bigger it gets.

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1. A lapse in faith can have serious consequences. How did thefaith of Moses falter and what was the result? Numbers 20:8-12____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How is faith visibly demonstrated? James 2:18____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What are some examples of faith visibly demonstrated today?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. If Moses had lacked faith and the Exodus had never taken place,what would life be like today?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Faith

FURTHER STUDY:

Genesis 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodoccurred

Genesis 12:4 Abram was seventy five years old when he de-parted

Genesis 22:1-18 Take now your son and offer him

Exodus 14:9-30 Israel saved from the Egyptians

Hebrews 11:4 Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice

Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah prepared an ark

Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down

Matthew 9:22 Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.

Matthew 17:20 If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed

John 14:20 ye in me, and I in you.

Galatians 3:26 children of God by faith

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