This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Victorious Jesus series with a message on biblical faith. Faith isn’t proven in moments of strength, but in times of weakness, when all we can do is trust in the unseen hand of God. Hebrews reminds us that endurance and faith are necessary to receive what God has promised, even when fear or failure tempts us to give up. True biblical faith is not passive—it moves forward, obeys God, and clings to His promises, even when the outcome is uncertain.
Hebrews 10:36 (ESV)
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Hebrews 10:38 (ESV)
38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
Faith is…
- Trusting God completely, believing His promises, relying on His character, and obeying His Word even when we cannot see the outcome yet.
1. Biblical Faith is Supernatural Faith
Hebrews 11:29 (ESV)
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30
Exodus 14:11 (ESV)
11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
Exodus 14:21 (ESV)
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
Exodus 14:13–14 (ESV)
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Hebrews 11:30 (ESV)
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
Joshua 6:1–5 (ESV)
1 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
Hebrews 11:31 (ESV)
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
Matthew 1:5 (ESV)
5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
Joshua 2:9–11 (ESV)
9 and (Rahab) said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
Luke 7:37–39 (ESV)
37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”
Matthew 21:31–32 (ESV)
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
2. Biblical Faith is Overcoming Faith
Hebrews 11:32 (ESV)
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets
All of the men listed in this verse…
- Held a position of power or authority.
- Had their imperfections.
- Were not praised for his personal status or abilities.
- They were recognized for what each one had accomplished by faith in God.
Hebrews 11:32–34 (ESV)
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
3. Biblical Faith is Enduring Faith
Hebrews 11:35–37 (ESV)
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
More Christians have died for their faith in the last 100 years than in all the other centuries combined.
Hebrews 11:39–40 (ESV)
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Faith is not the absence of weakness, but the courage to trust in God even in the midst of it.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think God often asks us to move in faith before showing us the outcome?
- Read Hebrews 11:32–34. What do these verses teach us about the relationship between weakness and God’s strength?
- Read Hebrews 11:35–38. Why do you think enduring suffering is connected to faith?
- According to 2 Corinthians 12:9, God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. How can this truth change the way you view your own limitations?
Application Questions:
- What weakness in your life could God use as a testimony of His strength?
- In what ways can you strengthen your endurance in faith today?