Ordinary Men With Unusual Faith

Wednesday night is our corporate night of study, we don't offer a traditional sunday school we have "The Full Gospel Bible Institute. Since the begining of the year we have been on a journey through the book of Hebrews. last week we finally made it out of the woods on doctrine and the preeiminent person of Christ into the field of the practical life of faith. Tonight we covered Hebrews 11:1-7.

A Christian who lives by faith is something of an enigma.

In his book The Root of the Righteous, A. W. Tozer makes eloquent note of this fact.

A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to get up, is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest, and happiest when he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge.

Those who stepped out in Hebrews'11 weren't fully grown and mature in faith. They were uncoordinated toddlers, with tenuous legs and mincing steps. They were weak, sinful, subject to depression and fear. They were, in a word, human-just like us.

One was a shepherd, one a preacher, and one a builder.

Abel, Enoch, and Noah. All ordinary men, but each with an unusual faith.
By faith, Abel came God's way.By faith, Enoch proclaimed God's word. By faith, Noah fulfilled God's will.
But for the time being, let's leave their lives to historians and archeologists. How about your life? If faith were the topic of conversation in your neighborhood, on your job, at your local assembly, would your name come up? If Hebrews 11 were to be updated in heaven, would your name be on the list?

Wow I Can't wait until next week to talk more about ordinary people with unusual faith!