Life Walk Lesson 43 — The Triumphs of Faith
1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about 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.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 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 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she 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, admitting that they were foreigners 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.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,
18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.
36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—
38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
1Clement 9 (The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, J.B. Lightfoot Translation)
1 Wherefore let us be obedient unto His excellent and glorious will;
and presenting ourselves as suppliants of His mercy and goodness, let
us fall down before Him and betake ourselves unto His compassions,
forsaking the vain toil and the strife and the jealousy which leadeth
unto death.
2 Let us fix our eyes on them that ministered perfectly unto His
excellent glory.
3 Let us set before us Enoch, who being found righteous in obedience
was translated, and his death was not found.
4 Noah, being found faithful, by his ministration preached regeneration
unto the world, and through him the Master saved the living creatures
that entered into the ark in concord.
1Clement 10
1 Abraham, who was called the 'friend,' was found faithful in that he
rendered obedience unto the words of God.
2 He through obedience went forth from his land and from his kindred
and from his father's house, that leaving a scanty land and a feeble
kindred and a mean house he might inherit the promises of God.
3 For He saith unto him Go forth from thy land and from thy kindred
and from thy father's house unto the land which I shall show thee,
and I will make thee into a great nation, and I will bless thee and
will magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless
them that bless thee, and I will curse them that curse thee; and in
thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.
4 And again, when he was parted from Lot, God said unto him Look up
with thine eyes, and behold from the place where thou now art, unto
the north and the south and the sunrise and the sea; for all the
land which thou seest, I will give it unto thee and to thy seed for
ever;
5 and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. If any man can
count the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be counted.
6 And again He saith; God led Abraham forth and said unto him, Look
up unto the heaven and count the stars, and see whether thou canst
number them. So shall thy seed be. And Abraham believed God, and it
was reckoned unto him for righteousness.
7 For his faith and hospitality a son was given unto him in old age,
and by obedience he offered him a sacrifice unto God on one of the
mountains which He showed him.
1Clement 11
1 For his hospitality and godliness Lot was saved from Sodom, when all
the country round about was judged by fire and brimstone; the Master
having thus fore shown that He forsaketh not them which set their
hope on Him, but appointeth unto punishment and torment them which
swerve aside.
2For when his wife had gone forth with him, being otherwise minded and not in accord, she was appointed for a sign hereunto, so that she
became a pillar of salt unto this day, that it might be known unto
all men that they which are double-minded and they which doubt
concerning the power of God are set for a judgment and for a token
unto all the generations.
1Clement 12
1 For her faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved.
2 For when the spies were sent forth unto Jericho by Joshua the son of
Nun, the king of the land perceived that they were come to spy out
his country, and sent forth men to seize them, that being seized they
might be put to death.
3 So the hospitable Rahab received them and hid them in the upper
chamber under the flax stalks.
4 And when the messengers of the king came near and said, The spies
of our land entered in unto thee: bring them forth, for the king so
ordereth: then she answered, The men truly, whom ye seek,
entered in unto me, but they departed forthwith and are sojourning
on the way; and she pointed out to them the opposite road.
5 And she said unto the men, Of a surety I perceive that the Lord
your God delivereth this city unto you; for the fear and the dread
of you is fallen upon the inhabitants thereof. When therefore it
shall come to pass that ye take it, save me and the house of my
father.
6 And they said unto her, It shall be even so as thou hast spoken
unto us. Whensoever therefore thou perceivest that we are coming,
thou shalt gather all thy folk beneath thy roof and they shall be
saved; for as many as shall be found without the house shall
perish.
7 And moreover they gave her a sign, that she should hang out from her
house a scarlet thread, thereby showing beforehand that through the
blood of the Lord there shall be redemption unto all them that
believe and hope on God.
8 Ye see, dearly beloved, not only faith, but prophecy, is found in the
woman.
Sirach 44 — Praise of Israel’s Great Ancestors
Sirach 45 — Moses, Aaron, and Phinehas
Sirach 46 — Joshua, Caleb, the Judges, and Samuel
Sirach 47 — Nathan, David and Solomon
Sirach 48 — The Prophet Elijah
Sirach 49 — Josiah and the Prophets
Sirach 50 — Simeon II, Son of Jochanan (High Priest, 219-196 B.C.)
