1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.
While our minds are not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
By faith Noah, being moved by the fear of God, made ready an ark for the salvation of his family, because God had given him news of things which were not seen at the time; and through it the world was judged by him, and he got for his heritage the righteousness which is by faith.
So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false; And this hope is like a strong band for our souls, fixed and certain, and going in to that which is inside the veil;
So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ: To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:
By faith he went out of Egypt, not being turned from his purpose by fear of the wrath of the king; for he kept on his way, as seeing him who is unseen.
But now we still have faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.
All these came to their end in faith, not having had the heritage; but having seen it with delight far away, they gave witness that they were wanderers and not of the earth.
For if we keep the substance of the faith which we had at the start, even till the end, we have a part with Christ;
So if any man is in Christ, he is in a new world: the old things have come to an end; they have truly become new.
So that you may not be slow in heart, but may take as your example those to whom God has given their heritage, because of their faith and their long waiting.
What will come on us, if we do not give our minds to such a great salvation? a salvation of which our fathers first had knowledge through the words of the Lord, and which was made certain to us by those to whom his words came;
Preaching to Jews and to Greeks the need for a turning of the heart to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What I am now saying is not by the order of the Lord, but as a foolish person, taking credit to myself, as it seems.
Paul, a servant of God, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, in agreement with the faith of the saints of God and the full knowledge of what is true in harmony with religion,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hebrews 11
Commentary on Hebrews 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
The apostle having, in the close of the foregoing chapter, recommended the grace of faith and a life of faith as the best preservative against apostasy, he how enlarges upon the nature and fruits of this excellent grace.
Hbr 11:1-3
Here we have,
Hbr 11:4-31
The apostle, having given us a more general account of the grace of faith, now proceeds to set before us some illustrious examples of it in the Old-Testament times, and these may be divided into two classes:-
Hbr 11:32-40
The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and actings of their faith recorded, now concludes his narrative with a more summary account of another set of believers, where the particular acts are not ascribed to particular persons by name, but left to be applied by those who are well acquainted with the sacred story; and, like a divine orator, he prefaces his part of the narrative with an elegant expostulation: What shall I say more? Time would fail me; as if he had said, "It is in vain to attempt to exhaust this subject; should I not restrain my pen, it would soon run beyond the bounds of an epistle; and therefore I shall but just mention a few more, and leave you to enlarge upon them.' Observe,