By Faith

The text this morning is two little words that occur thirty-one times in the eleventh chapter of the letter to the Hebrews—“By faith.”
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed, whether we be scientists or theologians. By faith we offer sacrifices unto God as Able did. By faith we walk with God as Enoch did. By faith we hear God as Noah did. By faith we obey God as Abraham did. By faith we refuse the pleasures and treasures and the honors of Egypt for the glory of God as Moses did. This movement begun in faith has continued in faith; God help us to perpetuate it in faith.
As one stands on the top of a mountain and looks out on the landscape, few things are more beautiful as part of the scenery than a majestic river flowing through the valleys and between the hills and mountains in its course toward the ocean. And still more interesting is the tracing of the river up to its source and watching the streams that flow in from the surrounding country and swelling the volume of the on-rushing water. We will do that or something like it, for a few minutes this morning. We want to look at the source of this movement and then trace at a glance the flowing and enlarging of the river that has grown wider and deeper as the years have gone by.