An Excerpt from Snapshots of Faith
by Gerald Brooks

Gerald Brooks is the pastor of Grace Outreach Center in Plano, Texas. He founded the church in 1982. Pastor Brooks teaches leadership seminars, and his monthly leadership lessons are distributed throughout the nation. Pastor Brooks ministers with the support of his wife, Geni, and their three children Wendi, Kayci, and Cody.

An Excerpt from Snapshots of Faith by Gerald Brooks

For more information, or to order the book, Snapshots of Faith or any of Pastor Brooks’ other published works, or for more information about Pastor Brooks and his ministry, please visit GeraldBrooksMinistries.com today.I see three types of faith taught in the New Testament.

Triumphant Faith – This faith causes us to triumph over death. This is where 90% of all teaching on faith is. Triumphant faith teaches us how to be victorious over our biggest problems.

Transformational Faith – Faith will change us as a person. Not everyone who wants to change a problem wants to change as a person. Transformational faith requires us to change.

Transcending Faith – Faith will change your whole perspective in life. You will begin to understand that your faith is bigger than this world. Transcending faith deals with the promise of God we have. What is the promise? That when this life is over, it is not the end.

If you will let faith work in you, it must be more than a problem solving method. It must change you as a person, and it must change your perspective. Have a faith bigger than if you get a new car. Have a faith bigger than if your plans are all fulfilled. Make your faith more about heaven, and more about what is yet to come. Make faith more about heaven than it is about earth.

There are some outstanding faith lessons in Hebrews 11.

Abel gives us an example of transformational faith. He gave his sacrifice to God.

Enoch also gives us an example of transformational faith because he walked with God.

Noah was a witness. This is yet another example of transformational faith.

Abraham and Sarah had to deal with plenty of problems. Their circumstances were tough and did not fit the timeline, and yet their faith waited it out. Theirs is an example of triumphant faith.

When Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV) tells us “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth,” we realize there is another layer to this list of names. All of them died waiting for their eternal reward, since Jesus had not yet become a living sacrifice. This shows us their transcending faith.

They operated their faith from a transcending view, saying, “No matter what happens around me or to me, God is bigger than this, and this will not be the end of me. Earth is where I live, but Heaven is my home.” Transcending faith is also vividly and powerfully seen in Hebrews 11:35-40.

If you are more than a conqueror, yet you never let God change you through transformational faith, and you can’t see beyond the current circumstance, then you had all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved moment, not a life. You need more than one side to your faith.

  • Triumphant faith is a moment.
  • Transformational faith is a life.
  • Transcending faith is eternity.

As we begin to read the list beginning in Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV) about the list of elders of faith, a pattern emerges.

  • Worship
  • Walk
  • Witness
  • Work
  • Wait

Consider these:

Worship

Our first elder of faith is Abel, who exemplifies faith through his worship. “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4 NKJV).

Abel offered a sacrifice to God. Why? After the Fall of Man through Adam and Eve, making a sacrifice was the way God gave humans to interact with Him and worship Him. The first example of faith is not about us receiving something from God; it is about giving God something.

Walk

The second elder of faith demonstrates faith to us in his walk with God. “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him;” for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5 NKJV).

If you go back to Genesis 5, and read the verses pertaining to Enoch, you will notice that nowhere is it mentioned anything about Enoch’s faith. It only says one thing: “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24 NKJV). This is all we know about Enoch: He walked with God. The truth we learn from Enoch is this: Your faith must be louder than your lips. It must show up in your life.

Abel’s example was about saving faith. His faith was about offering and acknowledging a sacrifice from God. Enoch’s faith was about transforming faith: Once you’re saved, God wants to transform you. Transformation is the second step after salvation.

Witness

Our third elder of faith who demonstrates the next progression of our list is Noah. “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” (Hebrews 11:7 NKJV).

Noah was willing to stand out for his faith. That’s what being a witness means. It means people notice your faith. Your faith should make you look different. If we can learn to worship like Abel, to walk with God like Enoch, and to be a witness like Noah, we will be well on our way to building up our faith.

Work

Our next example of faith is Abraham. In this portion of the list, we find probably the shortest statement about Abraham we can find in Scripture. It says, “By faith, Abraham obeyed” (Hebrews 11:8a NKJV). In Genesis 18 and 19, we see that there is some work involved in faith. Abraham has to work to save his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and his faith was seriously put to work.

Wait

Our next snapshot to add to this progressive revelation mosaic is the faith of Sarah. In Sarah, we get the fifth step: the wait of faith. “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11 NKJV). If Abraham is called the Father of Faith, then Sarah is the Mother of Faith. Sarah had the faith to wait.

How did Sarah get to the point where she exemplified waiting in faith, even though circumstances were totally against her? She understood two things about faith.

  • The promise of faith – God had said something. God promised Abraham he would

have kids and his descendants would be like the sands of the sea. This type of faith, faith in the promise of God, can be learned immediately. All you have to do is read the scripture containing God’s promises and you know what they are. So if you need healing in your life, read the promises of healing. If you need stability in life or protection, read the promises of God about stability and protection and you will know them right then. This is right and good to do, but is only one kind of knowledge.

  • The person of faith – God had done something. Hebrews 11:11 (NKJV) says that Sarah “judged Him faithful who had promised.” This type of faith deals with the person of God. You only get to know the person of God over time. Sarah waited for the fulfilment of God’s promise. If she didn’t know God, she would not have judged Him faithful. She would not have expected the promise to be fulfilled. But Sarah knew God, and knew He had always been faithful to complete His promises, and that is how she had faith that her promise would also be realized. You can’t wait as long as Sarah did without knowing who God is.

For anyone who feels like their life is out of control and they aren’t in charge of anything, Sarah is your example of faith. You think your world is messed up, it barely touches how Sarah’s life was while she waited. She shows us what it means to wait in faith.

The faith of all the people in Hebrews 11 had certain qualities in common:

  • Their faith wouldn’t quit.
  • Their faith wouldn’t settle.
  • Their faith saw that heaven was better.

I encourage you to have faith like these heroes!