Passionate Faith
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I often wonder why some people seem to be able to live a lifestyle of faith that endures the most violent storms of life, while others run for the bushes at the gentlest of breezes. I’m not talking about a Christian and a Non-Religious person. I’m talking about two Christians here. No matter what church I have been to, I’ve seen it over and over again. All sit under the same teaching; all hear the same Word, yet not all develop the faith. What is the problem then?
In the parable of the sower, Jesus pointed out that the problem was not the seed itself, it was the soil into which the word went.
And when a large crowd was gathering and those from various towns were traveling to Him, He spoke by means of a parable. “The sower went out to spread his seed. As he sowed, some fell beside the road and was trampled; and the birds of the air ate it up. And other seed fell on rock; when it came up, that seed withered away because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And other seed fell into the good soil; and when it came up, it produced fruit a hundredfold.” While saying these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Now His disciples were asking Him what this parable meant. Then Yeshua said to them, “To you has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others it is given in parables, in order that ‘Seeing, they may not see, and hearing, they may not understand.’ “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved. But those on the rocky places are the ones who, when they hear, accept the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a season, and in a time of testing fall away. Now that which fell into the thorns are those who were hearing; but as they go along the way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and they do not bear mature fruit. But the seed in the good soil are those with a praiseworthy and good heart, who have heard the word and hold it fast and bear fruit with patient endurance.
What Happens to Our Faith?
What Happens to Our Faith?
Jesus tells His talmudim (disciples) that there are certain things in life that can steal your faith. To the masses, He tells a parable, but to the disciples – in private, He reveals the meaning. Can you imagine being a disciple? They’d just heard the secret to faith! They learned that it was not so much what you hear, as how you hear. The condition of their lives and hearts to receive the Word of God was the main indicator as to whether their faith would flourish or falter. They now had their PhD. in faith studies. That should be the end of it right?
So why was it that just a few verses later we read about a storm in their life? Not just any storm, but a jarring, life-threatening storm.
Now on one of those days Yeshua and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let’s move to the other side of the lake.” So they set out. Then as they were sailing, He fell asleep. A violent windstorm came down on the lake, and they were swamped with water and in danger. They came to Yeshua and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re perishing!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging wave of water. Then they stopped, and it became calm. Then Yeshua said to them, “Where is your faith?” But they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”
What the disciples didn’t know, and what we often fail to realize is that our faith must be tested before it can be trusted. It is one thing to know something in your mind, it is quite something else for that truth to be translated into your everyday life.
The promise was this: “We are going over to the other side.”. That was a certainty. The fact that the wind and the waves were buffeting the boat was irrelevant. The Son of God had somewhere He wanted to be and nothing was going to stop Him from getting there. The problem wasn’t the promise, it was the disciples inability to believe that the promise was stronger than their circumstances.
I remember as a young child going to Golf and Stuff and getting on the bumper boats. It was a blast, but my boat started taking on water. I was certain it was going to go down, and I was equally certain that the pool of water was just way too deep for me to be OK. Suddenly, I no longer trusted the boats – in spite of having seen them carry people all day and not a single one sank, I was sure mine was the one that was going to carry me to a watery grave in the deep abyss. So what did I do? I jumped off! That’s right, and found myself stranded on an island in the middle of the pool! But see, we do that with the promises of God. We are on this bumper boat running into things and taking on water, and we begin to lose faith in the promise that the bumper boat is going to keep me up. It is a certainty, but in spite of that we bail.
Beloved, the promises of God are a much greater certainty than any old bumper boat. And though the water at Golf and Stuff is relatively shallow, the waters of life are indeed deep. We have placed our hope upon a promise that endures.
The apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians says this of their perilous situation:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our trouble that happened in Asia. We were under great pressure—so far beyond our strength that we despaired even of living. In fact, we had within ourselves the death sentence—so that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He who rescued us from so great a danger of death will continue to rescue us—we have set our hope on Him that He will rescue us again.
Beloved, God is indeed the one who rescues us, but as many times as we hear it, we cannot grasp it until it comes out of our mouths, and let’s be honest – sometimes what comes out of our mouth is rote memorization rather than real faith. But what we are looking for is an overflow of faith grounded in the promises of God.
You brood of vipers! How can you who are evil say anything good? For from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man from his good treasury brings forth good, and the evil man from his evil treasury brings forth evil.
So then, there is this truth that the Word has to pass from our heads to our hearts before it can be manifest as a true profession of faith. How does that happen?
Getting it Into Your Heart
Getting it Into Your Heart
So what does it take to get to your heart? Well, they say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Listen to what David says about the God’s Word.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Or what about this one?
For the music director, on string instrument, of David. Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength before the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever. Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah For You have heard my vows, O God. You have given the inheritance of those who fear Your Name. May You add days to the king’s days. May his years span many generations. May he be enthroned before God forever. Appoint mercy and truth to protect him.
That is a very deep sentiment. Could it be that the key to getting the Word and promises of God has something to do with well… the heart? David sounds like a man in love.
Does then it take a passion for the promises of God to stand on them? I believe it does. Last week we talked about how we don’t always understand what God is up to, but that’s just it, true faith isn’t in the head, it’s in the heart. I believe that the more passionately you love God, the more fruitful those promises are in our lives.
Ha satan - our adversary does not care how much Bible truth we learn so long as we do not live it. Truth that is only in the head is purely academic and never will get into the heart until it is practiced by the will.
not just under your master’s eye as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Messiah doing God’s will from the soul.
Consider this story of the woman with the issue of blood:
Just as He was saying these things to them, a synagogue leader came and began to bow before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come lay Your hand on her and she will live.” And Yeshua got up and began to follow him, with His disciples. Just then a woman, losing blood for twelve years, came from behind and touched the tzitzit of His garment. For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch His garment, I will be healed.” But then Yeshua turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” He said, “your faith has made you well.” That very hour the woman was healed.
This woman was passionately pursuing Jesus. There were so many people there that day. So many people hearing the words of Jesus so many people pressing Him, but only one woman got the healing. What was it about her?
She was compelled by something to act out on the promises of God. This woman of Israel would certainly have known the scripture about the coming Messiah. She would have known that He was coming to bring healing.
“But for you who revere My Name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings. Then you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
The word wings in the Hebrew is: כָּנָף and it is pronounced “kanaf” and it does in fact mean wing, but it also means hem, or fringe or corner. This daughter of Zion would have known this. So when she saw her messiah coming with healing in his hem/corner/fringe, she would have known that there was healing there. In fact she was not the only one who knew this.
And when the men of that place recognized Yeshua, they sent word into all the surrounding region. And they brought to Him all those who were in bad shape and kept begging Him that they might just touch the tzitzit of His garment—and all who touched it were cured.
So what was it about the woman? She was desperate for Jesus. She had endured twelve years of sickness. Twelve years bleeding, twelve years being ostracized from society because you see, she was ceremonial unclean. But one day, she saw the Son of God rise with healing in His wings and everything changed. Twelve years of desperation, twelve years of waiting for Him and so when she had the test of faith, she reached out and took hold of the promise – that there was healing in His hem.
There were all those people there that day and yet only one other received something from Jesus.
When Yeshua came into the synagogue leader’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said, “Go away, for the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” And they began jeering at Him. But when the crowd had been cleared out, He went in and took her hand, and the girl got up. And news of this spread all around that region.
The ruler was also desperate but for a different reason. He had enjoyed the blessing of a daughter for the same twelve years that the woman with the issue of blood suffered. In contrast to her, his days were filled with joy and hope. Instead of loneliness his heart soared with the love of and for his child, and in one instant all of that was in danger of being lost forever. He too was desperate for Jesus.
The common denominator with these two is that their desperation, their passion for the promises of God caused them to do something. See, even Satan knows that academic truth is not dangerous, but active truth is.
See, I believe that Jairus (the rich young ruler) was actually encouraged by what others may have seen as a distraction. Perhaps if the woman hadn’t stopped Jesus on His way, the little girl would not have died. But you can also look at this way: what if Jesus would not have healed the woman with the issue, would Jairus have had the faith to believe for his miracle? Both were desperate, both received a healing.
Faith Requires Testing
Faith Requires Testing
The disciples couldn’t stand on their faith because it had not yet been tested. In fact, it wasn’t until the cross that they were fully tested. So what we see in the woman is that her years of suffering were the test that proved her faith. Jairus’ fear of losing his daughter was the test that proved his faith. But it is this very testing in faith which produces in us the love that is needed to make His truth active in our lives:
You rejoice in this greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. These trials are so that the true metal of your faith (far more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire) may come to light in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Messiah Yeshua. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you don’t see Him now, you trust Him and are filled with a joy that is glorious beyond words,
But Why Trials?
But Why Trials?
Look at verse six again, see those words “If need be…” trials accomplish something “if needed.” Sometimes trials discipline us when we have disobeyed God’s will.
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.
At other times, trials prepare us for spiritual growth, or even help to prevent us from sinning
even in the extraordinary quality of the revelations. So that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me—a a messenger of satan to torment me, so I would not exalt myself. I pleaded with the Lord three times about this, that it might leave me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me. For Messiah’s sake, then, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
We do not always know the need being met, but we can trust God to know and to do what is best.
Faith Tested Without Trial
Faith Tested Without Trial
Sometimes our faith is tested in other ways. David’s faith was proved true by His faithfulness and obedience. Jacob’s was established by his perseverance and Isaac by His appraisal that the promises of God were worth more than anything else.
Regardless of how their faith was tested they came to the same conclusion about God, and that is that He is absolutely faithful to His promises.
Even on his bed he plans sin. He puts himself on a path that is no good, never refusing evil.” Your love, Adonai, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness up to the skies.
So how do we make that connection from our head to our heart? Well other than going through a trial we have some keys in a few of the scriptures. First of all take the life of David. What is David’s biggest contribution to the cannon of scripture? It was he Psalms- or Worship songs of the Bible. If you look at the Psalms of David you will see that David was a man of intense worship. Why is that important? Well, you see there is something that God knows. If it is out of the abundance of the heart that man speaks, the best way to get to your heart – the core of your emotional self is through music, but not just any music, it is by worshipping God!
There is something about the worship lifestyle that supercharges our faith. It is as though God is able to bypass our reasoning ability and get right to our feelings. Why do you think the Philippians are instructed to add worship to their prayer life?
Do not be anxious about anything—but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
It dawns on me that Paul and Silas sat in the prison and needed to worship in order to build up their faith, and that brings us to the second .
Worship maintains us even in the very face of death.
Worship maintains us even in the very face of death.
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he bowed in worship while leaning on the top of his staff.
Why? Because worship helps us to fall in love with God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
It takes more than just head faith to face the trails that beset us as believers. Sometimes the trials test the faith we have, but always the trials are an opportunity to show us where our faith lies. If we can learn to become desperate for God; when the cry of our heart is all about God, then we shall begin to see the miraculous and who knows if our faith will be what causes someone else to believe for their miracle.
Remember heart faith is active and it is living. If we become lovers of God and not just His students, then and only then can we achieve the level of faith of the psalmist.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before You, Adonai, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Let us pray.