Preparation By Faith
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We are to prepare for this life and the next, by faith.
What kind of faith do we live by?
We live by a faith grounded in the character and promises of God. It is not a blind faith, but a reasonable faith. It is not a faith that we conjure up ourselves. It is a gift that God has given each of us (Romans 12:3).
Our challenge is to exercise the faith God has given us.
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
By faith Isaiah speaks for God, prophesying the one who prepares the coming of the Lord.
Isaiah has faith in the Word of God that stands forever. Isaiah lives by faith in the unchanging character of God.
Will we live by faith in God’s character, revealed to us in his word?
Mark 1:1-8.
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
By faith, John the Baptist answered the call of God. He goes out into the Judean wilderness, preaching repentance shown in baptism for the forgiveness of sins. All this was in preparation of the Christ, for his baptism of the Holy Spirit for those who believe.
We, then, have a two-fold response in preparation for the Lord’s coming.
First, we receive faith from God through the hearing of his Word (Romans 10:17). We then act on the truth of God’s Word by believing in Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.
Second, we then, by faith, live and proclaim the truth of the gospel in our day-to-day lives for others to hear and see, so they to can respond in faith.
By faith, we accept that God is giving us grace for each moment.
By faith, we look forward to the day when God makes everything right in the new heavens and earth. Hebrews 11:1-2 begins to lay out how we live by faith.
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
If we are to live by faith, we must have a proper understanding of faith.
There are three misconceptions of faith:
First, faith is not means to manipulate God into giving you the results you desire.
Second, faith is not something that you create yourself.
Third, faith is not, at its root, an emotion.
What is faith?
Faith is, first and foremost, a gift of God, which is received through the hearing of God’s Word. Romans 10:17; 12:3.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Second, faith is the assurance of things hoped for.
Assurance speaks of confidence in the character of God to act for our eternal good and for his glory.
Faith, then, is a decision to accept God at his word in the present and the future.
The things hoped for can be divided into two time periods - the present and the future.
What hope is sure and steadfast in our present?
Our hope for the present comes by faith in believing in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus our Saviour, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of God making intersession for us (Hebrews 12:1).
Our hope for the present comes by faith in believing that “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” (Romans 8:32), in believing that God is working all things for our eternal good and his glory (Romans 8:28-30).
Grace for every moment.
What hope is sure and steadfast in our future?
Our hope for the future comes in believing that Jesus is coming back, in the same way he left, to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42-43 ). Praise God this world is not all there is. Praise God! Jesus is coming to make all things right. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Come!
Third, faith is the conviction of things not seen.
Conviction - a belief that is so strong it compels action. Do you have conviction that God exists and rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6)? That is the faith the Lord has given us as we hear his Word proclaimed.
Concerning things not seen, Peter says in 1 Peter 1:8-9
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Until then, we live by faith.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
The word “commendation” comes from the Greek word μαρτυρέω (martyreō) meaning “to bear witness.” By faith each saint bore witness to God’s character and his promises, thus receiving their commendation.
Hebrews 11 lists several OT saints who lived by faith and yet did not live to receive the promised Messiah.
Can you think of people who live by faith?
Who are they?
When we remember and consider those who have been faithful before us, it encourages us to act on our faith in the character of God.
If they could act in faith, not having received the promised Messiah, how much more can we act in faith, having received Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith? As the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
By faith in Jesus’ work - past, present and future - we prepare ourselves and the world for his return. Let us live by faith. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!