Do you Trust God's Words?
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Handout
I’m not talking about-
Do you believe the Bible is inspired?
Do you believe the Bible is inherent?
What I do mean:
Do you believe that the Bible is infallible?
Infallible- What does that mean? un-fail-able / unable to fail
God’s words never misinform us about past occurrences, they never misrepresent present realities, and when it come to future promises or prophecies they will never malfunction.
Do you believe the Bible is infallible? Do you believe every individual word that God’s speaks is infallible?
How do we move from a doctrinal statement that we believe, God’s Word is infallible, to a response to those Words with confident trust?
Learning from the Reformers
Learning from the Reformers
We can learn a thing or two from the Reformers when it comes to thinking rightly about faith or trust. The Reformers understood that all believing is not the same. This is a very biblical idea.
They taught that there were three elements to genuine faith or trust or we could say saving faith or trust.
Notitia- faith is, first of all, a kind of knowledge.
Notitia- faith is, first of all, a kind of knowledge.
There is an intellectual component to faith- there are facts that we must understand and believe.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Paul explains that the first step of the Thessalonians faith in Christ was knowledge. They received the word of God.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Jesus makes this same distinction about faith in the parable of the different soils.
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
The first kind of hearer in the parable was the hardened wayside soil. Faith begins with knowledge and understanding. In the parable this hearer doesn’t even make it to this first step. He who hears the Word of the kingdom and does not UNDERSTAND it is like seed sown upon a hardened path. It does not even penetrate the soil. He seed of the word lies atop an unreceptive, uninterested heart and penetrates no deeper. Therefore, the devil comes and take the seed of the word away. Why?
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Side note: In our evangelism it is utmost importance to first and foremost make sure the seed of the word gets planted into the soil. This only happens when a person hears the Word and understands. If you can accomplish that much you have planted a seed. If they merely hear the word, but do not understand the seed is taken away before it can do any good. We need to work at helping people understand the Word of God, the gospel. That is what planting a seed looks like.
Assensus- genuine faith acknowledges (assents) that what God says is true.
Assensus- genuine faith acknowledges (assents) that what God says is true.
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
The Thessalonians not only understood and received the word of God, they took the next step in biblical faith—they accepted it.
And emotional component:
They acknowledged as true that the words Paul spoke were indeed the very words of God. Can you see the progression from knowledge to acknowledgement?
Jesus taught it this way:
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
When these hearers receive the word, it makes a small amount of penetration into their hearts. There is an immediate and sometimes an emotional reception of the Word, but it does not last. The soil on the rock is not speaking of stony soil, but to a shelf of stone just beneath the surface. They hear the word, but they have no root, no depth of commitment. The response, though emotional, is shallow, superficial, and temporary. This kind of reception of the word is not enough to produce new birth.
Fiducia- the final component in saving faith is a personal persuasion that acts.
Fiducia- the final component in saving faith is a personal persuasion that acts.
“Full-grown faith is confident in the reliability of God’s words to the point that it operates on the basis of what God says.” —Layton Talbert
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
They heard and received the word of God (notitia). Then they acknowledged and accepted that those words held divine authority, the were the very words of God (assensus). Finally, those words were at work in the lives of the Thessalonians. That is fiducia. When one acts on what he has both heard and acknowledged, by putting his faith in, that is entrusting himself to, God and to His Word.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
CLING TO IT! I love that. Personally and whole-heatedly embracing God’s words—that’s trust.
This final element of faith is what we call the volitional element. This is RELIANCE or trust in the words themselves. Now we have to be careful here that we don’t confuse or bleed together faith and works.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
What is going on here? Are faith and works the same thing? Are works a part of faith? Are they different? How do genuine faith and works go together?
Example: walking out on the ice.
Do you trust the ice to hold you up?
Knowledge: what would you need to know about the ice to trust it?
Ascent: what knowledge about the ice would you need to apply to you personally?
Volition: this is about engaging the will. What about your will would you need to engage to really trust the ice? You would have to decide to rely on the ice to actually hold you up! You would need to engage your will to actually trust or rely on the ice.
How would you know if someone genuinely trusted the ice? They would demonstrate their trust by their actions or by their works- they would walk out on the ice! Now is walking out on the ice the same as putting your trust in the ice? No! When did the trust part happen? There was a decision made. They went from knowledge, to ascent, to volition. They choose to rely on the ice in their inner person, and then after that choice was made they demonstrated their trust by walking out on the ice!
Example: Charles Blondine
Saving faith is all about the moment in time when you understand the facts about the gospel. What facts must you understand?
Then moving to a personal ascent about those facts: how is that different from knowing them?
Then moving to finally a volitional element: Reliance upon Christ’s work on the cross alone to save you.
This is why you can grow up in a Christian context and still be unsaved. Until you rely upon trust in Christ to save you, you have not exercise biblical faith.
What about sanctifying faith?
Moving from Saving Faith to Sanctifying Faith
Moving from Saving Faith to Sanctifying Faith
What is the difference between saving faith and sanctifying faith?
Sanctification- set apart to God and made more like Christ.
“Unfortunately, becoming a believer doesn’t mean that I automatically now fully trust everything I read in the Bible.” (21)
Agree? Disagree? Example?
Why don’t we automatically trust everything God says?
We have a fallen sinful nature (flesh) that is incurably disinclined to trust God.
Is our faith static?
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;
Our faith sometimes falters. We can go from times of strong faith to weak faith.
Growing in our faith means our ability to rely upon every word that God speaks to us increases more and more. But, right now there are some words of God that we do not trust.
Example:
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
What is Jesus talking about when he says, “kingdom of heaven”?
What main truth is Jesus teaching concerning the kingdom of heaven?
Do we really believe Jesus’ words?
Example: choosing to send my evenings by myself on a computer or with my kids and their chaos? Which is choice is investing in the kingdom? If I really believed Jesus’ words on how valuable the kingdom was which should I choose? But often times I choose selfishly. Why? Because I don’t really trust Jesus’ words yet.
Do you trust God’s Words? Do you trust every individual word that God speaks to you? Do you demonstrate your genuine trust with your actions? What words of God can you practice trusting this week?