Top 10 Giants Of Faith

INTRO:

You have to have faith in God if your gonna get this right

1 Peter 1:3–9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 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, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

3x Faith is mentioned.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

PRAY!!

10. Roman Officer- Matthew 8:5–13

Matthew 8:5–13 (ESV)

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,

“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”

And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

Does your faith in God allow you to believe that His word will do what it says?

9. The woman with an issue of blood – Mark 5:25-34

This is another powerful story. This old woman struggled through the pressing crowds to “just touch [Jesus’] robe,” because she believed she would be healed if she could just do that. She didn’t need Jesus to touch her, or speak words to her. She only needed to touch Him and experience His power.

How about you? Does your faith allow you to believe that even just a slight touch of Jesus’ presence will heal you of whatever you are suffering from?

8. The Canaanite woman – Matthew 15:21-28

Jewish culture prohibits Jews from mingling with or even interacting with Gentiles, most especially women. Yet here was a Gentile woman who braved ridicule and possible rejection just so that she could get Jesus to heal her daughter who was “possessed by a demon that torments her severely.” Although Jesus didn’t reply at first, the woman kept urging and pressing on despite the disciples’ urging to send her away. In the end, Jesus granted her request, because her “faith is great.”

How about you? Would you brave all sorts of possible ridicule and opposition, even from friends and “Christians,” just so that you could humbly converse with the Lord to help you in your need?

A TIE FOR #7!

7. Ananias- Acts 19:1-19

Ananias, and he was directed by God to minister to the deadliest enemy of the Christian faith at that time – Saul of Tarsus

When Ananias was therefore commissioned by God to go and pray for Saul, who was now blinded, it would have been a task that he probably never wanted to be a part of (Acts 9:11-12). He almost certainly would have been in hiding when the Lord spoke to him in a vision. Since his knowledge of how the Lord had met Saul on the Damascus road would have been hazy, Ananias argued the matter with God (Acts 9:13-14).

Acts 9:13–14 “But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.””

I can only imagine the tension he went through as he set out on what he may have considered to be ‘Mission Impossible!’ However, he handled this unpleasant assignment with incredible grace.

As we follow the story in Acts 9:17-19, we see that Ananias fearlessly approaches Saul, and calls him by the loving term ‘brother.’ He also lays hands on Saul, praying for his sight to be restored and for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Ananias then begins to mentor this enemy of the faith, eventually guiding him into being baptized. As a result, Saul immediately began preaching about Jesus (Acts 9:20).

What a powerful testimony for a man whose ministry is recorded in just two passages in the Bible! Many years later, Saul, now known as the famous Apostle Paul, speaks endearingly of how Ananias ministered to him on that eventful day (Acts 22:12-16). He gratefully remembered Ananias’ role in his now powerful ministry.

Acts 22:12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him.

7. Noah- Genesis-5-9

For 120 years prior to the flood, Noah and his sons constructed a massive ark. The ark was a quarter of the height and half of the length of the Titanic. No wonder it took so long to build! Even more remarkable? Noah built it by faith in God (Hebrews 11:7). Up until then, mankind had no experience with great floods, let alone with massive ship building .In other words, Noah had never seen what God told him. By faith in God, however, Noah obeyed and still is one of the most famous men ever.

6. John the Baptist- Mark 6

Before John was even born, he knew when Jesus was near.

Luke 1:41 “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,”

Talk about a womb with a view!

Mark 6:18–25 “For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias’ daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.””

5. Abraham- Genesis

2x He displayed mind boggling faith

Abraham’s greatest test of faith: sacrificing his beloved son, Isaac.

Remember, Abraham didn’t have even one page of the Bible. He only had what the Lord God told him. Still, the idea of sacrificing Isaac was the ultimate test. The apostle Paul explains what this test proved: it proved that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

This amazing story of faith in Genesis 22 foreshadows the Lord’s own willingness to send His dearly loved Son, the perfect and sinless Lord Jesus Christ, to die on a cross, and to rise again from the dead on the third day. It’s the Gospel in a nutshell.

4. Joshua & Caleb- Exodus- Numbers 13,14

Numbers 13:31–33 “Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.””

Numbers 13:30 “But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.””

3. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego-Daniel 3:17

Daniel 3:17–18 “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.””

Daniel 3:15 And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?””

Daniel 3:24–25 “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a Son of God.

King Neb changed his mind real quick!

Daniel 3:29 “Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.””

2. David “The Giant Slayer” 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 17:4–11 “And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Is…”

1 Samuel 17:45–47 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.””

1. Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus’ earthly life was devoted to one great purpose—doing the Father’s will, living the human life religiously and by faith.

Being fully human He was able to make choices, praise His name He was always obedient to His fathers will. He could have chose no to the cross, He could have called 10,000 angels, but even though He was shook to the bone, He always came back to “Your will, not mine”

Matthew 26:37–39 “And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Matthew 26:42 “Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.””

Matthew 26:44 “So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.”

Matthew 26:53–54 “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

In the Kingdom of God, our faith is the measure of our victory and success. Our belief is our greatest spiritual asset and richest currency. Conversely, unbelief is our greatest stumbling block.

3 Takeaways About Faith:

1. God tests our faith through difficulties.

Nothing ever happens by accident in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. Everything is Father filtered. Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that God plans all the bad things that happens to you. He doesn’t have to. We live in a broken world. A lot of problems we bring on ourselves and things like that. A lot of problems other people bring on us and we’re innocent victims.

What I am saying is that nothing comes into your life if you’re a child of God, nothing comes into your life without God’s permission. It couldn’t happen without God’s permission. There are no accidents in the Christian life. There are accidents in life. Of course there are. But God uses them and our disappointments are His appointments.

2. Faith Is A Risk

Faith is often a risk. When it’s a risk it means you can’t understand it all in advance. Why would God do that? He’s not just interested in making us comfortable, helping us to see all the directions and points on the map. He’s wanting to test and grow our faith.

3. God tests our faith through delays.

If every prayer were immediately answered, if your every need were automatically met, if every problem were instantly solved you wouldn’t need faith and your faith wouldn’t need to be stretched. But it is not that way. We have to wait on things. It is human nature that we hate to wait. I hate to wait. I hate it!

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 8:2 "God led you all the way in the desert these forty years to test you in order to know what was in your heart." That’s what happens in times of waiting. We get to see God gets to see what is in our heart.

Deuteronomy 8:2 “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

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IN CLOSING:

Fear or Faith..You chose.

PRAY!