Anchor of Faith
Notes
Transcript
How many of you have ever lied?
What do you call someone who lies?
A Liar
How many of you have ever stolen something - regardless of what it was - taken something that was not yours?
What do you call someone who steals?
A Thief
How many of you have ever lusted after someone?
How did Jesus describe this person?
Let’s look and see...
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Adulterer.
Each of us - in this room - to a person - is guilty of each of these situations.
And the reason - is because EACH of us - has the same problem.
…the same DEFAULT - INNATE diagnosis...
Answer = Sinner.
NOW - if we’ve HEARD of the Law of God before...
We could probably repeat a few of the commands...
And some of those commands - TELL US what NOT to do.
thou shall not lie
Thou shall not steal
Thou shall not commit adultery
Thou shall not covet (desire things in ways you shouldn’t)
We’re all - Guilty.
SLIDE: Our Sickness: Our Sin
Our Sickness
Our Sickness
And so when it comes to the Law of God - It’s as if - God KNEW ALL THE THINGS that we struggle with...
And He makes these RULES - that WAR AGAINST who we really are as people.
And so - Is God just MEAN?
Let’s - let that question - LINGER a bit, while we move on...
And hopefully we’ll SEE the answer come into focus as we go.
We begin to SEE the answer - when we look to the PURPOSE of God’s law.
Most of the world = BELIEVES that the Law of God - is MEANT to be our PATH to God...
OUR ladder to climb…to get to God.
BUT - what does GOD say...
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
The purpose of God’s LAW - is to SHOW US - WHO WE ARE.
And SO _ from OUR perspective - as humans…FALLEN by nature...
The LAW of God should not be viewed as - the MEDICINE to cure us. (bible says - we’re DEAD in our sin)
INSTEAD - it should be viewed as - the blood test that reveals what sickness we have.
**Picture this - you FEEL SICK - feels like you have a fever…so you GO TO the doctor.
The Doc takes your temperature - with a thermometer...
And he says - OK, YEP, you have a HIGH fever...
I’m going to prescribe you - a THERMOMETER…!
“You can pick it up at the pharmacy in an hour”...
What’s your response?
We’d say - HUH??
We’d say - I don’t NEED a thermometer!! I NEED - MEDICINE!!!
The Law of God - is not OUR medicine...
It’s the instrument - used by God - to REVEAL to us - our SINFULNESS...
our eternal sickness.
OK - well then what’s the MEDICINE?
If our SICKNESS - is OUR sin...
What’s OUR MEDICINE?
What will HEAL us?
SLIDE: Our Medicine: The Righteousness of Christ
Our Medicine
Our Medicine
First thing - What is- righteousness?
What does it mean?
it means - Goodness
And so it might seem WEIRD that OUR MEDICINE - is someone ELSE’s righteousness - or goodness.
Well - this is exactly what the apostle Paul talks about in Phil.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Jackpot...
Paul explains it very clearly - HERE!
He says - I want to GAIN Christ - and be FOUND IN HIM...
Then he tells us what that means...
SLIDE:
In Christ:
Not having my own goodness
Having Christ’s goodness that comes through faith in Him
So KNOW this...
SLIDE:
The righteousness of Christ is the remedy to our sin problem
And HOW does this remedy come to US?
By - FAITH!!
NOW - Diving into - Faith.
To START - we all have FAITH - - in something.
ALL people - have FAITH - in something.
Some people have faith in Jesus Christ - as their Lord and Savior.
Other people have faith in - Allah
Other people put their faith in - Mother Nature
Other people put their faith in - their own experiences
Still others put their faith in - their own THOUGHTS about reality...
We ALL - have faith.
What I want to dive into NOW - is what FAITH in Christ… SAVING Faith - is.
And the REASON I say - SAVING faith - is because - as I said before - the Bible tells us that because of our SIN - we are DEAD…spiritually.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
This is how UNBELIEVERS - in this world - LIVE their lives - they are spiritually DEAD.
NEEDING - life!
Spiritual Life!
How does it come?
Next 3 verses...
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Life is FOUND - IN CHRIST!
Spiritual LIFE - is ONLY found - IN CHRIST!
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
SO - if the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus is my REMEDY - the medicine I need for my sickness - SIN...
If Jesus is MY LIFE… and ONLY LIFE...
And FAITH in Him - is the ONLY WAY to attain life…and attain His righteousness...
Then I want to KNOW - ALL ABOUT this thing called - SAVING FAITH...
Not the kind of FAITH you had when you sat down today in your chair...
A faith that convinced you the CHAIR would NOT break...
NOT like THAT faith - because THAT faith won’t SAVE YOU!
I want to know ALL ABOUT SAVING faith...
The kind of FAITH- that MAKES me ALIVE in Christ...
And KEEPS me for ALL eternity!
SEE - it’s more than HEAD KNOWLEDGE...
What do I mean?
Let’s do a thought experiment...
When we think about the difference between a BELIEVER and an UNBELIEVER...
We would say..
an UNBELIEVER - does NOT believe in Christ (that He existed, was God, died for sins, etc..)
And...
a BELIEVER believes what?
• Jesus is the Son of God
• Sin deserves punishment
• Judgment is coming
• Jesus is the judge
• Jesus has authority over life
Is that fair to say?
Ok, let’s look at scripture to test this...
29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them.
31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”
• So - here we see demons speaking to Jesus.
• Looking at these verses, let's see what demons believe:
1. That Jesus is the Son of God
2. That sin is punishable - they expected to be punished (have You come here to torment us...)
3. They believe that judgment is coming at an appointed time
4. That Jesus is the judge
5. That Jesus had authority over them (begged Him...send us away into the herd of pigs)
• So we look at that list and think, "Wellll - yeah, they had faith".
• Well, NO clearly they didn't. We know they didn't.
• So how do we handle this?
• See believing all of these things comes with faith, BUT "faith" is more than that.
Most all come in here today believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
- Most ALL have come in today believing that sin deserves punishment, that judgment is coming, that Jesus is the judge, and that Jesus has authority over life.
- But Faith is more than that.
- Do you have faith?
• We're going to go to Hebrews chapter 11 to see what "faith" is - -
Let’s go to Hebrews 11
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
These 3 verses basically summarize what true biblical "faith" is:
SLIDE:
Substance (assurance)
Evidence (conviction)
Witness
It’s ALL 3 - and Hebrews 11 goes on to show us DEMONSTRATIONS of faith…
It just DESCRIBED IT - and now Demonstrations OF it...
Let’s look at characteristics of FAITH now...
SLIDE: Saving Faith: Worships God Alone
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
• The background of this story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4.
• Abel was a righteous man because of "faith".
• God had revealed to Adam and his descendants the true way to worship, and Abel obeyed what God wanted, and how He wanted it, by faith.
• Abel made a better sacrifice than Cain, and his sacrifice was accepted.
TRUE Faith - worships God alone!
Abel didn’t KEEP BACK for himself - the best of his offering...
WHY?
Because TRUE Faith - doesn’t worship SELF...
Faith worships GOD alone!!
Not only that - but...
SLIDE: Saving Faith Seeks God Alone
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
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.
• Our faith in God grows as we fellowship with Him, seeking after Him.
• Do you desire to please God?
• Are you diligent in your seeking after Him?
• Do the decisions you make reflect an attitude of "I've gotta have HIM!!" - "I want more of Him!!"
• There's Bible Study tonight?
Where?
What time?
I'm there!
• Where there's a lack of diligence, there's a lack of "faith".
• Where "faith" seeks after God alone, unbelief chases its own tail.
• Faith will search for God in all situations and circumstances...
• ...Unbelief will search for solutions, remedies, and outcomes outside of God….and then when those don’t work, it’s back to unbelief…
- which starts the cycle all over again.
• ...and that is a futile pursuit.
**The Foolish pursuit… - - The Unbelieving world - does not ACKNOWLEDGE God.
And it’s FOOLISH - as the Bible says.
Let’s demonstrate the foolishness, that many people HOLD TO.
The unbeliever walks on the beach - and come across “WRITING in the SAND”...
It says - I WAS HERE.
And the Unbeliever says - there’s NO WAY that the WIND created these letters - in THIS way - on the beach.
NO WAY.
There’s NO WAY - that Time and Chance acting on Matter created those letters in the sand!
The Unbeliever would say - NO DOUBT that a MIND was behind this.
NO DOUBT that a MIND - created this.
SOMEONE with a BRAIN HAD to HAVE created this.
BUT - the BRAIN that created this on the beach - the WIND DID create THAT Brain!
YES - Time, and Chance, Acting on Matter created that brain - but there’s NO WAY that Time, and Chance acting on Matter created the sentence in the sand.
FOOLISHNESS!
The unbelieving mind SEEKS anything but God - EVEN FOOLISHNESS!
The unbelieving mind seeks ANY ANSWER - but God...
And all of eternity is at stake here,
• Enoch sought after God. He walked with Him, and he pleased God.
• AND so - where Abel's faithful obedience lead to a voilent death / Enoch's faithful obedience lead to him bypassing death
EITHER way - they had FAITH - and in HAVING true faith - they had God!
Not only does Faith:
Worship God Alone
Seek God alone
SLIDE: Saving Faith Works
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
• From this verse we can see the 3 elements of "faith" that we talked about: (Assurance, Evidence, Witness)
• Noah's confidence (ASSURANCE) in the salvation of his household was rooted in the "conviction" that God would do what He said He would do - bring the rain...
• ...And God gave witness to Moses through the salvation of his household.
• Does this sound familiar?
Compare it with this verse...
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Thats why we KNOW - Faith WORKS!!
Pulling On Both Oars
An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the good old man had carved on one oar the word “Faith,” and on the other oar the word “Works.” Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man, being a well-balanced Christian and glad of the opportunity for testimony, said, “I will show you.”
So saying, he dropped one oar and plied the other called Works, and they just went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to ply the oar called Faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again—this time the other way around, but still in a circle.
After this demonstration the old man picked up Faith and Works and plying both oars together, sped swiftly over the water, explaining to his inquiring passenger, “You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and “faith without works is dead” also, getting you nowhere. But faith and works pulling together make for safety, progress, and blessing.”
So not only does FAITH:
Worship God ALone
Seek God Alone
Work
SLIDE: Saving Faith Waits on the Lord
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
• So by faith, Abraham obeyed, going out, not knowing where he was going.
• ...and so similar to Peter out on the water, Abraham's faith supported him, held him up as he went.
• His "assurance" of the blessings of God...
• ...was rooted in the "Conviction" that God would fulfill His promises.
• He heads out, and waits on the Lord.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
• So God promises Abraham and Sarah a son (even though they were too old), but even then they had to wait 25 years for that promise to come to pass.
• Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. Do you think maybe father and son wore diapers?
• Waiting on the Lord is probably the hardest thing we have to do as Christians.
• Why?
• Because with our belief, a lot of times there's unbelief.
• Mark Chapter 9 tells us of a story of a young boy who is demon possessed, and the boys father comes to Christ and asks Him to help him.
22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
• How many times could we have spoken those same words?
And so - FAITH:
Worships God Alone
Seeks God Alone
Works
Waits on the Lord
• But if we go back to verse 9 in Heb 11, it shows us that:
SLIDE: Saving Faith Holds Possessions Loosely
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
• God decides what house you live in, not you. God decides what kind of car you drive, not you.
• Now that can only be true in your life, if you are living by faith.
• If you're not living by faith, then you yourself decided what house you're gonna live in, and what car you're gonna drive...what job you're going to have.
• So let's apply this back to Abraham:
• God calls Abraham to go out.
• At this point, Abraham doesn't say, "well, i have this nice house here, so God must have meant, go travel for a couple days, and then return to your nice surroundings."
• Abraham doesn't take inventory, and then try to figure out a way to have his cake and eat it too.
• He simply obeys...confident in his convictions that God will sustain him.
• He shows God - Here's my life, here's a blank check, do what You will!
And there’s a BATTLE there right?
Let’s face it - the American Dream battles against that thought!
And DEEPER than that - our FLESH battles against that!
WHICH MEANS...
SLIDE: Saving Faith Wars Against the Flesh
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
The FLESH - DOES NOT desire to say - Here’s my life - a blank check - do what YOU will!
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
• Moses chose to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
• Is that easy?
• Is it easy to forgo what the world dangles in front of us? No it's not...because of our flesh.
• We often want to blame the world for our problems....
• We'll say - "this world is trying to destroy our kids"...NO....
• ...our kids are trying to destroy our kids....sin is trying to destroy our kids....their flesh is trying to destroy them.
• ...AND where faith wars against the flesh, unbelief tries to tame it.
See - the FLESH wants us to HATE GOD!
The flesh wants us to WORSHIP SELF....to DELIGHT in self!
But we need to know:
SLIDE: Saving Faith Delights in the Lord
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
If we go back to verses 25-26, we see this..
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
Moses’ joy - rooted in GOD - and NOT in the pleasures of sin!
And BECAUSE JOY in GOD - IS the fight of the faith....
SLIDE: Saving Faith is Fearless
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
What happens here?
Moses didn’t fear what was seen (pharoah, the red sea), but instead - pursued what was unseen.
Fearless!!
Not only that...
SLIDE: Saving Faith is Victorious
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
In Hebrews 11:32-40
We see that Faith is - VICTORIOUS!
By faith men and women of old conquered kingdoms,
performed acts of righteousness
obtained promises
shut the mouths of lions
quenched the power of fire
escaped the edge of the sword
from weakness were made strong
became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight.
• Nowhere in chapter 11 of Hebrews do we read about the MANY failures of Israel....you know why?
• ...because those failures were a result of 'unbelief'.
• See Faith is Always victorious....either in this life or the next.
• God doesn't always show us the victory, and He didn't for many of the people mentioned in chapter 11...
• ..but they did ULTIMATELY receive the promise of reward.
WHICH TAKES US BACK - to the question we asked at the beginning...
Is God just MEAN by calling us to Himself?
Telling us to WORSHIP Him?
Is He just an EGO-MANIAC??
The answer is NO - and here’s why...
Everyone just wants to be HAPPY - - right?
Who wants to be HAPPY in life?
We ALL do.
But as we said - we have a PROBLEM - we ALL do!
We’re all ETERNALLY sick!
Are Doctors ego-maniacs for telling sick people to come to them for the REMEDY?
Here’s the thing - -
HOW LONG DO YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY?
10 years?
25 years?
50 years?
Longer?
How long will MONEY make us happy?
How long will possessions make us happy?
POTENTIALLY - till we hit the grave - yes?
THEN WHAT?
The ONLY thing in the universe / in all of existence that can SATISFY US - for ETERNITY - is God Himself.
THEREFORE - what’s the MOST LOVING thing GOD could DO - FOR us??
What’s the MOST LOVING THING God could OFFER us?
Answer = Himself!!
God is the ONLY THING that can Satisfy us - for all of eternity!
And so IF GOD was to WITHHOLD Himself - FROM US - and NOT offer us Himself...
NOT call us to Himself...
That would be - PURE Hatred!
And so - IT’s LOVING of God - the MOST LOVING thing in the world - that God calls us - TO HIMSELF!
Your loved one is sick - dying..
But YOU have the remedy...
It would be HATEFUL to withhold that remedy from your loved one!
It would be LOVING to say - HEY - COME TO ME for life!
God is CALLING YOU - right now - to HIMSELF!
He’s saying - BELIEVE!
Have FAITH - and in having FAITH - LIVE!!
THIS is what SAVING FAITH IS!
SLIDE:
WAITS ON THE LORD
SEEKS GOD ALONE
WORSHIPS GOD ALONE
WORKS
HOLDS POSSESSIONS LOOSELY
IS FEARLESS
WARS AGAINST THE FLESH
DELIGHTS IN THE LORD
IS VICTORIOUS
And so because this is ALL TRUE...
THIS is true...
SLIDE: Saving Faith Leads to Eternal Joy
Saving Faith
Saving Faith
Joy - rooted in the one who SAVES us!
THE - one true ETERNAL God.
ALL of our TRUST in Him, Christ - and Christ alone!!
Let's close with this analogy:
suppose that you were trying to cross from one cliff to another one which is a hundred feet away, and it is five thousand feet down to the rocks below. You have, however, a one inch thick piece of rope which is capable of holding up to several tons.
There is a difficulty though, for you have only fifty feet of rope. I say to you, "Do not worry! I have fifty feet of thread. We can tie my thread to your rope and then tie that to trees on either cliff and then you can go across."
You decline my offer and I respond, "What is the matter? Do you not trust the rope?"
You reply - "Yes," "I trust the rope but I do not trust the thread."
Ok fine, then let's change the story and make it ninety feet of rope and only ten feet of thread. Does that work for you?
You're still not comfortable. Then suppose we make it ninety-nine feet of rope and only one foot of thread. Does that work?
One inch of thread?
You see, even if you have one inch of thread, you will be just as dead on the rocks below as if you tried to cross on a hundred feet of thread.
The rope obviously represents what Christ has done and the thread represents what we have done.
We must trust in Christ alone. By Faith alone in Christ alone, we will spend eternity with God in heaven.
As Charles Spurgeon put it, "If we have to put one stitch into the garment of our salvation, we shall ruin the whole thing."
By faith ALONE - in Christ ALONE - we are saved
Let’s pray
LORD’S TABLE
This brings us to the Lord’s Table…
a time for each of us to reflect on our lives,
to examine ourselves spiritually,
and to remember the cost of our faith.
We were bought with a price, and these elements remind us of this.
Have you experienced the Saving Power of Christ at the cross?
Has God AWAKENED you to where NOW you’re pursuing Him?
We are however, not to take this lightly. Scripture says – “ whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
Take time now and examine yourself before the Lord.
Tenley is gonna come and sing for us...
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
“do this…in remembrance of me.”