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Fresh Faith Review
We are three weeks into our summer reading of Pastor Jim Cymbala’s book, “Fresh Faith - What happens when real faith Ignites God’s People”
I pray that you are reading with that title in mind so that we could all be praying for our church that:
Our faith would rise
that it would ignite our church on fire for Him
We went to and looked at the progression of how satan destroys a life.
He steals - our first love and our joy
He brings death to our purpose, our signficance and God’s significance to us and our giftings and abilities
which all brings destruction to our walk and life with Christ.
Then last week we looked at the opposite force of satans destruction - that being God’s restoration.
We looked at scriptures where God talked about what he would restore - that being everything.
So we said there is no state of the progression of destruction that God cannot restore from
We saw that we cannot be too far or distant from God for his restoration not to be effective.
That all God wants is for us to return to him
Turn our hearts towards him, rend out hearts toward him
Yes, there should be a heart change and brokenness on our part.
And when God sees this, he does the rest.
We also looked at the fact that God doesn’t want his people to be ashamed.
And that means that we need to open ourselves up to him and his restoration so that he would be praised and lifted up in our lives instead of our lifestyles bringing reproach and shame against the power and might of our God.
He promises that a part of that restoration would be his baptizing us and filling us with the power of His Holy Spirit.
Let’s pick it up today from there.
I told you that faith is the answer.
Faith is our proclamation and our living in what we believe about God and His Word.
Faith is the key to stopping satan from stealing from us and killing what God has given us in our lives.
We said that a stable and secure and strong faith is going to be trusting in the whole Word of God.
Turn with me over to
Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica to encourage them.
Notice what he wants to encourage them in - Their Faith?
Why was that so important to Paul? Verse 3 tells us that no one would be shaken by the afflictions that they were facing.
And to support everything that we’ve heard in the last two weeks, look at verse 5 -
lest by some means the tempter had tempted you.
If I’m reading that right with a good understanding of these words, he is saying, he should not have been able to tempt you.
But just in case he did, I want to know
What would be the scale by which he judged if that had happened our not?
their faith.
So we see here the support for what I said the last two weeks - It’s a lack of faith in our lives that gives the enemy an open door to attack us.
Pastor Cymbala defines faith as The total dependence upon God that becomes supernatural in it’s working
Let’s look at what faith has accomplished in peoples lives.
Faith and Two Sisters
You know the story well.
Especially if you have attended any of my funerals, it’s become my go to scripture.
Now if we look at verse 4, we can get a little confused.
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God may be glorified through it.
Either Jesus is speaking out of turn about a situation that he doesn’t understand or He is speaking words of GREAT FAITH Here.
Because we know that Lazarus dies.
But Jesus knows that he will live again and that this is all about the people who are standing at the grave side when he does.
So Jesus arrives, late, on purpose and Lazarus is dead.
Mary and Martha are a little upset.
Both of them speak with him and tell them that if he had come when they had called for him, their brother would still be alive.
Now that is faith.
- They knew that Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying
Evidently they knew of his healing power.
But is their faith complete?
No - they don’t know about his power to resurrect.
Why would that be important?
It’s not just about Lazarus, but about what would be happening very soon when Jesus’ own body would be thrown into a tomb.
I bet Mary and Martha probably didn’t have the problems believing what had happened to him when the body turns up missing - they had learned about Jesus being the resurrection.
But they come to him upset.
And we know the conversation
Jesus says, your brother will live again
Martha says, I know that he will in the resurrection of the saints
Jesus says, I am that resurrection.
And whoever lives in me, he will die in me and he will live again.
And then Jesus asks a question.
Do you believe this?
What’s he doing?
He’s checking their level of faith.
We know that the Bible tells us that he went home to Nazareth one time and could do almost nothing there, because of the level of the people’s faith.
He’s trying to see what they believe about him
He’s trying to see what they can believe about him
He’s increasing their level of faith.
He’s raising the bar.
Okay, so you believe that I could have healed him
You also believe that he will be raised up at the end as I’ve taught
Let’s see if we can get you one notch higher.
Do you believe that it can happen now?
Verse 35 says Jesus Wept.
And the people all see that and say, wow, look how much he loved this guy.
But I don’t think it’s about that at all - For Jesus knows that he is going to see him again.
In one message I did, (funeral?)
I said that Jesus might have been weeping because he knew that if he raised Lazarus up he would have to watch him die in the flesh again.
Very Possible.
Let me present a new possibility this morning.
Might Jesus have wept, not about Lazarus at all, but at the level and condition of the faith of the people around him at that moment.
We know they didn’t get it
We know that they didnt’ believe.
But how many know that they soon would.
In fact, down in verse 40, Jesus says to Martha - after she speaks in her faith “Lord by this time he stinks”
Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?
Faith and the Two Disciples
Go over with me to
John 14:
Look at the first verse.
When does Jesus say that our hearts won’t be troubled?
When we believe in God and what he has done through Christ.
He says, don’t worry guys, everything is going to be fine.
Believe in God and believe in what I am about to do.
I am going to prepare a place for you and though you might not understand this, you know what I am about to do and what it all means.
And they are like Huh? Thomas says, Lord we don’t know where you are going and we definitely don’t know the way
Jesus says, I am the way.
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