Faith11152003
FAITH
11/15/2003 and 11/16/2003
-Last week we talked about “Covenant Love”.
-The Apostle Paul said “these three remain faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love.”
-That is certainly our priority.
-The Bible says “God is love”. God is not power or faith or healing; HE IS LOVE.
-God’s motivation is love. Our response to that should be faith.
Hebrews 11
/Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. [1]/
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he a considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
[2]
Romans 4
13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” c He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” d 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
[3]
-I would encourage you to read both chapters in their entirety because they both are chocked full of great information and inspiration.
Galatians 3
6 /Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” a 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” b 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. [4]/
/26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. [5]/
-With all of that in mind remember the story of God’s dealing with Abraham, especially in chapter 12 of Genesis.
The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.
John Emmons.
A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer."
"That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, p. 3.
-God is pleased when His children believe Him.
-Faith was not intended to place emphasis on how great we are or how much we believe God.
-Jesus said, “HAVE FAITH IN GOD.”
-The object of our faith is God. If the pressure is on you it is misplaced.
-Believing a wonderful faithful God shouldn’t be a struggle.
-Abraham is called the “Father of our Faith” so lets see what happened to him. Obviously he did it right.
1. Faith Receives a Promise From God
-It isn’t just something you make up.
-In your devotions and fellowship with God something comes alive inside you.
-Abraham is living with his family on the east side of the fertile crescent in a place called “UR”.
-Somehow God spoke to him with such force and clarity that he knew he had a mandate from God and so he obeyed God and left all that was familiar to him (his country, his people, and his father’s household).
-I like to think about the conversation Abraham and Sarah had when he got home that night after hearing the lord speak.
-To her credit as well as his, they both believed and went.
Where did Abraham get his faith???
HE HEARD GOD SPEAK.
-You don’t have to work faith up…..it comes built into the promise.
Romans 10
/17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. [6]/
-He gave attention to what he heard until it became big inside of him.
-Finally it was very clear and his only decision was whether to obey or disobey.
FAITH BEGINS WHERE THE WILL OF GOD IS KNOWN
-Spend Time with God and the result will be clarity concerning God’s will.
-Then it will become and issue of how and where do I practice this in obedience.
Joshua 1
8 /Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. [7]/
2. Faith is an Action
-You believe the part of the Bible you are willing to act on.
There was a tightrope walker, who did incredible aerial feats. All over Paris, he would do tightrope acts at tremendously scary heights. Then he had succeeding acts; he would do it blindfolded, then he would go across the tightrope, blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow. An American promoter read about this in the papers and wrote a letter to the tightrope walker, saying, "Tightrope, I don't believe you can do it, but I'm willing to make you an offer. For a very substantial sum of money, besides all your transportation fees, I would like to challenge you to do your act over Niagara Falls." Now, Tightrope wrote back, "Sir, although I've never been to America and seen the Falls, I'd love to come." Well, after a lot of promotion and setting the whole thing up, many people came to see the event. Tightrope was to start on the Canadian side and come to the American side. Drums roll, and he comes across the rope which is suspended over the treacherous part of the falls -- blindfolded!! And he makes it across easily. The crowds go wild, and he comes to the promoter and says, "Well, Mr. Promoter, now do you believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do. I mean, I just saw you do it." "No," said Tightrope, "do you really believe I can do it?" "Well of course I do, you just did it." "No, no, no," said Tightrope, "do you believe I can do it?" "Yes," said Mr. Promoter, "I believe you can do it." "Good," said Tightrope, "then you get in the wheel barrow."
-Abraham obeyed and went.
-Your actions define your faith.
James 1
22 /Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. [8]/
James 2
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless a? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” b and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
/[9]/
-I heard someone say that faith and works are like the two blades of a pair of scissors; which one can you do without?
-You demonstrate faith when you are persuaded to act.
-Otherwise your faith is incomplete.
My husband, Ron, once taught a class of mentally impaired teenagers. Looking at his students' capabilities rather than their limitations, Ron got them to play chess, restore furniture and repair electrical appliances. Most important, he taught them to believe in themselves. Young Bobby soon proved how well he had learned that last lesson. One day he brought in a broken toaster to repair. He carried the toaster tucked under one arm, and a half-loaf of bread under the other.
Edna Butterfield.
3. Faith Perseveres Through Contrary Circumstances
-What an example Abraham is to this!
-He was promised a son by God and it took around 20 years.
-Every promise of God is tested.
Psalm 105 NKJV
/17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: 18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: heb was laid in iron: 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. [10]/
-We all have promises we are holding on to that seem like they are going the other way.
-The Bible is full of examples of people who persevered in spite of problems.
Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.
The problems began when Chippie's owner decided to clean Chippie's cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She'd barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in.
The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned.
Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air.
Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.
A few days after the trauma, the reporter who'd initially written about the event contacted Chippie's owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn't sing much anymore -- he just sits and stares."
It's hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . .
How you can tell when it's going to be a rotten day:
You wake up face down on the pavement.
You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold.
You see a "60 Minutes" news team waiting in your office.
Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.
You turn on the news and they're showing emergency routes out of the city.
Your twin sister forgot your birthday.
Your car horn goes off accidentally and remains stuck as you follow a group of Hell's Angels on the freeway.
Your boss tells you not to bother to take off your coat.
The bird singing outside your window is a buzzard.
You wake up and your braces are locked together.
You call your answering service and they tell you it's none of your business.
Your income tax check bounces.
You put both contact lenses in the same eye.
Your wife says, "Good morning, Bill", and your name is George.
Source Unknown.
-Faith is for living and it causes you to not give up.
Hebrews 6
11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
/[11]/
-Abraham faced the fact that his situation was hopeless but against all hope he believed.
Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends.
George Muller.
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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Or By faith even Sarah, who was past age, was enabled to bear children because she
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
c Gen. 17:5
d Gen. 15:5
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Gen. 15:6
b Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[5]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[6]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
a Some early manuscripts dead
b Gen. 15:6
[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
b he...: Heb. his soul came into iron
[10]The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 . Logos Research Systems, Inc.: Oak Harbor, WA
[11]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids