Dwell on: Faith
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From dwelling to application
From dwelling to application
Dwelling, pondering, considering, meditating is good, but it needs to come with application. Faith is the same way, it needs to be applied.
Dwell and apply these things (Php4:8-9)
8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
There we have the things to dwell on, then Paul goes on to application
9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
You know those verses if you have been here the last few weeks and you may by now even be able to quote them. They are well worth dwelling on considering, pondering and meditating on to help us grow in our faith and apply our faith in life.
Greatest thing to dwell on and apply (1Cor13:13)
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
So it is hard to keep faith, hope and love apart from each other, there are like a three strand cord that work together in the heart of the believer. So they can apply them.
Faith to be applied takes work, labor (1The1:2-5)
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,
4 knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; 5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
Faith that is obedient, faith that is active, is a labor of love, is steadfast in hope and is on display in the presence of Jesus and God the Father.
Now our focus is on faith this morning so let me first go to faith defined.
Faith Defined
Faith Defined
Dictionary definitions and biblical examples of faith defined can help us to understand and dwell on faith so as to grow and apply faith to our lives.
Eastman’s Bible Dictionary defines faith.
Faith in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true; It’s primary idea is Trust.
Add to that what Zondervan Bible Encyclopedia:
It is the Greek word (Pistis) “can refer to trusting or being worth trusting.”
Bible definition of faith (Heb11:1)
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I think it would be great to look at a few versions of this verse regarding faith
1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.
So it is the assurance, the conviction, the confidence, it is the reality, it is the evidence and the fundamental fact that makes life worth living.
Faith has conviction and reward (Heb11:6; Heb11:3-5)
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
It is impossible to please God without faith, but now I really need to keep things in context here too.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
It requires belief and it rewards the one who seeks Him! Without this type of faith it is impossible to please Him.
Faith has to have an object (Jn14:1; Jn8:24; Jn11:27)
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
It is not just faith in something, but in someone! JESUS
24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Faith in the one who, if you don’t have faith in Him you will die in your sins.
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
Faith in the One who will forgive our sins who came into this world.
Jesus the object of our faith has a purpose (Jn10:10; Jn1:29; Jn8:12)
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
To give life abundantly
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
To take away the sin of the world
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
To give the light of life so we don’t walk in darkness
Purpose and a promise (Jn14:6)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
And he is the only way to the Father!
This is the One God the Father sent to come, live, die, be resurrected from the borrowed tomb and we acknowledge each day not just today being resurrection Sunday or Easter Sunday. Faith like this, obedient daily faith has to be developed, has to grow. It is not an emotional decision, it may involve emotions but it is from a place of faith because you believe what you have heard and your heart is pierced.
Faith Developed
Faith Developed
We may use the word developed often in our lives, but maybe better start with the definition today. Developed (adj) advanced or elaborated to a specified degree. Our faith is to be advanced, to move on, to grow, it needs to be nourished and nurtured.
It is developed through God’s Word (Rom10:17)
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
It is developed for assurance of eternal life (Jn20:30-31; 1Jn5:13)
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
It is developed through obedience to the gospel (2The1:8; 1Pt4:17; Mk1:15)
8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
t’s a matter of life and eternal judgment it is vital to hear, believe, and obey the gospel.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
The time is now.
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
When you develop your faith and you do His will you will know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
Developed, obedient faith leads to salvation and a new life (Col1:11-14)
11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Developed, obedient faith’s aim should be the fullness of your faith in God. (Rom4:20) and comes with power and full conviction (1The1:5)
20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
and as mentioned with power and full conviction
5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
Faith that was obedient, that was also evident because it was active
As mentioned before it was a labor of love
3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,
God’s labor of love is Jesus Christ (1Cor15:3-4; Mk8:31; Php2:6-8)
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Fulfilling what Jesus said was going to happen.
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
and I want to add to that
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
That is the one in whom we have our faith, our hope, our love on. the person Jesus Christ!
Conviction, confidence, leads to assurance (1The4:13-18)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
And if that does not do much for you, if that does not strengthen your faith, it should, for may we remember to put our hope, our faith, our trust, and our confidence in God the Father and Jesus.
Grow your faith through fellowship too (Heb3:12-14; 1The5:11)
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
We need to continue to encourage one another, just like the church at Thessolinica was doing
11 Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
So, active, trusting, obedience faith that is being developed then is demonstrated.
Demonstrated Faith
Demonstrated Faith
Obedient faith is demonstrated faith. Demonstrated defined: clearly show the existence or truth of (something) by giving proof or evidence. Your faith is to be displayed, demonstrated as proof of your belief, hope, trust, love of Jesus.
Demonstrated faith in our works compared to dead works (Jam2:17, 20, 26, 18)
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
and add
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
how about this
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
and
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Works don’t create faith but faith creates works of faith that are demonstrated
We need to be careful to protect our faith for it can be destroyed if not used, it is easy to slip back into the world so may we remember:
Faith comes by hearing (Rom10:17)
People are destroyed by lack of knowledge (Hos4:6)
Faith without works is dead (Jam2:17, 26)
Don’t have trembling faith like the demons (Jam2:19)
Demonstrated faith needs to be protected (Heb3:12-14)
We need to stay in fellowship to help protect our faith.
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
Keep fanning the flames of your faith, and then fan the flames of your family and friends faith too!
With the Word of God implanted in the people of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, to accomplish the will of God. That is faith worth fighting for.
Faith worth fighting for (1Tim6:12)
12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
It is a good fight, a good fight of faith, taking hold of, a good fight that we can fight together.
(invitation slide 1) invitation (invitation slide 2) prayer (exit slide)