What Faith Is (Part 2)

Faith - it is assured trust and believe in God even though He is unseen. True faith is demonstrate by obeying God. It is the willingness to risk everything for Him by abandoning all self-reliance and putting full confidence in God, His Word, and His promises.

Introduction

The first two Scottish missionaries sent to the New Hebrides Islands were killed and eaten by cannibals on the day they arrived. After that it proved difficult to find missionary volunteers. But even when John G. Paton agreed to go, well-meaning people in the church tried to dissuade him. One elderly man warned that he would be eaten by cannibals. Paton replied, “I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.” After fifteen years of fruitful ministry, almost everyone on the island of Aniwa where Paton ministered was converted.

Serving God is not a guarantee of an easy life. But we are called to a life of service, even if it means giving up everything. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” ().

John Paton teaches us a lesson that faith is about risking it all, willing to put your life on the line to follow Jesus and obey Him.

Exposition

A month ago, we talked about what faith is. I made a point that faith - as described in the Bible - is not blind faith. It is not about believing in something without questioning it or believing in something for no specific reason. We do not want to clump faith and superstition together.

Faith is believing in God even though we do not see Him, but biblical faith encourages us to use our mind and reasoning to discover truth. It is the kind of faith where you have sufficient evidence that God exists and that God is trustworthy just by looking at the world around you and by looking at what God did through people in Bible.

Today, we will further learn that faith is not simply “just believe and that’s it.” Many people in the churches think that being a Christian is just believing in God. Although believing is a part of it, but demonstrating that you have faith in God is another world.

Questions: How do you tell if someone is a genuine Christian? (1. How do you know that you are truly saved? How can you know that you truly have genuine faith in Jesus Christ? How can you know that you have truly believed?)

In the , we will answer those questions by examining some of the biblical characters and their faith.

Questions: How did ________ demonstrate faith? What would the consequences be if this character did not show true faith?

Enoch (1:5)

Noah (Heb 11:7)

Abraham (; 17-19)

Moses (Heb 11:24-28)

Rahab ()

Split them into groups to discuss amongst themselves.

Application

What is it about these characters that make them exemplary? Their faith.

Their faith is genuine because they show their trust in God by their obedience and risk taking.

Abraham risked everything to listen to God’s voice and go to the unknown place. Abraham did not have a GPS and Google Maps to see where God was leading him or to see the location, but he trusted God and went to the land of Canaan with his family.

Genuine faith is doing what God tell us to do even though we may not always know the consequences or even though it does not make any sense.

Moses and the Israelites kept the Passover. They sacrificed a lamb and sprinkled its blood on the door frame so that the LORD would “passover” their houses and not struct their firstborn. That sounds weird and it doesn’t make sense, but they obeyed because God has revealed Himself by sending plagues upon Egypt…as evidence of God’s work in rescuing them from slavery.

Rahab did something very risky by saving the spies at Jericho. If she were caught, then she and her family would be killed by the officials. However, she heard about the news of God’s work in the Red Sea and destroying the kings of the Amorites. In other words, her faith was not blind, but it was faith based on sufficient evidence and news that God was with the Israelites.

God has given us enough reasons to have faith in Him and follow Him. He has given us creation to show reveal His glory.

He has given us His Word - the Bible - so that we can know Him. I covered this last year, but there are reasons that we can trust and believe that the Bible is reliable and trustworthy through archaelogical findings and history.

God has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago.

Hebrews 1:1–3 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

God has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. Jesus Christ came on a rescue mission to save sinners by dying on the cross for the sins of those who trust in Him. Jesus Christ was buried and conquered the grave to prove to us that He is God who can defeat death.

Those who have experienced salvation given by God’s grace are truly transformed and in awe of God that they cannot help but to worship Him and obey Him.

Faith is not an abstract concept, but it is real and practical. I can testify to you that God has done marvelous works in my life and transformed me to become a follower of Jesus. Through the Bible, God would tell me to do things that I do not feel comfortable with, but I still want to trust Him and obey Him.

Conclusion

“I would recommend you either believe God up to the hilt, or else not to believe at all. Believe this book of God, every letter of it, or else reject it. There is no logical standing place between the two. Be satisfied with nothing less than a faith that swims in the deeps of divine revelation; a faith that paddles about the edge of the water is poor faith at best. It is little better than a dry-land faith, and is not good for much.”

(Charles Spurgeon)

Will you trust and obey God all the way?