Imitators of God Part 3 (Faithfulness)
Notes
Transcript
Imitators of God
Imitators of God
What do I want them to know? Faith is what activates our foundation
Why? Because we all want a solid foundation.
What do I want them to do? Walk by faith
Why? It brings life, joy and sustains
ME/WE
Over the last couple of weeks we have been diving in discovering that foundations are imperative, critical, vital, indispensible.
All of life depends on good foundations.
We cannot live, move, or build without them.
The absences of a foundation will always lead to that thing or persons demise. (It always collaspes)
We looked last week at this is true of a house....Any house that you look that has lasted for more than a couple of years has lasted because it is build on a good foundation, not just any foundation, a good foundation.....It does not matter how big, tall, or beautiful the upstairs is if the foundation is not good…EVERYTHING CRUMBLES.
BUT WHAT MAKES A GOOD FOUNDATION KIND OF FOUNDATION?…Can we say just build your house on whatever you want?…THAT WILL NOT HELP YOU VERY MUCH…What happens if you leave here and say Pete and said houses need foundation and you buy sand to be your foundation....will that be good??
NO
Why? Sand is not a good foundation
(SHOW PICTURE OF HOUSE ON SAND)
It is not enough to say your house needs to have a foundation....we also need to spell out what kind of foundation....we need a foundation that can withhold a house.
- we need a foundation that can withhold a house.
In todays world in America what is the foundation we mostly use?
Concrete
How do you get concrete? you make it with 5 other elements....concrete is not one element but a mixture of 5
what are those 5 elements?
Air
Sand
Gravel
Cement
Water
(show picture)
You need all of these elements if one is missing you do not have concrete, but there is also one element that plays a bigger role, an element that brings them all together activates them all....which element is it water
You can have air, sand, gravel, and cement in a bucket but nothing happens without water.
Water is the element that brings all the other elements together.
TENSION
In a similar way it the last attribute in Ex 34:6-7, where we have been spending the last couple of weeks learning what it means to be an imitator of God As Eph 5:1 lays out God lays out who He is and what He is like (and it is the most repeated verse in the Bible)
IT IS THE LAST ATTRIBUTE OF GOD THAT ACTIVATES THE OTHERS AND SETS YOU APART.
What is the last attribute?
abounding in faithfulness
faithfulness is attribute that activates
let’s read
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
The first 4 attributes in some measure some non-believers can possess,
Compassionate
Gracious
Slow to get angry
Abounding in steadfast love
You have a friends who abounds in love, you have a neighbor who is slow to get angry (better than you and I) and yet does not know Jesus....but the one attribute that set apart (you are God’s child is faith), strengthens you, makes the foundation of imitation of God strong is FAITH
but the last one is only for believers and it is the last one that sets you apart (as God’s child) and solidifies your faith, your belief
SETS YOU APART AND MAKES YOU STRONGER
I believe church, God has us in FAITH BUILDING MOMENT God is seeking activate and build your faith during this pandemic…
- it is your faith that is going to get you through this pandemic and how great your faith is will determine if you make it through or crumble....the good news if you find yourself crumbled God always rebuilds.
- it is not going to be positive thinking, politicians, or your pocket book
We are having moments like the nation of Israel
during the time of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Joshua.....when things were much worse than our pandemic
God says REMAIN FAITHFUL
That is what God is saying to us....DON’T WORRY WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING…JUST REMAIN FAITHFUL…KEEP BUILDING YOUR FAITH...
HE WILL LEAD YOU THROUGH
How is your faith? How has it been in the season we are in?
SOME OF YOU ARE READY TO CRUMBLE, OTHERS OF YOU ARE OK, AND THEN A HANDFUL ARE BUILDING AWAY BUT CAN ALWAYS USE MORE FAITH... I FOUND MYSELF DURING THE PANDEMIC TO BE OK TO KEEP BUILDING AWAY
LET’S DIVE AND DISCOVER HOW WE BUILD OUR FAITH
GOD
FIRST WE NEED TO START WITH THE QUESTION WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE FAITHFUL? WE NEED TO DEFINE FAITHFULNESS
FAITHFULNESS MEANS To have trust and allegiance, loyalty in something or someone
We see this on a minor scale with a chair.
For me to sit in this chair I need to have faith and trust in the chair.
I am not going to sit in this chair if this chair has been untrustworthy, if this chair has moments where it has let me down, literally and figuratively I am going to want to sit in it?
If I gave you a chair where the leg was wobbly would you have faith to sit in?
No
No it is because your faith rest upon the faithfulness of the chair.
Faith is to put our trust and confidence in something or someone.
What are we to be faithful too IN OUR FOUNDATION?
Government? (is this where our alligence and trust is to go to?)
Careers or money?
Person?
No, but is this often where we put it
HAVE YOU HAD THIS MOMENT? Everything is good in our lives because we have money in our bank account, but all it takes is for your car to break down or you to lose your job and just in one moment you go
OR WE HAD Faith in government....blue is in charge. red is in charge…BUT THEN RED IS NOT IN CHARGE OR BLUE IS NOT IN CHARGE…AND WHAT HAPPENS AND SOME PEOPLE LOSE IT....WE SAW THIS LAST ELECTION AS EVEN NEWS ANCHORS LOST IT ON LIVE TV....but was government every meant to be your rock....It is always sinking and we can see all the way back to 1 Sam 8 where Israel said we need a human king like all other nations and not God as king and God warned them when they did it would not go horrible for them
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
What scripture tells us if we build our faith on anything but Jesus it is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand
On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand
My hope (my faith) is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
The reason some of us have been shakey during this pandemic....it is because we have been on sinking sand....we have put our faith in money, normal life, government, America dream...
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
What God is saying to us that what will get us through this Pandemic and all of time is to get off the sinking sand and unto the rock.
WE NEED THE TO BE ON THE SOLID ROCK…THAT IS ONLY THING THAT WILL HOLD US UP…NOT OUR JOBS, EARTHLY SECURITIES, PEOPLE,
Where we are finding ourselves is the is where JOSHUA AND DANIEL FOUND THEMSELVES IN A FAITH BUILDING MOMENT...
- We having a Joshua and Daniel moment church right now. A faith defining and building moment.
SOME OF US ARE GOING TO RELATE TO JOSHUA AND OTHERS DANIEL AND OTHERS BOTH
JOSHUA
Joshua was the man to succeed Moses to lead the nation of Israel into the promise land....He lead them with God’s leading to bring walls of Jericho down.
They get to this moment, a defining moment, a covenant defining moment where Joshua says choose whom you will serve, be faithful to IN JOSHUA 24
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
WHAT IS JOSHUA SAYING HERE…NATION OF ISRAEL WHO ARE YOU GOING TO SERVE? WE HAVE LEFT EGYPT…THAT IS GONE....ARE YOU GOING TO GOD BACK AND BE FAITHFUL AND SERVE THOSE GODS (THE GODS WHO BEAT YOU UP AND OPPRESSED YOU) OR ARE YOU GOING TO SERVE THEE GOD?
CHOOSE THIS DAY WHO YOU WILL SERVE, WHO YOU WILL BE FAITHFUL TO?
What God is saying to us is who are you going serve the gods you served before the pandemic? Who are are you going to be faithful to?
Are you going to serve the who you served before the pandemic, The gods of this world, the gods of success, money, government, power or you going to serve and be faithful to the God who is going to lead you threw the pandemic?
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TRUST TO LEAD YOU THROUGH THE PANDEMIC???
Some of maybe are wondering....how do we know who are what we are serving?
This is the question I wondered years ago and still ask myself.
Two litmus tests
Are you shaken and worried right now? if so it reveals we are on sinking sand, maybe it is for moment but if we are constantly shakey
Ps 112:7
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
He is the good news about being a person of faith in God is that no matter how bad the bad news is we know the Good News always reigns…
We know Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
THIS IS JOB…THE LORD GIVES AND TAKES AWAY....JOB LOST EVERYTHING, (HOME, FAMILY, FINANCES) BUT WHAT DOES JOB DO? THOSE WHERE NOT MY SOLID ROCK...HE STILL PRAISE THE LORD.
Another way you know who you are faithful to is be discovering who or what you worship, because you worship what you are faithful to
What do you think about most?
Where do you spend your time?
What do you spend you money on?
SOME OF US MIGHT NOT LIKE THOSE ANSWERS, I DON’T LIKE THOSE ANSWRS AT TIMES…I GET IT BUT IT IS GOOD TO KNOW THE TRUTH THAN TO BE LIVING A LIE....LIES LEAD TO DEATH…TRUTH LEADS TO LIFE
RIGHT NOW FOR SOME OF YOU GOD IS SAYING: TRUST ME, PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME
GET OFF SINKING SAND AND ONTO THE SOLID ROCK
SERVE, BE FAITHFUL TO THE LORD
Daniel moment with our faith
Daniel was a prophet of God, but what happened during his life was the the nation of Israel was carried off into captivity in Babylon in 597 B.C.....what Babylon tied to do over and over is get Daniel to forsake His faithfulness, trust and loyality to YHWH and trust in the Babylonian gods
They tried to rename Daniel to BELTESHAZZAR which means “(may Marduk) guard his life.”....his name is Daniel which means God is my JUDGE...
They tried to get eat defiled food but Daniel would not eat it THIS CAUSED TENSION AND FRICTION(and his faith was so strong he said test me for 10 days of eating only vegetables and water and see who is in better shape me or those who eat defiled food; who was in better shape. Daniel)
Then in Daniel 6 (MANY OF THE BABLYION ELITES DID NOT LIKE DANIEL, EXCEPT THE KING LIKED HIM) they create an edict saying for the next 30 days everyone shall worship no other gods but King Darius if anyone does not listen they shall be cast into the lions den.
They thought we got Daniel he is either going to bow to King Darius or be put to death! WE GOT HIM ONE WAY OF THE OTHER.
What does Daniel do, He keeps his faith, allegiance to God.
They through Daniel throw him in the lions den...
Daniel not afraid.
He knows the LION of JUDAH is STRONGER THAN THE LION IN THE DEN
THE LION OF JUDAH, GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE LION IN THE DEN
DANIEL GOES IN THEIR AND NOTHING HAPPENS TO HIM…GOD SHUT THE LIONS MOUTH.
Church I believe we are a moment in our world, where our world keeps coming at us “if you keep preaching Jesus, standing for Jesus....we are going to throw you in the lions den…. and we shut up because we forgot who the lion of Judah is....the one who conquered the grace, the one who wins.
GOD IS SAYING STOP BEING AFRAID OF THE LION IN THE DEN....REMEMBER WHO THE LION OF JUDAH IS....
SPEAK UP…ROAR IN GENTLE WAY LIKE THE LION OF JUDAH..
What God is saying have faith in God
Being liked is not the GOAL LIFE IS,
Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.
How do I remain faithful?
5 W
It starts with Worship: we worship what we are faithful to....GIVING OUR TIME, THOUGHTS, AND GIVING SOME OF HIS FINANCES BACK
Walk in God ways: 1 John 2:6.....HIS WAYS LEAD TO LIFE
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Walk with others with God
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Watch out for wolves who want to lead you away from the faith and be on from the deads of the flesh
Wonder at the gracious, compassionate, slow to get angry, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness God
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
US
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BE FAITHFUL TO?