THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH
Notes
Transcript
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
In his book FOLK PSALMS OF FAITH, Ray Stedman tells of an experience H. A. Ironside had in a crowded restaurant. Just as Ironside was about to eat a man approached and asked if he could sit down and join him. Ironside invited the man to sit down. Then, as was his custom, he bowed his head in prayer. When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, “Do you have a headache?” Ironside replied “No, I don’t.” The other man asked, “Well, is there something wrong with your food?” Ironside replied, “No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat.”
The man said, Oh, your one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in.”
Ironside said, “Yes , your’e just like my dog. That’s what he does to.”
I. The Validity of Faith.
I. The Validity of Faith.
A. Faith is born from the acceptance of Calvary’s finished work.
A. Faith is born from the acceptance of Calvary’s finished work.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
B. Faith is Blossomed through substantiative history.
B. Faith is Blossomed through substantiative history.
C. H. Spurgeon.
The sun’s light takes 8 minutes to reach the earth a train traveling at 30 miles an hour and never stopping would take 350 years to reach the terminal of the sun. Many stars that we see are at such a great distance that it takes there light several hundred years for the light to reach us. Yet we still record them as existing, even though they may have burned out long ago.
II. The Virtue of Faith.
II. The Virtue of Faith.
The virtue is the honor which our Faith produces.
A. The Saints were remembered for it.
A. The Saints were remembered for it.
B. The saints were rewarded for it.
B. The saints were rewarded for it.
III. The Vision of Faith.
III. The Vision of Faith.
Faith will effect how we see the world.
A. Faith will look upward.
A. Faith will look upward.
Our faith will cause us to focus upward instead of inward or to our circumstances. The Christian cannot focus on earthly things while gazing towards heaven. Either the things of heaven or the things of earth will hold our attention. Which one will be determined by our exercise of faith.
B. Faith will look beyond our our sight.
B. Faith will look beyond our our sight.
Faith will open our vision beyond the temporal, physical substances and open to us the immeasurable blessings of God.