Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Body

Tell the story of man crossing Niagara Falls with a wheelbarrow, but from the perspective of the one asked to jump in

It makes a difference whether or not we have “skin in the game” or not

And the rest of the chapter is a record of what was accomplished, what was wrought, what was DONE through faith.

We don’t see a record of various people explaining the nature of their faith, going in depth as to why they believe what they do, or even the importance of faith

We simply see that because of faith, they accomplished

Abel

Enoch

Noah

Abraham

Sarah

Isaac

Jacob

Joseph

Moses

The Nation of Israel

Two aspects of this:

Faith produces Results

Faith produces Endurance

Faith produces Results

It matters in what, or in whom we believe.

What is the object of our faith?

How did that work?

They knew that the ark represented the presence of God

They knew the account of when Joshua ordered the priests to carry the ark across Jordan that the waters parted

At some point they forgot that it was God that did the works, not the ark

Their faith was not in God, but in the ark.

Again, it was God that healed them, not this brass pole shaped like a serpent

In Hezekiah’s day they had taken to worshipping this brass pole and attributed to it supernatural powers

They started focusing on the object and placing their faith in it, instead of in God

The results are predicated on the ability of the one we’re putting our trust in

Children with parents

People with Government

Believing in ourselves or in a loved one

Us and God

James speaking about putting our faith in God, and the works that demonstrate that faith

Belief will always produce a result.

An action.

A choice.

Stating that “I believe” without any resulting action is kind of like standing on a street corner carrying a picket sign saying “I am against poverty.”

First of all, I would hope so

Second, is that really doing anything to alleviate the problem?

If poverty really, truly bothered the individual, hopefully it would bother them enough to do something about it.

If we really, truly believe that God is, and that this is God’s Word, and we believe what His Word says, that He created everything, including us, and that we rebelled against Him, and that because of that rebellion, there’s sin and death in the world today, but God came as a man and paid the full legal price for our sins Himself so that we wouldn’t have to, wouldn’t that move us to take action?

If our faith is centered in God’s Word, then yes, it would cause us to take action

But not everyone’s faith is in God, or His Word.

So different actions ensue

What actions is your faith producing today?

Faith produces Endurance

Again, James speaks to this aspect of faith as well

In Hebrews 11 we saw that not everyone received the promise.

How can this be?

If we have faith in God, we must because of that faith understand something about the nature of existence

Life exists beyond the confines of this earthly tabernacle

Life fur us will be eternal

When we endure temptations, God is teaching us to love this life less and less and love eternal life more and more

When we keep hold of that understanding, we’ll never misplace our faith in anything else.

We’ll keep our faith on God.

God is the only one who is eternal and will outlast all these difficulties and problems with us

When our faith and our confidence is in God we can trust Him to see us through all life’s storms, or to take us home.

Either one is good for us!

When God removes His presence from us in prayer, He’s trying our faith

When God allows us to suffer loss, or heartache, He’s trying our faith

When God places us in impossible situations, will we call for the ark?

Will we worship a brazen snake?

Or will we call out on Jesus Christ?

People will fail us

We’ll fail ourselves

Money and title and position will fail

Only Jesus will never fail you

In this case, the action faith may cause us to take is to patiently wait on God

Maybe the action our faith will manifest is to fall on our faces before God

Our faith in God will cause us to call out to Him.

Rely on Him.

Trust in Him.

Believe Him.

Conclusion

Can faith save us?

Absolutely, if our faith is placed in the right person, and in faith, we are obedient to Him.