Have faith in God (1)

Good morning, CHURCH!

(Opening joke)

Out in the foyer of a church, a young boy was looking at a plaque on the wall.

It had the names of men and women who had died in various wars. In the line of duty.

The Pastor of the church saw the boy looking at the plaque and went up to talk with him.

The boy asked the pastor, “Who are these people?”

The pastor said, “Those are the names of members from our church who died in service.”

The boy then asked the pastor, “Was it the early service or the second service?”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of Mark 11:21-24 ESV for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination Mark 11:21-24 ESV

And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Jesus was letting the disciples know that even though the Temple which they held so sacred, would be destroyed, you must to have faith in God.

And to us today, whatever we put our faith in outside of God, know that it has the ability to fall or be destroyed.

Our faith needs to be in God and in God alone.

Let me help you out on something in this passage.

Verse 23 and 24 have been used in some circles as a blank check prayer request to all who believe.

Some even focus only on verse 24.

Understand that the more narrow you get in regards to context the more out of bounds you can be.

You also must include other scriptures that work progressively and contextually:

1 John 5:14 ESV

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

We are starting a series titled:

Have faith in God

Out the gate let me say this. So many people say they have faith in God or think they have faith in God, when actually they barely do.

It is a must as a believer that you have faith in God.

If you don’t have faith in God, your mind will literally fight you, when it comes to putting that faith to work.

And at some point you must put your faith to work because, faith without works is dead.

But when you need to put your faith into action:

Your mind will tell you that God loves others more than He love you.

Your mind will tell you that God will come through for others, but He won’t for you.

Your mind will keep a record of all the times you think God let you down, while at the same time forgetting all the time’s He’s come through for you.

If you allow it, your mind will have selective memory.

This is your mind at war against your spirit.

What is faith in God?

When we talk about having faith in God, what are we referring to?

(Pistis) Reliance upon and trust in God; which is a central emphasis of Christianity.

The word FAITH in and of itself has such a depth of meaning.

Faith – Belief; conviction; dependence; faithfulness; trust; a constant outlook of trust and dependence towards God.

Faith at its deepest level boils down to this constant outlook of trust and dependence towards God or in God.

(This is what God responds too. He doesn’t respond to doubt and unbelief. He responds to faith.)

Today’s message title is:

Do I have faith in God?

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

To even draw near to God, we have to have faith.

Faith that He exists and faith that He rewards those who seek him.

My question to you is first, do you believe God exist?

Second, do you believe that He rewards those who seek him?

I think that all believers believe that God exists.

I don’t think all believers believe that God rewards those who seek him.

So, let’s say that all believers have some level of faith in God.

Not all believers have the same level of faith in God.

It’s just like all humans having the same amount of muscles in their body.

Depending on whether or not you are referring to skeletal muscle or complex muscle, most experts say we have between 650 to a little over 800 muscles in the human body.

However, not all of our muscles have been activated at the same level.

(Bring up J2)

Why?

Because some work their muscles more than others.

Guess what?

Some work their faith in God more than others.

Point #1

Do I have selective faith?

Do I have faith in some of what God says but not all of what he says?

Most of us believe Genesis 1:1.

Genesis 1:1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

I don’t have confessing Christians coming to me at night like Nicodemus saying, “Pastor J, i’m struggling with the first part of the Bible.”

Most of us believe 1 John 2:2.

1 John 2:2 ESV

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Most believers believe that Christ atoned for our sins.

Even though most believe that many still act like they are under the Law.

We start to lose a lot of people at 2 Corinthians 5:21.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Many believers don’t believe they are now righteous through Christ.

I call it the great exchange.

We are Ambassadors for Christ.

Lexham Context Commentary:

Since Christ’s death has such powerful ramifications (5:15), Paul views everything differently, including people and Christ himself (5:16).

Salvation should change a person completely (5:17).

God is the one who actually accomplishes the reconciling work, but he shares the ministry of reconciliation with people (5:18–19).

Paul therefore lives like an ambassador for Christ, appealing to others to be reconciled to God (5:20).

This appeal to be reconciled is based on the immense grace God showed in punishing Christ in the stead of sinners, so that believing sinners might receive his righteousness (5:21; see also 1 Cor 1:30; Phil 3:9).

It portrays a cross-focused lifestyle.

The implications of Christ’s death should lead to a life of heart-felt evangelism.

We lose quite a few people at Psalm 103:8.

Psalm 103:8 ESV

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Lot’s of believers act like God is sitting behind a high raised desk with a black robe on and a gavel in his hand just sentencing them to guilty.

Point #2

How do I increase my faith?

The number one way to increase your faith is by increasing your knowledge of God’s track record.

Romans 10:17 ESV

Faith come’s by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

Some other ways to help increase your faith:

- Tell others about the goodness of God.

When you are constantly telling others of the goodness of God, it is keeping your faith built up at the same time.

- Surround yourself with other people of faith.

When you are constantly seeing others around you being people of faith, it challenges you to be a person of faith.

- Put your faith into action.

There is nothing like putting your faith to work.

Every time you see or hear what God has to say, act on it.

Which segues into point #3

Point #3

How do I put my faith to work?

James 2:14-17 ESV

14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

So, when we say we have faith in God, but our actions don’t show that faith, we are compared to someone telling a homeless person in the cold to stay warm, without providing them blankets.

Putting our faith to work is actually like Noah building an ark to save his family from the flood even though it had never rained before.

Hebrews 11:7 ESV

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Noah heard God’s instructions.

Noah believed what God told him.

Noah obeyed what God told him to do.

Even though everyone else was laughing at him and mocking him.

He heard, believed and obeyed.

(Closing illustration)

Saving for a rainy day.

If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?