Hebrews 11:1-6 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
There has never ever been a better time to have faith than today.
Some people might dispute this. This is the age of skepticism. People are leaving churches in alarming numbers. In its place, they follow no religion--only a worldly materialism. Many of those who remain are troubled by doubt and wonder if it isn’t true that one religion is as good as another.
But all of this doesn’t make it a bad day for having faith. In fact, that is why it is a good day for faith. Sometimes it is all we have to count on.
In the next several weeks, we are going to be looking at what it means to ha ve faith. Our guide on this will be Hebrews 11, the "hall of fame of faith.”
Hebrews 11 begins Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Faith differs from belief. Any fool can believe in God. Belief is common, but faith is rare. Chances are good that as you read this, you believe. Very few people read religious articles or listen to a sermon will not at least believe something about God and Jesus. But that does not mean we act upon our belief. We may believe, but still worry about dying. We may believe God will provide, and still worry about our finances. We may believe God wants us to spread the Good News and we not act upon it. There is a huge gap between what we believe and what we have faith in. We believe, but God help us our unbelief.
Even so, it is a good day for faith.
What it always this way? Probably not. Never in history has this gap been so wide.
There are, I believe several reasons for this:
First, are our miraculous scientific advancements. Today all the miracles we see are scientific ones The scientific method has replaced faith. The result of this has been the advancement of human knowledge to the point that e have been able to produce secular miracles. The machines we have in our pocket and we take for granted would have been considered magic by our ancestors.
Second, is competition of world religions.. Thanks to the shrinking of the world through communication, we have knowledge of other religions. It is easy for us to think that our religion is no different. But if all faiths are the same, then no faith has any merit.
Third, is rampant materialism. Many proponents of the “health and wealth” gospel insist that if we just turn to Jesus, we’ll be rich and prosperous. It doesn't take a genius to see that this is not the case. In fact, many godless people are more prosperous than we are. When our faith fails, we look to things. We expect them to give us what God will not.
Fourth, are hidden sins. We live in a very private society, where no one outside of our homes know what we are doing or what we are watching. This was not always the case.Now there are dozens of hidden addictions which are sapping our faith--pornography, video games, television, shopping, to name a few. These addictions stand between us and God. They are a form of spiritual adultery. They replace God in our soul.
Fifth, is the frantic pace of life. There is no time to ghik about anything longer than the day. We must race on impulse, not on thoughtfulness. So we have no time to think about anything unseen. We are too busy reacting to what is right before us.
Remember, faith is acting on what we do not see. The more difficult faith becomes, the more pure it becomes.
Today many are losing their faith. But the faith they are losing is not true faith. It is a half-faith, based partially on belief in God and partially in believing in an old way of life that is disappearing. When that old way of life disappears, for many people so does their faith in God. But for those who continue on in faith, who trust in God in spite of their circumstances, they experience a deeper kind of faith than they have ever known.
Before coming to this church, I left a church with a large manse and a good salary, because I believed God wanted me to. It was frightening to say the least. Both of us had to find new jobs, and new ways to live. Like Abraham, we started off into the wilderness. We did not know what would be out there for us.
The very first day we arrived in our apartment in Pineville, I received a call from a pastor I did not know. He had heard about me, and wanted to check to see if I was all right. I had acquired a new friend. I went to the bookstore and got a job there. God provided in little pieces for us. In the story of Elijah, there is was a time when Elijah was out in the wilderness, and God fed him by ravens, dropping off their tiny loads of food. I felt like Elijah. We were walking not by sight but by faith. It was a most uncomfortable experience, but it was real.
In order to have true faith, we must lose our half faiths. We must put aside those props which keep us secure, so we can completely follow Him.
What are those props?
One is the Christian community. If we surrounded by those who have faith, then how will we even know when we don't? Our faith must be more than the faith of our fathers. It must be our own.
Another prop is our own strength. This shows up in our own expressions. "God helps those, who help themelves." If we are able to help ourselves, how do we know that God is helping? Trust in God, but keep your powder dry." Sure, God will defend us, but just in case God doesn't, we'd better be armed and ready. What we are doing is to imagine the world as an equal partnership between us and God, where he works only if we do, and he works only to the amount we do. There is no real room for faith in such a view. Faith that risks nothing, that costs nothing, that dares nothing is not faith. It is complacency.
A third prop is caution. We play it safe. We never take risks. Then we thank God that we haven’t had to risk anything.
Paul had no such timidity. He dove into his work with a reckless caution, trusting God would protect him,and he did. Jesus had no such caution. He mixed with the criminal element, yet never feared for his own safety. Peter had no such caution. He stayed with the Roman authorities—the same group that would later kill him. Yet he did it by faith, and God kept him safe until his work was done.
Toda is a great time for faith. Real faith begins when all reason for faith ends. It is standing on belief when there is nothing else to stand on. It is a leap, not a casual walk.
You don't have faith when you stand in the middle of the church to testify. But when you are stand on a street corner, and people all around you are shouting for you to sit down, yet you keep on testifying, then you have faith.
You don't have faith when you are wealthy and testify of God's blessings. But when you are poor, and you've been out of work for a year, and the bank is going to repossess your car, and you still thank God for His blessings, then you hfave faith.
You don't have faith when you love your friends. But when you love your enemies, as Christ loves them. then you have faith.
You don't have faith when you give God what you can afford. But when you give what you cannot afford, then you have faith.
You don't have faith when you praise God on Christmas Eve. But when the church is filled with strife, when Christians around you are judging you and acting like hypocrites, yet you still thank God for Him being there, then you have faith.
Faith is not reacting to what you can see. It is reacting to what you can't see.
One of my favorite testimonies of faith comes in the sixth chapter of John. Jesus had just said some difficult words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The people in the audience didn't know what he was talking about. They thought he was a nut and walked away. Even his own disciples didn't understand.
Then Jesus asked them if they will go too. They answer "Where else will we go? You only have the words which lead to eternal life."
That's faith. Nothing is going right, but they believe anyway.
Sometimes, faith is a desperate holding to what you believe to be true, even when everyone else says it is false. For generations, we have been denied the privilege of learning what faith truly is. We have not been comforted by faith, because we have no need no be comforted. We have not been strengthened by faith, because we have so many to strengthen us. It is only when there is no one, and no place else to go that we have to rely upon the evidence unseen and can enter the hall of fame of faith.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
There has never ever been a better time to have faith than today.
Some people might dispute this. This is the age of skepticism. People are leaving churches in alarming numbers. In its place, they follow no religion--only a worldly materialism. Many of those who remain are troubled by doubt and wonder if it isn’t true that one religion is as good as another.
But all of this doesn’t make it a bad day for having faith. In fact, that is why it is a good day for faith. Sometimes it is all we have to count on.
In the next several weeks, we are going to be looking at what it means to ha ve faith. Our guide on this will be Hebrews 11, the "hall of fame of faith.”
Hebrews 11 begins Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Faith differs from belief. Any fool can believe in God. Belief is common, but faith is rare. Chances are good that as you read this, you believe. Very few people read religious articles or listen to a sermon will not at least believe something about God and Jesus. But that does not mean we act upon our belief. We may believe, but still worry about dying. We may believe God will provide, and still worry about our finances. We may believe God wants us to spread the Good News and we not act upon it. There is a huge gap between what we believe and what we have faith in. We believe, but God help us our unbelief.
Even so, it is a good day for faith.
What it always this way? Probably not. Never in history has this gap been so wide.
There are, I believe several reasons for this:
First, are our miraculous scientific advancements. Today all the miracles we see are scientific ones The scientific method has replaced faith. The result of this has been the advancement of human knowledge to the point that e have been able to produce secular miracles. The machines we have in our pocket and we take for granted would have been considered magic by our ancestors.
Second, is competition of world religions.. Thanks to the shrinking of the world through communication, we have knowledge of other religions. It is easy for us to think that our religion is no different. But if all faiths are the same, then no faith has any merit.
Third, is rampant materialism. Many proponents of the “health and wealth” gospel insist that if we just turn to Jesus, we’ll be rich and prosperous. It doesn't take a genius to see that this is not the case. In fact, many godless people are more prosperous than we are. When our faith fails, we look to things. We expect them to give us what God will not.
Fourth, are hidden sins. We live in a very private society, where no one outside of our homes know what we are doing or what we are watching. This was not always the case.Now there are dozens of hidden addictions which are sapping our faith--pornography, video games, television, shopping, to name a few. These addictions stand between us and God. They are a form of spiritual adultery. They replace God in our soul.
Fifth, is the frantic pace of life. There is no time to ghik about anything longer than the day. We must race on impulse, not on thoughtfulness. So we have no time to think about anything unseen. We are too busy reacting to what is right before us.
Remember, faith is acting on what we do not see. The more difficult faith becomes, the more pure it becomes.
Today many are losing their faith. But the faith they are losing is not true faith. It is a half-faith, based partially on belief in God and partially in believing in an old way of life that is disappearing. When that old way of life disappears, for many people so does their faith in God. But for those who continue on in faith, who trust in God in spite of their circumstances, they experience a deeper kind of faith than they have ever known.
Before coming to this church, I left a church with a large manse and a good salary, because I believed God wanted me to. It was frightening to say the least. Both of us had to find new jobs, and new ways to live. Like Abraham, we started off into the wilderness. We did not know what would be out there for us.
The very first day we arrived in our apartment in Pineville, I received a call from a pastor I did not know. He had heard about me, and wanted to check to see if I was all right. I had acquired a new friend. I went to the bookstore and got a job there. God provided in little pieces for us. In the story of Elijah, there is was a time when Elijah was out in the wilderness, and God fed him by ravens, dropping off their tiny loads of food. I felt like Elijah. We were walking not by sight but by faith. It was a most uncomfortable experience, but it was real.
In order to have true faith, we must lose our half faiths. We must put aside those props which keep us secure, so we can completely follow Him.
What are those props?
One is the Christian community. If we surrounded by those who have faith, then how will we even know when we don't? Our faith must be more than the faith of our fathers. It must be our own.
Another prop is our own strength. This shows up in our own expressions. "God helps those, who help themelves." If we are able to help ourselves, how do we know that God is helping? Trust in God, but keep your powder dry." Sure, God will defend us, but just in case God doesn't, we'd better be armed and ready. What we are doing is to imagine the world as an equal partnership between us and God, where he works only if we do, and he works only to the amount we do. There is no real room for faith in such a view. Faith that risks nothing, that costs nothing, that dares nothing is not faith. It is complacency.
A third prop is caution. We play it safe. We never take risks. Then we thank God that we haven’t had to risk anything.
Paul had no such timidity. He dove into his work with a reckless caution, trusting God would protect him,and he did. Jesus had no such caution. He mixed with the criminal element, yet never feared for his own safety. Peter had no such caution. He stayed with the Roman authorities—the same group that would later kill him. Yet he did it by faith, and God kept him safe until his work was done.
Toda is a great time for faith. Real faith begins when all reason for faith ends. It is standing on belief when there is nothing else to stand on. It is a leap, not a casual walk.
You don't have faith when you stand in the middle of the church to testify. But when you are stand on a street corner, and people all around you are shouting for you to sit down, yet you keep on testifying, then you have faith.
You don't have faith when you are wealthy and testify of God's blessings. But when you are poor, and you've been out of work for a year, and the bank is going to repossess your car, and you still thank God for His blessings, then you hfave faith.
You don't have faith when you love your friends. But when you love your enemies, as Christ loves them. then you have faith.
You don't have faith when you give God what you can afford. But when you give what you cannot afford, then you have faith.
You don't have faith when you praise God on Christmas Eve. But when the church is filled with strife, when Christians around you are judging you and acting like hypocrites, yet you still thank God for Him being there, then you have faith.
Faith is not reacting to what you can see. It is reacting to what you can't see.
One of my favorite testimonies of faith comes in the sixth chapter of John. Jesus had just said some difficult words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The people in the audience didn't know what he was talking about. They thought he was a nut and walked away. Even his own disciples didn't understand.
Then Jesus asked them if they will go too. They answer "Where else will we go? You only have the words which lead to eternal life."
That's faith. Nothing is going right, but they believe anyway.
Sometimes, faith is a desperate holding to what you believe to be true, even when everyone else says it is false. For generations, we have been denied the privilege of learning what faith truly is. We have not been comforted by faith, because we have no need no be comforted. We have not been strengthened by faith, because we have so many to strengthen us. It is only when there is no one, and no place else to go that we have to rely upon the evidence unseen and can enter the hall of fame of faith.
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