Faith

FAITH

Story: Allah has the plane:

Imagine a cliff and canyon—200 feet deep; 100 feet across—I have 50 feet of strong cable and 50 feet of dry rotted rope—Any takers?

I. FAITH TO BELIEVE IN GOD FOR SALVATION. JOHN 1:12

A) “firm persuasion,” a conviction based upon hearing”

B) In God for His truthfulness—not just that God exists in some form but that a holy, righteous, and loving God created this world, had a plan for man’s salvation, and is watching over us today.

C) In Christ—The Son of God who was God in the flesh….Died for our sins and provides forgiveness for all of our iniquities.

1) Faith to believe that we need salvation.

2) Faith to believe that God wants to save us.

Charles Spurgeon put it, “If we have to put one stitch into the garment of our salvation, we shall ruin the whole thing.”

II. FAITH TO BELIEVE IN GOD FOR LIVING.

A) Did God create the world or set evolution in motion and then stand back with his arms crossed waiting to see what we will do? Is He unwilling to interact with us on a personal level?

B) ILL. T.V. program on the other night that talked about things that are unexplained. It dealt some with people who were rescued from the World Trade Center on 9-11. Then it told about a church that was featured on the cover of Time Magazine back in the 50’s. It seems this preacher had experienced a tiring day and went home for only a few minutes to get a bite to eat before returning to choir practice in this small Baptist church in Nebraska. He was always prompt and his choir members were as well. Most of them would be early each week for practice….

C) Do you have faith that will cause you to seek God about the decisions you must make in work, home, financial, and relationship decisions? Proverbs 3:5-6

III. FAITH TO BELIEVE IN GOD FOR HOLDING ON. II Cor 5:7 “For we walk by faith not by sight.”

A) This is the hardest kind of faith to have. We know that Faith is the evidence of things unseen and the substance of things hoped for:

1) We know that we cannot see God with our eyes;

2) But there may come a time when you cannot see God in any way and it will be only by your faith that His promises are true that you will hold on.

Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.

Oswald Chambers in Run Today’s Race

B) God had promised Abraham descendants that would outnumber the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky.

1) Abraham was old—but he believed God.

2) God gave him that child—Issac and then He told Abraham to sacrifice this son.

3) It wasn’t until Abraham acted on faith that God revealed the solution—A ram caught in a thicket.

O for a faith that will not shrink, ‘Tho pressed by every foe, That will not tremble on the brink Of any earthly woe! That will not murmur nor complain Beneath the chastening rod, But, in the hour of grief or pain, Will lean upon its God; A faith that shines more bright and clear When tempests rage without That when in danger knows no fear, In darkness feels no doubt. - William H. Bathurst