Pressing Faith

Luke 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth (forces crowds seizes)into it.

There is something to be said for faith that neither gets bogged down in the present nor anchors itself to the past but rather looks forward to the future with longing and desire for something more.

• It is a faith that, while holding fast to the foundations of past blessing and past experience, presses through the difficulties of the present and reaches for the promise of the future.

o Forward facing faith peers into tomorrow to catch a glimpse of promises fulfilled.

• A faith that refuses to believe that our best is behind us.

o A faith that refuses to accept that our present circumstances are as good as it gets.

o A faith that longs for and desires after the future.

o A faith that enables the mind to believe that there is a better day ahead, that the best is yet to come.

• This is the kind of faith that we must cultivate in our lives.

o It’s a kind of faith that is always looking ahead, that is never satisfied with what we have but is always reaching for something more.

The foundations that we've been given are great.

• Our glorious past is wonderful.

o The heritage that we continue is a priceless treasure.

o But I must extend my faith to believe that God isn't finished with us yet!

• The past is to be saluted and honored but I still believe that the end of this thing will be better than its beginnings.

o I hear the words of my master echoing in my ears, "Truly, truly, I say to

you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do..." (John 14:12)

• Greater works and better things are still before us.

Our main problem is that we live in the present.

• The here and now is often overwhelming.

o The past is a distant memory and our future is out there somewhere but today’s worries, today’s doubts and fears, they require, even demand the majority of our time and attention.

• The details; the circumstances;

• the struggles; the battles;

• even the mundane tasks;

o our present demands our attention and attempts to dominate us.

• But forward facing faith says, "I refuse to accept things as they are."

o I may have to endure the present, but my hope is in the future.

• Forward facing faith refuses to be constrained within the limits of what can be seen and understood at this present time.

o It refuses to define tomorrow in the terms of today's abilities or inabilities.

o It refuses to trade the warmth of hope for the stark coldness of reality.

With a boldness that can only be drawn from hope, forward facing faith embraces a promise that has not yet been fulfilled.

• It sees the future, not through the lens of the present, but, rather, through the prism of promise.

o It is a faith that invests itself in a hope for a better tomorrow.

o A faith that yearns for the better things that have been spoken but haven't yet been fulfilled.

• It's David with a king's anointing and a shepherd’s staff.

o It’s the little old lady looking at the prophet and saying all is well when her son lies dead in his bed.

• It’s that inexhaustible faith that is fully vested in the possibilities that exist only as mirages on the horizon. Faith that will cause someone to question your thinking or even your sanity

This is the kind of faith that looses the promises of God.

• This is the kind of faith that isn't content to grow comfortable in the present but reaches into the future and pulls itself into a promise.

o It's the kind of faith that believes, that if God said it, he's gonna bring it to pass.

o It's the kind of faith that acknowledges that God is sovereign, he's in control, and it places its trust fully in Him to open the doors that no man can open and to make a way where no man can make a way.

• It’s the kind of faith that looks upon tomorrow sees it through the perspective of hope in what God can bring to pass.

Our text, Luke 16:16 says, "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."

• everyone forces his way into it."

• When I read that scripture something stirred deep down on the inside.