FAITH TO MAKE IT THROUGH ANOTHER YEAR
Text: Romans 5: 1-11
We are all heading into a New Year.
There is nothing to good about the outlook of what we could be facing in the coming months.
There is uncertainty on every hand!
The world is far from peaceful.
We feel the increase of living costs;
Crime is on the rise,
There is rebellion against law and order.
Sorrow and heartaches will come!
If we look to our circumstances and surroundings, it is not good.
If you are not careful your faith will become week.
So what are the possibilities for a making it through 2007?
We need a faith that holds under the pressure!
Let me give you three things that you must rely upon.
I. WE MUST RELY ON GOD’S PROMISES
If we are to make it through this next year, it will be because you were relying on the very promises of God.
Over And Over we find those who relied on His promises.
Abraham was one. Turn to Hebrews 11:8-13
A promise was given to Abraham and yet we do not find that God gave any other information whatsoever.
God did not identify the country nor tell Abraham where he was to go.
Neither did God tell Abraham when his wife (Sarah) would bear the seed (the male child) from whom the promised nation would be born.
God made a simple promise, and all Abraham had to go on was that simple promise, that is, the sheer Word of God.
Only one condition was attached to the promise. Abraham had to believe God.
You cannot rely on the promise if you do not…
A. Know the promises of God.
Turn to 2 Peter 1:4 (KJV)
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Peter uses three words to describe the promises of God.
1. Exceeding = beyond natural limits of supernatural.
2. Great = large, surpassing all others.
3. Precious= of such great value that a suitable price is hard to estimate.
The great and mighty promises of’ God mean nothing because most people do not know what they are.
How can you ever have faith in His promise of peace, power, provisions, and all needful things unless you know the promises?
How many promises of the bible do you really know?
How many can you name?
You cannot rely on the promise if you do not…
B. Use the promises.
Too many people live poorly while wealth and abundance are stored nearby.
We need to turn the promises of God into present possessions.
You cannot rely on the promise if you do not…
C. Embrace the promises.
Don’t just distantly acknowledge them.
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
We are talking about the faith that pleases God it is found in that individual who is willing to embrace the promises that were made by God.
Who is patiently waiting for the promises to be fulfilled, even if it doesn’t happen in their
lifetime.
But they believe with conviction and confidence of things hoped for and things not seen.
You cannot rely on the promise if you do not…
D. Trust His promises.
Some people know the promises, even try to use them; but they still are fearful and afraid. Why?
Because they are not sure that God is faithful to perform what He has promised.
In childlike faith believe what God has said Like Abraham and rest your soul on His Word.
II. WE MUST RELY ON GOD’S PAST PERFORMANCE
Psalms 77:11 (KJV) “I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.”
Psalms 143:5 (KJV) “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.”
One of man’s greatest failures is forgetting God’s past blessings. Despite all the miracles which God has performed for us, we go about complaining about all of our hardships and problems.
God realizes that we often forget what he has done for us. In Deuteronomy. 6:12 Moses issued a final warning to Israel just before they entered the promise land, “beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt…”
Some times we need to get out the photo album and remember!
We who are Christians…
• were lost -dead in trespasses and sins.
• were on the broad road to hell, without power to change our course.
• Christ came and died for our sins on the Cross and saved us from our sins, and changed our destiny from hell to heaven.
III. WE MUST RELY ON GOD’S PRESENT POWER
1 Chronicles 29:10-12 (KJV)
“Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.”
Ephesians 1:19 (KJV) “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”
God’s present power! He has the power to do that which men say is impossible.
My failures have been my failures, not God’s.
Then let us rely upon our supernatural and all-powerful God.
A. There Is Great Power In His Presence.
• Brings an uneasiness to the wicked
• Cause demons to flee
B. There Is Great Power In His Voice.
The voice of God…
• Cerates
• Moves mountains
• Clams the seas
C. There Is Great Power In His Touch.
The touch of God…
• Transforms,
• Ordains,
• Unifies,
• Corrects,
• Heals,
• Illuminates.
Someone has said: "Faith works better when there is no natural hope. If there be even a straw for sight to cling to, then faith finds difficulty."
The greatest faith is born in the hour of despair. When we can see no hope and no way out, then faith rises and brings the victory.
Here is the basis of faith for another year: first, rely on God’s promises; second, rely on God’s past performance; third, rely on God’s present power.
Conclusion:
Many of you cannot take the promises of God for peace and power and provision because you have not accepted His dear Son as your Saviour. You cannot pray, "Our Father," because you have rejected His Son. Your need is Christ. Your need is salvation.
