SPIRITUAL MUSCLE
Many today are involved in some sort of regular, routine exercise program. They might go to the gym to lift weights. Maybe it’s Tae-bo in front of the TV at home. Some go for a run each day while others take the dog for a walk. Exercise is a big thing in America and for good reason. We know of the benefits of exercise in reducing stress, keeping a healthy heart and in weight management.
But have you ever considered spiritual exercise? If so, what would you try to strengthen? I believe it would be FAITH. Faith is the spiritual muscle of the soul. Faith is an incredible thing. But what is it? How important is it? How do you know if you have it? What should you use it for if you’ve got it? If you don’t have it, how can you get it? Is it real or is it plastic? These are all important questions that we will answer today.
There are two stories of faith in today’s passage of scripture that we will first read. They are in Luke 8:40 – 56. The first story is the story of Jairus and his daughter who lay dying back at his house. His story is interrupted by a woman who comes with an issue of blood and touches Jesus’ garment. She is immediately healed. Jesus tells her THY FAITH HATH MADE THEE WHOLE, GO IN PEACE. And then we find Jairus’ story picked back up as a man comes from his house to tell him not to bother any more, his daughter is dead. Jesus says FEAR NOT, ONLY BELIEVE AND SHE SHALL BE MADE WHOLE. Jesus is mocked. He is scorned by the non-believers who have gathered to mourn this little girl’s death. Jesus puts them all out of the house and says MAID, ARISE and the girl is restored whole.
So we see in these stories, FAITH. We see faith mentioned in many other stories. Last week we saw the woman who came to Jesus with the alabaster box of ointment to worship Him, by FAITH believing He could forgive her of her sins. So what is this faith? How much faith must they have had to have seen these miracles done in their lives? Was it because of their faith or did these things only happen because Jesus was there on the scene? So many questions, lets see if we can answer some of them.
First lets answer the question as to the importance of FAITH. A verse we all know is Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through FAITH… Is faith important? It must be, we are saved through it. Is it important once you are saved? Hebrews 11:6 tells us For without FAITH it is impossible to please Him, to please God. Faith is not just important, faith is essential, it is necessary. Without it it is impossible to be saved or to please God as a Christian.
Can we define FAITH? Hebrews 11:1 gives us a pretty good definition. Now FAITH is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Does that definition cover the faith that Jairus had and the faith that this woman had who came and touched Jesus and was healed? I believe it does. They were not followers of Jesus. Jairus was a Jew. He was the ruler of the synagogue. Perhaps he had heard Jesus teach there on some Sabbath. He may or may not have seen Jesus heal before. But he had enough faith to come to Jesus for his daughter’s healing. And then what of this woman? She was not a disciple. Had she heard Him speak someplace? Had she heard about Him by word of mouth? We don’t know. But her faith was so strong that all she had to do was touch His garment. She didn’t even have to ask. She just reached out and touched Him in FAITH. So FAITH is the substance of hope. Faith turns what is otherwise intangible into what is tangible.
How then do you get this faith? Romans 10:17 says So then FAITH cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. FAITH comes by hearing the Word of God. How important is this book then that I am holding? How important then is the man or the woman who brings that Word whether it be with a Gospel tract, a Sunday school lesson, a personal witness or through preaching? Verse 15 tells us How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things! But how does hearing this Word bring about FAITH? I would now take you to Isaiah 1:18 Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. How does FAITH come by hearing? Because when the Word of God shared, the Holy Spirit of God moves on a person’s heart. Convicting them of sin and telling them of their need for a Savior.
How strong is my faith? How strong should it or could it be? Well James said Show me your FAITH without your works and I’ll show you my FAITH by my works. What works, what spiritual fruit has your life produced? According to James, this is a measure of your faith. How strong should it or can it be? Well Jesus told His disciples that if they had FAITH the size of a mustard seed that they could move mountains. Well I don’t remember any stories if the disciples moving any mountains. In fact, at the time that Jesus made this statement their FAITH was still pretty weak. But their FAITH did grow and in time they did mighty things for God. So strength is measured by actions, works or fruit. Just as we might ask a weightlifter how many pounds he can bench press, or a basketball player how high he can jump, or a runner how fast he can run the mile, we can judge our faith by our fruit.
I believe that leaves one more question. Is your FAITH real or plastic? If you’ve ever picked up a wax apple or a plastic banana you understand what I’m talking about. If you’ve ever stuck your fingers into a potted plant to see if it was planted in dirt or in Styrofoam to see if it was real or artificial you understand what I mean. Not all faith is real, nor is all fruit the genuine thing. There is an imitation faith that produces imitation fruit and it can be very dangerous. Let me give you another illustration. When I was 16 I wanted to get my motorcycle license. I already had my permit and had been riding with my dad for a couple of years. So when Spring came the year following my 16th birthday I enrolled in a motorcycle safety class. The class went by smoothly. I memorized all of the information I would need for the written test. I went through the driving portion of the class just fine. But then it came time for the instructor to make a point. He took a bicycle wheel with a metal pole of some sort stuck through the center bearings so that we would have something to hold on to. He then would spin the wheel as fast as he could and then challenged us to try to turn that wheel to the right or to the left. With much force we could move the wheel just a little bit but as soon as we stopped trying the wheel would immediately return to the upright position, still spinning just as fast as ever. The point he was trying to make had to do with the laws of physics and an object that is in motion staying in motion. The theory as it applied to motorcycles was that if an operator suddenly had to swerve to miss something he could throw the motorcycle hard to one side or the other causing the bike to swerve and miss the obstacle. The bike would immediately pop back up as soon as pressure was released from the handle bars because of this law of physics. It sounded great in the classroom. But then, to pass the class, he wanted each one of us to try it out on the test track. Now I had faith in that bicycle wheel in the classroom because I could see it and I was in no danger from it. But I did not have FAITH in that instructor. I did not have FAITH in his theory regarding that motorcycle. And no matter how many times I saw it demonstrated I was not going to try it. So what was I to do? I had to pass the class so I could get my license. I faked it. I got on the bike, got up to a certain speed and I through my body to one side, but not the bike. I did the same thing on the other side of the bike, the whole time hoping that the instructor wouldn’t notice, and he didn’t, or at least he didn’t say anything. I faked my faith in him, I faked my FAITH in his law of physics, and I faked the test in order to pass.
Now I ask you to consider the things that we do by FAITH. We are saved by FAITH. We serve by FAITH. To be saved by FAITH requires a real genuine FAITH in a real genuine God. There are a lot of imitators out there. To many God is not much more than a fairy tale. We’ll say that we’ve placed our FAITH in God to save our souls but what happens when sickness comes, what happens when financial hardship comes, what happens when there’s a problem with a relationship, an unfaithful spouse or a rebellious child. Was the God who was sufficient and powerful enough to save your soul sufficient and powerful enough to bring you through these troubles and trials as well? If not, it might be time to re-examine your FAITH. I for one wouldn’t trust a God with my soul who I couldn’t trust when a little hardship came along in my life.
And we serve by Faith, that is, if we’re serving in the Spirit and not in the flesh. But how often do we actually serve in the flesh? How many times do we pick the easiest task to do, knowing that we can do it with or without God’s help? Every one of us has a list of things that we know we can do without even praying about it. And every one of us has a list of things that we wouldn’t even consider doing. Where is our FAITH? If you go out on a visit without FAITH that God is going to do something, that God is going to use what you are doing, you have just produced plastic fruit. If you go on a mission’s trip figuring that you’re just along for the ride, that somebody else can do the work, do the witnessing, congratulations, you’ve just product a wax apple.
Faith is the spiritual muscle of the soul. It’s not just important, it’s essential. You cannot please God without FAITH. So how is your FAITH? Could it use a little exercise? Is it real? Is it genuine? You have to answer those questions for yourself. I pray today that if God has showed you something about your life that you will deal with it today before you leave.
