Series: The Pay-off of Perseverance
Message #2: Faith That Fulfills God’s Will – September 9, 2007
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what was promised…my righteous one will live by faith…we are not of those who shrink back…Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 10:36-11:1
Two Requirements For Doing God’s Will
Requirement #1: Perseverance is sticking with what God started, regardless of the struggle, by not giving up and going away when things get hard because there will be a pay-off in our own lives and in the lives of others.
Requirement #2: Faith
The Big Idea: By faith we will fulfill the will of God for our lives and in our church, regardless of the obstacles we will face.
1. Faith is moving forward in God’s will no matter the mountains we face.
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith and if he shrinks back I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. Hebrews 10:35-39
There are two groups of people, those who step backward out of fear
and those who step forward by faith.
As a church family, we are going to move forward together to fulfill, by faith, God’s will for our church.
Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so a herald may run with it. For the revelation waits an appointed time; it speaks of the end it will not prove false; though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay…the righteous will live by faith . Habakkuk 2:2-4
It takes faith not to walk away but to wait for what God is going to do.
Faith moves us as a family to not give up and get out but to move forward,
despite the mountains we face, because we know there will be a big and bright future.
And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith…“Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”… “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” … “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Matthew 13:58; 15:28; 17:20-21; Mark 9:23
Without a mountain, there would be no need for faith.
For our church to move forward in God’s will, it will take mountain-moving faith. If we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move obstacles as big as mountains
It is not the mountains that could keep us from moving forward but a lack of faith.
Faith is the power that makes the impossible possible.
2. Faith is confidence that God will complete what he called us to do.
Now faith is being sure… Hebrews 11:1
We are confident that God will complete in and through our church family what he has called us to do.
Faith does not doubt it will happen, but believes it will happen.
3. Faith is assurance God will accomplish what we anticipate for the future.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for… Hebrews 11:1
Hope is what we picture our church becoming in our minds, which produces passion in our hearts and perseverance in our lives. By faith, we believe this vision for the future will become reality.
4. Faith is seeing with our spiritual eyes what God says will happen before we see it with our physical eyes.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see... Hebrews 11:1
5. Faith is acting on the assignment God has given us because we are aware of future results.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain…Noah, built an ark…Abraham, when called to go to a place…obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going…he was looking forward to the city with foundations and whose architect and builder is God…By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice …By faith Moses persevered because he saw him who is invisible… Hebrews 11:4, 7-10, 17, 24-28
What is God asking me to do by faith? How will I act on it? What God asks us to do tests our faith.
Sometimes faith waits. Sometimes faith works. Sometimes faith walks. Sometimes faith weathers.
What Can We Learn About Faith?
1. Faith pleases God.
“…my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back I will not be pleased with him.” …By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did…he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings…Enoch…he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God… Hebrews10:38; 11:4-6
It pleases God when, by faith, I give God what is first.
2. Faith puts God’s plan into action.
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age…was enabled to become a father…By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people marched around them for seven days. Hebrews 11:30
God puts his plan in motion after we have mountain-moving faith. Trying to figure out how everything will happen before hand is not walking by faith. Faith will cause to happen what God calls us to do.
3. Faith is passed down.
…faith…this is what the ancients were commended for…And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead…All of these people were still living by faith when they died…These were all commended for their faith…Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross… Hebrews 11:1-2, 4, 13, 39; 12:1-2
Those before us, Jesus and those in the Bible, passed down their faith to us. Now we will pass down the same faith to those who come behind us. They were an example of faith and perseverance for us. Now we will be an example of faith and perseverance for those who follow after us.
