The Object of Faith
01/17/10 AM
Text: Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”
Introduction
In our lesson today we are going to focus on a topic that is crucial to any who would seek to follow after God: faith.
Faith is so elemental that we tend to simply overlook it, kind of like air, we don't generally give much thought to air, we just breathe. And faith is just as important to our spiritual lives as air is to our physical lives, without it we cannot and will not live.
Faith brings us life eternal, we are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8 “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that we live by faith, not by sight.
Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith we gain approval from God, faith guides our worship, our obedience, our lives, and makes us pleasing to God. In fact without faith it is impossible to please God.
Faith makes us what we are and there are some things concerning faith of which we should be aware.
I. The Object of Faith Determines its value.
A. Everyone has an object of faith.
1. HMS Titanic, the “unsinkable ship”
a. The ship was the object of every passenger.
b. Those who did not embark were saved by their lack of faith (some canceled because of the shipping lines statement.)
c. Today men still put their faith in the things of men (Technology, science, money)
2. The things of men are not worthy of absolute trust.
a. All things of this world will ultimately fail.
b. Even if the Titanic had not sunk, it would eventually corrode away.
c. Nothing in this world is permanent (Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”)
3. Only thing worthy of complete trust is that which is proven consistent.
a. Dirigibles were once considered the epitome of travel.
b. After several disasters they were abandoned, it was proven unreliable, unworthy of faith.
3. God has proven Himself over the course of time as an unwavering object worth of our faith.
a. In comparison, anything else, everything else falls short.
b. Joshua 21:45 “Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
c. Hebrews 13:7-8 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
d. We imitate their faith from which their conduct flowed. Their conduct was good because of the object of their faith, the unchanging Christ.
II. Our Faith Depends on Our Knowledge of its Object.
A. The better we know the object of our faith, the greater will be our faith.
1. Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
a. The quality of our faith depends on knowing the word of God.
b. I weaken my faith when I lean on my own wisdom or the wisdom of men.
c. Strong faith depends on sure knowledge. Not the opinion of what is true, the truth as found in His word.
2. Corinthians 1:25 the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
a. We must trust only in the word of God, not what we are told to believe, not what we want to believe, but what God has told us to believe.
III A Seed of Faith
A. Plant your faith and trust it to grow.
1. From His word we have the testimony of countless witnesses to establish our faith.
a. This was the admonition Jesus gave many times to His followers: Have a little faith!
b. Matthew 6:30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
Matthew 8:26 He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
Matthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, " You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Matthew 16:8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, " You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?
Matthew 17:20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
Conclusion
For our faith to be sure we must place it in the only thing that is sure, the word of God.
Invitation
