We Walk By Faith Part 9
Shipwrecked Faith Part 2
Scriptures: Galatians 5:6; 1 John 4:7-8; John 3:16; 13:34; Matthew 24:4-12
Introduction:
Last week I shared with you what it meant to have shipwrecked faith. In part one of this conclusion of my faith series, I shared with you that our faith can become shipwrecked when we walk away from the one true source of our faith: God and His word. It is God and His word that will sustain us during the worse circumstances imaginable if we trust and allow Him to. This morning I will close out this series by focusing on how we can maintain our faith or get it back on track if it had become shipwrecked. Let me say up front that I have had times in my life where my faith was not only shipwrecked, but it had run so far aground that the water could not reach it. It was grounded so far on shore that you could a mile from the water on the beach before you ever saw it. During the darkest days of my life, there was God. I would not be standing before you today had I not found my way back to my source. If you have had problems and began to believe that God was not working on your behalf something has caused your faith to shift. In my message last week I gave you the example of the chip in your windshield that if left alone will eventually become a crack. This morning we will approach this as if the chip has become a crack.
I. The Slow Deterioration Of Faith
As a quick review, I want to remind you that anyone who has suffered shipwrecked faith understands that it was a gradual process. The faith did not become shipwrecked overnight. As with a ship in the natural, when it is wrecked, pieces do not float away from it immediately. First there is damage to the ship in the initial wreckage and then as the waves continue to beat upon the ship more and more pieces break off. Last week I gave you the example of how we have lost faith in friends and family members. First we hear the rumors or witness something that causes our faith to be shaken. As times goes on, we begin to witness other things that seem to pile on and add more evidence that our faith is in the wrong person. The wreck started when we first began to doubt. The breakage started when we accepted the first pangs of doubt and began to entertain other evidence that the doubt was justified. Before we knew it not only was the doubt proven to be true, but we were left wondering why we ever trusted the person to begin with.
When we were talking about this during Bible study we talked about Job. I briefly mentioned Job in my message last week. Here is something I want you to consider about the story of Job. Satan is mentioned in the first two chapters of Job. In both instances he appeared before God trying to gain more freedom to attack Job. We know that in both requests God allowed him to have access to Job. (Remember, Satan had stated that God had a hedge of protection around Job and he would only have known that if he had tried to get to Job before.) To prove a point, God allowed Satan to get beyond the hedge. After the first two attacks on Job we do not hear anymore of Satan coming into God’s presence concerning Job because Job had withstood him. When we read the rest of the book we do not read anything else about Satan. Does that mean that he gave up? Absolutely not! Satan did not give up, but he changed his tactics. Satan began to use Job’s wife and friends to beat him down, to get him to acknowledge that he had done something to bring this on himself. I share this with you so that you understand that our enemy is a real one and he will use whatever resources he has available to shipwreck our faith. If we understand this, then we are in a better position to be ready to stand when the attacks come and we are open and ready to receive direction from God pertaining to our responses to the attacks.
Our faith does not become shipwrecked overnight in most cases. What oftentimes happen is that we experience a shaking of our faith that we never fully recover from. Something bad happens to us spiritually and we set ourselves on guard from that day forward to ensure that it could not happen to us again. Maybe we stepped out in faith in doing something for God and it did not work out just right and we decided never again will we do that. Maybe we believed God for something important and it did not work out, so we stopped believing and took the stance that “whatever will be will be.” Whatever the case our faith experienced a slow decline because we did not fight to recover from the attack. That being said, let’s look at a few steps we can do to begin recovering and rebuilding our faith after a wreck.
II. Love Powers Faith
Turn with me to Galatians 5:6 and then we will back track to some other Scriptures to support what Paul says here about faith. Galatians 5:6 says “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” Love is the power source for our faith. It is impossible for someone to walk in faith with Christ and not walk in love. The two will not exist spiritually without the other. First John 4:7-8 says “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” We need to know this because as I told you several weeks ago, there is a lot of hating going on in God’s name and it has nothing to do with real faith. Turn with me to the book of John. I want to let you hear what Jesus said about love.
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Now you might be wondering why love plays such a vital role in our faith. Let me give you another natural example that might make this clearer. If you were not close to someone would they ever be in a position to cause you to lose faith in them? If you have ever lost faith in someone it was most likely someone that you had a relationship with; someone that you cared for. I have had times when I lost faith in individuals that I cared for but those times did not hurt as much as when someone else lost faith in me for something that I did. Regardless of which role you were in, whether you lost faith in someone or they lost faith in you, the foundation of the development of the faith in the beginning was a relationship that you had with them.
This is the same way it works spiritually. When we are in a relationship with God and we love Him above all else, our faith can only be shipwrecked when we begin believing something about Him that we did not believe previously. When we examine the examples from last week, both individuals’ faith became shipwrecked when they began to believe and teach a different doctrine that was not based on the truth. The faith of those who listened to their teachings wavered because what they were hearing was in contrast to what they previously believed. They had believed that they would be resurrected with Christ and now they were hearing that the resurrection had already taken place. What they previously had been looking forward to now appear to be a hoax. The love they had for God came into question because they were trying to determine just what to believe.
John 3:16 which says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” In this verse we find God’s motivation for sending Jesus. He was motivated by the love that He had for the world. He loved the world so much that He desired to save us from ourselves. In order for us to have faith, we must love God first and then our fellowman. In John 13:34 Jesus says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Again we find the key importance of love. We are commanded to love one another. How does our love for one another impact our faith? It impacts our faith because everything we do for God is based on our love for Him and His love flowing through us to the people we interact with. That is why we can turn the other cheek when we are abused. That is why we can pray for those who are spiteful to us. That is why we continue to get back up and do what is right for others even when they hate us. We do this because of the love of God that is flowing within us. To bring this home, let me read a forecast that Jesus gave for our times. Turn with me to Matthew 24:4-12.
Jesus was with His disciples when they asked Him to tell them about the signs of His return. Let’s read Matthew 24:4-12 because His answer will help us understand the days in which we are now living. Matthew 24:4-12 records the following: “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying ‘I am the Christ’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”
What is the first thing that Jesus warns them about? He warns them not to be misled by anyone. Jesus then tell them about the false prophets, the rumors of wars; nations rising against nations; earthquakes and famines in various places; people turning on one another; how they will kill the followers of Christ; and then He comes back to the false prophets that will arise and mislead many. If you follow what He says in a logical order, all of these things will lead to the love of many becoming cold. In other words, because of everything happening around them many people will stop loving one another as their faith becomes fragile and even shipwrecked. Love is the glue that holds our faith together and Jesus was warning His disciples that there will be so much negative stuff coming at us in conjunction with the teachings of false prophets that many will be mislead and fall away. For those who struggle through, many of them will lose their love for their fellow man. This is a process. We must understand that the things we go through can impact our faith especially when we allow our love to grow cold. In these last days there will be so much coming at us that if we are not careful and so in love with God that we might stumble. We must be careful to protect what is within us.
Love is truly important to our faith. So let’s go back to the question of faith that is shipwrecked. If your faith has ever been shaken or been shipwrecked, what was the cause? When you look at others whose faith has been shipwrecked, what was the cause? What caused their faith to become shipwrecked? Was it because they were mislead by some false doctrine? Was it because they were hurt by the actions or sins of another Christian? Or was it because they had prayed and prayed about something the way they were taught and it did not happen. Whatever caused their faith to be shaken can only be undone through the love of God. There is no other way. This may sound corny or very “religious” but let me explain with a consideration of this question: How much do you love God?
I mean really, how much do you really, absolutely, love God? Do you love Him with all your heart and soul? Do you love Him enough to follow a path that you do not know where it leads? Do you love Him enough to fight against everything that comes against Him? How much do you love Him? It is extremely easy to say that you love God a lot; but is that the truth? First John 4 told us that we could not love God if we did not love our fellowman – including those that hurt us. My faith is only as strong as the love that resides within me. The same applies to you. That is why our enemy uses fear and hate so effectively in our lives because the fear and hate causes our love to run cold. When we stop loving our faith becomes brittle. Cold love makes brittle faith.
When I was in the Air Force, I was a medic. One of my responsibilities was to assist with the treatment of patients with warts. One of the treatments we used was liquid nitrogen. We would use that to freeze the wart and it would eventually fall off. Well there were times when we were bored and use used the liquid nitrogen for other things. Once we took an apple and dropped it into the liquid nitrogen. When we removed the apple and dropped it on the floor, it shattered. I believe that our love can become so cold that it will take our faith and cool it to the point that our faith will shatter when we are faced with a difficult situation. If your faith is wavering or even shipwrecked, get back in touch with God and begin to love Him again. I can promise you that there is no way your faith can be shipwrecked if you love God and your fellow man. Likewise there is no way you can walk in strong faith if you are walking in hatred. Look in the mirror and see what you see – love or hate.
III. Establish Your Faith In God
When Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, they passed a fig tree that had no fruit although it was in season. Jesus spoke to the fig tree that no one would eat from it again. Later that evening when they were leaving the city, they passed that same fig tree, but where as it was alive that morning, it was now withered. Peter commented to Jesus about the fig tree being withered. Here is what Jesus said to them all as found in Mark 11:22-24: “…..Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”
When Jesus responded to Peter He told him to have faith in God. If your faith has been shaken or shipwrecked, it can only be because something has come along and shaken your confidence in God the Father. In these verses Jesus puts the horse before the cart while we do the opposite. We try to speak things into existence when our faith has not been established firmly in God. If you have worked out the love requirement, the next area of focus is our belief in God. When we’re at our worse, believe God. When all is falling around us and we cannot see the light for the darkness, believe God. Allow God’s word to be the final authority on every situation. When God speaks to you, believe Him versus believing what man will tell you. Man will tell you your situation is bad; God will tell you it will be fixed. Man will tell you not to love because it will lead to hurt; God says love despite the hurt. Man will tell you it is not worth it; God will tell you everything is worth something.
If your faith has been shaken or shipwrecked, who are you listening to? If you love God with your whole heart, stop listening to man and allowing man to have the final say. When you give God the final say you established your faith with Him. When you go through a terrible storm where it looks like man is correct; regroup and refocus and give God the final say. I do not care how many times man tells you you’re done, give God the final say. When we give God the final say in our lives our faith at that point is established. If you’re not giving God the final say then your faith has been shaken. Go back to the beginning and reestablish your faith with God by letting Him have the last say. Ask God first and believe God first. No exception! In all circumstances ask God first and then believe God first.
IV. Speak Your Faith
I want to close with this final point. Your faith should be spoken – out loud with your mouth. If you believe it in your heart, speak it with your mouth. If you have doubt, keep your mouth closed until you can speak it with a believing faith. Luke 6:45 says “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” If you have faith in God in your heart you must let it come out of your mouth. I am not talking about the words you use, but the belief in the words. You can say things all day long and it will have no impact, but what you say from the heart has an impact, both positive and negative. Remember, you can speak negative faith as well as faith that is positive. We have a lot of practice speaking things that contradict our confessions and we must not get the two aligned.
Conclusion
I know I have said a lot on this series and hopefully you have gained some insight into where you are right now with your faith. Remember, faith is an unquestioning belief. You believe something without question. Shipwrecked faith is faith that is on the edge – you’re trying to believe but there are too many questions that you have that are not answered. I hope that you will consider taking a blind step. Whatever situation you are in right now, take a blind step of faith. Believe God versus all of the counsel that you have received from man. Follow His direction. I know it is easier said than done, but that is where His word comes in. If you read His word and get His word inside of you, then when you are faced with adverse situations, it is God’s word that will encourage you. His Spirit will bring forth that which is within your heart.
Love God and every man. Establish your faith in God and allow God to have the last word. Believe God versus man. Finally, begin speaking faith. Let the words flow from your mouth. Whenever you’re ready to speak doubt and unbelief, bite your tongue until you can turn the statements into faith statements. When you say something often enough, your mind will begin to believe it.
Your faith will not be shipwrecked if you love God and man; believe God; and confess what you believe. May God bless and keep you as you continue to grow in your faith.
