The Workings of Faith in the Life of a Believer
INTERESTING FACTS
• Taken from its hive, the bee knows its way home.
• A horse can be depended on to find its way home to the corral.
• Cats and dogs have made the “incredible journey” home after being lost or being moved to a distant place.
• The tiny hummingbird strikes out boldly across the 500 mile Gulf of Mexico to its warm winter in Yucatan.
• Similarly, what instinct is for animals, faith could be attributed towards Christians?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
It is divinely given to each believer, by the Spirit of God.
Faith seeks out a better land than the present (namely heaven)
The journey home may be perilous, dangerous, having toils and snares; but the believer can be rest assured, the climate there in heaven is much better suited to their new nature than this sin cursed earth.... Ref: Hope for Heaven, Help for Here and Now Devotional, Pg 75; Sonshine Society.
LETS SIMPLY NOTE A FEW THINGS ABOUT FAITH THIS MORNING
FIRST, FAITH IS NEEDED FOR SALVATION (deliverance): Salvation includes JUSTIFICATION:
• To be justified is to be made (legally declared) righteous.
• It is a divine act where God declares the sinner to be innocent of his sins.
• It is not that the sinner is now sinless, but that he is "declared" sinless.
We find in Galatians 3:24 that the Mosaic Law “was our schoolmaster” that it would “bring us unto Christ” . . . WHY . . . “that we might be justified by faith.”
SECOND, FAITH IS NEEDED FOR SANCTIFICATION (To sanctify means to be HOLY and set apart for a specific use)
We find in Acts 26:18 (Here Luke is referencing Jesus as He is speaking to Saul (unconverted Paul) who was sanctified for a SPECIFIC PURPOSE (gospel propagation) to a SPECIFIC PEOPLE (the Gentiles); . . . for a SPECIFIC TASK . . . (to “open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God) WHY . . . that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified in faith that is in me (Jesus)…. FAITH IS THE NECESSARY VEHICLE HERE
THIRDLY, WE SEE FAITH IS NEEDED TO PLEASE GOD
Notice in Hebrews 11:6, Paul tells his listeners, “But without faith it is impossible (meaning NOT POSSIBLE) to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
FOURTHLY, FAITH IS REAL (It has substance) . . . LETS ANALYZE SUBSTANCE
We find in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the substance (Greek word: hupostasis) of things hoped for”
STAY WITH ME HERE . . . This same Greek word used for substance (hupostasis) is also used in reference to Christ (found in Hebrews 1:3). . . . THEREFORE, WE CAN CONCLUDE THE FAITH OF SUBSTANCE (Hebrews 11:1) . . . IS AS REAL AS GOD’S THE EXPRESS IMAGE FOUND IN CHRIST (In Hebrews 1:3) . . .
LET’S SIMPLIFY THIS THOUGHT A BIT: a hearty hamburger has substance so you can physically sink your teeth into it . . . LIKEWISE, FAITH is not an illusionary dream . . . NO it is SUBSTANTIAL; it is something you can sink your spiritual teeth into. It is a hearty sandwich of constant expectation. It is satisfying to the spiritual appetite. It is ESSENTIAL for spiritual life!
AN ILLUSTRATION OF FAITH
When missionary John Paton was translating the Scripture for the South Sea islanders, he was unable to find a word in their vocabulary for the concept of believing, trusting, or having faith. He had no idea how he would convey that to them. One day while he was in his hut translating, a native came running up the stairs into Paton's study and flopped in a chair, exhausted. He said to Paton, “It’s so good to rest my whole weight in this chair.” John Paton had his word: Faith is resting your whole weight on God. That word went into the translation of their New Testament and helped bring that civilization of natives to Christ. Believing is putting your whole weight on God. If God said it, then it’s true, and we’re to believe it. Ref: http://preceptaustin.org/hebrews_111-2.htm
CHALLENGE FOR US: Is your FULL and TRULY RESTED faith in God . . . shining forth as a witnessing billboard towards those who are still groping in darkness this morning?
FIFTH, FAITH IS THE WAY A CHRISTIAN MUST WALK
In 2 Corinthians 5:7 it tells the Christian believer that they must “walk by faith, not by sight.”
“This task is as unnatural as walking with our eyes closed. But the more steps we take, the more comfortable this walk will be come, and the more confident we will be of the destination of our walk.”
You see, “Those who ‘walk by sight’ depend for authority upon what they experience” whereas “Those who "walk by faith" confide in revelation for authority” [God’s Word]. Ref: Scott, Shane. The Expository Files: We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight" 2 Corinthians 5:7. http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-2-corinthians-5-7%282%29.htm. Accessed January 9, 2014.
SIXTH, FAITH IS HOW A CHRISTIAN WAGES WARFARE
We find in First Timothy 6:12 it tells us we must “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed and good profession before many witnesses.
Warfare is an armed conflict: The Christians armor is found in Ephesians 6: 13-17 and consists of: “having your loins girt about with truth” and “breastplate of righteousness: with “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” and ABOVE ALL “the shield of faith” . . . ALSO a helmet of salvation, and LASTLY “the sword of the Spirit” (the word of God).
SEVENTH, FAITH IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD AND WILL BE TRIED
Peter reminds us in First Peter 1:7 “the trial of faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
EIGHTH, FAITH WILL SUSTAIN US DURING OUR PERILOUS JOURNEY
In Hebrews 11:36-40, Paul reminds us of many biblical examples involving (36) cruel mockings and scourgings, bonds and imprisonment: (37) stoning, being sawn asunder, temptations, being slain with the sword, destitution and poverty, torments . . . etc. YET in verse 38 the TIDE CHANGES, it states . . . the world was not worthy of these dear saints (39) that they “obtained a good report” THE VEHICLE IS ONCE AGAIN . . . through faith, HAVING NOT YET. . . “the promise” BECAUSE GOD HAS “provided some better thing for us.”
FOLKS . . . KEEP THE FAITH . . . IT IS URGENTLY NECESSARY FOR YOUR CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE (a perilous journey) HERE ON EARTH.
NINTH, FAITH WILL LEAD CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS TO A PERFECT PEACE
In one of the most beloved Bible passages John 14:1-4, the Apostle John tells believers “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Fathers house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
A SUMMARIZATION OF THE WORKINGS OF FAITH IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER
1) FAITH IS NEEDED FOR SALVATION
2) FAITH IS NEEDED FOR SANCTIFICATION
3) FAITH IS NEEDED TO PLEASE GOD
4) FAITH IS REAL (It Has SUBSTANCE)
5) FAITH IS THE WAY A CHRISTIAN MUST WALK
6) FAITH IS HOW A CHRISTIAN WAGES WARFARE
7) FAITH IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD AND WILL BE TRIED
8) FAITH WILL SUSTAIN US DURING OUR PERILOUS JOURNEY
9) FAITH WILL LEAD US TO PERFECT PEACE
An ACRONYMN for FAITH - For All I Trust Him
SO THE QUESTION BEFORE US THIS MORNING IS: Can We Survive This Life W/O FAITH . . . ABSOLUTELY NOT …. It is needed from spiritual birth to spiritual death!
In 1 John 5:4 it tells us that faith is what “overcomes the world”
SO, it is faith that saves us, and it is faith that keeps us. We are saved by faith; we walk by faith. We are born children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, and faith is the only way in which you and I will be able to overcome this world around us. J. Vernon McGee; 1 John; Pg #144
“Saving Faith involves personally depending on the finished work of Christ’s sacrifice as the only basis for forgiveness of sin and entrance into heaven.
SO, IN WHAT HAVE YOU PLACED FAITH, REGARDING ETERNAL STATUS, TODAY?
Hopefully in the death, burial, and resurrected Christ!
CLOSING STORY: A Misplaced Faith
On April 30, 1976 Evelyn Mooers attached a rappelling rope to a drain pipe grating on the roof of the Mark Twain South County Bank. Mooers, an experienced climber, had once scaled 14,410-foot Mt. Rainier in Washington State. The rappelling exercise from the bank building would have been routine but for one mis-calculation. The drain pipe grating wasn’t anchored. Numerous bank officials and their friends watched as Mooers plummeted to her death. Her faith in the grating was fatally misplaced. Today in the Word, May, 1990, MBI, p. 16
Where is your FAITH anchored this morning?
Hebrews 6:19: “Which hope (constant expectation) we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.”
JESUS IS THE ANSWER!
JESUS IS THE ANCHOR!
