A Deeper Faith
What is Faith? The Dictionary defines faith as:
1. 1a : allegiance to duty or a person : (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions acted in good faith
2. 2a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof. (2) : complete trust
3. 3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs
The scripture gives a simple and easily understood definition of faith in Heb 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Many people say that they have no faith, but I would disagree. Whether we know it or not, we practice a great deal of faith every day.
When you set your alarm clock, you are exercising a small amount of faith that it will go off at the desired time. Some of you may have had a problem with that today.
When you pay your electric bill you are exercising a small amount of faith that the lights will stay on.
When you got in your car to come to church this morning, you were exercising a great deal of faith in this device (hold up brake master cylinder).
Many of you do not know what this is; others will be very familiar with it. Who knows what this is? Right, a brake master cylinder. This relatively small device is simply a piston that compresses fluid.
The fluid then activates slave cylinders that pinch the rotors on your wheels that, in turn; generate a great deal of friction, thus causing your car to stop.
Think about that, about 2 cups of brake fluid are used to bring your 5000lb vehicle to a stop every time you step on the brake pedal.
(hold up an O-ring) Tiny rubber O-rings that weigh no more than half a gram hold back the intense pressure needed to make this system work. Without them the entire system would fail.
So, if anyone ever tells you they have no faith, just remind them that every time they apply the brakes in their car, they are expressing a great deal of faith…
…faith in the parts that makes up the braking system in their car and faith in the engineers that designed the system.
Every time we get on an airplane, or elevator, or drive through an intersection when the light is green, we are practicing faith. Faith is a part of our daily lives.
Well, if we consistently practice faith in daily life, what about faith in God? Do we have the ability to have faith in God?
Many people would tell you that they can’t or won’t express faith in God. Some would tell you that people cannot express faith in God unless God allows them to.
That’s all well and good, but what does God’s Word have to say about such things?
According to Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
Because we were created in the image of God, each and every human on this planet has been given a measure of faith that is sufficient for them to believe when exposed to the Holy Word of God.
I know this because God’s Word tells me this in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
These two verses alone are sufficient to fuel every missionary journey ever conceived.
If there is in every human soul a given amount of Faith, and it is activated by exposure to the Word of God, then we need no other compulsion to preach the Word of God to every man, woman, and child of the face of this Earth.
So, what kind of faith pleases God? Galatians 3:6 gives us some insight into that question, it says, Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
God has given each of us sufficient faith to believe Him, to believe His Word, to understand His free offer of salvation.
We refer to this type of faith as “saving faith.” There are several places in scripture that teach what this involves.
John 3:15 “…whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Acts 2:38 “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:36-37 “The Eunuch said…“See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 16:30-31 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…”
As we have discussed in weeks past, this is not just head knowledge that Jesus was an actual historical person that walked this earth.
Rather, it is heart knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the sacrificial Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.
This is a knowledge that is embraced by the believer in such a way as to cause one to repent and turn from their sins through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This IS saving faith.
Once we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, our faith can mature from simple saving faith to a deeper faith, the faith of a mature believer, the faith of a disciple.
You see, according to the Word, Hebrews 12:2 says, “ looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Salvation by grace through faith was “authored” by Jesus Himself and it was finished by Jesus on the cross. He authored this plan before the foundation of the world.
Indeed, Jesus had a plan for our faith before the beginning. Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
So, what is the object of our faith? Jesus the Christ. Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. That is, by faith in Him.
If Jesus is the object of our faith, then what is the fruit of our faith?
We know the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
If you have been experiencing a deficiency in any of these then I would guess it is due to a lack of the Holy Spirit in your life. But that is another sermon.
So what is the fruit of our faith, what is the product of our faith?
First, our faith should grow and mature with time. However, this is not a given. The maturation of our faith is dependent on our commitment to Christ as our LORD and savior.
Paul admonished in Heb 5:12-6:1…For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
We like the idea of Jesus as our Savior, but are less keen on the idea of Jesus as our Lord. If He is our Lord, then we will give our time and talents to His service, we will invest in things that mature our faith.
Indeed, in times of great distress and desperation, we will cry out to Jesus as the father did in Mark 9:24 “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
So our faith should be growing and maturing by staying close to God through prayer and constant immersion in His Word.
Second, the fruit or product of our faith should be our love and devotion to the Church. When I say Church, I am not talking about this structure, but the people who make up this body of Christ.
I am convinced that if we focused all our energies on our faith, there would be such an atmosphere of love in our Churches that there would be no petty bickering and arguments.
Indeed, any differences we would have on a personal level become petty when compared to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross so that we could be redeemed.
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
1John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
I don’t know about you, but that is a pretty strong statement about loving one another. John says that if we don’t love each other, then your salvation is in doubt.
Third, the fruit or product of our faith will be the expansion of God’s kingdom, for His glory.
This takes the form of our giving. We give of our time, our only non-renewable resource in this life.
Paul said “to live is Christ,” that is, our very lives should be the living embodiment of Jesus Christ on earth.
His love for the lost will flow through us, His compassion will flow through us, His desire to seek and to save that which is lost will flow through us.
We won’t be satisfied with just warming a pew. When our faith is strong, we will be compelled to go out into the highways and hedges and bring them in.
We won’t care what they look like, where they are from, what color their skin is or who they were. Our compelling desire will be to introduce them to the Master.
We also give of our talents. Each of us, when we were saved, when we received the Holy Spirit, we also received a Spiritual Gift. Teachers, preachers, singers, discernment, the list goes on and on.
Many people think they do not have any gifts, but there is something that God has given you, a Spiritual gift, that will make this Body of Christ whole. God has given you this gift to be used for His glory.
It may be nursery work, or decorating, or accounting, or even taking out the trash. Every part of the Body is necessary if the Body is to function properly.
If I lose my pinky or even my little toe, my ability to function as a person will be greatly diminished. When we deny the Body of Christ our abilities within the Body, we reduce the effectiveness of God’s plan for this Church.
So whether you are a little toe or a lung, your abilities are greatly needed.
Our giving faith also takes the form of giving our resources. Let’s be clear, God doesn’t need your money. But if you tithe of what God has blessed you with, then you are acting on you faith that God will take care of you.
The only place in God’s Word where He challenges you to test Him is in your giving.
He says that if we are faithful to give, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on us that we are not able to comprehend.
Simply put, you can’t out give God.
I look at it this way, is there any possession that you own that is worth more than another person’s soul?
Jesus suffered the cross to redeem every soul and yet sometimes it seems that we value our stuff or our comfort over the mission to reach the lost.
If we are unwilling to tithe on what God has blessed us with, then not only are we robbing God, we are showing a profound lack of faith that God is in control and will care for us.
As we studied in our Wednesday night Bible Study, the rich young ruler went away sad because he had great possessions. He trusted more in his stuff to meet his needs than God.
So, a mature faith gives of our time and our talents, as well as our wealth.
Finally, will there ever be a time when our faith is no longer needed?
1Cor 13:12 says, “ For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
There will come a day when our faith is no longer needed.
I refer back to the scriptural definition of faith, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
On that glorious day when we see Jesus face to face, we will no longer need any faith.
As the song “It Is Well” states in the 4th verse, “And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.”
There will come a day when our faith is no longer necessary. If we belong to Him, there will come a day when we will experience the sights and sounds of Heaven.
There will come a day when we will walk hand in hand with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
But until that time, we must exercise faith.
We all must begin with a saving faith that trusts in our hearts that Jesus is God’s Son, the Messiah.
Then our faith must grow, which means our love and compassion for the lost must grow. Our love for our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ must grow.
And once our faith has matured, it will become a giving faith that glorifies God with our time, talents, and resources.
My prayer is that God will help your unbelief such that your faith grows until the day it will no longer be needed.
Where are you today? How is your faith? Is it simply head knowledge? Is it growing or are you still drinking milk? Is your faith strong enough to motivate you to action?
Answer the conviction of the Holy Spirit today with an honest heart and take the first step or the next step in your life of faith for Him.
