This is the sixth message in this series on Faith. The underlying theme of the series has been our responsibility for faith either manifesting or not manifesting in our lives. For a person to say “I have faith” and not produce “faith results” means that person is not walking in faith the way he thinks he is. The bible tells us again and again that if we have faith we will see the fruit of that faith in our lives.
When it comes to faith we must understand two things:
First, our faith is in our words. Second, our unbelief is in our words.
Ladies and gentlemen, what we say brings faith and its results into our lives. On the other hand, what we say can also create a chasm of doubt and unbelief that faith cannot cross. Did you hear me? What we say can also create a chasm of doubt and unbelief that faith cannot cross.
Every time we open our mouths, we are making a choice to speak “faith words” or “unbelief and doubt” words. Every time. Please let this sink in.
The Bible tells us that what we say is birthed out of what we believe in our hearts. Turn with me to Luke chapter six. We’re going to read verse 45.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
The treasure this verse is talking about is that which we hold to be true. What we speak is what we hold to be true. What we speak will agree with the Bible and be good, or it will not agree with the Bible and be evil. Ladies and gentlemen there is no middle ground. Now here’s the thing: many of us believe we are speaking “good” when we are really speaking “evil”.
Let me give you an example.
I remember singing this song in church before giving the tithes and offerings: “The more you give, the more He’ll give to you. Just keep on giving because it’s really true. You can’t beat God giving no matter how you try.” The focus of the song was obvious: give as much as you can so God will give you as much as He can.
The song sounded good but it was evil. Why was it evil Bro. Barry? God gives us everything we need for life and godliness the moment we become part of His family. And we see this in Second Peter chapter one, verse 3. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness; through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”
When we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, Colossians chapter two, verse ten says “we are complete in him.” That word “complete” means “there is nothing more than can be added.” Nothing.
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter how much money we give to God it does not change the fact that He gave us everything we need in this life before we ever gave him anything!
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to say this again: our giving – our money – does not move God to act our behalf. God responds to our faith. Period.
I don’t want to stray too far in my message but the Bible says in Romans chapter one, verse 17, Galatians chapter three, verse 11 and Hebrews chapter ten, verse 38 that “the just shall live by faith.” And to take this a step farther.
Remember what Jesus told the tempter in the wilderness? Turn to Matthew chapter four, verse four: “But he (Jesus) answered (he answered Satan) and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
I want you to see this connection. The Bible tells us in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews that the just shall live by faith. Jesus tells us in Matthew that man must live by every word that God speaks. What are we seeing? Living by faith is living by God’s Word! Do you see this? It is impossible to live by faith if you don’t have God’s Word living in you!
All of us have heard messages that sounded so good that we acted on what we heard as if it were true. But sadly, many of us didn’t know if the messages were scripturally sound or not. Why? We often don’t compare what we hear to what God has written. We have pastors and leaders we love and respect so we don’t “fact check” them. We don’t compare what they teach to what the Bible teaches.
Ladies and gentlemen, what we hear impacts our faith. We should “fact check” every message we hear regardless of who is teaching it.
I believe Acts 17 gives us the mind of Christ when it comes to the things we hear taught. In Acts 17, Paul and Silas are in Thessalonica teaching in a Jewish synagogue. There are Jews who are none too happy hearing about Jesus and why He had to suffer, that He is risen and that He is the Christ. The tension rises so much that Paul and Silas have to be smuggled out of the city at night. Let’s read verses 10, 11 and the first part of verse 12.
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed...
I love this passage. There is something “noble” about searching the scriptures! The more we search the scriptures the more of our Father’s heart we uncover. The more of our Father’s heart we see.
The word searched means “to examine, investigate, scrutinize or question.” It also means “specifically in a forensic sense of a judge to hold an investigation.”
One of the TV programs I enjoy is “Bones.” It’s about a forensic anthropologist who solves murders by letting the bones tell her how the person died. A casual look at the bones provide little insight into what happened. So she “searches” them to uncover the truth based on her knowledge of bone formation, how bones break, the significance of markings or indentations, etc. She spends hours examining the bones from every conceivable angle.
She does not stop until she knows what happened to the person – until she finds the truth about how the person died.
This is what the word searched communicates – it communicates a relentless pursuit of the truth. We also see this is Second Timothy chapter two, verse 15.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The word study means “to make an earnest effort, to labor.” When we hear a message but we don’t take the time to “search out” or “earnestly labor” over what we’ve heard then we are setting ourselves up to be deceived and led astray. When we don’t study for ourselves we are letting someone else determine what we believe or don’t believe about the bible.
Many of us have fallen into the trap of believing what our pastor or guest speaker says without taking the time to see if what is said can stand up to the scrutiny of scripture. It’s a situation we see in the church of Ephesus. Turn to First Timothy chapter 1, verse 18.
This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightiest war a good warfare.
What charge did Paul give to Timothy? In 1st and 2nd Timothy Paul addresses the absolute necessity of scripturally sound doctrine in the face of teaching that is polluting the minds of the believers. Let’s look first at First Timothy chapter one, verses three and four.
... that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith.
Now turn to Second Timothy. We’re going to read verse 13 in chapter one and verse two in chapter two.
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. ... And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men (and women), who shall be able to teach others also.
Now turn back to First Timothy chapter one. Paul tells Timothy in the first part of the verse 19 what it means to wage a good warfare and then he identifies what happens when we don’t in verse 20.
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.
We see in this verse that possessing faith and a good conscience are the only ways we will be able to wage a good warfare. We receive a “good conscience” – the ability to think and act like Jesus – the moment we are born again. This means we’re are no longer under Satan’s dominion. He is no longer our master. The life in us makes us his master!
Keep your finger here in First Timothy and turn to Colossians chapter one. We’re going to read verses 12 and 13.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
Because of what God did for us when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are no longer under Satan – the power of darkness – but in Jesus’ kingdom and the power of darkness is now under us! Can I get an Amen?!?
Now go back to First Timothy and look at verse 19 again: “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” Do you see the phrase "having put away"? It means to “willingly reject and thrust away.” Hymenaeus and Alexander, who were in positions to teach the people, were delivering polluted teachings that was beginning to shipwreck the faith of those in the church. They had rejected the chastisement of their conscience – their new nature – when they taught things that were not scripturally true.
First Timothy chapter four, verse one says this will happen to the person “giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
The second verse takes it a step further: “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.”
When we get born again, we receive a conscience that lets us know when we’re thinking about doing something that goes against what the Bible teaches. What we’re seeing in this verse is that Hymenaeus and Alexander had stopped listening to their born again conscience and were instead listening to seducing spirits.
First Timothy one says that because these men were listening to seducing spirits and teaching doctrines of devils they were shipwrecking the faith of many in the church. Now the question is this: what is shipwrecked faith?
The word shipwreck means “to damage, disable, or destroy” a sea craft. There appears to be a progression when it comes to shipwrecking faith.
First, the faith is damaged. Damaged faith can still produce results but the results will be “hit and miss”. Ladies and gentlemen, this is where most of the body of Christ lives. Their faith is damaged and they don’t even know it.
As time goes on “damaged faith” becomes “disabled faith” – faith that no longer produces results. When our faith is disabled, we say things like “I’ve been praying and believing. I don’t understand why nothing has changed.”
Or, we’ll say “It’s not in God’s timing. He’s always on time. He’s never too late.” Ladies and gentlemen, our Father’s timing is always connected to the manifestation of our faith. Always.
Then finally “disabled faith” becomes faith that has been destroyed. It is faith that no longer resembles faith. It is faith that has gone to the “dark side” and is now known by only one name – unbelief.
Paul’s use of the word “shipwreck” presents an image that those in Ephesus would clearly understand. When a ship is broken, you’ll find pieces of it floating away from the main vessel. And unless the ship is repaired, more and more pieces will break away until the ship itself is left in pieces. It’s a process that takes time and, in the case of faith, it’s a process that can be very subtle.
Shipwreck faith is faith that is slowly drifting away from its source. Remember Jesus said man is to live by every word God speaks. The voice of God becomes more and more faint as our faith becomes shipwrecked. You see, shipwreck faith is not faith that can’t be repaired. Shipwreck faith is simply faith that is broken. It’s faith that is fragmented.
What did Hymenaeus and Alexander do to cause this to happen? Second Timothy gives us a teaching that shipwrecked the faith of the believers and made it virtually impossible for them to wage a good warfare. We find it in chapter two in verses 16 through 18.
But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow (shipwreck) the faith of some.
Can you imagine enduring hardships yet living with the hope of Christ’s return only to be taught that He has already returned and you were not a part of it? That teaching shipwrecked the faith of some in the church. That teaching caused some to turn their backs on the gospel. That’s what the word overthrow communicates.
Paul tells Timothy in verse 15 the key that will make them less susceptible to teaching that damages, disables and destroys faith. Study to shew thyself approved unto God...
Paul is telling Timothy, “Teach the people to study the Bible for themselves so that they can 'fact check' everything they hear from the pulpit. Timothy, you teach this so that the church will not err from the true doctrine that produces a faith that cannot be polluted with wrong teaching.”
So, how do we prevent our faith from becoming shipwrecked? There are four things we can do.
First, we must make the Word of God our primary source for faith. We must make reading and meditating scripture a priority in our lives. Romans chapter ten verse 17 says “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” How can you “hear” what your eyes never “see”?
Second, we must learn to love like God loves. Love is the power source of our faith. Galatians chapter five, verse six says “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Refusing to love and holding unforgiveness is a spiritual wall that faith cannot climb.
Third, we must release our faith through the words we speak. In Mark chapter 11, verse 23 says “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
Last, but in no wise least, we must pray in the spirit – we must pray in tongues. First Corinthians chapter 14, verse 4 says “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself...” The word “edifieth” literally means “to construct or build.” When we pray in tongues on a regular basis we are building up our spirit man and the more we build up our spirit man we become less and less susceptible to wrong doctrine.
Let me end by reminding you, and me, that we allow our faith to become shipwreck whenever we believe what we hear without “fact checking” it against scripture. My pastor, from time to time, encourages us not to just accept what he teaches. He tells us to get into the Bible ourselves and let the Holy Spirit confirm that what he is teaching lines up with scripture.
I encourage you to do the same with those you allow to speak into your life. Be willing to “fact check” them.
In fact, I encourage you to “fact check” me! Make sure that I am not speaking amiss.
Amen?!?
