If I were to ask the question, “What is faith?” I’m sure I would get a variety of responses from all of you. One of the more popular notions of faith was expressed by Archie Bunker in the 1970’s TV show All in the Family. In this clip, he is discussing labor pains with his son-in-law, Mike, a Jewish atheist, whose wife is pregnant. Take a look (show video: Archie Bunker on Faith).
Archie: “…have to punish women by giving them, what do you call it, your labor pains.”
Mike: “First God tells women to be fruitful and multiply. Then when they do, He makes them suffer. It doesn’t make any sense.
Archie: “It isn’t supposed to make sense. It’s faith, faith. You know that. Faith is something you believe that nobody in his right mind would believe” (www.youtube.com/watch?v= Te3aBL_P0IY).
Sad to say, many people see faith and reason as totally incompatible. It’s a notion which haunts young people (and all of us really), especially when they move away from their Christian homes into a university setting or some other secular context. It’s the reason why many of our young people, raised to believe the Bible, are abandoning their faith. They honestly believe that faith is contrary to reason, but nothing could be further from the truth.
True faith is never CONTRARY to reason. However, it often goes BEYOND human reason to help people see and do things they could never see or do otherwise. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, where the Bible itself describes the nature of true faith.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for…
Literally, faith is the foundation of expectation. Faith is not some unreasonable belief, built on quicksand. No! Faith is a rock-solid foundation, upon which you can face the future with confidence.
True faith is based on the reasonable truth that God always keeps His promises, a truth that has been demonstrated time and time again. That was Joshua’s testimony when God gave the people of Israel the land He promised them. He said, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:45).
That was King Solomon’s testimony when he dedicated the first temple in Jerusalem. He said, “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant” (1 Kings 8:56).
That was Apostle Paul’s testimony to the church in Corinth when he talked about his future. Paul said, “All the promises of God find their Yes in [Christ]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:17).
And that’s your testimony, as well, when you think about it. God has not failed to keep any of His promises to you who believe in His Son. God has provided all you need up until now (Philippians 4:19). God has never left you even through the hard times (Hebrews 13:5). God has not stopped working to conform you to the beautiful image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Philippians 1:6).
God has been faithful to you in the past. Therefore, you have a strong reason to trust Him for your future. Faith is a firm foundation of expectation, so…
BY FAITH, BE CERTAIN OF WHAT OTHERS CANNOT BE CERTAIN.
By faith, be confident in God’s promises for your future. By faith, be sure that God will do for you what He has said He will do!
A well-known pastor talked about being on a long flight years ago, which encountered some strong turbulence along the way. He said:
“The first warning of the approaching problems came when the sign on the airplane flashed on: ‘Fasten your seat belts.’ Then, after a while, a calm voice said, ‘We shall not be serving the beverages at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please be sure your seat belt is fastened.’”
As he looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice of the announcer said, “We are so sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still ahead of us.”
Then the storm broke. The ominous cracks of thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightening lit up the darkening skies, and within moments that great plane was like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air; the next, it dropped as if it were about to crash.
The pastor confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, “As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying. The future seemed ominous and many were wondering if they would make it through the storm.”
Then, he saw a little girl. “Apparently, the storm meant nothing to her,” he said. “She had tucked her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat; she was reading a book and everything within her small world was calm and orderly. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear were not in her world. When the plane was being tossed by the terrible storm, when it lurched this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity, when all the adults were scared half to death, that marvelous child was completely composed and unafraid.” The pastor could hardly believe his eyes.
So when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, he lingered to speak to the girl whom he had watched for the entire flight. He made a comment about the storm and asked the little girl why she had not been afraid.
The child replied, “Cause my Daddy's the pilot, and he's taking me home.” (“Worry or Trust”, A Time to Laugh, www.atimetolaugh.org/sleep-when-the-wind-blows.html)
My dear friends, you who know and love Jesus, your Heavenly Daddy is the pilot, and He’s taking you home! God has it all under control, and He will not fail you no matter how bad the storms get to be.
So don’t be afraid any longer. Just trust Him to do for you what He said He would do. By faith, be certain of what others cannot be certain; i.e., be confident in God’s promises for your future. More than that…
BY FAITH, SEE WHAT OTHERS CANNOT SEE.
By faith, recognize God’s principles for living your life today. By faith, realize that God knows what’s best for you.
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is… the conviction of things not seen.”
Literally, faith is proof of the invisible. That is to say; faith allows you to treat invisible truths as visible realities.
In her first-grade classroom, a young teacher was starting to explain the theory of evolution to her students.
She directed her first questions to Tommy in the front row.
Teacher: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
Tommy: Yes.
Teacher: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
Tommy: Yes.
Teacher: Go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky.
Tommy: Okay. (He returned a minute later) Yes, I saw the sky.
Teacher: Did you see God?
Tommy: No.
Teacher: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there. He doesn't exist.
A little girl, Sarah, spoke up and wanted to ask Tommy some questions too. The teacher agreed.
Sarah: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
Tommy: Yes.
Sarah: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
Tommy: Yesssssssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).
Sarah: Did you see the sky?
Tommy: Yessssssssss.
Sarah: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
Tommy: Yes.
Sarah: Do you see her brain?
Tommy: No.
Sarah: Then, according to what we were taught in school today, she must not have one!
Many people operate on the basis that seeing is believing, but you can see just how ridiculous that is. There are many things we believe to be true that we haven’t seen, things like electricity, the wind, atoms, and your teacher’s brain. Scientists don’t even operate on the principle that seeing is believing, because they often believe before they see.
That’s been demonstrated recently in the field of particle physics. On July 4, 2012, the head of the 10-billion-dollar Large Hadron Collider straddling France and Switzerland, gave an announcement that attracted 1,000 scientists. They stood in line all night just to get into the room where he was going to make the announcement.
And what was the announcement that attracted so many scientists? It was the announcement that those running the Hadron Collider had discovered the Higgs boson particle. It’s a subatomic particle that had been theorized for over 50 years, but had never been seen, never measured, never proven. The particle is so fundamental in shaping the universe that some scientists have called it the “God particle.”
The New York Times said at the time, “Confirmation of the Higgs boson… would constitute a rendezvous with destiny for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a century without ever seeing it.”
Now, isn't that interesting. Those scientists believed in something they could not see and were not able to prove! They believed in this unproven particle, because what they could see had convinced them that it had to be there. (Dennis Overbye, “Physicists Find Elusive Particle Seen as Key to Universe,” The New York Times, 7-4-12; www.PreachingToday.com)
In the same way, a Christian believes in a God He cannot see, because what he CAN see reveals God’s power, creativity, and divine nature. Believing in God is not CONTRARY to reason. In fact, nothing is more reasonable.
Many people think seeing is believing. But true believers know that believing is seeing. Those who believe see things others cannot see! They see God at work in the world. They see the truth of God’s Word as it works in their lives. God’s principles make sense to them when to others those principles are foolish.
When the Bible says, “Abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3), the unbeliever laughs at the thought. After all, sex is fun and what can be the harm between two consenting adults? That’s what the world says.
However, the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960’s has borne fruit in the “Me-too” movement in 2018 over 50 years later, the exploitation of women for sexual pleasure, the breakup of far too many marriages, and far too many children being raised without a father in the home, which has led to violence in our schools, gangs in our cities, and riots in our streets.
The Bible was right all along, and still many people don’t see it. That’s because their unbelief has blinded them to the truth.
Dr. Paul David Tripp talks about a time when he took his youngest son to one of the national art galleries in Washington, D.C. As they made their approach, Paul was excited about what they were going to see. His son was decidedly unexcited. But Paul just knew that, once inside, his boy would have his mind blown and would thank his dad for what for taking him to the museum.
As it turned out, the boy’s mind wasn't blown; it wasn't even activated. Paul saw things of such stunning beauty that they brought him to the edge of tears. His boy yawned, moaned, and complained his way through gallery after gallery. With every new gallery, Paul was enthralled, but each time they walked into a new art space, his boy begged to leave.
The child was surrounded by glory but saw none of it. He stood in the middle of wonders but was bored out of his mind. His eyes worked well, but his heart was stone blind. He saw everything, but he saw nothing. (Paul David Tripp, Awe: Why it Matters for Everything we Think, Say, and Do, Crossway, 2015, pp. 65-66; www.PreachingToday.com)
Please, don’t you do the same. Don’t be bored with the Bible. Instead, put your faith in Christ and let Him open your eyes to the wonders of His Word. Believe and then you will see like never before!
By faith, be certain of what others cannot be certain – confidence in God’s promises for the future. By faith, see what others cannot see – a conviction of God’s principles for living your life today. And finally…
BY FAITH, HEAR WHAT OTHERS CANNOT HEAR.
By faith, receive a confirmation of God’s pleasure. By faith, listen to the voice of God’s approval.
Hebrews 11:2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
Literally, they were testified about. In other words, someone bore testimony that they were good people. The old King James Version translates it, “They received a good report.”
Genesis 15 says, “[Abraham] believed the Lord, and [the Lord] counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). God testified that Abraham was righteous, simply because Abraham believed God’s promise.
And God testifies that all believers are righteous, simply because they put their faith in Him. Romans 5:1 says, “We have been justified by faith.” In other words, God declares the believing sinner righteous! God condemns the unbeliever. John 3:18 says, “Whoever does not believe is condemned already.” On the other hand, God commends the believer. God declares him righteous and treats him that way.
Tim Keller says, “Imagine that you are pitted in a one-on-one spiritual marathon race against Jesus—just you and Jesus at the starting line. The gun goes off and Jesus bolts out ahead of you with blazing speed. He makes Usain Bolt, the Jamaican world record-holding sprinter, look like a human tortoise. Jesus runs a perfect race. He never gets lost or loses focus. He never takes one bad stride. With much fanfare and acclaim, he finishes the entire marathon in seven seconds. (He could have finished the race in negative time, since he's outside of time, but seven seemed like a nice number.) It's a new cosmic record!
Finally, in this spiritual marathon, you straggle across the finish line… about five years later… You lost your focus and got tangled in bushes. You frequently tripped over your own shoelaces and fell in the mud, flat on your face. As you gasp and collapse at the finish line, you look up and see Jesus already standing on the winner's platform. He has a gold medal around his neck while you feel defeated and ashamed.
But as you start to slink away Jesus calls your name and motions for you to come towards him. You whisper, “Who me?” and he says, “Yes, you, come join me on the winner's platform.” So you sheepishly join Jesus on the gold medal platform. He puts his arm around your shoulder and says, “Look, I know all about your race. It wasn't pretty, but you are forgiven. And just so you know, while I was racing ahead of you, I was also with you every step of your race.” And then he takes his gold medal and slips it over your head… The reporters start taking your picture with Jesus. They start asking questions like, “Hey, Jesus and the other guy [woman] who looks really shocked to be up there, how do you two feel about being winners? What are you two going to do with your gold medal?”
And then it hits you: you are being treated as if you ran Jesus' race. You are receiving honor based on Jesus' world record time and performance. (www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s the way faith works. God declares you a winner and treats you that way when you trust in His Son.
Please, don’t depend on your own efforts at self-improvement. You’ll fall flat on your face time-and-time again and end up defeated and ashamed. Instead, trust Christ with your life. Put your faith in Him. Then, no matter what kind of race you have run, He’ll declare you a winner and begin the process of making you a winner. You’ll receive that “good report” from God Himself, which will totally transform you from the inside out!
That’s the nature of true faith. It is NOT unreasonable quicksand. Rather, it is the foundation of expectation; it is proof of the invisible, which brings God’s approval.
So by faith, be certain of what others cannot be certain – gain confidence in God’s promises for your future. By faith, see what others cannot see – gain a conviction of God’s principles for your life today. And by faith, hear what others cannot hear – gain a confirmation of God’s approval.
There was a very cautious man,
Who never laughed or played.
He never risked; he never tried;
He never sang or prayed.
And when he one day passed away,
His insurance was denied.
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died. (Bible Illustrator #1210)
Oh, my dear friends, put your faith in Christ and really live!
