“Faith During Uncertain Times”
“Living by Faith”
Part 3
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been talking about Faith During Uncertain Times. I started by talking about Tested Faith and how when it seems as though our prayers are not being answered that how that is God testing our faith which causes our faith to grow. Then that was followed up with Faith in Action, which covered the first 3 verses of chapter 2 of Habakkuk. I stated how we must be in the proper position to hear what God is saying, we must separate ourselves from what is going on, get into God’s presence, write the vision which is God’s preferred future for our lives, wait for it to come to fruition, and in the meantime remember God is in control and remember past blessing and answered prayers.
Then we come to part 3 which is Habakkuk 2:4 which says “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”
Habakkuk 2:4 is said to be one of the greatest declarations of faith to be found in all the Bible. It presents a contrast between those who are arrogantly rebellious, and those who are humbly submissive. It reveals the striking difference between the proud and the just man. Although Habakkuk wrote this in the 7th century B.C. it is extremely relevant today, because we are dealing with the arrogance of the prideful, looking at the corruption of the sinner, praying fervently and waiting see what God is going to do. Understand wickedness carries with it its own destruction Psalm 10, but the just shall live by faith.
Everyone lives by a measure of faith; it is a fact of life. We trust in things and people to live from day to day. We trust in chairs to support us, cars to transport us, elevators to carry us up floors, employers to pay us, computers to function with everyday life, telephones for communication, the red light is going to stop the traffic from coming the opposite direction, and so on. Unfortunately, over time we learn that some things and some people prove more reliable than others. Cars break down, computers crash, telephones become outdated clothes wear out and people fail us, the only exception is God and His Word Deuteronomy 31:8 says “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed”; Matthew 24:35 says “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” Hebrews 13:5 says, “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee”. God is the only sureness we truly have and can depend on.
When one is living by faith on a regular basis it produces stability deep within the soul. Over time, God’s Word becomes more and more real to you and more important than our ever-changing feelings or circumstances. God’s Word gives us a basis for strength and stability in our thinking, the choices we make daily, and therefore, gives us the ability to stand during uncertain times.
It’s easy to be afraid when you have had people fail you repeatedly. However, God never fails, He never fails His people, and His faithfulness is everlasting. Knowing this the just can live by faith. The kind of faith described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is faith that the just shall live by: - Hebrews 11:33-34 says “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, performed righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to fight the armies of the aliens”. That’s the kind of faith the just live by.
PRAYER: -
SCRIPTURE: - Habakkuk 2:4 which says “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”
The meaning of “the just shall live by faith” has been misunderstood since the time of the Protestant Reformers. Acknowledgement and Agreement with certain doctrinal statements has been emphasized at the expense of righteous behavior. It has been emphasized that if we maintain certain theologically correct statements, if you pay your tithes, repeat a certain amount of penance, perform manmade rituals and hold to the rudiments of man then we will go to Heaven when we die. This is totally different from what God tells us in His Word - the Bible says in Leviticus 11:44, 45 Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, 1 Peter 1:16 for example “Be ye Holy for I am Holy”. Ritualistic obedience is different from the individual whose personality and behavior are acceptable to God. The way one thinks, speaks, and acts as one who loves God, seeks His face, lives according to His word, obeys, and trusts God is living by faith when the other is just going through the motions with nothing more than a form of godliness and that is all.
UNDERSTAND: - Living by Faith is an active relationship with God that always governs what we are and what we do. The word Live is a verb which means action; therefore, it’s not dead but there is action being done, there is vitality.
Faith is more than just a belief in theological facts but is an active relationship with God. The common interpretation of the just shall live by faith has hindered the effectiveness of the Church and sadly many have preached a watered down doctrine of we will go to Heaven when we die if we will acknowledge and accept for ourselves the Lordship of Christ and the facts of His virgin birth, His atoning death, and His bodily resurrection from the dead. WATCH THIS: - The devils believe and tremble James 2:19 says “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble”. The devils know God and fear Him, yet they can’t live right so faith in - only is insufficient, there must be an active and pleasing life lived by faith.
UNDERSTAND WHAT A JUST PERSON IS: - To be a just person or justified is one who has been forgiven of all sin and made righteous or in right standing with God and is living their life according to His word. It is basically to have your slate whipped clean as if nothing had ever happened and live a sinless life. A just person is one who has stopped all rebellion against God. Every sin is forgiven, and the heart of the just person is made holy. David said it like this Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. That’s how a just person is they have a clean heart and right spirit. Old things are passed away and behold all things have become new and we are a new creature. In my trial sermon many - many years I used the words of a song by Patti Labelle and I said, “I have a new walk, a new talk, a new point of view, I have a new attitude”. I am a new creature – I have been justified.
If you remember on last week, I mentioned the number 3 means fulness. Here is fulness Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. Briefly Justification is what we have received and we are now just, sanctification is what we are doing – the just shall live by faith, glorification is what we are waiting for – glorification is that preferred future God has for us.
In justification there is no condemnation from God because sin and disobedience are gone. The heart and life are made right because of what Christ did for you at Calvary. Our righteousness comes from the work of Christ not from our own human works. The conscience of a justified person is freed from guilt by the power of Jesus Christ. The heart, the walk, and the life of a justified believer are in harmony with God through faith in Christ. Faith in Christ gives mankind access to the Grace of God and that makes us a new creation and justifies the sinner according to God’s workmanship. A justified person is no longer viewed as an enemy of God but is viewed righteously in the eyes of God.
In Justification the believer’s sin and rebellion against God has ceased. No longer do we violate God’s Law. The Holy Ghost gives the just individual the desire to cease and turn from sin from sin. The Holy Ghost gives the just a new nature. A moral change comes over the human soul by the power of God’s Divine Grace. We develop a new walk a new attitude and a new point of view. A justified state by God’s Grace could not be found or obtained by any other means known to man outside of Christ.
Holiness is the sacred theme of the Bible and is found in Jesus Christ. Holiness is essential to the life of a child of God. God said Be Ye Holy for I am Holy and Holiness without no man can see the Lord. Rebellion does not fit into the life of a child of God and separates man from God’s Grace. Disobedience is not a product of God’s Grace but a sin of unbelief.
Justification is the down payment of the Spirit’s work in Salvation. Sanctification is the final work of Holy Spirit after Justification on this side of Heaven. Glorification is what we are looking forward to. A just man is a man who has stopped all rebellion against God. Every sin has been forgiven and the heart of a just person is made holy. A just person is without sin and obedient to God. God is a justifier of men but when a person is justified, they’re supposed to walk according to the Law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus. A justified person is not a lawbreaker or a violator. A justified person has God given power to mind the Spirit.
This is what it means to be just. When you have been justified your life changes and you live your life differently. The things you used to do you don’t do any more, the place you used to go you don’t go any more. I am changed and I live my life differently I now live by faith.
?: - If I asked the question What is faith? Many would say it is a word we have grown up hearing in Sunday school classes, church services, or children’s songs. For the Bible reader you would answer Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. However, do you truly understand faith and living by faith.
A biblical understanding of faith is essential for our walk in Christ. Because without it, it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11:6 says “But without faith it is impossible 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”. We must understand that true faith carries with it a cost and requires action. Living by Faith is a something so strong that it changes the way a person lives their life.
Faith as a noun (pistis) refers to what is believed and often points to a body of teaching Acts 14:22; 16:5; Romans 14:22; Galatians 1:23.
Faith as a verb (pisteuo) refers to the act of believing and means to believe, trust, or has confidence in something or someone John 3:15, 16, 18, 36; 20:31.
Faith as an adjective (pistos) describes someone as faithful, reliable, or trustworthy and is used both of man Matthew 25:23; Col. 1:7; Hebrews. 3:5), and God 1 Corinthians. 1:9; 10:13; Hebrews. 10:23.
Faith demands an object as it must have something or someone upon which to rest. To receive salvation, we tell the unsaved person to “believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” Acts 16:31. For the unsaved person, faith in Christ is exercised with a view to receiving a benefit, and that benefit is eternal life John 3:16. To be clear, faith does not save; God saves! Faith is the means by which the unsaved person receives salvation, as God alone does the saving. Though we may exercise faith and receive a benefit, the object always gets the credit, and in the case of our salvation, God alone gets the glory.
Faith is standing on God's integrity and acting on His promises. It involves believing God's Word above all human doubt, questioning, criticism, or speculation. Living by faith means looking forward with hope and assurance that one day, we will be free from the presence of sin. Christ will return for His bride. We have experienced justification we are experiencing sanctification and we are living expect glorification. It is this belief that brings a joyful and abundant life despite suffering. Like Job was able to say in Job 13:15 “Thou He slay me yet will I trust Him”. Faith in what is to come gives our lives a sense of peace and urgency. Because we know He will not tarry forever, we are compelled to persevere in the work He has given us to do. Job said it like this in Job 14:14 “all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come”.
One who lives by faith is a just person in the sight of God. The just live by faith. In other words, the thing that characterizes the righteous person above all else is an abiding trust in God and His promises. Because the just people trust the Lord, they continue to believe Him even when He seems slow to act. They do not just believe in God, but they believe God. The 3 Hebrew boys said it like this in Daniel 3:17 -18 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up”. That is believing in God and believing God to the fullest. That is living by faith. Despite what it looks like or even in spite of what the outcome may become I will trust God.
Faith is more related to faithfulness than it is to belief or acknowledgment. Living has to do with what we are and how we behave ourselves in the Presence of God. When we live by faith we are living based upon the faithfulness of God and in His presence.
When Habakkuk said that the just will live by his faith - UNDERSTAND this is not
FAITH IN FAITH. This may seem a little strange, but this is a very common misconception of faith. You hear people saying, I have great faith. But what kind of faith are they talking about? Faith in what? Who is the object of their faith? The prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel put all their faith in Baal, and nothing happened. For many people today faith seems to be merely faith in good fortune or luck; You’ve got to keep believing they say, as if good things can only happen to people who’ve got this vague kind of faith like Karma or Kismet. You hear them say things like I will think positive thoughts for you. They exercise faith in their faith rather than faith in God. Faith is only as good as the object on which it is placed. I can put faith in my automobile, but once that engine light comes on how great my faith in that automobile depends on that automobile and that automobile will fail – God will never fail. Got must have faith in God and live by that faith.
WATCH THIS: - The Bible directs our faith into Jesus Christ and Him alone; it is not something vague, but it focuses on Jesus the Son of God - Look at him! The Roman jailer in Philippi seeing all the doors of his prison open and all the chains broken was in despair and was about to kill himself, but Paul cried, “Do yourself no harm. We are all here!” No one had escaped! If the earthquake breaking all the chains was a miracle, how much more the fact than not a single prisoner had escaped was even a bigger miracle. It was a mighty humbling experience for this man whose life had been serving Rome. He asked the ultimate question “What must I do to be saved?”. Paul said in Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”. Paul focused this man’s attention on the Lord Jesus – the God whom he and Silas had been praising and worshipping and only-Person worthy of absolute trust. So, the faith by which the righteous live is not faith in faith but is a faith in God – our hope in glory. Living by faith is Focused Faith. Psalm 121:1-2 says, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth”.
FAITH IN YOURSELVES. When a person believes so strongly in themselves that even a brush with death does not faze them. They believe in themselves and their own ability to pass any test and overcome every difficulty. If there is a judgment day, they believe they will get through that as well. They haves such faith in themselves they feel no need for God. The object of their faith is me myself and I. We may say that they are their own god in whom they put his trust. Habakkuk speaks about such a person in our text; “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous will live by his faith”. Jesus warned those whose faith was in Mammon that all they had achieved could be taken from them by such things as a little moth or some rust or something like the Covid-19 virus. Living by Faith is doing like the song writer said - My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand,
FAITH IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL-GOODNESS. “I shall live forever because though I’ve done a few bad things I have done many more good things.” This type of faith assumes that in the end people’s eternal destiny will be determined by how much good or evil they’ve done. That is what they believe. This is the faith of Islam and salvation by works where people believe God has some scales and weighs our deeds, good and bad, and everything depends on which way the scales tilt. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God Not of works, lest any man should boast”. Matthew 19 deals with a rich young man that had great wealth and wanted to have eternal life, Jesus told him to keep the commandments the young man said he did this since he was young, Jesus told sell all you have and follow Him. The young rich man couldn’t do it because he built his faith upon himself and not Jesus. Psalm 19:14 says “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer”. Living by Faith is living a life that is pleasing in the sight of the Lord and not based upon your own personal goodness.
CONCLUSSION: - To live by faith, first we must avoid pride.
Habakkuk 2:4 says “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith”
Pride is a root of many sins, and in Habakkuk 2 God associates pride with greed, violence, substance abuse and much more. All these self-centered actions are in opposition to the humble obedience and steadfastness of the faithful.
Living by faith also means continually and faithfully enduring to the end. Faith allows us to see the faithfulness of God. And so, faith motivates us to also become faithful and obedient
Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him”.
Living by faith is being able to stand during uncertain times, when prayers seem not to be answered, when trouble is surrounding you, when the storms of life are raging, but down on the inside of your soul there is the assurance there is Hebrews 11:33-34 type of FAITH that is able to “…. subdue kingdoms, perform righteousness, obtain promises, stop the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, out of weakness are made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turn not away from but to fight the armies of the enemy” because you have gotten yourself in the proper position to hear God’s voice. You understand that His voice is His vision for your life, and you understand that His vision is the preferred future for your life. You remember what He told Jeremiah in 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. So in the midst of all your trouble in the midst of uncertain times you are living by faith and you are unable to say like the 3 Hebrew boys in Daniel 3:17 -18 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up”. Know this devil I know God is able to bring me through this but if He doesn’t know this all my appointed time, I’m gonna wait of Him and yet will I trust because I am living by FAITH.
During my studies I came across this poem and I want to close with it:-
The faith of the head is the faith that is dead;
The faith of the heart is better in part;
But the faith of the hand is the faith that will stand,
For the faith that will do must include the first two.
This anonymously written poem communicates an important truth: Faith must dwell in the head, the heart, and the hand! That is what it is to LIVE BY FAITH!!!!
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
