Faith is one of those doctrines. For example:
• It is so simple a child can understand it
• It is so deep that you can spend a lifetime studying it, and never be able to comprehend it fully
One of the reasons that we do not see the hand of God moving in our churches today, is because of the lack of faith we have in the Lord. But the problem is not only a lack of faith, but the quality of faith the church today is operating on is pathetic.
Illus: Did you ever get water in your car gas tank? If you did, you know your car might run, but it does not run very smoothly.
And the church may be running today, but it certainly is not operating as it should.
When a church has problems with faith, the church ties the hands of God.
For example, remember when the Lord went to Nazareth, in Matthew 13? This was where Jesus was raised as a child. The Bible says in verse 58, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
In the same way, the hands of God are tied today because of unbelief!
But there are Christian people today who have GENUINE FAITH. Those congregations that have strong faith in the Lord, still see the hand of God moving in their midst.
Illus: For example, a small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. This was a church that had strong faith in the Lord.
Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building
inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. They were told that until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary.
Unfortunately, the church, with its undersized parking lot, had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built.
In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.
However, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had "mountain moving faith." They would hold a prayer session, asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard, and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved, and painted, before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week.
At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation's 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o'clock the pastor said the final "Amen." "We'll open next Sunday as scheduled," he assured everyone. "God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too."
The next morning, as he was working in his study, there came a loud knock at his door. When he called "Come in," a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered.
"Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We're building a huge new shopping mall over there, and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove, and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in, and allow it to settle properly."
The little church was dedicated the next Sunday, as originally planned!
Consider some things that are true about faith, for example; where does it come from?
Illus: It certainly is not something we can order out of a Sear’s and Roebuck catalog, and have the UPS man deliver it to our door the next day.
WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM? I would like to suggest that it comes from at least two places, according to the Word of God.
I. FAITH COMES FROM GOD’S WORLD
Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.”
Look at the word “Declare,” this is the Greek word caphar, (saw-far) which means to SHEW FORTH, TO SPEAK, TO TELL.
Illus: Have you ever been in someone’s ceramic shop? If you have, most likely they will take you around their ceramic shop and show you all the ceramics they made with their own hands.
And if you are into ceramics, you look at all the things they have made, and you find yourself saying over and over again, “Isn’t that beautiful!”
These things they show you are their handiwork. Now if you want to see God’s handiwork, the Bible says you have to look at this beautiful creation.
LOOK AT:
• The Moon
• The Sun
• The stars
• The Sky
• The Oceans
• The Water Falls
• The Mountains
• The Clouds
• The Flowers and the Trees
We see these things all the time, and we find ourselves saying, “Isn’t that beautiful!”
All these things are God’s handiwork. All these things tell us two things:
A. THERE IS A CREATOR
Illus: Suppose we went back to that ceramic shop, and we ask our friend, “How did these things get here?” And that person says to us, “Well, these ceramics are a composite of many things, and somehow they crawled together, and they evolved into these beautiful products.”
Now if a person said such a thing to us, we would think this is one dumb person.
Illus: That reminds us of the blonde that opened a box of Cheerios, and said, “Oh look, a box full of donut seeds!”
But the dumbest person on this earth, is the person who can look at this CREATION, and not admit that there is a CREATOR! God’s handiwork teaches us that THERE IS A CREATOR.
But also, God’s handiwork teaches us-
B. THERE IS A GOD
You see, it is good to know that all we see came from a Creator, but it is even greater to know that there is a God WHO HAS CREATED ALL THIS BECAUSE HE LOVES US.
With that knowledge, we know that if God is POWERFUL enough to create all that we can see, He is powerful enough to help us with our problems.
But as great as it is to live in the age we live in, with all of our conveniences, there is a danger.
WHAT IS THE DANGER?
The danger is this; we as a nation have become so methodical that we now operate like robots.
• Some of you come to church and sit in the same pews
• Some of you speak to the same people
• Some of you park your car in the same place
• Some of you head for your easy chair and reach for the remote control as soon as you get home. For the next several hours your mind is lost in space.
Listen, we live in a world that is like a merry-go-round. We go round and round, day after day, like robots. We need to get off that merry-go-round, and walk out into this wonderful world God has made, and we will come to the conclusion the song writer came to, “HOW GREAT THOU ART!”
As we look at what He created, it strengthens our faith. No one with good sense can look at this beautiful CREATION, and not acknowledge that there is a CREATOR!
IF GOD CAN CREATE ALL THE THINGS HE CREATED, HE CERTAINLY CAN TAKE CARE OF OUR NEEDS.
Look at Matthew 6:28-31 “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”
FAITH COMES FROM GOD’S WORLD. But also,
II. FAITH COMES FROM GOD’S WORD
Illus: D.L. Moody said, “I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me.” (Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 5.)
This is true. Every time we expose ourselves to the Word of God, it inspires us to want to do greater things for the Lord.
FAITH COMES FROM GOD’S WORD. HOW DOES IT COME FROM GOD’S WORD?
The Bible tells us where we receive faith. Look at Rom. 10:17, we read, “So then faith cometh by HEARING, AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.”
The Bible teaches us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
• This is why we need to make time for the Word of God to speak to our hearts every day
• This is why we need to attend Sunday School where we can hear the Word of God being taught
• This is why we need to be in church every time the doors are open for the preaching of God’s Word, to hear His Word preached
You see, the more we hear something, the more it becomes a part of our life. THIS IS A FACT!
Now since you know the Bible teaches “FAITH COMETH BY HEARING”:
• Don’t tell me that you want your faith to grow, and not attend Sunday School
• Don’t tell me that you want your faith to grow, and on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights you sit home and watch television
• Don’t tell me that you want your faith to grow, and you have time to read the newspaper but you do not have time to read God’s Word
People who want faith and are not willing to do these things, are like people who say, “If it falls from heaven into my lap I will accept it.” If that is what you are waiting for, then you never will have strong faith!
THE BIBLE STATES IT AS A FACT, FAITH COMES BY HEARING THE WORD OF GOD.
The things we listen to we soon begin to believe.
A. THIS IS THE STRATEGY THAT HOMOSEXUALS ARE USING TO SWAY PEOPLE TO ACCEPT HOMOSEXUALITY
For years they operated with the “HIDING IN THE CLOSET” method, and they would not even tell anyone they were homosexuals. But they realized that they were not getting anywhere hiding in the closet, so they had come out.
Now every time they get a chance on national television, they proudly, unashamedly declare that they are homosexuals.
AND DID YOU KNOW THAT THEIR STRATEGY IS WORKING?
People who one time almost up-chucked when you talked about HOMOSEXUALITY, now are beginning to accept their life-style as an ALTERNATE life-style. Why? Because the more people hear something, the more they start believing in what they hear.
B. THIS IS THE STRATEGY THAT POLITICIANS USE TO SWAY PEOPLE TO THINK THE WAY THEY THINK
Illus: They will get on national television and look us in the eyes, and tell us some of the biggest lies that you can imagine. They know it is a lie, and many of the pundits know it is a lie. But they know if they keep telling that lie long enough, you and I will start to believe it.
“FAITH COMETH BY HEARING”. When we hear something over and over again, we soon start to believe what we hear.
Illus: In Columbia, SC, a man by the name of West had earned the name of “Lying West”. He earned that name because he could tell a lie twice, and he would believe it himself.
The more we hear something, the more we start to believe in what we are listening to.
But Christians who desire to have strong faith, need to expose themselves to the Word of God.
Illus: Robert Webber said, “Some time ago, I was biking in Michigan and met another biker who, like myself, was a professor of theology. In the course of our conversation by the side of the road, he said something I will never forget: ‘Bob, all I really want in life is for the Word of God to take up residence inside of me, and form me into Christ-likeness.’ I think this statement hit me hard, because my seminary training in the Bible was never that personal. We were always asking ‘What does it say?’ and seldom if ever made the step into a deep personal application of ‘How can that truth take up residence in me?’” (Robert Webber in The Covenant Companion (Jan. l990). Christianity)
We start having strong faith when the Word of God begins to live through us. And the more we expose ourselves to the Word of God, the stronger our faith becomes.
Conclusion:
If you want strong faith, then you must constantly expose yourself to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word!
Illus: Wouldn't it be great if you could clean your dirty socks by putting them in a drawer with a clean pair?
But the fact is, when we put ourselves with the Word of God, it is going to rub off on us. That is why every time Paul preached, he wanted to expose Christians to the Word of God.
Look at 1 Cor. 2:1 5, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
Paul could have preached with “EXCELLENCY OF SPEECH.” But he was determine NOT to do this, because he knew that the people he was preaching to would not grow in their faith with such preaching.
One reason that Christians around the world are not growing in faith, is because they are exposed to all the flowery speech that is coming from many of the liberal preachers.
Paul said he stood before people not wanting to impress them with HOW GREAT HE WAS, but HOW GREAT THE LORD WAS.
Paul said, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom…but in the power of God.”
Hebrews 11 is filled with great men and women of God. But the reason they are listed in this chapter is because of their FAITH IN GOD.
Faith in God will make you do things you have never done before.
Illus: It makes us think of the young, somewhat cocky cowboy who was riding his horse one day, when he spied a hunched-over, old farm hand on a mule. Deciding to have a little fun, the young cowboy drew his 6 shooter and told the old man to get down off his mule. He then asked the old man if he had ever danced, and began to empty his revolver at his feet with great laughter. The old man slowly turned back to his mule (unamused) and put his hand into his pack and drew a shotgun, and aimed it at the now bullet-less young cowboy, and he said "Did you ever kiss a mule?" To which the young cowboy said with fright, "No but I have always wanted to!"
There is nothing like faith in God, it will make you do things you have never done in your life.
If we are going to please the Lord, the Bible teaches that we are going to have to live a life of faith. God’s Word says it is impossible to please Him otherwise.
I. FAITH COMES FROM GOD’S WORLD
II. FAITH COMES FROM GOD’S WORD
