Faith that Overcomes
One of the points I tried to make especially clear in part one of this message is that the enemy of our souls is trying his best to persuade us to neglect or even abandon our faith in God. And, unfortunately, he’s been quite successful—especially so in the last decade or so. You can see that in the incredibly rapid escalation of disdain and even abject hatred much of the world seems to have against Christians today. There is now a concerted effort by the powers that be, to slander, intimidate, silence and eradicate people of faith. This is constantly happening through media propaganda, sometimes it’s open hostility— hate crimes against churches and individuals, sometimes it’s done through certain groups accusing Christians of hate crimes for simply preaching what the Word of God clearly teaches about controversial moral and social issues that have somehow become political.
But that’s not all; In public schools across our nation, from kindergarten through college, our children are being indoctrinated and groomed under our very noses, to approve of and even participate in the Godless immorality that has inundated our society. You add to that the overwhelming anti-Christian influence constantly being directly downloaded into the minds of our children via social media.... and what you have is a perfect storm, that will capsize and drown the faith of millions of unsuspecting Christians—no wonder there is a mental and spiritual health crisis in this country today—especially among our young people!
In light of this stark reality, I for one, am utterly amazed and terribly disappointed that more of our pastors are not warning the churches of this clear and present danger that has already claimed millions of souls. In fact, I believe the deafening silence of the church is largely responsible for the steep spiritual decline we are seeing today.
We cannot afford to be passive or ambiguous for the sake of political correctness—we have to allow the Word of God to ring loud and clear, not only to warn the sinners but to alert the saints!
1 Corinthians 14:8 “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?”
To give you an idea of how rapidly the enemy is gaining ground in this spiritual war, I’ll give you a recent example; Most of you know that we’re still waiting on the conference to find a permanent pastor for our district. A few weeks ago, we learned that there is a very critical shortage of young men pursuing that calling these days—nowhere near enough to fill all the open and soon to be open districts. But only eight or ten years ago, there were so many theology majors graduating seminary, hoping to become pastors, that some of them had to take secular jobs because there simply weren’t enough pastor positions to go around—and yet, today there’s nowhere near enough young men who are answering the call to ministry.
What happened? Why is it that more and more young people who were raised in the church and even went through our schools are now leaving the faith? I was talking to a pastor about this a while back and he told me that it seemed that the more educated our youth are, the more likely they are to leave the church. That leaves us to wonder, exactly what kind of education are they getting? I would suggest to you today that their faith simply isn’t strong enough to stand against the flood of anti-Christian propaganda they are constantly encountering on social media, television, music, movies, video games, and even in the curriculum of some of our own academies and universities.
Authentic, biblical Christianity is under attack! And brothers and sisters, I believe, as Christians, we have an obligation to boldly speak out against this attack on morality, the attack on the Christian family and the attack on the Christian faith. We should speak out at our local school board meetings, city council meetings, our churches; we should speak out by casting our votes against politicians who openly condone and promote immorality... we must be proactive and not stand idly by as our children, grandchildren and other loved ones are being swept away by this tidal wave of evil.
As Christians, if we do a great job standing up and speaking out for the moral principles we find in the Word of God, we just may slow the progression of evil, but it will still come. The most important thing we can do by far, is to nurture, grow and guard our faith, and do all we can to teach our children and grandchildren to do the same, and to teach them to recognize where and how the enemy is working today, because if we don’t educate them on what is morally right or wrong, what is good or evil, you better believe the world will be happy to educate them for us.
Because of this current age of social media which equals immense social pressure, our children and grandchildren’s generations are many times more vulnerable to the assaults of the enemy than any previous generation. And he is taking full advantage of the opportunity… “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went out to make war with the rest of her offspring...” (Revelation 12:17)
So where do we begin? How do we build a faith that will withstand the persecutions, deceptions and temptations of these last days? I’m reminded of what Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth who, like us, lived in the midst of unbridled immorality of both a sexual and spiritual nature. He said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves to see whether or not you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ is in you—unless, or course, you fail the test.”
Examine yourselves. What are your greatest priorities in life? How do you set them? Do you spend more time on social media than you do in the Word of God and in prayer? Are you faithfully living up to the light you already have?
As I see the condition of the world today, as I see how the enemy is making advances on nearly every front; I can tell you today that I need more faith. And I believe I can say with a good amount of confidence, that you need more faith as well... So how do we get it?
Pray for it. The father of the demon possessed boy in Mark 9 came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his son because the disciples couldn’t do it. He said to Jesus, “IF you can do anything, please help him!” Jesus said, “IF you can? All things are possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
And why couldn’t the disciples drive out the demon? I’m so glad the disciples asked Jesus that very question, and in Mark’s account, Jesus said, “this kind can come out only by prayer (some manuscripts: and fasting).” But notice that Jesus didn’t pray. And in Matthew’s account (chapter 17) of this same incident, Jesus told them they couldn’t drive it out because they “had so little faith.” Praying builds faith in two ways; when we ask for faith outright, and also as we pour out our hearts in prayer, that communion with God naturally strengthens our faith.
Study the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, Consequently, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
The parable of the wise and foolish builders. We are all building a house of faith that must stand against the torrents of doubt, temptation and persecution... And Jesus says that only he who hears and does His word will build a house that can stand.
Exercise the faith you have been given by being faithful in the “little” things. Luke 16:10 Jesus says, “He who is faithful in that which is least will be faithful also in that which is much..”
Trials/testing of our faith. James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Gathering for worship, study and fellowship. Hebrews 10:25 “ Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”
Sharing your faith will strengthen it, praising God with strengthen it
1 John 5:1-4 “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Augustine said, “Faith is believing what we do not see; the reward of faith is seeing what we have believed.”
[appeal, close]
