Scripture: Habakkuk 2:1--4
Title: “When Faith Takes Over”
Subject: “FAITH”
Introduction: This Scripture is used to teach that the person who has been made righteous by God lives (and survives the coming ordeal) by faith. The believer trusts God in everything. Hab. 2:4 is also quoted in Rom. 1:17 and Gal. 3:11, where Paul uses it to teach that the one who is righteous by faith (rather than by works) shall live.
Paul’s emphasis is on salvation by faith; this writer’s is on living by faith.
Faith in God sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.
Some say that faith is the gift of God. So is AIR, but you have to breathe it; so is BREAD, but you have to eat it. Some are wanting some miraculous kind of feeling. That is not FAITH!
“Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). This is when faith comes. It is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come stealing over me with a strong sensation, but is for me to take God at His Word.
-- D. L. Moody
A little boy in Sunday School was asked to give his meaning of faith, he answered, “Faith is like seeing Jesus with your eyes closed.”
Faith is not a leap in the dark; it is a leap out of darkness into the light.
I want us to look at three instances when FAITH took over and victory was won.
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I. FAITH AT THE GATE. (2 Kings 7:3-4)
a. According to the O.T. Law lepers were required to live outside the cities.
b. Four men, lepers, they were experiencing a severe famine in the land and the Syrians had surrounded the city and was starving the people out.
c. These four men took a look at their situation and made a decision.
d. “Look at us, we’re lepers, no one wants us and we’re going to die any way.”
e. “Our situation is desperate! If we stay where we are we’re going to die. “We will starve if we stay here, and we will starve if we go back into the city. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.” (v. 4)
f. There are times when we have to make the decision of FAITH!
g. Faith took over and the lepers were blessed beyond their fondest imaginations!
h. When they arose and acted on their faith they found the Lord had driven out the enemy and the Syrians had left behind all their stuff and all the lepers had to do was walk into the blessing.
II. BORN OF FOUR (Mark 2:1-12)
a. Sometimes the person in need can’t help themselves and someone else has to take the initiative of FAITH in their behalf to help them.
b. RECOGNIZING the need: Sometimes there are people that don’t know they can get help until someone comes to them and tells them.
c. These four unnamed men saw their friend and knew he couldn’t help himself.
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d. These four men had HEARD about Jesus and decided to carry their sick friend to Jesus for healing.
e. Jesus saw their faith (v. 5) when these men were tearing up the roof to let their friend down to where Jesus was inside the house.
f. They faced obstacles when they got CLOSE to success! (The crowd of people had the normal way blocked off!)
g. OBSTACLES are those frightening things we see when we take our eyes of the GOAL!
III. FAITH ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD.
(Luke 10:30-35)
a. Again another nameless man had gotten injured and was left on the side of the road of life dying. (v. 30)
b. A priest came along and saw him and passed by on the other side of the road. His keeping of the ceremonial law was more important than this man’s life. (v. 31)
c. A Levite came along the road and saw the injured man and came over and looked at him and then returned to the other side of the road lending no help. (v. 32)
d. Then FAITH came by in the person of a Samaritan. The Samaritan man came WHERE HE WAS, looked him over and had compassion on him and helped him.
e. Faith came singing into my room,
And other guests took flight;
Fear and anxiety, grief and gloom
Sped out into the night.
I wondered that such peace could be,
But faith said gently, Don’t you see?
They really cannot live with me.”
f. Faith puts God between us and our circumstances.
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CONCLUSION: I believe you have found yourself somewhere in this message today.
I’ve watched people come into the church and get all excited for a while and then level off.
I’ve watched people level off into a comfortable place and slow down in their attitude concerning growing in the Christian walk.
I’ve watched as these same people encounter difficult times in their life and not handle it very well at all and wonder why!
I’ve watched these same people become angry with God and give up on their Christian goals because God didn’t do it the way they thought He ought to do it! (Story of the little boy on the picket fence)
For our faith to stay strong we must keep it fed on the Word of God.
For our faith to stay strong it must be exercised everyday! (Just in the same way our muscles have to be exercised to stay strong)
The RECIPE for faith is found in Mark 5:25 – 29. The little sick woman HEARD of Jesus, CAME in the press behind, she SAID if I may but touch His clothes I shall be whole, she TOUCHED the garment of Christ.
She HEARD (Faith comes by HEARING) – She CAME (Action – Faith without works is DEAD) – She SAID (CONFESSION –You have whatsoever you SAITH) – She TOUCHED (She followed through on her confession).
www.jhcarver@excite.com
