FEB. 1, 2004
Kim Huffman
Series: Timeless Treasures
#1 “PRECIOUS FAITH”
2 Peter 1:1
“From Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. To the people who have received a faith which is like our precious faith. It came through the righteousness of our God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
INTRO.
An atheist was out fishing in England, when all of a sudden a huge dragon type amphibian began to come out of the water. With snarling teeth it moved closer to the atheist. In desperation he shouted, “Dear God, Please save me!” All of a sudden, everything stopped moving and the heavens opened and a deep voice said, “I thought you didn’t believe in Me?” To that the atheist responded, “Give me a break, two minutes ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness Monster either!”
This is the first sermon in a series I am calling “Timeless Treasurers.” It is hard to come up with anything that is more precious than our faith. It truly is a timeless treasurer! Do you remember the song, “Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee?” That song is talking about Peter and John who healed the lame man who was begging for alms outside the temple. They had no money to give him but they did have healing for him. Do you remember the song, “More Precious than Silver?” It goes “Lord, you are more precious than silver. Lord, you are more costly than gold. Lord you are more beautiful than diamonds and nothing I desire compares with you.”
Simpson (not Bart) wrote: What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be; someday your heart will be asking, “What will He do with me?” Look with me as we consider The Object, Value and Identity of faith.
I. The Object of Faith is Jesus Christ
1. We believe Jesus was who He claimed to be- the son of the living God (Mt. 16:16)
2. He was prophet, priest and king. Everything he ever said is true. His death on the cross made it possible for Him to be our intercessor in heaven. He has a kingdom where He rules (Col. 1:13).
3. We believe Jesus can do what He claimed. He has forgives us of sin. He has given us eternal life and He is coming again.
ILL> Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward for this faith is to see what we believe. (St. Augustine)
4. Because we believe Jesus we trust Him in our daily lives and we trust Him with the safe keeping of our souls.
ILL> “I believe in the sun even when I can’t see it shining, I believe in Love even when I’m all alone and I believe in God even when He is silent.”
II. The Value of Faith is Precious
1. Faith is valuable because it brings peace to our hearts. When we have been obedient to the Lord we know we have been saved. We can be sure of our salvation because even when we may not feel saved because of the assurance and peace that we have in obeying the commands in the Bible.
2. Faith is valuable because it brings joy into our lives. There is real joy in serving Jesus. Joy un-expressible.
ILL> Faith is like a trapeze. We walk by faith, not sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We learn three things: 1) It takes a leap of faith to let go of one bar and reach for the other one. 2) It can be scary letting go to your security and trusting. 3) You don’t have forever to decide to let go and grab the other bar. But one thing that helps us step out in faith is that we know Jesus is our safety net. He will always catch us! Dr. Jack Cotrell says, “We all have to take a leap of faith but it is not a very long leap because we have such good evidence.”
3. Faith is valuable because it brings us hope for the future. Without Christ we have a hopeless end. With Christ we have an endless hope. Hope is an anchor that is steadfast and sure.
4. Faith is valuable because it brings a love for others. Without faith it is impossible to please God. The person who comes to God must believe that He is. (Heb. 11:6) Faith is more than facts to be found, faith is a lifestyle to be live. When we realize how valuable our faith in Jesus Christ is we can’t keep it to ourselves. We must give it away. Don’t keep the faith (to yourself) give it away! We have to love people with the love of God enough to share our faith with them.
III. The Identity of Faith is that it is Apostolic
1. What that means is that for our faith to be any good it must be the same faith that Jesus preached.
2. Our faith must match up with the faith that the Apostles passed on after Jesus ascended into heaven. If our faith is not the same then we have strayed from the truth.
3. Our faith must be the faith that the early church practiced.
4. Our faith gets it’s identity from the inerrant Bible which is our rule of faith and practice and our final authority, not from man or from the church. We believe there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is over all, through all and in all (Eph. 4:4-6).
Jude 3- “…contend earnestly for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.”
CONCLUSION
What is the object of your faith?
What is the value of your faith?
What does your faith identify with?
ILL> A climber fell off a cliff. As he tumbled down into the huge canyon, he was able to grab hold of a branch of a small tree. “Help!” he shouted. “Is there anyone up there?” A deep majestic voice from the sky echoed through the canyon, “I will help you, my soon. But first you must have faith and trust me.” “All right, all right, I trust you,” answered the man. Then the voice replied, “Let go the branch.” There was a long pause and the man shouted again, “Is there anyone else up there?”
Is faith a timeless treasure to you? This precious faith can be yours today.
Invitation.
