Pastor Bruce Ball
CrossWinds Bible Church
Please turn with me as we read today’s Bible text.
One morning at a local elementary school, all the teachers were called into the teacher’s lounge for an unscheduled meeting. This meant they all had to leave their classrooms unsupervised. Mrs. Miles had the most unruly class in school, and being worried about them, she turned on the intercom just to find out if her suspicions of rowdiness were true.
Her class was indeed making all kinds of noise, and one voice stood out above all the rest. Mrs. Miles recognized that little voice, grabbed the intercom and in her sternest voice, said, “Mary! Sit down and be quiet!”
Everything got very quiet very quickly. Then, out of the silence, a small voice said, “Okay, God.”
That little girl obviously knew there was a God, but didn’t know too much about Him. Sometimes, I wonder if we know any more than little Mary knew. I mean, we have all kinds of questions for which we do not have answers.
We don’t understand all of the numerology in the Bible, like the number seven representing perfection or the number three representing the Godhead; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Most of us accept the concept of the Trinity, but we sure don’t have a full understanding. It is like an egg. An egg is comprised of a white, a yoke and a shell, but it is still only one egg. The Trinity is like a clover: A clover has three leaves, yet it is still only one clover.
In our text this morning, Jesus tells His disciples that there are many things He wanted to tell them, but they were unable to understand them. We tend to be like them, don’t we? We just don’t understand everything we would like to understand.
A Sunday school teacher was teaching the children once about believing in Jesus so they could all go to Heaven. At the end of his talk, he asked them where they wanted to go. All of them yelled out, “Heaven”.
He asked then what they had to do to go there, and there was silence. Then, one boy spoke up and said, “Die”. Sometimes, we too just understand a part of the whole.
All who acknowledge a belief in Christ have questions. God knows we are unable to understand His Godly thoughts, and so He only gives us a glimpse here and there of what He wants us to know. He doesn’t give us everything we may want to know, but He gives us everything that we need to know. I believe there is a perfectly good reason for this.
If we knew everything that God does, would we still feel the need to be totally dependant upon God? I don’t think so. I think that as arrogant and self-centered as man is; as much as we think we are the ones in control, we would turn our backs on God even faster than we already have.
God has given us enough knowledge for us to know that He does exist, but we have to understand that we are not saved by that knowledge. In EPHESIANS 2:8, it tells us that we are saved by God’s grace, through our faith. In other words, we are only saved because God loves us enough to give us that gift – but the catch is that we must believe upon His Son before we can accept it.
We are saved because we believe in Christ as our Savior, not because we have the knowledge of Christ. To know about somebody is to have the knowledge of what they have done: For instance we know about Tiger Woods, but how many of us really know him? We know about Saddam Hussein, but do we know him? I am very saddened that many churchgoers know all about Jesus, but very few really have taken the time to see that they need to know Him.
Last week, I spoke about how our founding fathers did create one nation under God. Now that didn’t mean that every one of our forefathers were Christian, though. I think we would all agree that Thomas Jefferson was a very smart man, but I don’t think anybody here would buy into his brand of belief in God. He was what they refer to as a Deist. He believed that God created the world and then left it to evolve on its own. He thought that God was not only not in control, but that He had lost all interest in mankind.
And, he did what many people do today. When he read the Bible, he found passages that disagreed with what he believed in, so he ignored them like they didn’t exist. Jefferson’s Bible deleted all references of Jesus’ deity. Every gospel in his Bible ended with the crucifixion. I think it is safe to say that Mr. Jefferson found out rather quickly how wrong he was right after he took his last breath.
I don’t believe that it is my job to stand up here and put down other religions or churches, but I want to share with you one experience I had a couple of years ago. I happened to be exchanging emails with the pastor of a local Unitarian Church. I was asking her questions about the church, and during the course of our emails, she let me know that they thought that everyone would eventually get to Heaven. I asked her if they believed in Jesus Christ and she said they did not believe He was the Son of God and the Savior. I asked her if she believed in the Bible and she said they believed in “parts of the Bible”. I asked her what they did to the parts they did not believe in and she said they ignored them as being incorrect.
Let me tell you something right now. First of all, there are no incorrect words in the Bible. They are all true and all are straight from the heart of God. Secondly, in 1 JOHN 2:23 it tells us that if anyone denies Christ, they do not know God. And, if we don’t know God, there is just no way we are going to be let into His house.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this kind of belief produces no faith and prepares no souls that are fit to enter into God’s house. Again, we are not saved by our knowledge, but by pure faith. In HEBREWS 11:1, it says that faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.
A lady by the name of Pamela Byers of Indiana had an experience that some of us can relate to. It was a very cold winter day and her husband had already left for work and the older kids were in school, leaving her with her 6-year old daughter and newborn son at home, in the country.
She had some errands to run, so she bundled the kids up, rushed them to the car, got in and then realized something frightening. She had locked the house and in her hurry to get into the car, she had left her car keys in the house. They were now stuck out in the cold with no way of going anywhere. In her panic, she heard her 6-year old daughter say they should pray for help.
Struggling to stay warm in the bitter cold, she told her daughter that there was no way God could do anything to help them now. After all, she thought, she was the one who made the mistake and put her family in jeopardy, so she didn’t think God would do anything to help her out. But her daughter was persistent and kept urging her mother to pray for help.
Finally, the mother prayed for help. A few moments later, the daughter told her mother to look in her purse where she kept her money and she would find a key there. The mother later said she had never kept a spare key in her purse, but when she looked she found one.
She remarked that is the day that her little girl’s faith in God also became her faith in God. She said she could think of a host of explanations as to how the key go there, but none made sense except that God answered the prayer to save their lives.
So, what do we really know about God? In truth, we know very little, but we do know enough – just enough, to transform our lives into souls that will spend eternity with our Lord in Heaven. There is an old hymn that says, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.” And, believe me when I say that it truly is.
The next time somebody asks you what you know about God, tell them that you know enough to know that Jesus is the only way you are every going to get invited to God’s house, and that is all you need to know. There is nothing they can say to argue the point that makes any sense after you would say that.
You have to have faith in Christ. Faith is what will give you the ability to step out of the boat like Peter did in MATTHEW 14. Faith is the key to seeing the miracles of God open up in your life. How strong is your faith? Does it need fortified with the evidence before your eyes, or is it as strong as the little girl who thought God was telling her to be quiet over the loudspeaker?
A strong faith does not just believe in God. Strong faith also trusts in God – completely! We can believe that God exists, but unless we trust Him with our very lives and souls, we are only filled with worry, not faith. Faith trusts God to care for us; to love us; and to watch out over us. Worry is stress on steroids. Where there is knowledge but no trust, there is no faith.
A man and his wife were taking a tour through the smelting plant of the U.S. Mint. One of the workers told them that if they would dip their hand in cold water, he could then pour the liquid metal over their hands without hurting them. He asked the man if he wanted to try it and the man said he would just take the worker’s word on it.
The worker then asked the wife and she agreed. She put her hand in the water and then held it out while the worker poured the molten metal over it. As it just ran off her hand, the wife said, “You are absolutely right. It didn’t hurt me at all.”
The worker then turned to the husband and said, “You believed, but your wife believed and trusted.” Which proved the truth?
1. NOBODY HAS EVER BEEN DISAPPOINTED FOR HAVING FAITH.
The 11th chapter of HEBREWS is referred to as the ‘Faith Chapter’ because faith is mentioned over twenty times. In this chapter, 17 people are mentioned in reference to having faith. If there were a Hall of Fame for faith in God, these men would be in it. Here are a few examples of their faith.
· Abel had the faith of worship for giving the proper sacrifice to the Lord
· Noah had the witness of faith for building the ark over those many years
· Moses had the work of faith for leading Israel out of Egypt
I personally am most awed by the faith of Daniel. Even when thrown into a den of lions, Daniel kept his belief and faith in God tightly focused. Any time you see a picture of Daniel in the lion’s den, you will notice that his eyes are never on the lion, but always looking up at God. I think there must be a reason God never lets anyone paint that picture with Daniel’s eyes on the lions.
In the first few hundred years after Jesus, the state meted out punishment without any thought to the severity of it. There are accounts of men and women of faith, who died the most horrible deaths one can imagine, and smiling and singing hymns as they died. What I find most remarkable is that there are no recorded instances of anyone without faith doing anything but screaming, kicking and being in torment.
2. FAITH WILL GET YOU THE ANSWERS TO YOUR PRAYERS
In MARK 11, we read where Jesus is telling His disciples that whatever they pray for, they will receive it – as long as they truly have the faith in their hearts that the prayer will be answered.
How many times have we heard preachers use this passage to tell how people can pray for anything their hearts desire and they will get it? You must remember that this is what Jesus said in that passage. Let’s take a closer look at what Jesus meant by that.
If you are a person who truly tries to live the way God wants you to live, you will understand when I say that God will put His desires for you in your heart. So, in that context, God will give you what you pray for; all because you are praying for the desire He put in your heart. That does not mean that you desire to have a dozen sports cars and God will deliver them to your front door. That means that those desires you pray for that are from Him, will be given to you because they will enhance His kingdom here on earth.
But, there again, we must have the absolute faith that our prayer will be answered. Is it really possible to even have that kind of faith? Yes, it is. You do that every day anyway. Let me show you.
You do not have to see the wind blow in China tomorrow to know that the wind will blow somewhere in China tomorrow. You just know it even though you don’t understand how and even though you cannot prove it. By the same principle, you know that a bird will fly in South America tomorrow. You don’t have to understand to know it is true. That is the kind of absolute faith and belief you must have when you interact with our Heavenly Father. When you “KNOW” your prayer will be answered, it will be answered. Nowhere in the Bible does it say you must understand how it will be answered. The Bible just tells us that we must believe it will be answered.
In our society today, it seems we are quicker to believe a lie than we are the truth. We are arrogant against God and we tend to believe everything we will ever have is only from us.
3. YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH – GOD!
Most of us get worried from time to time, but some of us stay worried all the time. Worry is the agony of thought about something that hasn’t happened yet and in most probability will not happen. The Bible tells us many times to ‘fear not’.
The only way to not worry is to have a strong faith. Remember what I said earlier about having a strong faith. That a strong faith is one that truly believes in God and trusts God to handle your life for you.
The only thing we really need to fear is the future if we have not received Jesus as the Lord of our lives. And that is something we should fear very much. But, as soon as we choose to receive Jesus into our hearts; the very moment we decide to open up our hearts and lives to Him, we have instant salvation. We will not have to wait and hope that nothing happens to us until the salvation ‘kicks in’. It is instantaneous. That takes all the fear out of the equation. We are literally set free from any worry.
There is an old definition of faith that has helped me in my times of troubles.
F = Forsaking
A = All else,
I = I
T = Take
H = Him
We are all going to have rough times to go through in our lives. In JAMES 1:2-3, it says,
‘Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, because
you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.’
You will notice how James did not say “if” we go through trials – he said “when” we go through trials. You are going to go through many trials, and some of them are going to be more than you want to experience, but keep one thing in mind.
If your belief and trust is right with God, you are in the best hands you could be in. Like the old song says, “Put your hand in the hand of the One …”
If you are on the hills of faith, every problem will seem small as you look down upon them, but if you are in the valley of the faithless, every problem is going to look like a giant as you look up to them.
What type of faith do you have today? Do you have the run-of-the-mill faith that is evidenced only by your saying you have faith, or do you have the type of faith that will enable you to literally turn your back on the world as you climb towards Jesus?
Let me put it another way. Do you have friends and coworkers? When you think of telling them about Jesus, do you get uncomfortable because you think about what they might think of you, or do you only think about what Jesus will think about you if you don’t tell that person about Him?
One has the faith of an empty glass. The other has the faith of the Godly. Let me ask you again: Which type of faith do you have today? Are you sure that if your time was up tomorrow that you would go to Heaven, or is there a lingering doubt in your mind?
Are you going through the motions of Christianity at church, then going home and being harsh and short-tempered with your kids, spouse or friends? Do you have an issue with anger or a problem with a sharp tongue? These things are not used with faith but are used instead of faith.
Today, we have the opportunity to step away from that type of ungodly life, and step right into the arms of Jesus, our Christ. All it takes is faith. A belief in. A trust in. As we go into our time of invitation, won’t you please listen to the Lord today as He tells you to stop just going through the motions and get real with Him?
INVITATION
CLOSING PRAYER
CLOSING SONG
