Faith
Hebrews 11:1-3,7 Genesis 6:5-7
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A young boy was riding a bus home from Sunday School one Sunday afternoon very proud of a card he was given. It was a picture with a caption on it that read "Have Faith in God." As the bus was going down the road the picture flew out the window. The boy cried out to the driver "Stop the bus I’ve lost my faith in God!" The driver pulled over to let the boy retrieve his prize possession a rider made a remark about his innocence. A more obseverant adult said "We all should be more concerned about our faith." Are you concerned about your faith? Do others see your faith?
Faith should be consistent. It should not be fair weather. Faith should be strong even when it is not convient. Faith should be seen in our daily lives. When people see you they should see your faith. They should see your faithfulness when you walk, talk, and in your actions thru adversity. Adversities face each and every one of us. How we handle our troubles reflects our faithfulness in God. We all have troubles in our lives when our faith could be questioned. We need to pray that God will help us during these times. If you believe that God sent his son to die for our sins then you should believe that he will bring you thru whatever comes your way. Our faithfulness when seen can be a great witness for Christ.
What is faith? Well Timothy said in 2 Tim 1:12 " I know whom I have believed." Faith is a blind leap into the dark. To many unbelievers faith is a science. Faith is a devotion to God. Lets see what the book of Hebrews says about faith. (Heb.11: 1-3)
True faith is confidence in God. True faith is obedience to God’s word. Your faith will be tried. Charles Spuregon once said "If you want great faith then expect great trials. Faith is a common denominator in our lives. When we got up this morning we had faith that the light would come on when we flip the switch. When walk in a building we have faith in the construction crew and the engineers. The bible insists that we personally put our faith in Jesus. Acts 4:12 says "Nor is there any salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Hudson Taylor was a missionary of great faith. When he first went to China to do work for the Lord he went on a boat. The boat had got caught in a calm very close to a cannibal island. The boat was slowly drifting towards the cannibals a waiting feast. The captain came to Hudson asking for prayer. He replied that he would if only the captain set his sails to catch a breeze. The captain declined because he did not want to make a laughing stock of himself by setting sails in a calm. But Taylor was insistent on this. Reluctantly the captain set the sails. While Hudson was praying there was a knock at the door. The captain asked if he was still praying and of course he was. The captain told him to stop because they had more wind than they could handle. Hudson Taylor’s faith was strong enough to move a boat stuck in a calm.
Lets look at another man of faith stuck on a boat. Look at verse 7 in chapter 11 of Hebrews. "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." Faith caused Noah to work for God. If you look in Genesis chapter 6 verses 5-7 you will see this a story of God’s saving grace. Noah was strong in faith, strong enough that God saved Noah and his family. Noah stood against the whole world. Have you ever felt maybe you stood by yourself on your faith? Noah built an ark because he believed in God. Every board he sawed screamed faith. Every swing of the hammer screamed faith. Does your work scream faith? Faith will make us work. For 120 years Noah was faithful planning and building the ark. 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. That’s nearly one and a half times the size of a football field. Awful hard to hide it from the ridicule and the laughter. Everyone was laughing at crazy old Noah. Can you imagine an ark of that size a hundred miles from the nearest ocean. People refused to believe Noah about the coming flood. Yet in his faith Noah kept on working. He kept on doing God’s work. Then in one of his greatest steps of faith he and his family stepped on the ark. Noah was a great man of faith and his life showed it. Does yours?
By faith Noah built an ark. By faith Able offered a better sacrifice. by faith Abraham became a father. By faith Moses parents hid him. By faith the people passed the Red Sea. By faith the walls of Jericho fell. By faith Jesus obeyed his father. By faith he died on Calvary. And by that faith we walk with him.
George Mueller was a pastor in England during the 19th century. He became discouraged with his congregation when they showed a lack of faith. They no longer trusted God to answer their prayers. Well George began to pray and asked God to help his many ministries that will let the people know that were only acts of God. He prayed for resources needed but told no one of them. He wanted people to know that God had only thru prayer and faith. During his ministry George started the Scriptural Knowledge Institute for the distribution of scripture and education. He also began an orphanage. By the time of his death there were 4 homes caring for over 2,000 children. He distributed over $8 million dollars. At the age of 93 when he passed away his worldly possessions were valued at a mere $800 dollars. Talk about faith George Mueller never told no one. Just God. He had trust and unwavering faith in God.
A few weeks ago we were on vacation in between the hurricanes. Gracey and I were in the pool and of course she can’t swim. She has this death grip around my neck as we ease towards the deep end. The place where her Mom and I tell her not to go. As we get closer she never panicked. She had faith in me to keep her safe. Children have awesome faith. They have faith in their parents to take care of them. That is the way we should have our faith in God. A child like faith. That is all it takes a child like faith.
My grandmother is another great example of faith. Surrounded in her life by hard times, a husband with alcoholism, and death she faced every day with faith in God. I remember a dark time in our family lives when we lost my cousin (her granddaughter), my dad, and two uncles all within 2 years. 3 sons and a granddaughter. My grandmother kept reminding us that this God’s will. If he brings us to it he will bring us thru it. To all of us she is a prime example of how we should remain faithful during trying times.
Faith alone will not get us there. We are faithful to God because of his saving grace. Ephesians 2:8 says " For it is by grace you have been saved." Without his saving grace we would not make it to heaven. Our works will not get us there. Johnny and the Lord were watching a baseball game. The Lord’s team verses Satan’s. The good team was up to bat bottom of the 9th, two outs, tied at 0. The first batter to come up was named Love. He swung at the first pitch, line drive up the middle, base hit. The next batter was named Faith who also got a single. The third was named Godly Wisdom. He watched his pitches and he walked because Godly Wisdom never swings at what Satan throws. The bases are now loaded and the Lord looks over at Johnny and said here comes the star player. Up to the plate comes Grace. Johnny said well he doesn’t look like much. Satan’s whole team began to laugh. Satan thought the game was in the bag. He threw the first pitch, Grace connected to everyone’s surprise and launched a rocket to dead center. Home run game won. Then the Lord asked Johnny if he knew why Love, Faith, and Godly Wisdom could get on base but couldn’t get the win. Johnny answered no. The lord explained " If your love, faith, and wisdom had won the game you would think you done it by yourself. Love, faith, and wisdom can get you on base but only My Grace can get you home.
You have an opportunity tonight to make a decision about that grace. Whether to accept it or not. How about your faith. Is your faith strong enough to handle trials that may come your way. This altar is open for you to come and talk to God for whatever is on your mind. If you only come.
