INCREASING YOUR FAITH
INTRODUCTION
1. Beloved, Praise the name of Jesus. I am so thankful to all that my Great God is doing in my life. “I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of praise.”
2. Are you feeling weak and disillusioned. Does it feel like the bottom has fallen out of your world. Are you constantly struggling, and never overcoming. Do you ever wonder why you continue?
3. Beloved, yes these are problems that are encountered in the flesh, but we do not have to worry about that, or do we? NO WE DON’T, RO 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
4. I am not under condemnation, I am free from the law of sin and death. GAL 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
5. The problem however, is that I find sometimes that my faith is not as focused and strong as it should be. Like the apostles I cry out, LK 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6. Beloved, one of the disciplines that I need to focus and work on. Possibly the most important discipline, is increasing my faith. Without faith, I am not able to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Without faith, I am dead. The whole of Christianity, in my relation to God, revolves around my faith. Faith is a definite Christian KEY.
7. I don’t know why it is so hard to have real faith in action when it comes to my God. Because….
I. GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY
A. God Is Faithful And Trustworthy
1. Whatever God says, He will do. It will happen. 2TI 2:11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
2. In the last sermon, we saw that God is bound to always tell the truth, always do what is right, always be holy and righteous. Like the movie “Chronicles of Narnia” we see that there is a higher magic, but it is not magic, it is the holiness of God. He cannot and will not sin, and for Him to not keep his word, that would be sin.
3. REV 4:8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
4. If God said it, it will surely happen. Here is a truth you can bet on. If you are in Christ, then you shall see God, and if you are not in Christ, then you shall surely be eternally separated from God. God has to keep His word, and so it is not God’s choice, where you go, it is yours.
5. Peter gives us this admonition. 1PE 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
B. God Is Love.
1. God’s whole personality is love, which manifests itself in a giving nature. Consider for a moment, whether any of you have a right to even be alive. Who made you, planned you, gave you air to breathe, an earth to live on, food to eat, health to work your job, time to play when you want to. It was all given to us by God. Now what do we bring to the table in this deal. NOTHING! I cannot repay God for what He has done for me, everything I have, He created by just speaking it into existence. In reality, I am about as useful to God as a flea on the back of a dog, constantly causing irritation and actually a parasite, totally dependent upon my host.
2. So why did God make us and sustain us? To have someone to lavish His wonderful love upon. We were created so that God could bless and love us. That is it. God is all knowing, and knew we would become what we have become, but His love and righteousness was greater than anything in existence.
3. We got unconditional Love, you did not earn it, or buy it, or merit it. RO 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
4. Here is an even better scripture, to show us the extent of God’s love. EPH 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
II. CAN YOU TRUST GOD?
JN 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
A. God Has Our Best Interests At Heart.
1. Here is the heart of our God, and the result of His love for us. a. He created us, we rejected Him in favor of Satan.
b. He came to this earth and paid the price of our sins, we killed Him on the Tree.
c. He gave us His Holy Spirit to live in us and guide us, often times we continue to live in sin.
He will never quit trying to help me and love me.
2. Right now, I don’t know why He is bothering with me. I would be very tempted to be done with this creation, if I were God. But thankfully, I am not God. He is righteous and has our best interests at heart. He keeps extending the hand of love to you, now when are we going to grasp hold of it and look into the loving eyes of this beautiful Creator.
3. God has done everything, except force me to swallow it. He leaves that choice up to me, as love cannot be forced, it is voluntary. Love is given away freely, it cannot be bought, forced, or manipulated, that is slavery. Love is free.
4. Know That God is wholly focused on you. He cannot keep His eyes off of you. You are His pride and joy. I can see Him nudging one of the angels, and saying, “that’s Gary, that’s my boy.” Just like He did concerning His son Job. God’s chest was puffed out with pride. He has your best interests at heart. Believe this.
B. Faith Is Found In Action.
1. Many Christians claim to have faith in God, and yet many times this is just words. We may have knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but in the nitty gritty, we utter words like, “Ahh, or Well or But.” You see the key issue that will face many Christians when they face Jesus Christ, is that they had little faith in the reality of things. They did not trust in God to look after them.
2. In Hebrews, we can see some examples of true faith. Before we look at the examples, let us read the definition of faith. HEB 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
a. NOAH HEB 11:7 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.
b. HEB 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
c. HEB 11:17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
3. Beloved, these faith warriors died never seeing what they had faith in, and yet they held fast, not to the things that they were promised, but to God’s trustworthiness. HEB 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
4. Faith is not found in words. It is found in action. JAS 2:18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
C. The Key Issue.
1. Brothers and Sisters, all too often God asks things of us, and we do not have the faith in God to comply with His request. I am a witness of this in my own life. We may claim to have all kinds of faith, and yet when it is tested, we fail, because we fear a negative outcome.
2. Beloved, this is the key issue. We do not know God and His Righteousness. He can be trusted to have your best interests at heart. Listen to me. He does not have His best interests at heart, He has your best interests at heart. He will not waste you for a laugh or selfish reasons, even though He is entitled to do so, as He is your Creator. No, you are not His puppet, you are His BELOVED. HE HAS YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN HIS HEART, it is what He desires. His desires are good for you because of His love.
3. Beloved, one of the key issues of a lack of faith in God’s ability and trustworthiness, is the issue of tithing. I am not going to spend a lot of time on this subject today, as we do have a tithing sermon scheduled for sometime in September. Beloved, the Bible tells us that we are to tithe 10 percent of my gross income to God. That is before taxes. Yet for many years, I lacked the faith to do so, even though I knew God’s promise that He would always provide for me. It was a lack of Faith in God’s trustworthiness. Pastors quickly learn, that they can gauge the spiritual maturity of a Christian, by the percentage of their tithe. It is not about the money, brothers and sisters, it is about the willingness of the Christian to let it go in favor of God’s promises.
III. INCREASE YOUR FAITH.
HEB 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
1. There are many ways that we can increase our faith, but the one true way, as per the Word of God, is found in RO 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
2. There are three main areas that we need to increase our faith in.
A. Faith In The Saving Power Of Jesus.
1. Beloved, one of the saddest things that many have been duped into believing, that perhaps our salvation is not complete. That they need to worship certain ways, eat certain foods, wear certain clothes, speak a certain way, do not touch this, read the Bible, pray in a certain way, etc, in order to have salvation. THIS IS A BUNCH OF SATANIC LIES. Paul tells us…COL 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
2. Brothers and Sisters, let me share with you the truth. Jesus has done it all for us. There is nothing more that we to do. Let us read Hebrews. HEB 10:10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The truth for us therefore is for us to Become one with Jesus, be filled with His Holy Spirit. Jesus has already done it, you can be holy in Him by faith. RO 4:4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
3. This does not mean that we should continue in sin, RO 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
4. Let go of your sins and the desires of the flesh, and submit to the will of Jesus Christ. He will guide you by His Holy Spirit to righteousness, and YOU WILL BE FREE. I am free, I don’t care what anyone thinks, I know Jesus Christ, and He knows me. The beautiful Holy Spirit is guiding me and protecting me. BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD.
B. Faith That God Will Direct Your Paths.
1. Second area that we need to increase our faith in, is in the area of allowing God to direct your paths. We need to know that all the promises of the Scriptures are personally ours.
2. We need to let go and let God. Beloved God will take care of you, in the best possible way. Now don’t go and quit your job, and expect God to provide for you. The Thessalonians had a problem with this. 2TH 3:10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
3. We need to put our faith into action. It is like when the Holy Spirit tells you to speak to someone about Jesus, and you squash that feeling. It is like when God tells you to do something for the Kingdom, and you squash it because you are too busy. Or when that missionary comes to speak, and you feel compassion, and so you take the money that you were going to give to the church, and redirect it to the mission field instead of sacrificially giving, which is what the Holy Spirit had in mind, as there were blessings waiting for you.
4. Beloved, I wonder how many blessings I have missed out on, because I would not have enough faith in my Holy Lord. Let me share a promise with you, 1CO 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
C. Faith In You, That You Can Follow His Leading.
1. Finally, beloved, an area that we really need to increase our faith in. We need to have faith that God will do mighty things through us. Yes, in the flesh, we are insignificant in the scheme of things, but totally significant is the One who dwells in us. He has a great work for us, planned for us to do. JER 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
2. Brothers and Sisters, Increase your faith in the abilities that God has empowered you with. He began a work in you, and will never leave you. PHP 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
3. Yes I am weak in the flesh, and looking at me, I amount to very little. I will never be president, or vice president, or even a famous singer, or whatever men look for on this world, but I do know this. Do not stand in our way, concerning the work that God is doing through me. It is a God thing, and no one is able to stand before my God. 2CO:1017 But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
CONCLUSION
1. Friends, it starts with you believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Eternal salvation, is not found in what you know, or what you do, or what you can bring to the bargaining table. It resides in knowing the Son of God. ISA 64:6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
2. Come before the altar of the Lord, and know Him. Will you come this morning. Will you come and confess His name before men, so that He will confess you before the Father?
3. Perhaps you have fallen away, because righteous acts are powerless to do anything to save us, and want to have the fullness that is only found in Jesus Christ. Then come forward and join me at the front, and ask Jesus to help you. Ask Jesus to know you. Make that commitment, and become one with Him. We will ask the Father to pour out His Holy Spirit on you today, so that you can begin the new walk today.
