ETERNAL FOUNDATIONS FOR MANKIND – Part 4

"Living by Faith" – September 1, 2002
Tracy L. Moore
Riverwood Church of Christ

Every human living today expresses faith in something. No one can live a single day without exercising faith.

When you walk in your house at night and flip the switch by the door, you have faith that the lights would turn on. When you get in your car and you turn the ignition, you have faith that It would crank. You have faith in the postal system that a letter you mail will get to the right address. When you go to the pharmacy you have faith the pharmacist will give you the right drugs. Every time you walk into this building you have faith that it will not fall in on your head.

However, faith in the spiritual realm, takes new meaning. The difference between the faith we exercise in our daily routine and our religious faith is the object of that faith. Again, everyone places his or her faith in something or someone.

But Biblical faith is more than an expression; it is a life we live. Paul put it this way, "…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith…" (Gal. 2:20 – NKJV)

The Greek verb behind the word live is in the perfect tense, indicating a past-completed action that has continuing results. It is not so much a believer living for an object of faith, as it is his faith living through him (Col. 2:9).

So what is this faith that is spoken so much about in the Bible? That is what we are here to learn.

Several things to note. First of all, THE MEANING OF OUR FAITH. (There is no greater verse to define faith as Hebrews 11:1-2.)

FAITH IS CONFIDENCE IN THE PROMISES OF GOD. Look to the beginning of Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen." (NKJV)

The word substance means "assurance" and evidence means "confidence." In other words, faith is the assurance that God will do exactly what He has promised to do.

The Hebrew writer sets out to prove this point by illustrating this idea through many Old Testament characters. These men and women, listed in verses 4-40, were so certain and sure because each had received a promise from God. They were confident that God would do exactly what He promised.

The word promise is used some 18 times in Hebrews, and seven times in this chapter alone.

Faith is not a feeling that everything is all right, while it is true emotions are involved. Nor is it a blind leap in the dark. Some people define faith as hope. As if it were something that you walk into blindly waiting for providence to bump into you. Faith is the response of the promises of God for your life.

For example, if you wrote me a letter inviting me to your home for dinner, you wouldn’t include statements such as, "We have perfect faith that you and coming; we know you will be here; we are claiming your arriving; by faith we are announcing to all our friends that you will be here."

On the contrary, you would say things like, "We hope you can join us; we would love to have you; please check you schedule." You would be foolish to believe I was coming until I told you. Once I called you and confirmed the date, you could have faith. Why? Because I told you I would be there; I made a commitment to come. Now you have a promise to hang your faith on.

As God’s children, we are free to ask God anything we please. And once we ask, we can hope He will give us exactly what we’ve asked for. But to believe He will do something He has not promised to do is not faith, but presumption!

Sometimes we meet people, even Christians, who are disappointed with God. They feel as if God has let them down, as if He didn’t answer their request as they had desired. This type of disappointment usually stems over the meaning of faith. Most people who are disappointed with God misunderstand what faith is. To them, faith is some sort of power or force. They think if they have enough faith – or hope – God will do whatever they ask Him. So when a crisis comes along, they try to move God into action through their faith. When God doesn’t respond, they become disappointed. Yet, faith is not the ability to manipulate God. It is not a lasso we throw around God’s neck to make Him do our will. It is not some button we push to force God into doing what we want.

For example, if you climb on top of this building and say, "I am going to jump off, head first, and not hit the ground. I believe that God is going to make me fly. I have prayed for it and asked Him to hold me up. I have peace in my heart that He will make me fly." Before you jump, you need to tell us what you want done with your body, because you will probably die!

However, a prayer of faith would be to ask God to meet our needs. I can believe that He will because God promised (Phil. 4:19). He just wasn’t specific as to how he would meet your individual needs. Nor that He would meet them according to your standard.

When I pray for the safety of my children, I can hope they will be safe, but I cannot have the absolute assurance that they will be safe, because I do not have the Lord’s Word on it!

Part of the reason for the confusion is our desire to be in control. We want God to do our bidding. We don’t really want God to function as the Lord of our lives; we would rather have Him operate like a vending machine. But God doesn’t work that way.

God says, "I will lead you." Faith responds, "I will follow." God says, "I will feed you." Faith says, "I will eat."

When you read these examples of faith, found in this chapter, you learn that they followed the direction of God, even though it wasn’t necessarily their choice.

Abraham arrived in the Promised Land only to walk into a famine.

Moses confronted Pharaoh only to be driven out and then have his own people turn against him.

Israel departed from Egypt, only to be followed by an angry army and to face an impassable sea.

Daniel faced a den of lions and we could give many other examples found in this chapter.

The point is, faith is not hope, but confidence in the promises of God. And to apply our faith would be to live as if God will keep His promises. That is faith – taking God as His Word.

FAITH IS A BELIEF IN THE UNSEEN. Again we refer to Hebrews 11:1, where faith is compared to "the evidence of things not seen." (NKJV)

Why is it so important that we believe without seeing? Two reasons:

You cannot always believe what you SEE.

For example, a man was arrested for staggering down the sidewalk and charged with public drunkenness. When he was brought in, another officer asked what the problem was. When told, he declared with conviction that there must be some other explanation. This man could not possibly be drunk, for he had been this officer’s Sunday school teacher, and was surely not a drinking man. Upon examination, it was discovered the man had a brain hemorrhage and was rushed into emergency surgery. What the first officer saw was not the truth about the matter. Appearances can be deceiving.

Twenty students were brought into a room and asked to identify the colors of objects that were was green, the 19 students immediately raised their hands. Hesitantly, the one student looked around and finally raised his hand, too. Popular opinion changed his mind about the truth.

Satan is liar and will deceive you and confuse the truth with deception. He will make you uncertain of what you believe, if he can. Sometimes people will believe in things the Bible says no longer exists – such as modern-day prophecies, speaking in tongues, and special knowledge – even though the Bible plainly says those things have been done away with the completion of the Scriptures (I Cor. 13:8-10). Yet, when I speak to those who still believe those things exists they inevitably will respond, "But I have seen it on television or elsewhere." Do you have enough faith in the promise of these verses to disprove the things you see with your eyes? That is the evidence of things not seen.

You cannot always see what you BELIEVE. No man can see God with their eyes. Verse 3

says, "By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." (NLT)

As we noted in our second lesson, we can see where He has been, but not His Being. Also, some things are reserved for the future, so you have to believe in them while you wait. Just like Abraham becoming the father of a great nation.

FAITH IS OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD.

Hebrews 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." (NIV)

As other examples in Hebrews 11 – Abel offered a sacrifice; Noah prepared an ark; Moses left Egypt.

Do you believe one must repent and be baptized to be saved? (Acts 2:38) Only if you act in

obedience to the command. For a person to say you don’t have to be baptized to have your sins forgiven, is a faith without obedience.

Can we believe that God will give us a heavenly home? Yes, but only when we act in obedience to His commands.

Faith without obedience is like a heater in a car without wheels, sitting up on blocks in the carport. It comforts me and keeps me warm, but I don’t go anywhere. You can have all the faith in the promises of God concerning the life hereafter, but unless you act in obedience it brings nothing more than a fuzzy feeling.

True faith is obeying God in spite of emotions, circumstances, or consequences. The people listed in Faith’s Hall of Fame did not deny their feelings, or try to change their circumstances, nor predict the consequences. They simply trusted God and He saw them through.

As one man stated, "It may be true that I have much less to live on than I did a year ago, but it is certainly true that I have just as much to live for. The real values of life are unshaken and solid."

THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH.

Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. Mark 11:22, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God." (KJV) Jesus did not say, "have faith," but "have faith in God." Faith has to have an object. "In God is where one is to have faith, where one is to place his faith. Faith has not value by itself; only the object (God) has value.

Some people merely have a faith in faith, that is when a problem arises an individual will stir up enough faith to whip the problem (so to speak). But in reality he has had faith in faith. Our minds, attention, and heart are not to focus on faith, but upon God.

Now we are right back where we started, the existence of God. Faith has no power; it is the object that has the power. A man’s faith is not going to remove mountains – God is.

Which leads to this thought – the strength of faith is not faith, but God. In the Bible practically everyone who came to God had weak faith. Only a few had strong faith, yet God saved them and granted their requests.

The disciples didn’t understand this concept of faith. In Luke 17:5, they asked Jesus to "increase (their) faith." Yet, faith was not a matter of having more or less – Jesus said all you need is a speck (v. 6).

The idea is that it is not the strength of our faith that possess power, but God. This is why people are frustrated when they try to believe in a miracle and it doesn’t come. You can’t try to believe; you either believe or you don’t.

Faith doesn’t not come from your efforts but from God. Just a speck! A mustard seed can move a mountain. Do we really need more than that? Any more would be like opening a piggy bank with a stick of dynamite. So, the problem is not increasing our faith, but trusting God.

Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…" (NKJV) The word author literally means Jesus is the originator and creator of the Christian faith. He began the faith of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The prophets spoke of our faith that would come through a child named Immanuel.

The word finisher means that He completed and perfected the faith. When God dwelled among us, through Christ, He complete what He began with the patriarchs, the nation of Israel, and the prophets.

That faith, which was perfected in the time of Christ, is what we must believe in order to be with Him one day. John 3:16 says we must believe in Him to have everlasting life, otherwise we are doomed for eternal punishment.

Someone may say, what is it about Jesus that we must believe:

Jesus is the SON of God. Before Jesus healed a blind man, he asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" (Jn. 9:35) His response, "Lord, I believe!" (v. 38 – NKJV)

At the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus asked Martha about her faith in Him, and she responded, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." (Jn. 11:27 – NKJV)

That faith is still required today of those who desire see God. In I John 4:15, it says "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." (KJV)

After he had been taught about Jesus, the eunuch asked Philip, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36) "Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (v. 37) He was then baptized into Christ.

This is why cults or religions that deny the Sonship of Christ are false. Many will recognize Him as a good man, a great prophet maybe, but not the Son of God. Therefore, Judaism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or any other religion that denies Jesus as the Son of God, are corrupt.

It was God Himself who said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17; 17:5) To deny the Son is to deny the Father. (I Jn. 2:23) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (Jn. 14:6 – KJV)

Jesus is SAVIOR of the world. Our faith consists of a savior, even if they believe it is themselves. The Savior of our faith is Christ. Why? Because He gave His life for mankind (Gal. 2:20). Therefore, we must believe in His death and resurrection. Paul said, "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." (I Cor. 15:14 – KJV) Verse 17 goes on to say, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."

This is our faith Jesus came to complete on earth. It was on the cross he uttered the words, "It is finished." (Jn. 19:30 – KJV) The sacrifice for man lay slain on a rugged cross. In faith, Jesus endured the cross. Why should we not also trust God in everything, since we have not begun to suffer what Jesus suffered?

HOLY SPIRIT/SCRIPTURES.

We established in our first lesson that the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1:20-21). It is trustworthy and contains the things we must believe to be saved. Romans 10:16-17, "But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (NKJV)

It is the Scriptures that allow us to know God better. As one person put it, "It is not enough to know the Word of God, we must know the God of the Word." This is the object that allows us to have confidence in the promises of God, because the Bible contains those promises we can count on.

If you have in the Scriptures then you will believe what is said in matters of salvation, worship, family, and relationships. To make statements like, "I know what the Bible says, but I don’t think it really matters," is a statement of unbelief.

William Penn was the founder of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. There were many Indians still inhabiting the area during his time, but they were very fond of him. One day they made him an intriguing offer. They said they would give him as much of their land as he could encompass on foot in a single day. Early the next morning, Penn started walking. He walked all day and late into the night. The next day he went to claim the deed to the land. The Indians were greatly surprised. They had not figured to lost that much land. They just didn’t think he would take them seriously. However, they followed through with their part of the bargain. That tract of land was the beginning of what is today the city of Philadelphia. William Penn simply believed what they said.

Faith really is simple to understand while tough, at times, to do. However, William Penn showed exactly what belief is all about. It is taking God at His word – simply accepting what He said.

THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR FAITH.

THE FAITH PLEASES GOD. In Hebrews 11:6, it says "But without faith it is impossible to please him…" (KJV) When we put our confidence in the objects noted in our last point, we please God.

THE FAITH UNLEASES THE POWER OF GOD. Jesus said, "…I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." (Mk. 11:23 – NKJV)

It would seem impossible to move a mountain into the sea, so Jesus uses that as an example to say that "with God nothing is impossible." (Lk. 1:37) Jesus said, "…all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mk. 9:23 – KJV)

Faith releases the potential we have in us. We all have potential because we are Children of Go, but it is faith that will release that potential.

Where men may not have confidence in the governments, systems, or people of the world, they can count on the faith delivered to us by God Himself. It becomes unify agent for all races, genders, nationalities, backgrounds, etc. (Gal. 3:28).

You may have noticed the use of the phrase "the faith" in these last points. This is the usage of the early church, which indicates one. Ephesians 4:5 says there is "one faith" just as there is one God. It is "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3).

This is why we cannot support any groups or religions that teach contrary to the faith we read about in the Bible. Some would call this narrowed minded and divisive, but God called it unity.

Acts 6:7, "Then the word of God spread, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith." (NKJV) Jewish priests were being converted from the faith they had been taught from a child, and were unifying with all Christians through a faith in Christ.

We cannot be called a denomination, which means a part for the whole, and practice the unity of the faith. Paul wrote, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement." (I Cor. 1:10 – KJV)

Jesus prayed that His followers would be unified (Jn. 17:20-21) This is why "the faith" is so important to mankind – otherwise my opinion is just as good as the next. We must unify on the only perfect and complete thing we have in the world – the Scriptures.

Living by faith! It is more than an occasional glance or thought, it is something we engage in everyday.

Do you have spiritual faith?

References:

The Book of Hebrews, John MacArthur, Jr.
Sermons illustrations from sermoncentral.com