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Hebrews 11:1 A Step in the Right Direction June 5, 2011
I have a question for you today. It's not a rhetorical question. So, I want you to raise your hand if you agree with this statement: Do you believe God's Word? Do you have faith in God's Word? Can you say today without a doubt that you believe wholehearted with all sincere faith in the Word of God?
In a few minutes we are going to have a time of response to God's Word. As we spend these next few minutes together preparing our hearts to response to Him, I want you reflect on what faith means to you.
Pray
Back at the 1st of the year I found a verse to be my personal scripture for the year. I have a little yellow sticky note with this verse written on it stuck to my computer monitor so I can see it throughout the day. It's Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen."
Faith is an interesting word. A complex little word in the English language too. We operate on faith everyday...just not always faith in God. For example, you get sick & go to a doctor whose name you cannot pronounce and whose degrees you have never verified. He gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen before. He gives you a chemical compound you do not understand. Then, you go home and take the pill according to the instructions on the bottle. All in trusting, sincere faith!
The difference between the faith we exercise in our daily routine and our faith in God is the object of that faith. Everyone places their faith in something or someone. The Moslem puts his faith in the Koran and in Mohammed. The humanist put his faith in himself. The follower of religion, in his own good works. None of these are adequate, because in each case the object of faith is wrong. Your faith is only as good as the object in which you place your faith.
1. When it comes to our relationship with God, faith is of utmost importance.
Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please Him,..." NAS
Without faith we not only displease God, but we can receive nothing from Him. James 1:6-7 "But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord," NAS
2. Faith in Christ brings salvation to the repentant.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." NAS,
Faith in Jesus Christ as described in the Bible brings strength, safety, security & it brings salvation. Its value is beyond estimation.
~ BUT ~
Faith in Christ does not bring the results in life that most expect it to bring. Let me share with you a few common misconceptions:
1. Faith is the ability to manipulate God. This is the approach of the "health and wealth" prosperity gospel. This approach only sees faith as having one aim - one fruit - a life of ease and blessing. "Health, wealth, prosperity" preachers have built religious empires by teaching their heresy. The God of heaven has been reduced by these religious con artists to nothing more than a dispenser of gifts that gratify the lusts & selfish hearts of men, and a god that can be manipulated by positive thinking.
People are led to believe that faith in Christ is synonymous with prosperity, and that our failures in business, sicknesses, and earthly troubles are outside the purpose of God and beneath the dignity of true faith.
2. Faith is adherence to a set of beliefs. You must believe the right doctrine. But Paul says in 2 Tim. 1:12, "I know whom I have believed." If your faith is not founded on Jesus Christ and grounded in Word of God, it does not matter what you believe. A religion is no substitute for a relationship with Christ.
3. Faith is a blind leap into the dark. Many unbelievers' faith is the anti-thesis of science. To these saying "you just have to have faith" is the same as saying "just have to act contrary to everything you know and trust that it will all work out for the best." Be assured that God has a plan and purpose for your life, and He does not act by chance or mere circumstance.
4. Faith is simply devotion to whatever god one happens to follow. I have heard it said many times, "He is a person of deep faith" about a follower of Mohammed or Budda or of a Christ. Usually followed by ~ "What matters is that they are sincere."
Such teaching is totally contrary to that which is revealed in Hebrews 11, -- totally contrary to the experience of all followers of Christ (past and present), -- and totally contrary to the entire revelation of God's Word.
- Faith is a conscious dependence upon the infinite character, power, grace, wisdom and goodness of God.
- Faith understands that we are depraved men and women, plagued still with sin, full of personal weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and inadequacies, and horrid unbelief.
- Faith in Christ carries God's people through every possible situation, because Christ himself is the anchor of our souls, because we are more than conquerors (not in ourselves, but) through He that loved us, redeemed us, intercedes for us, holds us, and rules the universe for us!
Let's look at this chapter a bit and see how faith affected the people of God.
1st ~ We see that Faith compels us in obedience to worship and to serve God.
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous...Hebrews 11:4
Abel never put God's Word to pen, never prophesized, never preformed miracles, but here he is listed first among the faithful. Why? Because he was obedient in his faith, his testimony of worship far outlived him. What a great thing to say about someone! What would people around you say about faith as you live it out in worship? What would your family say? Your friends? Your coworkers?
When I read through the chapter, I also see faith lived out loud ... no just in words but in action. According to God's Word that is an extremely important aspect of our faith.
James 2:18 says, But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
I want you to notice something about the people referenced in this chapter. By no means were they prefect or did they live a life of extreme abundance & prosperity. In fact the Bible says that they were tortured, mocked, scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in two, homeless, childless, destitute and mistreated ... but they all had faith in the unseen.
Do you have that same faith?
Last week I had the opportunity to visit with a young lady that recently joined Trinity. She told me how long it took her to walk down to the front of the Cavern and talk with an encourager. Even though she could feel God calling her Sunday after Sunday, she said that she just kept telling herself, "I'm waiting to get myself better... to rid myself of some of this baggage ... I can't go down there ... I drank a beer yesterday ... I got to stop cursing first." THEN ~ Out of faith she stepped out and stopped trying to get her life all together. Out of faith she said YES to Jesus & God's promises to us.
What does Jesus say He will do? Forgive us ... Save us. Does He lie? NO. But you must come to a realization that you can't get yourself good enough for God. You will never be able to make yourself acceptable to He who is Holy, Holy, Holy. Out of faith you may need to step out in a few minutes and take action in obedience to His Word.
As we see in God's Word ...
Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can have an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading.
1 Peter 1:8-9 says You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Get ready ... I'm going to give you the opportunity to put your faith in action in just a few minutes. To share the glorious joy of Jesus Christ ... to rejoice with others in Him who has set you free.
As evidence in His Word, God will do incredible thing through you if you are willing to say YES to Him. Things you may know think impossible.
God specializes in things thought impossible.
This very thought is proclaimed in Luke 1:37 "For nothing is impossible with God."
You see in the end God is God, He does what He knows is right, He doesn't act according to our comfort or convenience. He acts in accordance with His perfect purpose. We sometimes think that as Christians that the universe should be ordered for our convenience. It's not. The point is that God can deal with the impossible we can't. This is where faith comes in, because when you face the impossible all that is left to you is faith.
Faith is building your life on the fact that God is in control, and that God will fulfill His promises. Eph. 3:20 - says that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us."
What is your step in the right direction today?
As you sat hear listening today, reading the list of acts of faith lived out throughout the Bible, you may have felt God speaking directly to you. As we prepare for a time of response to God's Word today. I want to share with you what I feel is The Great Burden of Our Day. Recently, I did a bit of research and found that there are ...
4,074,620,588 Unreached People in the World
258,000,000 North America
3,400,029 Louisiana
144,576 Calcasieu Parish
Why would I refer to those statistics has the Great Burden of Our Day? Well, if you really do believe God's Word ... if you raised your hand earlier and said that you really do today without a doubt believe wholehearted with all sincere faith in the Word of God ... then, you should be burdened because God Word says this in Rev 20:15 ~
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
We are surrounded by people bound for hell, and God has burdened your heart for them. He has called you tell them the Truth found in His Word that they can know a Savior and His name is Jesus. You think that's impossible? Remember God specializes in things thought impossible.
I Corinthians 15 says this: Death has been swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
The good news of the Gospel is that death doesn't have to threaten us. We can know without doubt what it means to have our name written in the book of life.
You will never be good enough to earn your way into heaven, but thanks be to God Almighty who loves each and every one so much that He sacrificed His one and only Son so that we could have the opportunity to experience His Grace, His Love, His Mercy. So that we can rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy the overwhelming faith that fills our very being.
What is your step in the right direction today?
Is God calling you to know Him as Lord and Savior? Is God calling you to serve Him? The burden is heavy, but the promises found in God's Word are without end.
Rev 7:9 says, I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
Are you willing to step out and respond to God's calling? I have no doubt that God has been calling someone here today to serve Him as a missionary to proclaim His Word, His Truth to every nation, tribe, people and language. Is it you? Be obedient. Listen to Him. Say YES to Him.
PRAY
INVITE