Faith - Part 4

SERMON TOPIC: Faith - Part 4

Speaker: Gavin Paynter

Language: ENGLISH

Date: 23 October 2022

Topic Groups: FAITH, HEBREWS

Sermon synopsis: F: FEARS GOD NOT MAN.
A: ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
I: IS A LIFESTYLE.
T: TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD.
H: HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED.
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FAITH

Part 4

FAITH MUST:

BE TESTED

TAKE NO NOTICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

BE TENACIOUS

In the Old Covenant there were mighty things accomplished by these heroes of the faith:

Heb 11:32-35 (NIV) … who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again…

BE TESTED

TAKE NO NOTICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

BE TENACIOUS

Heb 11:35-38 (NIV) … Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

BE TESTED

TAKE NO NOTICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

BE TENACIOUS

Fear in an adverse situation indicates a lack of faith:

Matt 8:24-26 (NIV) Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him…

BE TESTED

TAKE NO NOTICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

BE TENACIOUS

Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!

You of little faith, why are you so afraid?

Tenacity is more than endurance, it is endurance combined with the absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to transpire.

BE TESTED

TAKE NO NOTICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES

BE TENACIOUS

We saw that the author of Hebrews gives 3 broad examples of those we should imitate with regards to faith:

Hebrews 12:2 - JESUS

Hebrews 13:7 - OUR LEADERS

Hebrews 11 - THE HEROES OF OLD i.e., Biblical heroes and those in Church history.

EXAMPLES TO EMULATE

THE HEROES OF OLD

THE HEROES OF OLD

Westminster Abbey contains the “who’s who” of figures from British history. Similarly, Hebrews 11 reads like the “who’s who” of the OT, listing Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets.

As such, some have referred to Hebrews 11 as the Bible’s “Westminster Abbey”, God’s “Hall of Fame” or “Hall of Faith”.

BETTER GROUNDS FOR FAITH IN THE NEW COVENANT

These heroes of the faith were (1) TESTED (2) TOOK NO NOTICE OF CIRCUMSTANCES and were (3) TENACIOUS. But we also see:

Heb 11:39 (NIV) These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

We have better grounds for faith than these faith heroes did because we have “received what had been promised” – in terms of salvation.

BETTER GROUNDS FOR FAITH IN THE NEW COVENANT

So the Hebrew Christians, despite their hardships are encouraged to stand strong in their faith – because we are the recipients of all that was promised in the Old Covenant.

Heb 11:40a God had planned something better for us…

BETTER GROUNDS FOR FAITH IN THE NEW COVENANT

The idea conveyed by perfect is ‘complete.’ Those in the Old Covenant could not be made complete until the sacrifice for sin on the cross.

They longed for and looked forward to the coming Messiah,

Heb 11:40b … so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

We look at the coming of the Messiah in the past – while enjoying the benefits of the New and better Covenant. On this side of the cross we have the completed work of Jesus on the cross as a sin covering – and right standing with the Father.

BIBLICAL FAITH

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

BIBLICAL FAITH

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

Heb 11:23 (NIV) By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV) “But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV) If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

Daniel 6:13 (NIV) Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.”

Daniel 6:16 (NIV) So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

Acts 4:18-21 (NIV) Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” After further threats they let them go.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

Matt 10:28 (NKJV) And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

2 Tim 1:7 (NKJV) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

BIBLICAL FAITH

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

In Mark 9:22-24 we have the account of the demon-possessed boy’s father begging Jesus for help.

But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.

‘If you can’? Everything is possible for him who believes.

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Mark 9:24 (NKJV) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF

I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF

Even the heroes of the faith commended in the NT (and who we are told to emulate) had moments when their faith was not as strong as it should have been.

Initially we find that Abraham laughed at the prospect of having a child:

Gen 17:17 (NIV) Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”

So too Sarah initially laughed when she heard this promise of God.

Gen 18:10-12 (NIV) Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Gen 18:13-15 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh… Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Yet in both Hebrews and Romans, Abraham and Sarah are commended for their faith. So both Abraham and Sarah set aside their initial doubts and trusted God’s promises – when they concluded that with God all things are possible.

Rom 4:18-21 (NIV) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is theoretically possible. – William James

Unbelief calls God a liar. Unbelief is not just the absence of faith. It is negative faith i.e. Unbelief says: “I don’t believe God will do what he has promised”.

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

(George Mueller)

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

In James 1:6 we are instructed to become people who do not waver in our faith:

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (KJV)

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (NIV)

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

James goes on to say that if your faith always wavers, you are a double-minded person:

James 1:8 (NIV) Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

And such people we are warned “should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:7).

Swedish American, Oscar C. Eliason and his brother Paul were diagnosed with tuberculosis, which resulted in their hospitalization. After the death of Paul, and the collapse of Eliason's right lung, he was "very depressed and discouraged”.

He recalled, “During the summer of 1929, after graduating from the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School in Minneapolis, I went through some severe testings. My brother passed away, and I, also, became seriously ill and was not expecting to live.” …

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

“I had learned to know a Presbyterian minister,- C.K. Ingersol who had great faith in God, especially in praying for the sick … I had also been reading a paper about answered prayers in many places, and on my sickbed I felt led to send word to brother Ingersol to come and pray for me. The result was that I was healed of tuberculosis.”

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Eliason (1902 – 1985) became an evangelist and pastor in the Assemblies of God. He wrote this hymn:

Got any rivers you think are uncrossable?

Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?

God specializes in things thought impossible.

He can do just what no other can do.

The context of the following verse is salvation, but it is true in all situations:

Mark 10:27 (NIV) Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

And it only requires a little faith:

Matt 17:20 (NIV) … “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

BIBLICAL FAITH

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

IS A LIFESTYLE

Hab 2:4 (Brenton LXX Translation) If he should draw back, my soul has no pleasure in him: but the just shall live by my faith.

QUOTED 3 TIMES IN NT:

Rom 1:17 (NKJV) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Gal 3:11 (NKJV) But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”

Heb 10:38 (NKJV) Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

IS A LIFESTYLE

Albert Barnes (on Heb 10:38):

The meaning in the connection in which it stands here, in accordance with the sense in which it was used by Habakkuk, is, that the righteous should live by "continued confidence" in God.

They should pass their lives not in doubt, and fear, and trembling apprehension, but in the exercise of a calm trust in God.

He is exhorting the Christians whom he addressed, to perseverance in their religion even in the midst of many persecutions.

IS A LIFESTYLE

To encourage this he says, that it was a great principle that the just, that is, all the pious, ought to live in the constant exercise of "faith in God."

They should not confide in their own merits, works, or strength.

They should exercise constant reliance on their Maker, and he would keep them even unto eternal life.

The sense is, that a persevering confidence or belief in the Lord will preserve us amidst all the trials and calamities to which we are exposed.

IS A LIFESTYLE

Again that faith has an object – Jesus.

Gal 2:20 (NASB) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

IS A LIFESTYLE

“Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: ‘I am now one with Christ. Therefore Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are mine.’ On the other hand, Christ may say: ‘I am that big sinner. His sins and death are mine, because he is joined to me, and I to him.’” (Martin Luther)

IS A LIFESTYLE

#1: Your finances

You can determine people’s priorities by how they spend their time, what they talk about the most and how they spend their money.

Live by faith and tithe and give offerings first. Even when you don’t think you can, faith says you can.

If the faith you have is genuine faith, you need to be applying it to all aspects of your life. And here’s how you can do just that:

#1: Your finances

Unbelief fails to trust God even when he has undertaken before in a similar situation. When Jesus warns the disciples to “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees”, they thought it was because they had forgotten to bring any bread along (Matt 16:5-10).

You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? … Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

IS A LIFESTYLE

#2: Relationships

Trusting God to do what is ultimately best for you and your loved ones even if his plan isn’t yours.

IS A LIFESTYLE

#2: Relationships

Trusting God to do what is ultimately best for you and your loved ones even if his plan isn’t yours.

Praying for the salvation of a family member, friend or associate.

IS A LIFESTYLE

#2: Relationships

Trusting God to do what is ultimately best for you and your loved ones even if his plan isn’t yours.

Praying for the salvation of a family member, friend or associate.

Giving your rebellious child over to God in faith instead of wallowing in guilt, anger, frustration, and the stress of trying to fix something beyond your ability to fix.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

#3: Your health and daily living

“retrenched”, “foreclosure”, “over-drawn”, “eviction”, “bankruptcy”

“I hate you”, “divorce”, “lawsuit”

“brain tumour”, “cancer”, “heart disease”, “kidney failure”, “terminal”, “fatal”

Believing that “All things work together for good to them that love God”. And that includes those times when you hear words like:

BIBLICAL FAITH

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

It is a blessed thing to learn that God’s word can never fail. Never hearken to human plans. God can work mightily when you persist in believing Him in spite of discouragements from the human standpoint … (Smith Wigglesworth)

Heb 11:17 (NIV) 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, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

Faith believes that God will always honour his Word.

Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead if he died, because God had promised that Isaac was the covenant son through whom his descendants would come – this obviously couldn’t happen if he died without a child.

Heb 11:18 (NIV) Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

BIBLICAL FAITH

FEARS GOD NOT MAN

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

IS A LIFESTYLE

TRUSTS GOD TO HONOUR HIS WORD

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

Heb 11:21 (NIV) By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons …

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

Gen 48:17-18 (NIV) When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

HUMAN LOGIC MAY BE DEFIED

Gen 48:9 (NIV) But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”

And of course that’s exactly what happened. After Judah, Ephraim became the most prominent tribe of Israel.

Human logic told Joseph that the older son should have the greater blessing. But Jacob, in faith, gave the youngest son the greater blessing. So God may tell you to do something in faith, that seems contrary to your human logic.

FAITH VS FEELING

The relationship between Faith, Fact and Feeling can be illustrated by a diagram of a train. The engine is Fact, the coal car is Faith, and the caboose is Feeling.

Faith follows Facts and Feelings follow after Faith. The train will run with or without the caboose. However, it would be useless to attempt to pull the train by the caboose.

We should not depend on feelings, but we place our faith in the fact of God’s trustworthiness and the promises in His Word.

Living by feeling and not faith might make you:

question God’s existence.

question God’s love for you.

question your own salvation.

question why as a Christian you might suffer at times.

miss out on fellowship at church because you “don’t feel like it”.

question God’s will for your life.

question your ministry and whether God really called you.

want to give up because you were criticized.

Heb 11:20 (NIV) By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

When we read Genesis 27 we might wonder why Isaac is spoken of in such a positive light in Heb 11:20.

FAITH VS FEELING

Isaac had decided to give the first-born blessing to Esau, despite the fact that God told his wife Rebekah that “the older will serve the younger” (Gen 25:23).

Rebekah then contrived a deceptive scheme to deceive Isaac.

FAITH VS FEELING

FAITH VS FEELING

Then, in order to get the blessing, Jacob tricks his blind father while pretending to be his brother Esau.

So Isaac only blesses Jacob because he has been deceived. Yet despite all this, Isaac is commended in Heb 11:20 for blessing “Jacob and Esau in regard to their future”. Why?

FAITH VS FEELING

Although Isaac actually thought it was Esau he was blessing, upon discovering the deception he did not retract the blessing, nor even scold Jacob and Rebekah for their part in it. Instead he says, “… I blessed him - and indeed he will be blessed!” (Gen 27:33). He then proceeds to give Esau a lesser blessing and tells him “you will serve your brother” (Gen 27:40).

Isaac had known that God wanted Jacob to receive the greater blessing, so initially he was really rebelling against God’s will.

But the fact that he refuses to retract the blessing shows that he ultimately accepted this and decided to align himself with God’s will, despite the fact that he favoured his son Esau over Jacob.

Later when Jacob leaves for Paddan Aram, Isaac – knowingly this time – blesses him with the Abrahamic blessing (Gen 28). This time without coercion, he puts his faith above his feelings.

FAITH VS FEELING

For this reason he is commended in Hebrews 11. He submits himself to God’s will, despite his personal feelings on the matter.

So too at times our faith may not be as strong as it ought to be. But we can be encouraged by the example of Isaac who chose to believe and obey God.

ELIJAH - FEELINGS

The Israelites have… put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too. (1 Ki 19:10)

ELIJAH - FAITH

O LORD… let it be known today that you are God in Israel… (1 Ki 18:36)

PETER - FEELINGS

Matt 14:30 (NIV) But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out…

PETER - FAITH

Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. (Acts 3:6)

FAITH VS FEELING

Eddie Zepeda - “Faith is doing God’s will when you don’t feel like it.”

In “Mere Christianity”, C.S. Lewis describes faith as follows, “Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”

AUTHOR: Gavin Paynter

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