Walking with Christ "Knowing God's Will" (Week Four)
Doug Weisner
Design for Discipleship • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 46:04
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INTRO
INTRO
LET’S PRAY
“Promises are made and broken so easily today, and because we get away with not keeping our word, we think it’s all right to break our promises, the result is that some Christians have trouble taking God at His Word.
God DID NOT make frivolous promises that He does not intend to keep. God is faithful to all His promises. God’s promises may not be fulfilled exactly the way we want them to be, or at the time we want them to be, but He always keeps His promises.” -Esther Irish (Clinging to the Promises of God, Faithlife Sermons)
Alisha and I found this cool copper sign at a flea market a couple years ago and it says, “Faith in God includes faith in His timing”.
I love that, we have it hanging in our kitchen as a reminder to us.
True faith goes from “I” to “you” statements.
It’s not “I have hope that it will all work out.” or “I have faith that it will.”
It should be “Lord, I trust You.” or “Trust in the Lord and have faith in Him.”
We can’t promise people or give false hope through ourselves or nice words.
We can only hope, pray and have faith that, through God’s power and intervention He will work out the situations in our or our friends and families lives- if it according to His plan.
This is often one of the hardest things for people, especially Christians to overcome.
I think of the story with Joni Erickson Tada who is a quadriplegic.
She was on her dads shoulders in a lake and dove off, hitting her head on the bottom, she broke her neck.
That one incident changed her life forever and she struggle the first few years with God.
For over 5 decades she has been such an instrumental encouragement to so many who have struggled with the same issues through her ministry called “Joni & Friends”.
She has been able to lead so many people to Christ through her story as she explains that she has accepted God’s plan for her life, though not always easy, she trusts.
SHOW VIDEO OF JONI ERICKSON TADA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFkVoi5CdU
God desires belief and faith from us.
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
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.
Often times our faith seems like it is boiled down to wishful thinking instead of true faith, which is certain hope and trust in the Lord, not wishing.
The inconsistencies of life contribute to our wavering faith and clinging to promises but we must understand that God’s character does not allow Him to change.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The Lord wants everyone to come to Him from a state of repentance and forgiveness, in order to enter into a life filled with promise, and hope.
The gateway to this is placing our complete hope and life in His son, Jesus Christ.
It is placing our complete faith in Him without thinking twice that only He is able to...
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.
Let’s look at two steps to getting to this type of a faith:
We already mentioned the first one...
To initially receive Christ, through faith.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
2. To live by faith in God everyday through the Trinity.
What do I mean by that?
Christ- Believe and trust that He is interceding for us before the Father, preparing a place for us.
Holy Spirit- Rely on the H.S.’s guidance for truth from God’s Word in our lives each day.
Father- Trust in His great plan for our lives.
Paul speaks of Abraham’s faith and attitude in Romans 4 regarding him having a child with his wife Sarah at such an old age...
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.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
READ QUOTE FROM PAGE 43 (Walking with Christ book)
What does faith make possible?
FAITH MAKES HOPE, JOY & PEACE POSSIBLE. (Romans 15:13)
FAITH MAKES ANSWERED PRAYER POSSIBLE. (Matthew 21:22)
FAITH MAKES POWER OVER SATAN POSSIBLE. (Ephesians 6:16)
FAITH MAKES ACCESS TO GOD POSSIBLE. (Ephesians 3:12)
FAITH MAKES INTIMACY WITH GOD POSSIBLE. (James 2:23)
“Real faith moves from belief in what is true about God to a trusting intimacy with God.”
READ JOHN 20:24-29
Thomas’ belief changed once he saw Jesus in flesh.
He took the other disciples words with a grain of salt but didn’t fully give his devotion until he saw Jesus face to face.
John 20:29 is for us today.
If you encounter someone who has said they’ve seen the risen Lord in a dream (that they consider a true appearance of the Lord) and feel that Jesus gave them a new revelation to add to God’s Word, or an actual encounter with Jesus face to face- be very cautious!
Be cautious because a promise that we know of is that Jesus will not appear to anyone until His second coming and that second coming will be apparent to all believers, not just a select few or in private.
This is how multiple false religions were formed- the leader has claimed to have an encounter with Jesus, an angel or God himself and created a separate revelation for God’s Word and led so many astray into false faith and empty promises.
As Christians we sometimes don’t need a false prophet to misguide us, we can do that well on our own...
We often have faith in our own strength, apart from God- this leads to a certain defeat.
No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.
2. We often put our faith in other people. (As we discussed before)
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
3. We put our faith in our own understanding.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
4. We put all our faith in wealth and success.
This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
Bottom line- the object of our faith should be the Lord and nothing else.
Hebrews 11 is a great chapter in the Bible on what kind of a faith we should strive for.
I encourage you all to read it if you haven’t yet and if you have, take the time to re-read it as an encouragement to you.
But what does Scripture say about God’s promises?
1 Kings 8:56, They won’t fail.
2. Psalm 89:34, God doesn’t go back on His word.
3. Isaiah 55:11, His Word will not return void.
4. 2 Peter 1:4, We can participate in His promises.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
A couple promises that we can claim or participate in:
READ Lamentations 3:22-26
The promise is that His mercies are new every morning, and the condition for that promise is that we hope, seek and wait on Him.
READ Romans 8:28
The promise to us is that God will work all things out, according to His purpose.
The condition is that this applies to those who love Him which means they are followers who put their hope and trust in Him- this does not apply to non believers.
Our attitude in claiming God’s promise should be like Hebrews 6 explains.
READ Hebrews 6:12, 16-19
Verse 12- We should be determined and not lazy.
Verse 16- We should not swear or make oaths or promises that we aren’t authorized to make.
Verse 17-19- We should realize that only God’s promises are unchanging.
Here is a fun exercise that you could do as you read God’s Word:
Look at any verse or set of verses and see if there are any promises in them.
Example...
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
What is the promise in the verse? Eternal life.
What must we do to claim that promise? Believe in Jesus
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
What is the promise in the verse? Renewed strength from the Lord.
What must we do to claim that promise? Wait on the Lord.
As we look at Scripture looking into God’s promises we take these steps:
What is the promise?
What must I do?
What is the result?
We could spend hours and hours going through the Bible to discover all the wonderful promises that God lays out for us, but remember that we must have faith, and trust in the Lord to pursue any of them.
Let’s look at a character in the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles that displays clinging to God’s promises and having faith among a big obstacle in life.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, in chapter 19, set up judges and priests to reside over his people in order that they might not sin against each other or the Lord.
It seems each time God’s people head in the right direction the enemy is right there waiting to put up a road block or try to destroy the path.
But watch what happens in chapter 20...
READ 2 Chronicles 20:1-21
First, realizing the risk, Jehoshaphat went before the Lord and in verse 15 we read that the Holy Spirit spoke through some of the kings trusted men saying, don’t be afraid or discouraged because the battles is God’s, not yours.
How comforting is that?
We read a parallel version of that in Ephesians
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And if that is where the battle is, it is not ours to fight, it is the Lord’s because that is His realm- it is beyond us.
Jehoshaphat’s response to the Spirit’s words was to worship.
So first he prayed, then worshipped and lastly was filled with a peace.
Not only did he experience this but so did his people.
The response of the people was to worship as well.
In turn God gave them the victory.
Do you notice in your life that when you’re trusting in the Lord and worshipping Him, others often follow- especially your children?
We set the standard and example for faith and holding on to God’s promises in our children’s lives as parents.
God’s promises are often not fulfilled right away and it is up to us to stay faithful in being obedient to pray and waiting.
You’ve heard it said before that God answers prayer in three ways:
Yes
No
Not yet, so wait.
In the waiting we can become impatient, even feel defeated in our faith but it’s what we are called to do.
Why do we become so discouraged and defeated in life?
We put our faith and trust in ourselves, others and other things over the Lord.
Psalm 42:11 offers truth and as you go today, remember it...
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
As we come to the subject of faith and God’s promises we must realize that as we started today, true faith goes from “I” to “you” statements.
It’s giving up the fact that we can not will away promises or oaths that we make but we can put all that effort into putting our faith and trust in the Lord and clinging to the promises that He does give us.
This week open your Bibles and cling to those promises- explore and get into His Word and discover that if we put our hope and faith in Him He will make our paths straight.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
LET’S PRAY