By Faith
By Faith • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 8 viewsOur hope is made reality through faith even if we do not yet see the outcome we have confidence through Christ that what we hope for is going to happen.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Today I want to begin a new sermon series entitled by faith.
Many of us in this room and watching online have the faith that Jesus Christ is God and we have the peace that heaven is going to be our home.
Others may be at a different place of believing but not living for Jesus and others still have not yet made the choice to accept the gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ.
However no matter where you are in your relationship with the Lord today we all need to know more about what the Bible has to say about what is faith and how we can operate in faith.
And let us never forget that the faith we have in Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior is in fact the most important matter of faith a person can ever have.
What is Faith?
What is Faith?
1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
All of us have things we hope for amen! Some of us are hoping for a blessing from the Lord. It might be a blessing for a physical healing or an emotional healing. It may be to have freedom from an addiction or compulsion you are struggling with. It may a blessing of God’s peace in an area where you have spiritual warfare. Perhaps you are hoping for something for another person or perhaps for your ministry or calling. The reality is that we all are hoping for something or for several things.
So how can we as logical and reasonable people have a confident hope if we do not always physically see our desired outcome?
Simply said it is by faith. Just as the writer of Hebrews stated in verse one faith shows us the reality of what we hope for and is evidence of things we cannot see.
Let us take our salvation for example when we were lost in our sins God called us to Himself so that we could believe.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
So even though we could not physically see Jesus He still reveals Himself to us by the power of His word and the power of His Spirit. God calls us and we have confidence that the hope we have for love, peace and eternal life that comes only from God is fulfilled in Christ.
This hope is in fact reality and the more time we spend with Jesus the more He reveals Himself to us so that the evidence of the reality of our hope is so clear and obvious we can be bold and confident in all situations because the Lord is with us. Hallelujah!
Faith is an active trust and belief displayed through obedience
Faith is an active trust and belief displayed through obedience
And while biblical faith can be understood in a variety of ways the best summary is an active trust and belief displayed through obedience.
As Christians we need to actively trust and believe Jesus and we need to show that through our actions not just our words.
You see faith is not just a matter of understanding, intellect or cognitive recognition but involves our whole self. Faith is involved with your body, heart and mind.
We are to express trust and gratefulness to God for all He has done, is doing and will do in the future. The character of the Lord is steadfast through every season or circumstance and therefore we can have a confident hope in Jesus no matter what comes are way. Somebody give Him praise!
Expression of faith in the Bible includes submission to divine commands, belief in covenant promises, worshipful attitudes towards God and adherence to doctrine.
Also, it is good to recognize that in the Old Testament faith is focused on trust in the unseen God who is Yahweh and in the New Testament faith moves to belief in and active submission to the person of Jesus, who is God in human form. And as the church we also need to have faith in the power of God the Holy Spirit to fulfill the great commission and continue the work of Jesus.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
God is triune or three persons in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So for us as the Church we are to have faith in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit not separately but all as equal but distinct parts of the one true God of all creation. Amen
In the Old Testament, faith is best understood in the context of covenant relationship to God, who is the supreme example of faithfulness.
Consistently God reveals His faithfulness, steadfastness, trustworthiness and consistency of character however people often fail to be faithful to God and to one another. Through obedience faith is displayed as an attitude of trust.
2 For by it the people of old received their commendation.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.
12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.
15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son,
18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
21 By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.
36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Listen to me today just like these Bible characters many of whom did not know Jesus and did not have access to the Scriptures the way we do stepped out into faith how much more should we who have recieved the promises of God through Christ Jesus operate in faith. It’s time brothers and sisters to get up and get active for the glory of God and have the confidence that the Lord is with us and will work everything out according to His plans and purposes. Hallelujah!
In the New Testament the primary view of faith is belief in the incarnation of Jesus, and also by His death and resurrection.
So powerful is this knowledge that a person’s life is completely changed dying to the old self and being born again to live for Christ not just in thought but also in lifestyle.
As I said before biblical faith is not just something we believe in our minds but should also be displayed in our actions.
Over the years there has been a lot of discussion over this fact primarily surrounding the writings of Paul and James. Martin Luther who lead the protestant reformation for example would not even preach from the book of James. Still many others and different denominations today even teach that salvation and justification is a combination of the blood atonement of Christ and also good works but that is not what the Bible teaches us at all.
Paul emphasized that faith in Christ is based on God’s grace rather than the works of the law while James warns that faith unaccompanied by action is not genuine faith.
But when we understand that faith is an active trust in the covenant grace of God and the personal Lordship of Christ things are easier to understand. Said differently Jesus is both our Saviour and our Lord not one or the other but both amen!
Furthermore, let me say this clearly the blood of Christ shed on cavalry’s cross is more than sufficient to cover the sins of mankind. You do not need Jesus plus anything to be saved. You cannot earn your way into heaven but God Himself paid the price He didn’t owe so that all who have the faith to trust in Him will be saved.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Thank you Jesus for taking my place and giving me what I don’t deserve. There is no greater love than that. Give Him praise all through this place!
Now with the understanding that faith in Christ alone saves it does need to be said also that the Lord knows if you are genuine in your heart or just saying words without meaning them.
Understand I am not speaking about religion over relationship or never making a mistake. However, we are called to live holy lives and there is a difference between someone who struggles with an issue but is really trying and sorry when they mess up and someone who chooses to make sin a lifestyle and thinks it’s covered by grace.
In addition, if you really do trust Jesus as you Lord and Savior then the Holy Spirit will come to live inside of you and sanctify or change you to be more Christlike. For some people it’s right away and for other people it takes time. But for all Christians we should have a lifelong pursuit of going deeper in Christ through by His word and His Spirit. Amen
Also, in the New Testament we can see that faith in Jesus will heal, save, and empower people in difficult times. I don’t know about you but aren’t you glad that when we need help we can call on Jesus. Amen! I mean sometimes you have tried everything you know to try and on your own the situation is just not going to work out. But Jesus not only hears our prayers but by our faith in Him we can have confidence in what we hope for by the evidence of His character and awesome power of His word and His presence. Hallelujah!
Closing
In closing, I want everyone to take a moment and ask yourself what is it that you are hoping for.
What is it that you need Jesus to do in your life or in the life or someone close to you.
How do you need Jesus to make a way where there seems to be no way.
Dream big what is it that you are really hoping for?
Do you believe Jesus can do it?
Are you assured in what you hope for?
Don’t you know God can do it amen!
Next I want you to go home this week and start asking the Lord to reveal His will by the authority of His word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
And once you feel His peace and hear His voice it may be soon and it may take quite some time but if you are persistent the Lord will give you an answer because He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
And have the faith to hold on to the promises of the Lord even if you don’t see it because of the evidence of His character, the authority of His word and the power of His Spirit!
All things are possible to those who believe in Christ Jesus!
Hallelujah!