Sermon Tone Analysis
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As we continue today - making our way through the book of Ephesians...
Specifically through chapter 6 and the Armor of God that we’re called to ADORN ourselves with...
We COME today - to the 4th piece of Armor that will help us in the battle we face - against our TRUE enemy...
the Spiritual forces of evil at work in this world...
So far, we’ve seen that we’re called to adorn ourselves with...
The Belt of Truth (God’s truth)
The Breastplate of Righteousness (God’s righteousness)
The Shoes of Gospel Readiness (taking the Gospel of Peace to the world)
And what we’ve seen building - is really the BLUEPRINT - the model - of Jesus Christ Himself...
Paul says.... PUT ON...
The TRUTH of Jesus
The Righteousness of Jesus
The WILLINGNESS of Jesus to GO to the World to SAVE sinners...
Like we’re constructing a - SUPERHERO...
TODAY - we see the next piece of Armor to PUT ON...
What I want to do today - is to dive into this next piece of Armor - The Shield of Faith...
And so let’s lay out how we’ll approach today...
First - we’ll get into what FAITH IS...
AND then - we’ll close by staying in CONTEXT here in v16 - and looking at how OUR FAITH - as a SHIELD (defensive weapon) extinguishes the flaming darts of the evil one...
So first things first… If we’re called to adorn ourselves with the Shield of Faith...
we should 1st know what FAITH is...
A nationwide poll was taken in the United States on religious questions.
When asked whether they believed in God, 95 percent of those polled answered “yes.”
When asked whether religion in any way affected their politics and their business, 54 percent said “no.”
They had a belief, but they did not have a directing faith.
Faith is action.
Faith encompasses the entire spectrum of life’s encounters and experiences.
it seems that the more we try to handle this thing called "faith", the more we struggle holding onto it.
What do I mean?
Let’s do a thought experiment...
When we think about the difference between a BELIEVER and an UNBELIEVER...
We would say..
an UNBELIEVER - does NOT believe in Christ (that He existed, was God, died for sins, etc..)
And...
a BELIEVER believes what?
• Jesus is the Son of God
• Sin deserves punishment
• Judgment is coming
• Jesus is the judge
• Jesus has authority over life
Is that fair to say?
Ok, let’s look at scripture to test this...
• So - here we see demons speaking to Jesus.
• Looking at these verses, let's see what demons believe:
1.
That Jesus is the Son of God
2. That sin is punishable - they expected to be punished (have You come here to torment us...)
3.
They believe that judgment is coming at an appointed time
4.
That Jesus is the judge
5.
That Jesus had authority over them (begged Him...send us away into the herd of pigs)
• So we look at that list and think, "Wellll - yeah, they had faith".
• Well, NO clearly they didn't.
We know they didn't.
• So how do we handle this?
• See believing all of these things comes with faith, BUT "faith" is more than that.
- So you’ve all come in here today believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
- You’ve all come in today believing that sin deserves punishment, that judgment is coming, that Jesus is the judge, and that Jesus has authority over life.
- But Faith is more than that.
- Do you have faith?
• We're going to go to Hebrews chapter 11 to see what "faith" is - - BEFORE we look at FAITH as a SHIELD!
First thing…what does Romans 14:23 say
So THAT MEANS - if your belief does not proceed from "faith"....it's sin.....it’s a damning belief.
Let’s go to Hebrews 11
These 3 verses basically summarize what true biblical "faith" is:
- Substance (assurance)
- Evidence (conviction)
- Witness
It’s ALL 3 - and Hebrews 11 goes on to show us DEMONSTRATIONS of faith…
It just DESCRIBED IT - and now Demonstrations OF it...
Let’s look at characteristics of FAITH now...
SLIDE: Faith Worships God Alone
Faith Worships God Alone
• The background of this story of Cain and Abel is found in Genesis 4.
• Abel was a righteous man because of "faith".
• God had revealed to Adam and his descendants the true way to worship, and Abel obeyed what God wanted, and how He wanted it, by faith.
• Abel made a better sacrifice than Cain, and his sacrifice was accepted.
TRUE Faith - worships God alone!
Abel didn’t KEEP BACK for himself - the best of his offering...
WHY?
Because TRUE Faith - doesn’t worship SELF...
Faith worships GOD alone!!
Not only that - but...
SLIDE: Faith Seeks God Alone
Faith Seeks God Alone
• Our faith in God grows as we fellowship with Him, seeking after Him.
• Do you desire to please God?
• Are you diligent in your seeking after Him?
• Do the decisions you make reflect an attitude of "I've gotta have HIM!!" - "I want more of Him!!"
• There's Bible Study tonight?
Where?
What time?
I'm there!
• Where there's a lack of diligence, there's a lack of "faith".
• Where "faith" seeks after God alone, unbelief chases its own tail.
• Faith will search for God in all situations and circumstances...
• ...Unbelief will search for solutions, remedies, and outcomes outside of God….and then when those don’t work, it’s back to unbelief…
- which starts the cycle all over again.
• ...and that is a futile pursuit.
• Enoch sought after God.
He walked with Him, and he pleased God.
• AND so - where Abel's faithful obedience lead to a voilent death / Enoch's faithful obedience lead to him bypassing death
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