Weekly Sermon

2-5-12

It's All About Faith

This week we will finish up our series on the fruits of the Holy Spirit. The past few weeks we have talked about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, and gentleness. How is it that we can show true unconditional love to every person, no matter what type of life they live or may have lived? How is it that we can have total joy and peace no matter what life has set before us? How is it that we can have patience, kindness, and goodness towards all mankind, no matter what they may have or have not done? How is it that we can be meek and gentle towards all folks even when they do not display any kindness towards us or those around us? There is only one way we could ever expect to live a life containing all these attributes and that is through faith in the Holy Spirit.

This week we will talk about the last of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. That fruit is the fruit of faith. I claim to be a faith preacher because I firmly believe that faith is the core key to all things in Christ. Without faith we have nothing and with faith we can have everything. Notice I stated that we CAN have everything, not that we will have everything. There are many levels of faith and what level you are on is dependent upon YOU. We have a great amount of scripture I want us to go over today, so let us jump right into the word.

Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews 11:1-40, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (2)Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. (3)By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." Think about it for a minute. All that we see came from somewhere. Where did it all come from? I am not talking about man made things. I am talking about mankind, mountains, oceans, trees, animals, air, earth, or even the things in outer space, such as the sun, stars, heavens, or other planets. We have to have a faith in something, a faith that these things came from somewhere. Some believe all the things we see came from a large bang that happened in the cosmic universe and poof we were here. Some believe that all we see has just always been here and that man evolved through generations, and some believe that there is a supernatural being that spoke all we see into existence. Personally I believe in all that I just mentioned, God spoke and bang the cosmic universe appeared, man has evolved throughout generations, in their walk with God, and there is a definite supernatural being that caused all we see to happen. No matter what someone believes, it is faith. Faith is not necessarily a belief in God or His existence, yet a belief in something that cannot be seen or a belief that something will happen that has not yet happened. I want us to take a look at what faith has caused throughout many generations of people. Some of these examples given you may even remember reading about in your Biblical studies.

(4)"It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel's offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith. (5)It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying, "he disappeared, because God took him." For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. (6)And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (7)It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith. (8)It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. (9)And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. (10)Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. (11)It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. (12)And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them. (13)All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. (14)Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. (15)If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. (16)But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (17)It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, (18)even though God had told him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted." (19)Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. (20)It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau. (21)It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff. (22)It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left. (23)It was by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command. (24)It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. (25)He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. (26)He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. (27)It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. (28)It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. (29)It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned. (30)It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down. (31)It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. (32)How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. (33)By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, (34)quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. (35)Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. (36)Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. (37)Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. (38)They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. (39)All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. (40)For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us."

I want us to take a look at what we just read; I mean take a good long hard look. All of the examples we just read had one thing in common, faith. It was not only faith in a God they could not see, but also a faith in a promise that was given to them that they also could not see. Some could see the physical promise of the land that was given, a large boat that was made and even a son that should have never been born, in normal circumstances. Notice that every example given was from the Old Testament. I bring this up because these folks had nothing to go on but a promise, a word from God, just a blind faith. If you look at all in the New Testament, they got to walk and talk with Jesus, they got to actually see God in the flesh. They actually got to see God at work. None of this required faith. They could actually walk with Jesus and talk with Jesus. Ok, maybe they had to have faith that Jesus was God in the flesh, but Jesus performed so many miracles that they KNEW He was God in the flesh.

We are much like the folks of the Old Testament because we have to have faith in words. We must have faith in something we have never seen. We must have faith in a promise and in a God that we have never seen. I personally feel that we live in much greater times because we do have to live by faith. God rewards those who live by faith and the disciples never had to live by faith. Do not get me wrong, the disciples did have faith that Jesus was truly God in the flesh and faith that they were going on to a better life because of their faith. We, as Christians, do not get the benefit of seeing the actual Jesus in the flesh so we must fully rely on our faith. Faith is what it is that will cause you to jump into the fire and know that, no matter what; you are there with a God that protects. No matter what you are going through, if you put all those burdens on Christ, as we spoke about last week, and put your full faith, 100%, in God, He will take care of you.

Finally, I want us to notice the last thing that was said in this passage of scripture. All of these folks had great faith and none of them received all that God promised, or did they? God promised them a land of milk and honey, a great life, and all that He had to offer. God never intended our final destination to be here on earth, but to spend an eternity with Him as His companions. They may not have received all they had dreamed of, or wanted, here on earth, but it says they received a good reputation, with God, and through that reputation, received Heaven and all that God had to offer.

It is all about faith, a faith in the Holy Spirit and an ultimate faith in the supernatural works of an Almighty God. If you think it cannot be done, logically or naturally, then think supernatural and put all your faith in the supernatural and see how that works for you.

Are you ready to take a leap of faith? Are you ready to step out on a limb and believe in something you did not believe in before and see what God has to offer? If you are willing to take a stand in order to show your faith in a living Christ, then all you have to do to get started is to say a simple prayer with me.

Say this simple prayer with me, Dear Lord, I want you to be the Lord over my life, forgive me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.

If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Stone