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weekly sermon 5-31-09 Faith, Do We Understand?
It really does not matter to me what your religious faith is, but if it does not believe in God, the Son of God, Heaven, and Hell, then it is a faith that is in vain. I have given many stories from the Bible on faith because I want us all to understand our faith and how it affects our lives. This morning it came to me that before I could talk to anyone about one's faith, I should first get them to understand why we need faith.
If you have ever read any of my messages on faith, you will already know that faith is a belief in something not seen, that it comes by hearing and not by seeing. Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Romans 10:17, "So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." If we keep in mind those passages, then we know how faith came to us, but why?
In every message I have given on faith, I have shown, why there is a need for faith, how faith affects our lives, what faith should really mean to us, and what could potentially happen to us should we not have any faith. If we are going to have faith, then we should understand how faith came to be, or why there was a reason for our faith.
In the beginning, God made man and man was perfect in the eyes of God. Eve met a serpent in the garden, who tempted her, and she committed a sin. This is not a woman bashing story, to show that women started it all, but to show the serpent's involvement and the reason for the need of faith.
I want us to look at a message in Isaiah. In this story, we will learn what caused many things, the fall of man, the fall of the earth, the ripping apart of Heaven, the reason Christ was born, the reason we need faith, and the reason Christ had to die. You could almost say the reason for religious faith revolves around this story.
Isaiah 14:12-17, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (13)For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: (14)I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (15)Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (16)They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; (17)[That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners?"
We notice in this story that Lucifer has fallen from Heaven. What I want us to notice is Lucifer's way of thinking. What I mean is, I want us to notice WHY Lucifer was expelled from Heaven. There were thoughts in Lucifer's head, and more importantly in his heart, that caused his rebellion and eventual fall from grace.
Remember earlier I stated that God made man and man was good in the eyes of God. God, as we can see from that, is good and always wanted things to be good. Lucifer was, at one time, one of God's greatest angels. Thoughts came to Lucifer, thinking he was above all the good, that he was better than what he really was, and that he wanted to have more of the control because of that thinking. This was truly the first sin that happened. Sorry gentlemen, but it was not woman that committed the first sin. Lucifer sinned against God by trying to show that he was greater than God. The creation wanting to out do the creator. Lucifer was expelled from Heaven because he was defying God and the true existence of God and God's power. Lucifer truly believed he was more powerful than the one that created him and wanted to overthrow God.
As we can see in the passages in Isaiah, Lucifer said in his heart that he would go up to Heaven and exalt his thrown above the stars of God. The word exalt here means, to raise in rank, honor, power, character, and quality. Lucifer thought, or still thinks, he will rise above God and His power and grace, placing his thrown above all the honor, power, character, and quality of God. Lucifer also thought he would sit over the congregation of Heaven, above the clouds, and be like the most high. Notice the last thing that was said here. Lucifer wanted to "be like the most high". Lucifer knew in his own heart that he could never BE the most high, he just wanted to be LIKE the most high.
Even though Lucifer was making his plans to rise above it all and be like the most high, it was made known, to man, that man would be able to see him for what he truly was. This is where the faith part comes in. God would put something in man's heart so that they would be able to tell the difference between good and evil.
We can see, from the passages, that man would be able to look upon Lucifer knowing that he was evil, that he was the one that made the earth tremble, the kingdoms shake, turn the world in to a wild place, and destroy cities.
This one passage should answer many things for many folks. I am asked many times why it is that God allows things to happen on earth, wars, deaths, disease, cruelty to children, and so on. As we can see here, Lucifer caused the earth to tremble, made the earth wild, and destroyed cities. Lucifer is known as the prince of the air, the air being the earth, and if he is the prince of the air, he is in control over the things that happen here.
Let us now look the last verse in this passage. "[That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners?" The world became wild, the cities, being man, women, and children, destroyed. Also notice that Lucifer has prisoners. He holds us captive as prisioners for himself. When we are involved in sin, then we are prisoners to that sin and Lucifer never cared enough about man to open the house of his prisoners. This means Lucifer will keep you bound up in the house, where he keeps his prisoners, until you die. Lucifer does not care at all for us, he just wants to make sure we do not side with God. If we are not on God's side then we are against God. Lucifer knows if we are against God then we are on his side, whether we do anything to show we are on his side or not, or whether we want to admit it or not. Either way Lucifer does not care because he does not care for your soul.
We have a loving God, a God that cares for the souls of man, a God that truly wants there to be good in this world, and cared so much that he would allow his ONLY Son to come here to die for us. Christ had to come to die all because Lucifer brought evil into mankind. If mankind will just open their eyes and notice the real reason Christ had to come, see the true Lucifer and his ways, then it would not be too hard to believe in something hoped for but not seen.
We can see what happened with Lucifer, we can see what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do. This is where our faith comes in. Faith is the substance of the thing hoped for and the evidence of it when it can not be seen. But we can see what is happening in our lives at all times, we can see that no matter if it is bad, it gets better, we can see that no matter what comes against us, we prevail; IF WE HAVE FAITH. I do not care what anyone says, I can see faith at work all the time, I know it exists, and it only exists because Lucifer forced it to exist, and it only exists because of a gracious loving God, who created it in man's heart to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong. We know that God is a loving God, Lucifer is a destroyer, and the difference between the two, so our faith should at all times be working overtime in our lives.
Do you understand right from wrong? If you do then God is in your heart and wants to be a part of your life. Allow God to take total control over your life and show you just how wonderful it can truly become. If you have never taken that step but would like to know that you are, all you have to do is 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
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