Faith Grows Through Doubt

Posted by David on May 11, 1997 under Sermons

If you are observing a person’s faith, how can you tell if that faith is strong? That sounds like a very simple question that should have a very simple answer. But neither the question nor the answer is simple.

We do have some ready made answers for that question. Ready made answer number one: Look at the person’s life and see how the person acts. I have been working with Christians for years. My objective is very simple: guide and direct the person in a way that he or she finds spiritual help. I have worked with Christians who occupied prominent roles in the congregation, who had the appearance of someone genuinely devoted to God. But some of those Christians had either a secret life or a secret problem. The observable appearance looked impressive. The secret reality was tragic. A person may look like he or she has faith, may work like he or she has faith, when in reality the person has very little faith. They play the religion game really well, but they have a weak faith in God.

Ready made answer number two: Look for doubt or questioning. If the person has a strong faith, he or she has no doubts; he or she does not ask questions. They have “blind faith”–they trust God without questioning or thinking.

Fanatics have no doubts and despise those who have questions. Prejudice has no doubts and despises those who ask questions. Bigots have no doubts and resents those who have questions. The naive have no doubts and are deeply skeptical of anyone who has questions. Zealots have no doubts and regard anyone with questions as a serious opponent.

Any perspective that reduces matters to oversimplifications holds to the oversimplifications without doubt. Oversimplified perspectives also regard those with questions as an enemy.

Faith is not a fact to be possessed; It is a confidence to be advanced and developed. Any person who has faith at all times both has it and is developing it. There is a direct correlation between having occasions of doubt that raise hard questions and the development of the confidence that the Bible calls faith.

This evening we want to examine the healthy connection between doubt and faith.

1. Last Sunday evening we carefully examined the types of faith that exist in the process of faith growing toward maturity.
   1. We looked at those types of faith as growth rings in a tree.
      1. We emphasized that this is a growth model, not a good versus bad or right versus wrong model.
      2. Typically:
         1. Faith begins as family faith or absorbed faith–the faith that a person absorbs from his family.
         2. It grows to group faith or environmental faith–the faith that a person derives from being a part of a congregation.
         3. It often grows to cause faith or moralistic faith–the faith that identifies and adopts a cause.
         4. It grows to need faith or awakened faith–the person becomes aware of spiritual needs that are survival needs.
         5. It grows to God faith or relationship faith–the person trusts and depends on his personal relationship with God; the person “owns” his faith.
      3. In this typical growth model for faith, questions that arise from the person’s doubts are commonly instrumental in faith growing from one kind of faith to another.
         1. Doubt and questions play an important role in faith making the transition from family faith to group faith.
         2. Again, they play an important role in faith growing from group faith to cause faith.
         3. Still again, they play an important role in faith growing from cause faith to need faith.
         4. And yet again, they play an important role in faith growing from need faith to God faith.
   2. The traditional view of faith is that doubt is evil and evidences the absence of faith.
      1. Some forms of doubt are evil and exist only as destructive influences–they exist to destroy.
      2. Other forms of doubt are neither destructive nor constructive.
         1. Whether these doubts destroy or build depends on the response of the person to the doubt.
         2. If the person seeks to increase understanding because of the doubt, it is constructive.
         3. If the person seeks honest, open answers to questions raised by the doubt, it is constructive.
         4. If the person uses the doubt to increase dependence on and closeness to God, it is constructive
         5. In the matter of developing faith, this kind of doubt strengthens and educates the confidence or trust called faith.
      3. The Bible documents clearly that the constructive use of this kind of doubt is a part of the process of developing the faith or dependence God wants all of us to have.
2. Through the use of our projection system, I want to illustrate the link between faith and doubt that produces the mature faith God wants us to develop.
   1. Remember that Abraham is the Christian’s model for the faith that makes us righteous.
      1. When Paul wanted to use an example of faith to illustrate the faith God wants to exist in Christians, he used Abraham’s faith (Romans 4).
      2. When James wanted to use an example of faith to illustrate the faith God wants to exist in Christians, he used Abraham’s faith (James 2:14-26).
   2. I want you to consider what I call faith graphs.
      1. In each faith graph, the vertical side is marked off in faith units with 100 faith units being perfect faith.
      2. The horizontal side represents any point in time in a person’s life.
   3. Faith graph one represents what many Christians think faith should be.
      1. A person will never have perfect faith.
      2. But at any point in time in his or her life his or her faith should be somewhere between 70 and 85 trust units.
         1. If at any point in time it should rise above 85 trust units, that is wonderful.
         2. However, if the person’s faith falls below 70 trust units at any time, the person is in serious spiritual trouble.
         3. The further the trust units fall, the more serious the trouble.
      3. In the traditional view of faith, if a person’s faith was close to a flat line somewhere above 80 trust units, that would be ideal.
         1. If there is a death in the family, it remains the same.
         2. If there is critical illness, it remains the same.
         3. If the congregation has serious problems, it remains the same.
         4. If he is incredibly blessed, it remains the same.
         5. Faith would be steady no matter how good or bad things became.
   4. Faith graph two represents real life.
      1. The reality for all of us as Christians is this:
         1. There are moments when we have great confidence in God–we trust God in astounding ways.
         2. But there are also moments when we really struggle to keep any level of confidence in God.
         3. There are some matters that we trust to God without hesitation.
         4. There are other matters that we do not want to put in God’s hands.
      2. Consider the graph:
         1. When we are baptized into Christ, we enter at 80 trust units.
         2. We have a problem about our job, as we pray earnestly for God’s help.
            1. The problem is resolved in an amazing way.
            2. Trust units jump to 90.
         3. Our father and mother become invalids when a drunk driver slams into their car, and trust units plummet to 40.
         4. We pray, study, learn, and stop holding God responsible for the work of Satan, and trusts units climb back to 70.
         5. We discover that our child has leukemia, and our trust units plummet to 30.
         6. In our weakness we turn to God completely broken, and God sustains us–and our trust units rise to 85.
         7. We receive an incredible new job and new opportunities in a new spiritual environment that blesses us beyond imagination, and our trust units rise to 95.
      3. All of us are on a roller coaster ride with our trust hitting peaks and our doubts falling into valleys.
      4. Because of the way we have been taught to look at faith, our reaction is, “That is wrong! That is either the proof of unacceptable weakness or a lack of conversion.”
   5. Consider the third faith graph, a graph that depicts Abraham’s faith.
      1. Acts 7:3 says that God asked Abraham to leave his country and family before he moved to Haran.
         1. To me, that corresponds to Genesis 11:31 when Abraham moved with his father and family to Haran.
         2. I would place that at 50 trust units.
      2. In Genesis 12:1-4, after his father, Terah died, God directed him again to leave his family and Haran, and made him promises that were dependent on his having a son.
         1. This time Abraham leaves his family and Haran when he is 75 years old.
         2. He takes his nephew Lot with him.
         3. I would place that at 60 trust units.
      3. In Genesis 12:10-20, Abraham left Canaan and went to Egypt because Canaan was experiencing a severe famine.
         1. He is afraid that the Egyptians will kill him to marry his beautiful wife.
         2. So he lies–he refuses to acknowledge that she is his wife.
         3. I would place that at about 30 trust units.
      4. In Genesis 15:1, 2 God renews His promise and Abraham begs God to allow Eliezer to be his heir.
         1. I would place that at about 40 trust units.
      5. In Genesis 15:4-6 God declared his heir would be his own son, and Abraham believed God’s promise, and God reckoned that faith to Abraham as righteousness.
         1. I would place that at about 80 trust units.
      6. In Genesis 16:1, 2, Sarah said that they obviously were not going to have a son, so take her handmaid, have a child by her, and it would be the son of promise.
         1. Abraham agreed to do as she requested.
         2. I would place that at about 40 trust units.
      7. In Genesis 17 God renewed his promise to Abraham when he was 99 years old.
         1. Verse 17 says that Abraham fell on his face and laughed at God’s promise.
         2. I would place that at below 10 trust units.
      8. In Genesis 17:21 God declared that this child would be born in a year.
         1. Abraham renewed his confidence in God’s promise.
         2. He had every male that worked for him, Isaac, and himself circumcised that very day.
         3. I would place that at 80 trust units.
      9. In Genesis 20:2 Abraham is in Gerar telling the king that Sarah was his sister.
         1. I would place that at 40 trust units.
      10. In Genesis 22:2 God told him to take his son of promise and offer him on an altar on Mount Moriah.
          1. Abraham immediately made preparation, made the trip, and had Isaac ready to kill.
          2. I would place that at above 95 trust units.
   6. Please notice that Abraham’s’ great faith had moments of grave doubt.
      1. He is not the example of faith because he never doubted.
      2. He is the example of faith because his times of doubt led to renewed confidence in God’s promises.
      3. It was working through the doubt that produced the kind of faith that was willing to sacrifice Isaac without hesitation.
      4. His faith reached the point that it had absolute confidence in the God who gave him Isaac rather than faith in the fact that he had Isaac.

The existence of occasions of doubt do not prove that you have no confidence in God. The existence of doubt may be no more than occasions when your confidence is being challenged to grow and mature.

The key questions are these:
        Do you have confidence in God’s promises?
        Do you trust the God who made the promises?
        Or do you trust the gifts that God has given you?

Examine your faith in a way that will allow it to grow.

History’s Unique Mother

Posted by David on under Sermons

Each year this nation sets aside a Sunday to pay tribute to mothers. It is to be a day of appreciation. We are not merely saying to our mothers, “Thanks for giving birth,” though that is worthy of more respect and appreciation than we men can comprehend. It is a day for expressing our appreciation for the love, sacrifices, unselfishness, nurturing, devotion, and tending we received from our mothers. We are declaring that you not only gave us our lives, but that you are a powerful, primary influence that helped mold us into the persons that we are.

Once I was talking with Gynnath Ford, a fellow preacher. His mother was in poor physical and mental health, and her condition was declining. Virtually every day that he was at home he visited and spent time with his mother. Many days she was hardly aware that he was there. Someone marveled that he spent so much time with her when she often was not responsive. He explained, “I am just expressing my appreciation for the years that she took care of me when I was helpless and even more difficult to care for.”

I doubt that there is any challenge in all of life that is as demanding and difficult as being a godly, loving mother. No man will ever fully comprehend either the difficulty or the challenge.

As in all challenges confronted by people, for some the challenge is much greater than it is for others. This morning I want you to think about the woman for whom motherhood presented the greatest challenges any mother has experienced.

1. I think motherhood presented challenges to Mary, the mother of Jesus, that have never been equaled.
   1. Consider the occasion when Mary learned that she was to become a mother. The Gospel of Luke in 1:26-38 tells us about that occasion.
      1. An angel by the name of Gabriel was sent by God to a town called Nazareth in the region called Galilee in the nation of Israel (1:26).
      2. Gabriel brought a special message to a young lady who was engaged but not yet married (1:27).
         1. This young lady was likely in her teen years.
         2. She was a virgin; she had never been sexually active.
      3. The conversation between Gabriel and Mary was fascinating.
         1. “Greetings, woman richly blessed (favored one). The Lord is with you.”
         2. While I am sure that the presence of the angel shocked her (angels had not appeared to her, either), the greeting troubled her more than the presence of the angel (1:29).
            1. What did these words from the angel mean?
            2. Luke says that she “pondered” these words.
         3. “Don’t be afraid; you have found favor with God” (1:30).
            1. “You soon will be pregnant.”
            2. “You will have a son.”
            3. “You will name him Jesus.”
         4. “This son you will have is not just any child” (1:32).
            1. “He is destined for greatness.”
            2. “He will be called the Son of God” (an incredible designation).
            3. “God will give him David’s throne” (thus fulfilling an old and long anticipated promise that God made).
            4. “He will become the eternal ruler of Israel, and his kingdom will never end.”
         5. Mary is suddenly thrust into the same situation that Abraham experienced when God appeared to him hundreds of years earlier.
            1. God made some incredible promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), but all those promises were dependent on Abraham having a son.
            2. Nothing God promised Abraham could happen unless he had this son, and Abraham was seventy-five years old and childless after many years of marriage.
            3. All the angel’s promises were dependent on Mary having this son.
            4. She asked an obvious question: “How can this be possible? I cannot be pregnant because I have never been sexually active.”
         6. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of God will overshadow you. ”
            1. “That is why your son will be called the Son of God.”
            2. “In fact, today, Elizabeth, your relative, is six months pregnant–and you know that she has never had a child and is well past childbearing years” (1:36).
            3. “Nothing will be impossible for God” (1:37).
         7. Listen carefully to Mary’s response: she said, “I am the female slave of the Lord. Let it happen to me according to your word,” or, “May I as an unmarried virgin be pregnant with this child just as you have said.”
   2. Please carefully consider what an incredible statement of faith, of acceptance, and of surrender this is.”
      1. In the entire history of the nation of Israel, in all of God’s workings in the nation of Israel, in all of the unusual and unexpected things God had done in Israel, how may times had virgins had children in the past? None.
      2. What had God ever done in all His known deeds that was similar to this decision and action? Nothing.
      3. Place yourself in Mary’s position:
         1. What did the law of Moses say?
            1. Exodus 20:14–Do not commit adultery.
            2. Leviticus 20:10–Execute those who do commit adultery.
         2. What was Mary’s situation in this matter?
            1. An engagement arrangement was binding.
            2. It could only be broken by divorce.
            3. The minimum that could occur was severe disgrace with significant consequences.
         3. If you were unmarried, had never been sexually active, and were engaged to be married, and an angel told you the same thing Mary was told, how would you like to explain your pregnancy to your parents? To your fiancé?
         4. When you were about seven months pregnant, how would you like to explain to anyone:
            1. An angel came to see me.
            2. God has give me the special task of having this child.
            3. I am having the child for God by the power of God–the Holy Spirit made my pregnancy possible.
            4. God will use this child for special purposes.
            5. The angel even told me to name my son Jesus.
         5. How would you like for God to select you for that purpose?
      4. Her response was incredible: “I am the Lord’s slave. I am willing to have the child.”
2. Have you ever thought about what it was like to be Jesus’ mother?
   1. The night that he was born some shepherd’s visited (Luke 2:8-20).
      1. They told this young family that an angel told them about the birth and told them where they would find the newborn infant.
      2. Mary listened to them and stored what they said like one stores a treasure.
      3. She pondered these things in her heart.
   2. Eight days after Jesus was born he was circumcised just as the law of Moses commanded (Luke 2:21; Leviticus 12:2, 3).
   3. She, as all Jewish mothers who had sons, was impure for thirty-three days after the birth.
   4. As soon as those 33 days were completed, she took Jesus to the temple to present him to the Lord as prescribed by the law of Moses (Luke 2:22-24; Leviticus 12:6-8)
      1. While they were at the temple, they encountered Simeon (Luke 2:25-35).
         1. The Holy Spirit had told Simeon that he would see the Christ before he died.
         2. He took the infant in his arms and confirmed that Jesus was the Christ.
         3. Both Joseph and Mary were amazed at the things that he said.
      2. Also at the temple they met an 84 year old widow named Anna (Luke 2:36-38).
         1. Anna never left the temple area–she fasted and prayed there day and night.
         2. When she saw the infant she immediately began to praise God for sending the redemption of Israel.
   5. It was perhaps about this time that the wise men came for their visit (Matthew 2:1-15).
      1. Their visit placed Jesus’ life in danger because the jealous King Herod knew why they came.
      2. Immediately after their visit, an angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt with his young family, which he did.
      3. They did not return to Nazareth until King Herod died.
   6. I cannot imagine what it was like to be mother or father to Jesus as he grew up.
      1. The only incident from his childhood that is preserved for us is the family visit to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover when Jesus was twelve (Luke 2:41-51).
         1. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem when the family headed back to Nazareth.
         2. They thought he was in the crowd and did not miss him for a full day.
         3. They finally found him in the temple area listening to teachers and asking astounding questions.
         4. Mary scolded him for causing them so much anxiety.
         5. Jesus asked, “You did not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
         6. Neither Joseph or Mary understood his statement.
      2. Again, we are told that Mary treasured these things in her heart.
   7. I cannot imagine what it was like for her during Jesus’ ministry.
      1. How would it affect her to see his soaring popularity–for him to be in such demand that it was very difficult for her to have access to him?
      2. How would it affect her to see the most powerful men in the nation become his enemies?
      3. How would it affect her to see the kind of people that he taught and helped?
      4. How would it affect her to see and to hear about all the miracles?
      5. How would it affect her to hear his teaching?
   8. The things she saw!
      1. She was there watching when they crucified her son–she saw the pain and heard the mocking and ridicule (John 19:25). Have you ever thought about the whole crucifixion ordeal through the eyes and ears of Mary?
         1. In her grief and broken heart could she still see God at work?
         2. At that moment, what did she think of giving birth to Jesus?
         3. Did she wonder where God was and how God was going to make him king of Israel?
         4. She not only was there, she was so close to Jesus that she could hear him when he spoke to her (John 19:26, 27).
      2. Interestingly, the accounts do not specifically state that Jesus appeared to his mother after his resurrection.
      3. But when everything quieted down and the disillusioned went home, Mary the mother of Jesus was one of the one hundred and twenty disciples who remained in Jerusalem after Jesus died (Acts 1:14).
         1. She helped choose a replacement for Judas.
         2. On that basis, I presume that she was among the first who became a part of the first congregation of Christians in Jerusalem.

One of the most difficult and critical tasks that God ever gave to any person, He gave to a woman. She responded with faith and surrender. It was not a task that would require great faith, surrender, and sacrifice for a day or a year or five years. It was a task that would consume over thirty years of her life. At every stage of Jesus’ life, her task changed and become even more challenging. That task ended when she witnessed the execution of her own son. She watched and listened as people killed that special son that God gave her. When the angel told her that her son would sit on the throne of David and rule Israel forever, I sincerely doubt that Jesus execution on a cross entered her thinking.

With great faith and courage she accepted the task. She told the angel, “I am willing to do what God wants.” And that courage never faltered. Can there be any greater documentation of the power and importance of motherhood? God always makes special use of godly mothers who, in faith and courage, willingly surrender to the purposes of God.

Mary has an important lesson of life to teach all of us. Mary’s focus on her life had nothing to do with her sense of convenience. She accepted the task God gave her. It was more often a liability rather than an asset to Mary to raise Jesus. In her concept of life, God’s purposes and mission were bigger than she was. The focus of her life was serving God’s purposes.

Do you define your life as “I am here to advance the purposes of God”? Take the focus in your life off convenience and advance the purpose of God. The greatest rewards in life are not in our own purposes. Let God use you to accomplish His purposes.

We are not ashamed to invite you to be a Christian.
We are not ashamed to ask you to devote your life to Jesus Christ.

Growth:  From Having Faith to Owning Faith

Posted by David on May 4, 1997 under Sermons

When we observe faith in different people’s lives, we observe a fascinating phenomena. Two Christians who have placed faith in God go through near identical types of crisis. In both, the crises produce a period of questioning, confusion, and doubt.

From this common struggle with doubt, one Christian’s spirituality enters serious decline, and his or her faith radically shrinks. He or she becomes a person who attends habitually. His or her Christianity is little more than a religious affiliation with the church. Private conversations confirm that he or she seldom studies the Bible and rarely prays. Unless you saw this person attending worship, you would think that he or she had no spiritual interest. You may wonder why a person who is so disinterested makes any effort to attend a worship assembly.

From a similar period of doubt, the other Christian’s spirituality intensifies. He or she while in doubt begins intense Bible study. He or she develops a prayer life that grows in intensity. He or she is open and expressive about his or her struggles and about his or her growing dependence on God. As he or she seeks to build trust and dependence, an obvious surrender appears in daily life.

He or she begins to see the blessings in the problems, the struggle, and the pain of the situation. He or she talks openly about “what I am learning” as closeness to God is visibly increasing. In fact, the spiritual growth of these people is so obvious and their surrender so genuine that they frighten other Christians. These people share their studies, share their prayer life, and share their feelings for God. Again they are so open emotionally that their faith frightens many other Christians.

How do you explain how two Christians can go through very similar crises in nearly identical circumstances and have totally different faith reactions?

Dub Moore, a good friend and mentor, who lives in Abilene, Texas, shared some information on faith with me by phone and by mail. The information came from several different sources including Jack Reese who is chairman of the Bible Department at Abilene Christian University. The information served as a catalyst to my thinking and studying–it brought a lot of things together.

1. First, let’s look at the broad picture.
   1. In this broad picture we are not talking about “good faith” versus “bad faith” or “right faith” versus “wrong faith.”
      1. To understand how faith typically grows and develops, it is essential that you begin by erasing good versus bad or right versus wrong as we consider faith.
      2. The model is a growth model, not a right versus wrong model.
      3. For example, in the physical and mental development of a human being, there are radical differences in the different stages of development.
         1. There are enormous differences between a newborn and a toddler.
         2. There are enormous differences between a toddler and a child in kindergarten.
         3. There are enormous differences between a child in kindergarten and an adolescent.
         4. There are enormous differences between an adolescent and a well adjusted twenty-five year old.
         5. There are enormous differences between a well adjusted twenty-five year old and a well adjusted fifty year old.
         6. None of those stages of development are bad or wrong; they are all a part of the growth pattern.
   2. Faith also has a growth pattern.
      1. While the pattern will vary for persons coming from differing circumstances (just as physical and mental development is affected by circumstances), there is an observable pattern of development that occurs in typical circumstances.
      2. If you will, view this growth pattern as you would view rings in a tree’s growth.
      3. If you cut down a tree, when you look at the diameter of the stump you see the growth rings of the tree.
      4. Visualize the development of faith as those growth rings.
         1. In the center, the core is FAMILY FAITH, a faith that a person acquires because he absorbs that faith from his family.
         2. The first ring is GROUP FAITH, a faith that a persons acquires by being a part of a group, a congregation–his congregational environment provides him his faith.
         3. The second ring is CAUSE FAITH, a faith that exists because the person has identified or adopted a cause; this is a moralistic faith.
         4. The third ring is NEED FAITH, a faith that exists because the person has identified and is addressing needs within his life that are fundamental life issues, or survival issues.
         5. The fourth ring is GOD FAITH, a faith that exists because the person understands accepts, trusts, and depends on a personal relationship with God; this faith is “my” faith, I “own” it.
2. Now let’s examine each of these developmental stages of faith.
   1. Family faith or absorbed faith:
      1. This stage of faith accepts the faith of the parents.
         1. “I believe because Mom and Dad believe.”
         2. And it is not just a matter of believing because they believe.
         3. The person also believes what they believe.
         4. The faith that the person has is absorbed from the faith of Mom and Dad.
      2. Mom and Dad are the greatest and most immediate example of faith that the person has.
         1. Because the person trusts and loves Mom and Dad, the persons trusts Mom and Dad’s faith.
         2. Faith is expressed as Mom and Dad expresses it; it is evidenced as Mom and Dad evidence; it is focused on the same things Mom and Dad focus their faith on; it is defined by Mom and Dad’s definitions.
      3. Typically, a person outgrows family or absorbed faith.
         1. Some outgrow it at some point in adolescence when as a person they begin to establish the independence of self-hood.
         2. Some outgrow it as a young adult when as a person they begin to acquire knowledge and understanding that surpasses Mom and Dad.
         3. Some never outgrow it.
            1. Basically, these persons spend their lives maintaining and defending the faith of their family of origin.
            2. When this happens, it is more about affirmation of one’s family and family loyalty than it is about belonging to God.
            3. This person’s religious life is based on “their faith,” not on “my faith.”
      4. The dangers of not growing beyond family faith:
         1. The person’s faith stagnates into religious ritual–the issue is not trusting God, but “just doing what you are supposed to do.”
         2. If a person remains indefinitely in this stage, there is an inherent weakness.
            1. This faith does not equip a person for “my” trials and “my” suffering when I leave my family to establish my own life.
            2. At some point in “my” trials and “my” suffering family faith becomes inadequate or useless, and I forsake faith.
      5. The foundation of family faith is parents.
         1. It grows.
         2. Or it stagnates.
         3. Or it dies.
   2. Group faith or environmental faith:
      1. This stage of faith accepts the faith of the congregation or religious group to which I belong.
      2. “Because my church family believes, I believe.”
         1. Again, it is not a matter of just believing because my congregation believes.
         2. I believe what the congregation believes.
         3. The congregation defines my faith and tells me how to express faith.
            1. It provides me with “ready made answers” to complex questions.
            2. I do not have to understand complex issues–which my limited knowledge and understanding do not permit.
            3. I can accept what the congregation teaches and believes.
            4. “They believe, therefore I believe.”
      3. For a time, group faith provides a person many blessings.
         1. The faith of the congregation is a powerful stabilizing force in my life.
         2. It helps me become a source for family faith for my children.
         3. It serves as a caring, ministering support group in my life.
         4. It provides me a fellowship that comforts, stimulates, and encourages me.
      4. But, as long as the congregation is the basis for my faith:
         1. It is also the source of my spiritual strength.
         2. It is my spiritual compass providing the spiritual direction for my life.
         3. It is the root system that supports and nourishes my faith.
         4. And as long as the congregation is doing well, I am okay.
      5. But there are also some built-in problems in group faith.
         1. A congregation’s situation and circumstances change.
            1. Preachers move, serving members die, and leadership changes.
            2. No congregation remains the same through time.
            3. Transition is a constant reality–in today’s society, just five years brings huge changes to the makeup of a congregation.
         2. What happens when:
            1. A preacher you love and trust moves?
            2. An elder who was a positive force dies?
            3. The people who provided ministry leadership and direction move?
            4. A group in the congregation bitterly disappoints you?
         3. It is easy to “lose faith” when the environment of the congregation experiences a significant change.
            1. Disappointment with the congregation quickly becomes a faith crisis.
            2. Your source of strength quickly evaporates leaving you not knowing what to believe.
      6. There is also an inherent weakness in group faith.
         1. Group faith is wonderful as long as the congregation knows how to minister to your needs.
         2. But group faith becomes disastrous when the congregation does not know how to minister to your needs.
         3. There are some needs that living, loving, Christ-centered congregations excel in meeting:
            1. Support response in death, tragedy, or illness.
            2. Response to a home burning or a natural catastrophe.
         4. But there are also some needs that many living, loving, Christ-centered congregations have not learned how to respond to.
            1. Divorce devastates you and your family, and you are suddenly in the greatest physical need and the most serious spiritual crisis you have experienced–and the congregation does not know what to do or how to do.
            2. You acquire AIDS from a blood transfusion or by infection from an unfaithful spouse that you trusted–and the congregation does not know what to do or how to do.
            3. Because the congregation does not know how to respond, in fear it does nothing.
            4. And what happens to your faith?
      7. The foundation for group faith is the congregation.
         1. It grows.
         2. Or it reacts in bitterness and disappointment to transition.
         3. Or it dies.
   3. The cause faith or moralistic faith:
      1. This stage of faith finds a cause–the person is terribly concerned about particular moral conditions or problems that are seen as a basic evil infecting our society.
      2. “Because this is the moral teaching and position of the Bible, I believe.”
         1. Bible teachings address the distressing problem that concerns this person.
         2. He or she is absolutely convinced that the solution is to compel society to conform to the moral teachings.
         3. Since biblical morality clearly address the moral concern, since biblical morality will solve the moral crises, the person believes because God’s teaching is the answer to the moral dilemma.
      3. The cause may be focused in any number of issues of valid concern.
         1. Sexual moral problems.
         2. Violence.
         3. The lack of integrity in the business world.
         4. Family issues.
         5. Drugs and pornography in the community.
         6. Inhumanity in society or the world.
      4. The person is distressed by “what is wrong.”
         1. A solution, a “fix it,” must be found for the unacceptable conditions.
         2. Cause faith usually adopts “a course of action” that must happen.
         3. In faith, the person champions the cause, commits to the cause, and sacrifices for the cause.
         4. Cause faith commonly functions in a crusade/campaign attitude and commitment.
         5. “This is right, and we believe” too easily becomes “We are the answer because we believe.”
      5. Cause faith encounters an inevitable problem.
         1. Moral evil in a society that has a majority who do not place faith in God is not fixable.
         2. Any solution for moral evil that bypasses the hearts and wills of people who do not trust God can not be effective.
         3. Biblical morality, even when imposed on an unbelieving society, cannot resolve the moral problems of the society.
         4. Attempted control through forced compliance often makes the problem more complex.
         5. Biblical morality is effective when faith exists because faith exists.
         6. Moral conditions are changed (not merely controlled) when hearts and minds are changed.
         7. Consequently, cause faith achieves temporary victories.
         8. It is not uncommon to observe the problem increasing as we put forth our best efforts to reverse the problem.
      6. There are two serious dangers in this stage of faith.
         1. It creates enormous opportunities to become self-righteous.
         2. It creates the ideal circumstances for personal failure because the person cannot meet his or her own moral standards and expectations.
      7. The foundation of cause faith is a system of godly principles.
         1. It will grow.
         2. Or it will become cynical.
         3. Or it will die.
   4. The next stage is awakened faith or need faith.
      1. This stage of faith focuses on the person’s awakening to his or her spiritual survival needs.
         1. He sees his spiritual poverty.
         2. She sees the reality of evil within her own mind and heart.
      2. No longer is the person primarily concerned about fixing the church, or fixing society, or fixing other people.
      3. He or she sees that rules and regulations based on Bible teaching are spiritual kindergarten–they are not wrong, but they are not the substance of spiritual maturity.
      4. Other Christians may view this person as a “very good person” or as someone who truly turned his or her life around.
      5. But the person is waking up to the real problem of evil in everyone, and he clearly sees that problem in himself.
      6. With this awakening to the evil within comes the awakening to a biblical understanding of forgiveness, grace, and atonement–these are no longer merely religious words, but powerful, eternal concepts.
      7. With the awakening comes a tidal wave of feelings.
         1. Those feelings produce some genuine mountain top experiences when one feels close to God.
         2. But those feelings easily become the measurement of one’s faith.
         3. The person’s feelings can become the index to the health of his faith.
         4. So if he cannot defeat a struggle through prayer, recommitment, and resolve, the person feels like he is failing and can become depressed (“what’s wrong with me?”).
         5. But when he experiences a triumph in a struggle, he climbs to the mountain top again.
      8. The dangers:
         1. It is easy to make emotions and feelings primary in all spiritual considerations.
         2. It is easy to feel spiritually superior because you experience these genuine feelings and emotions.
      9. An inherent problem: when I fail to experience or sustain “mountain top” feelings, I can easily interpret this as a faith crisis.
         1. Faith produces those experiences.
         2. The absence of the experience is evidence of a weak faith.
      10. The foundation of this faith is personal experience arising from spiritual needs.
          1. It grows.
          2. Or it becomes depressed.
          3. Or it is killed by feelings of unworthiness and weakness.
   5. The next stage of faith is GOD FAITH (I am speaking of confidence in God’s full manifestation of His will and purposes through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.)
      1. This stage of faith focuses on the person’s relationship with God–he comprehends, understands, and trust what God has done and is doing for him in Jesus Christ.
      2. “I believe because I trust my relationship with God that was established when I entered Jesus Christ.”
         1. “I understand, I accept, and I trust reconciliation.”
         2. “I understand, I accept, and I trust forgiveness.
         3. “I understand, I accept, and I trust God’s promises.”
         4. “Because I place my confidence in God, I am certain that everything that happens in my life, both good and evil, will be used by God to help me enter eternal salvation.”
         5. “I place my full confidence in God’s accomplishments at the cross and the resurrection.”
         6. “Because I know God, I trust God in all circumstances.”
         7. “Because I trust God in all circumstances, I serve God in all circumstances.”
         8. “I trust because I understand, but my trust exceeds my understanding.”
      3. This level of faith is not dependent on anyone else–it is my faith.
         1. If no one else believes, I believe.
         2. If my family rejects God, I continue with God.
         3. If the congregation falls, my faith stands in tact.
         4. I embrace biblical morality, but my faith exceeds moral expectations.
         5. I have powerful, deep feelings for God and Christ, but my feelings are neither the foundation or the measurement of my trust.
         6. I will trust my God and my Savior regardless.

In any living congregation, you will observe all these stages of faith simultaneous. In a living congregation, you will see Christians growing through these stages of faith, and you will see the more mature patiently encouraging the less mature.

The Formula For Success

Posted by David on under Sermons

Our society loves success. Our society honors success. Our society rewards success. Our society worships success. You have obtained the highest possible level of achievement and importance in this country when you are know to be and accepted as being successful. To be successful is to be a winner.

Our society hates failure. Our society has little respect for anyone that is classified as a failure. Our society penalizes those who fail. Our society often looks upon people who have failed with contempt. To be a failure is to be a loser.

That makes success a high priority in most of our lives. It is extremely important that all of us be able to see ourselves as successful in some way. If we cannot say to ourselves that we are successful in something, then we regard ourselves to be a failure. Considering yourself a failure is a self-imposed burden that you rarely escape. It is a burden that complicates every area of your life.

So there is a ready made market in our society for “how to” books. Name an area of life, and there are probably several books available to instruct you on how to be successful in that. Some people have become quite successful in the process of telling other people how to be successful.

I am quite aware that a discussion of success is not a single topic discussion. There are many forms of success and many definitions of success. To some success is inseparable from material achievement. If you don’t have money and many possessions, your aren’t successful. To some success is to be measured in terms of personal achievement, and that may have nothing to do with money or possessions. To some success has to do with accomplishments within a career or a vocation. To some success is attaining public acclaim.

This morning I want to oversimplify our discussion of success. But the oversimplification makes an essential point that we need to remember. I will begin by asking this question: what do you consider to be the formula for success?

1. You rightfully respond by saying, “That depends on what you are discussing.”
   1. If you want to make preparation to be successful in a career or work life, what is the formula for success?
      1. First, consider the career path.
         1. You need to take your high school studies seriously–the competition for going to a good college or university is increasing.
         2. You need to go to a college or university that will both train you for your career and give you an advantage.
         3. If you can get any kind of job experience in the summers of your college years, that will be a big help.
         4. Make as many contacts in your field as you can.
         5. Get serious about your studies and your grades.
         6. When you get your first job out of college, be responsible, work hard, be conscientious, and learn like a sponge.
         7. Be alert to opportunity.
         8. Have the courage to accept opportunity when it comes.
      2. Second, consider a crafts or skill occupation.
         1. Get a sound educational background.
         2. Attend a good business and industrial school that will permit you to have specialized training.
         3. As early as possible, get some actual experience–work as someone’s helper or apprentice.
         4. Try to get a job with a company that has an earned reputation for expertise in your area of work.
         5. Take special training when its available, learn anything that you can that will increase your skills and knowhow–you can never know and understand too much.
         6. Work hard, do good work, stand behind your work, and built a reputation as a capable craftsman who knows what he is doing.
   2. If you want to have an exceptional marriage, what is your formula for success?
      1. You need to begin with a healthy, realistic definition and concept of a healthy marriage.
      2. As a teenage, come to the real understanding that it takes a whole lot more than passion to build a marriage.
      3. Realize that you cannot marry just anyone and have a successful marriage.
      4. Date wisely.
      5. Develop good communication skills before marriage, but continue to develop them after marriage.
      6. Learn sound conflict resolution skills.
      7. Date responsibly.
      8. Do all that you can to determine that persons you seriously date are as concerned about successful marriage as you are.
      9. Evaluate differences honestly before you marry.
      10. Identify and meaningfully discuss differences and adjustments before and after you marry.
      11. Do some serious premarriage counseling.
      12. After marriage continue to learn all you can about how healthy relationships work.
      13. Learn how to be mutually supportive and build each other’s strengths.
      14. Don’t neglect problems.
      15. Don’t neglect finances.
      16. Don’t hesitate to get help when problems occur.
      17. Spend meaningful time together sharing life.
   3. If you want to be a successful parent, what is the formula for success?
      1. Again, you need to begin with a realistic definition and healthy concept of what an effective parent is.
      2. You need to love your children, know how to express that love, and make that love visible in all circumstances on a continuing basis.
      3. Again, you need to develop your communication skills.
      4. You need to learn as much as you can about human development age by age.
      5. You need to understand how to discipline fairly.
      6. It is important that you not only share time and experiences with your child, but also that you share yourself with your child.
      7. You need to model the behavior you want them to learn.
      8. You need to teach your child relationship skills by letting them observe your healthy relationship when things are good and when things are bad.
      9. They need to learn from you how to work through problems and trials just as they need to learn from you how to constructively enjoy good times.
      10. You have to love them enough to:
          1. Provide the kind of care they need at each age.
          2. Let them mature.
          3. Give them unconditional love.
          4. Let them make their mistakes, and help them learn from those mistakes as they recover.
          5. And, one day, turn them loose to live their own lives.
   4. There is something basically wrong with everyone of those formulas for success; the same thing is wrong in each formula.
2. Well over three thousand years ago, there lived a man whose name is still known worldwide.
   1. He lived in the number one place to live in his world.
      1. He lived in the safest, most prosperous, most developed, most civilized place in his world.
      2. And he left that place literally to wander around in a dangerous place to live.
   2. He was really a rather peculiar fellow.
      1. He never owned much land.
      2. He never wrote a book–we don’t even know if he could read.
      3. He never ruled or governed.
      4. I don’t know that he had a great deal of power, though he did accomplish some unusual things.
      5. He never started a great business enterprise, and was not known for his trading skills.
      6. There is really nothing very remarkable about this man–with one strange exception.
   3. Yet this man was successful beyond our wildest dreams.
      1. Who will remember your name in three thousand years?
      2. Have you done anything in your life that will benefit and bless someone three thousand years after your death?
      3. Will anything you do still directly impact the current history of the world three thousand years after you lived?
      4. This man’s name is known and remembered, his life blesses our world today, and his life still has an impact on current history.
   4. This man has something to teach us about the formula for success.
3. There was another man that lived about 2000 years ago who is also known worldwide.
   1. Compared to the first man, he was a pauper.
      1. As an adult, he owned absolutely nothing.
      2. He never married, had no children, no descendants.
      3. By the standards of his day, he was uneducated–that is he never attended noteworthy schools; in fact, we know very little about his education.
      4. He did not travel over a wide area in his life time, but he was always wandering around.
      5. He never settled down, and never stayed in one place very long.
      6. He created controversy wherever he went, but he was an incredibly positive force everywhere he went.
      7. Some people loved and respected him, and some people despised and hated him.
   2. After he died, the world was never the same; the course of history was permanently changed.
      1. Because of his death, the world will never be the same.
      2. No matter how long the world continues, he will always be a powerful, positive influence on people.
      3. Though he lived two thousand years ago, he can help people of today understand life and relationships in ways that literally turn their lives and relationships around.
      4. He has many, many things to teach us about the formula for success.
4. Both men teach us the same basic lesson about success, and that is the basic lesson that was missing from our thinking about success in a career, in an occupation, in marriage, or in parenting.
   1. The men:
      1. The first man was Abraham.
      2. The second man was Jesus.
      3. Both of them teach us the first and most essential factor in being successful: the beginning point for pursuing success is a healthy relationship with God.
      4. Were it not for their relationship with God, you and I would know neither of these men.
      5. Because of their relationship with God, not only will they be remembered, but they will never stop influencing our world.
   2. Unless you are willing to settle for a cheap form of success, you will not find the greatest success you are capable of experiencing unless you begin with a healthy relationship with God.
      1. If your formula for success in your career or work places little emphasis on God, you won’t be very successful.
         1. You make a lot of money.
         2. You may own a lot things.
         3. You may even accumulate a lot of power.
         4. But the emptiness of what you do and have will tell you that you don’t have the success that you were searching for.
      2. If your formula for success in your marriage places little emphasis on God, you won’t be very successful.
         1. You may have an incredible house.
         2. Your family may make a lovely portrait.
         3. You may travel together to lots of fun places and do exciting things.
         4. You may wow your neighbors and friends.
         5. But the loneliness and stress that you experience in your marriage at those critical, important moments will tell you that your marriage is not the success that you hoped it would be.
      3. If your formula for success as a parent places little emphasis on God, you won’t be very successful.
         1. The children may be able to have the experiences that you want for them.
         2. They may make the grades in school you want them to make.
         3. They may achieve the popularity you want them to have.
         4. Perhaps you will even be so fortunate as to have little conflict with them when they are teens.
         5. But the feeling of distance between you and them, the feeling of being at a loss to do anything that touches their hearts and minds at critical moments will tell you that you are not nearly as successful as you wanted to be.

Are you telling us that if a healthy relationship with God is the foundation of our formula for success that career, marriage, and family will work out just exactly like we want it to? No, I am not saying that.

I am telling you that we live in an evil world that often does not make sense. We live in a world where you can have everything and nothing at the same time. We live in a world where more people do not know how to create and sustain a relationship than do know how to.

Only God is bigger than our problems. Only God is bigger than our struggles. Only God is bigger than evil. Only God is more powerful than failure. Only God can minister to, strengthen, and sustain us when an evil world conspires against us. Only God can give life its true meaning when everything goes right. And only God can give live its true meaning when everything falls apart.

God is the beginning for the formula for success in this life and in the life to come.

It is never too late to add God to the formula.
It is never too late to allow God to bring a great success to your future.
It is never too late to let God destroy the sin.

The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

Posted by David on April 27, 1997 under Sermons

The standard for identifying the kind of faith that God wants people to have is the faith that is seen in Abraham. Rare is the person who equals the faith that Abraham developed. No one surpasses the faith that Abraham developed.

That fact is incredible for two reasons. First, Abraham had none of the advantages of Israel in the Old Testament or Christians in the New Testament. Abraham had no scripture. Not one book of the Bible had been written at the time that Abraham lived. He could not develop faith by reading or studying what God had said.

Abraham had no history of God’s activity. Israel could look back at the plagues in Egypt, the Passover, the Red Sea crossing, the wilderness experiences, and the conquest of Canaan. Abraham had no such history to look at. Christians can look back at the birth of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the early church. Abraham had nothing to look back upon. God spoke to Abraham, and he placed his trust and confidence in God and His promises.

Second, from our perspective, Abraham would make an incredible example of obedience. He left his home and homeland. He wandered as a nomad in a dangerous land. He had the willingness to sacrifice Isaac, his son the God promised him, on an altar. Yet, only the book of James uses Abraham as an example of obedience, and even James uses Abraham’s obedience to help his readers properly understand faith.

In Romans chapter four, Paul used Abraham as the basic proof that God makes a person righteous through the person’s faith.

Last week we examined two of the four statements that declare the righteous shall live by faith: Habakkuk 2:4 and Romans 1:16,17. Tonight we want to look at the two additional statements that affirm the righteous shall live by faith: Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38.

1. Consider with the context and point of that statement in Galatians 3:11.
   1. First, consider the situation that moved Paul to write this letter to these congregations.
      1. Shortly after Paul left the area, Jewish Christians visited these non-Jewish congregations and told these non-Jewish converts that they were not God’s children.
         1. It was easy for Jewish Christians to make these converts to question their salvation.
         2. Many of the converts knew nothing about the scriptures that we call the Old Testament, knew little about the living God prior to conversion, and did not have the Jews’ rich religious heritage.
         3. Their Jewish teachers had seemingly everything–knowledge of scripture, knowledge of God, and religious heritage.
         4. The Jewish Christians could easily overwhelm and intimidate these new converts.
      2. As a result, the new converts left the message of Christ for the law of Moses.
         1. They were told that the law of Moses was the starting point for salvation.
         2. And they believed these teachers–their credentials and backgrounds were impressive.
   2. Please follow the flow of Paul’s thoughts in the letter; his argument is very easy to follow.
      1. (1:6-10) I am astounded that you were so easily moved away from the message about Christ to a different, counterfeit message.
      2. (1:11-24) What I taught you came to me directly from Jesus, and these facts are the proof (he then gives them factual information).
      3. (2:1-10) In Jerusalem, the apostles themselves acknowledged that God sent us to the non-Jews just like He sent Peter to the Jews.
         1. At that time, the apostles gave us the right hand of fellowship (full approval) regarding our work among the non-Jews.
         2. They did not ask us to change a single thing that we were teaching.
      4. (2:11-21) Later, the apostle Peter visited the non-Jewish congregation in Antioch of Syria.
         1. As long as he was by himself, he treated those Christians who are also non-Jews as equals.
         2. But when other Jews from Jerusalem came, he treated those Christians as though they were second-class Christians.
         3. I confronted him to his face and told him that he was wrong.
         4. I told him that he had no right to expect non-Jewish Christians to follow Jewish ordinances that he himself had rejected.
         5. The law does not justify any person; faith in Jesus Christ justifies every Christian.
         6. I have been crucified with Christ.
         7. He lives in me.
         8. I live by faith in him.
      5. (3:1-14) Who cast a spell on you and blinded you to the crucified Jesus?
         1. You need to consider the answers to some questions.
         2. Did you receive the Spirit from the law or by faith?
         3. Are you foolish enough to believe that your spiritual existence begins in the Spirit and achieves maturity by the deeds of your fleshly body?
         4. We taught you a great personal sacrifice; did we make our sacrifices for nothing?
         5. Give serious consideration to the presence of the Spirit and the miraculous works that are occurring among you–have they happened because of the law or because of faith in Christ?
         6. Don’t you understand that God regarded Abraham to be a righteous because of his faith?
            1. Please understand that the person who has faith in Christ is the true descendant of Abraham.
            2. God has always intended to justify non-Jews through faith in Christ.
            3. Faith is the avenue to blessings.
            4. The law is the avenue to the curse.
         7. This fact is clearly evident: no one can be justified by the law.
            1. The righteous shall live by faith.
            2. Living by the law places a person under the curse.
            3. Christ redeems us from the curse when we live by faith in him.
            4. When the non-Jew has faith in Christ, all the blessings God promised Abraham come to the non-Jew.
         8. Then Paul made these points in 3:23-29:
            1. The law has served the purpose God intended and is no longer needed.
            2. We don’t need the law because we have Christ.
            3. Faith in Christ produces children of God.
            4. Baptism into Christ destroys all distinctions.
            5. Belonging to Christ makes any person a descendant of Abraham.
2. Now consider the use of, “The righteous shall live by faith,” in Hebrews 10:38.
   1. The situation that prompted the message of Hebrews:
      1. Long term suffering as a Christians caused these Christians to consider forsaking Christianity and returning to Judaism.
         1. They were considering leaving Jesus Christ but remaining with God.
         2. They would belong to the same God, but they would serve Him through Judaism.
      2. The declaration of this writing:
         1. You can’t do that–if you leave Christ you leave God.
         2. The first nine chapters to verify that Jesus was superior to Judaism, the Levitical priesthood, and the law, and that Jesus was essential.
   2. Consider the thought flow in chapter ten.
      1. The chapter begins with the shadow illustration (10:1-9).
         1. A shadow is not the object, not the reality.
         2. The shadow only tells you that the object, the reality exists–even if you cannot see it.
         3. The law was the shadow.
         4. Christ was the reality.
      2. Then the author contrasted the sacrifices commanded by the law on the Jewish day of atonement (Leviticus 16) with the sacrificial death of Jesus.
         1. The sacrifices on the day of atonement, again, were the shadow.
            1. They had to be offered without fail every year on the same day.
            2. They could not permanently solve the problem of sin in the lives of the people.
            3. They could not produce permanent forgiveness.
         2. Jesus sacrifice of his life and blood on the cross was the reality.
            1. He offered it once and sat down by the King, God.
            2. With the one sacrifice of himself he made holy, permanently, all those who accept his sacrifice.
            3. God promised before Jesus came:
               1. That God would put His laws in people’s hearts and minds.
               2. That God would not remember those people’s sins.
            4. Since this perfect forgiveness exists, there is no need for another sacrifice.
      3. When Christians understand this, they will make closeness to God their first priority (10:19-25).
         1. Because of Jesus’ blood, we can enter God’s personal holy place with confidence.
         2. Jesus himself opened the way into God’s holy place.
         3. Jesus himself is our high priest in that holy place.
         4. Because this is true:
            1. Let us draw near God in the full assurance of faith because we have been cleansed.
            2. Let us refuse to turn loose of the confession of our hope.
            3. Let us stimulate each other to love and to good works.
            4. Let us not withdraw from Christians–let us assemble with Christians.
      4. Apostasy, the decision to reject and forsake Christ, was unthinkable (10:26-31).
         1. If we reject Jesus and return to our pre-Christian life, we forfeit Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins.
         2. If we do that, the only thing we can expect from God is fiery vengeance.
         3. Under the law of Moses a person was executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses (that seemed harsh).
         4. How much worse will the punishment be for a Christian who rejects Christ? By the act of rejecting Jesus:
            1. He treats Jesus dead body with contempt.
            2. He treats Jesus’ blood with contempt.
            3. He insults God’s goodness, His Spirit of grace.
            4. This person’s punishment will be too severe to imagine!
            5. He will fall into God’s hands and suffer God’s vengeance.
      5. Please remember your Christian past (10:32-39).
         1. Remember your willingness to suffer when you became a Christian.
         2. It was okay:
            1. To be laughed at and ridiculed in public.
            2. To be insulted and abused.
            3. To stand with those who were treated with contempt.
         3. You were not ashamed of fellow Christians who were sent to prison.
         4. You rejoiced when your property was confiscated.
         5. You knew that you had something better, something eternal.
         6. Don’t throw away your confidence (your faith in Christ)–that is the path to your reward.
            1. You just need to endure.
            2. When you have done God’s will, you will receive the reward that He promised.
         7. Remember: the righteous shall live by faith.
            1. They don’t shrink back.
            2. We are not shrinkers.
            3. We are people of faith.
      6. They needed to remember that the real issue was not finding a painless way to be religious; the real issue was faith in Christ.
3. Someone asks, “Does James in James 2:14-26 contradict what Habakkuk, Paul, and the book of Hebrews said?”
   1. No, James does not contradict the fact that the righteous shall live by faith.
   2. In some ways, people have not changed.
      1. There always have been religious people who wanted to place their confidence and trust in themselves and their works.
         1. The majority of the people of Israel in the Old Testament and New Testament fit that category.
         2. These people placed their faith in what they did as they obeyed the commandments of the law.
         3. Paul and the book of Hebrews was speaking to them: their faith must be in Christ, not in themselves.
      2. There are always those who accept the statement that the righteous shall live by faith, but draw the wrong conclusion from that fact.
         1. They conclude, since righteousness comes by faith, that a person has no responsibility to serve and be obedient.
         2. Their concept of faith is just as much in error as the first group.
         3. James spoke to these people to inform them that the faith that makes one righteous is also the faith that reveals its existence and life by working.

The faith that makes a person righteous is the faith that places its trust and confidence in God, not in oneself, not in what one does.

But the faith that makes a person righteous is also living, active, serving, obedient, expressive. Because I trust God, I serve God. Because I trust Christ, I serve Christ.

The most obedient Christian is the person who understands that he or she is righteous through faith. The hardest working Christian, the dedicated servant, the most committed believer, the most sacrificial child of God is the person who understands that he is righteous through faith.

The Perfect Solution

Posted by David on under Sermons

This morning I have some good news and some bad news. And I will start with the bad news. You and I have a problem. You and I have a big problem. In fact, it is the largest, most significant problem we have in our lives.

“What’s the problem?” We cannot completely rid our lives of evil. No matter how much we learn and understand from the Bible, no matter how much we grow spiritually, no matter how much we mature in Christ, no matter how strong we become ethically or morally, we cannot completely stop sinning. Evil is always present in our lives.

It is a vicious struggle. We can work on our evil habits, but we still need to work on our greed. We can work on our greed, and we still need to work on our honesty. We work on our honesty, and we still need to work on our words. We work on what we talk about, and we still need to work on our attitudes. We work on our attitudes, and we still need to work on our motives. We work on our motives, and we still need to work on our emotions. Then we learn something from Christ and the teachings of the Bible, and we gain a deeper understanding of good and evil, of right and wrong, of wise and unwise, and we start all over.

Paul surely put his finger on the core truth about evil in our lives when in Romans 7 he declared that the harder he fought evil in his life the more evil he uncovered.

But I also have some good news. And it is wonderful news. This is the good news: God has solved our problem. He solved it perfectly, totally, and completely.

After Paul stated in Romans 7 that the harder he fought evil in his life the more evil he uncovered, he acknowledged God’s perfect solution in this statement: There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

This morning I want us to examine God’s perfect solution for evil in the lives of the men and women who are in Christ Jesus.

1. First, I ask you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5.
   1. Let’s begin by looking at the flow of Paul’s thoughts in this chapter.
      1. Verse 1: This earthly body we live in is just a tent.
         1. When we die, we exchange this tent for a house, a permanent structure which was constructed by God.
         2. While this tent is temporary lasting for only a few years, the permanent house we receive after death is eternal–unlike this physical body, it lasts without end.
      2. Verses 7-10: So we live our daily lives by faith.
         1. We do not live our daily lives in the fear of death.
         2. We live in the certain knowledge of the judgment when everyone comes before God, but we still live by faith and not by the fear of death.
      3. How can we know the certainty of the judgment and still live by faith and not by fear?
         1. Verse 11: Reason one: Because we are filled with profound respect, the respect that comes from complete awe.
            1. We live in respect and awe of the Lord.
            2. In the knowledge that our lives are completely open to God’s eyes, we persuade people.
         2. Verse 14: Reason two: Because our lives are literally controlled by Christ’s love for us.
            1. Verse 15: Christ died and was resurrected on behalf of every person or all people.
            2. Verse 17: By being in Christ, each person is re-created into a new person.
            3. Verse 17: By being in Christ, each person’s past is destroyed, and the person is given a brand new beginning.
            4. Verse 18: God intentionally makes all this happen because God reconciled all of us who are in Christ to Himself through Christ.
               1. Verse 19: What we must understand is this: God did not send Christ to sum up the total of each person’s sins and charge the person for his sins.
               2. God sent Christ to create the means and opportunity to reconcile all people on earth to Himself.
               3. God succeeded in doing what He intended to do: anyone can accept reconciliation to God.
            5. This news about reconciliation is both the ministry and the message God has commissioned Paul and his company to share with everyone.
               1. God wants to be at peace with you.
               2. Accept the peace.
   2. Now please pay close attention to verses 20 and 21.
      1. We are begging you, we are urging you, we are pleading with you as spokesmen for Jesus Christ, accept the reconciliation.
      2. God took Jesus who had never sinned, who had no sin, and God made Jesus to be sin on our behalf.
      3. It is because God made Jesus to be sin for us that we can become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.
   3. To me that is one of the most incredible statements in the Bible, if not the most incredible statement.
      1. God took the pure, holy, sinless Jesus who never committed any evil of any kind, and God made Jesus to be sin.
      2. When did God do that?
         1. When Jesus died on the cross.
         2. In my understanding, it actually happened just before Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46).
         3. God allowed the collective sin of humanity–from the first sin of Adam and Eve to the last sin that will be committed before the end of the world–to be placed on the sinless body of Jesus.
         4. When the sin was placed on Jesus’ body, God withdrew His presence from Jesus.
      3. Consider the incredible Savior we have.
         1. Though he never sinned, he experienced what it is like to die separated from the presence of God.
         2. That is the ultimate experience of human weakness and defeat–to die separated from the presence of God.
         3. Jesus endured that experience so that you will not have to.
         4. Because God covered the body of Jesus with our sins as he died, God can take the perfect righteousness of the sinless Jesus and cover us with his righteousness.
            1. When God looked at Jesus on the cross, He saw our sins–Jesus had the appearance of a sinner to God because Jesus was wearing our sins.
            2. When God looks at the man or woman in Christ, God sees Jesus’ perfect righteousness because we are wearing the righteousness of Jesus.
   4. So you say to me, “David, I think your imagination is going overboard. That is just too far out. That sounds like speculation to me.” Decide for yourself if it is my speculation.
      1. In I Peter 2:18 Peter talks to slaves who had become Christians.
         1. He told them that it was not unjust for them to suffer because they are Christians.
         2. In verses 21 through 24 he told them that Jesus himself was their example in the matter of suffering.
         3. Jesus went through the ordeal of his trials and death without sinning–he suffered silently using no form of retaliation.
         4. He just placed all the injustice that occurred in God’s hands knowing that God will judge righteously.
         5. Look at what Peter specifically said about Jesus as he died:
            He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed (I Peter 2:24).
         6. The Christians in Galatia had been told by Jewish Christians that their baptism was invalid because they had not obeyed the rituals of the Jewish law before being baptized.
            1. In Galatians 3 Paul said that was completely false; they were as much children of God as were the Jews who had been baptized.
            2. Verse 26: “For you all are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
            3. Verse 27: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves in Christ.”
         7. When we enter Christ, our sins are atoned for because they were placed on the body of Christ, and we are clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.
2. “That is wonderful! But sin continues to be a problem in our lives after baptism as long as we live.” Absolutely correct–but God’s perfect solution solved that problem also.
   1. John in I John 1:5-10 revealed God’s solution to that problem.
      1. I John 1:1-5 reveals that John is writing to Christians.
         1. He wants the readers to share fellowship with him (verse 3).
         2. He wants them all to share fellowship with the Father and Jesus Christ.
         3. He is writing so that his joy can be made complete.
      2. Look carefully at verses 5-10:
         1. Verse 5: God is light and there is no darkness in God.
            1. God is sinless existing in a sinless environment.
            2. God and evil are as totally opposite as pure light and total darkness.
         2. Verse 6: If we claim that we have fellowship with God while we live the life of an unconverted evil person, we are deceiving ourselves and we are not practicing the truth.
         3. Verse 7: If we live our lives in the light that comes from God, two things happen:
            1. We have fellowship with each other.
            2. The blood of Jesus cleanses (present, continuing) us of all sin.
         4. Verse 8: If we want to make the claim that we don’t need that cleansing, we are self-deceived and the truth is not in us–because all of us Christians have sin in us.
         5. Verse 9: If we confess our sins (to God), God is faithful and righteous (He will honor His promise) and do two things.
            1. He will forgive us our sins (those we know and confess).
            2. He will cleanse us (continuing) of all unrighteousness (of all the sins we are guilty of but do not know).
         6. Verse 10: If Christians say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar and God’s word is not in us.
      3. After I am baptized into Christ, if I will be honest with God and myself, if I will confess my sins as I realize that I do evil, then God will keep me in a continual state of forgiveness, and continual state of cleansing.
      4. If I will acknowledge my sin as I seek to walk in God’s light, God through His forgiveness will keep me in a state of purity.
      5. I cannot be perfect, but I can be honest with God and accept responsibility for my mistakes as I realize them.

God’s solution is perfect. He placed your sins on the body of Christ. When you are baptized into Christ, not only are your sins forgiven, but you are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. As you continue to learn to live in God’s light, if you will accept responsibility for your mistakes and confess them to God, He will forgive you of all the sin that occurs in your life.

That is our incredible God. That is our incredible Savior. That is our incredible salvation.

There are some experiences that you have when you preach and teach that after years and years and years have caused you so much grief. I grieve so much at all the people that believe that God can’t forgive them. I grieve for all my brothers and sisters who live their lives convinced that, at best, it’s a chance that they’ll go to Heaven; probability is they’re going to Hell, they think.

I grieve for all of my brothers and sisters who feel like God has not forgiven them. I grieve for my brothers and sisters who feel like God won’t listen to their prayers. I grieve for my brothers and sisters who are scared to death to die. Scared to DEATH to die because with all that God has already done they feel like they’re dying alone. And they’re afraid, oh they’re afraid to meet God because they don’t feel forgiven.

The number one priority my God had when He gave His Son on the cross of Calvary was forgiveness. If we don’t feel forgiveness, we don’t understand why Jesus died for us. God said, “You can never be perfect and you can never solve the problem on your own. But I, God, have you covered in Jesus Christ.”

I grieve for all of those who aren’t Christians who feel like there’s no need then for them to even consider being a Christian because, their life had been so bad, God would laugh if they decided to be baptized. And I wonder how can we read the gospels; how can we read the Book of Acts and ever believe that?

And I grieve and I weep because there is no joy in our salvation. I grieve because there’s no happiness in those who have been redeemed. They are so afraid of the sins that have been forgiven they never know how to rejoice in their forgiveness. Change that in your life. Change it — look, read, study these passages; search them; see that’s what it says!

And it doesn’t relieve you of any responsibility. You’ve got the greatest responsibility in life — of walking in the light, being honest about your life, being honest with God, being honest to yourself, repenting. Oh, we’ve got big responsibility. Accept the responsibility.

Believe the promise.

If we can pray for you as a Christian man or woman and encourage you and help you, we want to do it. If we can help you be clothed in Jesus Christ and take those sins–by the power of God and the blood of Jesus–and put them on the cross through an act of God, we want to do it. If we can help you in any way draw close to God and be freed from the fear of death, then we want to do it.

Unity: Oneness in Christ

Posted by David on April 23, 1997 under Sermons

The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

Posted by David on April 20, 1997 under Sermons

I love the church. The older I become the more I love the people who have been called out of evil and called into Jesus Christ. God is constantly leading me into a greater love for His people.

I rejoice in my restoration heritage. The goal and principles of restoration have been and are a powerful source of rich spiritual blessings. The purpose of my life is to help the concepts and principles of Christianity exist in my world today as they existed in the world of the first century.

But there are moments when I grieve for myself and God’s people. I am growing past the stage when I look at my brothers and sisters in Christ and exclaim, “How could they think that? How could they believe that?” Before I examine other Christians and grieve, I examine myself and grieve.

Faith has been and is a powerful force in churches of Christ. I have seen and continue to see many evidences of great faith, and I rejoice in them all. But fear also has been and is a powerful force in churches of Christ. In the past several decades, our fears have had a powerful influence on our theology.

That is definitely true in our study and understanding of faith. In some instances we embrace faith, and in other instances we are afraid of faith. Because of our fear, we tend to stress what faith is not instead of stressing what faith is. We have failed to realize that we can know what faith is not but still not know what faith is.

This evening I want us to carefully study two of the places in the Bible that make this statement: “The righteous shall live by faith.” Because there is so much information to consider, we will examine the other two next week. This week and next, I want us to allow those four contexts to help us advance and mature our understanding of faith.

1. First, I want us to examine this statement in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk.
   1. This book was written before the Israelite kingdom called Judah was conquered by the Babylonian army.
   2. Habakkuk was God’s prophet, and, as God’s prophet, God opened his eyes and his mind so that he can see and understand what was happening in Judah.
      1. Habakkuk talked about this in 1:1-4: it was not a pleasant experience.
         1. “God, why haven’t you done anything?”
            1. “I see what is happening, and I try to get everyone else to see what is happening, but nobody is listening to me.”
            2. “I have pleaded with You to help me, but You are not listening to me.”
            3. “if You are not going to do anything about this horrible situation, why did You open my eyes?”
            4. “I see all the evil and wickedness, all the destruction and violence, all the strife and contention.”
         2. “No one pays any attention to Your laws–Your laws are totally ineffective.”
         3. “Justice is nonexistent–the wicked are always successful in perverting justice.”
      2. God answers Habakkuk in 1:5-11.
         1. “I am in the process of taking action right now.”
            1. “Just keep watching, and what you see will blow your mind.”
            2. “I am going to take action against all this evil and wickedness–I am sending the unstoppable Babylonian army to capture Judah.”
         2. “You know the power and the earned reputation of this army.”
            1. “No one can stop them.”
            2. “Everyone fears them.”
            3. “They are violent; they take too many captives to count; and they destroy everything that stands in their way.”
      3. Now Habakkuk has an even bigger problem: “God, how can You possibly use these idolatrous Babylonians to punish Your own people–even if Judah is wicked?”
         1. At first, Habakkuk complained because God was not doing anything.
            1. Then when God revealed what He was going to do, Habakkuk complained because God was planning to do something unacceptable.
            2. Habakkuk was confused, and he knew that he was confused–he just did not understand.
         2. “How can the holy, eternal God do this?”
            1. “You are too pure to give Your approval to those evil Babylonians.”
            2. “How can you look with favor on such vicious people?”
            3. “Judah is wicked, but it is not as wicked as these Babylonians who do not even acknowledge that You exist.”
            4. “Will You stand by in silence and allow a horribly wicked people to swallow a people who are more righteous than they?”
            5. “If You do, the Babylonians will be like idolatrous men netting fish.”
               1. “They net a big catch of fish and are elated.”
               2. “Then they declare their fishing net is their god and worship it.”
            6. Judah is not that wicked.
      4. Habakkuk knew that he had not correctly understood the situation, and he knew that he needed God’s explanation.
         1. In 2:1 he went up in his watch tower to wait for God to send him an explanation.
         2. He was not comfortable asking God those questions, but God’s plan confused him.
      5. God began His answer in 2:2-4:
         1. “Write down what I am telling you; it will happen soon; it cannot be stopped.”
         2. “Regarding the question of my using a more wicked people to punish a less wicked people, you need to understand this basic truth:”
            1. “The pride of the Babylonians will become the source of their own destruction”.
            2. “The righteous will survive because they are faithful.”
   3. If my understanding of the point is correct, Habakkuk revealed this truth from God:
      1. The righteous in Judah would survive.
      2. They would not survive because:
         1. They are the descendants of Abraham; those who did not survive were also descendants of Abraham.
         2. They were given the promised land of Canaan; those who did not survive were also given the land of Canaan.
         3. They have the holy city and have God’s temple; those who did not survive also had the holy city and God’s temple.
         4. They have a history of worshipping God; those who did not survive also had a history of “technically” worshipping God.
         5. Or all the many other things you could say about the past things that had been done in the name of God.
      3. The righteous would survive because they would not forsake God; they placed their confidence in God.
         1. It was their faithfulness that made them righteous.
         2. They were faithful because they placed their confidence in God, not in their lineage, not in their heritage, not in their deeds, not in their holy city, not in their temple, not in their acts of sacrificial worship.
2. The New Testament writer, Paul, took Habakkuk’s statement, developed it, and made it the theme of the book of Romans.
   1. After his statements of introduction and expressions of personal desire in 1:1-15, Paul stated the theme of this teaching letter in 1:16, 17:
      For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
      1. From this statement forward through chapter 11, Paul does two things:
         1. He verified from the Old Testament that God actually makes people righteous through faith, and that God always has made people righteous through faith.
         2. He explained why God must work through the faith of a person to save the person.
      2. From chapter 12 through 16 he specifically addressed the way a person saved by faith lived and acted as he surrendered to the will and purposes of God.
   2. In Paul’s theme, “The righteous man shall live by faith,” consider these thoughts.
      1. When Paul said that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, he was stressing the fact that righteousness is totally a product of faith.
         1. A righteous person’s life will be filled with obedience and doing good–Paul stressed that fact in chapters 12-16.
         2. But being obedient and doing good things does not make that person righteous.
         3. His faith in God is “reckoned for righteousness” in exactly the same way that God reckoned Abraham’s faith as righteousness (Romans 4).
      2. This statement reminds me of the same point Paul made when he wrote the Philippian Christians.
         1. In Philippians chapter 3, he said that if he wanted to place his religious confidence in himself as did many other Jews, he certainly could do that because he had impressive Jewish credentials (3:4-6).
         2. But he had trashed all his Jewish credentials and achievements; he threw them all in the garbage (3:7,8).
         3. In verses 9-11, he explains this decision and action; I call your attention to two of those reasons.
            1. He no longer wanted “a righteousness of my own derived from the law.”
            2. He wanted “the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith, that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.”
            3. When you understand the contrast between the righteousness that comes from the law and the righteousness that come from faith in Christ, you understand why the righteous shall live by faith.
      3. I am not righteous because:
         1. I obey commandments.
         2. I do good things.
      4. Because I am righteous:
         1. I will obey anything and everything God commands.
         2. I will fill my life with doing good things, just as Jesus went about doing good.
      5. But, I am righteous because I place my confidence and trust in God and Christ.
   3. Consider this distinction between two people who do good things.
      1. One does good things because he places his complete trust in God and Jesus.
      2. The other does good things because he chooses to be a philanthropist.
      3. The unbelieving philanthropist may do greater good things than the person of faith because the philanthropist has more money and greater position.
         1. The philanthropist may even live by the same basic standards–no drunkenness, no sexual immorality, no dishonesty, no stealing, no deceit, etc.
         2. The philanthropist may be a diligent husband who rejects divorce and a committed family man.
      4. Is there a difference between these two persons? Yes!
         1. The difference of salvation!
         2. One person is righteous because he has faith, and does good on the basis of faith.
         3. The other person does not function because of faith; his reasons for doing good are based in himself.
   4. Paul is not making an anti-obedience statement–look at all that he says to these very same people in this very same letter in chapters 12-16.
      1. The fact that we are made righteous by faith is not a commentary on the role or the importance of obedience–it in no sense diminishes obedience.
      2. When we reduce the point that Paul made to a faith versus obedience discussion, we miss Paul’s point.
      3. Paul said we are righteous because we place our absolute, total, complete confidence in God, not in ourselves–we trust God, not ourselves, not our deeds.
      4. Paul’s statement is an anti-faith-in-myself-and-my-deeds statement.
         1. Salvation is not a matter of compensation.
         2. Righteousness is not a earnings arrangement produced through a union contract with God.
      5. Remember that Paul was writing to people who had centuries of heritage in being works focused and procedure conscious.
         1. Throughout their religious history, their ancestors had wrongly measured their faith by the things they did as they kept the law.
         2. Israel’s perpetual problem was not the absence of faith, but misplaced faith.
         3. They placed their confidence in the wrong things.
         4. For example:
            1. They were sure that they could not be destroyed as a nation because they had the temple.
            2. The Pharisees were sure that God accepted them above all other Jews because they meticulously obeyed the law.
            3. Israelites in every generation placed their confidence in their ancestry and heritage.
   5. Paul said only through faith can a person be righteous before God.
      1. Because that is true, Jesus can be the universal Savior.
      2. Any person–Israelite or non-Israelite, a graduate of a prestigious university in Europe or an aborigine in Australia, the wealthiest person in America or the poorest person in India–can be saved, can be righteous.
      3. The person who places his faith in God and Christ is righteous.
      4. It is a matter of faith.
      5. Obedience without faith will not make a person righteous.

Thursday I heard a song that beautifully makes the same point. I do not know the title of the song. All I know is that it is not a new song. [The song is “That’s What Faith Must Be.”] Listen to the words in the chorus:

I grieve and am afraid when I realize that we work much harder to get everyone to obey God than we do to get anyone to believe in God.

Owning Our Past

Posted by David on under Sermons

This week will be a very difficult week for many people in this area. The first anniversary of a tragedy is commonly an emotional, grief filled occasion. A year ago today, everything was normal, opportune, and progressing well. Things were stable and routine within the community. People’s lives were following their usual course.

Then, a year ago tomorrow, in a matter of minutes, things radically, abruptly changed. The tornado struck, and nothing was normal. What had been an opportune life for many was literally blown away. It would take months for life to return to normal for some. For some, life has still not returned to normal. For many, life will never be the same.

There were many good things that happened after that disaster. There was an outpouring of love and concern. Many whose property was unharmed altered their lives and schedules to assist those who were devastated. Without effort or difficulty, those of you who lived in this area a year ago tomorrow can remember where you were and what you were doing when the tornado stuck. You have vivid memories of what happened in the days that immediately followed.

As you or your family or your friends experience the grief of remembering these next few days, I hope that you will remember with honesty and with gratitude. Be honest about all the things you experienced and felt. Be grateful for the help and support that was given. Be grateful for the life lessons that you learned.

When it comes to remembering the past, we prefer selective memories. We like to remember the good and to forget the bad. We don’t care to be reminded of events or situations that revealed our mortality, that declared that we really are not in control, or that proved life can change completely in the flick of an eyelid.

The past gives all of us problems. When we want to live in the past, we have problems. When we hate the past, we have problems. When the past controls our present, we have problems. When the past destroys our future, we have problems. In many people’s lives, the past has greater potential to create problems than it has to provide blessings.

So, individually, personally, what should each of us do with our past? We should own our past. It is ours. Whatever happened actually happen. Each of us can reduce the power of the past to create problems in our lives by owning the past.

1. We live in the age of denial.
   1. The most common way to deal with our pasts in today’s society is to deny our pasts.
      1. There are many ways to practice denial, but there are two very common methods.
      2. The first is to declare that the past did not happen.
         1. That did not happen to me.
         2. That did not happen in my family.
         3. I never did anything wrong.
         4. I never did anything ungodly.
         5. I never had a problem with X.
         6. My family was perfect.
         7. My world was perfect.
         8. My life was trouble free.
         9. All the influences in my life were wonderful.
         10. Nothing bad ever happened in my life.
      3. The second is to declare that the past is completely responsible for everything bad in my life.
         1. I had a terrible family.
         2. I had terrible experiences as a child.
         3. I had a terrible life in school.
         4. I had terrible experiences with my peers.
         5. I had a terrible marriage.
         6. The past totally destroyed all opportunity for me.
         7. Therefore, I am not responsible for who I am, and I have no responsibility for my life.
   2. Let’s take a moment to put things in perspective.
      1. There are some people who have been so blessed that they really have not had any bad experiences in their past.
      2. There are some people whose primary experiences in the past have been horrible.
      3. But, for most people, the past was a mixed bag of experiences.
         1. They were blessed by some excellent situations and experiences.
         2. They also suffered from some traumatic experiences.
      4. Very few people have no traumatic experiences in their past.
   3. So what do we do with the bad experiences, the traumatic situations or events?
      1. Some people live in what is called denial.
         1. In reality their bad experiences actually happened, but in their minds those experiences never occurred.
         2. Though they struggle in life on a daily basis because the problems of their past were never resolved, in their minds those problems never occurred.
      2. Some people refuse to accept any responsibility for their present life because of what happened in their past.
         1. They live in what I refer to as the victim mentality.
         2. Because they were victimized in their past, they still think and act like a victim–they must be who they are because of what happened to them in their past.
         3. Since they must be who they are because of their past experiences, they accept no responsibility for anything occurring in their lives, and they accept no responsibility to change themselves or their lives.
      3. Some people own their past.
         1. Their past is their past–it actually happened.
         2. It serves no purpose to deny what actually happened.
         3. So they accept it; it is their past; it was their experience.
         4. In the act of owning their past, they also accept responsibility for their present.
         5. They can make choices, they can grow, and both their present and their future can change.
   4. God wants us to own our past.
      1. God knows that the first step in being freed from our past is owning our past.
      2. God knows that for repentance to fully occur in our hearts and minds, we must own our past.
2. Many of us are impressed with Paul’s dramatic redirection of life.
   1. Prior to conversion to Christ, Paul was an aggressive, hostile man who brought harm and death to other people.
      1. He played a small but visible role in the execution of the Christian Stephen (Acts 7:58 and 8:1).
      2. He directed a house to house search for Christians in the city of Jerusalem intent on destroying the existence of the church (Acts 8:3).
      3. He dragged men and women who were Christians from their homes and had them placed in prison (Acts 8:3).
      4. If he found a Christian attending the synagogue assembly, he used force in an attempt to make him denounce Jesus Christ (Acts 26:11).
      5. When he had opportunity, he voted for the execution of Christians (Acts 26:10).
   2. After conversion, Paul was a self-sacrificing, non-violent man who used his mind and words to teach, encourage, and persuade people.
   3. This change occurred for two basic reasons.
      1. First, this man who believed that Jesus was an impostor became the man who placed total faith and confidence in Jesus as the Christ.
      2. Second, Paul owned his past.
         1. For example, He owned his past in a Roman court before an elite group of government officials, “In the past I did many things that were hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9-11).
            1. “I arrested them and put them in prison.”
            2. “I voted for their executions.”
            3. “I physically abused them in synagogues.”
         2. He owned his past in writing to fellow Christians (1 Timothy 1:13).
            1. He told Timothy that he had been a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent aggressor.
            2. He then explained the importance of knowing and accepting his past.
         3. Paul did not deny his past.
            1. He never said that it didn’t happen–no attempt at cover-up.
            2. Paul accepted responsibility for what he had done–he did not attempt to blame others for his actions.
      3. Because Paul knew that he was forgiven, because he confidently trusted God’s forgiveness, he did not retain the guilt of what he had done; but he retained the memory of what he had done.
3. Why is it so important to me for me to own my past? Let me share with you six reasons for owning your past.
   1. First, if I am to be transformed (Romans 12:1,2), I must own my past.
      1. God’s objective in me, as a Christian, is to bring into existence a person and life that has not existed before.
      2. I doubt that change can occur unless I own who and what I was before I entered Christ.
   2. Second, owning my past will not permit me to enter denial or reject responsibility for my life.
   3. Third, owning my past is essential in the process of repentance.
      1. Repentance requires recognition of evil and the decision to redirect life.
      2. I cannot redirect my life until I recognize my evil.
      3. To recognize the evil life that I am rejecting, I must own my past.
   4. Fourth, owning my past enables me to value my forgiveness and my salvation.
      1. If I do not recognize and feel my need for forgiveness, I cannot properly value or appreciate my forgiveness.
      2. If I never felt lost, I cannot value or appreciate my salvation.
      3. Forgiveness and salvation will never mean what God intended them to mean unless I own my past.
   5. Fifth, owning my past provides me my most powerful motivation for commitment.
      1. When I value God’s forgiveness, commitment becomes the heartbeat of my salvation.
      2. I am not committed because I have to be; I am committed because I want to be.
      3. I realize that it is impossible to do enough to express my appreciation for the grace and mercy that saved me and sustains me.
   6. Sixth, owning my past results in a living, growing love for God that literally consumes my life.
      1. That love is the basis of my service.
      2. I serve God willingly, freely, and completely because I love God.
      3. Owning my past deepens and matures my love.
4. Please understand that owning our past cannot change God’s opinion of us.
   1. God sees us in the clear, full knowledge of who we are and what we are.
      1. God’s view of us is not limited, obscured, or distorted.
      2. He does not see us as we choose for Him to see us, or as we decide to reveal ourselves to Him.
      3. We only keep people from knowing us by wearing masks; masks cannot hide us from God.
      4. God knows everything we feel, we think, and we do–all our emotions, attitudes, and motives.
      5. Owning our past creates no problems for God–when we own our past we are only admitting to ourselves what God has always known.
   2. Owning our past cannot separate us from God, but denying our past can drive a wedge between us and God.
      1. The two most common reasons for denying the past are fear and selfishness.
      2. That kind of fear always drives a wedge between us and God.
         1. That kind of fear is never a blessing.
         2. That kind of fear is never a source of spiritual blessing.
      3. Selfishness makes us our own god.
         1. When we are selfish, we are always in competition with God.
         2. We see God’s teachings, God’s principles, God’s values as robbing us.
         3. In that selfishness:
            1. Loving God with all our being means we lose.
            2. Loving our fellowman as we love ourselves means we lose.
            3. Generosity, kindness, showing mercy, commitment, service, etc. mean that we lose.
      4. Fear and selfishness are denial’s twin children.
   3. When we work hard to deny our past, we only resurrect our past.
      1. By denying the past we empower the past by breathing new life into it.
      2. We breathe new life into it by giving control of our present to our past.

Do you own your past? Or does your past own you? Everyday of your life, give your past, your present, and yourself to God.

Identifying Faith

Posted by David on April 13, 1997 under Sermons

If there is a single theological concept, a single Christian principle that the majority of Christians think they understand, it would be faith. Ask any Christian, “Do you know what faith is?” Rarely will you find a Christian who says, “No.” We might not know the answers to many questions about faith, but we are confident that we understand faith.

Consider this conversation. An acquaintance knows that you are a Christian, so he approaches you with a religious question.

“I need some religious help. I am trying to understand a basic Christian concept, and I am confused. Will you help me? Can you guide me get past this confusion?”

“Well, that depends on your question. There are some things that I can explain, but there are some things that I can’t explain. With the things I can’t explain, either I know too little, or I don’t understand, or I don’t know how to explain what I know. What do you need help with?”

“I don’t understand faith. The concept of faith confuses me. I need someone to help me understand the concept.”

“Oh…faith…well, I think I can help you. I understand faith. How can I help you? What confuses you?”

“I hear Christians talk about ‘having faith.’ What do you have when you have faith? How do you know that you have it?”

“When you have faith, you believe. And you know that you believe because you obey God.”

“Where do you find this faith? Can you explain to me why a person has it?”

“You acquire faith by reading the Bible. You have it because you study.”

“That is one of the things that confuses me. Does that mean that a person who can’t read or reads very poorly can’t have faith? Can only educated persons have faith? If that is true, why do many uneducated people seem to have more faith? Can people who do not have Bibles have faith? If you don’t have a Bible or you cannot read the Bible, does that mean it will never be possible for you to have faith? And when you have faith, do you just have the amount of faith you have? Or can faith grow? Can a little bit of faith grow to a whole lot of faith? Will a little bit of faith always grow to a whole lot of faith? These are the things that confuse me.”

Will there be a moment in that conversation that you become so uncomfortable with the questions that you change the conversation?

1. Faith is an essential in Christianity.
   1. Literally, Christianity cannot exist without faith, and, literally, a person cannot be a Christian without faith.
      1. To me, the clearest statement of this truth is declared with simplicity and clarity in Hebrews 11:6.
         Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
      2. Carefully note what this statement affirms.
         1. #1: A person cannot please God without faith.
            1. Christians too frequently fall victim to the deceitful notion that God can be pleased in many ways.
            2. You can please God with generosity, or sacrifice, or unusual forms of obedience, or unusual commitment in service.
            3. It is true that when those things are done because of faith, God is pleased.
            4. He is pleased because those things express faith.
            5. However, if those things are done for their own merit, and on their merit the person seeks to please God, God finds no pleasure in them.
            6. No matter what a person does, if he does it meritoriously, not to express faith, it gives God no pleasure.
         2. #2: To come to God, a person must place confidence in that fact that God exists.
            1. To be certain, there are different levels of confidence.
            2. No person is in position to pass judgment on another person’s level of confidence in God’s existence.
            3. But a person cannot come to God without a measure of confidence in the fact that God is there.
         3. #3: To come to God, a person must place confidence in the fact that God rewards seekers.
            1. God will not reject the person who seeks Him in the confidence that He exists and that He rewards the seeker.
            2. God is interactive in the process of the seeker coming to God.
            3. God will respond to the seeker–He will not ignore the seeker; He will not spurn the seeker.
            4. God, the promise keeper, will honor His promises.
         4. The critical element that the individual supplies in the process of seeking and coming to God is faith–it cannot happen without faith.
   2. Faith is the basis on which God chooses to interact with people.
      1. Incredible blessings exist right this moment; these blessings are “right now” realities.
      2. These blessing have been “right now” realities since the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
      3. These incredible blessing are:
         1. Propitiation (1 John 2:2)–God accepts Jesus’ death in place of our eternal death as payment for the evil that we have done.
         2. Redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30)–God frees us from our slavery under Satan by buying us back from evil, by paying the price in full through Jesus’ sacrifice.
         3. Atonement (Romans 3:24,25)–God uses the Jesus’ blood offered in his death to satisfy justice in paying for the evil we commit.
         4. Forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7)–God actually destroys the sin, the evil we have committed and thereby removes and destroys our guilt.
         5. Sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30)–God enables us to stand before Him as holy individuals because we are the forgiven.
         6. Purification (Titus 2:13,14)–God enables us to stand before Him as the pure through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus.
      4. All of these blessings exist this very moment as “right now” blessings available to me, to you, and to every person on earth.
      5. However, none of these blessings can exist in my life, or your life, or anyone’s life without faith.
      6. Though these blessings exist, they cannot exist in a person’s life who does not have faith.
   3. God’s mercy and compassion exist; they are reality; they have always existed.
      1. God’s mercy and compassion are free to express themselves perfectly, and they have been free to do so since the resurrection of Jesus.
      2. God’s mercy and compassion can respond perfectly to every person, to every evil situation, to every evil circumstance–without restriction, they can address every evil that exists.
      3. But God’s mercy and compassion can express themselves without restriction only when the person has faith.
      4. Even though mercy and compassion exist, they can be received and function only if the person has faith.
   4. Faith in whom or what? That is not only a good question, it is an essential question.
      1. We must be very careful when we answer that question.
         1. It is very easy for Christians to answer that question by affirming what they consider to be important.
         2. It is very easy to affirm what we our decision about what is important and fail to affirm what the Bible stresses.
      2. In my understanding, the Bible stresses four essentials in which we must have faith.
         1. There are many other things in which we place conviction and confidence as we spiritually grow and mature.
         2. But without these four, we cannot even begin spiritual existence–these four are the absolute basics.
      3. In my understanding, these are the four.
         1. I must place faith in God.
            1. I place confidence in His existence.
            2. I place confidence in the fact that He sent Jesus to enable seekers to come to God and receive God’s rewards.
            3. I place confidence in the fact that He will keep every promise He has made–and that He will do that through Jesus Christ.
         2. I must place faith in Jesus.
            1. I place confidence in the fact that He is God’s Son.
            2. I place confidence in His ministry and His teaching.
            3. I place confidence in the fact and the meaning of His sacrificial death.
            4. I place confidence in the fact and the meaning of His resurrection.
         3. I place faith in the Jesus’ crucifixion.
            1. I place confidence in the fact that his crucifixion is my propitiation, and I place confidence in the benefits of that propitiation.
            2. I place confidence in the fact that his crucifixion created my atonement, and confidence in the benefits of that atonement.
            3. I place confidence in the in the fact that his crucifixion is the price of my redemption, and confidence in the benefits of that redemption.
            4. I place confidence in the fact that his crucifixion produced my forgiveness, and confidence in the benefits of that forgiveness.
         4. I place faith in the resurrection of Jesus.
            1. I place confidence in the power of the resurrection, understanding that God has the power to keep every promise through the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
            2. I place confidence in the power of the resurrection to continually forgive me of my mistakes and failures.
            3. I place confidence in the power of the resurrection to sanctify me.
            4. I place confidence in the power of the resurrection to purify me.
            5. I place confidence in the power of the resurrection to keep me alive in Jesus Christ.
            6. I place confidence in the power of the resurrection to resurrect me to eternal life with God.
         5. I must have faith in God, Jesus, the crucifixion, and the resurrection to begin spiritual existence.
         6. Faith in those four things will increase and mature as I spiritually grow and mature.
2. One of the key concepts of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is this: the righteous shall live by faith.
   1. Simply for the purpose of focusing you, of challenging you to develop a deeper understanding, I want to contrast what that statement does not say with what it does say.
      1. What it does not say is obvious–and I am not trying to insult your intelligence by pointing it out.
      2. I just want you to think about it.
   2. “The righteous shall live by faith” does not say:
      1. The righteous shall live by obedience.
      2. The righteous shall live by worship.
      3. The righteous shall live by sacrificial generosity.
      4. The righteous shall live by commitment.
   3. The statement does say that the righteous shall live by faith.
      1. The righteous person is obedient, but he lives by faith–faith in God, not faith in his obedience.
      2. The righteous person does worship, but he lives by faith–faith in God, not faith in the fact that he worships.
      3. The righteous person is sacrificial in his generosity, but he lives by faith–faith in God, not faith in his acts of generosity.
      4. The righteous person is committed, but he lives by faith–faith in God, not faith in his commitment.

When I, as a Christian, place my confidence, my sense of security, my sense of salvation in my obedience, or in my worship, or in my sacrificial generosity, or in my commitment, at that very moment I place my faith in me, not in God. My confidence is in the what I am or what I am doing; it is not in the God who gave me Jesus.

Next week we will carefully examine the scriptures that declare, “The righteous shall live by faith.”