May 17, 2020
Morning Service

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The last few weeks we have been discussing one of the basic fundamentals we need to have and understand along our journey of following Jesus.  Love is the key to our relationship with our Savior; because God is love.  As Paul explained to us last week as he defined love for us, we can do some extraordinary acts of devotion but without love it means nothing.  I hope that opened your eyes to the fact that it is the “why” we serve the Lord that matters much more than the “what” we do.  Following Jesus is not a checklist of rules and regulations to be followed, it is a transformation of your soul; a change that goes from the inside out.  God is love and we are to imitate Him in every aspect of our lives.  It comes with surrendering of your heart to Him and allowing the Holy Spirit to control it.  Love is who we are as Jesus followers, and hold tightly to the fact that “Love never fails!”  The next fundamental we are going to look at is faith.  Paul revealed these three fundamental to us at the end of I Cor. 13 the “love chapter.”

  1Co 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

            Love is the greatest of these and I hope that was apparent to you over the last three weeks that we discussed God’s unchanging love, the revelation that God is love, and as we then defined what love is and looks like.  With that foundation built firmly now we will turn to faith.  Faith also has its own chapter in the Bible which defines it, shows its importance, and shows examples of it in the lives of people who understood its importance.  Let’s turn to Hebrews chapter 11, the “Faith chapter.”  It begins with giving us a definition of what faith is.  Siri says it is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”  The true meaning of faith goes much deeper than that.  I have included three different translations as well as two paraphrased versions to help us grasp the true and deep meaning of faith.

 

Hebrews 11:1 NKJ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 NLT What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.

NIV Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

The Message The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.  It is our handle on what we can’t see.

James McDonald Faith is believing God’s Word and acting upon it no matter how I feel because God promises good results.

It is very easy to see why faith is important and is a one of the foundations we must build on in our walk with the Lord.  A good example of faith that we can understand would be remembering what it was like as a child anticipating your coming birthday.  Your parents have promised you a party and you have faith that it was going to happen.  You were always excited and anxious knowing that part of the fun was not knowing what surprises were coming.  You trusted your parents to make it a memorable time.  It is faith that we must lean on in our understanding of how this world even began.

 

Heb. 11:2-3 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.  (3)  By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

            It is by faith that we can read the creation story and believe that is exactly how it all began.  God spoke everything into existence out of nothing.  He declared it to be and it was.  That is the God we serve and follow.  Every scene that we see in nature cries out that He exists.  The moon and the stars shine brightly of His handy work.  Faith is seeing all those mighty wonders and knowing that it is God that created each one.  He has set the sun to rise every morning and to set every evening.  He controls every aspect of life as we know it and what truly blows me away is the fact that His greatest desire is to have a relationship with me.  The mighty and powerful God who created all that we see loves me because God is love.  The writer now gives us a few of the examples of faith in action.

 

Heb. 11:4-5 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.  (5)  By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "AND WAS NOT FOUND, BECAUSE GOD HAD TAKEN HIM"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

            It was by faith that Abel offered the first sacrifice up to God and it was a blood sacrifice from his animals.  This foreshadowed not only the animal sacrifices of the OT, but also the shedding of our Savior’s blood upon Calvary.  Heb. 9:22 tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”  Abel gave his sacrifice by faith.

            Enoch has nothing spectacular mentioned about him except that “He walked with God, and he was not because God took him.”  He was blessed to forgo death and enter into the presence of the Lord immediately.  That blessing came no doubt from his deep faith that created that close relationship with the Lord.  Oh to be blessed with the testimony that you “walked with the Lord.”  It is faith that links its hands with love to build that strong, personal relationship with God that changes us to be more like Him.  Next we come to a verse that transformed what I thought it meant to follow Jesus.  It is a verse that is straight and to the point; easily understood but sometimes difficult for some to apply.

 

Heb. 11:6 But 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 diligently seek Him.

        Simple isn’t it?  Just as it is impossible for you to love God and hate your brother, it is impossible to please God without faith.  We must have faith in Him to be able to live a life that is pleasing in His sight. It is a basic fundamental and foundation that when we come to God we must believe that He is.  That is the part of the verse that made me sit back and look deeply into my spiritual mirror and take inventory or just how deep my faith ran.  It is easy to have faith when things are going great and God is blessing you, but what happens when those tough times come.  Life happens and someone, maybe me, has an unwanted diagnosis, or I lose someone I love, or I am faced with any of the thousands of unwanted issues we have to deal with in this life.  Can I keep the faith even in tough times?  Is God good when life isn’t?  Faith is like the roots of a tree that sustain it during even the biggest of storms; it determines whether I fall or stand tall.  This forced me to honestly answer the most basic question that needs answering; do I believe, do I really deep down in my soul believe that God exists that He is there for me?

 

 

  The key to getting there is in the final part of the verse.  We must “believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  Here is where I got slapped in the face over my faith.  I believed but I was not “diligently seeking Him.”  To be diligent means putting something as a priority in your life and exerting great effort to be sure you accomplish it.  Seeking Him needed to be the top priority of mine and it was not.  Mine was a faith of convenience; it was always there when I needed it but it was always on the back burner.  Notice that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.  He could reward you with health and wealth, but what this is speaking of is being rewarded with the love and faith we need to have that close and personal relationship with our Creator, King and Savior.  He rewards us by letting us know Him and becoming a big part of our lives.  He gives us the opportunity to dig our roots deep into Him and grow to really know, love and trust our Savior in a pure and intimate way.  All good relationships are built through effort and the same is true with ours with the Lord.  You get out what you put in.  Invest lightly and get rewarded lightly.  Invest all and get blown away!

            Faith begins with believing “that He is,” that He exists.  Faith then is built in believing in God’s character.  Faith believes God at His word; believing He is who He says He is.  Faith believes the promises of God; believing He will do what He says.  Faith believes God really does love us and trusts Him to lead us down the path that is best for us.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of the things unseen.

 

Heavenly Father please grant to us the desire to know You, trust You and love You.