Okay, everybody, we're going to get started and like I said I guess I came on clip, that's probably why
Let's see how's that better? Okay, good Okay, well, we're going to start this week with a little review from last week So if you were around last week and you remember We do this kind of inform away here So you can just go ahead and shout out the answers and we'll get it in there. Okay sanctification we talked about last week is a a or an blank of God's free grace. Is it an act of God's free grace or is it a work of God's free grace? A work of God's free grace. Now why would you say so confidently that this is a work of God's free grace? And what's the difference between an act and a work of God's free grace? ongoing right so whereas we said justification and adoption they are Declarations that God makes that's an act that he does but sanctification is a work of God's free grace in the sense that it happens Over time. We remember we talked about last week that we are sanctified in the sense that God separates us apart, but it's also an ongoing process that he works in our heart. Good Okay, that leads us what I almost got to you just there in the next question in sanctification God separates us from blank use For blank use bearing the works the fruit of good works. He separates us from blank works for What use feeling the blanks for me? He separates us from Ordinary use remember we talked about and how sanctification comes from both the Greek and the Hebrew root which means to separate remember the things that were sanctified in the Tabernacle and later in the temple with things that God had set aside God took ordinary plates ordinary sensors or ordinary lamp stands and sanctified them. He set them apart from ordinary use for Who's use for God's use? So when we're sanctified we're separated from ordinary use for God's use. Good And the the use that God has for us is bearing the fruit of good works Okay, now when we're looking for the power to live holy lives, we should go A to the mirror because sanctification is the work that we do for God or B to the cross because sanctification is the work that God does for us and then in us Which of those sounds right to you Yeah, we go to the cross now Why would we go? It's a little bit sort of up there But why would should we go if we're looking for the power to live holy lives? Why should we go to the cross instead of the mirror? Why should we look outside of ourselves rather than inside of ourselves? Right, there's power in the blood of Jesus Christ and It is the Holy Spirit who works sanctification in us and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ and So when we're looking for the power to live holy lives and to Understand what it is that God requires of us. We look first to what Christ has done for us It seems kind of counterintuitive because it would seem that the power to live holy lives would sort of come from sort of our ability to master our calendar master our Discipline of really working hard, but really the power to live holy lives comes from Jesus and so We look to the cross for the power to live holy lives. Okay, good good stuff All right this week we're going to look at saving faith How important is Faith that's the the question that we're going to ask If I were to ask you the question ask you that question in a non rhetorical way. How important is faith? Crucial why now? Why would you say it's crucial?
Right without faith it is impossible to please God Has has faith worked have been sort of an operative thing in what we've looked at in the last few weeks justification adoption sanctification Yes, I'm seeing some nodding how so Well, let's let's look. You got it on your sheep, but this is a critical point faith is a key component of our union with Christ What do I mean by that? Well believers are justified through faith We find that in Romans 328 where we hold that no one is just that we hold that one is Excuse me. We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law We also know that believers are sanctified through faith Acts 15 verse 9 and God made no distinction between us and them talking about the Jews and the Gentiles Having cleansed their hearts by faith. That's sanctification language believers are justified through faith. We are sanctified through faith believers are also adopted through faith Galatians 326 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith So you see our adoption also hinges on faith pretty important In Hebrews 11, which is a chapter highlighting the Old Testament heroes and heroines of the faith We learn that faith also produces extraordinary lives For example walking us through Hebrews 11 Faith enabled able to offer a pleasing sacrifice to God. You remember that that scene in the very opening chapters of Genesis Abel by faith offers his sacrifice Cain does not and so Abel's is pleasing to God Faith enabled Noah to build an ark in the middle of the desert trusting that God would send a flood but save his family Faith enabled Abraham to follow God on a journey to a new land trusting that God would make him the father of many nations Faith enabled Moses to endure suffering for the sake of Christ You're paying attention the presentation just got 12% better and the New Testament faith enabled Peter to walk on water You remember that famous scene where faith enables Peter to walk out follow Jesus out onto the lake and in case that we are at we think that these stories about heroes are sort of isolated incidents from the past that really don't really have a relevant Relevance to us today the Bible tells us that everything is possible for him who believes
In fact, it is impossible to find a biblical hero without faith because faith is the defining characteristic of Christianity To be a Christian or to be part of God's people Old Testament people is to be a person of faith We read in John 629 Jesus answered them. This is the work of God That you believe in him whom he has said Now so what is faith? Let's get to some definitions here I think in our culture today if you were to ask people what faith is I think that they would primarily Primarily understood faith as an exercise in believing the Unprovable or the irrational If you if you said what is faith people tend to just find it that way Critics can tend that faith is the enemy of reason for that that purpose It's because it's a belief in something that really you can't prove it's sort of irrational So it stands in stark contrast with reason a couple of quotes um John Crackauer wrote a book called the under the banner of heaven um He also wrote book that book about the guy in the bus in Alaska Into the wild Um wrote in his book under the banner of heaven which really if you read the book under the banner of heaven colors Everything that he writes in it in the introduction he writes Faith is the very antithesis of reason In judiciousness a crucial component of spiritual devotion You see where he's going there faith and reason are polar opposites and really they're enemies of one another And then this quote from Mark Twain Faith is believing what you know ain't so It's a fairly common view of what faith is in our culture Now Positively faith is sometimes understood is that a general sense of optimism about life Here's a quote from Spike Lee he says I have faith in the next general manager Donnie Walsh That he's going to do the right thing for the team and the organization You see that I have faith that this is going to happen Uh, it hasn't happened in the last 20 years or so But I have faith That the nicks are going to pull it together and that this is going to be our year
Now since it's hard to have a discussion about something that's considered to be totally irrational or blindly optimistic Faith is largely regarded as a private matter something that we really don't want to speak about in public Um consider this quote Charles Kraut hammer who's a contributor on fox news He's a syndicated calmness in the Washington Post And on the eve of a speech that Obama had made at the day of prayer he said this He said the other thing I find slightly distasteful Um is not particularly Obama but presidents starting with Jimmy Carter including his predecessor George Bush and others Who wear religion on their sleeve I think religion is a private issue And I think there's something somewhat contradictory about publicly proclaiming one's private religiosity Not an uncommon belief uh faith is a private thing you should keep it private don't talk about it in polite company Now are these are these folks right should something so important as belief in Jesus is the savior of sinners Should we hide that under a basket Is faith a private matter Is faith the enemy of reason Is Christian faith like believing in the tooth fairy or Santa Claus Blind optimism divorced from critical thinking
What is saving faith Let's take a look First point saving faith is specifically faith in Jesus Christ John 112 but to all who did receive him That is Jesus who believed in his name He gave the right to become children of God Faith in Jesus Christ Acts 1631 and they said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household
Acts 1511 but we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Just as they will you see saving faith in the Bible it is specifically A faith in Jesus Christ Faith in Jesus Christ requires knowledge By knowledge we mean that in order to have saving faith we must know certain true things about Jesus Christ Even if we are sincere if we believe in something that's false This is not saving faith So for example first Corinthians 1517 hallwrights and if Christ has not been raised Your faith is futile and you are still in your sins So to have faith in Jesus Christ requires a certain knowledge about certain historical facts and things about Jesus Christ Here's a quote from a man R.C. Spool. Here's what he said. This is good. He said to be saved One must believe certain basic information It may be a bare minimum But it is something for example to be justified by faith one must believe that there is a God By who and before whom we are justified To be saved we may not require an exhaustive or comprehensive knowledge For none of us possesses such comprehensive knowledge But we must have some knowledge and we must have some right knowledge about God if we believe God is an impersonal Cosmic force That wrong knowledge about God will not justify us Indeed it will convict us of idolatry So faith involves knowledge we have to know The person of Jesus Christ in whom we believe But you may be asking now at this point What do we need to believe about Jesus in order to be saved
We have to believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and King remember Tim talked about that in one of his sermons a few weeks Back that very name Jesus Yeshua means Savior and the term Christ is a title not his surname It's it's his title Christos King he is our Savior and he's our King who forgives our sins and rules as the word of our life He is fully God and fully man Conceived by the Holy Spirit Born in the Virgin Mary He suffered under Pontius Pilate Enduring the pains of hell as he experienced the full force of God's wrath on the cross He then died and was buried On the third day Jesus rose from the dead He ascended to heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father and will come again to judge the living in the dead At the final judgment on that day Salvation will be based on faith in Jesus Christ And we're going to continue to unfold what that means and not upon our good deeds Now in case you're wondering where this comes from it's adapted directly from the apostles creed If you want to know what facts we need to know about Jesus in order to have true saving faith That's a helpful summary Go to the creed pick up your bulletin Curate with you in your Bible and say these are the facts we need to know about Jesus in order to be saved
Now most modern definitions by of faith Misrepresent faith by divorcing it from knowledge Christian faith is faith in certain things that happened in history Most notably the resurrection but also the virgin birth miracles and the fulfillment of predictive prophecy Now unfortunately Christians sometimes aid this misconception about faith that faith is sort of a belief in pie in the sky by and by When we replace testimony about Jesus with testimony about ourselves This is what I mean It can seem appealing to shut down an argument with someone by saying this is what Jesus did for me Instead of saying this is what Jesus did But it only reinforces the idea that Christianity is something subjective and Unprovable on the same level as believing in Santa Claus Now do you see what that means? Do you see that distinction there? We certainly when we are sharing our testimony talk about what Jesus has done for us and in us But we can't leave it at that We can't leave faith purely to the realm of the subjective Because once we do that There's absolutely no reason to believe that the Christian faith has anything you need to offer I've talked to people who've had their lives changed by alcoholics anonymous I've had people who have had sort of a strange warming of their hearts upon reading the book of Mormon I have had people who would say that they feel really really good when they build a house for habitat for humanity You can make all sorts of different arguments about Sort of a testimony of religious experience that have nothing to do with Jesus Christ and if we make our testimony purely about what has been done In our hearts rather than about what things actually happened in order to show that Jesus truly is who he said he was Then we fall right into that trap of Making it just a subjective thing that we really shouldn't talk about because really who can prove or disprove The strange warming that I had in my heart. Does that make sense? It's both and it is the subjective application of what God has done To me But it's also what you did for me Christianity is true Most often in the writings of Paul because the grave of the tomb was empty If you ask Paul why is Christianity true? He will say quite clearly. It's because the tomb was empty It's because we went there looking for his body. It was gone and then he showed up And so all of the other things that happened to a subjectively are rooted in that objective truth and so Paul can say If Christ is not raised from the dead We are of all people most to be pity Because if we didn't raise from the dead if these certain facts didn't happen these events didn't happen If we don't have knowledge of those facts then ultimately All of us might as well stay at home on Sunday morning and watch golf or watch Super Bowl because we're really just wasting our time Does that make sense? Okay, let's move on I don't want to I'm Delaboring that point because I'm hoping to sort of work against and over correct. I think what is a tendency of people making testimonies and Talking about God in purely subjective ways That on one hand don't invite scrutiny so there's there's somewhat safe there But on the other hand really leave out a core element of what faith really is Okay Now in addition to believing certain facts about Jesus knowledge We also need to ascend to those facts Saving faith in Jesus presumes that we know certain things about Jesus, but also that we believe that those things about Jesus are in fact true Uh, just as knowledge knowledge alone is not enough for saving faith Ascent alone is not enough for saving faith It is not saving faith to agree with an untrue statement Such as I believe that Jesus is a universal symbol of God's love and not an actual historical person You could ascent to that those facts about Jesus But if those facts about Jesus are not in fact true You will not be saved Saving faith in Jesus requires not only knowledge And ascent to that knowledge saying I believe this I believe that this is true But also trust We read in the scripture that even demons know and believe that Jesus is the son of God the problem Is that they don't trust him James 219 you believe that God is one you do well Even the demons believe and shudder Whereas knowledge in ascent may refer to that which is known and agreed upon within with the mind Trust refers to what is agreed upon with the heart It the human will or the soul To trust Jesus is to believe that it is not sinners in general who need forgiveness It's me Jesus died and rose again not as a mediator in some general sense, but specifically as my mediator Here's an illustration of how these elements of faith work out There's a story of a Frenchman it's always Frenchman who do these things He was a tightrope walker apparently that's a high valued skill in French culture at least it was tightrope walking So he decided he was a tightrope walker and he set up a tightrope across Niagara Falls And he every day would walk back and forth across this tightrope And it was a marvelous thing people would gather around and see this thing And one time the the tightrope walker approached the crowd that had gathered there and said Do you believe that I can walk back and forth across this tightrope The crowd one man on the crowd said yes, I believe this I have knowledge that you can do this because I have seen you do it Then he said to the man Do you believe that I could Put a wheelbarrow on this tightrope and walk back and forth with a wheelbarrow He said well it seems pretty plausible to me I will ascend to that truth Yeah, you're you're ahead of me you're ahead of me don't don't steal my punchline Call and don't you do it? So he says yes, I ascend to that I believe that though I have not seen you do this I believe based on the evidence and what I know about you is a tightrope walker that you can in fact walk across this with a wheelbarrow And he said would you like to get into the wheelbarrow the man says no He has knowledge. He has ascent. He does not have trust He does not trust the tightrope walker and up to get in the wheelbarrow When we say that saving faith is primarily faith in Jesus Christ It involves all of those elements It is a knowledge of who Jesus is a summary statement can be found in the apostles' creed very very helpful We say we know who he is we know what he did We also ascend that these facts are indeed true But it's a trust too that that those things that he did He did for me and I put my faith in him and believe in him Okay, saving faith Now more broadly Saving faith is a belief that what the Bible says is true When the Bible commands Saving faith obeys Romans 1626 talks about the obedience of faith When the Bible warns faith fears You can see that in Isaiah 66 verse 2 When the Bible promises Faith embraces and receives the promises of God You use 11 first to make me four Now since saving faith embraces both Christ and the Bible as God's revelation of Christ They cannot be reduced to a vague optimism about the future Remember that's sort of the second thing we talked about On one hand faith is not purely a sort of an irrational belief in something like The tooth fairy or Santa Claus. Well, it's just something except by faith But it also is not something that's just a blind optimism about the future Why is that? Saving faith recognizes that while our future is ultimately secure We are called to daily pick up our cross and follow Jesus The book of Ecclesiastes for example paints a realistic portrait Of what he calls life under the sun that does not force us into a naive definition of faith As a belief that everything will work out well in this life
Through the ups and downs of life our faith in Christ is ultimate is ultimately in Christ in in a city That has foundations whose designer and builder is God so it's not faith is not naivete or a belief that everything will work out well because faith is faith in the Bible And the Bible teaches us in the wisdom literature that things don't always work out well in this life There are times of trouble. There are times of sorrow. Our hope is not in this life. It is in the life to come And so we have confidence that our ultimate future is secure But we have no confidence That things will always work out well in this life because that's a promise that God doesn't make to us He has promises that he will be faithful a promise that he will be with us But sometimes we do have trouble in this life Okay, third thing if the objects of saving faith are Jesus Christ specifically and the Bible more generally Who are the subjects of saving faith? The Bible says that it is God's people who exercise saving faith and that these people are known to God even before they believe Let's look at some passages Acts 1348 One of the great sermons in that passive in the book of Acts and when the Gentiles heard this They began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord and as many as were appointed to eternal life believe John 637 Jesus is speaking and he says all that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. So who is it that exercises saving faith it is God's people Those who he has appointed to believe now. Why is that significant? The explanation for this is that faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit and not a work to be performed Second Corinthians 413 we read Since we have the same spirit of faith the Holy Spirit is called the spirit of faith Since we have the same spirit of faith According to what has been written I believe and so I spoke we also believe and so we also speak And Ephesians 289 says this where by grace you have been saved through faith And this is not your own doing it is the gift of God Not a result of works so that no one may boast Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit and so our salvation From the first moment that we have believed So the last moment when the Lord calls us home Is a gift from God and so we give glory to God for what he has done for us The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life
Another point point four saving faith differs in degrees Now what do I mean by that Some have strong faith Others have weak faith and the degree of one's faith tends to change over time Now hopefully as you mature in your Christian walk it grows stronger But all of us have different seasons of life when we may have a very strong faith and then at other times when we may exhibit weak faith Hebrews 5 13 14 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness Since he's a child But solid food is for the mature For those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice they distinguish good from evil So even the writer of Hebrews notes that through maturity through a training of our of our faith It will grow stronger and we will mature to solid food Now while the disciples showed strong faith in their initial calling I put a picture myself up there from back in my college days Long time ago Matthew 4 1920 remarkable and he said to them Jesus said to them Follow me and I will make you fishers of men immediately They left their nets and followed him strong faith At other times the disciples demonstrated weak faith Matthew 6 But if God so clothes the grass and this is Jesus speaking If God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven Will he not much more clothe you oh you of little faith So you see the same people who had such great faith to immediately stop what they were doing leave their nets go and follow Jesus Then Jesus later calls them those of little faith So faith differs in degrees Now in spite of this in spite of the ups and downs of our faith Saving faith always gets the victory It grows up in many to a full assurance through Christ who is said to be both the author and the finisher of our faith He goes 10 22 let us draw near with a true heart In full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from the evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water And then questions to verse two He prays that their hearts may be encouraged The knit together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance Of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery which is Christ so Ultimately God is the finisher of our faith and many can and do go to a full assurance of faith
Finally Last point saving faith produces good works While saving faith is largely the domain of the inner man There are outward evidences of saving faith Saving faith produces good works in the life of the believer James 2 verses 14 and 17 and really a running theme throughout the book of James we read this What what good is it my brothers if someone says that he has faith but does not have works Can that faith save him and I I would put faith in quotation marks there and that safe that that faith that workless faith Save him So also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead
This is a quote from Martin Luther I mean his introduction to the book of Romans his commentary in the book of Romans he writes this Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy Joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures the holy spirit makes this happen through faith Because of it you freely willingly and joyfully do good to everyone serve everyone Suffer all kinds of things love and praise the God who has shown you such grace Thus it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate eat and light from fire And so within the in the Christian life if you are a person who has faith if you have saving faith Though it is ultimately something that is worked within you it is Generally the realm of the inner man where we Have knowledge sent and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible as the word of God There are outward evidence is of it your life if you have true faith will begin to produce Good works and you'll be able to see this in greater degrees you grow in assurance Now let's conclude We have said that saving faith is ultimately faith in Jesus Christ It is a knowledge of who Jesus is and what he's done It's a scent that Jesus lived the life that he lived and died the death that he died as the mediator between God and man And it's trust not only if the gospel is true, but that it's true for me His death pays not only for sins in general, but for my sins specifically Saving faith is not a belief in the irrational But a belief in the revealed the supernatural works of God
Saving faith believes that what the Bible says is true As such it's not a blind optimism about the future But an informed interpretation of reality that sees the ultimate good of the consummation of the kingdom of God at the end of history We live today in light of that reality and so we have hope
Saving faith is produced in God's people by the Holy Spirit It is a gift given to us by God not a gift that we give to God
And then finally while faith differs in degree from person to person By God's grace believers can and do grow into a deeper assurance of faith You're saved through faithful loan but not by faith that is a loan Faith produces good works in the life of the believer Okay, that's sort of takes us to the end of our of our time here But I wanted to leave some questions for Q&A and discussion. Oh, and also I didn't include this on there But if you're looking for some books about this and you want to learn more about What saving faith is? I've got a couple of books to recommend to you Four of them actually this first book is it's called scandalous the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ It's by Dei Carson Great book about sort of the the substance of our faith and really unpacking What does it mean to have saving faith in Jesus Christ? What has he done on the cross? Why is that so scandalous that the innocent Jesus could suffer and die will guilty sinners like us? It's a really solid book. I'd recommend almost anything by Dei Carson I haven't read anything that I didn't like but Dei Carson scandalous Many of you maybe have read this already. I hadn't really until the last year or two mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis sort of offers sort of a reason to approach to faith Very good book great read encouraging My old pastor Tim Keller wrote a book that many of you have read Or at least perhaps heard of the reason for God. I think it's a little bit A little bit more up-to-date than your Christianity just because it was written in the last several years and Is written in response to specific objections to the faith that were posed by New Yorkers that they actually did a poll a pretty lengthy poll and study and talked to non-Christians and said What are your issues with Christianity? What are the things that are sort of your hang-ups or sticking points of barriers of the faith? And so he discusses these things in detail really good book. I encourage you to read it And then if you really are an egghead and you or you have a kid that's an egghead who's coming home from college He's hitting you with some you know heavy metal from his Philosophy 101 class Richard Swinburn is a Professor of philosophy of the Christian religion at Oxford His book is is there a god It's a it's it's sort of it's it's not a it may be Insomniac reading it's pretty technical But if you really want some good Reasoned intellectual scholarly argument in a relatively brief book about 140 pages um, I recommend that to you for some advanced reading Um any any questions you have about faith about anything that we've talked to you about tonight Anything that you thought maybe we should have covered, but didn't yes
Okay, the question is what does it mean to take up your cross? I think what Jesus is talking about there when he says take up your cross and follow me is that he is talking about uh, living a life that is in line with the gospel and about living a life Where we live sacrificially because Jesus has ultimately sacrificed himself for us um, our taking up our cross and following Jesus is not the hinge upon which our Salvation rests The our salvation is rested upon God's definitive acts of justification of adoption sanctification It's through faith which is itself a gift of God But it has implications and the implications are that we live Faithful lives in light of what he has done for us It's sort of the In a nutshell the book of James Where there were people who said hey, well, you know, there are some who have faith or others who have good works Pick one and James says No You can't pick one there's no such animal as faith without works As Luther says you can't separate Faith in good works and more than you can separate light and heat and fire They go together They're different but they go together Anything else you want to talk about questions thoughts Yes Yeah, that what um the question is sort of what what role does um does sort of personal testimony and sort of our subjective religious experience play in evangelism My answer is that it is um One part of a greater who um, I think we can certainly talk about What God has done for us in our life we can talk about um True events when maybe a loved one died in our faith um, got us through and we were encouraged by that But if we leave it jut just at the subjective level and we don't actually talk about the content of the faith Certain things happen We fell we are sinners We are in need of a savior and God provided a savior for us In the person of his son Jesus Christ who died on the cross rose from the dead and in so doing Turned the world upside down and made a way of salvation that was not a local Sort of isolated Community of believers in a provincial God, but a universal call to the entire world Pent and believe in this son of God if we don't include that or I would say um Sort of use our experiences as springboards from that Then ultimately we're left in a very vulnerable place Because if you just tell me uh that That God that you need to become a Christian because God helped me Through my Christian faith get through a really tough time in my life What do you say when somebody comes up to tell you and say well? Yeah, uh, you know I have a really great Community over here at the uh at the Mormon Church and they really help me get through this really tough time And they're very moral people and you know when I read the book of Mormon it really warms my heart That's the that is the test of of Roman faith of uh Mormon faith Judd that if you have one of those guys coming to your door They'll hand you a book and they'll say read the book and you're going to have this kind of tingling sensation in your in your heart And that proves it's true How do we argue with that? I mean if that's the substance of your of your testimony, it's totally unprovable And so then faith becomes something that you can't really talk about because you know, you got a warming in your heart created by Muhammad I got one in my heart created by Jesus. What do we do? so it's The the subjective experience of the Christian faith has to be rooted in the objective facts of what God is doing
And and I'll agree that it's sometimes tempting to just to just keep it there But precisely because nobody can argue with us I mean if we're honest I mean, isn't it nice to have a Christian testimony that nobody can argue with But if you start to say hey, I believe that uh, there was this uh first century Jewish rabbi named Jesus Who died on a Roman cross and it rose from the dead. Oh Hold the phone What do you mean? What do you mean resurrection? What do you what do you mean? You believe in this guy What will hold on? So it's tempting to leave it in that subjective area, but Don't do it. It's not faith in Jesus Christ is knowledge, ascend and trust. It's all three
Anybody else thoughts for flexions?
The question is is little faith better than no faith at all. The answer is yes Yes We Yeah, it is if you are if you are I had a pastor once sit say to me if you are sliding down the side of it hill and you reach up and grab a tree Even if you don't if you don't have a very good grasp on that tree Uh, if you're holding on that tree at all It's gonna stop you from going off the cliff But if you're going off that cliff and you reach up and grab a handful of dirt Well, you're going off the cliff So it's better to have little faith than no faith at all, but don't settle for little faith Because you gotta mature it in there and you'll grow it in there and uh I've been I've been and I've been so much of what Christianity is Is teaching us to live and die well Um, I have been in enough hospital rooms In my brief relatively brief time of being a pastor I've been in enough hospital rooms to know the difference between strong faith and weak faith There there is a great difference There's a great difference and uh, I have Um, held the hands of crying and shaking people on their deathbed And I'm saying I've sung hymns with dying people That's a difference between strong faith and weak faith Don't don't settle for weak faith
Pray that pray that God would give you a meal
Any other questions thoughts we got about five minutes y'all can go home earlier no
Uh-huh Where where does this where does the I'll give you a hint Well, let me let me ask you last week we talked about um And somebody else can jump in on this last week we talked about sanctification and how we grow in holiness and we said What is the what is the power For growing in inner inner sanctification for living holy life It's the Holy Spirit, right? What What means has God given us To grow in in his grace and even to grow in his faith in faith
The word of God Remember because remember it's the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit breathes out the word of God And so when we read God's word it's living it's active it increases our faith as we understand Christ more and understand Uh, the gospel more It's the sacraments which are a picture of visible word Um, that demonstrate sort of in picture form what the gospel is about In baptism a picture of our Identifying remember Roman six are identifying with Christ in his death being raised up to newness of life Which is why many people get people under the water pick them up. That's a symbol of that. I think it's a great symbol Um, it's if that's a good aspect of it. It's cleansing being cleansed by the blood of God. So the water you know over us Um, the Lord's Supper is a picture of the gospel because Simple people like you and me are invited to a meal by God himself Where there's reconciliation and forgiveness and celebration and joy Um and prayer So if you want to grow in your faith Go to where God has promised that he will need us by the power of the Holy Spirit Attend to the word Go to church listen to the sermon Read the Bible on your own Pray pray with other people a in church pray with other small groups pray in your your house all by yourself Do it take a walk and attend to the sacraments When they're when they happen Make sure you're here Yeah, that and this all takes place as Randy said within the context of the body of Christ Um, and that's why we we say interestingly enough in the uh in the Apostles creed which we've used to sort of unpack what it is we need to to believe about Jesus We say it is particularly peculiar words. We believe in The the whole one holy Catholic church We believe in the church We believe that the church is the context Through which we grow in our faith We grow in our assurance we grow in our sanctification I would grow in good works and holiness it happens within the context of the body of Christ The church So don't don't meet people at badmouth the church You're not going to find a friendly year if you badmouth the church the moon No, like you. That's what we grow born That that's a good that's a good point Lauren pointed out that um a really helpful observation that That The some of the greatest seasons of growth in our faith are during adversity Uh when we step out of what's comfortable and begin to walk out into an uncomfortable place We have to rely on the Holy Spirit more and more He answers our prayers. He's faithful as he says he is and we grow I've uh The guys are in my my Tuesday morning Bible study heard me hammer on this before so that they'll they'll probably laugh when I say this But I think it's a it's an interesting observation that Christians are always praying for safety We're obsessed with safety Lord I'm going to concert tonight. Keep me safe. They're also kind of couch Our announcements that we're making to the group Lord, I'm having surgery tomorrow Keep me safe. Keep me safe on my drive there safe in the surgery safe in the drive home safe in the waiting room We just want to be safe We grow when we're not safe Where when when we think we're not safe Because the Lord says I'm your shield I'm your shield and we say great it looks wonderful on on my mantle and on my shelf But no way am I going to take that thing out go walking into the battle Because I want to be safe If you want to grow in your faith Trust in the Holy Spirit. You want to trust in the Holy Spirit. You put yourself in a situation Where you need to trust in the Holy Spirit Because there's no other way that you're going to make that
And that's a good point. Uh, she points out that Christians overseas who are suffering Often often say don't pray for our safety. Pray that we'll be faithful
I guess that I guess that proves you don't we don't have it all figured out all the time to do That's why we need the church right Randy and capital C church Not just not just you all though. I love you all Uh, we need the church big church
All right, well, we're about at the at the time So I usually make my practice of hanging out for a few minutes afterwards So you had something that you want to ask me about that is either just coming to you now or it's kind of Embarrassing where you can't quite forget the words Hang out talk to me. I love it. I love to talk about this stuff and We'll close in prayer and we'll see you guys next week. Let's pray Lord Jesus we do thank you that we have faith And we acknowledge that that is a gift from you Holy Spirit We pray that you would increase our faith We pray that we would not be people who Nearly seek safety at all costs but that we would seek you And that we would find you to be faithful as you promised that you will be and that when we do find you Our faith would grow and be strengthened and that we would be able to stand firm under the weight of any adversity And that we would grow up to a fullness of assurance in what you've done for us Jesus you are the author and finisher of our faith Be trusting you and we thank you and we worship you for who you are and what you've done for us Here are prayer. We pray this prayer in faith in Jesus Christ Amen. See you guys next week