What is Faith?
Write down two (2) things that you need faith for in 2018
Last week: What do we believe when we believe in Jesus?
This week: What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
We think faith is what you have to get what you want
· Asking
· Blessing
· Healing
· Material Things
· Rescuing
Look at your list: Do the things on there fall into one of these categories?
Handicapped by teaching that makes us think that faith is about control
If I have faith, I can get it – it will happen for me
If it doesn’t happen for me, then I don’t have faith
Or, if I keep praying,
We make faith about what God is supposed to do for me
If God doesn’t do what I think He’s supposed to do, then I release my faith
Another problem: we make faith about “things”
We judge faith by what you see…
· What I drive – Jag or Kia
· Where I live – Cordova or Coldwater
· What I wear – Saks or Salvation Army
· Whether I am healed
Faith is NOT about materialism or blessings
37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise.
Faith is NOT about control:
Faith is about trusting God, even when things are out of control
Faith is a way of living – Heb 10:38 The just shall live by faith
Faith is about pleasing God, not Him pleasing you
Heb 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
The faith I’m talking about is NOT for asking God to do something
It’s having the faith to do what God tells you to do
We use Hebrews 11:1 to define faith, then stop reading
Let's examine the lives of 5 people in the "Faith Hall of Fame" to see how faith is exemplified:
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of the Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace. (RISK)
What have we discovered when we look at these 5 individuals?
Faith is not what I use to get what I want
Faith is what I use to do what He wants – because I can only do it by faith
Faith is what I need to live up to my potential – Divine Nature
When I have faith I believe I can do what God calls me to
Peter walking on water… “O, you of little faith” Mt 14:31
Faith is NOT about what God does for me
Faith is about what I do for God
Now, look at the two things you wrote down:
Do they fall into the category of
· what God can do for you, or
· what you can do for God?
What about what the things that I desire? “Seek first the kingdom…”
Matt 6:33
The thing you should want most is God's kingdom and doing what God wants.
Then all these other things you need will be given to you. NCV