WEBVTT 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:14.480 Powerful. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:38.240 You know, I I remember reading that Michael Jackson, Jordan Michael Jordan, probably the greatest uh basketball player that ever lived, would be seen after a game shooting foul shots because he understood that the basics have to be mastered at all times, and he could never take for granted the basics. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.640 He kept repeating them again and again. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:48.000 And so when you hear a series like this mention faith, hope, and love, it's easy to think, well, I know that, and I've been doing that. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:52.799 But we need to be continually exhorted to do that and to grow in these things. 00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:54.399 So we're gonna grow. 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.359 The enemy tried to keep me from coming today. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.719 Uh, I went into the men's room and I got locked in a stall. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:09.359 Matthew Ashley had to get me out, actually. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:12.719 That really happened. 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.799 I almost had to climb under it, you know. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.120 At my age, it's not easy. 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:25.920 That's a true story. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:27.200 It happened. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.879 I don't lie when I stand in the pulpit. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:35.200 Well, I might stretch the truth a little. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.319 But I'm here and I made it, thank God. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.519 I appreciate the privilege of speaking to my home church. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.040 Turn your Bibles to the book of Hebrews. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.959 Let's start reading in chapter 10. 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:05.040 We'll read into 11, but to read the context, this message is simply called faith-defined. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:07.040 Faith-defined. 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:15.520 And again, I'm exhorting you to keep your heart open as God wants to maybe expand your understanding of faith and give you more faith. 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.400 We're going to pray at the end for more faith. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.000 How many could use more faith? 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:26.319 Reading in Hebrews 10, verse 26. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:42.159 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:48.560 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:50.319 How many are glad you're not under the law? 00:02:52.159 --> 00:03:06.000 Verse 29, how much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the spirit of grace? 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:10.879 For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.520 And again, the Lord will judge his people. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:18.400 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:33.599 But recall the former days, when after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:46.000 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:51.520 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:59.280 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:07.840 For yet a little while in the coming one will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall live by faith. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:12.080 And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:15.120 But we are not of those, thank God. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:23.839 We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve persevere to the end. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:32.079 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:36.319 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:48.079 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:55.759 Father, thank you for putting it in the heart of the elder team to do this series on faith, hope, and love. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.160 We believe the Holy Spirit has led us to preach these things. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:06.879 And I'm praying that as I kick it off today, Lord, you would anoint the words to change lives. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.480 We pray for change lives as we go through this series. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:15.519 Men and women would lay hold of faith, hope, and love in an increasing way. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:24.000 Father, give me utterance to open my mouth and declare with boldness the gospel in the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:25.199 And everyone said. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:37.040 So, as Tyler said, we're opening this series this morning, series dealing with three major components of the Christian life: faith, hope, and love. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:42.959 And we begin this series of the trilogy of faith, hope, and love by talking about faith. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:45.600 We'll be there for a few weeks. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:52.879 Anyone who reads the scripture, even in a cursory manner, will understand how important faith is. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:06:07.120 And most of our time on that section of this series will be spent looking at the great hall of faith, the list of men and women who had faith to the preserving of their souls. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:13.920 We'll be carefully examining how the Old Testament saints lived by faith and what it means. 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:16.000 And God has given us this chapter. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:24.800 God has graciously given us several examples of those who lived by faith and overcame obstacles. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:30.079 Now you might say, wait a minute, Neil, I don't really need a teaching on faith. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:34.639 I mean, it's one of those terms we all are familiar with and we use it. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:43.360 But one of the dangers of biblical terms is we get accustomed to thinking we understand it fully and we only understand in part. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:51.199 So the answer to your question, why do we need to hear about faith? 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.199 Because we need more faith. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.240 And it is vital that we start by defining faith. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:07.120 Because there's much confusion today in the body of Christ about what faith is. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:18.079 There are many examples of wrong teaching, I could tell you, but let me just share two quickly, and then we're going to spend our time on what faith really is. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:25.600 But one wrong idea about faith is so-called blind faith. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.240 How many have heard the term blind faith? 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.519 What is meant by the term blind faith? 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:40.000 One author says blind faith means accepting a belief, person, or idea without proof, logic, or reason. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:47.360 It involves trusting something unconditionally, even when faced with facts of evidence that prove it wrong. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.879 That is believing something else, something without evidence. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:57.040 In other words, it's believing in something with zero physical proof or rational support. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:09.199 We refuse, blind faith refuse to look at outside facts or clear proof that goes against this belief. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:15.680 So, regardless of what you've heard or thought, blind faith is not biblical faith. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:26.160 The second type of wrong teaching about faith today is that it is not just trust or belief in God, but a tangible governing spiritual force. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:28.800 It's like let the force be with you. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.040 It's that idea. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:39.120 And according to this idea, faith operates by spiritual laws, allowing believers to seek desired outcomes. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:56.559 Those who teach this concept of faith believe literally Jesus taught that spoken words act as containers of power, allowing believers to command obstacles, to move, and claim health and wealth as a present tense reality the moment we pray. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:02.480 The main scripture used to this idea is found in Mark 11, 23 and 24. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.159 Don't turn there, we don't have time. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:09.840 But Jesus told the disciples after cursing the fig tree, have faith in God. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:21.600 And most standard translate Bible translations do translate that phrase, have faith in God, meaning your trust is placed directly in God. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:28.480 But some scholars and teachers suggest the faith of God is the better translation, or the God kind of faith. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:30.240 Now there's truth in this. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:38.320 Jesus says, if you uh ask anything and believe in your heart, you shall receive it. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:47.120 But it implies a quantity, quality of faith that originates from God and operates with his certainty. 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.320 It's God's faith that he gives to human beings. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:10:01.600 Jesus is speaking in hyperbole when he speaks uh about you know casting a mountain to the sea. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:07.840 He's his point is to explain that active, unwavering belief overcomes major obstacles. 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:12.639 He's not teaching that whatever you need you can speak into existence. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:19.679 You know, a pastor friend of mine from another city believed that concept of faith. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:21.919 And he needed a new car. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:30.399 So he spoke into existence, a new car, and then he went down to the dealership to pick up his car or to place his order. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.440 And he he chose the nicest Cadillac on the lot. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:43.840 And he uh maxed out on different things. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:48.399 He had leather seats, uh satellite radio, everything. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:53.039 Then the man, the salesman, said, How do you intend to pay for this? 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.200 And he said, My father will be in. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:11:00.000 I'm going out of town, but my father will be in and he will pay for it. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:01.840 They said, Okay, thanks. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:15.360 So after being gone a week or so, he came to the dealership, fully expecting to pick up his car, and the salesman looked at him and said, I'm sorry, but your father never made it in. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.919 Why didn't my friend get the new car? 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:27.440 It's not necessarily because he didn't have faith, it's because he presumed upon God. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.519 And faith and presumption are not the same things. 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:33.759 Thank you. 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:49.679 When I when God speaks of faith and he spoke to our hearts, that he's go it's going to come to pass. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.559 You know, years ago when I first started writing books, I needed a laptop. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.399 I didn't have a laptop. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:02.399 And so it was the one I wanted was$2,000. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:06.080 I had it picked out, but I didn't have the money. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.360 So I told Shelly, I said, I'm going to the bank. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.919 I'm doing what any red-blooded American would do. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:14.960 I'm going to the bank to borrow the$2,000. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.000 And Shelly looked at me and said, Honey, I have a question. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:18.960 I said, What? 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.919 She said, Have you asked God for it? 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:27.519 And I looked at her sheepishly because I hadn't asked the Lord. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:30.480 I said, No. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:35.039 So she said, Shouldn't we ask the Lord for it before we just go borrow money? 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:38.960 So we grabbed hands in the kitchen and we prayed. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.759 And I prayed for the laptop, even told the Lord what size hard drive I wanted. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.240 I mean, I had his ear, so I might as well. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:53.840 Six, eight gigs of RAM. 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:56.080 Remember when eight gigs of RAM was a lot? 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:02.960 And we prayed, and I had a sense of faith. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.759 I had we prayed the prayer of faith. 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:10.720 And a few weeks later I came off a trip and Shelly handed me the mail. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.440 And in the mail, now we had told no one about our requests for a laptop. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:16.879 We didn't tell one soul. 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:19.120 We just prayed and gave it to God. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.879 And she handed me the mail, and in the mail was a manila envelope. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:30.799 It looked like cassette tapes were in it because uh, you know, it's back when cassettes were in vogue. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:36.960 And literally out fell on the floor 20$100 bills. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:40.000 To this day, I have no idea who sent it. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.759 If you're here, thank you. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:46.559 I have no idea who sent it. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:53.840 But God knew he needed a laptop and he put the prayer of faith in our hearts. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.480 The Bible speaks of the prayer of faith. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:06.159 And so it doesn't teach that anything we speak at any time will come to pass. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:09.440 But we have to have heard from God. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:14.399 Now there are four aspects of biblical faith I want to talk about. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.039 Let's not talk about the wrong concept of faith. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:18.559 Let's talk about what's right. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:23.200 And there are four characteristics of faith that I want to mention today. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:27.600 We'll talk about the first three quickly and spend our time on four. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:36.320 They are faith is fully persuaded, faith trusts, faith works, and faith endures. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:44.480 Faith fully is persuaded, faith trusts, faith works, and faith endures. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:48.080 Let's start with faith is being fully persuaded. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:49.440 Persuaded of what? 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:53.679 That the promises of God are real and can be totally relied on. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:01.759 Faith is totally persuaded that those promises are real and can be totally relied on. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:05.200 And this aspect of faith is best seen in the life of Abraham. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:11.440 I don't want to spend a lot of time on Abraham because one of the messages will deal with Abraham from the whole of faith. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:22.480 But Abraham's life really demonstrates that faith is fully persuaded, being fully persuaded in the promises of God. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.039 Remember what God had promised to Abraham? 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:27.279 He comes to him in Genesis 15. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:31.279 He said it says, After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:36.399 Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, your reward shall be very great. 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.679 But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me? 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:44.879 For I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:51.919 And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:16:00.720 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, This man shall not be your heir, your very own son shall be your heir. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:07.600 And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you're able to number them. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:12.000 Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.919 And he believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:21.840 And that statement, he believed the Lord and counted him as righteousness, is quoted by the Apostle Paul. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:29.519 It is the truth about how we were justified, because we believed the Lord and we were counted as righteous. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.919 Now God tells Abram he's going to have a son. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:39.279 At the time that God spoke this word to him, we just read, Abram was 75 years old. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:40.960 So he's getting up in years. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.600 He's going to have seed as numerous as the stars in the heaven. 00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:47.039 He's got to get to work. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.879 He doesn't have much time left. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:50.320 He's 75. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:00.639 And when it didn't happen when he was 86, Sarah, his wife, decided the problem was we needed to help God out. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:05.839 Every time you fill up your car at a gas station, remember this event. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.880 Sarah needed assumed that God needed help. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:24.400 So he gave Abraham her servant Hagar, and Abraham fathered a child through Hagar named Ishmael, the father of the Arabic people. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:43.279 After all, when you're 86, you don't have a lot of ability to father children, let alone children as numerous as the stars of the heavens. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:55.119 And when he was ninety-nine, God came to him and said, I'll bless Ishmael, but he's not the one. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.160 Your heirs shall come from your own body. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.680 99. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:07.920 Would you have a problem believing a promise that your seed was going to be more numerous than the stars of heaven when you're ninety-nine? 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.680 But Paul speaks this in Romans 4. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:41.279 Abram's faith, that's why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring, not only to the adherent of the law, but also to the one who shares the faith of Abram, who is the father of us all, as it is written, I have made you the father of many nations, in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:51.039 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, so shall your offspring be. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:19:01.920 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:15.599 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.079 That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:26.880 But the word it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:40.240 It will also be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead, raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who has delivered us up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:41.200 Hallelujah. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:48.160 Faith is being fully persuaded that what God has promised will come to pass. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.160 And think about the challenge that this man had to believe for. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:54.640 He looked at the deadness of his own body. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.200 He was nearly a hundred. 00:19:57.440 --> 00:19:59.440 He looked at Sarah, who was in the tent. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:01.519 She couldn't even get out of the tent. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:07.359 Yet. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.039 I just got it myself. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:30.400 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:33.839 Fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:34.960 I have a question. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.680 Are you fully convinced and persuaded that God will do as he promised? 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.960 Are you fully persuaded that God will do what he's promised in Scripture? 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:55.200 How about the promises he made regarding your eternal future? 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:58.880 Are you fully persuaded they will come to pass? 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:08.079 The second characteristic of faith is faith trusts. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:09.680 Faith trust. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:13.599 Now these are very clearly related, but they're different. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:15.200 Faith trusts. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.440 One aspect of faith is it teaches us to trust in God. 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:28.720 And perhaps the clearest scripture that speaks to that is found in the book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5 through 6. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:31.359 You all know this scripture, but let's read it. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:37.279 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:41.920 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your path. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.400 Let me break down these verses in a clear way. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:48.559 Four things he mentions. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:52.000 First, trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.839 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:18.880 That means we must put our total unreserved confidence in God, using our deepest will and mind to rely on Him completely, not just on good days. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.559 How many know it's easy to trust in the Lord on good days? 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:31.839 But to trust in Him at all times with our hearts means we must put total unreserved confidence in God. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:40.319 Our whole will, mind, and emotions are to rely completely on Him, and that not on good days only. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:43.759 Then He says, lean not on your own understanding. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:53.759 It means we must stop depending solely on our limited point of view, logic, or ability to figure out difficult situations. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.160 How many have discovered you go nuts trying to figure out difficult situations? 00:22:58.400 --> 00:22:59.839 Why is this happening? 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.519 Sometimes God is gracious and gives us understanding. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:10.480 Sometimes we have to walk in darkness, trusting Him even when we don't understand what's going on. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:13.680 Why? 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:16.720 Because we have limited understanding. 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:22.640 We're able to understand some things, but much, many things we can't. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:27.200 Then he says, in all your ways, acknowledge him. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:38.079 It means we must keep God at the center of our daily life, consulting him and involving him in every decision, both small and great. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.880 And then what happens? 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:48.559 He finally concludes with this promise He will make your paths straight. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:59.680 It means God promises to guide your steps, removing hidden traps and directing you towards his right and secure purpose. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.559 So trusting the Lord is an aspect of faith we must cultivate. 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:15.200 Brothers and sisters, in a nutshell, it is learning to radically trust a sovereign God, trusting him with all our heart. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:23.440 And trusting God is not a matter of not making right choices. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:28.640 Somehow we've allowed the idea of trusting God to make us passive. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.400 But it's a very active thing, trusting God. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:37.200 In Psalm 32, David made this clear. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:40.480 Don't turn there, but David is confessing his sin. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:45.279 It's a psalm he wrote after his sin with Bathsheba, along with Psalm 51. 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:50.640 Psalm 32 is also a prayer of repentance for his sin of adultery and murder. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.920 And David is confessing his sin in this Psalm. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:57.279 And then in verse 8, God chimes in. 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:02.240 And he says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.559 Now listen carefully to these words. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:06.640 This is God's promise to your light. 00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:09.200 I will teach you in the way you shall go. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.640 I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:14.319 That's such powerful words. 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:15.839 I'll counsel you with my eye. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:17.680 You know, it comes out of the ancient world. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:28.799 Ancient kings would sit on their thrones, and they had servants at their thrones that looked at the king's face, and they could tell by his eye movements what he was requesting. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:34.960 And God chimes in and says, I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:44.720 Be not like a horse or a mule without understanding, which must be curved with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:55.839 What David is saying here, what God is saying to David, is we can expect to be guided by the Lord, but not in the same way that we guide farm animals. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:26:03.359 Farm animals had to be, have bit and bridle to pull them in the direction that they wanted them to go. 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:09.839 So he says, uh, you know, do not be like the horse and mule without understanding. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:17.200 Don't expect God to pull you with bit and bridle, but he gives you clear understanding. 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:21.039 It says, uh, don't be like the horse and mule. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:21.440 Why? 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.200 Because they don't have understanding. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:26.880 We have understanding, and so we must use it. 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:33.759 Sometimes the will of God is very clear and easy to discern. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:42.000 So Solomon tells us not to lean on our own understanding when he says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.680 He doesn't mean suspend your faculty of reason. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.359 I like to call it it's a reasoned trust. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:52.000 It's a reasoned trust. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:58.559 How many have things in your life right now you don't understand why it's going on? 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.079 But you're still here, you still love God and you're serving him. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:11.759 Because you you trust him even though you don't understand fully. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:17.920 So this psalm implies that we won't understand things fully till we get there. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:24.000 But in the meantime, we have some understanding and we we should use it. 00:27:24.960 --> 00:27:29.279 The third character of biblical faith is faith works. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.759 We've seen faith is fully persuaded, we've seen faith trusts. 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:35.920 Now faith works. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:50.480 Many people are confused when they compare the teaching of the Apostle Paul regarding works and the teaching of the James, the writer of the book of James, the brother of Jesus. 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:59.839 You know, one of the Paul, after talking about Abraham's faith, which we read in chapter 4 of Romans, opens chapter 5 with these words. 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:08.160 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:16.000 One of the solas of the Protestant Reformation was sola fide, faith alone. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:29.599 We're justified by faith alone, which simply means there's nothing a person can do to receive justification except believe on what Jesus accomplished for us by his death and resurrection. 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:35.279 And this is what separates Christianity from all other religions. 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:44.400 In all other religions, a person is made right with God by something they do to be justified. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:52.880 But in the gospel, a person is made right with God by putting their faith completely on what God accomplished through his son. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:57.839 And the Apostle Paul taught that clearly in his writings. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:04.960 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:10.160 It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:34.640 Luther said he hated God because when he read the word righteousness in scripture, he knew it was he wasn't righteous, and God had every reason to send him to hell. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:41.519 So he hated the word righteousness because it reminded him of his sinfulness. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:55.920 Then he read Romans 1:16 through 17, and he saw that righteousness is not a quality of God only that he possesses, but it's a gift that God gives to guilty sinners. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:05.039 And Luther said a whole new world opened up to me, a world in which I knew full justification. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:12.799 Are you this morning relying on anything of your performance, anything you're doing to be right with God? 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.039 It's so easy to fall into a trap. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:23.039 Because much of the church world, unfortunately, doesn't know justification by faith. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:33.759 At Trinity years ago, we many altar calls people would come up and I would pray for them, and I would say, What do you want prayer for? 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:40.640 And probably 60, 70% of the time, people would say, I want prayer, I feel condemnation. 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.200 And I would start teaching, have you heard the doctrine of justification by faith? 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:46.480 They'd say, No. 00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:49.279 I'd say, How long have you been in the church? 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:50.960 Only 30 years. 00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:57.119 So I said, I couldn't teach then long because I was praying for people at the altar. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:30:59.279 So I said, make an appointment to see me this week. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:10.000 And some Sundays, I'd have some following Sunday morning, I'd have three, four, five appointments during the week in which I taught people the doctrine of justification by faith. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:18.640 You have to know this because it is a foundation of the Christian life, that God justifies you, which is a legal term. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.039 He declares you not guilty. 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:23.519 And he doesn't do it based on your performance. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:33.440 You'll never pray enough, you'll never read the Bible enough, you'll never fast enough, you'll never witness enough to be justified by those actions. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:38.160 But the good news is you are justified when you put your faith in Jesus. 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:42.880 And we get to do those things: prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, fasting. 00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:46.960 We get to do them as a result of faith. 00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:56.559 It's the inevitable outcome is that we're justified by faith and we will do the things. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:59.279 But that seems contrary to what James said. 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:03.440 If you know the book of James in chapter 2, listen carefully. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:09.119 He says, What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:11.200 Can that faith save him? 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:23.200 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to him, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:28.960 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:32.000 But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:37.920 Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my your faith, my faith by my works. 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:40.640 You believe that God is one, you do well. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:43.279 Even the demons believe and shudder. 00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:46.079 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person? 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:48.000 I'd like to meet James. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:52.559 He was needed to be kinder. 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:04.400 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works, is useless? 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:10.559 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 00:33:10.799 --> 00:33:16.160 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works. 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:24.240 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abram believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:29.119 You see that a person is justified by his works and not by faith alone. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:37.759 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:44.720 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:55.039 How in the world do you reconcile what Paul teaches that people cannot be saved by their works with what James teaches faith without per works is dead? 00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.039 And the answer is really easy. 00:33:57.200 --> 00:34:00.480 They're both speaking to two different audiences. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:13.039 Paul is addressing those who are attempting to be justified by works. 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:19.440 But James is dealing with those who think that faith alone, without works, will save them. 00:34:19.679 --> 00:34:27.920 The best way I've heard it described is we're not saved by our good works, but we are saved for good works. 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:32.800 And it's critical that we understand that both of those. 00:34:34.320 --> 00:34:48.320 Paul says it this way in Ephesians 2, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God ordained beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:50.320 By the way, it's so interesting. 00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:52.159 The word workmanship there. 00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:54.320 Ephesians 2, 10. 00:34:54.559 --> 00:35:04.239 Workmanship is a Greek word which means the thing that he has made, but it's actually the Greek word from which the English word poem is derived. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:06.079 We are his poem. 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:13.119 And another translation which is valid is we are his works of art, his masterpieces. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:21.039 He creates us in Christ Jesus, James, uh James uh Paul says, for good works. 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:29.679 Again, we're not saved by good works, but when he makes us his workmanship, he creates us for good works. 00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:31.920 You want to do good works. 00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:43.199 The night I got saved 52 years ago, I was supposed to party with my friends that night, but I went to a gospel meeting with my brother, and Jesus encountered me, and I've never recovered. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:50.000 People's testimony, you know, they say, I was messed up, I met Jesus, now I'm fine. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:55.039 My testimony was I was fine, I met Jesus, and now I'm really messed up. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:58.639 But how many are glad to be messed up in a good way? 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:01.280 So true. 00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:10.320 Notice God gave ordained us for good works before the foundation of the world that we should walk in them. 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:23.280 When my brother and I were growing up in Philadelphia, he worked with his hands and took apart things, and I was writing articles. 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:30.880 And is it any wonder he ended up owning a construction company and I ended up writing books? 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:35.920 Because God ordained the good works that we walk in. 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:41.679 And that goes back to even your beginning as a child. 00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:48.000 Let's look at the final one, a little longer, but let's take it slowly. 00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:49.039 Faith endures. 00:36:49.199 --> 00:37:01.199 We've seen that faith is fully persuaded, faith works, faith trusts, faith works, and now faith adore endures. 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:10.159 And this final section of Hebrews, if you read it, starts with another one of those warnings we find all through the book. 00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:16.559 We've read when we read the opening verses, verses 20, 10, 26 to 31. 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:20.800 That verse has scared many people, and it should not cause us alarm. 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:22.239 It's not talking about sin in general. 00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:33.599 Now, if you go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, it's not talking about sin in general, but a certain sin which we now should be familiar with if you study the book of Hebrews. 00:37:33.760 --> 00:37:42.559 It's a sin of apostasy, it's a sin of trampling underfoot the Son of God and treating as unholy the blood of the covenant. 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.599 And that's what the book of Hebrews is warning about. 00:37:45.679 --> 00:37:49.760 People get all freaked out when they read, if you keep keep on sinning. 00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:55.920 Now, if you keep on over openly flagrantly sinning and not repenting, that's a problem. 00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:59.840 But the sin of apostasy is what the writer of Hebrews is. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:12.079 And he's warning them if they continue on the path they are on, which was tempted to deny the Lord Jesus as Hebrew believers, then they would be committing a sin unto death. 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:16.079 And he does, he wants to help them realize the danger of that. 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:19.280 He reminds them of what they had been through in the past. 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:22.639 These people had already suffered for their faith. 00:38:22.960 --> 00:38:32.239 Many lost their possessions, were imprisoned, others were mocked and identified, others were mocked for identifying with those who were in prison. 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:40.880 Now the writer of Hebrews urges them not to throw away their confidence because it has great reward. 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:45.119 Remember what he said in an earlier chapter, Hebrews 6? 00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:51.599 I didn't read it, but it says, God is not unjust to forget your labor of love for God's people. 00:38:51.840 --> 00:39:00.159 And then he reintroduces us to the main theme in this section by exhorting them to endure. 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:09.280 Now, sometimes the word endure in the English Bible is translated from the word patience. 00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:15.280 But almost every place where the word patience occurs, it's the Greek word hupomeni. 00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:16.960 Hupomini. 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:23.039 And that's translated in the English Bible as endure or endurance. 00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:26.960 It's not merely patience, it's endurance. 00:39:28.639 --> 00:39:35.119 Paul uses this word when he says tribulation produces endurance. 00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:45.519 Remember James Fay's famous statement that he said in his letter, the trying of your faith works patience or produces endurance. 00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:49.280 Same word, let endurance have her perfect work. 00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:54.239 And now this section of Hebrews uses the word continually. 00:39:54.400 --> 00:39:59.599 It will say Moses endured as seeing him who is invisible. 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:07.199 He will tell the Hebrews, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:12.320 And he also will say, if you endure chastening, then you are sons. 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:15.760