Sermon
Sermon Outline
WE
Last week we began a series on foundations of faith and we talked about the importance of repenting from dead works.
Not just evil or sin, but any work that tries to build a life apart from God.
Every day of our life is important because every day builds.
And inherently, repentance means I’m turning.
It means to leave something behind.
But following Jesus isn’t just about what we’re turning from; it’s also about what we are turning toward.
Read the verse with me:
“Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.” Hebrews 6:1 NLT
Lessons are repeated until they are learned.
These first two foundations of faith intertwine to create a biblical framework of living.
Repentance takes my trust off what cannot save me.
Faith puts my trust upon the One who can.
Not just will you put your faith in God. Probably all of us here would say yes, I will put my faith in God. The real question for us often isn’t will we, but how do we?
How many of you know it’s not just what you do; it’s also HOW you do it?
Yesterday my dad and I went to Witchita Falls, TX to ride in an annual bike ride called Hotter Than Hell.
The reason the ride is in Witchita is because the surface of the sun isn’t available.
The ride is most known for its 100-mile route that takes you through the furnace of north Texas in August.
I’m happy to report my dad and I rode 100 miles.
He rode 50, and I rode 50.
We did it together as a team.
Sometimes you have to realize that if life were about hard work, the donkey would own the farm.
Today we ask the question, in the face of all life has to offer, its highs and lows, how can we place our faith in God?
Let’s Pray.
GOD
As we begin today, I want us to work through the how of this methodically.
Our first task today is to define “faith in God.”
Then give us examples: we're going to look at two stories of faith. One is a story of faith tragically misplaced, the other a story of faith rightly given to God.
The Full Weight Of Faith
The principle in the original language is a simple three-word phrase: “Faith in God.”
Nothing complicated. Nothing performative. It’s a very low-grade school reading level. But a powerful foundation to build your life on.
Let’s break it apart.
Faith is full reliance upon God.
Nothing else under heaven or earth can give us what faith can. Not our efforts, your parents' faith, or your pastor's faith.
Your faith will determine the course of your life.
In fact, probably the most cited definition of faith from a follower of Jesus perspective is:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 KJV
Literally, faith is placing your trust in something.
Think of sitting on a chair.
You can inspect the chair. You can tell me you believe the chair is strong. You can explain to me how the chair is constructed.
But until you trust that chair enough to fully rely upon it, you don’t have faith; you have knowledge.
It’s the point where your legs stop holding you up.
Faith is revealed by what you’re willing to put your weight on.
Your faith then has to be IN something.
As far as science has been able to explain, everything in the universe is either matter or energy.
The language here is clear that faith is an object to be given.
Christian faith isn’t faith in faith.
Some people believe by simply believing, they think this will produce a result.
The word “in” could also be translated as “upon.”
It carries with it the word picture of placing something on an altar—something given.
Finally, we have our faith in God.
To be clear, there are many things people put their faith in. We, as followers of Christ, place our faith in God.
The creator and owner of the universe. The one who was here before anything existed and the one sustaining everything that exists now.
And Hebrews teaches this is foundational.
Now stop and think for a second about that word foundational.
What is the purpose of a foundation?
The purpose of a foundation is to support the structure built upon it.
What we are establishing right now is what is going to happen when the many seasons of life test the foundations of our life.
Transition
So how does our faith in God become a foundation of life?
Two thoughts. First…
Fear Reveals Faith
Around 590 BC, the kingdom of Judah was facing destruction. The king was a man named Zedekiah and he had with him a prophet named Jeremiah, and Babylon was coming to conquer them.
Now what’s fascinating about this story, if you go and read it in 2 Kings and in the book of Jeremiah, is that Zedekiah wasn’t ignorant of God’s word.
We read multiple times as he is contemplating the very threat at hand that he calls for Jeremiah because he wanted to know, “What is God saying?”
Jeremiah tells him God’s instruction was simple: surrender.
And God attached an incredible promise to it.
If Zedekiah surrendered to Babylon, his life would be spared. But not only his life, his family's life, and Jerusalem, full of the thousands of people depending upon Zedekiah for leadership, would not be burned.
Think about that.
God told Zedekiah exactly what to do.
God told Zedekiah exactly what would happen.
And read his response:
“But I am afraid to surrender,” the king said. Jeremiah 38:19A NLT
There it is.
I think Zedekiah believed Jeremiah spoke God’s word to him. After all, he had asked many times.
Zedekiah’s problem wasn’t that he had never heard God’s word.
His problem was that when obedience required him to stake his life on God’s Word, fear outweighed faith.
I don’t want to be too hard on Zedekiah because, “Lord, I know what you said, but I’m afraid” is a prayer most of us would understand.
Even Jesus, before the cross, asked if the path he was on could be walked another way.
When your marriage is hurting, it’s natural to be afraid.
When your kids are struggling, it’s natural to be afraid.
Fear is a natural emotion that happens to all of us.
Hear this! Faith doesn’t mean you will never experience fear.
Faith means fear doesn’t get a vote.
Zedekiah’s fear led him to rely on another nation for help.
In the end, as Jerusalem was burning, he tried to escape, but he was caught, and the last thing he saw before he was blinded was the death of his sons.
Application
The reality of our faith is it affects more than just our lives. But it is our faith and our faith alone.
We must look fear in the face and conquer that fear through faith.
Transition
But what happens when faith is rightly placed upon God? Let’s talk about…
The Outcome of Faith
If we go back to the same kingdom, same city, and rewind roughly a century, we find almost exactly the same situation. There is nothing new under the sun.
Around 700 BC, King Hezekiah is faced with invasion from the Assyrian King Sennacherib, and Isaiah is the prophet, and they send him a letter.
They essentially ask, “What makes you think your God is going to save you?”
They tell him, “You know all your friends and neighboring kings; we’ve gotten all of them. You aren’t any different.”
That’s exactly what Satan will tell you in these moments.
You’re not special.
You know your friend, your co-worker, your neighbor got the same news, and look at their life. It’s completely fallen apart.
You are no different!
But read what Hezekiah does:
“After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord.” 2 Kings 19:14 NLT
I love this picture.
“God, here’s the situation.”
“Here’s what he said.”
“Here’s what I’m facing.”
“Here’s what I can’t fix.”
“Here’s what I can’t control.”
“God, you know.”
Just like fear reveals what your faith is in, faith also doesn’t pretend the problem isn’t a problem.
Hezekiah didn’t pretend Assyria wasn’t serious.
He didn’t deny the circumstances.
He spreads the circumstances out before God.
There are things you and I cannot carry.
There are problems you and I cannot solve.
There are outcomes you and I cannot control.
Maturity in Christ happens as more and more of our lives are placed in God’s hands.
Sometimes the most mature prayer you can pray is only three words: “Lord, you know.”
What amazes me about the story of Hezekiah is if you read it in 2 Kings, he gets the bad news, he spreads it out—literally the letter from the Assyrians—before God and prays. Isaiah speaks to him and gives him a promise of safety from God.
And you want to know what we read about Hezekiah doing next? Nothing.
We have no idea what Hezekiah did that afternoon or that night.
What we read is that God did what Hezekiah could not. He defeated the armies that came to defeat Hezekiah.
Whatever the physical outcome of our faith in the long run, the outcome of our faith in the short run has to be trusting in God.
CONCLUSION
So today let’s imagine you go to your mailbox and you get that letter.
The letter that contains the thing you most desire in your heart and the thing you most hope never happens.
What are you going to do with it?
Suddenly you’re holding something bigger than your ability to control the outcome.
That’s when the foundation gets tested.
Because faith is easy to talk about when there’s no weight on it.
You find out what you really trust when the weight comes down.
For us, fear doesn’t get a vote even if the fear is real.
Ultimately, the fear that opposes faith is really a fear of obedience and then discovering things don’t turn out the way you wanted.
Listen to me:
Do you trust God’s will for your life?
Do you trust that God is good and his plans for you are to see you have an abundant life?
So where do you need to put your faith in God today?