The Test of Faith
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· 56 viewsThere is one god given element that God releases to every believer. It is the that element that enables us to access His grace. Grace is demonstrated in both obedience and believing. What do we do when faith is tested?
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The Test of Faith
The Test of Faith
There is nothing on earth more powerful than faith.
6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
All you need is a little bit of faith.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: But the just shall live by his faith.
Faith is
++The stuff we live by
++Substance
++Evidence
It is not one or the other.. it is both and the other
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith
++Embodies hope
++Embraces the unseen
Faith declares that without me
++Power of knowledge is empty
++Words are are but dead letter
What makes faith so important?
What makes faith so important?
I am glad you asked
What are the five natural senses?
We are born with five senses
++To touch
++To see
++To taste
++To hear
++To smell
What do our natural senses do?
If you can perceive something with your natural senses you don’t need faith.
No one is born with faith
Faith is
++Not natural life force
++Not necessary for existing
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
How are we saved?
Faith is
++The access point
++The vehicle
++Make grace possible
He calls it
++The gift of God
++Not the gift of works
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
There are two distinctive test of Faith. One is the test of compliance. One the test of trust or belief.
Two distinctive of test faith
++Compliance
++Belief
In our message we will look at both and reflect upon the long lasting impact on both.
Our goal is
++To determine where we are
++To reaffirm our commitment to God
FAITH or WORKS
FAITH or WORKS
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Why? Though people want a wickedness free world, there is an unwillingness to think that only its destruction would bring that outcome.
When approached by the angels before the distraction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham's argument was "Will God destroy the righteous with the wicked?" This thought process is indicative of a world that has learned to tolerate a world with some sin.
THE END IS NEAR!
THE END IS NEAR!
What the response would be today?
Noah was like a person placing signs saying The End Is Near. Imagine what the response would be today.
Yet the message of the return of Christ in this generation seems to garner the same level of indifference.
22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
1 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.
With Noah
++His actions spoke for him
++Obedience declared his faith
6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
God knows
++The sincerity of our belief.
++What is real
Unlike Noah which belief required a physical response,
Abram simply
++Trusted God
++Believed
He was declared righteous
++Because he believed
++He bore a covenant seal
++That seal was supported by God alone
God spoke
++a man responded
++a man believed
How do I respond when God speaks to me?
________________________________________________
This is possibly the most challenging aspect of our walk of faith.
The Biggest Challenge of faith
The Biggest Challenge of faith
The Challenge is
++taking God's declaration at face value
++excepting it
++trusting it
1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
This is faith in action.
This is faith in action.
13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
We serve
++The God of hope
++The God that fills
He Promises
++All joy
++All Peace
Just believe
Just believe
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
He that comes to God
++Must believe that he is
++He rewards those that seek him
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Without the word of God
++You cannot hear
++Faith is unattainable
Faith acts upon
++What the Lord is speaking
++It is a now word
++It is the word being spoken
With Abram the word was enough.
His righteousness was exemplified in his deep trust in what the Lord had spoken.
FAITH or WORKS
++FAITH and WORKS
He too would be tested
He too would be tested
1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Even the
++Deepest trust
++Belief will be tested.
Noah's test was immediate, it required compliance now.
Abraham's test was over time.
So is the test of faith. It will not be a single test but a lifetime.
Abraham lived a life of fulfilled promises.
The promises of a son and Issac is born.
To be asked for the son back was a difficult request.
God used the situation to validate Abraham's faith in what God had said.
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Abraham's walk with God began with a Promise.
Abraham's walk with God began with a Promise.
It is only fitting in this defining moment that it would culminate with a affirmation of the promise.
God doesn't forget his promises.
FAITH or WORKS
FAITH and WORKS
++FAITH that WORKS