Fruit of the Spirit - Faith

Robert E Becker

Fruit of the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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An overview of what faith is, and what it's not

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Introduction

Hebrews 11:1 KJV 1900

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Body

Today, faith is generally accepted to mean “I believe in something without having any proof or reason to, I just believe in it”

Old Testament Instances of Faith

Interestingly, there’s not really a Hebrew word for “faith”, as meaning “to believe something exists”

emun - (A-’mon): Faithfulness, trustworthiness, reliability, worthy of trust

Deut 32:20 - Translated “faith”

Isaiah 26:2 - Translated “the truth”, as in those that keep the truth, are faithful to the truth, reliable in keeping the truth, etc.

Psalm 31:23 - Translated “the faithful”

emu-nah (A-moon-’ah): Steadfastness, trustworthiness, honesty, proving to be firm, reliable, faithful, permanent

Isaiah 11:5 - Translated “faithfulness”

Jeremiah 7:28 - Translated “truth”

I Samuel 26:23 - Translated “faithfulness”

Jeremiah 5:1 - Translated “the truth”

Psalm 37:3 - Translated “verily”, as in truly, certainly, absolutely

In rare instances, the word ‘mn (aleph mem nun) can mean “to believe”, but in context it’s “to believe in that which is demonstrably reliable, faithful, steadfast, etc.

In the Old Testament we discover that faith to the Hebrew people meant something far different that we understand it today.

The existence of God was plainly demonstrated to the Nation of Israel

God’s revealed truths as contained in the the Law of Moses were accepted as such

New Testament Instances of Faith

Pistis (‘pee-stees): trust, faith, persuasion, confidence, assurance, persuaded, faithfulness, reliability, fidelity, commitment, oath, proof, pledge

Matthew 9:22 - Translated “faith”

Matthew 8:10 - Translated “faith”

Acts 17:31 - Translated “assurance”

Titus 2:10 - Translated “fidelity”

Again, in the New Testament the idea is that of putting your trust and confidence in something solid, something proven and reliable.

Faith In Action

Abraham

Genesis 12:1–4 KJV 1900

1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

His calling out of Ur of the Chaldees

No directions

No reasons given as to why

Why no directions?

Why do I have to leave the city?

Why do I have to leave my family?

The promises given was logically insane

Make of me a great nation? How!?!?

Abram was 75 when he left Ur, and was 100 when the promise was finally fulfilled (Genesis 21:5)

The command to offer up Isaac

It seemed like God was taking back all the promises He’d given

It seemed like God was turning His back on Abraham. That He was forsaking him.

But, Abraham had proved God and had found Him worthy of his absolute trust

Abraham had learned that when God’s promise goes forth, it will come to pass

David

1 Samuel 17:32–37 KJV 1900

32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

David was absolutely assured that the same God that had delivered him out of these other situations would now deliver him yet again.

David trusted that God’s character was consistent. What He did for David in the past He would continue to do for him in the present.

If David were never confronted with these situations, he could not have discovered this thing about God; that He is faithful.

Before this David was anointed to be king of Israel, now it seemed that everything was falling perfectly into place…until it wasn’t.

Saul became jealous of David and afterward tried to destroy him

David was on the run for his life for years and years before he became king

At this point it must have seemed like “I knew it! I knew this whole king thing wasn’t true!”

Like the promise was a lie. Like God was a liar.

But, David knew something about God that few Christians ever get the opportunity to learn…that God is altogether faithful.

Then, all of a sudden, he became king, according to the promise of God through the prophet Samuel.

Faith Today

Faith means today what it meant then: to rely on one who is faithful, reliable, steadfast, true.

It does NOT mean a belief in something just because I want to believe in something

It’s different than hope. Different than “pick something and hope it’s right”.

It’s not merely intellectual assent. “I believe in Jesus.”

What does that even mean?

Conclusion

Faith puts substance to spirit and demonstrates reliably the invisible.