| Jacksonville Chapel Sunday, April 6, 2003 Rev. Kevin Howard "Characteristics of a Real Faith" |
| Real Faith ~ SEEKS ~ Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. - Seek God for His presence, not His stuff. - God just wants us to be in His presence. Mark 12:29-30 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' - We are to seek Him because we need Him. - Is the reason that we're not seeking God because we've filled up on all the appetizers and we weren't ready for the main course? - We need to seek God like we plan on finding Him. Jeremiah 29:13-14 13 "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." - Seek Him through communion and meditation. Real Faith ~ OBEYS ~ Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. - What have you done with the will of God that He has already revealed to you? - Our lack of obeying shows our lack of believing. - Real faith obeys in the specific and the general will of God. - Hebrews 11, verses 3-5, 7-9, 11, 17, 20-24, 27-31 all begin with "By faith" Real Faith ~ SUFFERS ~ Hebrews 11:32-37 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated. - It's more odd to claim to be a Christian and not suffer. John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 15:19-20 19 "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. - Show the world Authentic Christianity and it will murder it. - Will it cost me my life for real faith? No, but if it doesn't cost you anything, you should question whether you truely have it. - God won't take away the hurt, but He will give us perspective. Real Faith ~ KNOWS IT WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED ~ Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 11:38 The world was not worthy of them. |