Faith or Fantasy? (Part 1)
Assurance or Arrogance?
Confidence or Presumption?
What is Faith? Why is it so important?
Hebrews 11:6 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.
If we want to know the Lord…
If we want to understand the Lord…
If we even want to know ABOUT the Lord…
We need to understand what the Bible says about FAITH.
In the Greek (Strong’s Concordance):
Faith = To be convinced, satisfied, agreeable to, relying on, surrendered
with confidence.
Believe = To have faith in something or someone.
Right off, we can see trouble ahead of us:
In American English, we say that we believe something if we think, or are certain that it is TRUE. We also think that faith is WHAT we believe.
This confusion of languages has resulted in some very silly thoughts about “faith”. Do you have “faith in your faith”? Are you confident in how certain you are? Are you “believing” hard enough? Etc…
Many think they are Christians or Believers because they accept the ideas that “God exists” and “Jesus is the Messiah”.
-They don’t understand that faith ALSO speaks of agreeing and
surrendering…
-To believe is not only to know if something is true or false; to believe is
to put your confidence in something or someone.
In the Bible; to believe is to have faith in Jesus Christ!
When we believe that Jesus wants to help us;
-We can put our situation in His hands.
-Without knowing what He is going to do for us, we can be satisfied
with Jesus, counting on Him to do what is right for us.
-We can rest in Christ with confidence that God the Father will be
pleased with whatever work Jesus decides to do for us.
Now we can understand what is happening in the Bible when the people bring their problems to Jesus:
Matthew 9:2-8 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
“…seeing their faith…” What did Jesus see? Isn’t faith invisible?
-Jesus saw that they were putting their friend’s life in His hands.
-They didn’t tell Jesus what to do, they simply had confidence that, in
love, Jesus would do what is good.
What did Jesus do? MORE than they were hoping for!!
-Jesus pardoned the sins of the sick man.
-He also HEALED him.
Jesus knows the easiest way to help you.
Jesus knows the best solution to every problem…
Matthew 9:20-22 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
This is a very sweet passage.
She knew that if she could touch Jesus in even the smallest way (just the very edge of His garment), He would surely heal her.
-I have a daughter; she knows that if she needs me, she only has to
contact me with a word (Dad…), or a tear in her eye, or a text… I will
always help her!!
“…Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith has made thee whole.”
If the woman had not put her life in Jesus’ hands, she would have kept bleeding – Jesus would have passed by. How often has Jesus passed us by?
Remember that without faith it is impossible to please God…
Matthew 15:21-28 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
What happened here?
- (v.22) The woman "BELIEVED" (knew it was true) that Jesus is the Messiah.
She said: “O Lord, thou son of David…”, but Jesus ignored her…
- (v.25) The woman (not a Jew) surrenders to Jesus and worships Him.
- (v.26) Now Jesus talks to her, but doesn’t like her idea.
- (v.27) She agrees with Jesus and only asks for whatever Jesus is pleased
to give (crumbs).
NOW Jesus responds immediately!! He is happy to help her!
What was the problem with the woman’s request at first?
-Because the woman went to Jesus to persuade Him to do her will, she
was rejected.
-To have faith in Jesus (to believe in Jesus) means to be satisfied with His
will and His decision.
What will happen to us if we believe in Jesus?
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Jesus has prepared a place for you in His Kingdom. Jesus isn’t talking about what He will give you after you die. He is talking about what He will give you after you are born again!
When you preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Holy Spirit will confirm it with signs following. (Mark 16:20)
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Will you surrender yourself to the will of our Savior?
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today!!
Assurance or Arrogance?
Confidence or Presumption?
What is Faith? Why is it so important?
Hebrews 11:6 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.
If we want to know the Lord…
If we want to understand the Lord…
If we even want to know ABOUT the Lord…
We need to understand what the Bible says about FAITH.
In the Greek (Strong’s Concordance):
Faith = To be convinced, satisfied, agreeable to, relying on, surrendered
with confidence.
Believe = To have faith in something or someone.
Right off, we can see trouble ahead of us:
In American English, we say that we believe something if we think, or are certain that it is TRUE. We also think that faith is WHAT we believe.
This confusion of languages has resulted in some very silly thoughts about “faith”. Do you have “faith in your faith”? Are you confident in how certain you are? Are you “believing” hard enough? Etc…
Many think they are Christians or Believers because they accept the ideas that “God exists” and “Jesus is the Messiah”.
-They don’t understand that faith ALSO speaks of agreeing and
surrendering…
-To believe is not only to know if something is true or false; to believe is
to put your confidence in something or someone.
In the Bible; to believe is to have faith in Jesus Christ!
When we believe that Jesus wants to help us;
-We can put our situation in His hands.
-Without knowing what He is going to do for us, we can be satisfied
with Jesus, counting on Him to do what is right for us.
-We can rest in Christ with confidence that God the Father will be
pleased with whatever work Jesus decides to do for us.
Now we can understand what is happening in the Bible when the people bring their problems to Jesus:
Matthew 9:2-8 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
“…seeing their faith…” What did Jesus see? Isn’t faith invisible?
-Jesus saw that they were putting their friend’s life in His hands.
-They didn’t tell Jesus what to do, they simply had confidence that, in
love, Jesus would do what is good.
What did Jesus do? MORE than they were hoping for!!
-Jesus pardoned the sins of the sick man.
-He also HEALED him.
Jesus knows the easiest way to help you.
Jesus knows the best solution to every problem…
Matthew 9:20-22 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
This is a very sweet passage.
She knew that if she could touch Jesus in even the smallest way (just the very edge of His garment), He would surely heal her.
-I have a daughter; she knows that if she needs me, she only has to
contact me with a word (Dad…), or a tear in her eye, or a text… I will
always help her!!
“…Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith has made thee whole.”
If the woman had not put her life in Jesus’ hands, she would have kept bleeding – Jesus would have passed by. How often has Jesus passed us by?
Remember that without faith it is impossible to please God…
Matthew 15:21-28 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
What happened here?
- (v.22) The woman "BELIEVED" (knew it was true) that Jesus is the Messiah.
She said: “O Lord, thou son of David…”, but Jesus ignored her…
- (v.25) The woman (not a Jew) surrenders to Jesus and worships Him.
- (v.26) Now Jesus talks to her, but doesn’t like her idea.
- (v.27) She agrees with Jesus and only asks for whatever Jesus is pleased
to give (crumbs).
NOW Jesus responds immediately!! He is happy to help her!
What was the problem with the woman’s request at first?
-Because the woman went to Jesus to persuade Him to do her will, she
was rejected.
-To have faith in Jesus (to believe in Jesus) means to be satisfied with His
will and His decision.
What will happen to us if we believe in Jesus?
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Jesus has prepared a place for you in His Kingdom. Jesus isn’t talking about what He will give you after you die. He is talking about what He will give you after you are born again!
When you preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, the Holy Spirit will confirm it with signs following. (Mark 16:20)
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Will you surrender yourself to the will of our Savior?
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today!!
