Genesis to Esther Series – LESSON 3
1. Bible Faith
Our subject for
Lesson 3 is Bible Faith. Before we dig into Genesis there are some
basic things we must consider together. The definition of Faith is: the ability to believe
what God says because God says it.
Illustration
I like to
illustrate Faith this way. A little child has the ability to illustrate faith.
There is a time in the life of a child
that when mother says something – the child is going to believe it because his mother
said it – and simply because mother
said it.
Object Lesson
There is an
object lesson I like to use. I’ve used it all across the country, and I’m going
to use it here so you can pass it on to somebody else.
All boys have
pockets. I have a pocket and I have something in my pocket that I’ve never seen before. I have something in my pocket that
no human being has ever seen before. I’m
going to show it to you – and after I show it to you, no one is ever going to see it again.
Now that I’ve
challenged your mentality, do you believe what I’ve told you is the truth? Do you believe that I have something that nobody, including myself, has ever seen before?
I am now going
to illustrate that what I have told you is the truth.
I have a peanut in my pocket. I’m going to open it up. There is a nut from
inside that peanut. Did I tell you the truth
that I never saw
that nut before? Did I tell you the truth
when I told you nobody else
ever saw it before?
Now I eat the
peanut. Did I tell you the truth when I said nobody else is going to see it
again?
That is a
simple illustration from life that illustrates what faith is. It is believing,
at times, what you can’t explain.
It is believing, at times, in things that don’t make sense
– but you believe it because of the one who said it. So, I repeat again –
Faith is the ability to believe what God says because it is God who says it.
1. Bible Facts
1. Without Faith We Cannot Please God
We have a
statement from Hebrews - without
faith we cannot please God. That statement is so important
for an appreciation of the study of Genesis
– or for that matter, any part of the Bible.
Hebrews 11: 6
(6) But without faith it is impossible to
please him:
Without faith God cannot be pleased. Without faith it is
impossible to please God. You ask a person “Do you have faith?” – and their answer will be “Well, I live a good life.” But that is not the question. The question is “Do you have faith?
Somebody else
answers “Well, I go to church.” But that is not the question. Another answers “Well, I’ve been baptized in water.” I didn’t ask you that. I said “Do you have faith?
What is it that
pleases God? – faith.
Without faith
you cannot
please God –
Why? We are going to look at the rule Book and see from the Bible why this statement is so.
Romans 14: 23
(23) And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he
eateth not of faith: for
whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Here is the
statement in the rule Book. “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” If you understand this verse, then
Hebrews 11:6 starts to make some wonderful sense. Now you can understand that without faith you cannot please
God. – Why?-- Anything that is not of faith, God says is sin. Would you expect sin to please God? – of course not!
Sin cannot please God –
therefore, without faith you can’t please God.
Proverbs
explains further the statement in the New Testament. In the light of what we
read in Romans – this starts to make sense.
Proverbs 21: 4
(4) A high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the
wicked is sin.
If you don’t have faith – that is – believe what God
says because God says it – you are in trouble. What is wrong with plowing? –
nothing! But if a man who doesn’t believe God, plows, God says he is doing
it without faith.
Therefore, his plowing is sin, because it is not of faith.
Therefore we have to conclude that an unsaved
man (one without faith) cannot “do good” in the sight of God.
Isaiah 64: 6
(6) But we are all as an
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight
of the Lord. Man cannot “do good” in the sight of the
Lord, because he can only begin to “do good” when he starts on the ground
of faith. Without
faith you can’t please God. Without faith, everything you touch is defiled because God has made the rule that only by faith is He pleased.
I am giving
some Bible facts. We build upon these facts.
Fact #1 without faith you cannot please
God.
2. All Have Not Faith.
2 Thessalonians 3: 1-2
(1) Finally brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord
may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you;
I suggest that
you observe those words. The Bible-- is either the Word of the Lord, or it is nothing.
Faith is built on that fact – that the Bible
is the Word of the Lord.
(2) And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and
wicked men: for all men have not faith.
All men have not
faith. Who said that? – God said that. I believe what God says, because God
says it.
Recap
1. Without faith you cannot please God.
Everything
that man does without God, is sin in God’s eyes.
2. Not all men have faith.
I have in my file,
a letter, that was published in the Vancouver Sun, when Billy Graham had come
to Vancouver October 13, 1984. In the article a preacher was quoting Billy
Graham. This is what he said. He is quoting Billy Graham:
I have held, without reservation,
in the belief that Jesus Christ is the only way
of salvation and that pertains to the whole human race. The lostness of the
human race – apart from Jesus Christ – is the sobering Truth for
all those who take the Bible seriously.
Now, that
statement from Billy Graham is based on Bible faith.
He believes it because he believes the Bible.
But the writer of this letter says this: - and it is directed to Billy Graham:
My question is – Does Billy
Graham believe that all those who are not subscribing
Christians are eternally damned? If not, will he explicitly say so. At the
second Vatican council of the mid sixties, the Roman Catholic church
recognized, for the first time, the truth and holiness that are found in
Judaism from which Christianity emerged – as well as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism,
and Shiekism (the Chinese and Japanese traditions.)
We believe the Holy Spirit is
active in the scriptures and traditions of
the great non-Christian religions and that
they offer salvation to their inherents. We believe, as part of our evangelical
mission, that many who have never heard the name of Christ, actually meet him
in the persons of the poor, the hungry, and the imprisoned – and receive his
saving grace when they tend the wounds of the marginalized.
By his incarnation, the Son of
God united himself, in some fashion, with every man. Every person, without
exception, has been redeemed by Christ – even if the individual may not recognize that
fact. By means of the announcement of the word of God and the exercise of her
ministry, the church brings salvation to all men, who
may, if they live uprightly – though they do not know the church – participate
in the salvation of God. If Graham, on the contrary, teaches that non-Christians
are lost, then he will inflict significant harm on the
inter-faith respect, cooperation and theological dialogue that so many have
labored to bring to a happy reality over the past twenty years. Let him truly
reconcile – not divide.
That was
addressed to Billy Graham when he came to town to preach the Gospel. I want to
tell you, that regardless of the titles the writer of that letter holds – it
makes no difference to me. That, in my opinion, is an illustration of what
the Bible means when it says “all men have not faith.”
3. There Is A Genuine Faith
2 Timothy 1: 3, 5
I like to join the first three words of
verse 3 with verse 5. This is so essential to our appreciation of the
book of Genesis.
(3) I thank God
(5) When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is
in thee (Timothy), which
dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded
that it is in thee also.
The word “unfeigned” means “genuine.”
Paul writes to Timothy and says: “I thank
God for your genuine faith Timothy. It was in your mother, it was in your
grandmother, and I am so glad to see it in you.
Without faith you can’t
please God. All men have not
faith.
Every believer
has faith, or he wouldn’t be a believer.
Paul thanks God for that. And you thank God when you find it. Some years
ago I sat beside the Premier of Saskatchewan. He has long-since passed on. As I
sat beside this man, talking with him, I said to him “Have you ever read your
Bible?” He said “Four times.” I said “how come you read it four times?” He said
“as a promise to my mother. When I was a young man and left home in Grenfell,
Saskatchewan, my mother made me promise that I would read the Bible –
so I did.”
And then he paused. At this time in his
life, he was now an old, shaky, aged man with only a few years left to live. I looked into
his face as he said to me: “As I get older, I wish I had my mother’s faith.” He condemned
himself by saying that. He knew that his mother had something that he didn’t have.
Paul says: I thank God when I find and see genuine faith. And if you have seen it – then you thank God too!
4. The Source Of Real Faith – The Bible
Where is the source of real faith?
– the Bible.
Romans 10: 17
(17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.
That is the source
of real faith – the Bible.
Faith does not come by giving.
Faith does not come by doing.
Faith does not come by serving.
Nor does faith come by praying. Some people don’t realize that. Faith comes one way, and one way only – through hearing
the Word of God. That’s why we read in our last class
2 Timothy 4: 1-2
I charge thee ……preach the word.
Why? --
because, through the Word, faith comes.
1 Corinthians 1: 21-24
(21) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom
knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe.
(22) For the Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek
after wisdom:
(23) But we preach Christ crucified, unto
the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness;
(24) But unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God,
and the Wisdom of God.
God sets aside
all other learning that we may have faith
increased through his Word.
5. We Overcome By Faith
1 John 5: 4
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
We go back over what we have covered thus far:
1. Without faith you can’t please God.
2. All men have not
faith.
3. There
is a genuine faith.
4. The
source of faith is the Bible
Now in the last
part of verse 4 says:
And this is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith.
Genuine faith
makes one an overcomer. And if you are a believer (I care not who
the believer is) if you have genuine faith, you have a desire – not to be overcome, but you have a desire to overcome. I know I’m telling you what is in your heart. And
praise God, where does overcoming faith come from? – the Lord. We overcome by faith.
6. Why Study?
2 Timothy 2: 15
(15) Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Study. It’s not my
idea, it is God’s command to every genuine believer. Study
to show thyself approved unto God. Can you see how that statement
makes sense, in the light of what we have taken?
Hebrews 11:6
Without faith you can’t please God. Why do you study the Bible?
You may have other reasons, but I would that I could get this
across to you. The reason for studying the Bible as a believer, is that through
the source of faith, your faith
might be fed, and your faith
might grow. And as you grow in faith, you will please God. That’s why, without faith you cannot
please God.
So you study to
show yourself approved unto God. You want God’s approval on your life. You can only get it as you increase in faith. How are you going to increase in faith? Study the Book.
So we are here to study from Genesis to Esther – (the first part of our Bible)–
in order to increase our faith. And I am persuaded, before we
ever get there, there are stories in this part of the Bible that are so exciting that if you really believe
them, it will bolster the faith that God has given you. You study to please God.
2. Faith is make up of three parts:
1. knowledge
2. belief
3. and trust
These are the
ingredients of faith. Before we look at this, there is
something that is so very precious that I want to tell it to the Glory of
God, and I hope it will impress the outline a little bit upon you.
I looked up the
date so I would be absolutely positive about it. It was March 12, 1971. I look
back upon that week in March of 1971 as being about the busiest week of my life. Besides the regular tasks of teaching and preaching (pastoring a church)
three people died, so I had to prepare for three
funerals -- one right after the other. I had one on
Saturday, one on Monday, and one on Tuesday. All
the funerals were going to have a number of people present and I had to make
preparation.
A woman had
passed away. Her son Bill and his wife lived in Ontario, so they flew out for
the funeral. I had known Bill when he was a little boy, but I had never met his
wife prior to this occasion. I went with this fine young man and his wife to
Spears Funeral Home in Regina. I stayed with them all day long, as they made
out the arrangements. I helped them pick out the casket, and helped them with all
of the other details.
About ten
o’clock at night, after all the preparation had been made at the funeral home,
Bill’s wife said to me: “Lorne, would you go out and have coffee with us?” My
first reaction was to say “No, I’m too busy.”
But I’ve learned that there are times when you will serve God more by having a cup of coffee with somebody when they are
hurting. And so I said : “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
I was burdened
inside. I had to get ready for a funeral for the next day and I wasn’t ready yet. I went to, what then was, Bob’s North in Regina. We sat down across the
table from this young man and his wife. Billy’s wife looked into my face and
said (and I say this is the Glory of God) “Being with you today, we have sensed
something genuine about your faith.”
Praise God, that somebody else
senses it. She said, “For Bill and I, if we ever had any faith, it’s all down
the drain. You know how Bill was raised. I was raised a Roman Catholic, but if I ever had faith, I haven’t
got any tonight. But there is something genuine
about your faith. Will you tell us about it?”
What an
opportunity. And so that evening, the very material I am going to give you now, I put together there that night, while talking
to those people. I got home at midnight. Having to be at the funeral the next
day with four or five-hundred people present, do you know what my preparation had been? -- What I talked about to those two people, I used to preach about the next day to a big congregation. That’s how the Lord prepared me. By
stepping aside to talk to two people, he gave me what I needed to talk
to four or five-hundred.
The ways of the Lord are wonderful!
Now, here is
what I said: Faith is made up of three things.
1. Knowledge.
Do you see the
background of what I am trying to tell you? “We sense something genuine about your faith.
Tell us about it.” Faith is made up of knowledge.
Hebrews 11: 3
(3) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear.
Will you notice
the first part of that verse. Through faith we understand. You will hear people talking about “blind faith.” If I have read my Bible correctly, there
is no such thing as blind faith. Genuine
faith is built on genuine knowledge.
Unless you know something, you can’t have faith.
I follow that
with this statement. The Bible is a book of knowledge.
What have we read earlier? Faith cometh by hearing
the Word of God. The greatest Book of Knowledge in all the world is the Bible. Some day that
is going to be proven to everybody. The Bible is a book of knowledge. Where does one begin to study? – I said to you in
another class – Genesis 1:1.
That’s where we begin. And we are going to have knowledge built on knowledge as we move in that verse.
Psalm 119: 160
(160) Thy word is true from the beginning:
What does that
mean? – Genesis 1: 1. One translation says thy word is true from the very
first words. Where
is the beginning in the Bible? – Genesis 1: 1. And God’s word is true
from the very first word—In the beginning God.
What does Genesis 1: 1 tell us? – in the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
Hebrews 11: 3 Let’s read it again, but now for a
different purpose
(3) Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so
that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Do you know
what that verse tells you? That verse tells you that if you have genuine faith,
you will believe Genesis 1: 1. If you don’t
believe Genesis 1:1, there is something wrong
with your faith, for faith begins in Genesis 1:1. We
believe that God created. When there was nothing,
God spoke everything into being.
We are going to
move from Genesis 1: 1, on into the book of Exodus and so on. We are going to
study these Old Testament stories. And before we get to them, we should read
Romans 15: 4
(4) For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning,
If the Bible is
not true,
you can’t learn
much from it. But if the Bible is true, then you can learn from it. And so we start on that premise,
from the very first word it is true.
And we are going to study to learn, because
we believe it is true.
Romans 15: 4
(4) For whatsoever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope.
Somebody comes
along and says that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are not true. How can I have any hope
out of chapters that aren’t true. But because it is true, and because the chapters are true, therefore, I can build
my hope because it is built on knowledge, on which comes my faith.
1 Corinthians 10: 11
Again,
referring to these Old Testament Scriptures, and the passages we are going to
study, it says:
(11) Now all these things happened unto
them (Old Testament stories) for examples: and
they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
All that is in the Old Testament is not only
written for our learning, but it is written for our admonition. As God admonished men in the Old Testament, so he
admonishes us. And so every story has a bearing upon it. I am
applying the verse in Hosea 4: 6 to all
the Bible.
The prophet
said something that could be said of modern man.
Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge: Why? Because thou hast rejected knowledge
I am applying
that. What is the Bible? – a book of knowledge.
If I reject the Bible what am I going to do? – I am
going to destroy myself,
because I am going to reject knowledge
that God has given.
Illustration
Bible history must be true, or it ceases to be a
source of knowledge. To reject the Bible is to reject knowledge.
There are men today who are calling themselves
wise,
but Romans says they are fools. They are fools, because they have turned their back on the Revelation
that God has given. Men ask the question: “Who wrote Genesis?” The answer is “We don’t know.” Well now, what
do you
think about that? We don’t know who wrote Genesis?
Years ago, in the village of Pangman,
Saskatchewan, where I grew up, -- a young Pastor came to the United Church. He
befriended us, and he was only in town for a few weeks when I had a funeral
with him. We conducted it, and afterwards he invited me to his home. And
because of something I had said, he asked me a question. He said “You don’t really believe that Moses wrote do you? I just came out of seminary and we spent six months trying to find out
who wrote Genesis, because we know that Moses never wrote a letter to his grandmother.”
That is what I was told by a preacher. You see, he believed that
Moses hadn’t advanced enough at that particular time.
John 5: 46-47 Jesus talking
(46) For had ye believed Moses,(What
does that mean? -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy) ye would
have believed me: for he wrote
of me .But if
ye believe not his
writings, how shall ye believe my words?
When somebody
tells me Moses didn’t write, who am I going to believe? Am I
going to believe the preacher? I’m going to believe Jesus. Jesus said
that Moses wrote.
And Jesus said if you don’t believe what Moses
wrote, you won’t believe
what He (God) says. So it is very important.
2. Believe or Belief
We are considering the point that faith
is made up of three things.
1. knowledge
2. believe or belief
3, trust
I have a statement that I would like you
to pay attention to. -- “We do not believe in our ignorance.” That is superstition. We believe only
in knowledge, or if we know. It takes knowledge in order to have genuine belief. As we state again –
Faith is the ability to believe God’s Word, only because it is God’s Word.
You have to be persuaded it is the Word of God. And because it is the Word of
God, that is why you believe. Now my question is “Do you believe?” Every time I start to use
these illustrations I think of the man in the Gospel of John who said “Lord, I
believe, but help thou my unbelief.” And I think, before I am finished with this, you are going to say “Lord
I believe, but help thou my unbelief.” I
am going to challenge you with Scriptures.
You say you believe. Do you believe all that is in the Bible? Good
question. Let’s try shall we. Here are a few examples:
Israel had a forty-year journey in the wilderness. I suppose that most accept the fact that
Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness. That’s not too difficult to believe is
it? But it says in Psalm 78, regarding this journey:
Psalm 78: 23-25
(23) Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and
opened the doors of heaven,
(24) And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had
given them of the corn of heaven.
(25) Man did eat angels’ food:
Do you believe that? Have you faith to embrace that? That really
challenges me. I can’t believe the Bible unless I believe in angels. You have to believe
in angels, because that
is part of the Book. Do you really believe in angels? One man
said he knew his wife was an angel – she was always up in the air, and she
never had an earthly thing to wear, and she was always harping on something. That is the closest that any
woman will ever come to being an angel.
I’m not talking about those kind of angels. I am talking about the
kind God talks about in His Book.
More than that. If you are going to believe the Bible, you not only have to believe in angels, you have to believe that angels eat. Did you ever think of that before? Angels belong to Heaven and according to this passage, when the children of
Israel were eating manna, they were eating food that belonged to angels. Angel food wasn’t made with a dozen eggs either. This came from Heaven.
Now do you believe that? For forty years they ate angel’s food.
Do you see what
I mean? The Bible is filled with information – knowledge. And if we can believe
it because God says it, it is going to establish and strengthen our faith. Angels are real. God says so. And angels are as real as humans and
angels eat. Now let’s go to another one and challenge our faith.
Another
illustration regarding this wilderness journey of the children of Israel. There
are things in the Bible that really challenge
one’s faith .You say you believe? – “Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.”
Nehemiah 9: 21
(21) Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the
wilderness, so that they lacked nothing:
Every time I
read this, I say “What am I worrying about?” God sustained a multitude of people in the wilderness where they couldn’t grow
any crops and couldn’t sow any crops. Where they couldn’t put anything
together, God looked after them.
(21) forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness,
so that they lacked nothing:
Now here comes the part that stretches my mind.
Their clothes waxed not old, and
their feet swelled not.
Now isn’t that
something! How many of you are wearing clothes that you bought forty years ago? Can you imagine the women in the
wilderness being content with the same wardrobe for forty years?
You talk about miracles, -- you’ve really got it here. Their
clothes didn’t wax old in that hot climate for forty years. There is something even more in that.
Some years ago
I was down in Manitoba and I met a brother whose name was Charlie. I hadn’t
seen Charlie from the forties until the sixties, and in-between, he had had
some physical problems – in fact, Sleeping Sickness. And through his sickness,
he not only lost all his hair, but he put on a lot of weight. When I met him after all of these years, I just
shook his hand and said this “Charlie, we’ve changed haven’t we.” Years have a way of changing
people. Don’t forget, we are talking about forty
years. Some people change shape
in forty years.
Can you imagine
– they are still able
to wear the same clothes
for forty years.
There is only one thing. If they
stretched, their clothes stretched. If they shrank, their clothes
shrank. And the children that came out with their shoes – as their feet grew their shoes
must have grown – because everything fit for forty
years. That wouldn’t happen again unless God was in it. Why is that in the Bible? -- To teach us
that there are things in the Bible that are absolutely
impossible apart
from God. The
next part is even more wonderful than this -- And
their feet swelled not.
Thirty-five
years ago, I was teaching at Eston, and I had a class of students together and
I got in a hurry like I do sometimes, reading the Bible. And as I was reading,
I made the mistake and I didn’t do it on purpose. They wouldn’t believe me. I
made two awful mistakes back then that I can’t forget. One day I
was teaching some boys Homiletics and I suggested that when they were studying they
should have their desks filled with versions
– (translations of the Bible.) I had intended to say that. But here I am talking to young twenty-year-old
fellows and I said “you should have your desk full of virgins.” I didn’t mean
to say what I said, but it came out and spoiled the class.
I spoiled
another class when I was reading this in a hurry. Instead of saying and “their
feet swelled not,”
I said and their feet “smelled not.” I honestly confessed that I didn’t mean to make that mistake. It was an honest mistake. I thought afterwards that God was stretching
my faith a little more. That would be a bigger miracle than the other one wouldn’t it? I’m glad God
didn’t put the word smell in there. God put the word swell in there. Do you know that swelling feet, as well as smelling
feet are a human problem. And if you haven’t had the problem yet, you haven’t lived long
enough. Here are people, for forty years,
walking on the hot desert sand in the wilderness, and their feet did not swell.
It takes faith to believe that.
What’s it all
about? God is behind
all of this. And when God is in the story, the unusual is in the story. When we finish going through some of
these stories, you will come to the conclusion that things are in the Bible to stretch our faith.
Let’s go from
there
1 Kings 19: 1-8
(1) And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had
done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
(2) Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, “So
let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as
the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.
Jezebel was giving him 24 hours
to live.
(3) And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life,
and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
He ran one-hundred miles, and he is not the last man
to run from a woman is he!
(4) But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for
himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O
Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
When he got
there, he sat down under a juniper tree. I am glad that I read in the New
Testament, that these men are men of like passions. I’m glad that
is in the Bible. He ran from a woman to save his life, and he got down under a
tree and requested for himself that he might die; Can you see the inconsistency of the man?
Listen, if he had stayed where he was, Jezebel would have accommodated him. Jezebel wanted to kill him, but now he says “Lord you take away my life. He didn’t
mean it at
all!
There are times
when we get down too. Elijah got down, and he
requested of himself that he might die. “It’s enough Lord, take away my life.”
(5) And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold,
then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
I like this. It
is so human. It’s so instructive.
And there are so many things we can learn
by reading the Bible. You see, he is discouraged
in verse 4. Then in verse 5 he lay down and slept
under the juniper tree. Do you know that many times when you are discouraged, you are not backslidden. Many times when you are discouraged, you are just played
out, that’s all. -- And you need your strength
and you need your sleep. Will you remember that? There are some
people who think they can go night and day and never get discouraged. Listen,
you can’t. You are human
like Elijah was. And God knew what he needed.
He needed a good sleep.
behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise
and eat.
Now if you can believe these next verses -- because it
takes some faith!---
(6) And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on
the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid
him down again.
(7) And the angel of the Lord came again the second time,
and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for
thee.
I suppose you’ve had those days too, when the journey of life has been
too great.
Now what I want you to see: How many meals has he had? – two meals. Who cooked these meals? – I’ve got a good
cook, but this is a better one. Because it says in verse
eight
(8) And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the
strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of
God.
He didn’t hunger. He didn’t fast.
The angel fed him two meals – only two – and they were sufficient
to last for forty
days.
It’s not a matter of fasting. He doesn’t
have to eat for forty
days after an angel
fed him two meals!
Do you still believe your Bible? I’m trying to point out some things that are tough to believe, because I’m asking you to believe. What is the Bible?-
a book of knowledge. What is faith?
It is built on knowledge that you believe.
Now, there is no use in knowing about Elijah unless you believe it. Do you dare to believe that the angel of the Lord
fed Elijah? Do you believe that perhaps things like this can happen today?
Well, if the God of Elijah is still alive,
I guess there is nothing in the Bible that couldn’t happen today. And I believe
exactly, that. God is alive, and He is well. And because He is alive, he fed Elijah.
2 Kings 6: 1-6
There are two
stories about Elisha and I call them humorous.
They are humorous Bible stories. They are so tremendous that they are humorous.
Are you still a believer? Do you still believe all that is in the Bible?
(1) And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold
now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
(too small for us)
(2) Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence
every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he
answered, Go ye.
(3) And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy
servants. And he answered, I will go.
(4) So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they
cut down wood.
(5) But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into
the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! For it was borrowed.
This is a Bible
School story. They are the sons of the prophets. They are going to Bible
School. And at Bible School, students borrow things from other students now like they did then.
This poor Bible student didn’t have enough to buy an axe, so he borrowed an
axe. He went to cut down trees, by the Jordan river, and while he was cutting
down trees with a borrowed axe, the axe head flies off the handle and lands in
the mud in the Jordan.
There are all
kinds of Spiritual lessons here, but I’m just looking at it
from the natural. I’m looking at it as a real Bible story, an exciting
Bible story. Did you know that you will never fly
off the handle if you don’t dry out?
Did you know that it is only dried handles that let the axe head off? So the
next time you fly off the handle, don’t forget – you’ve become dry. All you need is a little bit of oil of the Holy Spirit, and that will help a
lot, and you won’t fly off so often.
(6) And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed
him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron
did swim.
The iron did float.--- No
it doesn’t say that.
It says: The iron did swim.
Have you got any imagination? Do you use your imagination when you read
the Bible? Look at that. I’m glad it doesn’t say float. Dead things float. I want
to tell you that it is only a live fish that can swim. And here is a hunk of iron, and suddenly that iron starts swimming at the prophet.
Have you got any imagination? Can you see it knocking the water both ways, as
it comes to the surface and swims toward the student? I think that is enough to make a man run. Listen,
God put life in that iron, because the “iron did swim.” Do you believe it? There it is in
the Bible. We say we believe everything in the Bible.
Now the next
one
2 Kings 13 20-21
(14) Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he
died.
The man of God
is dead. And do you see – he got sick
before he died. So, don’t let anybody tell you that a man
of faith can’t get sick. Will you remember that?
Everything in the Bible is written for our learning.
And if ever there was a man of faith, it was Elisha. If ever there was a man of faith, it was this man. And yet before he died,
he had sickness whereof he died. And God doesn’t say he lost his faith.
(20) And Elisha died, It seems to want to
get that point across. And
Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the
land at the coming in of the year.
It is New Years
Day. The man is dead, and a band of
Moabites are conducting a funeral on New Years Day.
(21) And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that,
behold, they spied a band of men: and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and
when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and
stood up on his feet.
Can you see
probably about four men, carrying a casket and they drop the dead man into the
sepulchre of Elisha. And when the dead man touched the dead
bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet and said Happy New Year!
I know that isn’t in there, but it was New Years Day.
Can you imagine how those four fellows would take off? I think they would. They
were burying a man, and he’s dead. Dead, and his dead body touches the dead
carcass of a dead prophet, and he bounces out of the sepulchre. Well, I tell
you, it takes faith to believe that.
What are these
stories in the Bible for? These stories are in the Bible to challenge our faith. Do we believe what is in the Bible? I believe it because God
says it. And if God is behind it, then God can do it. And if God does it, it is going to be unusual, because God is in the business of doing the unusual thing. That’s why the Bible is a different Book. That’s why you can’t get through it in a few
hours or a few days. There are things in this Book that you can only believe if you believe that God is. Well Hallelujah!
Now I turn to
the New Testament I shall continue to
say, and I will not apologize for repetition -- If we can believe Matthew 17, if we can really
embrace it, it will take all of the fogginess out of
our future. It is one of those tremendous passages, and I never apologize for
going back to it again
Matthew 17: 1-8
(1) And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John
his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart.
Peter was still in his body of flesh, as I am.
James and John were still in their frail, fallen bodies as we are. But they went with Jesus to the Mount
of Transfiguration.
(2) And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine
as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
(3) And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias
talking with him.
There appeared
Moses and Elias, and they are talking. In round figures how many years since Moses
had died and was buried? – 1500
years. How long since Elijah
had departed from this earth? – 700 years.
This to me is tremendous. There are many
lessons in here. Moses was removed by dying. Elijah was removed without dying. But they are both with the Lord on the Mount.
When the Lord
was transfigured and Glorified, the representative of all the believing dead was there in Moses. And a representative of those who were
going to go to Heaven without dying
was there is Elijah. They both appeared. Moses is still
talking 1500 years after he was buried. Have you got faith to believe that? Listen, this Book is the Word of
God. And this book reveals the things of God. What do you have to gather from
that? Death is not the end of a believer! If Moses could talk 1500 years after he was buried, I’ll still be talking too.
It is going to take more
than death to shut me
up. Have you got faith to believe what you are reading?
If God could
bring Moses back, could he bring us back? If God can bring Elijah
back, can he bring us back? The marvel of this is that Peter and
James and John knew who they were. They had never seen them,
but when they were with the Glorified Christ, they knew who they were. It is going to be glorious when we are all with the Glorified Christ. We are going to know everybody. What a day that is going to be. Have you
got faith to embrace that? If you can believe what is in Matt 17, you can believe anything
that is in the Bible. Thank God for faith.
Faith is made
up of Knowledge. It is made up of a belief regarding that knowledge.
I can know that Moses appeared on the Mount, but it doesn’t do anything
if I don’t believe it.
3. Faith Is Made Up Of
Trust
1 Corinthians 15: 3
I am using it
as an illustration. Just a simple statement that is in God’s Word that I think
is wonderful.
(3) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures;
Christ died. That
is history.
Christ died for our sins That is Bible
knowledge.
If I didn’t
have the Bible, I wouldn’t know that. Do you know anything that is more wonderful to know than that? How wonderful to have a source to tell me that Christ died for my sins.
I may know
that Christ died.
And I may believe
that Christ died.
But I still have not operative faith.
If my faith is going to be genuine, I must trust
what I believe and what I know.
You can never trust
what you don’t believe.
You can never believe
what you do not know.
You will never know
the things of God, and the provisions of God, and the Salvation of God, apart from the Word of God.
Where
do I get the knowledge that Christ died for my sins?-- Out of the
Book. And because it is in the Book, I know
what He did. And faith believes
it. But more than that – faith trusts it. And it is not faith until you trust it.
I suppose the old
illustration that is almost a cliché now, still fits, about the fellow who rode
his bike across a cable at Niagara Falls. Then he pushed a wheel barrel across.
Then he said to the crowd “do you think I can do it again?” They all said “yes.”
And so he said to one fellow “Get into the wheel barrel.” He didn’t get any
takers. They all knew that he had done it, and they all said
they believed he could do it, but they wouldn’t trust him.
You see, it is getting into
the wheel barrel that really matters. You prove
your faith by your trust.
Without trust in what God says because God says it, you haven’t got faith.
You know it, you believe
it, you trust it. Are you trusting what you believe
because you know? You see, the importance is the source. If God said it then I can believe it. And if God
said it, then I can trust it.
But if I’m not sure
that God said it, then I will have my doubts.
But I will be settled if I believe
that God said it.
These
introductory lessons are so very important. I’m giving these introductory
lessons for our appreciation of what is to follow.
Galatians 2: 20
(20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me.
John 3: 16
(16) For God so loved the world
That is wonderful.
Ephesians 5:25
Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it
“He loved me.” Did you just read that? You have new knowledge from that Word don’t you? Christ loves me as an individual. And he gave himself for me. Now, do I dare believe that? But that is not enough. Do I trust
it?
I don’t
remember much of my mother’s preaching. I was so small when she did most of her
preaching. But I do remember that one time she got very excited when she was
preaching on this verse. She said “I believe
that if I had been the only sinner in the world, Christ would have
come. And I believe that if I had been the only sinner in the world He would have gone to the cross.
And I believe that if I had been the only person, He would have died, because the Bible says He died for me.
Have you got
faith to believe that? Have you got faith to trust that? You see, you can only trust it, if you really
believe it. And you can only believe it if you really know
it. Very recently when the Pastor of People’s church, preached in my hearing, he
made the statement “I get so thrilled just reading the Bible.” He didn’t know
he was thrilling me when he said that. I was getting the same thrill reading out of the Book --“he
loved me and he gave himself for me.” And I believe
it and I trust it. Do you
believe it? Do you trust it?
Turn to Psalm 23
Everybody loves
it. You will go to churches and they will conduct a funeral service, and I don’t know what they would do at
funeral services without the 23rd Psalm, because, it
seems to me that it is always
read and always preached – especially read.
What would we
do without it? Why is it that it is so beautiful? Why is it so loved? You see, we could read it this way:
The Lord is our
shepherd; we shall not want. He maketh us to lie
down in green pastures: he leadeth us beside
the still waters
But never read it that way. It is never in the plural.
The reason the 23rd Psalm is loved so much is because it says:
(1) The Lord is my
shepherd; I shall not want.
(2) He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters.
(3) He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for
his name’s sake.
(4) Yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Are you marking all of those personal pronouns?
(5) Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head
with oil; my cup runneth over.
(6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life: and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
What a challenge
to our faith. Thank God for the Psalmist.
I ask you again – do you trust it?
Do you really believe
it? You know, and when you know you believe. And because you believe, you trust. And so you know and you believe
and you trust. And you trust
because you believe because you know. If you don’t
know, you can’t
believe. And if you don’t believe, you can’t
trust.
When you start trusting
what you believe, then you are going to get down and dig
out, and find out, what you know. And the more
you study the Bible the more you are going to know. The more you are going to study the Bible, the more you are going to know about God.
That
is why we are studying the Bible. That’s why faith
grows. Where does faith come from? From the Bible.
Why? – because in the Bible we learn about Him.
And by learning about Him, our faith
is increased.
Psalm 34: 8
(8) O taste and see that the Lord is good
What a challenge. And then this testimony:
Blessed (happy) is the
man that trusteth in him.
Can you somehow
get a hold of that? Why are we studying the Bible? To learn what it is to trust.
And happy is the man that trusteth in him. That is not something that comes naturally . That is something you have to learn. You have to learn
to trust.
I get ribbed so often about referring to my wife. I’m going to do it anyway I
can’t stay away from it. I think one of the greatest
compliments that my wife ever gave me was one day we were talking about some
husbands who had run out on their wives. I said “Anne, did you ever have a
moment when you thought I may run away from you?” and her reply was
this: -- so sweet to my ears – “Lorne, I’ve never thought you’d leave me any more than when I was a child I ever
thought my dad would leave me.”
I thought that
was beautiful. She came up all through her life with not one fear
that her father would run out and leave her. And now she
could testify (after almost forty years at that particular time) the same with
her husband – not living
in fear.
I feel for
people today who are going through this awful, traumatic experience of not knowing whether the wife is going to run out, and
whether the husband is going to run out. Listen, there is one thing I can tell
you for sure, if you believe
it. The Lord is never
going to run out and leave you.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in
him..
Psalms 37: 3
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
The best advice I can give to anybody is
Proverbs 3: 5-6
(5) Trust in the Lord with
all thine heart (that
is step 1) ;
and lean not unto
thine own understanding.(that
is step 2)
Trust in the Lord –
why – so you won’t be leaning on your own
understanding. The Lord has better
understanding than you have.
(6) In all thy ways acknowledge him,(and
you’ve got a promise) and he shall direct thy paths.
Trust
in the Lord
Don’t
lean on yourself
In all your ways acknowledge
Him
Then the promise
---- He will direct your paths
Can you embrace
that? Can you believe that? Have you got faith
for that?
That’s what this Book is about.—to teach us how to trust in the Lord.