The Christian Life Means Faith- Sermon preached by Dr. J. Ben Sloan at Lake Murray Presbyterian 7-10-22

 

7/10/22- “The Christian Life, Means Faith.”  2 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 5:13
For we walk by faith, not by sight.   Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

There was an article this weekend that came out in the Washington Post that pointed out that belief in God has been one of the strongest most reliable markers of being an American.  This week it has dipped to its lowest point since the question was first asked in 1944- 81%.  Now what do Americans agree about?  One of the most common things was belief in God- it was for years between 96 and 99%.  It started dropping in 2011- when 92% then 2017 87% and now 81%.   In Europe only 26% say they believe in the God of the Bible while 36% say they believe in a higher power.  What happened in 2011?  I believe we began to codify immorality and the population went right along with it. We were not just neutral toward faith but a bit negative toward Christian faith's old morality- (adultery, sabbth breaking, truth telling- were looked down on).  The article in the Washington Post said people quit attending, then quit affiliating, then quit believing.  But there is one step prior to quitting attending- and that is many started going or living their own way apart from the Bible and God.   Faith means saying, "Not my will, but yours be done." Not my way but yours. 

     The Bible says FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD.  What that means is if you say you have faith, but you are living solely by sight- a show me kind of life- then your faith is dead.  When you cannot make the hard choice of living God’s way according to the scripture, and choose to live however you choose, then your faith is dying.  You can trace the fall of empires to this one step.  When Israel rebelled against God and thought it was okay to worship the Baals with their temple prostitutes- they were taken into exile.  When Rome said they believed, but then had a growing pagan morality- they fell- though they had the best trained soldiers compared to the barbarians.  When the Eastern Roman empire was all about greed and power and they also lost their moral compass for the last few hundred years of its existence falling in 1453- though they had the highest walls in Europe.  The people actually chose death over unity with western Christendom. May I point out that many in Germany in the 1930s said they were believers, but they had a vast disconnect between what they were doing to other human beings in the concentration camps.  It was moral outrage that fueled and energized the defeat of the Axis powers.  It was moral and religious ferver that distinguished America from the USSR and empowered eastern Europe to rebel and us to win the cold war in 1989.  We can always live by our bellies and our hormones and then we wonder why our faith is not stronger.  Works is not just doing something positive for God- it is also refusing to do bad.  We are saved by faith, but faith shows itself in works and morality.  If we do not have the faith to get outside of ourselves and do good and to try to please God with obedience and holiness, then we will wonder why our faith is dead.  If you want to have faith- then believe that God can be pleased and listen to Him by faith in the way that you live.  Faith means going His way and not your own.
       FAITH IS NOT SIGHT- The great verse to memorize about faith is this- we walk by faith not by sight.  You don’t have to see everything to believe.  You have to trust.  If you are a person who has been burned by others, hurt by others, betrayed by others- and you think you cannot trust anyone… Let me to invite you to follow the one who was burned, hurt and betrayed!  Jesus trusted in God- even on the cross where He said Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing, and where he forgave the thief on the cross inviting him into paradise with Him. 
   God has given us senses, but He never intended us to simply rely on our senses.  Our senses can fail us- like optical illusions, or misinterpretation.  The old joke about the guy who called out to his wife thinking she couldn’t hear him, then he stepped closer- can you hear me now?  Then he stepped even closer and said “honey can you hear me?”  Then the fourth time he came right next to her and said, “Can you hear me now?”  She said, “For the fourth time- “Yes.”  In the book “Our Eyes are a Parable About Faith” Jon Bloom says, “God created our eyes so that when we view an object, the image we see is initially upside-down.  The image is carried along millions of optic nerves to the brain. The brain receives a picture of the world flipped on its head and figures out how to interpret them as right side up.”  So we see the world sometimes as upside down morally, but we are called to remember what it is really like by faith.
       FAITH BRINGS UNITY-  Our passage in Ephesians 4:13 says until we all reach unity in the faith…becoming mature.  There is one faith, one Lord, one baptism.  We may think faith divides- and we may think we shouldn’t talk about it in family or with friends- but a family united in faith has a strong bond.  The way faith matures is we may think that faith doesn’t matter at first.  Then we may start to super distinguish between faiths pointing out all the differences.  But there is a unity in faith that we attain if we believe.  So on our mission trip to South Sudan, we met people who spoke 12 different languages - but there was a unity there across language barriers, cultural and national barriers.  The ultimate maturity is when we get to heaven.  When we get to heaven according to scripture- we don’t find those who rebel against God, nor do we find those who refuse to believe.  But we do find people from every language, tribe, nation and culture there.   For true believe transcend these artificial barriers.  There is a tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.  That tie Is faith.  You cannot live the Christian life without faith.  Faith shows itself by its fruits- by their fruits you shall know them- that is faith without works is dead.  First, comes faith.  Then love then hope.  The church is not just a do good society.  It is not a museum of nice people.  It is a place where we believe.  We invite you to believe with us- be part of our fam of faith.

The Faith of Caleb- Overcoming Giants

1Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. 2The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” 3But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as theLord has promised you.

4After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” (Deuteronomy 9)

Thoughts: Numbers 13 records 12 spies being sent out to spy out the land of Canaan.  Compared to the desert they were living in, it was a land of milk and honey, grapes, and abundance.  But the problem was that Giants stood in their way- descendants of Anak- people like Goliath.  Only Caleb and Joshua of the twelve said that they could overcome these guys and their strength.  The poll said there was no hope. The people would rather whine and complain than try.  The giants had a reputation and the saying around was "who can stand up against the Anakites?"  Caleb knew if God was on their side they could win.  David knew a similar thing.  He said, "You come at me with bows and arrows but I come at you in the name of the Lord" and the giant Goliath fell to a little boy who had faith and a sling.  In the end the people conquered the land.  But those who were afraid did not do it- it was the next generation (Caleb and Joshua lived to see it, however).
     Today you will face giant problems.  If not today then soon.  The good news is that you do not face these problems in your own strength unless you let your fear control you.  Do not let fear of what might happen squish your dreams and your call.  So Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  

Prayer: Help me to walk by faith and not by sight.