Christian Core Values--FAITH

Core Values—Faith

I.         Used only twice in the Old Testament (245 times in NT)

A.    Deuteronomy 32:20  And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 

a.      Strong’s # 529 Hebrew word—emun (ay-moon) defined as: established, that is, (figuratively) trusty; also (abstractly) trustworthiness: translated as- faith (-ful), truth.

B.    Habakkuk_2:4  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

a.      Strong’s # 530 Hebrew word—emunah (em-oo-naw) defined as: literally firmness; figuratively security; moral fidelity: translated as - faith (-ful, -ly, -ness, [man]), set office, stability, steady, truly, truth, verily.

b.      God wants us to be established, firm, secure, trusty, have moral fidelity, and be trustworthy

c.       the Bible said it is impossible to please Him without faith (Hebrews 11:6)

So often our definition of faith is associated with receiving something (i.e. healing or blessing) or just believing in the existence of God, but it goes so much further—faith means you TRUST God! A man/woman of faith is established in his/her relationship with God and truly believes that He will take care of them. They BELIEVE God and they live a life that reflects that belief.

II.       Faith without works is dead.

A.    James 2:14-26

a.      14-18—living faith performs and functions, dead faith does nothing 

b.      19-20—even devils know there is only One God, (they even tremble!!)

c.       21-24—Abraham’s faith was justified when he performed what he proclaimed to believe

                                                                                                  i.      Genesis 22:1-14—God tested Abraham’s faith; Abraham obeyed God because he believed the promise God had given him

                                                                                                ii.      Hebrews 11:17-19—he believed God was able to raise Isaac from the dead!!

III.     David even requested that God would reward and show mercy to him according to his actions!!

A.    Psalm 7:8 

a.      according to his righteousness and integrity

B.    Psalm 33:20

a.       according as his hope

IV.      Jesus often rewarded according to people’s faith!             

A.    Matthew 9:1,2

a.        Jesus SAW their faith and their friend was healed!!

B.    Matthew 9:20-22

a.      Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole

C.    Matthew 9:27-31

a.      Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.     

D.    Mark 10:46-52

a.      And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

E.    Luke 7:36-5

a.      And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. (woman who washed His feet)

F.     Luke 17:11-19

a.      Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. (leper)

V.        Jesus made a proclamation of GREAT faith only twice, and it was to Gentiles!!

A.    Matthew 8:10 –13

a.      When Jesus heard it, he marvelled

B.    Matthew 15:22-28

a.      great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt

In the Bible, we don’t really see Jesus rebuking sinners for their sins, He does command them to repent and “sin no more” but He doesn’t focus so much on their faults; He DOES, however, rebuke the religious people—He repeatedly rebuked the Pharisees, Scribes, and Lawyers for their hypocrisy and the disciples for their lack of faith.

VI.      You can believe and not believe

A.    Hebrews 3:6-13 

a.      6—we are God’s house if we hold fast and stand firm

b.      7-8—hear His voice!! (cf. Romans 10:17) don’t harden your heart!!

c.       8-10—even though they believed in God, they didn’t believe!

d.      11—they didn’t receive the promise (v19)

e.       12—they had an evil heart of UNBELIEF

f.        13—sin hardens and deceives (v.17)

B.    Hebrews 4:1-11

a.      1-2—we should be diligent to make sure our “hearing” is mixed w/faith

a)     the gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us!!

b)     The “preached” word did not profit them! (v6)

b.      3-9—there remains a rest for the people of God (v8-Joshua)

c.       10-11—we no longer work to obtain salvation, we labor to be faithful, to know God, to draw close to him, to please Him, to keep ourselves in the faith so that we do not fall into unbelief

VII.            Conclusion— What is our Faith??

A.    I Peter 1:3-9 

a.     3—lively hope

b.     4—an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,

c.      5—kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation

d.     6—though now for a season…ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations

e.      7—the trial of your faith…much more precious than of gold…might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

f.       8—having not seen, ye love; in whom…believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory

g.      9—receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls

Be Ye Perfect

Matthew 5:43-48

-v48 be ye therefore perfect-- Greek word is teleios (tel'-i-os) Major idea is to be complete or whole —is translated as perfect (17 times); of full age (1time); men (1 time), Strong's Concordance

 
Perfect--American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828

1. Finished; complete; consummate; not defective; having all that is requisite to its nature and kind; as a perfect statue; a perfect likeness; a perfect work; a perfect system.

2. Fully informed; completely skilled; as men perfect in the use of arms; perfect in discipline.

3. Complete in moral excellencies.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Mat 5.

4. Manifesting perfection.

Does the word perfect here mean mature as we have often heard it explained? Was Jesus saying, “be ye therefore mature, even as your Father in heaven is mature?”

Peter tells us to be holy as “he which has called you is holy.”1Pe 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Holy--Greek work is hagios (hag'-ee-os) Defined as: sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated)--is translated as holy (168 times); saints, saint, saints' (62 times); most holy (1 time), Strong's Concordance

Matthew 19:16-21

-v18,19 Adherence to the commandments (law).

-v20 The young man thought he was doing what was required of him

-v21 Jesus said if you will be perfect

1. Forsake earthly treasures (see Matthew 6:19-21)
2. Give (see Philippians 2:4-5; Galatians 6:1-10)
3. Follow Jesus (Matthew 10:38-39)

James 2:19-24

-v19 There's more to following Jesus than just saying you believe!

-v21 Abraham was “justified” when he offered Isaac upon the altar

-v22 Abraham's faith was made perfect through his action

-v23 The scripture was fulfilled!---Abraham's belief was made manifest

-v24 A man is not justified by faith only!! Faith + works = evidence of the Spirit

(James 1:26-27)

The Spirit leads us and prompts us to work. We deceive ourselves if we believe we have to do nothing as the children of God.Luke 6:40--Jesus said “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.”

1 John 2:3-11; v29

-v3 We know that we know him if we keep his commandments.

-v4 If we don't keep them, we are a liar and the truth is not in us

-v5 If we keep his word, the love of God is perfected in us

-v6 If we say we are His, we should walk as He walked—how did Jesus walk? (Acts 10:38)

-v9 If we have hatred in our heart, we are walking in darkness

-v10 If we truly have love, there is no occasion of stumbling in us

-v11 If we have hatred in our heart, we are sure to stumble because we are blinded by that darkness

-v29 Every one that does righteousness is born of Him!

1 John 3:2-10; 14-19

-v 3 Every man that has this hope purifies himself, as he is pure

-v4 If you transgress the law, you commit sin!!?? (1Timothy 1:5=the purpose of the commandment)

-v6 Whoever abides in Him does not commit sin

-v7 He that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous

-v8 Whoever commits sin is of the devil (one who lives a lifestyle of sin; see 1John 2:1)

-v9 Whoever is born of God does not commit sin

-v10 This is what makes us different from children of the devil—we do righteousness and have love

-v14 We know we have passed from life to death because we have love

-v16 We perceive the love of God because He did something

-v17,18 This is the evidence of love from that same Spirit working within us

-v19 This is how we know and can be sure that we are of the truth (refer back to vss.17,18)

1 John 4:7-9; 16-17

-v7 Everyone that loves is born of God and knows God

-v8 One that has no love for others doesn't even know God

-v9 God's love was manifested by what Jesus did on the cross—our love (or lack thereof) will also be manifested by our actions

-v16,17 Our love is made perfect by dwelling in love—if we dwell in love, we dwell in God because God is love!!

We can see from our study of 1 John that the children of God will work righteousness, actively try to shun sin, purify themselves, and, above all, will be perfected by abiding in love. Our true nature will be manifested by our actions, just as God manifested His love toward us through the cross. (see Romans 5:6-8) 

There is a call to the children of God to do something—to let our faith be moved into action because we have love!!

Matthew 16:24-27

Why should we exchange our souls for earthly treasures? We are all exerting our efforts toward attaining some goal, even if it is only to proceed to the next level of a video game or computer game. Lets put our efforts into striving toward things that please God, I mean, after all, we will be rewarded according to our WORKS!!!

--John Burkett 9/08/2010

Peace in Babylon

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

To most of us, this is a very familiar verse. It is one which comforts us with the reminder of God’s loving attributes toward His children. It consoles us, it lets us know that God has a purpose for our lives. One thing that many people fail to realize is the circumstances surrounding this prophecy. It was given during a time of great confusion, great fear, great horror–a time when the people of God were unsure about their future. What was going to become of them, their children, their nation? Most of them had been carried away into a foreign land; they were taken from everything they had ever known, and everything they had ever know was taken from them. They were now servants in a strange land called Babylon.

Jeremiah 29:4-14
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD. 10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

v 4- God proclaims that He is the cause of their captivity. The meaning of Babylon is "confusion (by mixing)". This is very relevant because when God’s people try to combine their lives with the influence of the world, confusion is sure to invade. God is causing them to be taken from a place of "teaching of peace" (Jerusalem) to a place of "confusion caused by mixing" (Babylon).

v 5-6- God is instructing them to prepare themselves for their captivity. He instructs them to build houses to dwell in, to prepare ways of sustaining their lives, and to continue to increase. When we find ourselves in a place that should bring us absolute misery, we should still desire to live and bring forth fruit. When all logical reasoning says that we will be destroyed, we should
defy the fear of peril and rise up in the strength of His promise. We are more than conquerers through Him and we will continue to live and increase no matter what threat our circumstances might declare!

v 7- God tells them to pray for peace in the city of their dwelling, because if there is peace in the city, then they will dwell in peace. No matter what our surroundings, we can have peace in the midst of our problems. If we pray, God will cause us to dwell in peace. Jesus instructs us not to let our heart be troubled nor afraid because He promised that He would give His peace to us and leave it with us. (John 14:27)

v 8-9- God warns them not to be deceived by the false prophets in their midst. He even discouraged them from trusting in their own dreams! Perhaps the message of the deceivers had influenced their thoughts to the point of even corrupting their dreams. It is very important that we judge the message being preached. We should never take the word of a self-proclaimed prophet over the message of Christ. Let God be true, but every man a liar. (Romans 3:4)

v 10-11- God has warned them against the message of the false prophets and now He is reminding them of His message. The message that, although He has caused them to be in an unpleasant situation, His thoughts toward them are peaceful, not evil. Their situation is only temporary and God’s ultimate plan is to do them good, to fulfill His promise concerning them.

v 12-13- God is revealing to them why He has done this. He wants them to turn their hearts back to Him. The reason God caused their captivity was because of their idolatry. God used Babylon to turn their hearts back to Him. God is going to reconcile His children to Himself, no matter what it requires. He proved this through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.(see Romans 5:8)

v 14- God promises them that when they turn back to Him, He will hear them and He will bring them back to their intended home. He promises to restore them to their original place of dwelling.

Conclusion

Although we may find ourselves in unpleasant situations, we can rest in the assurance of God’s faithfulness. God has promised that He will never leave us and never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). God will not allow His covenant people to remain in error; He will punish us when it is necessary, but it is always for our correction. In verse 14, God says that He "will be found" of them, but the truth is that God was never lost, nor will He ever be. God was there all the time, waiting for His people to turn back to Him; and when they did, He was ready to "be found". When we end up in a land of confusion, it is usually because we are "mixed up", but thank God that He is right there to bring us back into our peaceful city.

—John Burkett