The Root of Biblical Faith
The Journey of faith • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Welcome…
Intro.
Open your Bible to Romans 10… let’s read from verses 11-17 in a moment…
In Luke 18:8, Jesus asks, “When the Son of Man returns, how many people of faith will he find on earth?”
I do not believe that Jesus is referring to faith as a belief in “the existence of God,” (James 2:19 “19 Do you believe that there is one God? Very good! Even the demons believe—and tremble!”),
but to faith in Almighty God that shakes the earth, moves mountains. Jesus is talking about faith that does glorious things on earth!
… “how many people of faith will he find on earth?”
People like Abraham, Moses, David, the Canaanite woman,…
Like Noah Heb.11:6-7
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.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
… “how many people with real faith will he find on earth?”
I don’t know what you expect from your Christian life, but I can tell you this:
Jesus said (to the blind man): “According to your faith let it be done to you!” // (Matthew 9:29)
Not according to your fame.
Not according to your feelings.
Not according to your fortune.
Not according to your friends.
Not according to your destiny.
According to your faith let it be done to you!
Faith is the currency of heaven that circulates on earth!
Faith is the currency of heaven that circulates on earth!
The currency of heaven is faith!
Faith is the means of exchange.
Faith is the greatest asset we have.
Unbelief is the greatest stumbling block in anyone’s life!
Unbelief is the greatest sin on earth!
Unbelief is the chief of all sins!
It is the Locomotive that pulls all the other cars…
It was unbelief that led Eve to sin against God in the Garden of Eden.
She did not believe the Word of God.
It was the sin of unbelief that closed the gates of the Promised Land,
and the Israelites could not enter, the Bible says, because of their unbelief.
It was unbelief that tied Jesus’ hands when He was in His own hometown,
and the Bible says that He could not perform any mighty work there because of their unbelief.
YES, the Sovereign and ALMIGHTY God limited Himself to working according to the faith of His people.
“According to your faith let it be done to you!”
Now, if you believe, all things are possible.
And in the spiritual realm, if you do not believe, nothing is possible.
The Bible says, in the book of Romans, that the righteous will live by faith.
Just as you live physically by breathing and the nourishment you get from food, you live spiritually by faith.
The Bible says “the righteous will live by faith.”
So today we will learn about the topic: The Root of Biblical Faith
11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
I. The Object of Biblical Faith.
I. The Object of Biblical Faith.
The first thing I want you to notice is what we will call the object of biblical faith.
Scripture says, Anyone who believes in him - … look at what it says - …
Anyone who believes in him -Him - will never be put to shame.
anyone who trusts in Him will NEVER!!! …
Now, pay attention:
faith must have the right object to be a Biblical faith.
Mark 11:22 “22 Jesus answered, “Have faith in God.” //
“Your faith is not greater than its object.”
It is not faith in faith that moves mountains. It is God who moves mountains.
“Have faith in God.” //
“No one who trusts in him will ever be put to shame.”
another passage:
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
…but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.
This is the reality of biblical faith.
Your faith is not better than its object.
Lesson #1, “Your faith will never be greater than its object.” You need to Know God.
II. The Root of Biblical Faith
II. The Root of Biblical Faith
Now, here is the second thing I want you to understand about biblical faith.
First: What is the object of biblical faith: it is God, have faith in God.
Second: #2: Hearing the God You Know.
Look at verse fourteen:
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Pay close attention to this point…
To have faith, you need to hear from God.
Do you understand? // To have faith, you need to hear from God.
Faith is not a matter of willpower.
This verse says that faith comes from… where? …who? ….
Faith does not come from you… you do not generate it; it comes from…God
God is the one who gives us faith.
Chapter two of Ephesians 2:8 says the following:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Faith is the gift of God.
Grace is the gift of God…
see also Philippians 1:29
29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
This verse tells us about two privileges in Christ: a) we have been given the privilege of believing in Christ; b) we have been given the privilege of suffering for Him.
We have been given the privilege of believing. God gives faith.
No one can believe in God unless God enables him to believe. // 2x.
And how does God enable us to believe? God gives us His Word//
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
So, contrary to popular belief, you don’t declare and take possession. God speaks, you believe and take possession.
Do you hear that? You don’t declare something and take possession. God has to speak; you believe to receive.
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
(// read slowly…)
faith comes from hearing the message…
In other words, if you don’t hear… there’s no way to have faith, you need to hear.
To hear he says: and the hearing through the “word” of Christ.
How does this work?
What does it mean hearing through the “word” of Christ?
(Explain the two most common words for the word “WORD” in the Greek language in the NT.)
(not wanting to sound too technical… but it’s important to know this)
One is logos:
the Bible/Scripture is the Logos, and in the gospel of John,
Jesus is called the word/logos, the Word of God.
We could say that the logos is the Bible, the written Word that speaks of the Living Word. Jesus is the logos…
All of God’s Revelation revealed in the Bible is the logos.
But there is another word that is translated as word and it is rhema-rhema. (67 times) And that’s the word used here in Romans 10:17
Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the “rhema” of Christ - the rhema of Christ.
Not the logos, but the rhema.
Now, what does that mean? What does the word rhema mean?
It means a direct pronouncement.
It means a direct word.
For example:
13 And God said to Noah,… 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (Ge 12:1).
4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Ex 3:4)
How do you receive a rhema word?
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, (Heb 1:1–2)
You take the Bible, which is the logos.
Pray:
Thanking God for the blessings you have received in the last 24 hours.
Confess your sins committed in the last 24 hours
Ask God to show you what you need to do today.
Pray for someone who needs prayer.
Read the Bible:
start reading with a sincere desire to know Him, do this every day (start with 10 minutes… start reading the gospel of John…)
The Logos begins to speak to you from the Word of God.
You receive a rhema from the logos. You receive a direct pronouncement from Christ, and Christ speaks directly to you!
And you will hear in your heart the message of Christ. ]
YES! You CAN HEAR from Christ because HE IS ALIVE! …
“My sheep hear my voice!
That's the reason, friends, why before I preach I go into my room, close the door… and always say: "Lord, help me to preach YOUR Word."
Because, my friend, for you to have faith, you need to listen to Christ and not Samuel.
What I have to do is be God’s delivery guy, the deliverer of Jesus, I come here to make a delivery for Jesus. Jesus is the owner of the message.
Look, verse fourteen:
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
Now, notice the phrase, “How shall they hear without a preacher?”
There must be a preacher, but the message is from Christ.
You say, “Well, He never spoke to me like that.”
Are you listening? \
“Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
“He who has ears, let him hear.”
Have you been spending time alone with God?
Are you daily washing your mind with the cleansing water of God’s Word?
Is your heart ready to do His will? to say: “Here I am.”
Do you want to hear Him?
Have you been presenting yourself before Him and saying, “Here I am, Lord, speak, for Your servant is listening”…?
You will receive unshakable faith through the rhema of Christ, and the rhema you receive through the logos.
The object of faith is God. #1: Know God. #2. You need to hear from God. # 3 Obey God
What is the behavior of unshakable faith?
Listen VERY carefully.:
We have learned that faith is a gift from God.
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, and God will not give you a word about something that is not His will.
What is Biblical faith? It is believing God!
How do you acquire faith? You have to hear from the Lord.
What is the result of faith? The result of faith is knowing God’s will.
Listen friends, true faith does more than simply “believe” and “know” God’s will. It obeys.
“The behavior of steadfast faith is obedience.”
If what you say you believe does not translate into action, you do not truly believe.
Now look at verse sixteen:
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
“Lord, who has believed our message?”
“Not everyone…has accepted the good news.”
When you believe, you obey/accept…
Faith is a belief with legs.
Someone might think, well, if I can’t believe, it’s not my fault; it’s God’s fault, because God didn’t give me faith. The pastor said that no one can believe unless God speaks to them; and maybe God didn’t speak to me, so if I don’t believe, it’s not my fault.
God has an answer for you. Look at verse 18:
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
“Their voice went out into all the earth, and their words, rhema - to the ends of the world.”
Silver Spring, Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Hong Kong… “to the ends of the world”
See vs21
21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
“All along I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and rebellious people.”
Christ is speaking.
He has brought each of us here today to hear what He is saying: “I love you.”
Verse 16: “However, not all have accepted the good news.” -
Not all will obey the gospel.
Not all will embrace faith.
God stretches out His hand, but there are people who are “disobedient and rebellious.”
“disobedient” - Not a very pretty word, is it?
The word disobedient means obstinate.
God says: Mal.3:11
11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.
He says: I love you.
Then He says: Mal.3:10
10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
In this point, the person argues. He hears the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit tells him inside that it is true, but he argues, debates, argues, judges inappropriately and unfairly and decides: “I will not believe this”. “I will not obey this”.
And God says: “All the time I have reached out to a disobedient and rebellious people”.
“However, not everyone accepted the good news.” - vs 16
(Let’s All stand…)
Conclusion:
TheThree elements of Unshakable Faith:
TheThree elements of Unshakable Faith:
#1. The object of Faith:God
#2. The root of Faith: Hear
from God
#3. The behavior of Faith:
Obedience
Back to what Jesus asked in Luke 18: “When the Son of Man returns, how many people with faith will he find on earth?”
Friend, listen. Activate your faith through obedience.
Years and years ago, men dreamed of a railroad that would cross the continent, coming from the west coast to the east coast, and coming from the east coast to the west coast, and of course they called it the Transcontinental Railroad. They started building these trails on the west coast; started on the east coast. And they came to a place where the trails met. They brought together governors from two states because they would connect these railroads. When they reached the place where they would connect these tracks, they brought one steam engine here and another there. And they were there to blow the whistles, and there was a big party, and stuff, I imagine. But one of the things they did was to take a golden spike and a silver hammer, and when the railroad was nearly finished, except for one spike, they took the golden spike and drove it in with the silver hammer, and when they did, the people gave a shout, because the East and the West; were united!
Friend, when Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary, He did more than unite the East and the West; He united God and man. With one hand He took sinful man, and with the other He took Holy God, and when the spikes were thrust into His hands, the only silver there was was the silver of His tears, and the only gold was the gold of His blood. And on the cross, with His blood, Jesus reconciled God and man.
Now, listen to me. I pray to God and hope that ALL of you will be saved and that on the day you leave that world, you will go to heaven.
But none of us will reach heaven on the locomotive of good works.
No one will climb the ladder of logic.
Or in the rocket of reason.
You will only get there via the Redemption Railway.
The Journey will require faith.
Trust in the gospel and obey the Lord, for there is no other way to be happy and prosper than to trust and obey.
Activate your faith by saying today: “God, I believe in you. And therefore I will obey.
If God spoke to you today and you decided to trust, leave your place and come here to the altar. I want to challenge you to make a symbolic surrender before the Lord.
And on the authority of God’s Word: if you trust Him, He will save you.
For the Scripture we read here says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If you pray a prayer like this: God, I am a sinner; I am lost; I need to be saved. I can’t save myself alone. Jesus, you died to save me. You promised to save me, if I trusted you. I trust you now. Come into my heart, forgive my sin and save me.
Father, I pray today that many in this building will say yes to Jesus and be saved. In Your wonderful name I pray. Amen.
