Faith

if you turn your attention to hebrews chapter 11. hebrews chapter 11 and verse 1 says now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen now the translation says now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen for by it the people of old received their commendation by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of god so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible tonight i had about 10 different titles all of them involved faith so i told my wife i'm just gonna title this thing faith very broad and then i can go wherever i need to go but i believe that god wants to do something in this place tonight would if you're open to that if you want god to work in your family or in a situation that you're going through and a co-worker or a neighbor would you lift your hands right now would you ask the lord just to have his way in this place and to speak into our lives lord i thank you for your presence that is so that is here and that is so powerful and i pray tonight god that you would take liberty to move and to work we open ourselves tonight and we avail ourselves to you and to the work and move of your spirit i pray that the gifts of the spirit would operate in this place here tonight god i pray that as your word goes forth that our hearts would be open and receptive to hear your word that we thank you and we praise you would you clap your hands again and let's praise this great god we praise you we worship you and we lift you up hallelujah hallelujah and you can be seated we did not see light separated from darkness we did not experience dry land appear and water gather together becoming earth and seas we were not there when trees and plants and seeds began to form we did not sit back and watch god make the sun and the moon and the stars as they were formed to give light to what we call day and night we were not there when the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the beasts of the field were created mankind was not alive to see these incredible things take place you see it was on the sixth day when god created man in his image and in his likeness we were not there to experience these spectacular and magnificent events yet by faith faith in god and faith in his word we understand that these things were created by god and they were created by the word of god hebrews 11 6 says 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 can i make a statement tonight and i want you to grab a hold of it faith should not be an event in our life faith should be a lifestyle faith should not be an event in our life but faith should be a lifestyle romans 1 17 for in it the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the righteous or the just shall live by faith you see faith is not a concept that we visit faith is a lifestyle that we possess i shouldn't just have faith when i have a need amen when things are not going my way that should not be the only time that i have faith when i experience pain or sickness or frustration or hurt or financial difficulty yes those are great times to believe that he is god and that he's on the throne and he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him but faith should be a lifestyle that we possess is this all right i know it's wednesday night but i feel something in the holy ghost stirring me tonight about faith faith should be a lifestyle that we possess every day when i wake up and i go throughout my day no matter what comes my way i believe that you are god and i believe that you are on the throne though i may not see him and though i cannot touch him physically i believe that he is god and i believe that he is sovereign and i believe that he is in control and i believe that he is all-powerful and i believe that he has my best interest in mine amen as i'm going through my day i believe that he is faithful i believe that he's on the throne i believe that he hears me and i believe that he will answer me faith is not a concept that i look at when things are not going my way the only time that we have faith should not be it should not be when we're going through some things in our life because faith is a lifestyle of believing that god is god and he is in control romans 10 and 17 so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god don't think for a second that you will be able to face the twists and turns of life without recharging your faith the ups and downs of life are bound to wear on you the disappointments and trials we'll fee we feel and and do feel sometimes like a gut punch when we go through those things but as you begin to read the word of god there is something that is so supernatural and powerful about the word of god it is not just a book it is a live i said it is alive and as you begin to read it and listen to it and hear it and meditate upon it something powerful begins to take place your faith begins to grow and all of the sudden you feel like you can climb any mountain and you can walk through any valley because your faith is renewed and your god because god is almighty and he's on the throne and his word is powerful in order for us to live this lifestyle of faith we must have the word of god we have to have the word of god i want to look at the story of lazarus tonight to pull out some points of what to do and what not to do when it comes to faith i'll use this story as a backdrop to point to some things that will strengthen your understanding of faith i'll be reading from john chapter 11 in just a minute but before we get there i want to point something out jesus before we hear the story of lazarus being sick and dying jesus already had a relationship with mary and martha and lazarus there was a relationship that was built prior to the crisis and prior to the need you probably know where i'm going there are too many people that choose to have a concept of faith when things are going sideways the only time they call out to god is in crisis the only time they have prayer time is when they're up against the wall and when they need a miracle they have not built this infrastructure of relationship with god and they are just using god because they are in trouble some people treat god like a genie rub the lamp and make a wish god i need this i need this i want this i want that they have spent no time at the altar no time and praise no time in worship they don't serve him they don't seek him we have got to get out of the shallow end of the pool where we only have faith and only seek god and only talk to god when things are going bad or when we need something watch this in matthew chapter 17 jesus talks and we we read about this relationship with faith and this lifestyle of faith in matthew 17 they brought the the disciples the people brought the disciples a boy that needed a miracle they brought them to the disciples and they could do nothing for him you remember this story jesus they brought him to jesus and jesus healed them and then jesus kind of got upset with him with them and verse 19 matthew 17 and 19 then came the disciples of jesus apart and said why could we not cast him out jesus gives some reasons here he says because of your unbelief for verily i say unto you if you have a faith as of a grain of a mustard seed you shall say unto this mountain remove hence to yonder place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible to you but watch this he ties relationship back into it and back into this lifestyle of faith he says howbeit or however this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting in other words you can have just a little bit of faith a mustard seed little grain of faith and you can speak to the mountain and you can tell it to move and it will move he said but however these things if you're going to do that and you're going to operate in faith and you're going to speak to things these things come not but by prayer and by fasting in other words there has to be relationship with god and when there is relationship or a lifestyle of faith with god you can use that faith and you can speak to the mountain this lifestyle of faith involves a relationship with god on the bad days yes but also on the good days when i don't need a miracle when life is good when blessings are upon me i must still have a lifestyle of faith where i am in relationship and i am in communication with him yeah it makes sense to do that it seems when when things are going wrong and things are going sideways because we want him and we need him and we've got to have him work but in the good times and in the times of blessing when everything is going right we still must have this relationship with god and this one-on-one communication with him now let's look at the story in john chapter 11 and verse 1.

it says now a certain man was sick named lazarus of bethany the town of mary and her sister martha therefore his sisters sent unto him saying lord behold he whom thou lovest is sick when jesus heard it he said the sickness is not unto death but for the glory of god that the son of god might be glorified thereby watch this in a different translation it says this illness does not lead to death it is for the glory of god so the son of god may be glorified through it verse five now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus see there was a relationship there between them so when he heard that lazarus was ill the bible says that he stayed two days longer in the place where he was after verse 11 after saying these things he said to his disciples our friend lazarus has fallen asleep but i go to awake him the disciples said unto him lord if he has fallen asleep he will recover jesus had spoken of his death but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep so jesus said to them plainly lazarus has died jesus chose to stay a couple more days where he was can i venture to say that he knew what was on the horizon for lazarus he knew the dire circumstance that was ahead and i don't read anywhere that they sent another messenger to tell jesus that lazarus had died jesus already knew that he was going to die he wasn't concerned with their timeline because he had already seen 10 steps before them his thoughts are not our thoughts his ways are not our ways he's way higher and mightier than we are he sees past what we can see john 11 and 15 he tells the disciples and for your sake i'm glad that i was not there so that you may believe he said but let us go to him he had already said that this illness was not to death but for the glory of god he was telling his disciples i'm getting ready to strengthen your faith i'm getting ready to show you something that you have never seen before and when you see it you will believe verse 20.

so when martha heard that jesus was coming she went and met him and mary remained seated in the house martha said to jesus you ready this is where i was trying to get to lord if you had been here my brother would not have died i've noticed something here that i've never noticed before martha of course is frustrated i've noticed that and uh she said you didn't show up when i sent for you jesus you delayed the answer you stayed where you were and and she says this statement and and to me it it seems like and i've always thought of it as a rebuke to jesus well if you would have been here now you're here i don't know if she talked to him like that or not i hope she didn't lord she did call him lord lord if you had been here my brother would not have died she was frustrated and it almost seemed like a rebuke but watch this she believed that jesus could heal him she believed that jesus could perform the miraculous she believed that jesus could touch him during this rebuke so i thought she's saying lord if you would have been here he would not have died in other words she was saying if you would have showed up i know that you would have healed him i know that he would have been healed so she was actually speaking words of faith but what she didn't understand is there was uh more going on than when she could see when that servant came to jesus he could jesus i believe this and i think you believe this jesus could have spoke the word right then and there and he could have healed lazarus jesus when that when that servant came to him and said lazarus is sick and and martha and mary sent me uh to you to tell you to come this way because because lazarus is sick he could have sent him on and said lazarus you're healed he could have sent his word he could have spoken into existence if he wanted to but if he would have done that would he have still have got the glory because even his disciples said if he would just get some rest then he will surely recover they're the ones who said that so i wonder that if jesus would have just sent his word and lazarus would have been laying there sick and then all of a sudden he's feeling better and he's up and he's walking around would they would not the bystanders around say well he just needed some rest he wasn't going to die he was yeah he was on death's doorstep but but he didn't die and then if that happened would jesus have really got the glory i believe that this circumstance and i know because of the word of god it happened in their life so that's god's glory and god's power could be revealed so some might believe martha possibly taken back by her rudeness to jesus i don't know if she was rude you know you get those text messages or emails and you're like did they just send that to me they didn't really mean it that way it couldn't happen here i don't know so martha either taken back and realized what she just did to jesus or maybe it was a revelation that came to her she said in verse 22.

watch this she said but even now i know that whatever you ask from god god will give it to you somehow she got a hold of this even now faith even now faith you know what that's like it's when the problem has gone from bad to worse even now when you didn't show up when i thought you should even now he's dead he's sticking and he's in the grave so many times you and i get to the same place martha was lord if you would have showed up before the situation got out of control if you would have got here before it went from bad to worse before it went from sickness to death if you would have just showed up when i thought you should have showed up we would not be in the circumstance but jesus is saying yeah but would i have got the glory would i have got the glory i don't know about you i don't like going through trials i don't like going through tribulation i don't like going through things in this life but it's go if it's going to bring him glory and it's going to point people to him and people are going to believe on him that i want his process to unfold in my life even now faith says although he looks too far gone and although it looks like there's no turning back and although the situation looks dead and there's no more life can i preach to somebody here today although my daughter is far from god although my grandkids aren't making good decisions although my family seems too far gone although my neighborhood and my city seems like they're too far away from god even now faith says god you can deliver even now faith says you can deliver my son from addictions you can save my daughter you can restore that marriage you can speak peace to the storm you can give hope you can heal cancer you can turn my city back to you would you lift your hands all over this place and say god i believe god i have faith and you can do it no matter where i'm at in the process no matter how far gone i feel the situation is my hope and my trust is in you i believe that you can here's the flip side to all of those situations when your situation looks like it's too far gone and there is no turning back and it looks like there is no more hope you are in a perfect position for the miraculous to happen in your life when everything seems too far gone that's a good time for god to show up even now faith says god you can with this even now faith she releases the problem into the hands of jesus i've done all i know to do i prayed but you haven't fixed it when i thought you were going to fix it he's dead and he's in a tomb here it is i release it to you can i can i help somebody here tonight release is so important release is so important as long as you are holding on to the problem god is not going to touch it as long as you've got the problem in your hand and you're holding on to it god is not going to touch it as long as you try to stay in control as long as you try to call the shots as long as you think that you are in charge god isn't going to touch it because god is looking for you to release it to him that's hard for us hey i'm preaching to myself tonight because i like to control things i like to make sure that things go from point a to point b i like to be in control and god is teaching me you thought i was speaking this lesson to you tonight god is teaching me that there's going to be times when things are going to be out of your hands and you're reaching and you're grabbing and you're trying to keep all of those things together and what he is really looking for is for you to release those things to him and when you release those things to him he will grab them and then he will take control release is so important verse 38 i'll run through this quickly then jesus deeply moved again to the two came to the tomb it was a cave and a stone lay against it he said take away the stone martha the sister of the dead man said lord by this time there will be an odor for he's been dead four days jesus said didn't i tell you uh when you first came to me about this problem that if you would believe you would see the glory of god i already gave you my word i already told you what was going to happen so they took away the stone and jesus lifted up his eyes and he said father i thank you that you have heard me watch this verse 42.

i knew that you always hear me he said but i said this on account of people standing around that they may believe that you sent me and when he had said these things he cried out the bible says he cried out with a loud voice lazarus come forth lazarus come forth even now faith says my circumstance may look like it is dead and it is in a tomb and there is a stone rolled over it it may look like it is impossible it may look like it is too far gone it's already buried in the grave and the tomb is rolled over it but even now faith says that when jesus steps on the scene he says remove that stone that obstacle remove every obstacle from in front of me remove that stone and then he speaks life he says lazarus come forth and he that was dead started started living again hear me somebody i don't know what's going on in your life maybe it's your family sit your way i don't know what it is maybe it's your ministry that you feel like is dead maybe it's your own life you are not too far gone and it is not too far gone will you release it to god and let him speak life into it that very moment that very moment the bible says in verse 45 many of the jews who had come with mary and seen what he did believed on him now his will and his purpose has been fulfilled he wasn't going to let lazarus die there but his purpose was fulfilled so that everybody around him could see the miraculous power of almighty god could it be that in your circumstance and in your situation that's going wrong that he's getting ready to step on the scene and speak life into it everybody else thought it was dead even you thought it was dead but he's going to speak life and everybody is going to believe because he turned it around oh would you clap your hands right now would you claim that in faith i'm finishing up when we grab a hold of this lifestyle of faith and we add this even now faith to it we are then in a place to have faith for others when we grab ahold and we're living this lifestyle of faith every day no matter what comes my way i'm going to serve you i'm going to trust you i'm going to believe in you i know that you're in control and then when we slip down into the valley or we're trying to climb the mountaintop or even now faith says it doesn't matter what's going on because even now god is able when we grab a hold of those two things i believe that then we are in a place to have faith for others our theme is others mark chapter two and one when he returned to capernaum after some days it was reported that he was at home many were gathered together so that there was no more room not even at the door he was preaching the word to them they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men when they could not get near him because of the crowd they removed the roof above him and when they had made an opening they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay this man was paralyzed he did not have the ability to get around on his own they did not have wheelchairs back then he was totally dependent on other people the bible does not tell us whether he sought out the four men or the four men sought him but nevertheless it is evident i hope this grabs a hold of somebody here tonight nevertheless it was evident that these men had a genuine concern for others remember jesus was in a house he was teaching to a large group when these men showed up the crowd was so large that there was no way that they were going to get in the front door can you see them walking and talking amongst themselves saying what are we going to do now we've just carried this man to this house and and now that we've got here the crowd is is so much bigger than we thought it was going to be it's outside the door and there's no way that we can get through that front door can you see another one saying well we've got to get him to jesus now we're not giving up outside this door what if we climb on the roof we can start removing tiles and once we get them removed two of you on either side of the bed can lift that bed to the top of the roof and when you get it up there all four of us can get on the roof and we can hoist it down in the tiles that we've broken off you want to talk about faith there was no guarantee that jesus would heal this man in fact there was no guarantee that jesus wasn't going to be mad or frustrated with them being that he was in the middle of teaching and preaching to a crowd of people and they were breaking over open the roof the owner of the the home could have snatched a nod in them for destroying uh his home the roof off his home the people could have got upset with the pieces of roof falling on them and on their heads and disrupting the teaching that jesus was was teaching them because you know if there was a big crowd they probably were following him and waiting and and trying to get in there to get close to him but these men had such a passion for others and for this paralyzed man that they were willing to do whatever it took to get this man to jesus looking around there is a crowd of people the door is blocked the building is secure jesus is inside it looks impossible it's going to be a lot of work we're going to sweat we're going to be run down and tired and wore out but if somehow some way we can get this man to jesus even now in this impossible situation jesus can heal him the bible says they tore the roof apart and they lowered this man to jesus verse mark two and five i love this it says and when jesus saw their faith when jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic son your sons are forgiven verse 11 he says i say to you rise pick up your bed and go home when he saw their faith he was moved and performed a miracle in this man's life would you stand with me two things that i see when it comes to faith in this story they had faith that if they could just get this man to the presence of jesus that jesus would take it from there we don't see in scripture that they ever even spoke to jesus they didn't tell jesus how to perform the miracle they were concerned about getting him to jesus and letting jesus change his life our mission to others is not to come up with our own plan on how their life is going to be changed we don't even get to tell jesus how he can do it our main goal and our main concern is just to get them to jesus just to get them to jesus what does that look like yeah that could mean getting them to come to church getting them involved in the youth group it it could mean bringing them to celebrate recovery our grief share because we know that there they will have the opportunity to interact with the people of god and i feel no doubt that they will feel the presence of god but it also looks like running after a male lady so she knows that she is loved so one day she can enter the presence of god brad when i was thinking about this there was this visual that went in my mind of that lady what's her name mary jenny that he runs after if he doesn't catch her brad and the visual in my mind i saw you as carrying that bed carrying that bed of that woman each time he goes to her each time he talks to her each time he reaches out to her and runs after her it's just another step of him carrying that bed to get her to the presence of jesus it looks like a small group happening in your house or in an ice cream shop where 10 visitors or guests outside of the church get to interact with the people of god and feel the presence of god it may look like you having a biblical discussion with somebody at school or work and it may not happen overnight and i don't know how far away or how long it took them to get that man to that house where jesus was i don't know they fought the crowd then and then they had to take off the roof to get him there it might not happen instantly and even for them it was a process but keep carrying them to jesus can i encourage you and exhort you keep working and keep laboring and and keep witnessing and keep discipling because when they get to jesus he will do the work lastly when they finally worked through all the obstacles the journey the crowd the roof they lowered him down and the bible says that when jesus saw their faith he performed a miracle in that man's life the their faith was attributed to his miracle that means that mom don't you stop praying for your daughter you keep showing faith dad don't you stop praying for that son don't stop praying for your neighbor don't stop praying for your city don't stop praying for your school don't stop praying for your co-workers don't stop praying for your friends don't you dare stop praying for your family don't you stop praying for this church don't you stop praying for our pastors don't you stop praying for the people that in your ministry your prayers and your faith that could be the very reason a miracle is performed in their life i wonder all over this building i want you to think of somebody maybe it's a family member maybe it's a neighbor maybe it's a friend maybe you want to do it broad and pray for the city would you lift your hands and would you lift your voice and would you begin to pray with them with even now faith even now god right now where they're at you can send your presence and your power to speak to them and to talk to them i wonder if you just let your faith carry you a little further in this prayer oh god we're believing you can do it lord you've done it for us we're believing you can do it for them i wonder if you just let your face stir up inside of you and you just call that name out in the name of jesus lord we're trusting you we've got faith for others tonight we've got some faith for others who are in this room who are facing battles and facing sickness and facing calamity i've got faith for them tonight so i i pray on a little further and i've got some faith for people who are beyond these walls and you can and will change their lives and forgive their sins and fill them with the gift of the holy ghost so we pray to that end tonight and we exercise our faith we truly believe you're able to do it lord we truly believe it in jesus name we pray in jesus name in jesus name