Freedom in Christ Session 3: Choosing to believe the truth

The following sermon is taken from the Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course by Neil Anderson & Steve Goss.

Without Faith We Cannot Please God

A man fell off a cliff, but managed to grab a tree limb on the way down. The following conversation ensued:
"Is anyone up there?" "I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?" "Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much longer." "That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about. I will save you. Just let go of the branch." A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
This man, was being challenged to put his faith in God, and it is this theme of faith which is the focus of our sermon today. Because if we are to grow and mature as Christians, we need to have faith in God.

“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.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith is the crucial issue. The Bible is clear that as Christians we are to walk by faith. But what is faith?

Faith Is Simply Believing What Is Already True

One little boy put it like this: “Faith is trying hard to believe what you know isn’t true!” Actually he’s wrong, it’s the very opposite. Faith is believing what is already true. Our responsibility is to believe in God’s truth, whether it feels true or not.

But it is not always that easy, as highlighted in The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass:

Monday January 6
Bought a really good book about faith. It’s called “Goodness Gracious – in God’s Name, what on Earth are we Doing for Heaven’s Sake?” A very witty title I feel. It’s all about how Christians should be able to move mountains by faith, if they are really tuned into God. Very inspiring.

Waited until there was no one around, then practised with a paper clip. Put it on my desk and stared at it, willing it to move. Nothing! Tried commanding it in a loud voice.

Tuesday January 7
Hand another go with the paper clip tonight. Really took authority over it. Couldn’t get it to budge. Told God I’d give up anything He wanted, if He would just make it move half an inch. Nothing! All rather worrying really. If you only need faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, what hope is there for me when I can’t even get a paper clip to do what it’s told!

Saturday January 11
Got up early today to have a last go at that blasted paper clip. Ended up hissing viciously at it, trying not to wake everybody up. When I gave up and opened the door, I found Anne and Gerald listening outside in their night clothes looking quite anxious. Anne said, “Darling, why did you tell that paper clip you’d straighten it out if it didn’t soon get its damned act together?”

If as Christians we choose to believe the truth, to put our complete faith in God, it will transform our lives.

Whether Faith is Effective Depends On What Or Whom You Believe In

Everyone Lives and Operates By Faith

Everyone believes in something or someone – we all have a way of looking at reality that we believe is true and we make decisions accordingly. Every decision you make and practically every action you do demonstrate your faith in something.

Last time you were driving your car and you came to a junction and saw a green traffic light, what did you do? You probably drove right on through. By faith! You couldn’t even see that the traffic in the other direction had a red light. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) If you didn’t believe that there was a red light, that the drivers saw the red light and that they would stop, what would you do? You would probably stop, look around very carefully and creep across the junction. But you believed that there was a red light, that they saw it and that they would stop.

The Only Difference Between Christian & Non Christian Faith is What We Believe In

It’s what or whom we believe in (the object of our faith) that determines whether our faith will be effective. It’s not so much that we believe but what we believe.

Take Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Both set up a pyre with bulls on it to be sacrificed and both believed that their god would send down fire from heaven to burn it up. But only Elijah had a valid faith object – Baal did not exist but the living God was real – so his was the only one that was burned up.

That’s why Jesus said we only need faith as small as a tiny mustard seed to move a mountain (Matthew 17:20) – it doesn’t depend so much on the amount of faith but on whom we put our faith in. It’s not our power that moves the mountain – it’s God’s.

Jesus Christ Is The Ultimate Faith Object

Traffic lights can malfunction of course. Other faith objects can let us down, parents, the church, friends. There is just one faith object that will never fail us: Jesus Christ. Why? Because He never changes, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He cannot change, and He is truth. He has never yet failed to be and do all He said He would be and do. He is eternally faithful.

Everyone Can Grow In Faith

How Much Faith We Have Is Determined By How Well We Know The One We Put Our Faith In

Christian faith is about making the choice to believe what God says is true and living our lives accordingly.

The depth of our faith is determined by one thing: how well you know the one you put your faith in.

So there is a limit to your faith. But God’s not controlling it - you are! Our faith particularly grows when we act on what God says is true.

To give an example, imagine you have a two year old, and you put her on a table, stand back a little bit and say, “Come on, jump into my arms.” She may waver a little bit but then jump and you would catch her. What do you do next? Go a little further back and say, “Come on, jump into my arms.” Let’s say she does and you catch her and you go even further back. She will continue to jump provided you continue to catch her.

As you get to know the object of your faith really can be trusted with absolutely anything, you will trust Him for bigger and bigger steps.

Have you ever wondered how Abraham could contemplate sacrificing his son Isaac? He had come to learn through experience that God was loving and could be trusted.

Belief is a choice that we can all make. You start with what God has said is true and you choose to believe it. This then works out into your behaviour and finally into your feelings.

George Muller ran an orphanage at Ashley Down in Bristol. One day, the orphanage ran out of food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting the home. Muller took her hand and said, “Come and see what our Heavenly Father will do.”

In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home’s account. Muller prayed, “Dear Father, we thank you for what you are going to give us to eat.” Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. “Mr Muller,” he said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at two o’clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is.”

Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it. What this story illustrates is faith in action.

Faith Grows in Difficult Times

Most of us can probably think of times when God did not do what we wanted him to do. Sometimes we simply have to admit that our understanding of God and what we expect Him to do is simply too limited for us to know whether we are praying in accordance with his character or His will.

Because the question of faith is so crucial, one of God’s prime focuses in your life is to help you develop a real living faith that gets deeper and deeper. He will, therefore often put you in a situation where you can choose whether to put your faith in Him or something else.

A health scare, financial concerns, an uncertain future.

God’s role is to be truth, to declare what is true. Our responsibility is to believe and living according to what is true.

Faith Leads To Action

The words “faith”, “trust” and “believe” in the Bible are all the same word in the original Greek. That’s important to know because in English when you say that you believe something, it doesn’t carry the same connotation as to trust in something. But faith is not simply agreeing with something. It’s a reliance that you demonstrate by actions. No matter what we say, it’s what we do that shows what we really believe. If you want to know what you really believe, look at your actions.

“Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith: I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I’ll show you my faith by what I do.” (James 2:17-18) In other words, what you believe in will affect what you do and what you say.

People don’t always live according to what they say they believe, but they will always live according to what they actually believe.

The good news is that there’s no one here who could not become a mature and fruitful Christian. There is no one here who cannot resist temptation, get out of hopelessness, leave behind negative behaviour and past influences and move on. You don’t need some special anointing from God or others. You just need to know what is already true, choose to believe it and act on it.