Title: Called to Faith in God
Text: Mk 11:20-25
Date: 3-4-07.am
Mark 11:20-22
20 And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 And being reminded, Peter said to Him, "Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered." 22 And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. NASB
Introduction:
We have been talking over the past several weeks about God’s attributes. It’s basically been about intellectually knowing about God. How He has chosen to make Himself known to mankind, what He’s like. This morning we want to see the other side of that coin – experientially knowing God - Having faith in Him.
When we look in the Old Testament we find that the sin of Israel - the one thing that affected her relationship with God, even more than legalism was unbelief.
Ps 78:21-22
21 Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath, and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also mounted against Israel;
22 Because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation.
(NAS)
What is Faith- It is more than just a belief in His existence. It means to unite with Christ as in a marriage. It is letting Jesus not only be Savior, but also Lord or Master of your life as well and to constantly respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I heard this definition a long time ago I’ve shared it with you before. Faith is the leaning of your entire human personality on Him (God) in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness. So what does it mean to have faith in God?
1. We are to have faith in God’s person
In our study about the nature of God we saw from the bible God is Spirit, and also person (having the characteristics of personality) and He is personal. He posses the attributes of perfect character and He relates to people in grace and love at all times even when we were sinners the Bible says in Rom 5:8. And even after we trust Him as we continue to struggle with our sin nature.
Having faith in God’s person involves all three persons of the Trinity. We saw last week the Bible reveals God as Father, Son and Spirit all are involved in our having faith in God.
Have faith in God the Father. God is the perfect father. You may not have/had a prefect father, you may not be a perfect father as a matter of fact none of us has or is a perfect father. But, God is the perfect father – loving, dependable, consistent and always faithful. As we saw last week, God loves us even before we believe and trust and have faith. He loves even when we don’t believe, and don’t have faith. However, the Bible does not teach the universal fatherhood of God. That’s a mistake we hear frequently. “We’re all God’s children.” It sounds good, it sounds religious and holy and pious, it sounds encouraging. But it’s just not true. We are all God’s creatures, every human being that exists, believer and nonbeliever all are God’s creatures, all the objects of His love. But, the truth is we only become God’s children through faith.
That may sound harsh and narrow minded but that’s what God’s Word says. Look with me at John chapter 8:31. Jesus is disputing with the Jews, God’s chosen people. The word believed in v. 32 isn’t saying they were believers in Jesus, it’s not saying they were saved. It indicates that some in the crowd had paid attention to Jesus' teaching without committing themselves to Him personally. It’s possible to "believe" in the message without coming to Jesus by faith. I have talked to people who have told me they believed what I said, but were not ready or willing to trust Jesus. That’s what Nicodemus had done. When he came to Jesus at night in John chapter three (3) he said to Jesus in verse 2: Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." NASB But Nicodemus hadn’t trusted Jesus for salvation that’s why Jesus said to him, “you must be born again.” This group for the most part was like that.
Their discussion turned towards action, they were opposing Jesus and plotting to kill Him and Jesus said they were doing the deeds of their father. In verse 40 they say we have no father except God. To which Jesus replied in verse 42:
. . . "If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 "You are of your father the devil. . .” NASB Jesus made the point if God were their Father, they would love Him. The point being, if we were all God’s Children, God would be everyone’s Father and everyone would love Jesus. But that’s not the case.
The question then is how does God become our Father? Well it obviously involves more than just believing facts. Nicodemus believed facts, all the things we’ve talked about the past few weeks were facts, important facts in understanding who God is, what He is like and what He desires. But for God to be our Father, we must believe God is. Heb 11:6 says: And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. NASB. Fo God to be our Father we must believe He is – He is who He says He is, that He will do what He has promised to do.
In that verse (Heb 11:6) the seeking comes after the believing. In Rom 3:11 quoting from the Old Testament Paul wrote: “There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;” NASB Wow! God is not everyone’s Father and no one seeks for God. How can anyone be saved? The disciples asked that too in Matt 19:25 Jesus said to them in verse 26: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." NASB The truth is God seeks us.
When He seeks us we must respond by believing. By believing in His person, that He is real and faithful and true and loving and caring and all those characteristics of perfection we use to describe Him. That’s the first step in God becoming our Father. When we respond to His seeking we not only believe in His person, we also believe in His provision for us.
Believe in His Provision
What is that provision? That provision is the Good News, the gospel message.
1 John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. NASB Remember we saw John identified the Eternal Word who was God and was with God as the “Only Begotten,” who is identified as Jesus Christ.
Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. That’s humanity. That’s all of us. 1 Cor 15:3-5 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, NASB
Paul calls that justification – a legal term that means Christ set us free from the penalty of sin and slavery to sin and from bondage to the law. But there is more to redemption that just being set free there is also reconciliation - being restored to a right relationship with God as our Father and it comes through what Paul calls adoption.
Gal 4:4-6
But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. NASB
Adoption means our standing before God has changed. We are no longer enemies, hostile and alienated to God, but we are accepted as His children.
John 1:12-13
2 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. NASB
Adoption means we are forgiven, restored and God the Father then becomes God our Father.
Having faith in God involves faith in His person, faith in His provision and faith in His presence.
Faith in His Presence
His presence of course involves the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-19
16 "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 "After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also NASB
The biblical doctrine of the Holy Spirit is the doctrine of God present and active in the experience of Believers. John tells us that He is the source of his life (3:5-8). He is the "dimension" in which genuine worship takes place (4:24). He resides within the believer (14:17), He teaches all the necessary things and guides us into all the truth — in relation to Jesus Himself as source, and subject, of truth (14:26; 16:13-15). His presence with and in the believer is the prerequisite for our mission as disciples (20:21-23), and through us the He will be a witness to Jesus (15:26) and will serve to convict the world of sin and unbelief (16:7-11). (from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised edition, Copyright © 1979 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.)
Paul adds that God lives in us through the Spirit (Rom 5:5). The Spirit Himself lives in us (! Cor 3:16). He seals us and is the pledge or guarantee that our salvation will be consummated(Eph 1:13,14). He strengthens us (Eph 3:16). He bears witness that we are God’s children (Rom 8:16). He affirms our adoption and the relationship it brings whereby we call God “Abba” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6-7). And, through the Spirit’s presence we have access to God (Eph 2:18).
Now we have seen having faith in God means having faith in His person, His provision, His presence and also His Purpose.
Faith in His Purpose
1. Create a people who are holy and blameless and who glorify Him
Eph 1:4 . . . He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love NASB
He did that by providing for our salvation. We are holy and blameless in Him.
2. Create a people who love Him and who love others
Mark 12:29-32
29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." NASB(also Gal 5:13-14)
3. Create a people who do good works
Titus 2:14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. NASB
The purpose of good works or deeds is not to obtain salvation but our love for God and others is seen by our good deeds.
Titus 2:7-8
7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
NASB
Titus 3:14
4 And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful. NASB
Heb 10:24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds NASB
Matt 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. NASB
4. Create a people to share His love with the world
Matt 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. " NASB
Each of us has a place in God’s plan and God’s purpose. We are not all alike, not all give the same gifts or talents or abilities. But we all fit into these 4 purposes. I might be able to do what you can’t but you can do what I can’t.
We are called to faith - faith in God’s person, His provision, His presence and His purpose. Have you answered that call to Faith?